USA > New York > The Ninth New York heavy artillery : a history of its organization, services in the defe battles, and muster-out, with accounts of life in a rebel prison, personal experiences, names and addresses of surviving members, personal sketches and a complete roster, pt 1 > Part 26
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officer on a stretcher. A shell burst very close, when one of the men said. 'That finishes him,' and they lay the body down. Four soldiers are carrying a wounded man in a piece of tent. One of them giving out, I took his place, trying to reach a covered wagon, but it hurries off when we are only twenty feet away. We lay the boy down and he does not complain, only says. 'Good-by.' A bursting shell kills one of those with me, hits me in the hand and goes through my haversack. Then a bullet grazes my thigh and I am in a bad way, when a cavalry- man offers me a ride and we escape."
For a Chance to Pray .- One of the youngest boys in the regi- ment was A. B. of - Company, though these were not his ini- tials. His Sunday school superintendent began raising a com- pany, so the mother was willing that the lad should enlist. The religious meetings held in the regiment have been repeated- ly mentioned. At one of them, while the regiment was making forts, the boy experienced religion, and being a lad of sterling parts, he intended to live up to his professions, but he found difficulty in attending to his duties as he thought he ought. When the company with others came back to the defenses, in the summer of 1864, he had more trouble than ever in finding a moment of quiet for the praying he wished to do.
He stood it as long as he could, but finally settled with his own conscience that it would not be wrong to "run the guard" in order to get a chance to pray. Of course it would be a viola- tion of order, and if caught he would be placed under arrest; still. he determined to run the risk, Accordingly, one night after "taps." when the camp lights were all out, stealing quietly around the corner of the captain's tent, and waiting till the guard was up at the other end of his beat, A. B. ran quickly over the rifle-pit, and in a minute more was hidden in the shadow of a large oak-tree which stood a few rods away. Here he knelt by a large stone, and, in a low tone of voice which could not reach the guard, "prayed to his Father in secret." Refreshed in spirit, he returned as he came. successfully eluding the vigilance of the guard. Night after night was this repeated with like success, until Company - was ordered to rejoin the regiment and return to the front.
In the final breaking up before Petersburg, the boy was sur- prised at having his commanding officer say to him, "I am afraid I shall not come out of this fight alive, and I should like
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to have you stay as near me as possible," but the officer came through all right while the lad was wounded. Before he got back to the regiment the war was over and the boys were dis- charged. In the following winter, at revival meetings in Au- burn, A. B. was doing his part, though in a silent way, till one night he heard a negative given to the minister who asked a gentleman, sitting back of him, to go forward for prayers. Turning about A. B. saw his old commander, and he was moved to ask him to do what he had just declined doing. He yielded, and with his soldier-boy went down the aisle to the altar, where he was converted. When there came an opportunity, the ex- officer arose and spoke.
A man of ability and a good speaker, his words were received with intense interest by the large congregation. He began by describing the little fort north of Washington that had been garrisoned by Company - under his command nearly two years before.
Imagine our boy's surprise as he proceeded to tell of the mysterious manner in which a young soldier frequently ran the guard immediately opposite the commander's quarters after "taps" at night, returning each time after a few minutes' ab- sence. Picture his further agitation when the captain related how curiosity, as well as regard for camp discipline, had im- pelled him to follow the offender one night, when, to his amaze- ment, he discovered that the man had run the guard in order to get a chance to prav.
Then said the officer, "I went back to my quarters resolved that I would never arrest a man for running the guard to pray. It was on account of his way of living that I wanted him near me in the Petersburg fight when I expected to go under. To-night there was only one man in the world who could have induced me to take the step that I have taken, and that was this soldier-boy, and I thank God that he took me by the hand to do as I have done."
The officer. still a young man, became a preacher of the Gos- pel, and is now the pastor of a large Baptist Church in Califor- nia. A. B. prepared for college, was graduated with honor from an eastern college, and for many years has been one of the most successful clergymen in the Methodist Church. This praying episode has somewhat the flavor of Washington and his prayers at Valley Forge.
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A Wounded Dutchman .- At Opequon creek a member of our band was helping in the hospital, and had in hand a Dutchman whose side had been struck by a bullet. The missile had taken an upward turn on striking one of the lower ribs, but his cloth- ing was stiff with blood and he was faint from hunger and loss of blood. He stood trembling and shaking like an aspen leaf, saying, "Dot bullet got into me somehow. I don't leeve any more. Oh, my poor leetle family!" He shook so badly that the attendant had difficulty in helping him, and finally said, "Keep still and stand up if you can." At this moment as the wounded man's garments were moved the bullet dropped into the helper's hand. "Oh, mein Gott," says Dutchy, "dot tam bullet got out from me somehow," and he was a live man from that moment. He ceased trembling, drank a cup of warm coffee. after having his side dressed, went to bed on some clean straw, and in less than ten minutes was fast asleep.
He Shot too Close .- There is not a man of Company F but re- members Lyman Coleman. Well, Lyman was with the com- pany on that never-to-be-forgotten day, October 19th, 1864. Sheridan had come, and we were on the fierce charge that swept the rebels like chaff before us. The ranks had been filled by men from any and all companies; the orders were "fall in where you are." The result was that strangers were in the ranks. It so happened that a tall man from some other regiment fell in the front rank just before Coleman. All went well till we cleared the woods and came to the open field. Before us was a small ravine and, just over this swale or ravine, the rebels were posted in full force, and they met us as we came out of the woods with a deadly fire. Indeed, it seemed as if nothing could live under it. The line wavered for a moment, and then down the slope they started, the tall stranger just in front of Cole- man. As the fire was hot and Lyman was anxious to put in his work. he brought up his musket and fired; he was not over- careful perhaps, and the consequence was, he fired so close to the head of the man in front that the latter's hair and ears were badly burned. and the man was as mad as a hornet. He turned about to poor Coleman and said in angry tones, "You old scoundrel, you shot so near my head you have nearly killed me." «te .. "and I am going to whip you," and he held his gun in his hand while preparing to chastise poor Lyman. We took in the situation of things, and saw there was a chance for fun, so we
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yelled out, "Stand up to him, Coleman; we'll stand by you." Lyman gathered courage and said to his antagonist in his squeaking voice, peculiar to him, "See here, you son of a gun, if you want to fight so-bad, right down there is plenty of rebels to fight without licking me." Well, there is a serious question in my mind to this day whether General Sheridan or Lyman Coleman did the most at that particular time to steady us and cheer us on.
He Lived .- Soon after the 6th Corps returned from the Shen- andoah, and had joined the Army of the Potomac, Company L of the 9th was put in charge of Battery Lee, located about a half mile to the left of the signal tower, and near the angle where the reverse rear line began its curve, this battery was composed of six thirty-pound Parrott guns, and a battery of six Cohorn mortars, mounted at reserve picket three-fourths of a mile in front of the battery. On the 25th of March, when the 2d Brigade charged and pressed back the enemy's pickets close under their main line, the writer was on detail with the mortar battery, and as General Keifer had ordered our officers not to use the mortars, since their distance from the enemy would not admit of effective service, we were at liberty to see the "show." A portion of the brigade had massed on both flanks, and a little to the rear of the picket-post; their move- ments could be easily seen by us. As the charge was progress- ing in fine style, we noticed the riffe-pits, scattered quite thickly over the field, held nearly all of them a soldier, no doubt as rear guard(?) -soconvenient to fall into in passing, and so decid- edly safe. but that horrible gang, the provost guard, soon dis- turbed their quiet with their "- - - get to the front, - - git!" I noticed one soldier start from a rifle-pit, with gun at a charge as though he proposed to take the Confederacy alone. He had gone about five rods when he fell as prone as if struck with a solid shot, his knapsack flying over his head and lying in front of him. We spoke together of that "poor fellow," that he had made his last charge, etc. The balls up to this time had been reminding one of a hail-storm, and no one wondered that he should fall. There was a certain fascination in looking at this "fallen hero." After fifteen minutes or so, I saw our prostrate friend slowly raise his head and take a look over the top of his knapsack. Some one said, "Guess that boy will live to fight another day." Sure enough, when the hail let up a
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little, he got up very nimbly for a "dead man," and such a more for the rear, no man ever made before.
BETWEEN THE LINES. -
Between the lines in the gloaming, When battle has sunk to rest, And the boom and shock of cannon Are hushed as a maiden's breast, The vidette, as he stands watching, Or marches his lonely beat, Is thinking of home and dear ones Gathered at their mother's feet.
Then it is the sounds of camp-life Come sweetly on evening air, The bugle and good-night drum-beat Sound "lights out," that banish care; Yet faintly and still more faintly, Their cadence will softly fall On our ears as we dreamily listen To the good-night bugle-call.
There come from a distant bastion, That floats high the "Stars and Bars," Tones of a band sweetly playing The "Star Spangled Banner"-that's ours; Union men listening in quiet, Of our flag that leads the fight, Have kindlier feeling for "Johnnies," And wish them kind good night.
Sweet music will bring men together, Of whatever name or tongue; The loved songs of home and country, A touchstone that rights the wrong. The Confederates listen to "Dixie" As played by a Union band, And answer "Marching through Georgia," We with their "My Maryland."
Then when both are weary of playing, The hour to turn in has come, They join what is one the world over, Both playing dear "Home, Sweet Home." There's many a voice that's husky, And many an eye that's dim, As they close the evening's music With that tender, touching hymn.
CHARLES A. FORD, Company L.
Homer, N. Y.
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NINE AND THE NINTH.
At one of the regimental gatherings, J. S. Roys of Company D called attention to the interesting manner in which the nu- meral 9 was woven into the history of our organization, calling attention to Cold Harbor, Winchester and Cedar Creek, which were fought on days including the number. This thought might be considerably extended, for as stated in the narrative the order converting the regiment from infantry to artillery was dated Dec. 9th. The designated numeral for the same came Dec. 19th. May 9, 1864, the 2d Battalion is preparing to leave Fort Foote. June 9th of the same year finds us in the midst of Cold Harbor's struggle. July 9th takes us to Monocacy and its direful story. September 19th and October 19th are matters of history with their tales of Winchester and Cedar Creek, while not only our own story, but that of the nation seems to culminate April 9th of 1865 at Appomattox.
Incidentally it might be said that the corps to which the reg- iment belonged was only a nine inverted.
G. A. R. POSTS.
The Grand Army of the Republic exists to keep alive the memories of the strife of 1861-'65 as well as to exemplify fra- ternity, charity and loyalty.
In looking over the names of nearly 700 posts of this organ- ization in New York, it is pleasant to note the following named for men who served with us; there may be others, but we are sure of these:
Seward Post, No. 37, of Auburn may include the thought of the great secretary as well, but the Ninth certainly followed one of that name.
Keeslar Post, No. 55, of Wolcott recalls the two brothers, Daniel and Simeon of Company E, though both were Huron boys, and both shot to their deaths April 2, 1865, at Petersburg. How aptly Mrs. Browning wrote in her " Mother and Poet":
"Dead! one of them shot by the sea in the east, And one of them shot in the west, by the sea. Dead! both my boys!"
George C. Stoyell Post, No. 155, Moravia, calls up the fair face and trim form of the young lieutenant of Company E, whose body, bereft of life, was sent home to its burial long be-
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fore his comrades had entered upon the Battle Summer. A victim of fever, he was none the less a sacrifice to country.
Myron M. Fish Post, No. 406, Ontario, reminds us of Winches- ter, that fairest stand-up fight of the war, when, though death- stricken, father and brother could not halt in duty's path longer than to print a kiss on his dying lips and then were swept on, they to glorious victory, he to immortality.
Selah Cornwell Post, No. 632, Merrifield, suggests the pleas- ant-faced gentleman who, fever-stricken, was the first officer to be mustered out by that remorseless agent, Death. There was mourning in Company E when their captain died.
Anthony Stacey Post, No. 647, Elbridge. At the word we see a face of firm yet gentle features, a form sturdy and strong. one of three brothers, serving at the same time in Company L. Surviving the war, he later passed over to the eternal camping- ground,
"beyond the silent sea, Where those who marched with Sherman Are camped with those of Lee."
REGIMENTAL POSTMASTER.
"Mail-to-go-out!"-If the oft-repeated expression sometimes deteriorated into "Mail-t'-gwout," the boys didn't care. They weren't particular about pronunciation; and they did feel very kindly towards the soldier postman when he brought them letters from home, but they couldn't help blaming him when, for any reason, he persisted in skipping their names. "Write me a letter, love, when you are away," needed just a little change in wording, but he was a queer mortal, in war-times, who did not have somebody, somewhere, from whom a missive might be expected. "Do they miss me at home? do they miss me?" was a refrain often on our lips, and the man who brought us news of "Home, Sweet Home," was our own detailed com- rade, who gradually grew to be the best known man in the regi- ment.
John Tidd, Company E, performed this very pleasant duty while in the defenses, at least for some of the forts and camps. but probably the office was longest identified with Henry P. Howard of Company H, who knew his business from A to Z. His appointment dates from the following order:
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Headquarters 9th New York Artillery, Fort Simmons, D. C., Aug. 13, 1863.
Special Orders No. 166.
Sergeant Henry P. - Howard, Company H, this regiment, at his own request is hereby reduced to the ranks, and appointed regimental postmaster of this regiment.
By order
J. WELLING, Colonel commanding.
W. DeW. Pringle, adjutant.
With his postbag, Howard is well remembered by hundreds who received many a letter at his hands. So well did he per- form his duties that he was promoted, as appears in the follow- ing:
Headquarters 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 6th Army Corps. November 16th, 1864.
Special Order No. 51. Extract [11].
Private Henry P. Howard, 9th New York Heavy Artillery, is hereby detailed and announced as brigade postmaster of this brigade. He will report for duty without delay.
By command of COLONEL J. WARREN KEIFER.
By J. T. Rorer, captain and A. A. A. G.
Official. William I. Parrish, lieutenant and acting adjutant.
After the advancement of Comrade Howard, his place was taken in the regiment by H. H. Wheeler of Company A, later a lieutenant in Company E, who remained till promoted.
Whoever filled the place, he had duties to perform, sometimes exceedingly heavy, but pride in his work usually kept him up to the faithful discharge of his obligations.
FLAGS OF THE NINTH.
September Sth, three days before the departure of the 138th from Camp Halleck, the ladies of Auburn presented the regi- ment with a stand of colors. When the change in regimental hues came in 1862, the blue banner bearing the escutcheon of the state was given by the officers to General Seward, in whose library it is now suspended, while a red one was substituted for it.
These banners saw the campaigns of the Ninth and, tattered and torn, came home with us. no enemy carrying off any en-
BEVAR CASE
FAILURES CREEK
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BATTLE FLAG AND STANDARDS OF THE 9th NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
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sign of ours, but our return was not early enough to allow of our participation in the glorious exercises in Albany July 4. 1865. when in the presence of Grant, Wool, Wallace, Kilpatrick, Schofield, Butterfield, Sickles, Ricketts and a host of others. with addresses by Butterfield, Governor Fenton and the Rev. E. H. Chapin, the colors, then returned, were consigned to the perpetual keeping of the state.
We had not left Washington then, and not till the 20th were we paid off and our banners became seekers for custo- dians. Brave hands, many of them mouldering back to clay. had borne them, but now their journey over, they must rest with similar trophies beneath the roof of the Capitol. August 3, 1865, the flags, five in number, were carried to Albany and there deposited. In the catalogue of the Bureau of Military Record they are mentioned as one national, one regimental and three guidons.
Carefully kept within glass cases, they and those of other regiments merit and receive the admiring, almost reverential. gaze of the thousands who visit the magnificent Capitol of the Empire State. All are labeled and are inscribed with the names of the engagements in which their bearers participated. Upon our flag may be read, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Monocacy, Ope- quon, Cedar Creek, Petersburg, April 2d, and Sailor's Creek.
The traveler in Britain finds in church and castle some re- minder of the prowess of the fathers. In Canterbury Cathedral, for more than 600 years the coat of the Black Prince, worn by him at Poictiers, has inspired the hearts of Britons to be like him-brave, determined, true.
Battle-flags impress their lessons on the minds of youthful beholders, and serve to keep alive the spirit of national pride and love of country. It matters not who may be governor, nor what party controls the Legislature, these colors and their memories are far above and beyond politics; they represent not the passing phase of political life; they stand for country itself.
To-day with bated breath and with quickened heart-beats. the rambler beyond seas may see in Altorf, covered with glass, banners borne by liberty-loving Swiss, at Mortgarten before Columbus set forth on his westward journey. Let us hope that centuries hence, travelers from the East and from the West may stand beside these flags, still preserved, and hear some cus- todian say. "They were followed by men who forsook the paths
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of peace and by the dread ordeal of battle drove slavery from the land and made America from ocean to ocean
"The land of the free and the home of the brave.' "
MILES MARCHED BY THE NINTH.
One of the most difficult tasks essayed by any compiler is to ascertain just how many miles this or that body walked during its term of service. Had the men marched as the crow flies, with the scale range, the answer could be easily given, but armies did not move in that way. They usually took the long- est way, if there was any difference. Again, if they had fol- lowed the railroad tracks, the answer could be more easily given, but if such a course were attempted it had to be very much modified, as in our march to Danville. Thousands of men could not keep along that single line, though it marked their direction. 1 i
The very best that any one can do is to study the roads and routes as carefully as possible, and then to make estimates. having the table of railroad distances with the map scale by him. It were a long list to follow each day's march from our departure from Belle Plain, during those days in May; so it will suffice if certain parts thereof are kept together; thus from Belle Plain we walked 62 miles to reach the North Anna. Very likely all these items are under rather than over the fact, owing to the routes we pursued. From the North Anna till we were placed before Petersburg, 126 miles; to Ream's Station and re- turn with sundry other journeyings about Petersburg, 28 miles.
From Petersburg to City Point and from Frederick City to Monocacy Junction, 21 miles. From Monocacy to Ellicott City, 45 miles.
Washington to Snicker's gap and return, 125 miles; to Fort Richardson and return and to Harper's Ferry, thence to Freder- ick City, 110 miles.
In the valley, making no allowance for digressions, guarding wagon-train, foraging, etc., we marched from Harper's Ferry to Fisher's hill and back. 120 miles; then we walked up to Mount Crawford, and finally came back to Harper's Ferry, 216 miles.
In our final Petersburg rambles we marched and counter- marched fully 25 miles; then when we set out after Lee, we
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rushed over 100 miles of distance before catching him; next we came back to Burksville, 50 miles; the raid to Danville followed, 125 miles, and finally we took foot and walker's line from Richmond to Washington, fully S5 miles as we walked.
In this compilation no estimate has been made of the long marches before leaving the defenses, nor of those that followed our return, nor again of the distances accomplished by boat or rail, but the figures already given make an aggregate of 1238 miles. Does not the regiment merit a place with Sheridan's "Foot Cavalry"? 1
OUR CORPS CONNECTIONS.
Without access to the regimental books, by the order of Daniel Lamont, Cleveland's secretary of war, effectually barred to all inspection, it is practically impossible to name the brigades and divisions with which the regiment was at first connected; but on the formation of the 22d Corps in February, 1863, the task became easier. The first commander was Major General S. P. Heintzelman, who was succeeded in October, 1863, by Major General C. C. Auger, who remained at the head of the defenses through the rest of the war.
In the newly formed 22d Corps, which included all the troops in the defenses of Washington, the Ninth was at first assigned to the 2d and later to the 3d Brigade, Haskin's division. Joseph A. Haskin was a grizzled veteran who had seen service in the Mexican War, losing an arm at Chepultepec. He is well remem- bered by the soldiers. He was New York born, of the class of 1839, West Point, and died in Oswego August 3d, 1874.
Our position as to Army Corps, on going to the front, has been already stated, but it is here repeated that when in the fighting ranks the 1st and 2d Battalions were in the 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 6th Corps, the 3d Battalion in the Artillery Bri- gade, but same division. This same battalion served in the 1st Brigade, Hardin's division, 22d Corps, from July 10th, 1864, into September, and from September 22d till it left the defenses in Colonel Keim's provisional brigade. Thence onward the regiment was together.
While in the Shenandoah valley we were of the Army of the Shenandoah, but on returning to Petersburg we were again in the Army of the Potomac. In this connection it should be stated that Brigadier General Martin D. Hardin was another
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one-armed officer, having lost his left arm in a guerrilla skirmish near Catlett's Station in December, 1863. He also was a West Pointer, class of 1859.
THE REGIMENTAL BAND.
"Here we will sit and let the sounds of music Creep in our ears."
The stay of the regiment in the defenses and its enlargement to the heavy artillery standard gave an opportunity for the making of a brass band, an adjunct which added much to the enjoyment of camp-life. While fife, drum and bugle are ever associated with the camp and march, there was a place for the broader and, possibly, more melodious brazen instruments. Of course the regiment was rich in material, and it is an interest- ing comment on the health-giving tendencies of lung exercise that so many of the members of our band are yet alive. Of course they were not enlisted as musicians, with the exception of possibly a drummer, but were detailed on the recommenda- tion of those who were conversant with their musical capabili- ties.
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