USA > New York > Services of the Tenth New York Volunteers (National Zouaves,) in the War of the Rebellion > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
13
Mustered out, June 30, 1865
20
44
The above total does not include any of the 13 officers trans- ferred from the 8th New York Heavy Artillery.
ENLISTED MEN.
Transferred from the Two-Years regiment, April 26,
1863, present and absent 228
Recruits and transferred men received during the pe- riod of service of the battalion 712
940
Killed or died of wounds 56
Died of disease, &c. 38 Missing 14
Discharged on account of wounds or disease, by order of superior headquarters, upon expiration of term of service, received commissions, transferred, de- serted, &c. 400
U'pon rolls to be mustered out, June 30, 1865 432
940
437
APPENDIX .- RECAPITULATION.
Of the 386 enlisted men transferred to the battalion from the 8th New York Heavy Artillery, in June, 1865, only those placed in the six original companies are included in the lists. of names and in the foregoing recapitulation ; the others, forming Compa- nies G, H, I and K, do not appear in either lists or recapitulation.
In the recapitulation of the battalion, the figures are about as exact as it is possible to give them, taking the muster-out rolls as a basis, and as printed must be nearly correct. Palpable errors are of frequent occurrence in the rolls of both the regiment and battalion, and such have been corrected by the author, as far as possible, but others probably remain to be discovered hereafter by those concerned. In every regiment men are borne upon the rolls in false positions and names are misspelled and transposed, some- times from lack of correct information and again from negligence on the part of company officers. In some instances individuals were carried upon the rolls to be mustered out with the regiment and battalion whose whereabouts was unknown, and, if living, probably some of them are yet in the service of the United States, so far as their personal and formal muster out is concerned.
It is regretted that it has been impossible to give a full list of the wounded, either of the regiment or battalion. In the two- years service the list is especially incomplete. The omissions in the list of the battalion are comparatively few.
In recapitulating the list of mortalities, we have endeavored to be particularly correct ; yet some of the number reported to have died of disease possibly met their deaths in consequence of wounds. When a death is stated with no cause assigned, we have assumed it to have been of disease, unless possessing knowledge to the con- trary.
Of the deserters, during the four years' service of the National Zouaves, many served honorably in other commands thereafter. Not a few left the regiment while at Sandy Hook, and some of them enlisted with relatives or friends, where associations were more congenial or chances of promotion better. The erime of desertion wa- vaguely comprehended in those early days of war. A large number of the "three-years men" transferred to the bat- talion at its formation, were absent, sick or wounded, at the time, and some of these never reported to their new command, while
: 438
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
others, then present with the regiment, smuggled themselves to New York with their "two-years" comrades. Most of these con- tended that they had been wrongly mustered for three years, or that such muster was represented to them as a mere formality and that their rightful service ended with that of the regiment.
It will be remarked, by those familiar with army statistics, that the deaths from disease in the regiment and battalion were few when compared with the mortality in the majority of regiments. This was especially a fact with the two-years organization, and may be ascribed to the garrison service of nearly a year in a pecu- liarly healthy locality, where sanitary rules were enforced, and strict military usage compelled an observance of regular hours and habits and fitted our soldiers for future hardships. But, gene- rally speaking, a regiment of city-bred soldiers sustained far less casualties from sickness than one from the rural districts. Young men from city life were, in a measure, accustomed to irregular habits of both eating and sleeping, while a "country" regiment suffered in the change from a regular life, and full, though some- times coarse fare. It seemed difficult for the latter to adapt them- selves to the changing circumstances of army life, and although they were generally housed and clothed better than their comrades from town, owing to their aptitude in handling the implements of woodcraft and the knowledge of housewifery taught by country mothers, homesickness was a disease which brought many of them to the hospital and invited more fatal maladies. Regiments from the interior often maintained their own little cemeteries, rapidly populating them, while their immediate neighbors in camp, hail- ing from a large city, were perhaps altogether free from death.
No estimate has been made of the average age of the mem- bers of the Tenth, but probably no regiment left New York State with a more boyish lot of soldiers. As a rule, they were small in stature, yet lithe and active, and handled arms and knapsacks upon a long march with an elastic vigor which often put to blush regiments of " six-footers" and elicited their unwilling admiration.
NATIONAL ZOUAVE LODGE, U. D. F. & A. M.
CONTRIBUTED BY CHARLES H. LUDWIG.
While the Tenth Regiment New York Volunteers were sta- tioned at Sandy Hook, N. J., in May, 1861, a number of Master Masons who were members of the regiment met at the quarters of Bro. John W. Marshall, to discuss the subject of forming a Lodge within the camp limits. To this end a committee was named, who proceeded to New York city and visited the Grand Master ; but, although they urgently and persistently pressed the matter, they did not succeed in gaining his consent. At the meet- ing held on their return, to hear their report, Bro. Hermann Cantor stated, that he was satisfied that if he could go to the city, he could bring such influence to bear that the petition would be granted. A furlough was procured for him and he proceeded on his mission, armed with the following
PETITION FOR DISPENSATION. RECOMMENDED BY
LUTHER B. PERT . . Master of Sagamore Lodge, No. 371.
B. HERTZ Master of King Solomon Lodge, No. 279.
P. W. FRANK. Past Master of Mount Neboh Lodge, No. 257. JOHN A. LEFFERTS . Master of Greenwich Lodge, No. 467.
NEW YORK, May, 1861.
TO THE M. W. GRAND LODGE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
The undersigned petitioners, being Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, having the prosperity of the fraternity at heart, and will- ing to exert their best endeavors to promote and diffuse the gen- uine principles of Masonry, respectfully represent that they are desirous of forming a new Lodge in the camp of the Tenth
439
440
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
Regiment New York State Volunteers, to be named "National Zouave Lodge."
They therefore pray for letters of dispensation, or a warrant of constitution, to empower them to assemble as a legal Lodge to discharge the duties of Masonry in a regular and constitutional manner, according to the original forms of the institution and the regulations of the Grand Lodge.
They have nominated and do recommend Bro. Salmon Win- chester to be the first Master, Bro. Thomas Cloudsley to be the first Senior Warden and Bro. Fred. M. Patrick to be the first Ju- nior Warden of said Lodge.
If the prayer of the petitioners be granted, they promise a strict conformity to the constitution, laws and regulations of the Grand Lodge, and that they will make Masons of none but members of their own regiment, and of such only as they know to be good and true men.
SALMON WINCHESTER, ALBION ALEXANDER,
THOMAS CLOUDSLEY, JESSE W. CHACE,
FRED. M. PATRICK, HERMANN CANTOR,
JOHN W. MARSHALL, RICHARD COX,
ROBERT A. DIMMICK, W. H. CRAUSE,
GEORGE F. HOPPER, JOHN MISSING.
Bro. Cantor at once visited M. W. John W. Simons, D. G. M. of the State of New York, and presented his petition, which was granted, on the condition that he (Cantor) should personally and fully report to him the proceedings of the Lodge and prevent all illegal action. This assurance being given, the necessary ereden- tials were made out and delivered. The Dispensation was granted by M. W. Finlay M. King, to continue from June 1st, 1861, to May 25th, 1862, and was prolonged by M. W. John J. Crane for one year, to May 25th, 1863.
The brethren procured the necessary working tools and para- phernalia, which were so constructed that all could be packed in sinall space and carried with the regiment. But no opportunity presented for opening the Lodge until the regiment arrived in Virginia, where the first communication was held in a tent at Camp Hamilton.
441
APPENDIX .- NATIONAL ZOUAVE LODGE.
After the regiment was removed to Fort Monroe, the Lodge met regularly, when the exigencies of military service would per- mit, in a double casemate on the western face of the Fort, and these communications were attended by brethren from all the regiments in the vicinity. Characterized as these gatherings were by the warlike surroundings, they were invested with a charm that has fixed its impress in the memory of every brother who was so fortunate as to attend them. The contracted case- mates were often so thronged with visitors that it was almost im- possible to proceed with the work of the ritual. Here all passion was laid aside, and with us frequently met the gray-clad soldier from the South, a prisoner within our military lines, but a brother within our Masonic limits. Within our crowded walls the private soldier and the general officer met on the level of equality, to part when the Lodge was closed on the square of discipline. Here the beautiful tenets of our institution tempered the rough and rugged life of the soldier, stimulated his patriotism, and nerved his heart for the dangers and trials in the path before him.
While in Fort Monroe the Lodge held semi-monthly commu- nications, at which the following members of the regiment were entered, passed and raised :
ALEXANDER B. ELDER,
CHARLES H. LUDWIG,
THOMAS J. LOUTHER,
JAMES BIDDLE,
HARVEY Y. RUSSELL, WILLIAM DUFF,
THOMAS D. MOSSCROP, JOHN A. BRADY,
GEORGE TICE,
PATRICK RYAN,
EDWIN L. FORD,
RICHARD BODDY,
JOSEPH NEWBURGH,
JOHN E. FARNSWORTH,
OSCAR F. ANGELL,
LEONARD BERGEN,
JOHN SHAY,
RICHARD TRIGGE,
AARON SEELEY,
MAX DEGRAW, JAMES BALFE,
WM. A. MACNULTY,
GABRIEL CUNNINGHAM, JOHN W. HUNT,
FRANCIS MURPHY,
JAMES M. SMITH,
WALTER WESTLAKE,
THOMAS MOCOLLOUGH,
JOHN MACHALE,
W.M. H. McMURRAY, PUTNAM FIELD,
WM. WALLACE SMITH.
442
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
At a fire which occurred in the village of Hampton, in July, 1861 (see p. 42), some members of the regiment saved the regalia, work- ing tools, &e., of the local lodge, and delivered them to Gen. But- ler, then commanding the Department, who had them carefully packed and sent them under a flag of truce to the commanding officer at Sewell's Point, to be forwarded to the Grand Lodge of Virginia.
In December, of the same year, the Lodge held a St. John's Festival at their rooms. A grand banquet was served, followed by a ball. All the principal military officers, both of the Fort and from Newport News and Camp Hamilton, were present, many of them accompanied by their wives and daughters, and the affair was both enjoyable and memorable. The casemates had been tastefully decorated with bunting and evergreens brought from the picket station "up the beach." The detail for this purpose had procured a permit from the officer of the day, but were, never- theless, severely reprimanded by the commander of the post on their return and were put under arrest ; for it seems that an order was in force forbidding the cutting of brush at that spot.
After the regiment had left their pleasant quarters at Fort Monroe, and were located at Portsmouth Intrenched Camp, appli- eation was made to a Lodge at Norfolk for the use of their rooms. The request was denied, on the ground that the Grand Lodge of Virginia had severed her connection with the Grand Lodge of New York. But this unfraternal treatment did not prevent the brethren of National Zouave Lodge from assisting the half-starved families of their brethren of the Virginia jurisdiction with both money and their surplus rations-thus demonstrating that the principles of our institution know neither geographical lines nor political differences. A tent was fitted up, and here the Lodge met until the regiment was ordered to join the Army of the Poto- mac.
The period of active campaigning, on which the command had now entered, afforded no opportunities for Masonic work, and, in December, 1862, our gifted Master, Salmon Winchester -- a brave and patriotic soldier-fell while in command of the regi- ment at the disastrous assault on Marye's Heights. After this sad event no attempt was made to hold a communication until the return of the regiment to New York, in May. 1863, when King
ยท
443
APPENDIX .- NATIONAL ZOUAVE LODGE.
Solomon Lodge, No. 279, generously gave the use of their rooms and their assistance in raising the few Fellow Crafts who had not been made in the field.
The question of continuing the Lodge was debated, but nothing came of it; for many of the members were dead, while most of the survivors, within a few months, returned to the army.
After paying all indebtedness. the surplus funds, together with the books, papers, regalia, and a full report of the proceedings of the Lodge, were transmitted to the Grand Secretary, James M. Austin, and are now preserved in the archives of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York.
Thus ended the existence of National Zouave Lodge, U. D., an organization most remarkable and unique.
THE VETERAN ASSOCIATION.
On the third day of July, 1873, a preliminary meeting of sur- vivors of the Tenth New York Volunteer Infantry was held at Eighth Avenue and Eighteenth Street, New York city, when it was agreed to form an association for social and benevolent pur- poses and to revive and maintain the comradeship formed in the army during the Rebellion. At a subsequent meeting, officers were elected for the remainder of the year, as follows : President, Frank M. Clark ; Vice-Presidents, George Hackett, William Hall and E. D. Van Winkle ; Secretary, Peter F. Murray ; Treasurer, Chas. W. Cowtan. A code of by-laws was also adopted, which provided, among other things, for the payment of a certain sum by each member upon the death of one of their number.
The Association thereafter held quarterly meetings, electing its officers annually. It was not, however, until 1879 that sufficient interest was manifested to make the organization a success. In the spring of that year, those most interested in its welfare debated the subject of parading with the Grand Army of the Republic upon the coming Decoration Day, and preparations were made to that end, including arrangements for decorating the graves of members of the regiment interred in Greenwood and Calvary Cemeteries. A band of music was engaged, and an offer to act as escort to the Veteran Association of the Fifth New York Volun- terrs (Duryee Zouaves) was accepted by that body - the remnants of the two regiments, which had fought together so many years before, being again united upon this peculiarly appropriate occa- sion. Upwards of eighty survivors of the Tenth joined in this first participation in the ceremonies of the day of flowers and tears. Each platoon of the Association marched under command of a former captain in the regiment, the whole being commanded by Lient .- Col. J. W. Marshall. The programme of decoration was fully carried out, and at Greenwood the graves of Col. Bendix,
444
445
APPENDIX .- THE VETERAN ASSOCIATION.
Capt. Winchester, Lieut. Morrell, Lieut. Beers, and Surgeon Ges- ner, were appropriately honored.
The effect of this parade was salutary, bringing to the front many survivors of the regiment whose addresses had not been known - some residing in distant parts of the country, and a not- able accession to the ranks of the association immediately followed. In 1880, Decoration Day was observed in the same manner, the veterans of the Duryce Zouaves in turn escorting the Tenth in the parade, and additional graves were decorated, including that of Com .- Sergt. Hugh V. Keane, in Greenwood. Again, in 1881, a similar programme was carried out. The action of the veterans of the Tenth, in thus observing the day, had its natural effect in stimulating the survivors of other regiments to unite in the cere- monies and to band themselves together in like organizations.
Needed assistance has been rendered by the Association in seve- ral instances of destitution and death among ex-members of the regiment, although the exceedingly light tax upon members of the organization for dnes has never admitted of very liberal donations in such cases. The object of the originators has, however, been accomplished : each honorably discharged survivor, whose address is known, is regularly notified of the meetings of the Association and is invited to become a member, while the gatherings are notable for the enjoyment of friendly fellowship and conversa- tion among comrades bound together by memories of perils and privations encountered when the majority were boys or in the first years of manhood.
Frank M. Clark, George F. Hopper, George M. Dewey and Charles H. Ludwig have been successively elected Presidents of the Association. At the present date the officers are : President, Charles H. Ludwig ; Vice-President, Joseph W. Kay ; Secretary, Frank M. Clark ; Treasurer, Chas. W. Cowtan : Executive Con- mittee : George W. Petit, George F. Hopper, John W. Marshall, George Hackett, George M. Dewey.
.
AN EX-CAMPAIGNER IN VIRGINIA.
CONTRIBUTED BY THE AUTHOR TO A NEW YORK JOURNAL. IN 1874.
Some few months have passed since the writer found himself quartered, for a short season, at the "Waverly Hotel," a hostelry hard by the railroad station in the old town of Culpepper, Va. Time and opportunity were plentiful, and it was not unnatural that the stranger, an ex-soldier and campaigner in the " Old Do- minion," should muse upon the times that "tried men's souls" a decade past.
Just ten years before, within a few days, he had ridden with some fellow officers to the front of this same inn, dismounted and entered, in search of news, and perhaps something with which to quench the ever-present thirst of a soldier. Corps Headquarters had halted here a half-hour previous, and we were inquisitive as to the wherefore of the sudden orders which had retrograded the Second Corps from its comparatively comfortable bivouac on the Robertson river, and caused a backward march towards the Rap- pahannock. Within a few days thereafter, General Warren, com- manding the corps and holding the rear, had crushed a portion of Hill's Corps, which had interposed itself at Bristoe Station, and the Army of the Potomac was bivouacked on the north side of Bull Run, holding its fords against the artillery reconnoisances of our Rebel friends, who had taken their innings once more. and forced Meade to "cover " and the defensive.
And but few startling changes seemed to have taken place in this old town and its suburbs since " grim-visaged war" vexed and tore it so ruthlessly. So often a bone of contention between the opposing forces, some of the houses still bear the marks of shot and shell, for our forces were sometimes not over-particular in caring for Rebel property, and in some instances our cavalry squadrons entered Culpepper from one side while the dust from the enemy's horse-hoofs was still rising thick at the other.
446
447
APPENDIX .- AN EX-CAMPAIGNER IN VIRGINIA.
Society in this section was always exclusive. The old resi- dents take pride in their "ancient and honorable" extraction, and this satisfactory kind of self-laudation is even greater now than be- fore the war. The incursion of several Northern families, who have taken residences in and around the town, and whose male members carry on different branches of business, does not appear to have had the effect most to be desired, and society, to a cer- tain extent, frowns on these representatives of Northern good-will and enterprise. As a consequence, Culpepper, which, for a certain period after the war, promised much, is again relapsing into its anti-bellum insignificance.
Beautifully quiet and calm upon this golden October afternoon is the National Cemetery, situated on an elevation a few hundred vards south of the depot. From the tall mast in the centre always floats the starry banner for which the two thousand dead it shadows laid down their lives ; nearly every Northern State is here represented by its dead heroes, and the warriors seem to sleep as calmly on Southern soil as though within their own vil- lage churchyards. It seems so exquisitely just and proper that the men who so willingly gave their lives to their country should rest forever entombed in the soil which they enriched with their blood :
" They sleep in peace ! Whatever strife May chafe the land for which they fought, Each for himself found what he sought -- Peace, at the purchase of his life."
At the opposite end of the town is the Confederate burial- ground. Here the grass grows long upon the graves of some four hundred Southern soldiers, mainly those who enlisted from this county; lack of means or actual neglect has suffered the fences to decay in places and the ground to become over run with weeds, and it is almost impossible to decipher the names or regiments of the dead Confederates upon the worn wooden slabs.
A horseback ride from Culpepper, of seven miles, brought the writer one day to Cedar or Slaughter Mountain. We ascended the slope, and from the portico of Mr. Slaughter's old-time man- sion obtained a splendid view of the country around. This is the scene of Banks' fight, August 9th, 1862. Upon these heights, and in the woods behind the house, Stonewall Jackson massed the
449
APPENDIX .- AN EX-CAMPAIGNER IN VIRGINIA.
House, Spottsylvania, the sanguinary " Wilderness," and the fords of the Rapidan, are names which have alternately thrilled the patri- otic heart of the Nation with anxiety and agony. To-day a court- house, to-morrow a cross-roads, and again a river, gap, ford or roadside tavern-each has in its turn witnessed rallies, cavalry charges or the din and ferocity of bloody and long-continued battle. Rival banners have waved in the dawn of morning, and the moon has risen upon ghastly heaps of slain.
Time and the revival of agriculture have done much to change the face of this portion of Virginia, yet denuded chimneys, roof- less houses and piles of stones marking the spots where domestic tranquillity once dwelt-these are some of the marks which war has left on the soil of rebellious Virginia.
With a fellow traveller and seeker after recreation, I took the saddle on a clear sunny morning and started from Mitchell's Sta- tion, about seven miles south of Culpepper, taking the Raccoon Ford road towards the Rapidan. This road has its course through thick woods and over a flat country ; many of the trees along the way still bear the wooden brackets or "rests" upon which the army telegraph wires were secured. When near the ford we take to the left, and, after a ride of some seven or eight miles, reach Morton's Ford. From here it is but a short distance to our object: ive point-i. e., the old camp ground of our brigade during the winter of 1863-4, at "Stony Mountain."
Possibly no one of the old camps in Virginia could be found in a better state of preservation. With the exception of the spot occupied by the writer's own regiment, none of the ground has been cultivated, and the huts built and inhabited by hundreds who are now sleeping their last sleep, seemed to have rotted away of their own accord. Even the corduroy walks in the company streets were intaet, and the dried wood crunched and crackled un- der our fect as we walked upon them. Heaps of worn canteens and rotted portions of haversacks and shoes mark the spots where the new supplies were distributed ere the final march across the Rapidan commenced.
Almost ten years had passed away since these mimic houses were occupied, and now, with the lonesome and oppressive silence of the place broken only by the occasional " eaw " of a crow or the
29
450
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
flapping of a buzzard's wings, it was easy to repeople this deserted village with the ghosts of its former martial inhabitants. One al- most longed to reanimate the scene and live for a short hour our old-time camp life. And some jovial days were spent on this ground: We volunteers were assuredly quick to take advantage of a lull in active warfare, and the ability of a soldier to enjoy himself at these times was proverbial. Merry carousals, which would have been looked upon with frowns at home, were here ex- cusable ; for were we not facing unlimited hardships and priva- tion and in hourly danger of a sudden call from the dark angel himself ?
Leaving the old camp and crossing the Rapidan at Somerville Ford, we are at the base of Clark's Mountain, an eminence rising to the height of perhaps eight or nine hundred feet. Upon the summit of this mountain Gen. R. E. Lee established his headquar- ters soon after the Mine Run affair, and continued here until the movement of the Union forces across the Rapidan, May 3, 1864.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.