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 2 > Part 12
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I. Coming home in May, 1865, he lived till March 1st, 1879, when he passed away after a short illness.
Oscar J. Frost .- In Company A we always called him ser- geant, and, possibly, some of his Red Creek fellow citizens do now, but the time, really long, seems brief since the Wolcott farmer did his part in war-duties. He was an active, alert sol- dier; he is just as ready and persistent now as a man of affairs in his native town.
David P. Gamble .- A veteran of Company B, Comrade Gam- ble resides in East Palmyra, and makes a specialty of essential oils. peppermint, spearmint and tansy, those peculiar products of Wayne county.
He is thoroughly interested in all that pertains to the pros- perity of the regiment.
William E. Greenwood .- Lieutenant Greenwood of Company B represented western Wayne in the Assembly in 1872. He died in West Walworth Aug. 5, 1898, aged sixty-eight years.
Truman Gregory .- Captain Gregory, who received his death- wound at Cold Harbor, having received the commission of major, though he was not mustered, was a Baptist minister, born in Vermont; at least so claimed.
He was preaching in Ontario Centre when he began to raise Company B. Before this he had preached in Richville, St. Lawrence county, beginning in 1852; thence going West, he was in Lee, Avon and Berwick, Illinois, till 1856, preaching and farming. Again in 1857 he was in Richville, where he remained two or three years.
Apparently he came to Wayne county soon afterwards, and the remainder of his life is written in the history of the regi- ment. His son, Lyman, was in the same company with him-
Daniel B. Harmon .- One of the vivid pictures in memory's gallery is that of Lieutenant Harmon at Monocacy, on the brow of the hill. to which we had fallen back, with his sword in air, rallying his men with the cry, "Rally round the flag, men." It is pleasant to remember him in that attitude.
He was born in Great Barrington, Mass., but when small vame with his father to York state. In the same company there were three brothers, Daniel, William and Alfred. He was by trade a house carpenter, but having excellent musical ability, he gave much time to that art. He taught many a singing- school in Wayne county.
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Some time after the war he moved away from Rose, and held several contracts for work on the Erie canal. At the time of his death, April 30, 1896, he was postmaster at Palmyra. He was in his sixty-second year, having been born July 11. 1834.
Truman S. Harvey .- Lieutenant Harvey has made Auburn his home for many years, though he was born in the town of Shelby, Macomb county, Mich., May 25, 1840. In 1849 he became a resident of Red Creek, and in 1852 went to live with an aunt in Cayuga county. In 1857 he had the benefits of Red Creek Academy, and in 1859 began learning the carpenter's trade.
His military record appears in connection with Company A. Since the war he has worked at his trade; in a shop; and for the last eleven years has been foreman of the woodworking depart- ment of the New Birdsall Company, makers of engines, thresh- ers and saw-mills.
He is blessed with a wife and four children; is a member of the Wall Street Methodist Church, and for twenty-eight consec- utive years superintendent of its Sunday-school.
Benjamin F. Hoffman .- Residing at Johnson's Creek, Niagara county, our former Company G sergeant and D lieutenant tills the soil and claims that his life is without incident,-all the more useful. possibly, for its very quiet.
Charles W. Hough .- The record of Captain Hough was not duplicated in the Ninth. He enlisted as private in Company E, and then rose through the grades of corporal. sergeant. sergeant major to 2d and 1st lieutenant, and was mustered out from the 2d Heavy Artillery as captain.
He saw long service on the staff's of Generals J. A. Haskin and O. B. Wilcox of the defenses. He is now the treasurer of the Ward Plow Company of Batavia, N. Y.
Orson Howard .- Captain H. was twenty-four years old when he was mustered in as 1st lieutenant of Company I, and thus was twenty-six when his young life was poured out at Cedar Creek. He had been captain of Company E but a few days when the ordeal came. The portrait of the young officer clearly indicates qualities which made him a popular comrade. one of whom the friends of long ago always speak in the highest terms.
A Company E man who was in the battle thus describes the final hours of the officer: "In the afternoon when we left our works, we advanced nearly to a cleared lot, when some one said the rebs were charging down upon us, so we halted a short time.
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but found it to be a false alarm, and on we went. We soon came to the cleared field. Somehow or other I lost track of the regi ment, which was working to the right. The field was fenced with a stone wall, at least one was on the east and south sides; also on the south side was a lane with stone-lined sides. It was here that I came across Captain Howard, who was in the same predicament as myself. Together we passed upon the west side of the stone fence and halted. The rebel main line was or seemed to be in this lane. About this time we thought our lines were flanking the rebs out of the lane. As we came up to it we found a great number of the enemy, who gave up as pris- oners. We took their guns and told them to keep quiet till the skirmish line came up, and they would be taken care of.
"Then the captain and I, being nearly alone, bore off to the left over uneven ground towards the pike: We passed down quite an incline to a valley, which had a rail-fence across it running parallel with the pike. I should say the pike was thirty rods away from us square to the front. On the pike was a rebel battery, which I think was using one gun, firing directly at us, and had killed and wounded some of our men. Captain Howard said it was of no use for us to charge that battery alone, and as there were other men approaching, he said we had better wait till they came up, so we sat down behind the said fence. He sat down flat with his feet towards me. I was on my knees loading my gun when at my right I saw a letter torn into bits. I picked it up, and asked him to read it while we were waiting, but he replied that he would put it in his pocket and read it when he had more time. As he was in the art of putting the letter in his pocket, a shot from the bat- tery on the pike took off his head. He simply fell back, straight- ened out, and that was all. I took from his body whatever of value there was and later gave the same to Major Snyder. The shot which killed the captain was next to the last that the battery fired, for our men swept it in a few moments later."
S. AAugustus Howe .- The captain is one of the few men who came from Massachusetts and served in New York regiments, and then went back to stay with the friends of his boyhood. He was born in Gardner July 2d, 1839, and attended the local schools.
He was a good private soldier and officer, being mustered out as a 2d lieutenant in the 24th New York Infantry, and then,
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when his service there was over, he helped raise Company L of the Ninth. and it is in this service we are chiefly interested. His boys always speak in the highest terms of him.
After the muster-out, coming back to the Bay State, he has had numerous indications of local appreciation, holding many town offices, and in 1891 and 1892 he was a member of the Leg- islature. For several years he has been a special county com- missioner. He is a member of the firm of Howe Bros., flour and grain dealers.
The following lines from one of his "boys" indicate pretty well how they regarded him:
"You would always know 'Howe,' You could always tell His sharp, quick voice as he calls to L, 'Fire low there, men! Don't give it away ;
Now give them a volley; there, that was well.' " -Charles A. Ford, Homer, N. Y.
Ralph Hunt .- Hunt was a student and teacher before enlist- ment, and he returned to go through Genesee College, to teach several years and then to study law. His home is in South Evanston, Ills.
Edwin L. Huntington .- Company L had many Oswego county men, and among them one who had done good service in the 24th, and late in 1863 was ready to go in again. His friendship for S. A. Howe, a regimental friend who had cast in his lot in the Company L venture, may have been a motive. At any rate Comrade H. made one of the very best soldiers possible, and as 1st sergeant was transferred to the 2d Heavy, whence he was finally mustered out a 2d lieutenant.
An active business man in the town of Mexico, Oswego county, he has been an efficient supervisor of the same.
James H. Hyde .- The second captain of Company A has en- joyed the privilege of living among his old soldiers ever since the war. One of the most active in securing enlistments for the company, he lives to-day to enjoy the memories of duty done at a critical moment in the nation's life. He was born in Huron, the only son of Harlow, who was himself the son of Dr. Zenas Hyde. The latter was one of the very first settlers in the old town of Wolcott, having moved there from Massachusetts in 1807. He was also the first physician in these parts.
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When the town of Wolcott was divided in 1826, the residence of the doctor fell within the borders of the new town of Huron, and here the remainder of his life was spent, though his prac- tice extended over all of northern Wayne. Harlow Hyde, son of Dr. Zenas and the father of Captain James, during a long life held responsible and honorable positions in both Huron and Wolcott, dying May 30, 1895, in his ninety-third year.
James H. Hyde was born in Huron about seventy years since, and there he had the beginning of his education, and the war found him a tiller of the soil. Entering heartily into the forma- tion of the new regiment, he was rewarded with the 1st lieuten- ancy, and with the company he bravely marched away. He was ever a quick, decided officer, and one who wore well with his men. An accident in childhood deprived him of the sight of an eye, but no soldier in Company A could ever see that this in any way conflicted with the faithful performance of his duties, and at the Battle of Cold Harbor he was one of those who found a gun a good weapon for use. He was one of the first to enter the enemies' works and to capture several of the rebels.
When the extension of the regiment to heavy artillery sent Captain J. W. Snyder to a majority, our Lieutenant Hyde be- came captain, and thus he went with his company through all its service up to and including Cedar Creek, where he was wounded in the arm. Late in 1864 he resigned and came home to resume the arts of peace. Since the war his home has been in Wolcott, and here his children were reared.
For several years he was an attache of the Legislature in Albany; latterly he has been the court-crier in Lyons. He is a devoted member of the G. A. R., and is always found at the Wayne county reunions. The war is a great many years behind him, but he has the consolation of thinking that when the strife was waging he had an honorable part in it.
Vincent . Kenyon .-- The last adjutant of the Ninth is a Cayuga county dweller, and makes Dresserville his home, being engaged in the tannery business. His father was a Quaker, but the son was just as good a fighter for all that, possibly a little better.
The veteran association has no more loyal nor enthusiastic member. He is a store-house of information concerning the reg- iment, and had his efforts availed, the locked-up treasures in
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Washington, in the way of records, had been opened for our use.
James D. Knapp .- Now living in Cato, was born in Wolcott. N. Y., but when a child moved with his parents to Huron, and thence to Rose. Had the advantages of the common schools, and later learned the blacksmith's trade and worked with his father till August, 1862, when he enlisted in Company H.
In time, attention to duty secured for him promotion to a sergeantey, and then he became 1st sergeant, and next received a 2d lieutenant's commission for meritorious conduct at Cold Harbor.
After the war he settled in Cato, and as his health would not permit the resumption of his trade, he has been a farmer during the intervening years. A Republican in politics, he has been constable, tax-collector and justice of the peace several terms.
Henry P. Knowles .- The exceedingly efficient quartermaster of the Ninth was born in Butler May 29, 1828. In 1840 he re- moved to Lyons, and was living there when the regiment was raised. He had been town clerk, and was a member of the vil- lage board when he enlisted.
His successful discharge of duties in the Ninth resulted in his promotion to be commissary of subsistence of volunteers. He was mustered out as brevet major for meritorious services. His later services were on the staff of General Seward.
Oct. 1st, 1865, he took up his abode in Palmyra. For two years, 1872-'73, he was supervisor, and in 1892 was president of the village.
Since 1866 Major Knowles has conducted a banking business under the name of H. P. Knowles & Co.
Sullivan B. Lamoreaux .- "Colonel" Lamoreaux having gone to the West soon after the war has. in person, been somewhat out of the range of the Ninth veterans, but in spirit he is just as enthusiastic as ever. He was born in Rose, N. Y., Feb. 22d. 1842. son of Joel and Elizabeth Lamoreaux. The name surely suggests French origin. During the boyhood of the future major, the family removed to Throopsville, and thence he en- listed in Company F. His military record appears in that of his company and with the field and staff.
Very flattering things are said of Colonel L. by the men who served with him, and they are the best calculated to judge of an officer's merits and demerits. This is what a Company F
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man writes: "It seems to me that I can see him as I write; just as he looked at Cold Harbor, at Cedar Creek and at Peters. burg. I always kept my eye on him in battle. If I could only see Captain Lamoreaux I was happy." Any man of whom a follower would write the foregoing more than thirty years after the scenes named, must have had the right stuff in him.
Colonel Lamoreaux has lived for a number of years in Cleve- land, O., and latterly his business card appears in connection with that of M. A. Hanna, and surely every survivor hopes that such proximity means unlimited prosperity to their old-time comrade, for they remember that the American Warwick has the reputation of having made William McKinley president.
Charles D. Lent .- Beginning his service in Company B as sergeant, he came home as 1st lieutenant, in command of H company. He was born in Sodus, 1832, of New Jersey extrac- tion, and for the most part has resided in the town ever since. He has been farmer, station-agent, produce-dealer, and lastly the landlord of a temperance hotel in Wallington. He has been deputy sheriff, commander of Dwight Post, and a useful mem- ber, generally, of the community.
Almanzo W. Litchard .- He is a native of Sparta, Livingston county, Nov. 12, 1841, though his boyhood was spent in Alle- gany county. Sept. 28, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, 86th New York Infantry. He did his duty under McClellan and Pope, and on account of illness was discharged Jan. 18, 1863.
Again he enrolled himself, this time Sept. 1, 1864, and joined the regiment, Company E, at Winchester, on the 23d day of that month. He was with the regiment all the time till we reached Danville, when he was taken ill, which resulted in his discharge June 20, 1865, a little in advance of that of the most of his fellows.
Comrade Litchard is a farmer in Rushford, Allegany county, and in 1897 was elected to the Assembly, and the compliment was repeated in 1898 by the largest majority ever given a candi- date in that district.
Alpheus K. Long .- This veteran was one of those who grew tired of the regiment's long stay in the defenses, and though a very efficient member of Company F and a corporal, he took the examinations for a commission in the colored service, and was successful, receiving his commission as 2d lieutenant Dec. 13. 1863, being assigned to Company H. 7th Infantry. He saw
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service with the regiment in Florida, South Carolina and Vir- ginia till Oct. 20, 1864, when he was detailed to serve on the staff of General Ulysses Doubleday of the 2d Brigade, 3d Divi- sion, 10th Army Corps. He came out of the service as brevet captain, having received special mention for meritorious service with his regiment in the field. He was in many engagements, and no doubt is willing to testify that the colored troops can and will fight.
After the surrender of Lee, he went with his regiment to Texas, about the time that Maximilian was making himself obnoxious there, and did effective duty till he was mustered out Oct. 13, 1866. He was twice wounded during these arduous years.
For some years resident in Manayunk, Penn., he has latterly been addressed in Pocomoke City, Md.
Archibald Lybolt .- After the regiment released him. Lybolt resumed his studies, and after a course in Union College was graduated from one of New York city's medical schools, and is now an M. D. in the upper part of the island.
Warham Mudge .- Our first chaplain was born May 12, 1822, in Guilford, Chenango county, N. Y., and received his theologi- cal instruction in Hamilton Theological Seminary, now Colgate University. He was of excellent New England stock, being the seventh generation from Jarvis Mudge, who came to Boston in 1638.
As a Baptist preacher, he served in Kendall, Tonawanda, Carlton and Palmyra, coming to the latter place in 1855, and here he was when the 138th was raised, and thence he departed to the chaplaincy of the regiment. When the rigors of the cam- paign had so far impaired his health as to lead to his resigna- tion, he returned to Palmyra, and there remained till 1866, when he went to Wilson, Niagara county. Subsequently he held pastorates in Belfast. Nunda, Olean, Deposit, Georgetown, Boonville, Parma and Richburg, where he died, Dec. 31, 1891. His body was buried in Olean.
The home life and relations of those whom we know are usually interesting. and it is in place to state that the future chaplain was married June 12. 1849, to Miss Sarah Ross of Medina. N. Y., and that to them were born three sons, Seldon J., Charles, and Linus T. The first named, a physician located in Olean, had attained a high place in his profession, but was cut
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off seemingly too early by death, April 19, 1899. He was a man meriting and receiving the thorough respect of the entire com- munity. The second son is a bookkeeper in the employ of the great James Pierce Leather Company, with salesrooms in Bos- ton and tannery in Olean. The third son is a lawyer and resides in North Tonawanda, N. Y. The mother survived the death of her husband only one week, dying the 6th of the following Jan- uary, and was buried by his side in Olean.
From the chaplain in uniform, a familiar figure in camp. to the village clergyman, attending to. his regular round of duties, the distance seems long, yet that is just the course followed by the large number of those who wore the shoulder-straps of religious advisers during the war. When the boys were well and hearty, few of them were particularly anxious for his ministrations, but when pain and anguish wrung the brow, then they welcomed him as a bearer of glad tidings. And now as the century nears its end, we lay a wreath of verbal immor- telles upon the grave of our chaplain, looking forward to a happy meeting beyond this turbulent world in a land that hath not wars nor even rumors thereof.
Michael McNulty .- Dwelling in Onondaga Hill, N. Y., he was born in Ireland in 1837, and, when ten years old, came to this country, locating in Lafayette, Onondaga county. In 1856 went to his present place of residence, working on a farm summers and attending district school winters. In 1857, '58 and '59 he took an academic course in Fort Plain Seminary, and then re- turned to the farm, where he has been ever since, save for the interruption of the war.
Leaving his farm and its interests in the care of his brother, he went into the service in 1863, coming home a 2d lieutenant. The lieutenant is another of those who, as farmers, labor at the very foundation of prosperity.
Hiram L. Munn .- A Lyons boy, he went out with Company D as a corporal, was promoted sergeant, and was one of those who fell into rebel hands at Monocacy.
After the war, he followed Horace Greeley's advice and went West. He is in the lumber business with his son in Ames, lowa.
Eben W. Newberry .- For a great many years Mr. N. has bren a resident of Wolcott, but he went to the war from Huron. where he was born, and where he received the beginning of his
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education, going thence for a time to Falley Seminary in Ful- ton, N. Y.
Returning from the war, having been a prisonerafter Monocacy for a time, he essaved farming in his native town, afterwards removing to Wolcott and starting a furniture business.
He has been prominent in local politics, figuring conspicuous- ly in the councils of the Republican party. A devoted G. A. R. man, he has held high positions in the Keeslar Post, and has been president of the Wayne County Veteran Association.
Crandall J. North .- Only a lad when the tide of war swept him into Company F, he came out of the strife a corporal, with an excellent reputation for doing his duty and for a manly, upright life.
Feeling it his duty to preach, he prepared for college, and then went down to Middletown, Conn., where in Wesleyan Uni- versity he pursued a four years' course, graduating in 1877.
Since that date, he has held a foremost place in the ranks of the New York East Conference of the Methodist church. At the end of a five years' stay as presiding elder of the New Haven district, he is now, 1899, enjoying a well-earned rest in a foreign trip, his wife, who was Miss Mary M. Evans of Auburn, accom- panying him.
John Oldswager .- A survivor of Company M writes: "He was of German nativity, and by trade was a carpenter and joiner. He won his promotion by good, honest service, and was a young man when the death-shot came. His head was shot away, all except the face, which was spread out flat on the ground. He was buried a short distance from where he fell, under a large locust tree. I was talking with him the night before Cedar Creek, and he said he should not live to go through another battle. He was a good. brave soldier."
Subsequently when the National Cemetery was laid out in Winchester, his body was removed to it, and now lies with those of so many of the Ninth who there
"Under the sod and the dew, await the judgment day."
Francis N. Parish .- Among the enterprising citizens of Churchville, town of Riga, Monroe county, N. Y., is this former member of Company M, and one of the most devoted adherents of its veteran organization, as may be seen by reference to its records.
He moved to the village immediately after coming home from
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the war, and, seemingly, he has had to do with its interests ever since. The people made him a trustee of the village at once, and for thirteen years kept him in that office, during eight of which he was president. For five years he was town clerk, and was once elected justice of the peace, though he declined to serve. Since 1893 he has been a notary public.
He is the proprietor of the Cottage Hotel, and if a picture counts for anything, said hotel must be a comfortable place in which to stay. At any rate it will pay all Ninth veterans to look their comrade up when they pass his way.
William I. Parrish .-- Every man who recalls the days of his army life will readily picture the manly form of Company M's last captain. His figure, reproduced in bronze, might stand as a type of the ideal American soldier. He was born in Alexan- der, N. Y., Feb. 18, 1834. He had excellent early advantages in the way of education, and had been a member of Hamilton College.
The war found him tilling ancestral acres, and when the call came to him, he went in as a sergeant in the 22d Independent Battery, later to become M Company of the Ninth. His promo- tion through the lieutenancies was deserved and in every way he made an excellent officer.
Coming home from the strife, he became sheriff of Genesee county, serving in this capacity from 1869 to 1872, when he went to Shiloh, Iowa, remaining till 1886, thence removing to Grundy in the same state, which was his home till a short time before his death.
He was married, in 1858, to Miss Sarah Squires of Alex- ander. Coming back to the old Genesee home in Alexander he died there May 30, 1891. When we who survive the fray lay our tribute of flowers on our comrade's grave each recurring Memorial day, let us remember the man who served with us and whose patriotic spirit returned to God who gave it on this the day sacred to the memories of Rebellion years.
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