USA > New York > Yates County > The military history of Yates County, N.Y. : comprising a record of the services rendered by citizens of this county in the army and navy, from the foundation of the government to the present time > Part 8
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The quarters occupied by the Norfolk Post Band (also known as the Norfolk Brigade Band) during its stay in that city was a commodious brick house on South Catharine
* Killed. t Died.
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
Street, formerly owned by the Confederate General Taylor, and which had been confiscated by the Government. The parade ground, where the musicians composing this band would generally play, was located on Freemason and Cum- berland Streets. Their melody was also heard at Fortress Monroe, Hampton, Weldon, Petersburg, and other places. They were mustered out at Norfolk July 9, 1865. From Norfolk they went by steamer to Baltimore, and thence by rail to their homes. Their excellent playing had made them during their stay in Norfolk, popular favorites, and it was with real regret that the residents saw them leave .*
THE FIFTEENTH ENGINEERS.
The Fifteenth Regiment of Engineers, Colonel J. McLeod Murphy commanding, was first organized in New York City and there mustered into the service of the United States for two years, June 17, 1861. In November, 1864, the regiment was re-organized by the addition of seven new companies, F, G, H, I, K, L, and M.
Companies H, I, K, and L were composed of recruits originally enlisted for the Fiftieth New York Engineers. In Companies I and K were recruits from Yates County, who joined the Fiftieth at Avon. From Avon they went by way of Elmira to Baltimore, where they stayed a few days and were then sent by transport to City Point. At this place they were transferred from the Fiftieth to the Fifteenth En-
The Norfolk (Va.) Post of July 12, 1865, thus expressed a public sen- timent : " DEPARTURE OF THE POST BAND .- We regret to liave to inforill the lovers of good music, and who does not love innsic, thiat the Post Band, which, for the past two years, has catered for the musical taste of our citizens, has been discharged from the service and left for liome. This will be a sore loss to our citizens and one that will be felt. On Sat- urday night, previous to their departure, they serenaded a number of their warm friends in the city, among them Mr. Cook, who invited them into his house and did the honors. They next paid a visit to the hos- pitable mansion of Mr. Smith, who, after they had played several fare- well airs, entertained then in a magnificent style till a late hour.
This band has won golden opinions among the people of Norfolk, and leave regretted by all. Their leader, Mr. John Shoemaker, and the sec- ond leader, Mr. Bennett, were especially the favorites of the community, and bear with them the most friendly feelings and best wishes of our peo- ple. Notwithstanding we are indebted to them a great deal, they have left many notes behind which it will take some time to collect."
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
gineers. They were stationed during the winter of 1864-'65 in front of City Point, and were engaged in working on the fortifications known as the Nine Mile Works. After the fall of Petersburg (April 2, 1865) they went, by transport, np the James River to Richmond, taking seventy pontoons, and there laid a pontoon bridge across the river. This pon- toon bridge was intended to take the place of the regular bridges burned by the Confederates when Richmond was evacuated. The pontoon bridge that was then laid extend- ed from Richmond to Belle Isle, and from Belle Isle to Manchester. They remained at Richmond, doing guard duty on this bridge, for thirty days, and were then ordered to march to Washington. At Washington they were mus- tered out, receiving final pay and discharge at Elmira June 15, 1865.
The Yates County recruits in these companies were as follows: Company I, Harlan P. Bush, John L. Bronson, Joseph E. Lewis, James Spencer, Charles M. Whitney, Al- bert T. Wilson. Company K, Martin E. Arnold, Abel Briggs, Barrett A. Boyd, Norton Conley, Joseph Eaves, Jacob Goodsell, John Jones, Norman A. Parshall, George B. Parshall, Peter Race, John Philbrook, Edward Sheri- dan, Peter Smith, Benjamin Taylor, Rodney Tupper, James H. Warner, Alonzo Weller.
THE FIFTIETH ENGINEERS.
Colonel (afterwards Brigadier General) Charles B. Stuart received anthority July 26, 1861, to recruit a regiment of in- fantry, which was organized at Elmira, and was designated Sept. 20th as the Fiftieth Regiment of Infantry. Companies A and E, containing recruits from Yates County, were mms- tered in the service of the United States for three years, re- spectively, Sept. 18th and Aug. 20th. Company M (a new company) joined the command in Feb. 1864. The regiment left the place of rendezvous at Elmira for the front Sept. 20, 1861, and after serving as Infantry at Washington, D. C., was, on the 22d of October, converted into an engineer regiment, and was designated as the Fiftieth New York En- gineers. It was also commonly known as Stuart's Engi- neers. The regiment served with distinction from March,
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
1862, in the volunteer brigade of engineers, Army of the Potomac, laying pontoon bridges when required, and per- forming other engineer duty. At the crossing of the Rap- pahannock, in the opening of the Fredericksburg campaign, the Fiftieth Engineers laid three pontoon bridges under a heavy and deadly fire from the enemy's sharpshooters*
* "It was a mnost solemn scene, those brave engineers, (50th New York) pushing their pontoons out upon the ice, and fearlessly moving them around in the water to their proper positions. Any moment mnight ter- minate their existence. They were upon the very threshhold of eternity. Passing along the opposite bank, or grouped around the picket fires, were to be seen the rebel sentinels, almost within pistol-shot. Occasionally they would stop a inoment to view our operations, then resume their beat as unconcernedly as if nothing unusual was transpiring. The bridge was headed directly for one of their fires. Nearly one quarter of it was completed without interruption, when, suddenly, as the Court House clock struck five, two signal guns boomed away in the distance, and were immediately followed by a sharp volley of musketry. Lieutenant-Colonel Bull, two Captains, and several men fell dead; others tumbled headlong into the water and sank to the bottom, or were rescued by their brave comrades and brought bleeding and dripping to the shore. We were not unprepared for this. Before the enemy had time to re-load, our artillery planted on the bluffs overhead, and infantry drawn up along the river's bank, returned a heavy fire upon the buildings in which the sharpshooters were secreted. * It did not seem possible that any animate thing could have survived this bombardment; and there were in fact no signs of life visible ; but no sooner had the engineers again resumed operations than they were greeted with a fresh shower of bullets. How the sharp- shooters had managed to live through all that fire and smoke was to us almost a miracle. Yet they were alive, and as plucky as ever, and our gunners returned to their work. General Burnside now almost despaired of effecting a crossing. Nothing but some brilliant coup-de-main would accomplish it. He accordingly decided upon sending a body of men over in boats who should rush suddenly upon the concealed foe, and hunt them from their holes. The 7th Michigan and 19th Massachusetts were designated for this purpose. The gallant fellows never flinched from the duty assigned them, but, taking their places in the pontoons, pushed bravely out into the stream, regardless of the rapid volleys of musketry which were poured into them. In a moment they had gained the oppo- site shore, and fearlessly sweeping up the bank, dashed into the houses, and shot, bayoneted or captured the small force which had occasioned us so innch trouble and delay. A hundred dark, swarthy Alabamians and Mississippians were brought back, amidst the wildest cheers of the spec- tators who had witnessed the heroic act."-" Story of the 33d N. Y. l'ol's, or Two Years' Campaigning in Virginia and Maryland," by Da- vid W. Judd.
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
(Dec. 11, 1862.) Stuart's Engineers served in their partic- ular capacity in Virginia until the close of the War, and, commanded by Colonel William H. Pettis, with Major Ira Spaulding, second in command, were mustered out at Fort Barry, Va., June 13 and 14, 1865.
The engagements in which the Fiftieth Engineers took part were as follows: In 1862, Siege of Yorktown (April 12th to May 4th), Seven Days' Battles (June 25th to July 2d), Fredericksburg (Dec. 11th to Dec. 15th). In 1863, Pol- loek's Mill Creek (April 29th to May 2d), Chancellosville (May 3d), Bank's Ford (May 4th) Deep Run (June 5th), Mine Run Campaign (Nov. 26th to Dec. 2d). In 1864, Wil- derness (May 5th to May 7th), Spottsylvania (May 8th to May 21st), North Anna (May 22d to May 26th), Tolopotomy (May 27th to May 31st), Cold Harbor (June 1st to June 12th). In 1865, Deep Bottom (Jan. 27th to Jan. 29th), Hatcher's Run (Feb. 5th to Feb. 8th), White Oak Road (March 28th to March 31st), Fall of Petersburg (April 2d), Appomattox Court House (April 9th) .*
The enlistments from Yates County in companies A and E were as follows:
Company A-J. Loren Robbins, Second Lieutenant ; Francis M. Halloran, Sergeant ; Daniel M. Hulse, Sergeant; James Campbell, Corporal ; John H. Harrison, Corporal. Privates, Mortimer Adams, Albert Armstrong, James P. Ans- ley, George Beeman, Kingsbury M. Bennett, John Brown, (promoted to Lieutenant,) John Burns, John A. Butler, Or- r'in A. Burrill, John Campbell, Rowland Champlin, Roswell S. Clark, Robert N. Coons, Theodore Criscadon, Hugh Cris- cadon, William C. Davenport, James Durham, James H. Dunham, Thomas Evans, Daniel J. Fitzer, Abram Freden- burg, Sylvester Fredenburg, George B. Gray, Charles G. Gottfried, Michael Halloran, Zachariah S. Helm, Weitzel M. Henderson, Hiram Hibbard, Henry V. L. Jones, James H. Kelly, James F. Lake, Edward Lewis, Jesse Lott, Alonzo T. Lyon, James Mace, Nelson Madison, John W. McFarland, Stephen Matterson, Thomas Miller, James M. Miller, Edwin Miller, Asa Phelps, William Poyneer, Sidney E. Reynolds,
* New York in the War of the Rebellion.
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
John R. Robinson, Joel Tomer, Richard M. Turner, John Turner, Henry Turner, Cornelius Van Huysen, Joseph G. Watkins, R. Wesley Welch, Leander S. Whitehorn, Henry Williams, Joseph Worden, Charles Wright.
Company E-Privates, John H. Brewer, Andrus H. Carr, Arnold Dawes, Hiram W. Lawhead, Philip R. Loder.
Company G-Melville D. Miller, private, also artificer; D. Brewster Sayre, private.
Company M-Asa Hedge, private.
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CHAPTER VIII.
The One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment of Infantry.
MPORTANT service to the Nation was rendered during the I Great Civil War by the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment, New York Volunteers, which was raised in the coun- ties of Yates, Ontario, and Seneca, and organized September 14, 1862. At the time of its organization the field and staff officers were as follows: Colonel, William Johnson, Seneca Falls; Lieutenant-Colonel, George M. Guion, Seneca Falls; Major, John B. Murray, Seneca Falls; Adjutant, Henry T. Noyes, Starkey; Quartermaster, Albert Woodruff, Lodi; Surgeon, Henry Simmons, Canandaigua; First Assistant Surgeon, C. H. Carpenter, Phelps; Second Assistant Sur- geon, Frank Seelye, Rushville.
In Yates County were recruited Companies B, F, and I .* Of these the following were the line officers: Company B .- Captain, Hiram T. Hewitt; First Lieutenant, Hanford Stru- ble; t Second Lieutenant, George W. Waddell. Company F .- Captain, Harvey G. Gardner; First Lieutenant, Melvin D. Wilson; Second Lieutenant, Aaron J. Cook. Company I .- Captain, Martin S. Hicks; First Lieutenant, John Coo- ley; Second Lieutenant, Morgan D. Tracy, 2d.}
The One Hundred and Forty-eighth left the place of ren- dezvous at Camp Swift, Geneva, on the 22d of September. The regiment, when it departed, consisted of twelve com- panies. Ten being the required number, orders were re-
*The remaining companies of the 148th Regiment were recruited as follows: Companies A, E, and H in Seneca County ; and Companies C, D, G, and K in Ontario County.
t After a few months Lieutenant Struble was appointed to a position on the staff of General Egbert Viele, with the rank of Major, and served as Provost-Marshal of the city of Portsmouth, Va. Later he served in the same capacity at Norfolk on the staff successively of Generals Barnes, Potter, Wild, and Vodges, and still later as permanent aid on the staff of General George F. Shepley.
# Resigned December 28, 1862.
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
ceived, on the arrival of the command (by steamer via Seneca Lake) at Watkins, directing two of the companies to return to Geneva. The two companies that returned became, on the 3d of October, part of the Forty-fourth Regiment, N. Y. V. One of these two had been raised in Yates County, and was at first Company M, of the One Hundred and Forty- eighth, and later new Company C, of the Forty-fourth. Its line officers were as follows: Captain, Bennett L. Munger; First Lieutenant, Elzer B. James; Second Lieutenant, Charles Kelly .* The One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regi- ment proceeded from Watkins by rail, arriving at Baltimore the next morning, and was there served with an excellent breakfast by the ladies of the city. The command went on to Washington, where it continued to drill for several days on Capitol Hill. It then left Washington, and, going by transport by way of Fortress Monroe, landed at Portsmouth, Va. From Portsmouth the regiment went by rail through the Dismal Swamp to Suffolk, and was there stationed on guard duty in the rifle pits. Suffolk was then being put into a state of defence by the Union forces commanded by General John J. Peck, of Syracuse. The One Hundred and Forty-eighth, after a few weeks, moved from the entrench- ments and encamped on Paradise Creek, near Portsmouth. The whole regiment then relieved the Nineteenth Wisconsin and moved and went into camp, part in Portsmouth and part across the river in Norfolk. The different companies composing the One Hundred and Forty-eighth were for a considerable time on detached duty, but were again collected together and all encamped in the court-house yard in Norfolk and in other parts of the town. Here they remained until the opening of the spring campaign of 1864. The regiment then moved to Yorktown, and became part of the Second Brigade of the Second Division of the Army of the James, under the chief command of General B. F. Butler.
The advance of this army up the James river began on the 4th of May, 1864. The One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment, going by transport, arrived and landed with the rest of the troops at Bermuda Hundred. Skirmishes with
* See Page 5I.
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
the enemy occurred at Clover Hill on the Sth, and at Swift Creek on the 12th. Early in the morning of the 16th, dur- ing a heavy fog, a sudden and sharp attack was made upon our forces in front of Drury's Bluff by the Confederates under Beauregard. The Union troops fought bravely and obtained some advantage, but Butler, evidently under a mis- apprehension, ordered a retreat. Another skirmish in which the One Hundred and Forty-eighth took part occurred ou the 26th at Port Walthall Junction. General Butler's whole army returned to its entrenchments at Bermuda Hundred, from which position no offensive movement in the direction desired could possibly be attempted, as the enemy, intrench- ing strongly in his front, thus covered the railroads, the city, and all that was valuable to him. His army, therefore, though in a position of great security, was as completely shut off from further operations directly against Richmond as if it had been in a bottle strongly corked. It required but a comparatively small force of the enemy to hold it there.t
The position at Bermuda Hundred could, according to the opinion of General Grant, be held by a less force than But- ler had under him, therefore, on the 24th of May, the Eigh- teenth Corps, in which was included the One Hundred and Forty-eight Regiment, was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac. The corps commander at that time was General
* The rebel plan, of massing brigade after brigade in line of battle and hurling them in rotation against us, was here tried, with very bad results. General Smith, with that forethought which is characteristic of him, an- ticipating some such move on the part of the enemy, had ordered a large quantity of telegraph wire to be intertwisted among the trees and under- growth which lay in front of our position. Wister and Burnham received the order and obeyed it. Heckman failed, unfortunately, to get it. When, therefore, the rebels charged upon our intrenchments in the dull light, hundreds of them were tripped down and unable to tell the cause. As they lay upon the ground, our musketry-fire kept many of them from ever rising more. As with the first line, so with the second. They inet the same fate. The third line fared no better, and this simple agency of a telegraphic wire, interlaced among the trees, played more havoc in the rebel ranks than anything else. The dead lay like autumn leaves before the front of Wister and Burnham .- Headley's History of the Great Re- bellion, Vol. 2.
+ General Grant's Official Report.
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
W. F. Smith, familiarly known as "Baldy" Smith, and who had formerly commanded a brigade, of which the Thirty- third New York Volunteers had formed a part. The One Hundred and Forty-eighth joined the Army of the Potomac by way of the White House, to which place it arrived by transport, passing down the James and up the York river. The regiment, then commanded by Colonel George M. Guion, participated in the battle of Cold Harbor (June 3, 1864.) In the sanguinary contests in front of Petersburg a prominent part was taken by the One Hundred and Forty- eighth, particularly in the fight at Rowlett's House on the 15th. At the Mine Explosion, on the morning of July 30th, the regiment, with its division, was ordered forward to the support of the attacking column that charged into the Cra- ter. On the 29th of September the very strong fortifications and entrenchments below Chapin's Farm on the north side of the. James, and known as Fort Harrison, were carried, in an attack by the Eighteenth Corps, led by General E. O. C. Ord. The regiment distinguished itself in this action, and proved to all that its designation as "The Gallant One Hun- dred and Forty-eighth" was well deserved. In the assault on Fort Gilmore, however, on the next day, a repulse fol- lowed. At the second battle of Fair Oaks, fought October 27th, the regiment suffered severely in killed and wounded. In the beginning of November the One Hundred and Forty- eighth Regiment was detailed, with other forces, to accom- pany General Butler to New York City, for the purpose of keeping order on election day, as it was anticipated that a riot would take place on that occasion .* The regiment, on its return to the seat of war, encamped at Deep Bottom, on the James, where it remained during the winter of 1864-'65. The final campaign opened in the spring of 1865, the One Hundred and Forty-eighth taking part in the engagement of March 31st at Hatcher's Run.
On Sunday, the 2d of April, a grand assault was made by the whole army on the entire line of the enemy's fortifica- tions to the south of Petersburg. The Confederates made a
*The troops during their stay remained on board their transports in the harbor, to be ready if needed.
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
brave and determined resistance at various points along the line of their intrenchments, particularly at Fort Gregg, but they were overcome and the fort captured by a gallant charge, in which the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regi- ment bore a noble share. General Sheridan, with an over- whelming force, had already swept around from the left, when the enemy gave it up and fled in confusion, leaving in our hands their guns and a great many prisoners. That night both Petersburg and Richmond were evacuated.
On the following morning the portion of the army under command of General Weitzel marched into Richmond, with bands playing and colors flying .* The enemy in their re- treat had fired the city, and a heavy conflagration was then raging.f Among the subordinate officers, who, at that time,
* Headley's History of the Great Rebellion, Vol. 2.
t The very remarkable scene, which was on that morning presented, is thus described by E. A. Pollard, the Sonthorn historian : "By 10 o'clock, when several thousands of the [Federal] enemy had marehed into the city, the scene had become fearfully sublime. It was a scene in which the horrors of a great eonflagration struggled for the forepart of the pic- ture, while the grand army, brilliant with steel and banners, breaking into the circle of fire with passionate cheers, and the crash of triumphant martial music, dazzled the spectator and confounded his imagination. The flames had already spread over the chief business portion of the city, brands were flying toward the capitol, and it seemed at one time as if the whole of Richmond would be destroyed-that the whole wicked city would rush skyward in a pyramid of fire. A change in the wind, how- ever, drove back the fire from the high platean above Franklin Street, where, if the flames had onee lodged, they would soon have traversed tlie length and breadth of the city. * * All that was terrible in sounds was added to all that was terrible in sights. While glittering regiments carried their strong lines of steel through the smoke; while smoke- masked robbers fought for their plunder; while the lower streets ap- peared as a great pit of fire, the erater of destruction; while alarmed cit- izens, who had left their property a ruin or a spoil, found a brief repose on the sward of the Capitol Square, whose emerald green was already sown with brands-the seeds of fire that the merciless wind had sown to the very door of the capitol; while the lengthening arus of the confla- gration appeared to almost reach around those who had fled to the pic- turesque hill for a breath of fresh air-sounds as terrible and more vari- ous than those of battle assailed the air and smote the already overtaxed imagination. There were shells at the Confederate arsenal exposed to the fire, from the rapid progress of which they could no longer be res- eued, and for hours the explosion of these tore the air and shook the
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
entered Richmond, was General George F. Shepley, whose chief of staff at the time was Major Hanford Struble, of Yates County .* President Lincoln, who had been at City Point, also visited Richmond in the course of the day. Dur- ing the remainder of the week, the enemy (who, after the fall of Richmond, had retreated towards Dansville,) were hotly pursued, and the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Reg- iment was again in action on the 6th at Rice's Station.+ On the 9th of April Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House. While in Richmond, after the surrender, the One Hundred and Forty-eighth had the pleasure of greeting (May 7th) the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York Volunteers, in which regiment a large proportion of the members were from the County of Yates. The One Hun- dred and Forty-eighth Regiment was mustered out at Rich- mond on the 20th of June. The veterans who had com- posed the command then went by transport to Baltimore, and from Baltimore to Elmira, where they received final pay and discharge, July 3, 1865. From Elmira they went to their several homes, having performed for their country a service that will ever stand high in public estimation.
The field and staff officers of the One Hundred and Forty- eighth, at the time the regiment was mustered out, were as follows: Colonel, John B. Murray, Seneca Falls; Lienten- ant-Colonel, Fred L. Manning, Seneca Falls; Major, John Cooley, Penn Yan; Adjutant, Dewitt C. Wilber, Seneca Falls; Quartermaster, Charles S. Martin, Waterloo; Sur- geon, C. H. Carpenter, Seneca Falls; Chaplain, Ferris Scott, Phelps; Sergeant-Major, Myers T. Webb, Dundee; Com- missary-Sergeant, Rynear Tunison, Lodi ; Hospital-Steward, James M. Smith, Penn Yan; Principal Musician, George Beebe, Penn Yan.
houses in their vicinity. Crowds of negroes roamed through the streets, their wild, coarse voices raised in hymns of jubilation, thanking God for their freedom, and a few steps further might be heard the blasphemous shouts of those who fought with the red-handed fire for their prey."- Life of Jefferson Davis, with a Secret History of the Confederacy.
*See note 2, page 88.
+ Lieutenant Caleb G. Jackson, of Company I, was killed in this engage- mient, being the last man killed belonging to the regiment.
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THE MILITARY HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
Line Officers .- Company B, Captain, H. H. Hopkins ; Company F, Captain, Aaron J. Cook ; First Lieutenant, Fred P. Cook ; Company I, Captain, Edward Cole ; Second Lieutenant, Luther S. Meeker.
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