USA > Rhode Island > History of the Fifth Regiment of Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, during three years and a half of service in North Carolina. January 1862-June 1865 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
The casualties on both sides were slight, considering the great amount of very accurate firing. The loss of the Union forces was one killed and five wounded while that of the rebels was eight killed and twenty wounded. The ouly casualty in the Fifth was one man wounded in the foot by a shell.
We quote here au extract from the official report of General Parke :
"From the time of our first occupying the ground immediately in front of the fort, very severe and onerous duty was performed by the ofi-
1
68
FIFTH RHODE ISLAND HEAVY ARTILLERY.
1 cers and men of the Fourth Rhode Island, Eighth Connecticut, and Fifth Rhode Island Battalion. Owing to companies being detached from the first two regiments and their otherwise weak condition, the tour of duty in the trenches and on advance picket guard returned every third day. This, in connection with a march of three and one-half miles through heavy sand to and from camp and occasional fatigue duty, was begin- ning to tell fearfully on both officers and men; still they bore it all with- out complaint, and it gives me pleasure to commend them as soldiers of true grit."
On the 30th day of April the battalion moved camp up to the fort. The fort itself was garrisoned by Company C of the Second United States Artillery. The other regiments of the brigade were sent to different points near by. The capture of the fort not only afforded the anticipated change of base for the better, but it also re- lieved the navy of the labor of blockading the port of Beaufort. On this day the following general order was read to all the regiments in General Parke's brigade :
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA. BEAUFORT HARBOR, April 20, 1862. General Orders, No. 10.
The general commanding takes particular pleasure in thanking Gen- eral Parke and his brave command for the patient labor, fortitude and courage displayed in the investment and reduction of Fort Macon.
Every patriotic heart will be filled with gratitude to God for having given to our beloved country such soldiers.
The regiments and artillery companies engaged have earned the right to wear upon their colors and guidons " Fort Macon, April 20, 1862."
By command of Maj .- Gen. A. E. BURNSIDE.
LEWIS RICHMOND, Asst. Adjt .- Gen.
And with this congratulatory order, the operations attending the capture of Fort Macon came to an end.
-
CHAPTER VI.
FROM FORT MACON TO NEW BERNE.
H ERE at Fort Macon, the battalion remained some time. The camp was nicely fixed up, and it was the most homelike ar- rangement the men had seen since leaving Providence. " We are having a good time," writes Surgeon Potter. " resting and recruit- ing the health of the men, of which there was need. for we have had considerable typhoid fever, but we are now getting all right again." And, under the date of May 5th. another correspondent gives a pict- ure wherein the daily incidents and the home-longings of the men will all be lived over again by those whom the fortunes of war and the vicissitudes of over a quarter of a century of peaceful life per- mit to read the following :
" We are now encamped in a pleasant position, just under the walls of the fort. The ruins of a granary and several other build- ings, which the rebels destroyed, furnish us with lumber. and now the tents all have substantial floors, which will keep us off the damp ground. and will probably prevent much sickness. The weather has been quite hot, and would be oppressive but for the pleasant breeze from the sea. Our location is in many respects the best we have ever occupied. Everything except the water. which is almost , nauseous, contributes to make us desire to remain here until we are again called to active operations. A small mail. which reached us yesterday by the way of Hatteras and New Berne. brought us a welcome and long-expected freight of good wishes and cheering words from loved ones at home. If those who have friends among us could know how much pleasure their messages diffuse in camp. nothing but the most pressing duties would prevent them from writ- ing. An official dispatch to the commander of one of the gunboats in the harbor announced the taking of New Orleans, and completed
70
HISTORY OF THE
our happiness for the day. General Burnside returned to New Berne immediately after the surrender of the fort, and you will soon hear of another blow in the department of North Carolina, if greater vic- tories in other quarters do not withdraw your attention from our movements."
How inexorable the other side of this pleasant picture, " Died in hospital." There is a compensation in the excitement and rush at- tending the drawings of a lottery with death in battle that robs it of half its terror. But the slow wasting away day by day-silent with endurance -- when this king of terrors was met in the cheerless hos- pital ward in the early period of the war, tested to the uttermost all the manly qualities of inanly men. And year by year how the long, sad list grew, of which the following is a brief example :
DEATHS IN BURNSIDE'S DIVISION. Fifth Rhode Island.
Private Samuel Barnes, Company E, typhoid fever.
Private George B. Dean. Company C, typhoid fever. Sergt. Lorenzo Ludwig, Company B, typhoid fever. Corp. Samuel Grimwood, Company E.
Slain as truly were they in defence of the cause of the nation as any that fell in the forefront of the fiercest charge ever made between the Potomac and the Rio Grande.
The period of rest that ensued immediately after the surrender of Fort Macon was also one of transition in the future fortunes of the forces in North Carolina. And this transition arose from two causes. The continued successes of the troops operating here, the only notable ones gained in the east up to this time, had attracted the attention of the whole country to both officers and men, and earned for them the warmest encomiums of praise from the authorities in Washington, as well as from both press and people. The Burnside division of the Army of the Potomac became an army corps, operat- ing in the department of North Carolina, with Major-General Burn- side in command. The three generals of brigade. Foster, Reno, and Parke, were made major-generals of divisions, and their several commands angmented accordingly. Colonels, whose ability had commanded attention, became generals of brigades. Notably among
71
-
FIFTH RHODE ISLAND HEAVY ARTILLERY.
these last promotions was that of Colonel Rodman, who so gallantly led the decisive charge of the Fourth and Fifth Rhode Island at New Berne, on the 14th of March. These promotions necessitated many changes among regimental officers, and caused alterations in the formations of the new brigades. Reinforcements of some much
Capt. James Gregg.
needed cavalry and light batteries, together with some new regi- ments of infantry, also arrived. Such was the gratifying nature of the first cause of transition.
The other cause need only be mentioned in the briefest possible manner and with fewest words of comment. General Burnside had fulfilled to the letter all of the instructions governing his operations up to this time, and with a success as gratifying to the nation as it
72
HISTORY OF THE
was unexpected in certain high official circles. Very early in the campaign Jefferson Davis had alluded to the affairs in North Caro- lina as " deeply humiliating." Already the people of that State were complaining in tones both loud and deep that the Confederate authorities were abandoning their coasts to the enemy for the pur- pose of defending Virginia. With his wider sphere of action and enlarged command, the eyes of the commanding general were now turned toward the very important port of Wilmington, when he re- ceived from the general in command of the Army of the Potomac orders to the effect " that no offensive movement was to be made in the department of North Carolina until the results of his operations on the lower peninsula of Virginia should be determined."
When at last dire disaster threatened the Union arms in Virginia, General MeClellan directed Burnside to reinforce him with all the troops he could spare. The latter general collected two divisions from his department. and, leaving General Foster in command in North Carolina, he went to the assistance of the army under his juni- jor in rank, General Pope, and. waiving all questions of rank. he did all that was in his power to do in that fateful campaign.
Twice was he offered, even urged. to accept the command of the Army of the Potomac, and each time he refused : the last time sup- plementing his refusal by strongly advising the reinstatement of General Mcclellan. When General MeClellan, in command of the armies in defence of Washington, marched north after the Con- federate army, which had by this time crossed into Maryland, it was General Burnside's command, with his two North Carolina divisions in the lead. that pushed the hitherto triumphant Confed- erates to battle in the passes of South Mountain. That battle was won by General Burnside and these troops, with but little assistance from other corps. which had not yet come up, at the expense of hun- dreds of lives, among which was that of the able and gallant Reno.
To return to the department of North Carolina at the period im- mediately succeeding the capture of Fort Macon. It may be briefly stated that the new commands were organized from the old regi- ments and the reinforcements, as fast as the latter arrived. New Berne was made secure against any possible attack : various small expeditions were sent out along the coast, and up the bay, and rivers,
.
73
FIFTHI RHODE ISLAND HEAVY ARTILLERY.
for the double purpose of harrassing the enemy and keeping the troops inured to the fatigues of the march and dangers of battle. In the meantime the Fifth Battalion was attached to Colonel Rodman's brigade, and still remained in camp at Fort Macon, finding employ- ment in a steady application to company and battalion drill. During this period of rest some changes occurred in the roster of officers. Adjutant Charles H. Chapman resigned May 10th. June 7th. Sec- ond Lieutenant George G. Hopkins, of Company C. was made first lieutenant of Company E. First Sergeant Benjamin L. Hall. of Com-
General Burnside's Headquarters, New Berne.
pany E, was promoted second lieutenant of Company B. and James Gregg. first sergeant of Company B. was made second lieutenant of Company C. May 9th, second lieutenant James M. Wheaton, of Company E, was promoted to first lieutenant and adjutant of the bat- talion, and Henry B. Landers, first sergeant of Company C. was made second lieutenant of Company E.
The first break in the routine of camp life at Fort Macon came in the following pleasant manner : Adjutant-General Mauran, of Rhode Island, having come to North Carolina to make the formal presenta- tion of the sword voted to General Burnside by the legislature of that State, came to Fort Macon to see the Fifth. Captain Morris, of the
74
HISTORY OF THE
regular artillery in the fort, received him with a salute of seven guns. The presentation was to take place in New Berne, on the afternoon of the 20th of June, so we started the day before, at two P. M., on the " Wheelbarrow " Union. While passing through Core Sound, she broke her rudder, and it took until night to repair it, which com- pelled us to lay by until morning. Going by the way of Core and Pamlico sounds, and the Neuse River, we arrived at New Berne about two p. M. on the 20th. By the time we landed it was raining so hard that the ceremony was postponed until the next day. Friday morning the Fourth and Fifth Rhode Island had a fine dress parade in front of General Burnside's headquarters, and in the afternoon we marched across the Trent River to a large field, near our old Camp Pierce, and the presentation took place in the presence of all the troops not on guard, picket, or other duty, some 8,000 in all. The Rhode Island troops acted as an escort to General Burnside. The presentation speech of Adjutant-General Mauran was most eloquent, and General Burnside replied in modest and fitting terms. When the ceremony was completed the whole command was formed in col- umn, and passed in review. Saturday morning we started on our return trip, again passing a night in Core Sound, and arriving in camp Sunday morning.
Behind this concentration of troops there was quite another purpose than that of mere parade and display. Weary of his en- forced inaction, General Burnside had determined upon an important offensive movement against Goldsboro, and all the preparations for it had been carefully made. Up to this time nothing but good report had been received of the progress of the Army of the Potomac. and it was hoped that this movement, severing the principal communica- tions of the rebel army in Virginia, would materially assist the ope- rations on the peninsula. Orders for the march to commence on the 30th of June had been prepared, but the very next morning an order was received to reinforce General Mcclellan without delay. This order practically, though not nominally. severed General Burnside's connection with the department of North Carolina.
Shortly after the battalion returned from New Berne rumors of dis- asters in front of Richmond reached camp. They were soon con- firmed by a call for troops from this department to reinforce the
75
FIFTH RHODE ISLAND HEAVY ARTILLERY.
Army of the Potomac. The Fifth Battalion was ordered to relieve the Fourth Rhode Island at Beaufort and Morehead City. Four companies went to the former of these places, while Company D, Captain Grant, went to the latter. Major Wright was appointed military governor of Beaufort, and Lieut. William W. Douglas, of Company D, was made provost marshal. This change was made June 30th. At this time an officer expressed the general feeling of officers and men when he said. " When we found that our battalion was selected to remain behind, which seemed to be on account of our small numbers, it was a source of regret to us all, as we had become attached to the different organizations we had served with, and we did not like the idea of being separated from them, as well as losing the prospect of being introduced to other scenes and new service." On this day Lient. Benjamin L. Hall arrived from Providence with a number of recruits, which were to form the nucleus of the new company. F.
Though the battalion was sent to Beaufort to relieve the Fourth Rhode Island, which was ordered to take transport at once for some, at the time unknown destination, that regiment did not finally sail until July 6th. In the meantime the two organizations were packed into the quarters of one, to the great discomfort of both, but these trials were good humoredly borne. On the 4th of July, both organi- zations united in formally observing that day, pursuant to a general order from department headquarters. The men were paraded and formed a square, when the general order directing this observance of the day, was read. The band of the Fourth Rhode Island fur- nished some appropriate music. Prayer was then offered, and the Declaration of Independence read. At this point in the ceremony one good secessionist woman among the spectators jeeringly said, " Jeff Davis' flag will float here in a fortnight ! " Evidently she had had rebel news from Richmond. After more music, some manœeu- vres by the two regiments took place, followed by a lively drill in the various modes of firing. A parade through the streets, followed by a collation for the officers at our battalion headquarters, and a " ham and soft bread supper " for the men, ended their first 4th of July in North Carolina.
76
HISTORY OF THE
Again the battalion fell into the old routine of drill, guard and fatigue duty, which was dull enough in these sleepy coast towns of this revolted State. But they heard the echoes of the mighty strife waged in the West and along the rivers of Virginia. Their beloved general left them, taking with him most of those companions-in-arms who had become endeared to them through their common toils and dangers. Major-General Foster was left in command of the depart- ment, with barely force enough to hold what had been gained. This officer, with a patriotism and forgetfulness of self that has but few parallels in the history of the succeeding three years, devoted the best of his great ability and dauntless courage to the task assigned him. His meagre force, scattered among many posts, passed the summer in a state of waiting expectancy.
The following sketch of General Foster is from Woodbury's Burn- side and the Ninth Army Corps :
" Major-General JOHN G. FOSTER, who succeeded General Burnside in the command of the Department of North Carolina. had already won for himself a brilliant reputation. He had been for a considerable time in the service of the country, and had always been found to be a faithful and skillful officer. He was born in New Hampshire, in the year 1524, and was appointed from that State to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from the Academy in 1:46, the fourth in rank in a class of fifty-nine. Among his classmates were Me- Clellan. Reno. Seymour. Sturgis, and Stoneman of the loyal service. and 'Stonewall' Jackson. Wilcox and Pickett. of the rebel army. He was commissioned as brevet Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. July 1. 1846. He bore a very active and distinguished part in the Mexican war. and his record of promotion is a sufficient testimony to his bravery and merit. 'Brevet First Lieutenant. August 20, 1847. for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco: severely wounded in the battle of Molino del Rey. September 8, 1847; Brevet Captain from that date, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Molino del Rey: Second Lieutenant. May 24, 1$4S.' Such is the honor -. able record of his first two years of service.
"His gallant conduct and his proficiency in military knowledge attracted the attention of the authorities, and, in 1854. promoted to First Lieuten -. ant on the 1st of April of that year, we find him Assistant Professor of Engineering in the Miiltary Academy at West Point. He was appointed in charge of the fortifications in North and South Carolina. April 25, 155%, and there acquired a knowledge that became serviceable for subse- quent operations. He was commissioned as Captain in the Engineers.
--
Gen. John G. Foster.
77
FIFTH RHODE ISLAND HEAVY ARTILLERY.
July 1, 1860, and was brevetted Major on the 26th of December of the same year. During the eventful winter of 1800-61, and the following spring. he was stationed at Charleston, South Carolina, and was one of the officers under Major Anderson in the defence of Fort Sumter. His loyal and fearless bearing on the occasion of the bombardment of Sum- ter, is fresh in the recollection of all. Returning North after the surren- der, he was employed on the fortifications of New York. On the 23d of October, 1931. he was commissioned as Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and was in command of the rendezvous at Annapolis previous to the ar- rival of General Burnside. After he assumed command of the Depart- ment of North Carolina, he was engaged in conspicuous services in his own Department and in the neighborhood of Charleston. Subsequently, he commanded the Department of the Ohio. After the surrender of General Lee, he was for a time in command at Tallahassee."
In 1867 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of engineers in the United States army. He was. for some time, stationed at Boston, where his services were invaluable in removing obstructions and se- curing from further injury the channels of the harbor. His health failing, he sought to improve it by accepting duty in the West. He did not recover his health, however. and on the 2d of September, 1874. he died at Nashua, N. H.
When hearing or reading of the deeds in other fields of those who were so recently their companions-in-arms, both officers and men of the Fifth united in bewailing that fate of war which compelled them to inaction during this critical period of our history.
The first days of August brought a change of scene to the bat- talion. Marching orders were received, with New Berne as the des- tination. Again the men embarked on their old and now very familiar friend. the . Wheelbarrow " Union, and went over the well- known route through Core and Pamlico sounds and up the Neuse River to New Berne, arriving in that city August 8th. Camp was pitched outside of the city limits and near the " Fair Grounds," and named Camp Anthony, in honor of our United States senator. The battalion was now assigned to the brigade commanded by Col. Thomas G. Stevenson, of the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts, who, by the way, was always known, loved and respected as Col. "Tom " Stevenson long after he became general.
.
---
Camp Anthony, NEWBERN, N.C.
The Home of the Fifth Rhode Island Volunteers.
SKETCHED BY LIKUT. GEORGE F. TURNER.
(The original sketch was presented to Lient .- Col. Job Arnold when retiring from the regiment ou his transfer to the Seventh Rhode Island Infantry.)
79
FIFTH RHODE ISLAND HEAVY ARTILLERY.
The following sketch is also taken from Burnside and the Ninth Army Corps :
"Born in Boston, on the 3d of February, 1836. THOMAS GREELY STEVEN- SON was especially fortunate in his family, his education and his social position. He was the son of Hon. J. Thomas Stevenson, well known as an able lawyer and a sagacious man of affairs. He was educated in the best schools in Boston, and at an early age he entered the counting-room of one of the most active merchants of that city. There, by his faith- fulness in duty, his promptness, and his generosity of disposition, lie se- cured the entire confidence and love of his principal and the high esteem of the business community, and a brilliant commercial career opened before him. But when his country called him. he could not neglect her summons. The parting words of his father to himself and his younger brother, when they left home for the field, well express the appreciation in which his domestic virtues were held: 'Be as good soldiers as you have been sons. Your country can ask no more than that of you, and God will bless you.'
"In the spring of 1801 he was orderly sergeant of the New England Guards, and upon the organization of the Fourth battalion of Massachu- setts infantry he was chosen captain of one of its companies. Ou the 25th of April the battalion was sent to garrison Fort Independence, in Boston harbor, and on the 4th of May, Captain Stevenson was promoted to the rank of major. In this position he was distinguished for an excel- lent faculty for discipline and organization, which were subsequently of great benefit to him. On the Ist of August he received authority to raise and organize a regiment of infantry for a term of three years, and on the 7th of September he went into camp at Readville with twenty men. On the 9th of December he left the State of Massachusetts with the Twenty-fourth Regiment-one of the finest and best drilled, organ- ized, equipped, and disciplined body of troops that Massachusetts had yet sent to the war. His regiment was assigned to General Foster's brigade in the North Carolina expedition, and he soon gained the respect and friendship of his superior officers.
" The conduct of the Twenty-fourth Regiment and its commander in North Carolina has already been made a matter of record. When Colo- nel Stevenson was assigned to the command of a brigade in April, 1802, the choice was unanimously approved by his companions-in-arms. Gen- eral Burnside regarded him as one of his best officers. ' He has shown great courage and -kill in action,' onee wrote the General ; and in or- ganization and discipline he has no superior.' General Foster was enthusiastic in his commendation. ' He stands as high as any officer or soldier in the army of the United States,' said he, . on the list of noble, loyal and devoted men' On the 27th of December he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and on the 14th of March, 1963. he wa,
80
HISTORY OF THE
confirmed and commissioned to that grade. In February, 1863, he ac- companied General Foster to South Carolina, where his brigade was attached to the Tenth corps, and where he served with great fidelity and zeal throughout the year under Generals Foster, Hunter and Gillmore. In April, 1804, he reported to General Burnside at Annapolis, and was assigned to the command of the First division."
General Stevenson was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness. Mr. Woodbury further says of him :
"But the Ninth Corps suffered a severe loss in the death of General Stevenson, the commander of the first division. He was killed early in the day, by one of the enemy's riflemen, while near bis headquarters."
During the month of August a radical change occurred in the roster of the battalion, which may be briefly mentioned. First Lieut. Wil- liam W. Hall, of Company B, resigned August 2d ; Capt. Jonathan M. Wheeler and Second Lieut. Levi F. Goodwin, of Company A, on the 4th ; Capt. George H. Grant, of Company D. Capt. James M. Eddy, of Company C, and First Lieut. Daniel S. Remington, of Company A. on the 6th ; Chaplain MeWalter B. Noyes on the 15th, and Maj. John Wright on the 25th. As some compensation for the loss of so many officers, twenty-six recruits arrived in camp on the 18th of August, and were assigned to Company F.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.