USA > New York > Essex County > The military and civil history of the county of Essex, New York : and a general survey of its physical geography, its mines and minerals, and industrial pursuits, embracing an account of the northern wilderness > Part 22
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military organization of the state, have been enlightened by the invaluable report of Adjutant General Marvin, 1868. For a copy of the work, I am indebted to the courtesy of HIon. Smith M. Weed.
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vice, without the advantages of any adequate drilling, and was hurried into the peninsula campaign before the habits of the troops were adapted to field duty, and while they were yet unacclimated. Company G marched from Fort- ress Monroe, comprising more than seventy combatants, and when it entered the conflict at Fair Oaks, it retained only eighteen men fit for duty. The remainder had been stricken down by diseases incident to hard service and a malarious climate. This fact illustrates the general con- dition of the regiment, the efficiency of which was also deeply impaired for a season, by dissensions among its officers. A number of the subordinates had resigned from this and other causes. Captain Weed, immediately previous to Fair Oaks, was compelled by severe sickness, to relinquish his command, and Lieutenant Newman, who was discharged in May, 1862, had already left the regiment.1
The company for a time was in charge of Orderly Ser- geant Patrick English, and was ultimately consolidated with Company C of Clinton county.
Major Kelly was killed in a picket skirmish, immediately before the battle of Fair Oaks. In that action the losses of the Ninety-sixth regiment were extremely severe. The services of the regiment, throughout the peninsula cam- paign, were marked by great perils and hardships, and eli- cited from General Peck, the commander of the division, warm and unusual encomiums. It was afterwards ordered to Suffolk, enduring all the trials and sufferings of that field, and was subsequently engaged in the North Carolina expedition, and gallantly participated in all the hard ser- vices of that vigorous campaign. In the battle of Kingston, December 14th, 1862, Colonel Grey, who had already, although a youth of twenty-four, achieved a brilliant fame, was killed while charging at the head of the regiment over
1 Lieutenant Newman afterwards joined a Maryland regiment, and re- mained in the service during the war. Captain Weed, after his health was restored, enlisted as a private in the Ninety-third New York Volunteers, and did not return to civil life until the spring of 1865.
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the bridge on the Neuse, and in the act of planting its standard upon the enemy's works. Three weeks before, in presenting a new flag to the Ninety-sixth, he had uttered a glowing and eloquent tribute to its old flag, and now this enveloped his coffin, as his remains were borne from his last battle-field to its resting place among his familiar mountains. That venerated flag is deposited in the military bureau. After this event the Ninety-sixth regiment was for a short term under the command of Colonel Mckenzie.
Early in 1864, the regiment was transferred to the army of the James before Petersburg, and attached to the same brigade with which the One Hundred and Eighteenth was connected. It was incorporated with the eighteenth and afterwards with the twenty-fourth corps. The Ninety-sixth was engaged in all the subsequent operations of the eigh- teenth corps. At Coal Harbor, and the assault on Fort Harrison its casualties were appalling. In the attack upon Fort Harrison, the Ninety-sixth and the Eighth Connecti- cut formed the assaulting columns, with the One Hundred and Eighteenth New York, and Tenth New Hampshire on their flanks as skirmishers. The division approached the works in close order, and in a distance of fourteen hundred yards was exposed to a plunging and galling fire of artil- lery and musketry.1
It steadily advanced to the base of the hill, which was crowned by the enemy's work. Here the column, exhausted by its rapid progress, paused. The enemy per- ceiving the point of attack were meanwhile pouring reen- forcements into the menaced works. The crisis was imminent, and General Stannard commanding the division sent an earnest order for an instant assault.2 The head of the column charged up the hill, and scaling the parapet,
ª Gen. Stannard's Report.
2 General Stannard claims that this order was carried by Captain Kent his aid. Other authorities state that it was communicated from General Burnham by Lieutenant Campbell, of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, who was on his staff. Perhaps the orders were .coincident .- Butler's Ad- dress to the Army of the James.
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drove the enemy from their guns. Sergeant Lester Archer of the Ninety-sixth and the color bearer of the Eighth Con- necticut, simultaneously planted their respective regimental flags upon the ramparts. The Rev. Nathan Wardner, chaplain of the Ninety-sixth, charged with his regiment in the advancing columns, prepared to administer spiritual consolation on the very field of carnage.1 The captured guns of the fort were turned upon the retreating enemy with terrible effect. The Ninety-sixth was conspicuous in opposing the repeated, resolute and desperate attempts of the rebels to recover this important position.2 The death or wounds of four superiors, placed Colonel Cullen of the Ninety-sixth, at the close of this sanguinary battle, in com- mand of the division.
The Ninety-sixth continued near Fort Harrison in camp with its brigade, after the capture of that work, until the 24th of October, when the entire division, marched against Fort Richmond, at Fair Oaks. It bivouacked that night, about three miles from the fort. While the skirmishing party of the One Hundred and Eighteenth was engaged in the perilous and hopeless assault of the enemy's line, the next morning the Ninety-sixth, in common with the remain- der of the division, stood idle spectators of the slaughter of those troops, although little doubt now exists, that a combined and energetic attack of the fort, when the One Hundred and Eighteenth advanced and while it was occu- pied by a force wholly inadequate to its defense, would have secured a glorious success. A designed feint had been converted into a real and sanguinary assault, and the character of this bloody field, conspicuous for its profitless and murderous losses, was only redeemed by the valor of the troops.
For two long and trying hours, after the repulse of the One Hundred and Eighteenth, the residue of the division
1 Butler's Address.
2 I more particularly describe these events in noticing the services of the One Hundred and Eighteenth on the occasion.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
stood under arms, in front of the enemy's lines, with no orders, either to advance or retreat, while the rebels were observed, eagerly rushing troops into the fort, on foot and upon horseback. Horses were constantly perceived hurry- ing up at their highest speed, bearing three riders, and as they approached the works, two leaping from the horse would enter the fort, while the third returned at the same speed, to bear back another freight of defenders. At length, when the lines by this delay had been rendered impregnable to an attack, the division was madly hurled upon the works. It was bloodily repulsed. The casual- ties of the Ninety-sixth were in the highest degree severe. Its last colonel, Stephen Moffit, of Clinton county, who continued in the command until the regiment was dis- banded, lost a leg in this action, while gallantly leading in the fruitless and disastrous assault. He was borne from the field by Captain Earle Pierce of the Ninety-sixth, and Capt. M. V. B. Stetson, of the One Hundred and Eigh- teenth, the latter of whom was wounded in the generous act.
The ground upon which these unfortunate operations occurred, had been signalized by the sanguinary battle of Fair Oaks, during the peninsula campaign. The works erected by McClellan were still discernible, and as the federal troops moved to the assault, they disturbed and trampled upon skulls and bones and other ghastly memo- rials of the former conflict. The Ninety-sixth participated in the brilliant closing scenes of the war around Richmond and its final consummation.
I should not close this notice, which I regret is so inade- quate, of this gallant regiment 1 without referring to the memory of one of its members, who was alike distin- guished for the ability and zeal with which he performed his official duties, and his warm hearted and generous sensibilities. Francis Joseph D'Avignon was placed at the head of the medical corps of the Ninety-sixth at its
1 I have made every effort to obtain information, but generally with very unsatisfactory results.
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organization. His skill and courage early attracted atten- tion, and led to his promotion. He was made surgeon-in- chief to a division, was captured at Drury's Bluff and remained a prisoner for several months. He was confined for a short term in Libby Prison and encountered its rigors, but was soon released from confinement and al- lowed with slight restraints to mingle freely with the Union prisoners, and minister to them his professional services. He was mustered out on the expiration of his term of service, March 14th, 1865. Surgeon D'Avignon had been a Canadian patriot, and was involved in the perils of 1837. He fled into the states from the scaffold, and yielding to his republican instincts became an Ame- rican citizen. He married and permanently resided at Au Sable Forks.1
Officers of the Ninety-sixth mustered out with the Regiment, Feb- ruary 6th, 1866.
Col. Stephen Moffitt, brevet Brig. Gen. U. S. V.
Lt. Col. George W. Hinds, brevet Col. N. Y. V.
1st Lt. William B. Stafford.
66 Thomas Burke.
Charles H. Hogan.
66 Orlando P Benson.
66 Lyman Bridges.
Surgeon Robert W. Brady.
66 George J. Cady.
Lucien Wood.
Capt. Earl Peirce ..
66 Alexander M. Stevens.
Moses Gill.
66 Alonzo E. Howard.
Moses E. Orr.
2d Lt. Washington Harris. 66 Stanford H. Bugbee.
Henry C. Buckham, brevet Maj. N. Y. V.
Alexander McMartin.
Charles Sharron.
66 Amos S. Richardson.
66 Silas Finch.
Merlin C. Harris, brevet Major N. Y. V.
Thomas E. Allen. Oscar B. Colvin.
Major Courtland C. Babcock, brevet Lt. Col. N. Y. V.
Q. M. Allen Babcock.
Chaplain Nathan Wardner.
William B. Brokaw, brevet Ma- jor N. Y. V.
66 Judson C. Ware.
1 A brother officer in the regiment, himself as well as Surgeon D'Avignon, since deceased, remarks of the latter: " He stood very high in the army, and was beloved by both officers and privates."
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
Enlisted Men of the Regiment to whom Medals of Honor have been Awarded by the Secretary of War.
Sergeant Lester Archer.
The archives of the state present the following brilliant record of the services of the Ninety-sixth : Gainesville, second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Mine Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorville, Gettysburg, Wilder- ness, North Anna, Mattapony, Spottsylvania, Bethesda Church, Petersburg, Weldon Rail Road, Chapel House, Hatcher's Run, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Seven Days' Battle, Blackwater, Kingston, Whitehall, Goldsboro', Siege of Newbern, Drury's Farm, Port Walthall, Coal Harbor, Battery Harrison, Charles City Road.
Fifth New York Cavalry.
At the opening of the war of the rebellion, the govern- ment suffered severely from the absence of an efficient cavalry arm. In this force, the rebels were far superior, both in numbers and efficiency. A wide defection among the cavalry officers of the army, in one instance, embracing almost an entire regiment, and the peculiar equestrian habits of the southern people, which rendered most men expert riders from early youth, combined to furnish mate- rials for an immediate and powerful organization of mounted troops. Directly after Bull Run, the government addressed itself to the task of remedying this deficiency. Agents appeared throughout the north, arousing the chivalric spirit of the country, and urging everywhere the formation of cavalry companies and regiments. This appeal reached the town of Crown Point, which, as I have mentioned, had but recently, by private munificence, equipped an infantry company, and was responded to with an ardor and prompt- ness that has few parallels in all the incidents of enthusiasm that characterized the times. The fervid zeal that was inspired could not be restrained to await the formal preparation of enlisting papers, or for a regular mustering
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in, by the usual machinery of the department. But a written compact was at once prepared, by which each man was pledged to serve the government for three years in the mounted service, and in an incredibly short period it re- ceived the signatures of one hundred and twenty-seven of the youth of that town and its immediate vicinity.1 They constituted the bone and muscle of the community. To each name is attached the age and occupation of the signer. Nearly all were between the ages of twenty and thirty years, and most of them were either farmers or mechanics. Almost every signature was an autograph; thus affording evidence of an intelligence and education rarely found in a body of soldiers hastily recruited. Of such materials, Cromwell formed his memorable Ironsides, and these young men of Essex carried with them into the service, the resolute qualities and the exalted spirit that made the troopers of the English enthusiast invincible on every field.
Under this compact, to which all implicitly adhered, the company, without officers and without any other restraint, proceeded to New York, and were there regu- larly mustered into the service. The entire body of men were accepted as privates, nor were their officers elected until the company joined the regiment on Staten island. John Hammond was commissioned captain, September 14, 1861; major, September, 1863; lieutenant-colonel, March, 1864; colonel, July, 1864, and brevet brigadier- general, May 22, 1866. Jonas A. Benedict was commis- sioned first lieutenant, and James A. Penfield second lieutenant of the company, the 22d of October, 1861. Lieutenant Benedict died in the next December, and was succeeded by Penfield, who was appointed captain in July, 1863, and resigned in May, 1865. John G. Viall
1 This instrument, so novel and remarkable in its character and so illustra- tive of the patriotic ardor that pervaded the country, is worthy of the choicest preservation. This is its exact language : "We, the undersigned, hereby agree to serve the government of the United States in the mounted service for three years, unless sooner discharged, subjecting ourselves to all the rules and regulations governing troops in that branch of the regular service."
17
·
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
was appointed second lieutenant, December, 1861; first lieutenant, September, 1862, and captain, April, 1864. Elmer J. Barker was appointed second lieutenant, Sep- tember, 1862; first lieutenant, November, 1863; captain, March, 1864; and major, November, 1864. Eugene B. Hayward was appointed second lieutenant, November, 1863 ; first lieutenant, March, 1864; and captain, Novem- ber, 1864. Lucius F. Renne, appointed first lieutenant, November, 1864; and Clark M. Pease, second lieutenant, November, 1864. This catalogue embraces all the changes in the officers of the company during its service. The company was collected mainly by the zeal and earnest exer- tions of John Hammond, of Crown Point. The father of Mr. Hammond, Charles F. Hammond, Esq., advanced the funds for the purchase of all the original horses, amounting to one hundred and eight, supplied the company. These horses were selected with extreme care, in reference to their adaptedness to the service, and were probably supe- rior to those of any troop in the army.1
This body of men was organized as Company H of the Fifth New York Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Othniel De Forest of New York. The regiment employed the winter of 1861 - 62, at camp Harris near Annapolis in con- stant and thorough drilling, and acquired the discipline and proficiency, that rendered its subsequent service so efficient and so valuable to the country. This narrative pro- poses to trace the movements of Company H distinctively and the operations of the regiment, where that company or the soldiers of Essex were prominently connected with them. In April, this company was detached to Luray Valley on special service. Here, in frequent skirmishes, it gradually prepared for the toils and the scenes of peril and hardships which were approaching. It rejoined the regiment in May, and did not participate in some of its
1 These animals were delivered in New York by contract, at one hundred and thirteen dollars each ; but such was the spirit of the men, that they frequently paid from their own means, from five to twenty-five dollars in addition, to secure to themselves a horse they particularly desired.
John Hammond 5MAIS
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MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
earlier achievements, but was with it in the disastrous cam- paign of General Banks, and the terrible retreat through the mountains, incident to it. A part of the regiment, includ- ing Company H, acted as flankers to the army in this retreat, and was exposed perpetually to severe fighting.1 Through- out the month of July, the regiment was engaged in frequent skirmishes, and was in constant motion, often sufering severely from the want of rations and forage.
On the second of August a brigade composed of most of the Fifth and the First Vermont approached Orange C. H., from the east under the command of General Crawford. The streets were silent and apparently deserted, as the troops entered; but a sudden and heavy fire poured upon them announced a concealed enemy, and while confused by its effect they were repulsed and driven back from the town. Captain Hammond had been detached in charge of Companies G and H across the country to the Gor- donsville road which penetrates the village from the south- west. He reached the road, and was approaching with no knowledge of the assault and repulse of the brigade. The Confederates were equally ignorant of his presence. Or- dering his command to draw sabres, he said to them : "This is the first favorable opportunity you have had to try your sword; use your hardware well and we will take the place
1 A single incident will illustrate the character of this service. Captain Hammond, while in the advance with ten men, marching upon the flank, noticed a superior body of rebels in front, and immediately pursued. Leading his men he soon personally came up to their rearmost man, a strong and completely armed soldier. They exchanged several shots, which were without effect, owing to the great speed with which they were riding. Captain Hammond's pistol had become foul and useless, while his antagonist had two chambers undischarged. Hammond lost his in attempt- ing to strike him with the butt, but determined to secure the rebel he seized him by the collar with both hands and tore him from his horse. In the struggle, Hammond's horse also went from under him, and they both fell to the ground. Hammond above, one hand grappling the throat of the rebel and the other hold of his pistol hand, while the rebel was attempting to shoot Hammond. At this moment a private of Company F came up and by Hammond's order fired at the rebel. The ball grazing his head, brought him to surrender. .
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or die in the attempt." They rushed at full speed upon ; the enemy in an impetuous charge and with a wild shout. Although surprised, the Confederates met them by a wither- ing discharge of musketry; but the enthusiasm of the ca- valry was irresistible. The enemy were driven back to an open space, where they rallied for a moment and then broke and fled in utter disorder. More prisoners were taken than the feeble force were able to secure.
The charge was most gallantly executed and terrible in its effect. The area, in which the rebels made their last stand, was strewn with the killed and wounded, and with unhorsed men bearing fearful evidence of the force of the sabre's blow. When the cavalry, after these events, ad- vanced along the street, they were first apprized by the dead and dying, men and horses, of the preceding com- bat. Lieutenant Penfield of Company H was peculiarly conspicuous in this brief conflict, by his chivalric bear- ing. The enemy's force was composed of the celebrated Virginia horse, which had been organized by Ashley.1
Soon after this action, a part of the regiment was en- gaged in the battle of Cedar Mountain. During the month of August it was occupied with brief relaxations, in toil- some marches, reconnaissances and various harassing and exhaustive duties. It participated with great gallantry in the warm engagements at Kelley's Ford and Waterloo, and on the 27th of August was broken up into detachments to perform escort services to different generals. Duties of this character, patroling, observing roads and guarding trains constitute an important part of the operations of
1 The ludicrous and comic sometimes relieves the grim visage of war. As the command was advancing to the charge, Captain Hammond advised the company's cook, Henry Spaulding, who was leading a pack horse, loaded with frying pans, kettles, and all the paraphernalia of his office, to remain in the rear ; but this, he was unwilling to do. Guiding his own and leading the pack horse, with sabre in hand, he kept well up and boldly rushed into the thickest of the affray. The gallant officer who furnished me with the anecdote, remarked that he often doubts, whether the strange din of the kettles combined with the shouting of the men, was not as effective as their sabres.
Louis N. Boudrye. Daplain 5ª NNfCavalry
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cavalry, acting in a campaign under the circumstances which surrounded both armies in the war of the rebellion ; but like the trench duties of the other arms of the service, these operations were far the most irksome and onerous imposed upon the mounted regiments, attended often with greater hardships, toils, and perils than actual combats; they were not sustained by the excitement and glory of battle. The movements of the Fifth, with a few brief in- terludes of repose, were incessant and generally severe. Its history from May, 1862, when it entered into active duty, to April, 1865, presents a remarkable and scarcely parallel series of severe services and hard fought battles. Besides the toils and endurance of this special service, it was en- gaged in a mass or by detachments in one hundred and eighteen skirmishes and fifty-three battles, necessarily varied in their importance and severity.1
The scope of my work will permit me only to glance at some of the most prominent of these events. The Fifth was on the bloody fields of second Bull Run, Chantilly and Antietam. Major Hammond conducting an expedition in October, came in collision with the Confederates at Lees- burg, Upperville and Thoroughfare Gap, and engaged in a running fight while pursuing their cavalry from Hay- market to Warrenton. The opening weeks of 1863, were devoted by the regiment to unremitting picket duty charged to oppose and repel the incursions of the guerrillas, that thronged the front of the Union lines. On the 26th Janu- ary, a detachment was ordered in pursuit of a party which had captured a picket of the Eighteenth Pennsylvania, and at Middleburg, Major Hammond, who was in command, executed a brilliant charge through the town, captured twenty-five of Mosby's cavalry, and dispersed the party. A fortnight later, Captain Penfield in command of
1 The interesting Historic Record of the Fifth New York, by the Rev. Louis N. Boudrye, its chaplain, exhibits a tabular statement of the skir- mishes and battles in which the regiment was engaged, with the date and locality of each.
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Companies F and H, was engaged in warm skirmishing with large detachments of the enemy at New Baltimore and Warrenton. On the 9th of March, Mosby by a bold movement surprised, at Fairfax C. H., nearly six miles within the Federal lines, an Union detachment and captured thirty prisoners, including General Stoughton and Captain Augustus Barker, of Company L, and fifty choice horses, belonging to the Fifth. These men had been detached from the regiment, and were acting under the command of the provost marshal. The brigade pursued the enemy by different routes, but with no success. On the 23d, the regiment experienced another severe and mortifying reverse. The rebels making a feint attack on a picket retreated rapidly, pursued by a part of the Fifth, in charge of Majors Bacon and White. The pursuers were arrested by a barricade across the road, and suddenly as- sailed by a sharp fire in front and flank. At this moment Mosby dashed upon them in an unexpected impetuous charge. The cavalry broke and precipitately retreated, with a loss of five killed and wounded, and thirty-six prisoners, including one commissioned officer. It was at length rallied by the efforts of the officers, and reenforced ; it in turn repulsed and pursued the enemy a distance of several miles. Yet the chagrin and mortification of the defeat remained. Whatever lustre was lost to the fame of the Fifth by this reverse was gloriously restored on the 3d of May. Early in the morning, the First Virginia cavalry while dismounted, were surprised by Mosby with a detachment of the Black Horse Cavalry and a guerrilla force. Separated from their horses, the First retreated to a house, and courageously defended themselves, refusing to surrender. Mosby then ordered the building to be fired. At that critical juncture, the Fifth, which, without the knowledge of the rebels, was bivouacking in a neigh- boring grove, burst upon them, under the command of Major Hammond. A furious fight ensued ; but the Con- federates fled, broken and scattered, sustaining a heavy
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