USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > History of Providence County, Rhode Island, Volume I > Part 33
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Battery G left Providence for Washington, December 7th, 1861, and went into camp at " Camp Sprague," where it remained occupied in drill until January 3d, 1862, when it proceeded to Darnestown, Md. In February, the battery was at Edwards' Ferry, where it was visited by Governor Sprague. On the 15th of that month it was at Bolivar Heights, and from there it proceeded to Washington to join Mcclellan's advance on Richmond. March 29th it left Washington for Fortress Monroe, where it arrived April 2d. After landing, the battery proceeded up the Peninsula, and encamped seven miles from Yorktown. On the 28th, it was ordered to take position within 1,000 yards of the rebel fortifications, which it did, and at night returned to "Camp Winfield Scott." During the siege, it was constantly en- gaged in picket duty and skirmishes with the enemy. On withdraw- ing from the Peninsula, it marched by the way of Yorktown to Hampton, where it embarked for Alexandria. On the 17th it fought at Antietam, under Captain Owen, with great bravery. On the 6th of October, it was at Bolivar Heights. It left there on the 31st and crossed the Shenandoah. On the 5th of November it was at Upperville, and moving on, was in readiness, on the 13th of Decem- ber, to join in the assault on Fredericksburg.
In this battle, before crossing the river, the battery was posted on the extreme right of the artillery line. On going over, it took posi- tion in the rear of Gordon's house and by a well directed fire of can- ister and the support of the 5th Michigan Infantry, drove back the rebels who had approached to within 150 yards in an attempt to seize the position. In the second battle of Fredericksburg, May 2d and 3d. Captain Adams led his battery into the hottest of the fight. It was early sent forward to an exposed position to silence a rebel bat- tery about 600 yards distant, which it succeeded in doing. During the operation it was subjected to a heavy and fatal enfilading fire from a rebel battery on the right. The casualties were 24 men killed or wounded, 16 horses lost, and a gun carriage badly damaged. Ac- companying the army of the Potomac in June following, to drive the rebel forces under General Lee out of Pennsylvania, it took a gallant part in the battle of Gettysburg, July 1st, 2d and 3d.
The battery returned with the army of the Potomac to the Valley of the Rappahannock. October 17th it was at Chantilly. Va., in the movement to head off General Lee in his attempt to flank General Meade, and get between his army and Washington. Later in the same month it was at Warrenton. In November it reported at
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Brandy Station. It went into winter quarters near Brandy Station, where 28 men were re-enlisted, and December 26th went home on a veteran furlough of 35 days. May 12th, 1864, it was engaged in the action near Spottsylvania Court House from 7 o'clock A. M. until 4 o'clock P. M. and had one man wounded. June 2d, it participated in the battle of Cold Harbor, in which Lieutenant Charles V. Scott was wounded. It remained in position here until the 12th, when it marched to near Petersburg.
In the battle of Winchester, September 19th, the battery was actively engaged; and on the 22d participated in the battle of Fisher's Hill. In the battle of Cedar Creek, October 19th, the battery was warmly engaged, and met with heavy losses. Six men were killed and 21 were wounded, including Lieutenant C. V. Scott, who subsequently died.
After the battle of Cedar Creek, the battery returned to "Camp Barry," near Washington, where it received a new outfit of guns and equipments, and then proceeded to the front at Petersburg. In the spring of 1865. General Wright prepared for an assault with the 6th Corps upon the enemy's works. Captain Adams conceived the plan of scaling their defenses, getting possession of their guns, and turn- ing them upon the rebel force. or spiking and rendering them use- less, as circumstances might warrant. With the consent of General Wright he selected 17 men of his battery, and trained them carefully for the operation. On the 2d of April, the assault was made. Cap- tain Adams with his trained men advanced with the corps to the conflict, and rushing in with great impetuosity successfully accom- plished their object. The moral effect of this daring deed upon the army was inspiring, and awakened the greatest enthusiasm. In recognition of the value of this service, the war department in May, 1866, directed handsome bronze medals. struck in honor of the event, to be presented to the following named persons: Sergeants John H. Haveron and Archibald Malbone; Corporals James A. Barber and Samuel E. Lewis; Privates Warren P. Franklin, Carl Guhl, Henry Krull, H. Griffith, Charles D. Ennis, Henry Randall, Horace B. Tan- ner, Germon W. Potter, J. A. Taft, William F. Short, James Calla- han, John Corcoran and John P. Kronke. Twelve of these men were members of Battery C previous to its consolidation with Battery G, December 23d, 1864.
After the fall of Petersburg, Battery G took part in the battle of Sailor's Creek, April 6th, and closed its long and active military ser- vices by joining in firing a salute in commemoration of General Lee's surrender. After marching to Richmond it set out for home. Accompanied by Battery H, it arrived in Providence Friday morn- ing, June 16th. They came from New York on a steamer of the Nep- tune line, and were received with a national salute, and the warm greetings of waiting friends. By order of General Meade the names
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of the following battles in which it had meritoriously participated were directed to be inscribed upon its colors: Yorktown. Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Marye's Heights, Gettys- burg, Rappahannock Station, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor. Petersburg, Opequan, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek.
Battery H was enlisted under Captain Charles H. J. Hamlen, and went into camp near Mashapaug pond. It recruited in its camp, while in Rhode Island, more than four times its complement of men, but in consequence of the many requisitions from batteries in the field whose ranks had been reduced by the casualties of war, it was deemed neces- sary to furnish them with recruits from this battery, and it was only after they had been thus supplied that it was completed and permit- ted to leave the state. On proceeding to Washington, October 23d, 1862, it was assigned, October 28th, to "Camp Barry," where it re- ceived three-inch rifled guns in place of the James pieces with which it left Rhode Island.
In the spring of 1864, Battery H was transferred from the com- parative quiet of a defensive position to the more exciting scenes of aggressive war. On the 6th of May it marched to Rappahannock Station, on the 7th to the Rapidan river, on the Sth to near Chancel- lorsville, and on the 9th to near Spottsylvania Court House, where it joined the artillery reserve of the army of the Potomac. On the 11th its march was reversed to Marye's Cross Roads. It thence continued its march to Oak Hill, thence to Fredericksburg, thence to Falmouth and Belle Plain, where it joined General Abercrombie's division. Remaining here until May 24th, the battery marched to Westmore- land Plain, and the next day to Port Conway, crossing the Rappahan- nock to Port Royal. May 29th, Captain Allen shipped the battery on board the transport " St. Nicholas," on the 30th was off Port Royal, and on the 31st started for Washington in tow of the steamer " Gen- eral Hooker." June 4th he disembarked his men at the city, turned in ordnance stores, and marched to the Soldier's Rest; June 5th marched to Fort Richardson; left Fort Richardson July 10th for Fort Smith, and October 16th moved from thence to Camp Barry, where the battery was remounted. October 25th it left Camp Barry for City Point. Va., reported to the headquarters of the army of the Potomac, and October 30th was assigned to the artillery reserve.
January 3d, 1865, the battery left City Point and marched to War- ren Station, and joined the artillery brigade of the 6th Army Corps. Passing over the winter life of the battery, the next prominent feat- ure of its remaining history is the part it took in the final grand as- sault upon the rebel works before Petersburg, April 2d. At 43 o'clock 1.M., on the 2d, the battery moved forward with the division, and after crossing the rifle-pits, opened upon a section of artillery, which had a flank fire on the federal infantry. It was soon driven off, when the battery ceased firing, moved to the left. brought up the caissons,
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and awaited orders. It then moved forward with the skirmish line, and engaged with a rebel battery, which soon had to leave its posi- tion. It was followed up until arriving at the Whitworth House, where Battery H went into position. The enemy placed a rifle bat- tery in position on the left, and obtained an enfilading fire at 1,700 yards, being beyond the extreme range of Captain Allen's guns. Ile was then ordered by Major Cowan to withdraw his guns, which he did, and went into park in rear of the first division headquarters for the night. In this day's action four men and ten horses were killed, and six men were wounded.
The battle of Sailor's Creek, though less severe than the assault in which the 6th Corps engaged on the 2d, was nevertheless a hard fought action, and resulted in the entire rout of the enemy. On the 7th, Battery H continued with the 6th Corps in pursuit of the flying rebels to Farmsville, where a fight occurred, and from which place Lieutenant General Grant sent a note to General Lee suggesting that a surrender of his armies would prevent a further effusion of blood, and offering honorable terms. This proposition was held in abey- ance until April 9th, when it was accepted, and the war of the rebel- lion in Virginia practically ceased.
Terminating its services in the cause of constitutional freedom in June, the battery set out for home, and arrived in Providence on the 16th of that month. The battery was mustered out of service June 28th, 1865.
When the war ceased all hearts felt the relief, as of a burden rolled away, and the return of the people to the channels of peaceful occupation was as ready and as natural as the fall of an apple to the earth. The news of the surrender of Lee's army in April, 1865, awak- ened sounds of rejoicing, the excess of which were soon hushed by the sad news of the assassination of President Lincoln, and the city which was but just donning the robes of rejoicing, now assumed the habiliments of mourning, while she listened, with flags at half mast, to the tolling of her bells for the death of a nation's executive head. But even so great a cause of lamentation could not long depress the spirits which were rising in gladness at the prospect of returning peace and the return of friends who had for years been absent at the scenes of war. As one after another of the organizations came marching back again to their homes, the people met them with a shout of welcome and rejoicing. The energies which had become excited by the requirements of the war to unusual activity were not suppressed, but were turned into other channels and allowed to flow on. The city had suffered no depletion of its population or financial prosperity. From the year 1860 to 1865 it had grown in population from 50,666 to 54,595, and in assessed valuation from $58,131,800 to $80.564,300. The establishments which had been engaged in manu- facturing implements of war were now turned to the production of
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implements of peace. The " swords were beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks," and popular education, instead of popu- lar destruction, received the benefactions of the most liberal appro- priations from the city treasury.
In order to commemorate the sacrifice of the lives of the sons of Rhode Island in the war by an enduring monument. placed in a con- spicuous position, the general assembly, in January, 1867, appointed a committee of prominent citizens of the state, headed by General A. E. Burnside, to secure a site and superintend the erection of a monument in the city of Providence to the memory of the officers and men in the army and navy of the United States from the state of Rhode Island who fell in battle, and who died of their wounds or from sickness, in the late rebellion. The monument was designed by Randolph Rogers, of Rome, Italy. The wisdom of the committee was shown in the selection of a site in Exchange Place, near the rail- road depot, one of the most conspicuous and public situations to be found in the city. It consists of a statue of America, 10 feet high, standing upon a pedestal 32 feet from the ground. The pedestal is of granite, the statue and tablets and other mountings of bronze, which were cast in Munich. The bronze figure holds in the left hand a sword depending at her side, while in her extended right hand she offers a wreath. Below, upon projecting abutments at each corner, stand bronze statues representing the infantry, cavalry, artillery and naval services. The names of 1,767 officers and men are engraved npon the bronze tablets and panels distributed upon the sides of the pedestal. Between the corner projections are bas-reliefs typifying War, Victory, Peace and History. The platform of the base is reached by a flight of five steps, which are broken at each corner by pedestals bearing mortars and balls. The whole stands in a small grass plat, enclosed by a handsome fence of granite and iron. The cost of the monument was $60,000.
The monument having been completed and placed in position, the ceremonies of unveiling it took place, by order of the governor of the state, Saturday, September 16th. 1871. A platform with seats to accommodate 2,300 persons was raised on three sides of the monu- ment, and tickets admitting to this were issued to the families of de- ceased soldiers and sailors and to invited guests. The annual muster of the militia was suspended by order of the governor, and all the uniformed companies in the state were required to appear in Provi- dence to take part in the proceedings of dedication. To provide for the veterans of the war and the uniformed militia of the state, the whole of Exchange Place was enclosed and guarded by a large body of policemen.
A large number of military organizations and other organizations, with bands of music interspersed, took up the line of march through Broadway, Knight, High, Broad, Dorrance, Westminster. South
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Main, Transit, Benefit, Meeting, North Main and Steeple sticets, to Exchange Place. The whole line of streets through which it passed was alive with flags and waving handkerchiefs. Nearly 2,000 veter- ans were in the ranks. With the uniformed militia they formed at the east end of Exchange Place, and at a given signal the whole body, about 4.000 strong, in solid phalanx, the lines reaching clean across the open space, marched up to the monument. The solid host thus presented, with the many tattered battle flags which the veterans bore, their blue uniforms, the brilliant clothes of the citizen soldiers, the gleaming of the muskets with set bayonets, and the firm and regular marching to the music of 16 bands, was one of the grandest sights of the kind ever witnessed by the city of Providence. The enthusiasm which it excited in the thousands of spectators, who occupied every available foot of standing room in the neighborhood, found expression in prolonged cheers and waving of handkerchiefs. The dedicatory ceremonies consisted of instrumental music, singing by a choir of 300 voices, introductory remarks by Governor Padel- ford, prayer by Doctor Thayer, of Newport, an oration by Reverend Augustus Woodbury, the singing of a memorial hymn, and benedic- tion by Reverend Doctor Caswell, president of Brown University. The memorial hymn, written for the occasion by Mrs. Sarah Ellen Whitman, is so rich in beautiful expression of inspiring thoughts that we cannot refrain from quoting it here. It is as follows:
" Raise the proud pillar of granite on high, Graced with all honors that love ean impart ; Lift its fair sculptures against the blue sky, Blazoned and erowned with the trophies of art. Crowned with the triumphs of genius and art ! Long may its white columns soar to the sky, Like a lone lily that perfumes the mart, Lifting its eoronal beauty on high.
" Sons of Rhode Island, your record shall stand Graven on tablets of granite and bronze : Soldiers and sailors beloved of our land, Darlings and heroes, our brothers and sons,- Gray-bearded heroes and beautiful sons ! Soldiers and sailors. the flower of our land, Deep, as on tablets of granite and bronze, Graved on our hearts shall your bright record stand.
" Swell the loud psalm, let the war trumpets sound ; Fling the old flag to the wild autumn blast ; High in Valhallah our comrades are crowned. There may we meet when life's confliets are past, -- Meet in the great Hall of Heroes at last ! High in Valhallah our comrades are crowned, Swell with hosannas the wild autumn blast ! Let the full chorus of voices resound !"
CHAPTER IX.
PROVIDENCE CITY-TRADE AND COMMERCE.
Favorable Site for Commerce .- Early Commercial Importance .- Growth and Decline of Foreign Commerce .- Prominent Commercial Houses .- Statistics and Reminis- cences .- Foreign Voyages .- Providence Business Establishments in 1814 .- Shipping Statistics after the War of 1812 .- Merchants of that Time .- Shipbuilding .- Early Bank Directors .- Packet Lines .- To Coastwise Cities .- To Points on the Bay .- Whale Fishing Enterprises .- Fish Barges .- Decline of the Shipping Interests .- First Steps toward Railroad Building .- Boston and Providence .- New York, Provi- dence and Boston .- Providence and Worcester .- Hartford, Providence and Fish- kill .- Providence and Bristol .- Seekonk Branch .- Providence and Springfield .- Union Horse Railroad.
T' HE physical features in the situation of Providence have played a most important part in making the city what it is. Founded in a locality where the waters of rivers mingle with those of the sea, its business interests have been shaped and guided in turn by each of them. When the bay ceased to be the principal source of prosperity to the city and state, the streams were utilized for indus- trial purposes, and Providence, though its foreign commerce de- clined, grew in importance as the center of thriving manufacturing industries. Those, therefore, who are disposed to look lightly upon this city as a commercial port should notoverlook with what rapidity and wisdom its leading citizens retired from one sphere of subsist- ence to another. It was, in fact, the only thing left for the popula- tion of the state to do if it would keep in the march of business progress. Had it not done so, its fate would have been similar to that of many other seaport towns which have dwindled in population and importance. The commerce of Providence before the revolution, as compared with that of other cities, was large, and it was virtually a colony of sailors, seafaring men, shipbuilders and merchants. The revolutionary war, however, brought a serious check to the commercial prosperity of the state, and especially of Newport, the British block- ade of the coast and the occupation of the bay by the English scat- tering the population and placing a check on commercial enterprise.
It is unfortunate that no official record of the early mercantile operations in Providence has been kept. A perfect record of arriv- als at this port and departures therefrom, the amount of goods bought here and where they were obtained, as well as the destination of our products, the amount of trade carried on from year to year, a record
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even of bank clearings, important changes in various lines of busi- ness and industries, the amount of capital invested in ordinary busi- ness enterprises, all of this would be invaluable to the business man and all interested in the welfare of the community. In the absence of any such records, any history of the trade and commerce of Provi- dence must necessarily be in some respects imperfect. Fortunately, however, there are those still living who have taken pains to pre- serve many facts of importance relating thereto, either gleaned from personal experience or obtained from those who have long since passed away. A business man's diary kept in a very intelligent manner at the time of the war of 1812 and shortly after, a few old newspaper articles written by men who have long since passed the age of three-score years, statistical articles, historical addresses, con- sus reports and personal interviews with those whose memory is re- markably keen, and who have taken the pains to preserve many items of interest, are the sources from which the facts given in this article have been obtained.
Although the latter part of the eighteenth century saw the birth and early struggles of many manufactures, yet the greater part of the wealth of the state was invested in commerce. In 1790 the state- ment was made in the United States congress that there was a greater number of vessels belonging in Providence than in New York, and that it was a place of more navigation than any of its size in the Union. Trade was carried on with the East and West Indies, and with Europe and China. A Providence ship, the " George Wash- ington." owned by John Brown, was one of the earliest to bear the national flag of the new American Union to the ports of China, and the wharves at India point and South Water street for a long time were crowded with ships trading to European and West Indian ports. Their decline in numbers may be dated after the first decade of the present century. Not, however, until 1841 was the last arrival and last clearance of Indiamen at this port.
Among the early pioneers of Providence who were carrying on an active business in the early part of this century may be mentioned the houses of Brown & Ives, Samuel Butler & Sons, Edward Carring- ton and the Nightingales and Russells. The house of Brown & Ives, which made the nucleus of its wealth by the tea and silk trade with China, carried on trade with all parts of the world. Their ships entered every commercial port, they were well known for their business enterprise and integrity, and no house in the country pos- sessed a better credit. They owned seven or eight vessels, and when Providence was a town of only eight or ten thousand inhabitants they had successfully established themselves as shipping merchants and were doing a very remunerative trade.
They built the "Ann and Hope " in 1798, an account of whose fortunes and misfortunes would prove to be very interesting read-
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ing. She was named after Ann, the wife of Nicholas Brown, and Hope, the wife of Thomas P. Ives. The dimensions of the craft were as follows: Keel 98 feet in length; beam 32 feet 1 inch; hold 13 feet; between decks 6 feet 4 inches. She registered 550 tons. She was built altogether of white oak timber, cut in the winter of 1795. and thoroughly water-seasoned. All possible pains were taken in her construction to make her durable and perfect. The total cost of the ship was over $50,000. Her first voyage was to Canton, China. She took out hard dollars packed in five iron-bound kegs and 31 boxes. A return cargo was procured and she sailed direct for Provi- dence in February, 1799, with 1,725 chests of Bohea tea and nearly 1,500 chests of various other teas, and gun-powder; 130 boxes of china ware, dinner and tea sets; 500 bales of nankins, containing 50,000 pieces; eight boxes containing 392 pieces of assorted silks. She carried a crew of 56. In payment for the cargo, Mr. Samuel Snow. the supercargo, used the hard dollars and for the balance gave notes, in behalf of Brown & Ives, at 20 months, payable in Can- ton, to the security merchants, Consequa and others. The ship reached home June 15th, 1799.
In her following voyages, she took out pickled and dried fur skins and kegs of hard dollars; hogsheads of West India rum, etc., tobacco, Havana sugars, barrels of flour, tons of logwood and fustic. At London she would take on board for Canton, broadcloths, long ells, Prussian blue, watches, glass ware, cutlery, porter, beer and ale. She would return with teas, sugar, cassia, silks, ribbons, fans, china ware, mats, window blinds, umbrellas and sweetmeats. Her fourth and fifth voyages were from Providence to Batavia, Cowes, Amster- dam, St. Petersburg and home via New York. The ship sailed from Warwick Neck, May 20th, 1802, arrived at Batavia, August 22d, after a passage of 94 days. Included in the cargo were spermaceti can- dles, Russia ducks and sheetings, camblets and cloths and crown glass. Her return cargo consisted of sugars and coffee. She came home by way of Cowes, Isle of Wight, Amsterdam, Cronstadt and New York, stopping at these places to trade and change cargoes.
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