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 36
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136
CAPT. DOUGLASS LODGE.
the rank of First Lieutenant, and, on the 3d of November in the same year, was again promoted to the position of Captain. He was with his regiment in all the hard-fought battles, from the time it went into service until after the battle of Antietam, never being absent from it a single day. It is noticeable in his letters to his father, which were brief, that he made no complaints, but with a firm hope of the ultimate success of the army in putting down the rebellion, waited and fought with patience throughout the campaign.
The army, under General MCCLELLAN, reached Yorktown in April, 1862, where it worked hard and long against the enemy's fortifications. The Forty-third Regiment was divided into com- panies that did picket duty, threw up breastworks in the face of the enemy's guns, and supported the artillery. Afterwards they were ordered to Lee's Mills. From thence the regiment marched to Williamsburg, a distance of fifteen miles, in one day. Here they laid on their arms all the following night, and the next morning acted as a support to that portion of the army under General HOOKER who attacked and routed the enemy. The regi- ment then moved on to Fair Oaks, thence to Seven Pines, and, at last, reached the swamps of the Chickahominy, where they lay for some time in view almost of the city of Richmond. Here they endured much suffering.
On the 27th of June, 1862, when the army was retiring from before Richmond, his regiment was drawn up in line of battle all day. The enemy with a heavy force, attempted to turn its position, with a view probably of cutting off the retreat of Gen. PORTER across the Chickahominy. The regiment held the right of the line, resting on the above named river, with two regiments from Vermont-to support if necessary; and for an hour and a half it was subjected to an incessant and terrifie fire of musketry. Yet it stood its ground and the enemy suffered severely, and at length was obliged to retire. Our army passed on safely to Malvern Hill, on the James River. After the army returned to the Potomac, Capt. LODGE was, with his regiment, ordered from Alexandria to the Shenandoah Valley to reinforce
437
CAPT. DOUGLASS LODGE.
Gen. POPE, at which time the brave and fearless Gen. KEARNEY was killed.
From thence across the Potomac into Maryland, the regiment marched to the bloody battle of Antietam. Here again the soldier boy was at his post of duty and danger, supporting a battery which was doing fearful execution among the enemy. While thus engaged, he and his company were compelled to lie flat on their faces, around and in front of the pieces, for several hours. While the shot and shell flew thick and fast, an order came for Company A to charge at double quick across the con- tested field, in an oblique direction, towards a house that sheltered part of the enemy. The shot from our own and the enemy's guns, was so near the ground, that while doing this, they were obliged to bend almost double in order to save themselves; but regardless of danger, they charged and secured the coveted place, holding it until night threw her dark mantle over that dreadful day's work. Then they rested, and though in the pre- sence of so much agony, and surrounded by such ghastly sights, they laid down on that field of death, and slept as none but soldiers could.
The army having been reorganized, under the command of Gen. BURNSIDE, was marched to Fredericksburg, where a des- perate effort was made to disloge the enemy, but without success. When Gen. HOOKER took command, a second attack was made by the Light Division, which was composed of the Forty-third regiment, and several others under the command of Gen. PRATT. Then they succeeded in storming and taking Marye's Heights, back of the city. On May 3d, 1863, while making that des- perate charge, Capt. LODGE was struck on the sword belt plate and knocked down; but soon recovering his breath, he went up to his command, and continued charging up the hill, in face of a terrible hail of bullets from the enemy. His regiment had the right of the line, and his company (A) the right of the regiment. Quoting from a letter sent to his father after this fight, " now commenced an exciting race between the gallant Sixth Maine, Fifth Wisconsin, and our (Forty-third) regiment, to see which could get their colors in first. The brave Sixth Maine succeeded
438
CAPT. DOUGLASS LODGE.
in planting their colors in the fort on the left of us. Scarcely had their standard touched the ground, ere Capt. LODGE sprang upon the ramparts on our right, and planted our colors on the redoubt which we had stormed and carried. Then cheer after cheer was echoed and re-echoed from our regiment on the rebel fort, to the batteries on the hill in front of them."
Again the regiment rested until the next morning, when they were ordered to skirmish beyond these heights. Capt. LODGE deployed his company, and moved through a deserted rebel camp, when the rebels, in ambush, opened a heavy fire upon his inen. Ile gave his orders calmly, as a soldier should, until he was seen to throw up his arms and fall with a faint moan; a ball from the enemy struck him on the left temple. It was more than a man's life was worth just then, to go and recover him. His men waited until there was a lull in the firing, and then crept in on their hands and knees, to where their Captain lay, and brought him out to the rear. He was sensible at times for twenty-four hours, when death put an end to his pain.
Thus ended the earthly career of the boy soldier. Though but twenty years old, he had all the experience of a veteran of several years, having passed through the several grades, from a private to senior Captain of his company.
Just before the regiment was ordered to that desperate yet successful charge on Marye's Heights, he called his First Lieuten- ant to him and said: "Lieut. DAVIDSON, I feel that this may be my last fight. I have been thinking so much of home and my sick mother; I wish I was with her. If I should fall, promise me that you will see that my body is sent home to my father; and if you should be taken, I will do the same for you." He called his company together before receiving orders to move, and told them what they were expected to do. " Boys," said he, "I want you to follow me in the fight; if I fall, then obey the next in command." And nobly they did follow their young Cap- tain, for when the regiment came out of the conflict, it had lost two hundred and four enlisted men, and eleven officers in killed, wounded and missing.
In the concluding part of the letter previously quoted, the
439
CAPT. DOUGLASS LODGE.
writer says: "The lamented Capt. LODGE now rests in peace; his soul has gone to Heaven to form one of the Christian band who have died for their country. May their blood cement the Union stronger in the bonds of love. He died beloved by all his men. There was not a dry eye in the company when they heard their Captain was no more."
His body was brought home, and now rests with that of. his sainted mother (who soon followed him) in our cemetery. The mother and the soldier boy she loved so much, though parted on earth for a time, are at last united in Heaven, where there is an eternal peace.
440
CAPT. JOHN A. MORRIS.
XXXV. CAPTAIN JOHN ARTHUR MORRIS.
THE subject of this sketch was born in the city of Albany, Ang. 31, 1835. The names of his parents are SAMUEL MORRIS and ELIZ- ABETH MASON. He was baptized in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, by Bishop KiPr, then of Albany, now of California. An affec- tionate son and brother, intelligent and generous, he grew into manhood with the affection of all around him. His social vir- tues and manly character, with his fine musical abilities, drew many a friend to him. He was a bookbinder by trade, and ex- celled in that department. Being an active member of the Washington Continentals, Co. B, at the commencement of the war, he took an active part in endeavoring to organize the Tenth Regiment National Guards, and urging the Government to accept their services. But finding this a hopeless case, he took the first opportunity presented of entering the service.
On the issuing of General Order No. 52, dated Head-quarters State of New York, A. G. O., Albany, July 7th, 1862, he com- menced recruiting for the Tenth Ward company, of the "Albany County Regiment," and was mustered in First Lieutenant, Com- pany C, August 7th, 1862. Upon a vacancy occurring in the regiment, he was made Captain, August 19th, 1862, the day the regiment left Albany.
The regiment, originally an infantry, was changed to Seventh Heavy Artillery (One Hundred and Thirteenth), and was engaged in garrison duty, in several of the fortifications in the vicinity of Washington, and finally ordered to the front. They were assigned to Gen. TYLER's Division, and on Thursday, May 19th, 1864. the rebels attempted to reach the rear of the right flank of Gen. GRANT's army, when they were met by Gen. TYLER's
441
CAPT. JOHN A. MORRIS.
forces. After a severe battle, in which the Seventh and Second bore the most conspicuous part, the rebels were repulsed and forced to abandon their bold attempt. The Second and Sev- enth, it is said, fought with the utmost fearlessness and courage.
Capt. MORRIS was faithful as a commander, and served con -. stantly in the regiment until May 19th, 1864, the day upon which he met his death. The regiment was sent into battle, and after charging through a wood and across an open field, the command was halted on the top a ridge, back of the line of fire, and then ordered to lie down. The men had dropped down, and Capt. MORRIS, while exposed to the enemy's fire, was shot by a bullet from the rifle of a rebel sharpshooter, which pierced his heart. He died without a struggle, on the field of Spottsylvania, Va. He was buried the next morning, at or near the division hospi- tal, by Chaplain CALDER. His remains were brought to Albany, by his brother, in the fall of 1865, and buried in the Rural Cemetery, with military honors. Company B, Tenth N. G., and returned members of Seventh Artillery New York Volunteers formed the escort.
Capt. MonRis was a man of strict integrity and high moral character. His comrades in arms, among whom is Capt. GEORGE H. TREADWELL, of the same regiment, unite in pronouncing him a devoted patriot, a brave and faithful soldier; while friends in civil life bear with them the consoling thought that he acted a noble part in life, and leaves a fragrant memory behind him.
At a meeting of Protection Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, of which he was a member, among the resolutions adopted were the following:
Whereas, We have received the sad intelligence of the death of our esteemed fellow member, Capt. JOIIN A. MORRIS, of the Seventh New York Artillery, while bravely leading his command into action in the engagement near Spottsylvania Court House, on Thursday, May 19, 1864; therefore,
Resolved, That though we feel assured that he willingly offered up his life on the altar of his country, and died where his gallant nature prompted-at the post of duty, facing the enemies of his country, and in the hour of victory-yet the pride
4.12
CAPT. JOHN A. MORRIS.
we feel in his devoted patriotism is mingled with sadness for the loss of a comrade, whose generous nature, social virtues and manly character endeared him to all.
Resolved, That in the death of Captain JOHN A. MORRIS, the country loses a devoted patriot and a brave soldier, and this com- pany one of its most active and useful members, who, since its organization, had been foremost in everything that contributed to advance its interests; and that while we view with admiration the noble example he has left us, we deeply deplore his early death.
M. HIGGINS, President.
R. T. BRIGHTMAN, Secretary. ALBANY, N. Y., May 23, 1864.
443
CAPT. JOHN McGUIRE.
XXXVI. CAPTAIN JOHN McGUIRE.
ON the 15th of April, 1865, just as the great southern rebellion was breathing its last breath, Captain JOHN McGUIRE, of the . One Hundred and Seventy-fifth New York Regiment, after having escaped the perils of many battles during three years' service, was killed by guerrillas, about twenty-five miles from Golds- borough, N. C., while in the performance of his duty.
Captain McGUIRE was born in the town of Belturbet, county Cavan, Ireland, in the year 1829, of poor but pious parents. His father died while JOHN was a child, and, in 1845, his widowed mother and JOHN with his sister, now dead, came to Albany.
Soon after their arrival in Albany, in 1846, JOHN procured employment in the store of Mr. KERR, who formerly kept at the corner of Pearl and Howard street. There he remained, helping to support his mother, till April, 1861, when the summons eame for the militia to hasten to the Capital to defend it against the rebels. JOHN was a Sergeant of the Albany Worth Guards, a company of the Twenty-fifth Regiment New York Militia, com- manded by Colonel BRYAN. On the 22d of April, 1861, he left his employment and served with that regiment during its first three months campaign in Virginia. During his absence in Vir- ginia, his poor mother died, and he procured a furlough to come to Albany to bury her.
He left his situation at Mr. KERR's, at a great sacrifice, to obey the call of his country.
Upon the return of this regiment to Albany, he procured employment in a clothing house in New York, at a good salary, where he remained till June, 1862, when the Twenty-fifth Regi- ment New York Militia was, a second time, ordered to Virginia
4.14
CAPT. JOHN MCGUIRE.
by Gov. MORGAN. He joined them, and was at once appointed, by Colonel BRYAN, Sergeant Major of the regiment, which posi- tion he filled with credit. Upon the return of the regiment to Albany, in September, 1862, he at once joined the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Regiment New York Volunteers, which Colonel BRYAN was then raising at Albany, and was appointed First Lieu- tenant, and afterwards promoted to Captain, in the same organ- ization. He served with Colonel BRYAN till the Colonel's fall, at the attack on Port Hudson.
After the capture of Port Hudson, his regiment was ordered to the Shenandoah valley, where he served under General SHERI- DAN. He remained with the army of the Potomac till LEE'S sur- render, when he was sent to North Carolina, where he fell, pierced with three balls, two through the breast and one through the head.
He leaves no father or mother, brother or sister, wife or child to mourn his untimely end. But he leaves in Albany, and where- ever he was known, those whose eyes will fill with tears as the tidings of his death reaches them.
Captain McGUIRE was a model young man. Surrounded by temptation, he was never known to take a glass of strong drink, or utter a profane word. In his manners and in his intercourse with all, he was a gentleman and had a kind word for every one. He lived a devoted and humble Christian, an honor to the religion of his fathers. He was an intelligent, accomplished and brave soldier, and died, a warm patriot, in the service of his adopted country. Though he loved with enthusiasm the scenes of his native land, and hoped that he might one day aid in erecting the flag of freedom and independence over the graves of his fathers and kindred, still he proved by his acts that he was ready at all times with his life, to maintain the honor of his adopted country.
445
CAPT. NATIIANIEL WRIGHT.
XXXVII. CAPTAIN NATHANIEL WRIGHT.
CAPTAIN WRIGHIT was born in the State of Ohio, in Kirtland, Lake County. In 1853, when about seventeen years of age, he came to Albany, to act as clerk in the store of his uncle, the late NATHANIEL WRIGHT; in whose employ he continued until the death of his uncle. Afterwards he was in the employ of his suc- cessors, Messrs. WOODWARD & HILL, until he offered his services in the cause of his country.
Although not a professor of religion, he was a young man of good moral character, strict integrity, generous impulses, and was beloved in an unusual degree by those who enjoyed his acquaintance. In fact, there was something peculiar in his frank and yet reserved and quiet manner, that inspired a very warm friendship, so that " NATTY," as he was familiarly called, could always count upon the aid of his friends.
His peculiar personal popularity was evinced by his success in recruiting his company at perhaps the most difficult time during the war; and it was evidently appreciated by his superior officers, as he was sent back to Albany to recruit the regiment, when the Government decided to make of it a heavy artillery regiment.
As to his motives in volunteering, I feel confident they were those of the purest patriotism: and this is confirmed by the fact that his services were so highly valued and so promptly rewarded by his advancement, both in position and salary.
He was mustered in the service of the United States, August 11th, 1862, as First Lieutenant, Battery F, Seventh Regiment, N. Y. V. Artillery, Col. LEWIS O. MORRIS. He was first stationed at Fort Pennsylvania, and afterwards at Fort Reno, where he
446
CAPT. NATHANIEL WRIGHT.
remained until May 15th, 1864, when he was ordered with the regiment to report to Gen. MEADE in the Army of the Potomac. Arriving at Spottsylvania about midnight, May 17th, they were assigned to the Second Army Corps, Gen. HANCOCK. After par- ticipating in the following desperate engagements: Fredericks- burg Road, May 19; North Auna River, May 23d and 24th; Tolopotomy Creek, May 31st and June Ist; Coal Harbor, June 3d to 10th; Petersburg, June 16th; Petersburg affair, June 224; Deep Bottom, July 26th and 27th; Deep Bottom, August 12th to 18th; he was killed at Ream's Station, August 25th, 1864, and as our forces were driven back, his body fell into the hands of the enemy. He was shot through the body, and as Major MURPHY raised him up, he stretched out his hand, and grasping the hand of the Major held it until he expired. He died like a hero, without a murmur, and deserves a far more extended sketch than this brief tribute.
447
CAPT. JOHN SULLIVAN.
XXXVIII. CAPTAIN JOHN SULLIVAN.
THIS brave young man was born in the town of Belturbet, county Cavan, Ireland, in the year 1837, and was the son of ANN and FRANCIS SULLIVAN, who are still living in Ireland. The father of JOHN was a small farmer, and possessed of too limited means to be able to do more for his children than give them a good common education, and then leave them to seek their for- tunes as best they could.
At the age of nineteen, JOHN emigrated to America, and came at once to Albany, N. Y., and entered the employ of Mr. MICHAEL CRUMMEY, his brother-in-law, as a baker.
Soon after he came to Albany he joined the Albany Mont- gomery Guards. He took great interest in the improvement of the company in discipline and efficiency, and became an excellent soldier himself. On the breaking out of the rebellion, this com- pany being attached to the Twenty-fifth Regiment New York Militia, he was ordered with that regiment to the defence of the National Capital, and on the 22d of April, 1861, he left Albany with his company, as Orderly Sergeant, and served three months, when he was mustered out, the term of service of the regiment having expired.
In September, 1861, he joined the Sixty-third Regiment New York Volunteers, and was, upon the organization of that regi- ment, appointed First Lieutenant of Company K. He was at once ordered to Virginia, where his command was assigned to Gen. MEAGHER'S Irish Brigade. He passed through the cam- paigns of the Army of the Potomae, in 1862, in Virginia, being engaged in most of the battles fought under Gen. MCCLELLAN, from Yorktown to Richmond.
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CAPT. JOHN SULLIVAN.
At the battle of Antietam he was in command of his company, and fought with great gallantry, losing more than half of his men, killed and wounded, and all the officers of his company.
Ile was soon after promoted to the position of Captain, and next fought at the battle of Fredericksburg, where, on the 19th of December, 1862, he fell mortally wounded, just as the fight was closing. He died on the 21st of December. His remains were brought to Albany, where he was buried with military honors.
In his native land, and during his residence in Albany, Capt. Stuurvax bore an irreproachable character, and was greatly esteemed by his associates, and respected by all who knew him. He was a sincere and devoted Christian, and received, at his death, the consolations of the faith of his fathers.
Ilis love and affection for his parents were conspicuous even in his last moments, when he remembered them with words of tenderness in his dying prayer.
Such is the brief history of one of our adopted citizens, who laid down his life to preserve and perpetuate the American Republic. All honor to his memory!
The following account of this gallant officer appeared at the time in one of our papers:
" The circumstances attending the death of this gallant and much regretted officer are peculiarly afllicting. He had escaped without a scratch the bloody field of Antietam, and in the terri- ble slaughter before the enemy's works back of Fredericksburg, he also escaped uninjured; but while marching at the head of the remnant of his regiment, in the afternoon of this fatal day, it was ordained that he should fall. He was struck on the upper part of the right thigh, by a round shot (twelve-pounder), shock- ingly fracturing the bone, rendering amputation impossible. He was told by the attending surgeon that he must die; that if the limb was disjointed at the hip, he could not survive the operation. He received the solemn announcement with the courage and firm- ness for which he was distinguished in the fearful ordeals he had passed through, and declared he would not consent to lose the limb, but " would prefer to die with both legs on." He lived
CAPT. JOHN SULLIVAN. 449
about fifty hours after receiving his wound, when his gallant spirit forsook its frail tenement, and sped its way to brighter realms. No officer in the Irish Brigade was more sincerely loved or respected than Capt. JOHN SULLIVAN. By his cheerful and unassuming manners he endeared himself to all, and in the Sixty- third Regiment his loss is deeply and sincerely deplored. His body was embalmed, and his friends telegraphed to of the melan- choly event. His relative, Mr. MICHAEL CRUMMEY, immediately proceeded to the camp, near Falmouth, to perform the melancholy duty of taking it home. The respect he was held in by the bri- gade was evinced by their spontaneous turn out at his funeral. The remnant of the officers and men of the Sixty-ninth, Eighty- eighth, Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, One Hundred and Sixteenth Pennsylvania and Sixty-third, formed the escort from the camp to the cars. The following officers acted as pall-bearers: Capt. SAUNDERS, commanding Sixty-ninth, and Quartermaster SULLIVAN, same regiment; Capt. MCNAMARA, commanding One Hundred and Sixteenth; Capt. SMITHI, commanding Eighty-eighth, and Capts. CARTWRIGHT and GLEESON, of the Sixty-third. Lieut. Col. CART- WRIGHT, and officers of the Twenty-sixth Massachusetts, were among the others of the brigade who followed in the sad cortege, testifying by their presence their admiration of the gallant dead, and sympathy with their brothers of the Sixty-third, in the loss of a true and brave soldier."
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450
CAPT. ROBERT B. EVERETT.
XXXIX.
CAPTAIN ROBERT BARTLETT EVERETT.
CAPTAIN ROBERT BARTLETT EVERETT was born on the 17th of May, 1824, at New London, N. H. At an early age he removed with his parents to this State, and up to the date of his enlist- ment resided in Watervliet engaged in agricultural pursuits.
On the 8th of October, 1862, he was mustered into the United States service as Captain of Company F, Thirtieth Regiment New York State Volunteers. The regiment was then in the field, having served out about one year and a half of its three-year term. He joined the regiment early in the fall of 1862, and was present at the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and several minor engagements. At the time the Thirtieth Regiment was mustered out, Captain Everett, with his company was trans- ferred to the Seventy-sixth Regiment New York State Volunteers, in which organization he remained until the time of his death.
Captain EVERETT was killed on the 1st of July, 1863, at the battle of Gettysburg, while leading his command into action. Ile was struck in the head by a Minnie ball and killed instantly. His body was never recovered, as our troops were obliged to fall back from the spot, and there was no mark to distinguish the grave.
451
CAPT. ROBERT H. BELL.
XL. CAPTAIN ROBERT H. BELL.
ROBERT H. BELL was born in England, Lancashire, of English descent. He came to this country when about nineteen years old, and was a resident of Philadelphia for a number of years. He then married and came to this city. He was a wood-carver by profession, and was connected with the Fire Department. For some time previous to the breaking out of the rebellion, he was Foreman of Company No. 8. At the commencement of the rebellion, when the Twenty-fifth Regiment responded to the call for troops, he left his home and friends to join in defending his .adopted country. He served at. first as a private in the ranks of Company K, of Twenty-fifth Regiment. At the end of three months he returned to his home and friends, and resumed his occupation.
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