USA > Rhode Island > Memoirs of Rhode Island officers who were engaged in the service of their country during the great rebellion of the South. Illustrated with thirty-four portraits > Part 24
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"I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed,) " ROBERT WILLIAMS, " Colonel First Massachusetts Cavalry, Commanding Post."
On the 4th of August, 1862, Major Metcalf resigned his commission, and was, by the governor of Rhode Island, appointed to the colonelcy of the eleventh regiment Rhode Island volunteers, one of the regiments to be raised by the state under the call of the President, on the 4th of the same month, to serve for a period of nine months. Two regiments, to be called the eleventh and twelfth, were to be raised under this order, as the quota of the state.
The Dexter training ground, in Providence, was selected for the reception of recruits, and the charge of organizing the eleventh was assigned to Captain A. C. Eddy, a gentleman of much military experience, and long connected with the military organizations of the city. Eight hundred men, including two companies raised through the exertions of the Providence Young Men's Christian Association, were enlisted in that city; two hundred were sent by North Providence, Smithfield, Pawtucket and Central Falls; and, on the 23d of September, the ranks were filled. Colonel Metcalf, who had been appointed to the command, came to his new position with the prestige of military expe- rience gained in a southern field. From the ladies of Providence, the regi- ment received a national flag, bearing its name and the motto, "God and the Constitution." On the 1st of October, it was mustered into the service; on the 4th, it performed escort duty at the funeral ceremonies of General Isaac P. Rodman, in Providence ; and, on the evening of the 6th, broke camp and departed for Washington, where it arrived on the evening of the 8th, and spent the night in the barracks, near the depot. The next day, it encamped on East Capital Hill, and, the following Sunday, marched across Chain Bridge to near Fort Ethan Allen ; and the next day, made its second camp about a mile from that fortification. Here it was brigaded with the fortieth Massa- chusetts, one hundred and forty-first New York, twenty-second Connecticut, a Virginia regiment, and a battery of light artillery. The brigade was com- manded by General Robert Cowdin. Drills, parades and picket duties now
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made up the daily routine of regimental life, all tending to harden the men for the more serious work of the front, which they hoped soon to see. Only once were they called to answer the long-roll, when a midnight march to Mills's Cross Roads, accompanied by two regiments of the brigade, proved that the rebel cavalry, whose approach had caused the alarm, were not disposed at that time, to measure strength with them.
On the 11th of November following, Colonel Metcalf, having been appointed to the colonelcy of the third Rhode Island heavy artillery, the regiment in which he had formerly held the commission of major, tendered his resignation as colonel of the eleventh, and left immediately for Hilton Head, South Carolina, much to the regret of his officers and men, leaving the regiment in command of Lieutenant-Colonel John T. Pitman.
Colonel Metcalf, who'had been appointed to fill the place of Colonel Nathaniel W. Brown, in the preceding October, soon reached Hilton Head, and assumed command of the regiment, which position he held until February 5th, 1864, when he resigned, having gained the reputation of a brave and energetic commander. Having thus devoted nearly three years to the ser- vice of his country, he returned to Providence and resumed the practice of the law, a profession in which he had always held a high position.
D. archive Pell
NOTE TO SKETCH OF COLONEL PELL. - After the sketch of Colonel Pell had been printed, he received from the head-quarters of the army a brevet of colonel, " for gallant and meritorious conduct in the repulse of the enemy at Fort Stedman, Virginia, March 25, 1865; and also in the attack on the enemy's lines in front of Petersburg, Virginia."
DUNCAN ARCHIBALD PELL.
UNCAN ARCHIBALD PELL, son of the Honorable Duncan C. Pell, of Newport, was born in the city of New York, on the 20th of April, 1842. While a student in Brown University the war of the rebellion broke out, when he at once and eagerly enlisted as private in the first Rhode Island volunteers, Colonel Burnside, April 17th, 1861. Ilis feeling was that of most young men of the day, and was thus expressed in his letter home: "The time has come in the affairs of this nation when each man has an opportunity to strike a blow for right; and such an opportunity I regard more as a favor granted, than a duty enforced."
He left Providence with the regiment, on the 20th of April, his nine- teenth birth-day; was in the first battle of Bull Run, and returned with his regiment to Providence, when it was mustered out. lle thus writes home the night before the battle of Bull Run: "The regiment will return in a few days-perhaps not all of us; but those that do not, will have the opportu- nity, by one great deed, of wiping out a thousand petty faults. Forgive my wanderings; I have meant well, and am prepared to take a soldier's chance."
However creditable the rest of his course, this part of it shines with a particular interest. A delicately nurtured and handsome youth, bearing gladly the hard lot of the common soldier, and meeting undismayed the shock and disaster of that first melancholy battle, with its subsequent days of gloom and shame. This, if we consider only the qualities of the spirit, merits a finer laurel than any which mere rank or success can command. And this, young Pell shared with thousands of hearts quite as noble as his, though with comparatively few in the same rank of life, or with the same personal gifts.
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He received a commission as first-lieutenant on the 17th of September; was appointed aide on General Burnside's staff, went with him to North Caro- lina, and was at the taking of Roanoke Island and Newbern. In the last battle, he had a very narrow escape, which he thus relates: "While the men were cheering, we heard firing on our left. I rode over there, thinking that Reno's brigade might think us the enemy, and be firing on us. I rode right ahead, till I found his men in one ravine, engaging the enemy in another. Before I knew where I was, I was in the midst of them. The men in the twenty-first Massachusetts shouted to me to go back, or I would be killed. I immediately wheeled my horse, and perceived I was in the midst of the enemy concealed in rifle-pits. I jumped over a ditch, and saw it was full of men, who fired at me. Truly my escape was miraculous."
He became captain in April, 1862, and volunteered to go with General Parke to lay siege to Fort Macon. He there had charge of a battery, and received the flag of truce, sent out by the garrison to ask a cessation of firing, which resulted in the surrender of the fort. Of his services and escape, at this time, the newspapers of the day mentioned the following: "Captain Pell, aide-de-camp to General Burnside, who rendered valuable assistance in the working of the ten-inch mortar battery, also narrowly escaped death. While looking over the parapet, he perceived a shot coming, and immediately 'ducked' into the pit. The shot, a thirty-two pounder, struck and passed through the embankment, within three inches of his head, burying him up with sand."
After this, he returned with Burnside and two divisions to Fortress Monroe, and here the ninth corps being formed, he was stationed with it at Fredericksburg. The lamented General Reynolds, then commanding the Pennsylvania reserves, the advance of the army of the Potomac, (and who afterwards fell with such honor at Gettysburg,) passed through at this time to join General Pope, at Warrenton. Being in want of staff officers, Captain Pell, and another young officer, volunteered to go with him. They remained with him until his own aids, who had been wounded, were able to return. Captain Pell then left to rejoin General Burnside, carrying a note from Gen- eral Reynolds, in which he says:
" DEAR BURNSIDE :- I cannot tell you how much I am indebted to you for the services of the young gentlemen of your staff, Captain Pell and Lieutenant Alexander. I wish I had one or two who were anything like them, that I could call my own."
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As he was in the cars returning to Alexandria, the railroad was seized and cut by the advance of Stonewall Jackson's army, the cars fired into, and he taken prisoner at Bristoe Station. He was handed over to A. P. Hill, who treated him kindly as prisoner on parole during the battles of Groveton Heights and the Second Bull Run ; after which he mounted him, lending him a spur from his own foot, also an orderly to bring back the horse, and sent him to Richmond with the following pass:
" MANASSAS, SUNDAY, August, 31st, 1862.
"Captain Duncan A. Pell, aide-de-camp to Major-General Burnside, United States army, having given his parole of honor to proceed to Richmond and report to General Winder, will be passed unmolested by all confederate guards.
" A. P. HILL, " Major-General Confederate States Army."
He was kept in Libby prison only about ten days, when he was exchanged, and joined his command a few days after the battle of Antietam. He reports favorably of his treatment at the prison, though this may have been owing in part to his ingratiating appearance and easy, cheerful manners. After this, he joined the army of the Potomac as an aide to General Burnside; was with him at the battle of Fredericksburg, and returned with him when he was relieved. He accompanied General Burnside still as aide, when he took command of the department of Ohio. At this time, General Robert B. Potter, being put in command of a division of the ninth corps, and ordered down to Vicksburg, Captain Pell volunteered to serve on his staff, and was made adjutant-general, and entered Vicksburg with the army, July 4th, 1863.
The following is a brief and bare record of his career and services from this time. He accompanied his command to join General Sherman, and was present at the siege and capture of Jackson, Mississippi. After this, General Potter's chief of staff having returned, Captain Pell left him and joined Burnside again, in East Tennessee; was with him in the battle of Blue Springs ; accompanied a flag of truce to Carter's Station, and also to Sweet- water. On the latter occasion, he was seized, with his escort, by General Vaughn, detained some days and released. Ile went through the battles of Huff's Ferry and Campbell's Station, and aided in the defence of Knox- ville, when it was besieged for twenty-one days by General Longstreet. He came east with General Burnside, and served, for two months, in the early part of 1864, in recruiting the ninth army corps; then joined Grant's army
ยท
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with that corps, and served through that great campaign, from the Wilderness to the position before Petersburg; and from thence to the surrender of Lee ; passing through the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, four assaults on Petersburg, and the mine explosion in front of that city.
Though, after this, he went home with General Burnside, (when he was relieved on account of the affair of the mine,) he soon returned as volunteer aide to General Parke, then in command of the ninth corps, and was with him through Hatcher's Run fight, the attack on Fort Steadman, and, finally, at the assault and capture of Petersburg, on the 1st and 2d of April, 1865. The head-quarters to which he belonged were, at one time, under fire for one hundred and four days, with few exceptions. The war ended, he resigned his commisssion, May, 1865. He was breveted for services in East Tennessee ; " for gallant and meritorious conduct at the battles of Wilderness, Spottsyl- vania, Bethesda Church, and for the operations before Petersburg;" and, finally, for gallant and meritorious services during the war. Beginning as a private, at the first battle of Bull Run, he ended as lieutenant-colonel, at the surrender of Lee.
This is the meagre outline of an honorable career, extending with rare intermissions, from the beginning to the end of the great war. Colonel Pell went into the work with all the heart and fine fancy of a generous boy, and came out of it a man, unbroken in feeling and purpose. The writer occasionally saw him through those bloody years; and never, in the darkest moment, was he anything but the very image of cheerful confidence and hope. The fatigues and privations of the camp were scarcely endurances to this brilliant and light-hearted youth, and the perils of battle, though entered upon with solemnity and manly pathos, were passed through with a courage that seemed not only happy, but even gay. But under the light and graceful demeanor, there was, within the heart, a coal lit from the altar, a deep glow of personal consecration to his country.
In the midst of the political indifference of influential people, of the mistakes and prejudices of parties, and, above all, hemmed in as we are by the mean and corrupt herd of professional politicians, if we can think of this youth, and of the large. and noble company of such as he, none of us will ever despair of this republic.
GEORGE WILDE FIELD.
ZIEUTENANT GEORGE WILDE FIELD, youngest son of John A. and Deborah A. Field, was born in Providence on the 19th of June, 1835. The days of his boyhood were spent in the schools of his native city. After graduating from the high school, he left his home to engage with his brother- in-law in agricultural pursuits, in Illinois, for which he had manifested a taste. After a few years' experience, finding his health impaired and inadequate to a continuance of a farmer's life, he returned to his home, in Providence.
Upon the breaking out of the rebellion, Mr. Field was occupied in his brother's store, in Baltimore. The north was taking up arms in defence of the Union, and word reached him that his native state was preparing for the confliet. He lost no time in deliberating on his course, but, from a sense of duty, hastened to Rhode Island and enrolled himself in the first regiment of Rhode Island light artillery, battery B, Captain Vaughan. Ile was appointed corporal ; shortly after, a sergeant. This battery, it is well known, took part in the first battle of Bull Run. On the retreat, seeing Colonel Steere on the roadside, wounded, he placed him in his seat on the caisson, and performed the march himself on foot. In a private letter, speaking of this battle, Colo- nel Steere says: "To Sergeant Field I consider myself indebted for the privilege of this day being outside of the enemy's lines, as he, on our retreat, gave me his seat and walked himself. Otherwise I should have remained by the roadside, the result of which, to say the least, would have made me a prisoner to the rebels. Such acts of kindness are worthy of notice."
On the 1st of October following, Mr. Field was promoted to a first- lieutenantcy in battery B, which office he retained until October 26, 1862.
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when, in consequence of impaired health, he tendered his resignation, which was accepted, when he returned home. During the following summer, which he passed at the north, he recovered his health, and determined again to enter the field. On the 5th of February, 1863, he was appointed lieutenant of the 4th Rhode Island regiment, which he hastened to join, then in camp at New- port News. On the 13th of March, the regiment made its camp near Suffolk, Virginia, from which time to the 16th of April, it was actively employed with the enemy. In the attack on Suffolk, by General Longstreet, Lieuten- ant Field was placed in command of an outpost on the Edenton road, having two large siege guns planted there, and was highly complimented by the officer in command of our force. In all the engagements of his regiment which followed he took part, and at one time was assigned to duty in Norfolk, Virginia, in command of the harbor police. He also served as aide-de-camp on the staff of Colonel Steere, while that officer commanded the third brigade, ninth army corps.
At the battle before Petersburg, on the 30th of July, 1864, when the regiment had made a charge and met with a repulse, Lieutenant Field was assisting his friend, Lientenant Eldridge, who had been wounded, from the the field, when he was shot through the heart. In a letter from his com- manding officer to his father, communicating the sad intelligence of his death, he says: "Lieutenant Field conducted himself in such a manner as to command the admiration and respect of every officer and man in the regiment." He was a kind, affectionate and dutiful son; his unselfishness and innate refinement of character endeared him to all who knew him, and remained intact amid the rough scenes of camp-life. As a soldier, he was especially conspicuous among his comrades for gallantry and bravery.
GEORGE F. TURNER.
EORGE F. TURNER, was the son of Doctor James V. Turner, of Newport, and of his wife Catharine, who was the daughter of the Honorable Ray Greene, of Warwick. He was born at the homestead of his maternal ancestors, in the town of Warwick, on the 26th day of March, 1824.
Upon the breaking out of the rebellion, Mr. Turner was pursuing his profession as a designer and draughtsman, in the city of New York. Fired with the same patriotism which had aroused so many of Rhode Island's sons in every part of the Union, as well as at home, Mr. Turner hastened to his native state, joined a military company then forming in the city of Newport for the second regiment of Rhode Island volunteers, and was at once elected their captain. In consequence of delays connected with the receipt of his commission, Mr. Turner returned to New York, where he resmned his profession, which he prosecuted until he was sent for to return to Rhode Island, having, on the 2d of October, 1862, been appointed second-lieutenant in the fifth regiment of Rhode Island heavy artillery.
Lieutenant Turner took part with his regiment in its varied service in North Carolina, the most important of which was the brilliant achievement which resulted in the raising of the siege of Little Washington, where General Foster was closely besieged by the enemy. The steamer "Escort," it will be remembered, ran the blockade on Pamlico river, carrying supplies to the garrison. There was no event in the war more daring in its character than this, the particulars of which are given in the sketch of General Sisson, then colonel of the regiment.
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At the time of the fatal epidemic at Newbern, North Carolina, Lieutenant Turner was stationed at a healthy locality at some distance from the city. An energetic officer being required to supervise the sanitary condition of the streets of the city, Lieutenant Turner was selected for the place. He per- formed his duty to the satisfaction of his superior officers, until he was taken sick, and fell a victim to the disease which had carried off so many of our men, on the 6th of October, 1864, at the age of forty years.
" Lieutenant Turner was the last man," says Mr. Stone, in his sketch of this officer, "to ask for a notoriety after death, which he never sought in life; but an affectionate recollection of his worth, naturally seeks to pay some tribute to his memory. Intimately known to few out of his family circle, he had won the high regard of those who knew him best. Possessed of decided talent for the acquisition of languages, with fine tastes and love of art, fond of domestic life, a man of warm affections and sterling principles, -his were qualities to make him loved and respected. Retiring in his habits, his life would have passed in the study and practice of his art; but the same high sense of duty, which called so many of our young men to ennoble this struggle with the sacrifice of their lives, was imperative with him, and he fell for the country he loved so dearly and served so faithfully."
Lieutenant Turner married Caroline, daughter of the late Joseph G. Stevens, Esquire, who survives him.
Saut- Ballit
JACOB BABBITT.
ACOB BABBITT was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, in the year 1809. He was the only son of the late Major Babbitt, a wealthy and prominent citizen of Bristol. He was educated at a military academy at Middle- town, Vermont, and having completed his studies, he returned to his native town. For some years thereafter he was engaged successfully in mercantile affairs. Afterwards he entered into manufacturing and agricultural pursuits, in which he showed great energy and devotion to business, and soon took his place among the most advanced business men in the community.
The esteem in which he was held by his neighbors, and the public gen- erally, was evinced by his selection to fill various offices of trust and honor, and by the faet of his having been chosen to represent his town in the General Assembly.
When the tenth (three months') regiment was organized in response to an urgent call from the Secretary of War, Mr. Babbitt accepted the position of major, and served until the time of service of that regiment had nearly expired, when he accepted the same position in the seventh (three years') regiment, then being organized.
Although his military talent was acknowledged and undoubted, he declared, from the first, his determination to take no higher rank than that of major. As an officer he was cool, brave and prompt. He entered the battle of Fredericksburg with his regiment, and, while cheering on his men, was wounded in the arm and chest. IIe died from the effects of his wounds, December 23d, 1862, at the Mansion House Hospital, in Alexandria. His last hours were soothed by the presence of his wife, and others of his family.
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At the time of his death he was president of the Commercial Bank, of Bristol, and chief engineer of the fire department of that town. Short as was his military career, it was sufficiently lengthy to show that he possessed the requisites for an able and faithful officer, and it ought not to be forgotten that he received his wounds in setting an example of daring bravery to his men, wearied with hopeless efforts and almost yielding to discouragement. In pursuance of his duty, he placed himself in the most exposed positions, and gave his life at the call of honor.
The remains of Major Babbitt were brought to Bristol, where his funeral obsequies were attended by almost the entire population.
Impelled to take up arms by a pure and unselfish patriotism, Major Babbitt, in the maturity of his years, left a pleasant home and all that makes life agreeable to discharge what he considered a sacred duty to his country. Genial in his temperament, surrounded by friends, respected in the com- munity, and with ample employment in civil life for all his time and powers, he relinquished a life of comparative ease for the toils, the responsibilities and the dangers of the battle-field.
No higher encomium could be paid him, and no more fitting epitaph given him, than his last written words, as he departed for the field of battle before Fredericksburg: "SHOULD IT BE MY LOT TO FALL, KNOW THAT IT WAS IN DEFENCE OF OUR BELOVED CONSTITUTION."
ZENAS BLISS.
OLONEL ZENAS BLISS was born in Johnston, Rhode Island. He began his military education at West Point in 1850, and, on graduating in 1854, was appointed brevet second-lieutenant first infantry. In November of the same year, he joined his regiment, which was stationed at Fort Duncan, Texas, and received a promotion, as second-lieutenant of the eighth infantry, the next year. From this time until the breaking out of the rebellion, Lieutenant Bliss remained with the eighth regiment, in Texas, serving on the frontier as commander of the mounted infantry at the different posts at which he was stationed, and engaging in many scouts and expeditions against the Indians. In 1860, he received a promotion as first-lieutenant; followed, the succeeding year, by another, as captain in the eighth infantry.
On the 9th of May, 1861, Captain Bliss, with a part of his regiment, was captured at San Antonio by the rebel troops under the command of General Van Dorn. The United States troops were acting, at the time, under the command of General Twiggs, who, it will be remembered, delivered up our men so shamefully to the betrayers of his conntry. Captain Bliss was confined for some time as a prisoner in San Antonio, and was afterwards transferred to the Negro Jail, in Richmond. In April, 1862, he was exchanged for an officer in the rebel navy, and the following month found him commissioned by Governor Sprague as colonel of the tenth regiment Rhode Island volun- teers. On reporting in Washington, he was assigned to the command of the northern defences of that city. He was afterwards transferred to the south side of the Potomac, and again transferred to the command of a provisional brigade, organized for the defence of Washington, under Brigadier-General Sturgis. Subsequently, he was transferred to the forts north of the Potomac, and remained in command until August, when he was mustered out of the
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