USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The heroes of Albany. A memorial of the patriot-martyrs of the city and county of Albany, who sacrificed their lives during the late war in defense of our nation 1861-1865 > Part 19
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221
COL. LEWIS O. MORRIS.
and I think he loved me. The fact that I was a minister of the Gospel was no barrier to the freedom of his visits to me, both in my family and at my study. On my ministry, on the Sab- bath, morning and evening and during the week, he was a con- stunt attendant. On the subject of personal religion we conversed freely in private. I think I can say, then, with some confidence, that I knew him. And from his own lips I have had the declara- tion, months since, and with deep emotion: "There is nothing I wish so much as to be a Christian." So matters stood when I went down to the Army of the Potomac, nearly four weeks since, as a member of the Christian Commission. Two days after, Col. MORRIS and his command were ordered to the front. I saw him at Spottsylvania Court House when he joined the army; and as, by the singularly kind providence of God, we were thrown into the same corps, division and brigade, I either saw him or had news of him every day, until the last.
From the first he was in the front of the continuous fighting going on, and won for himself and his men the commendation of all. Gen. MEADE called them "veterans" in general orders. They were said to "fight like tigers." I do not like the expres- sion, but so soldiers speak. It was Col. MORRIS and his men of the Seventh, who, at the battle of Cold Harbor, on Friday morn- ing, June 3d, won the key of the rebel position, captured several pieces of artillery, and took four hundred prisoners. But, not being supported, they were compelled to abandon all but the prisoners. I know this to be so, for I was at the time close at hand, and heard the story from many of the actors and witnesses. This was Friday.
Saturday morning, early, Gen. BARLOW called on Col. MORRIS to make with him an examination of the position; he was then commanding the brigade. Our breastworks and the enemy's were but fifty yards apart. No one dared show himself on either side. The sharpshooters fired quickly at sight of a cap or a hand. The two started, Gen. BARLOW leading, hiding behind the breast- works, and dodging from rifle pit to rifle pit. In passing from one pit to another, Col. MORRIS for a moment was exposed, and received his wound. The ball struck him in the left shoulder,
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COL. LEWIS O. MORRIS.
ranging downward across the body, touching the spine in its progress, and entering the right lung. I think (but do not know) that he fell insensible. Dr. POMFRET and I soon heard of his wound, and ordered him brought to where we were-we could not go to him. He was brought in about ten o'clock, insensible, moaning and uttering incoherent sentences. Stimulants were administered, and the surgeons in attendance examined his wound. In about an hour consciousness came to him. He knew ns both. But his system did not rally. His body, below the wound, was paralyzed. He had no pain, but suffered much from nervous distress and difficulty in breathing. He began praying for mercy. I pointed him to Jesus Christ, and said, " Colonel, put your trust in Him." "I do, I do," he replied, "He is my only hope and trust." "Do you trust in him as your Saviour?" I asked. "Yes, I do." I wished to be sure that this was so, and, though I was weeping so I could scarcely speak, and his arm was on my neck, I reminded him of former conversations on the subject, and of what I had then said to him about saving faith in Jesus Christ, and asked him if he understood. He answered: "I understand. Jesus Christ is my only hope and trust. I do trust in him. I am going home to eternal rest with my Saviour." Such declarations as these were repeated again and again, mingled with messages of love to the dear ones who were absent, and requests to meet him in heaven. He was fully conscious of his condition, and ready, even anxious, to depart. At one o'clock his spirit de- parted, and, as I can not doubt, passed into the glory of the saints in light. When we undressed him we found his Testament in his pocket, and showing marks of use.
I hope that what I have written may, my dear friend, give you some satisfaction. I feel his loss deeply. He was as a brother to me. I loved him, and I think he loved me. I need not assure you then of my sympathy in your second great sor- row. But your hope is in the same Saviour in whom he trusted. May that Saviour mercifully, graciously and most abundantly sustain you. With profound respect and esteem, my dear friend, Yours truly, FREDERICK BROWN.
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COL. LEWIS O. MORRIS.
The "Albany Evemng Journal " gives the following tribute to the character of our departed hero, and also the account of his funeral:
"Col. MORRIS was no ordinary man. His mind, naturally vigorous, was strengthened by hard study, and enriched by libe- ral culture. Strong in will, yet winning in manners, he at once commanded the respect and affection of those under his command. Although a strict disciplinarian, he was idolized by his men. Cool in the hour of danger, self-possessed when the storm of battle raged fiercest, he inspired by his example, encouraged the timid and rebuked the cowardly. He was a stranger to fear, and died gloriously in the field and in the face of the rebel foe. He was an ardent patriot, loved the old flag more than he did life, and went into the war for its defence with his whole heart. In the bright roll of martyr-heroes which history will exhibit to the admiration of coming ages, few names will shine out with a serener splendor than that of Col. LEWIS O. MORRIS.
"June 11. Funeral of Col. MORRIS. The remains of this gallant young officer were conveyed from the residence of his brother-in-law, Dr. VANDERPOEL, to the North Dutch church, where the funeral exercises took place. They were conducted by the pastor, the Rev. RUFUS W. CLARK, and were solemn and impressive. Among those in attendance at the church were a few members of the Seventh Artillery, who were wounded in the recent campaign in Virginia, and who can now walk by the aid of crutches. At the conclusion of the services in the church, the remains were brought out and received with military honors by the Twenty-fifth Regiment, under command of Col. CHURCH. The remains of Col. MORRIS were then conveyed to the cemetery. The funeral escort consisted of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, pre- ceded by SCHREIBER's band. Then followed the funereal car, drawn by six gray horses, plumed. The coffin was covered by the flag for which he lost his life, and adorned with white roses. The bearers were Generals RATHBONE and VANDERPOEL, and Colonels BAKER, AINSWORTH, YOUNG and HARCOURT, flanked by a detachment of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, and followed by the horse of the deceased, led by his groom. The mourners were
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COL. LEWIS O. MORRIS.
followed by officers and soldiers of the army, who came hither to pay the last tribute of respect to the brave and lamented dead. The committee of arrangements and the mayor and common council followed in carriages. The streets through which the funeral cortege passed were crowded with spectators, and grief was depicted in almost every countenance."
225
COL. JAMES P. McMAHON.
X. COLONEL JAMES P. McMAHON.
PATRICK McMAHON, a native of Pallas Green, county Limerick, Ireland, with his wife and their three boys, JOHN E. MCMAHON, MARTIN T. McMAHON and JAMES P. MCMAHON, the subject of this sketch, emigrated to America in 1839. They first settled in Pennsylvania. There, the father being an intelligent and able man, obtained employment, as an engineer, on the public works of that State.
About the year 1852, he, being engaged as a contractor, in the construction of the New York and Erie Railroad, removed to the State of New York, settling in Cattaraugus county, where he afterwards became extensively engaged in the lumber business.
He gave to his three sons a good education, and all of them graduating at St. John's College, Fordham, near New York city. Each of this noble trio has proved himself worthy of the great paternal care and attention bestowed on their education. JOHN E. McMAHON was, at the age of twenty-one, Private Secretary of Gov. SEYMOUR, in 1854. At the breaking out of the war, he was in the successful practice of the law in Buffalo, New York, where in the fall of 1862, he engaged in raising troops for the CORCO- RAN Legion, which was to be commanded by Gen. MICHAEL COR- CORAN. He was, on the 8th of November, 1862, commissioned Colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers, and served in Virginia till his death, by disease contracted in the service, in the winter of 1863. He was a young man of brilliant talents and attainments.
The youngest brother, MARTIN T. McMAHON, having served as Private Secretary to Postmaster General CAMPBELL from 1853 to 1857, studied the profession of the law, and, about the year 1860,
15
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COL. JAMES P. McMAHON.
went to San Francisco, California, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession in copartnership with Ex-Governor JOHN B. WELLER. When the call to arms came for men to defend the Union, in 1861, he raised a company of volunteers and joined the Army of the Potomac, in the fall of that year, with the rank of Captain. He was soon appointed on the staff of General MCCLELLAN, and there remained till that General was relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac, when he was assigned to the position of Chief of Staff on General SEDGWICK'S staff, where he continued to serve till that gallant soldier's death, in May, 1864. He continued in the service till he was mustered out, after the close of the war, as Brevet Major General. After this period of four years service, he returned to the practice of his profession in New York city, where he is now Corporation Attorney, an office of great responsibility and importance, to which he was appointed for his worth, and the courage and patriotism that he and his family had displayed during the war. He is now only thirty-one years of age.
The other brother, Col. JAMES P. McMAHON, was born in the county of Wexford, Ireland, in the year 1836, and came with his parents, as already stated, to America in 1839. After graduating at St. John's College in 1852, he was engaged in assisting his father in the lumber business till 1856, when he removed to Albany and commenced the study of the law in the office of his uncle, MATTHEW MCMAHON, Esq., then a prominent member of the bar in Albany. He was admitted to practice in 1860. He remained with his uncle till the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861, when he prepared to enter the contest for the Union.
When in the summer of 1861, Gen. T. F. MEAGHAR commenced to raise the Irish Brigade, he at once went to New York city, raised a company, and joined the Sixty-ninth Regiment N. Y. Volunteers (known as the First Regiment of MEAGHAR's Brigade), with the rank of Captain.
After this regiment reached the front, Capt. McMAHON soon evinced great capacity and quick perception into military affairs, and was selected by Gen. MEAGHAR as his aid, in which position he acted for several months.
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COL. JAMES P. McMAHON.
In the battle of Fair Oaks, on the 1st of June, 1862, he received the thanks of his Brigadier General, and of his Division Com- mander, Maj. Gen. RICHARDSON, for his cool bravery and tact in bringing a portion of the brigade through a heavy fire, and securing for it a position of importance. As a recognition of his services in this battle, in which he killed and captured more of the enemy than his command, the brave RICHARDSON called him at the close of the day to take a place on his staff with the rank of Major. There he remained, accompanying the General through the Peninsula campaign, and being with him at the battle of Antietam, in which Gen. RICHARDSON fell mortally wounded. Gen. RICHARDSON was fondly attached to his young aid; and after he was wounded, the few days that he lingered, he insisted upon his remaining by his side till he died.
Shortly after the death of Gen. RICHARDSON, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Regiment New York Volunteers, which was raised at Buffalo by his brother, JOHN E. McMAHON, for the Corcoran Legion. On the 20th of March, 1863, Col. JOHN E. McMAHON, his brother, who was Colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers, and attached to the Corcoran Legion, dying, JAMES was at once appointed to the Colonelcy vacated by his brother's death. In April of this year (1863), he led the expe- dition on the Edenton road, near Suffolk, where he surprised and routed a much larger force than his own, comprising the Seven- teenth Regiment Virginia Infantry. He captured their garrison and equipments, and many prisoners, with a small loss to his own command.
About a week afterwards his regiment was in a second engage- ment on the Edenton road, repulsing the enemy and capturing a line of their works, his command being the only one engaged out of about ten thousand troops. For several days in May he was engaged in active skirmishing on the Blackwater. He was at the defence of Suffolk, Va., during the siege by the enemy under Gen. LONGSTREET. On the evacuation of it by our army, Col. McMAHON's command was the last to leave, forming the rear guard of the army.
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COL. JAMES P. MCMAHON.
The Legion was ordered thence to Portsmouth, where they remained till ordered to Centreville. For some four months, they were engaged in following and fighting MOSEBY's band, who were met by Col. McMAHON's Regiment at Snicker's Gap, and, after a hard fight, dispersed and many of them taken prisoners.
In May, 1864, the Legion was ordered to join the Second Army Corps in the Army of the Potomac, and marched with Gen. GRANT through the bloody battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, in which last-named battle Col. McMAHON lost one hundred and twenty-five men of his regiment. He continued to lead his small but heroic band till the battle of Cold Harbor, where the gallant young Colonel, while charging the enemy's works at the head of his command, fell on the ramparts of the enemy covered with many mortal wounds. At the time he had the colors in his own hands.
Col. McMAHON was devotedly loved by his men and officers. The Surgeon of his regiment, Dr. REGAN, of Brooklyn, when the word reached him that the Colonel had fallen, wept, and said he wished it had been himself instead of Col. McMAHON. On the day of the fall of this officer, it was impossible to bring off his body or reach the spot where he fell; but a few days after men from both armies visited the battlefield under a flag of truce, when a rebel officer informed Adjutant BEATTIE of the One Hun- dred and Sixty-fourth, where the body of his Colonel was buried. The rebel officer said : " We hated like the mischief to kill him, for he was a brave fellow. He was without immediate succor within near range of our guns, apparently wounded in the thigh. We repeatedly asked him to surrender, but he shook defiantly his sword and shouted ' Never !' He also shouted to his men to come on. We, therefore, had to fire on him and drive your fel- lows back."
This rebel officer also told Adjutant BEATTIE (since Colonel of the same regiment), that he had ordered him to be buried in a marked spot, where his friends might obtain his body. He pointed it out to the Adjutant, who removed the thin earth over it, and identified his lamented friend and Colonel, and brought
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COL. JAMES P. MCMAHON.
away with him some strips of his under-clothing as the only memento of his friend that he could obtain.
This hero's body is mingled with the sods of Virginia on the field where he fell, and no mark now designates his grave from the others that fill those bloody fields. His deeds simply told are his eulogy. He and his two brothers, assisted by their father and their unele, MATTHEW MCMAHON, Esq., of New York, raised for the Army of the Union, and took to the field, nearly two thousand of their countrymen. Alas ! how few returned ! Not one-fifth of them all !
After his death, Gen. MEAGHER, in writing to a New York paper of some of the officers who fell at this battle, says :
" Next came the news that McMAHON, planting his colors with his own hands on the enemy's works-planting them there with a boldness worthy of the grand and soldierly name that he bore, and whom perhaps the recollection of the Malakoff and its Irish conqueror may have inspired, was stricken down by the bullets he so splendidly defied. Who of the old brigade-the favorite brigade of Summer and Richardson-can forget the dashing, handsome, and indefatigable soldier, with his strictly defined features often illuminated with enthusiasm; sometimes express- ing the scorn and haughtiness of a true-blooded Celt; with a heart for hospitality; with a soul for glory; and hatred and sar- casm for what was mean, and a quick look and blow for what was treacherous ? Who ean forget his fine bearing, erect and grace- ful; the decisive character of his intellect; his high sense of honor; his physical activity-all those healthy and superior gifts which made him a soldier at the start, and qualified him, even in the first hours of boyhood, to be a fit exponent of his martial race and kindred ? Who ean forget all this, whenever that grand picture of McMAHON planting the colors of his regiment in the face of the fire storm, and foot to foot with the desperate foe, is spoken of in the camp by the survivors of the Irish Brigade of the Army of the Potomac ?"
A few words more will close the story of this brave man and patriot soldier. His pure Christian character deserves a remark. Amid all the temptations of camp life, he never for a day forgot
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COL. JAMES P. MCMAHON.
to bend his knee to the God of battles. He was a sincere and devoted member of the church of his fathers.
Ilis father, who was most ardently devoted to his children, at the time of Col. JOHN E. McMAHON's death, was laboring under a severe indisposition, and the sad and early death of his first- born and noble boy, it is thought, hastened his death, which soon succeeded that of JOHN.
There are now left of this family Major General MARTIN McMAHON and three younger sisters-their mother having died many years ago. Few families can furnish a prouder and more honorable record of services to their country, than that to which the subject of this sketch belongs. Honor to the memory of the gallant and patriotic brothers who died for their country, and respect to him who, though living, served his country no less faithfully, but was more fortunate in surviving to behold the restoration of peace and the Union, for which they all periled life and everything that they held dear on earth.
231
COL. JAMES D. VISSCHER.
XI. COL. JAMES D. VISSCHER.
COLONEL VISSCHER was the son of JOHN V. S. and ELEANOR VISSCHER, and was born in Albany, March 26th, 1829.
In childhood he was remarkable for his good conduct and kindness of heart. He was hopefully converted at the first union prayer meetings held in the North Pearl Street Baptist Church, and united with that church under Dr. Hague. At the time of his enlistment he was in the employ of Messrs. WEED, PARSONS & Co., and was highly esteemed by all who knew him.
He felt it to be the duty of every young American citizen to give their service to their country, and he was among the first who responded to the call for volunteers after the fall of Fort Sumter. In April, 1861, he left home with the Burgesses Corps, of which he was a member, to join the Twenty-fifth Regiment New York State Militia, then at Arlington Heights, Va., and was with them in crossing the Long bridge into Virginia. He returned with the regiment after three months service, and remained at home for one year very reluctantly. All that deterred him from re-enlisting was the thought of leaving his aged mother alone. He felt it would be breaking up his home forever, as he was the only child remaining with her, one brother being already in the field with the Forty-fourth New York State Volunteers.
At last he decided that it was his duty to take an active part in the struggle for the right, and the rest he would leave to God. He knew in whom he trusted. He enlisted in a company to be attached to the Forty-third Regiment New York Volunteers, then in the field, and took command of company G., Sept 4th, 1862.
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COL. JAMES D. VISSCHER.
He was in all the engagements with the regiment until the time of his death. After the battles of the Wilderness he was pro- moted to the Coloneley of the regiment, May 12th, 1864. He was loved and respected by his officers and men for his soldierly conduct and Christian virtues.
Ile was killed by a bullet from a sharpshooter in the attack on Fort Stevens, Washington, July 12th, 1864. He breathed but a few moments. " My poor mother, God help her," were his last words. He never went into an engagement without com- mitting himself to his Heavenly Father. His body was embalmed and sent home, and was buried with military honors from the church of which he was a member. His remains now rest with his kindred in the Albany Rural Cemetery.
The following is an extract from the last letter that he wrote to his mother:
NEAR PETERSBURG, July 1, 1864.
Ilaving a few spare moments from duty, I take the opportu- nity of writing. I thank God that he has preserved JOHN and myself amid all the dangers through which we have passed. I trust all the future to Him, and hope, my dear mother, you will pray for us, that God will spare us to return. But if it is Ilis will that either of us should be taken, may we all meet in heaven. With love, your affectionate son, J. D. V.
The following remarks were made at the funeral of Col. JAMES D. VISSCHER, by the Rev. C. D. M. BRIDGMAN:
" Of those whose names have given to the Forty-third Regiment an historic interest-whose deeds have illumined its progress, is that of JAMES D. VISSCHER, so recently promoted to its colo- nelcy, so suddenly released from its honorable duties, for the glory which they wear and the rest which they inherit who go upward from the midst of tribulation, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. At the com- mencement of our civil strife he gladly went to the field of duty with the military organization with which he was earliest con- nected-the Twenty-fifth Regiment-and received his equal share of the honors awarded it. On its return, after a brief term of
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service, he decided to enlist a company of his own, and threw himself promptly, laboriously, into the work. No argument, no appeal, could uproot his deep conviction or break the force of his high resolve. He seemed, as he bent inward, to have heard a call in his own soul to which it behooved him to give most earnest heed. He saw everything dear and valuable in life and society on these shores at stake; and though loving those who, in a great measure, were dependent on him, with a rare devo- tion, the spirit that was abroad in the air entered into and pos- sessed his soul. A higher breath than kindred and blood can impart, from God and the time, blew through his breast till it made the music there of the trumpet-stop. So was he stirred from within to mix in this conflict of the land and age. So did he assume his martial aspect, and the voice we had so often heard in our Sabbath praises sunk to a deeper tone and mingled into the grander diapason of a nation's righteous wrath.
" Unlike so many who have gone away from the restraints of home and from daily converse with those who were their defence against wickedness and shame, he bore himself commendably, and, amongst the temptations which gather so thickly in the camp, illustrated, to a high degree, the strength which flows from a Christian's faith.
" It was my privilege, a little more than a year ago, to visit his regiment in Virginia; and, while there, I witnessed a scene that will always live in my remembrance. It was on a warm and cheerful Sabbath morning, when, the usual inspection being over, martial music sounded through the little valley along which the regiment was encamped, summoning us, by its solemn strains, to the usual religious services. As we gathered to the slope on which such services were usually observed, we saw two persons in that company whom we never more will meet on earth-our brethren WILSON and VISSCHER. The hymns were borne upward chiefly on their voices; and when I addressed the regiment and gazed into those two hearkening faces, it was with gratitude to God that their lives were not in contradiction with their pastor's words. Again, in the hospital, they stood with me in the eve- ning of that day, leading our praises in that quiet hour, and lend-
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COL. JAMES D. VISSCHER.
ing to us, as to their Chaplain they had always done, the voice of their authority. I gratefully recall those scenes to-day; for they serve to illustrate what companions have affirmed of both, that they maintained a Christian bearing during their absence from us, and help to confirm our faith that death to them was only translation to the sceneries and blessedness of the heavenly estate.
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