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 27
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On the 30th of May, 1863, Lieutenant Ives was appointed fleet captain, or adjutant of the flotilla, by Commodore Harwood, its commanding officer. In this capacity he was the organ of communication of the commander-in- chief, transmitted his orders to the commanders of vessels, and assisted him generally as chief of staff. Retaining his individual command and his right of seniority, he had now the active supervision of eighteen vessels, large and small ; an amount of duty requiring all his time, and sufficient for the most robust constitution. The greater energy was required, as the position was highly honorable, and many officers would gladly have succeeded to it when its former occupant was transferred to other functions. In this responsible command he fully proved the wisdom of the choice. He received the uni- form approval of his superior officer, for his activity in maintaining discipline whenever any of his subordinates yielded to the temptations of the river service, or the seductions of the enemy. An officer whose eminent distinction in the navy gives the highest value to his approval, well knew Lieutenant Ives at this period, and has paid this tribute to his memory: "His marked efficiency in the command of his gun-boat, induced the commodore in command of the flotilla, to appoint him his aid (captain of the fleet) when that position became vacant. The service required ability and untiring industry in its performance. Lieutenant Ives brought to bear upon his duty, all the higher qualities of the gentleman and officer; was always prompt and cheerful in carrying out his instructions, and never, that I recollect, in fault. He had no previous training for the service on which he was engaged but in the management of his yacht,
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yet I noticed that he always performed his duties with the quiet composure of a man 'bred to the sea.' He always seemed to act upon the principle of doing thoroughly what he had in hand, never looking for applause, or betray- ing for a moment the consciousness of having done well. These are among the finer qualities of a good officer, and added, if possible, to the respect in which Lieutenant Ives was held by his associates in the regular service. That he was subsequently promoted to the grade of lieutenant-commander, and was attached to the ordnance department, are additional proofs of his worth and its recognition."
Early in June, Lieutenant Ives was again on the Rappahannock. At the request of General Hooker, the Yankee, with other gun-boats, proceeded to Urbana, in order to protect the crossing of Colonel Kilpatrick's cavalry, which were then on their renowned expedition through Glocester and on the lower Rappahannock. During its progress, the river was blockaded by the flotilla. The famous raider crossed it in safety on his return. His transit occupied an entire day, in the immediate neighborhood of the enemy, and his landing was at a distance of six miles from the point of embarkation. That there was no attack during this hazardous operation, was due to the presence of the gunboats. (Report of the Secretary of the Navy.)
All the details of the second division of the Potomac flotilla were now under the management of Lieutenant Ives, and his performance of the duty was highly commended by his superior in command.
Later in the summer, during the critical period of the invasion of Penn- sylvania, the vessels of the flotilla were stationed along the upper waters of the Chesapeake, to cooperate with the army where their aid could be available, and to guard against contingencies which would have arisen had the day of Gettysburg been less favorable to the arms of the United States.
In work of this exhausting character, amid the heat and malaria of the Potomac, the summer of 1863 wore away. The autumn passed in compara- tive quiet in Virginia, and the flotilla was seldom diverted from its accustomed routine. The services which it had rendered while Lieutenant Ives was one of its most efficient officers, were thus acknowledged by the Secretary of the Navy, at the close of the year: "At all times and on all occasions, the flotilla has given active and willing cooperation to military movements. While the army was in the vicinity of Fredericksburg, its services were invaluable. It opened communication with the military forces, cleared the river of torpedoes,
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and drove the rebels from its banks. They convoyed transports with troops and supplies going to the army, and returning from the battle-field with the wounded and the siek. The vessels in this service are of light draft, and, as their construction is necessarily slight, those who serve on board of them in a hostile country are exposed to more than ordinary peril. But, whether in clearing the banks of the Rappahannock of sharpshooters or removing torpedoes from its bed, no less energy and daring have been exhibited than by others, in vessels of larger proportions and with greater protection." (Report, December, 1863.)
As the winter drew on, Lieutenant Ives found his failing health unequal to further command, and, with great reluctance, he sought relief. He had borne his full share of the public burdens, and might have resigned with honor. But his fondness for the naval service, increased his desire to be a partaker in the last labors of the war. He had gained the respect of his brother officers, and the government was desirous of retaining him. By an order of the Secretary of the Navy, December 3d, 1863, he was detached from the Potomac flotilla, and directed to report in person to the chief of the bureau of ordnance. He was then, December 4th, ordered to Providence, to report for duty. This consisted in attending daily at the foundry, and giving particular attention to the casting, boring, turning and finishing, together with the proof of guns and the inspection of shells manufactured there for the government. When this was accomplished he felt entitled to relief, and addressed the following letter to the Secretary of the Navy :
" PROVIDENCE, 26th February, 1864.
" SIR :- I beg respectfully to resign my appointment as acting volunteer lieutenant in the navy of the United States.
" I feel the greatest reluctance in taking this step during the continuance of the rebellion, but the state of my health, the less urgent necessities of the service, and the favorable aspects of the war, seem fully to justify me in so doing.
" When I was detached from the Yankee, I directed the acting assistant paymaster of that vessel to send my accounts to the fourth auditor of the treasury. I presume that they are now in his office, and that there will appear to be an amount standing to my credit as due me for my services since I entered the navy of the United States.
" As it is my purpose to draw no pay for any services which I have rendered to my country during the present war, I respectfully request that 37
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any sums so appearing on the books of the anditor may remain in the treasury, and that the accounts may be thus closed.
" I have the honor to be, with great respect,
" Your obedient servant,
" THOMAS POYNTON IVES, "Acting Volunteer Lieutenant United States Navy."
"The Honorable GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy."
On the 3d of March, Mr. Welles replied : "The department declines to accept your resignation, as your services are valuable to the bureau of ordnance." Lieutenant Ives was officially assured that "his motives were appreciated, and that if the duties assigned to him were too burdensome, he had entitled himself to further relief."
On the 4th of April, Lieutenant Ives received an urgent invitation from his friend Captain Wise, chief of the bureau of ordnance, to act as ordnance officer at Washington. He did not feel at liberty to decline an appointment which his mechanical tastes and thorough scientific training amply qualified him to fulfill. A distinguished officer in the navy of the United States has thus borne his testimony to the manner in which these new duties were discharged : "The duties of an inspector of ordnance, especially at Wash- ington, require talents of no ordinary character, combined with sound judg- ment and discretion. There the standards of everything pertaining to that most important branch of our naval service are prepared and issued for the government of the other naval stations, and all experiments in gunnery are conducted. Lieutenant-Commander Ives was singularly fortunate in the possession of all these qualities, and never failed in a single instance to per- form in a most satisfactory manner every duty assigned to him. His rigid supervision of the workshop and the laboratory, and the accurate manner in which he conducted the experiments with the batteries and pendulums, could not have been excelled." His services in the scientific department were acknowledged, November 7, 1864, by promotion to the grade of lieutenant- commander. These labors were continued until January 26, 1865, " at which time," says the eminent officer already quoted, " his devotion to the country and to the duties of the service had so injured his health, that I felt bound to insist upon his going away."
Such monitions he could no longer disregard, and, January 26th, 1865, wrote to the Secretary of the Navy: "It is with extreme reluctance that I
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have to inform the department, that, owing to failing health, I am compelled to ask to be relieved from duty. Although disinclined to address the depart- ment upon this subject, I feel it my imperative duty to do so, as I am advised that I cannot hope to reestablish my much broken health without perfect immunity from responsibility and labor, and a change of climate." In reply, the Secretary, although regretting the necessity, granted a leave of absence for six months, with permission to leave the United States.
On the 5th of April, he sailed for Europe. Relaxation from the hard work of the past four years had a restorative effect. The prospect of return- ing mity and peace, to which he had sacrificed the last hopes of his own recovery, refreshed his spirits, and gave a brief interval of apparently increas- ing strength. While enjoying a summer's rest in Germany, he could the better appreciate the news which every week brought from the United States.
From the beginning, he had sympathized with every advance of public opinion towards national emancipation, and he was revived by the intelligence that our institutions were to be reestablished upon a broader basis of justice and of right. As health seemed to improve, he hoped to return to the enjoyment of that American citizenship which he had given his best labors to preserve, and in which, now, more than ever, he felt an honorable pride. He looked onward to a life of the same earnestness in peace which he had displayed during the most laborious service and the darkest hours of war; by the fulfillment of public and private duties, developing institutions of benevo- lence which he had assisted in establishing, and making his private fortune the means of a generous hospitality.
With the most kindly expressions from those with whom he had served, his leave of absence was extended. On the day when it expired, he passed beyond the need of its renewal. While still cherishing a hope of the future, he was married at Vienna, October 19th, to Elizabeth Cabot Motley, daughter of the Honorable John Lothrop Motley, Minister of the United States in Austria. Immediately afterwards, he set forth on his return, but all hope vanished before a new manifestation of pulmonary disease, and he died at Havre, November 17th, 1865, in sight of the vessel which was to bear him to his native land.
The experience of four anxious and troubled years has taught a juster appreciation of the unostentatious labors of men who were prompted only by a desire that the future of their country should be one of honor and not of shame. In the most disastrous periods of its fortunes, some sought for
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the stars of the major-general as the earnest of political popularity-foreign embassies, the senate chamber, the presidential chair. Few such hopes have been fulfilled, those who cherished them often attaining only an unfortunate notoriety, or happy in being forgotten. We have learned respect for those who, with a finer sense of duty, accepted labors which promised little but the approval of conscience, and who gave life and health that the ascendancy of anarchy and barbarism might be averted from the homesteads of their fathers. Some fell when victory was yet afar off, and rest in unknown graves ; some gave the hope of future years-as truly the martyrs of civilization as if they had fallen in battle, and sound of muffled drum had given testimony of public
sorrow. Among those who answered to the call of Rhode Island there were many such as these, who went forth seeking nothing for themselves, anxious only that the liberty of which their state had seen the beginnings, should be the heritage of the whole land. Their labors have made the history of the future. Let us not doubt that it will honor those who toiled unseen to recon- struct our national house upon a sure foundation ; grateful that they have done a good work for the coming generations, though they laid but one stone in the rebuilding.
GeorgeE.Church
GEORGE E. CHURCH.
EORGE E. CHURCH was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, December 7th, 1835, and is descended directly from Colonel Benjamin Church, so distinguished for his success in warfare against the Indians, in the early colonial history of the country. On his mother's side, Colonel Church traces his ancestry back to within a few years of the time when the first settlers landed on the desolate shores of Massachusetts.
His father died while George was very young; and, in his eighth year, his mother removed from Rochester to Providence, where he received his early education. The beginning of his fifteenth year found him in the senior room of the high school, where he held a high rank of scholarship. His love of adventure, however, would not permit him to graduate, but his wish to see something of the world led him to visit Europe twice during the next two years. In his seventeenth year, he selected for his profession that of civil and topographical engineering, obtaining a position on a New Jersey railroad. Soon after, he was transferred to a situation as assistant engineer on a railway running from the Mississippi to the Missouri rivers. Mr. Church was next employed as resident engineer of the Hoosac Tunnel, of Massachusetts; and, after taking out the eastern approach and driving in the tunnel a short dis- tance, he again went west to accept employment upon an Iowa railway.
The crisis of 1857 leaving Mr. Church without employment in the United States, he proceeded to Buenos Ayres, South America, to accept of an offer as chief assistant engineer on a railway in that country. On his arrival, however, he found the political condition of the country such, that the proposed work had to be stopped. At that time, the government of Buenos Ayres was
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forming a commission of military and topographical engineers, to examine the southwestern frontier of the province, with a view to its defence against the depredations of the Indian tribes, who periodically swept across the pampas to the Andes, to plunder the inhabitants. Mr. Church was offered a position upon this commission, and the next year was spent in a life of adventure and excitement. Twice during the expedition, they were attacked by the banded Indian tribes, who, from the whole of Southern Chili and the eastern slopes of the Andes, had united in a grand foray against the Argentine frontiers. It was only after the severest fighting, for prisoners were never taken on either side, that the commission was enabled to prosecute their work. At the time of the second attack, they were surrounded by seven hundred howling Indians, when they had an escort of but forty men. At midnight, for two hours, Mr. Church stood near a wagon with a revolver and double-barrelled shot gun, expecting each moment to be obliged to sell his life as dearly as possible. By some providential alarm, the Indians were turned from their intended massacre, and the commissioners thus narrowly escaped death. Upon the termination of the expedition, each member of the commission was required to submit his own plan for the defence of the frontier. Notwithstanding the greater age and superior experience of his associates, Mr. Church had the honor to find his the only one approved and endorsed by the government, while it received the universal praise of the military men of the country. After having visited Brazil and Uruguay, and while engaged in the lucrative practice of his profession, the echoes of the first war notes of the rebellion reached the banks of the La Plata. Letters at the same time arrived from his mother, urging his return to his country to enter the army. "Your country needs you," was her mandate, and, obedient to the call, he immediately took passage for the United States, sacrificing several fine offers which were made to him the day before he sailed.
Upon his arrival in New York, Mr. Church commenced recruiting a company for a New York regiment; but on receiving the offer of a captain's commission in the seventh Rhode Island volunteers, from Governor Sprague, and anticipating its earlier entrance into the service, he accepted the prof- fered commission, and entered upon his duties at Camp Bliss. His commis- sion was dated July 26th, 1862. September found the regiment in the field, and on the march to reenforce General MeClellan, but it did not reach the army of the Potomac in time to participate in the battles of Antietam and South Mountain. On arriving at the front, the seventh regiment was attached
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to the first brigade, second division, ninth army corps. From Pleasant Valley, Maryland, they advanced under McClellan, changed commanders, skirmished along the Shenandoah Valley, and in November found themselves awaiting the landing of the pontoons at Fredericksburg. About the middle of Novem- ber, Captain Church was placed in command of a detachment of forty men, detailed to guard the Rappahannock ford, at Warrenton Sulphur Springs. He was attacked by two hundred and fifty of Stuart's celebrated cavalry, together with a battery of field pieces, but, notwithstanding the heavy fire to which he was exposed, Captain Church succeeded in repulsing the charge of the cavalry, and held the bridge and ford until reinforcements arrived. A considerable portion of the baggage-train of the army was thus saved from capture.
Then came the battle of Fredericksburg, with all its fearful carnage ; when, from eleven and one-half o'clock in the morning until seven in the evening, the heroes of the gallant seventh faced that famous stone wall, in the very focus of the encireling rebel batteries, and fired every available cartridge, taking them from the dead and the dying, and then stood firm in their ranks, with fixed bayonets, until ordered off the field. In the midst of the battle, Captain Church was made lieutenant-colonel, and soon after received his commission, dated January 7th, 1863. Thirty-four days later, a telegram announced to him his appointment to the coloneley of the eleventh regiment, then guarding the convalescent camp, near Washington. Hitherto this regiment had been engaged in the ignoble work of guard duty, and had almost given up hopes of ever being allowed the privilege of seeing the enemy in the field. Disgusted with the situation of the eleventh, Colonel Church, on coming into command, called on the Secretary of War, in company with the Honorable Samuel G. Arnold, United States senator from Rhode Island, and requested that he might be sent to the front. So hard did he urge his suit, that the Secretary became quite angry, and, jumping from his chair, exclaimed : "I can't put on a cocked-hat and sword, and go into the field myself." "But you can order me away from Washington," was Colonel Church's reply ; and that night, at one o'clock of the 16th of April, 1863, he received orders to report, with his regiment, for embarkation at Alexandria.
The officers and men were now overjoyed at the prospect of participating more actively in the overthrow of the rebellion, and were glad enough to leave the convalescent camp behind. The regiment was soon on its way to join the Union forces at Suffolk, then closely besieged by General Longstreet.
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Colonel Church, with his regiment, was actively engaged in the defence of this point and in the construction of fortifications, until the siege was raised and Longstreet retired to Richmond. Soon after this siege, preparations were made for a great raid, for the purpose of tearing up the Norfolk and Peters- burg and Seaboard and Roanoke railroads. During the accomplishment of this plan, the eleventh regiment was engaged in several hot skirmishes, but succeeded in holding the rebels in check until the roads were destroyed. When the retreat to Suffolk was ordered, Colonel Church was placed in com- mand of the brigade which covered the retreat.
A movement to the Peninsula was now inaugurated, in order to threaten Richmond from that quarter. Most of the troops which had been used to garrison Suffolk, were withdrawn to take part in the expedition. Colonel Church, in command of a brigade, was entrusted with the defences of Williams- burg during the advance of our forces just previous to the battle of Gettysburg. On the 30th of June, the eleventh regiment was relieved from further duty on account of the expiration of its term of service, and, on the 6th of July, 1863, it was mustered out of service, and Colonel Church found himself again in private life.
On the 31st of December, 1864, Colonel Church was again called into the service, and commissioned as colonel of the second Rhode Island volunteers. The appointment was very acceptable to him, as he had declined several lucrative offers in private life that he might serve his country.
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Rolf Charles
ROBERT RHODES.
OBERT RHODES, son of Richard W. Rhodes, was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, on the 12th of April, 184 -. He received his education at the common schools of his native town, and, at the age of sixteen, entered the merchant marine service, in the employ of Messrs. Greene & Arnold, of Providence, in the trade to the eastern coast of Africa, in which he continued for three years. Subsequently he was in the employ of Mr. Amos D. Smith, visiting various parts of the Mediterranean and South America.
Mr. Rhodes returned from his last voyage just at the outbreak of the rebellion, and had been home but a week when he joined the first Rhode Island regiment, under Colonel Burnside, and proceeded with it to Washing- ton. He was in the first battle of Bull Run, and continued with his regiment until it was disbanded.
On the 11th of October, 1861, Mr. Rhodes received the appointment of acting master's mate, and was ordered to the bark Fernandina, which vessel was soon after sent to join the blockading squadron, off Wilmington. On the 25th of December, the Fernandina captured the schooner William II. Northrop, while attempting to run the blockade. Mr. Rhodes was placed in charge of the prize, and ordered to take her to New York. He encountered a severe storm on the voyage. The weather was intensely cold, and the schooner's deck was covered with several inches of ice. A New York paper, in speaking of the arrival of the prize at that port, says: "The skill and tact which Mr. Rhodes displayed in bringing his vessel in safety to New York, will commend him to his superiors, and be a source of gratification to his friends."
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Mr. Rhodes was now ordered to the gun-boat Clifton, Lieutenant C. H. .Baldwin commanding, and proceeded to join the West Gulf squadron, under Admiral Farragut. In his official report, Lieutenant Baldwin says he was employed with little intermission in assisting the larger vessels over the bar, and in towing the mortar vessels of the flotilla. Next they were employed in making reconnoissances of forts Jackson and Saint Philip. In April, the Clifton was engaged in towing the mortar schooners into position ; and, during the six days' bombardment by these vessels, in supplying them with powder and shell. At night, their duty was to look after fire-rafts. At this time they were constantly under the enemy's fire. On the 24th of April, the Clifton took her position in the line of steamers for the attack on the forts. She proceeded to within short range and opened fire, which was kept up until the admiral's squadron had passed both forts. Upon the surrender of the forts, the Clifton was employed in bringing up troops of General Butler's command.
We next hear of the Clifton off Vicksburg, where she was engaged, with the fleet, in the bombardment of that city a few days prior to its surrender to General Grant. Under date of the 30th of June, 1862, Mr. Rhodes, in a letter to his father, says: "We have been engaged to-day in a desperate battle off Vicksburg, in which we lost eight men. At five o'clock in the morning, when we were at the head of the line, the steamer Jackson, then near us, was struck and disabled. Her captain hailed us, and asked us to tow him out of the way; at the same time the shot were striking around us like hail. Nevertheless, we lost no time in trying to render the Jackson the aid she needed; but, just as we were giving her a hawser, a sixty-pound rifle- ball entered our starboard side, forward, under the guard, near the water line, passing through the bulkhead that divides the fire-room from the forward berth deck, striking the starboard boiler in the end, and, passing through it, lodged in the port side. The steam and hot water from the boiler rushed out, filled the berth deck, and scalded in the most frightful manner all but two of the men of the powder division. The forward part of the ship was completely engulphed in hot steam, causing great confusion and alarm among the men. No one knew the exact nature of the disaster that had befallen us. Many, believing the ship to be on fire and fearing the explosion of our maga- zine, leaped overboard. In our disabled condition, and the excitement that ensued, it was an hour before we could go down to the berth deck to learn the full extent of the disaster. On doing so, we found six men scalded to death, presenting the most horrid spectacle I ever witnessed. Beside these,
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