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 33
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sion sprang from no pervading sympathy of the community; it was prompted by no military aspiration or fondness for exciting adventures. It was the simple result of deliberate and religious consideration, of a conviction of duty that was in conflict with his most cherished tastes and his most valued enjoyments. He heard no word of opposition from either of his parents, but he understood full well how hard it would be for them, still burdened with the sorrow of a recent bereavement, to acquiesce in his decision ; and only those who knew his affectionate nature and the depth of his filial love, can be aware how great was the struggle that went on in the recesses of his own mind,- for he scarcely mentioned the subject to others, until his purpose was fixed and his arrangements completed.
He entertained only the most modest estimate of his aptitude for mili- tary life, and nothing would have induced him to solicit a favor from the government, even for the purpose of engaging, without compensation, in its defence. He, however, possessed qualifications which, in many respects, more than compensated for his want of military experience. His education and acquaintance with business, his habits of executive promptness and thorough- ness, his superior horsemanship, and, withal, some familiarity with cavalry drill, were such as to fit him for usefulness in any position in which military training was not specially required. He accordingly offered himself as a volunteer aide to General Isaac P. Rodman, an officer who had just been made a brigadier for gallant services at the capture of Newbern, North Caro- lina, and who, at that time, was at home recovering from a fever. This offer was gladly accepted, and he immediately received from the governor of Rhode Island, the commission of a first-lieutenant, with special permission to " report to General Rodman for duty as volunteer aide." His commission bore date August 19, 1862. The general returned to his post in the army of the Poto- mac, near the close of that month; and, on the 1st day of September, Lieu- tenant Ives left home to join him at Washington. He found him there, act- ing as major-general, in command of the third division in General Burnside's ninth corps d'armee ; that corps being already in column, and about to move into Maryland, then overrum by the invasion of the rebels.
The movement commenced on the 7th of September, and was prosecuted with all the rapidity that was practicable; for on its success depended the deliverance of the middle states from threatened invasion. The young officer was immediately ushered into scenes of the greatest excitement and the most arduous service, but, from the outset, he made it his special
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endeavor clearly to understand the duty which was assigned to him, and then to do it as perfectly and as accceptably as he was able. From the brief and hurried entries in his diary in those exciting days, may be inferred how ardu- ous was the work to be donc, and how devoted he was to its faithful execution. The early part of the march was delayed with hindrances of every kind; nearly every day he was in the saddle at sunrise, and it was often near mid- night when he had conducted the rear of the division over the encumbered ·road to its camping ground for the night. His sleep was usually taken under a tree or by the side of a fence, and, on many a day, his only food was the crackers he carried in his pocket. The army reached Frederick on the 12th of September, where they first encountered the enemy and immediately drove them from the city. Retreating with a continued skirmish to the passes of South Mountain, the rebels again made a stand in a strong position ; and, on the 14th, a severe and bloody battle was fought, in which General Rodman's division was fully engaged. The battle lasted through the entire day, and afforded the first occasion on which Lieutenant Ives was directly exposed to the continuous fire of the enemy. He bore this test of personal courage without faltering, and discharged the perilous duties of the day with a coolness and a cheerful alacrity and fidelity, that secured for him a high place in the confi- dence and esteem alike of his general and the officers with whom he was associated. The battle and the march preceding had called forth the genu- ine qualities of his character and shown the spirit which animated him; and in his position as a member of the general's personal staff, he had become, even in so brief a time, most favorably known throughout the division.
The rebels were driven through the gorges of the mountain, and, on the following morning, they retreated towards Sharpsburg and occupied the heights near that village which rise abruptly from the right bank of the little river Antietam, a tributary of the Potomac. Here their entire army was posted in positions made specially advantageous by the nature of the ground; and hither the forces of the Union were immediately pushed forward to meet them, in a battle that must decide the issues of the campaign, perhaps even the fate of the republic. The 16th was occupied in posting the troops and in other preparations, and, at night, both armies bivouacked with their arms at their sides in their respective positions. The command of General Burnside was placed on the left of the line, with its centre opposite the stone bridge which spans the stream, and with its extreme left, General Rodman's division, opposite a ford three-quarters of a mile below. The battle of Antietam began
45
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at sunrise on the morning of the 17th, but General Burnside's troops were not fully engaged till ten o'clock, when they received an order to carry the bridge and cross the stream. So exposed, however, was the movement to the fire of the enemy, that several successive assaults proved unavailing, and it was not till one o'clock that the work was finally accomplished, and then only with fearful loss both of officers and men. The ford below was soon afterwards carried by General Rodman, and his brigades crossing the river and ascend- ing the bluffs to the plateau above effected a junction with those that were passing over the bridge. It was the great success of the day, and most fortu- nately was it achieved, for on carrying and holding these passes of the river, all the advantages gained by the battle obviously turned.
The troops, who for several days had had but little rest and only irreg- ular rations, were thoroughly exhausted, but still other movements were in contemplation at head-quarters; and at three o'clock General Burnside was again ordered, by the commander-in-chief, to move forward his whole line upon Sharpsburg and the adjacent heights on the left, on which the rebel batteries were strongly posted. In this movement the division of General Rodman, which was still on the extreme left, was brought nearly opposite to these batteries, and became exposed to their raking fire. The division, however, charged up the heights and took the guns, but, the enemy being reenforced, they were afterwards recaptured and the line was forced back to its former position on the erest above the right bank of the river. It was in this fruit- less charge that both General Rodman and Lieutenant Ives fell, almost at the same moment, mortally wounded ; the one with a Minie ball in the breast, the other with a cannon shot in the thigh. The fatal shot tore away the flesh from the bone for several inches and passing into his horse killed the animal on the spot.
Lieutenant Ives had scarcely fallen when he was joined by his faithful servant, George Griffin, a young Englishman, who had accompanied him from England in 1860, and who, still in his service, would not be refused the privi- lege of sharing his fortunes in the army. Though a non-combatant, he had kept throughout the day as near as possible to the scene of the contest ; and on the first rumor that his master had been struck, he rushed forward at the risk of his life to find him and assist in his removal. Through the weary days and nights that immediately followed, this faithful attendant was his only companion and watched over him and ministered to his every want with a tenderness and care that proved the greatest solace to his sufferings.
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The wounded officer was borne to a dwelling house near at hand which had been taken as a temporary hospital, where he was soon attended by Surgeons Rivers and Millar ; the former the surgeon of the division, the latter, of the fourth Rhode Island regiment. His wound, though very serious, was not at first thought to be mortal. On the following day, several hospital tents were pitched on an eminence a little distance from the field, and to these General Rodman, Lieutenant Ives, and some other wounded officers from Rhode Island, were removed. Intelligence of his wound was immediately despatched to his father, but so removed was the scene of the battle from telegraphic com- munication and so burdened were the wires with messages from the army, that it was not received in Providence till after the lapse of forty-eight hours. His father hastened to him, accompanied by Dr. L. L. Miller, of Providence, reaching his tent on the following Sunday evening. The army had already moved forward, and so comfortless was a solitary field hospital in the opening autumn, that it was decided to attempt his removal to Hagerstown, the near- est railroad terminus, some sixteen miles away. This was effected in an ambulance without special detriment to his comfort, and his previous good health and youthful constitution still kept alive the hope that he might, in a few days, be brought home and even recover from his wound.
The portion of Maryland which had been overrun by the rebels, presented a melancholy illustration of the desolations of a border war. Hagerstown had been visited in succession by each of the two contending armies; and its hotels were stripped of their supplies and its inhabitants were destitute of many of the commonest comforts of life. It was impossible to procure, save from distant cities, the articles that were indispensable to sustaining the strength of the wounded officer. In these circumstances, he received from a lady of Hagerstown, distinguished, alike for her Christian excellence and her patriotic care for the soldiers of the Union, an invitation to remove to her house. He was known to her only by name, but her invitation was thank- fully accepted, and slie opened to him spacious apartments in her hospitable home, to which, as was afterwards ascertained, she had often before received the sick and wounded officers who had been detained at Hagerstown .* Here
* The name of this lady is Mrs. HOWARD KENNEDY, a name that will long be associated with the most grateful recollections in many a northern home. Her services to the Union eause, are briefly alluded to in an article in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine, for December, 1862, entitled : My Hunt after the "Captain," from the pen of Doctor Oliver Wendell Holmes.
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he was made comfortable with every needed appliance and with every personal attention which kindness and sympathy could prompt. His wound, however, had inflicted an injury upon his physical frame too great for nature to repair. and the hope which had been cherished of his recovery was soon extinguished. He received the announcement of his approaching end with Christian calmness and submission to his Heavenly Father's will, and spent the closing hours of his life in the exercises of religion and in naming gifts of remem- branee for his friends and of charity for the public objects which he wished especially to promote. He died at Hagerstown, September 27, 1862, ten days after the battle, in the twenty-sixth year of his age. His death was serene and beautiful; the fitting elose of a young life modestly and relig- iously, yet bravely and heroically, given up for his country in the hour of her calamity and her greatest need. His remains were brought to Providence and here he was buried with his kindred. On the Ist day of October, a month from the day of his departure from home, his funeral took place in St. Stephen's church, the church in whose recent erection he had taken an active and liberal interest, and in which he had been an habitual worshipper and a devout communicant. That church now contains a memorial window, placed there by loving hands to commemorate his piety and worth, his benefactions for religion and his death for his country.
ISAAC PEACE RODMAN.
SAAC PEACE RODMAN, the eldest son of Samuel Rodman, was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, on the 18th day of August, 1822. Mr. Rod- man was a member of the state senate of Rhode Island at the time our troubles began with the south, and was strongly in favor of conciliatory meas- ures, while there was a hope of reconciliation; but when the peace convention adjourned at Washington, he turned all his thoughts to war. The writer will never forget his astonishment on seeing General Rodman rush into the secre-" tary of state's office one morning, unusually excited, and wanting to revive the charter of the Narragansett Guards; a military organization which had formerly existed in South Kingstown and had been disbanded. The writer had known him before only as a modest Christian gentleman, diligent and intent on business. It was evident that a change had come over him; that henceforth he was for the stern arbitrament of the sword, till this question should be settled. He had made up his mind from a sense of duty, to exchange the counting-room and factory, for the camp and a soldier's life ; to leave business, home, wife, children, everything for his country. He at once raised a military company of his neighbors and fellow-townsmen, for the second Rhode Island volunteers, and was chosen its captain.
At the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, this regiment took a promi- nent part. Governor Sprague, who was on the field, was so much struck with the gallant and soldier-like conduct of Captain Rodman, that, so soon as the fourth regiment was mustered into the service, he appointed him its lieutenant-colonel, to date October 25, 1861; and soon after, colonel. The regiment remained stationed at Alexandria, or in that vicinity, from October
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5th, 1861, till the 11th of January, 1862, when it joined General Burnside's expedition to North Carolina, forming part of General Parke's 3d brigade. In the battle of Roanoke Island, Rodman's regiment bore a very important and conspicuous part. They were marched through the swamp and woods, to outflank the extreme right of the enemy, and to attack in reverse while the Hawkins zouaves were to charge the batteries in front. The fourth was the only regiment dressed in blue overcoats, and the rebels were heard to exclaim, when they broke and fled, " There come the d-d blue-coated regu- lars." They were under fire for fifteen or twenty minutes, and during all this time reserved their fire. Rodman always insisted that he and his regi- ment deserved much more credit for their conduet in this battle than for their subsequent charge at the battle of Newbern. While trying to escape from Roanoke Island in a boat, O. Jennings Wise, son of ex-Governor Wise, fell, piereed by several bullets. Colonel Rodman was present, and rendered every delieate attention in his power to the dying man. He often spoke of him as one of the most interesting, dignified and accomplished gentlemen he ever met; thoughtful of every one but himself to the last moment.
Colonel Rodman's regiment, after embarking and disembarking twice at Roanoke, sailed for Newbern. The details of the battle of Newbern are well "known; but the decisive part taken by Colonel Rodman and his command, is too important to be omitted here. The fleet sailed on the 12th of March. On the morning of the 14th, all the generals were in their saddles, and, at seven o'clock, the column, composed of Foster's, Park's and Reno's brigades, moved. Advancing up the main road, it encountered the enemy. Here the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Merritt, of the twenty-third Massachu- setts, fell, and also Adjutant Frazer A. Stearns, son of the president of Amherst college,-the young man who had distinguished himself so much in the charge on the enemy's batteries at Roanoke Island. Colonel William S. Clarke, of the twenty-first Massachusetts, mounted the first gun, waived the colors, and had got as far as the second gun, when two full regiments of rebels emerged from a grove, and advanced upon the leading United States troops, driving them back into the woods. At this time, Captain Frazer, of the twenty-first Mas- sachusetts, was wounded and taken prisoner. On being driven from the battery, Colonel Clarke informed Colonel Rodman of the state of affairs inside. Colonel Rodman, unable to communicate with General Parke in the confusion of the fight, acted upon his own responsibility, and decided upon a charge with the bayonet. The position of his regiment in the line of battle, as ordered by General Parke, was in front of a battery of five guns, and the
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rifle-pits, which, situated immediately in the rear, protected the right flank of the main battery of nine guns. Until the charge was decided upon by Colonel Rodman, the regiment had been firing like the rest of the line, by companies and otherwise. When the command was given to "charge," they went at the double-quick, directly up to the battery, firing as they ran, and entered at the right flank, between a brick yard and the end of the parapet. When fairly inside, the colonel formed the right wing in line of battle, and, at their head, charged down upon their guns at double-quick, the left wing forming irreg- ularly, and going as they could with a steady line of cold steel. The Rhode Islanders bore down upon the enemy, and, routing them, captured the whole battery with its two flags, and planted the "stars and stripes" upon the para- pet. The eighth Connecticut, fifth Rhode Island and eleventh Connecticut coming up to their support, the rebels fled with precipitation, and left our troops in undisputed possession.
When the charge of the fourth had been made, and the colors had been carried along the whole length of the main battery, General Burnside asked some one, " What regiment is that ?" On being told, "The fourth Rhode Island," he said : "I knew it; it was no more than I expected ; thank God, the day is ours." This gallant charge won a brigadier-general's commission for Colonel Rodman.
The fourth Rhode Island next moved to Fort Macon, and were engaged in the investment and capture of that place. The part which General Rod- man and his command took, is truthfully and modestly stated in the following report, made by himself, to Governor Sprague :
" HEAD-QUARTERS FOURTH REGIMENT RHODE ISLAND VOLUNTEERS, BEAUFORT, DEPARTMENT NORTH CAROLINA, May 1.
"SIR :- I have the honor to report the action of the fourth Rhode Island in the reduction of Fort Macon, which surrendered to our forces on the 26th ultimo. After a march, which was necessarily a forced one, the third brigade of this department, or a portion of it, arrived and invested Fort Macon on the 26th of March, 1862.
" The fourth Rhode Island had two companies in Beaufort, one in Caro- lina City, and seven on the banks. The labor of those on the banks was very arduous, as much so as we could well endure, which was cheerfully per- formed without flinching. Five companies of the fourth alternately relieved the eighth Connecticut and fifth Rhode Island battalion in the trenches for fifteen days, exposed through the day to the fire of the enemy, during which time our siege batteries were planted. Not a day passed that the enemy did not open on us, firing from thirty to fifty shells, none of which, I am happy
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to say, injured any of my regiment. The exposure and fatigue incident to our duty has largely increased our sick list, and we have lost six men by death since we arrived. Their names will appear in the adjutant's report to General Mauran, which we have at last completed.
"Our batteries opened on the morning of the 26th, and in two or three hours told with fearful effect on the enemy's works. They held out for about ten hours, when, by a flag of truce, they requested a cessation of hostilities preparatory to a surrender. General Burnside granted this, and, on the morning of the 27th, Fort Macon was ours. The fifth Rhode Island battalion, being on duty in the trenches, received their arms, and five companies of iny regiment relieved Major Wright, guarding the prisoners until they were shipped off. The fort is much damaged by our fire, and some twenty-six guns were rendered unfit for service. The flag that was flying on the fort, General Parke has requested General Burnside to send to you.
" Nine companies of the fourth are now quartered here, and we have a fine building for a hospital, where, I do not doubt, our men will rapidly improve. Dr. Millar assures me that they are better already. I hope soon to have the most of them able for duty.
" Yours, etc.,
"Governor WILLIAM SPRAGUE."
I. P. RODMAN.
"Colonel Fourth Rhode Island Regiment."
We cannot omit a little incident so characteristic of the Rhode Island troops, which occurred on the morning of the surrender. The Rhode Island soldiers were famous for fun and frolic in the war of the revolution. On this occasion, their bugler, Joe Greene, of whom everybody has heard, with his silver tuned instrument under his arm, ran on in advance of the regiment, mounted the ramparts and played a solo. The sweet tones lingered through the arched casemates and within the walls, as if loth to die away in space ; and they touched the heart of many a soldier auditor. A crowd of prisoners lounging behind the revetment, on hearing the familiar air, climbed to the slope, one of them saying: "Let's all be Yankees together, and hear the music."
Soon after the surrender of Fort Macon, General Rodman was attacked with typhoid fever, and, under the advice of General Burnside and the sur- geon, returned to his home in Rhode Island. On his arrival at South Kings- town, he was met by a large concourse of his fellow-citizens, and warmly greeted. After remaining at home several weeks, he returned with health but partially restored, and, in August, joined, at Fredericksburg, his old brig- ade brought up from North Carolina with Burnside's ninth corps. When the ninth corps evacuated Fredericksburg and proceeded to Washington, thence to Frederick City, Maryland, General Rodman, as acting major-general, had
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command of a division in the left wing of the army. At Frederick City, they met the enemy, who retreated, our army pursuing; skirmishing all the way to South Mountain, where the first general engagement took place, Sep- tember 14th, 1862. Those under General Rodman's immediate command, say that his duties in this battle were most arduous and efficient.
From South Mountain, our forces pursued the enemy to Antietam, where, on the 17th of September, the last battle of the campaign was fought. In this battle, General Rodman and his aide, the lamented Lieutenant Robert H. Ives, Jr., fell mortally wounded. General Rodman on this day exhibited even more than his usual bravery and coolness. Though in feeble health, and much exhausted from five days and nights of extraordinary service, he kept in the saddle from early dawn till sunset, when he fell, pierced with a Minie ball through his left breast. This was the 17th of September. He lingered until the 29th. He was faithfully attended by his surviving aide, Lieutenant Aborn, his faithful wife, his father and Doetor William H. Hazard, of South Kingstown, who joined him immediately on receiving the news of his fall. But all surgical aid and efforts of friends, were unavailing. His system was exhausted. Ilis patience in suffering was equal to his courage on the battle-field. Lieutenant Aborn says he heard but one expression of murmur or of uneasiness. The night of his fall he was carried into a church filled with wounded and dying men, whose screams and skrieks were truly terrific. He turned to Aborn and remarked : "This is rather tough." He died as he lived, a Christian soldier. Doctor Hazard, who had witnessed many death-bed scenes, says "that for ealm, conseious, peaceful resignation, he never witnessed its equal."
In person, General Rodman was of medium size ; in features, rather mild and benignant, with a beautiful blue eye. He received in youth, only a com- mon school education, but was through his whole life remarkably studious. When not occupied in business, he was rarely without a book in his hand ; few men possessed greater general information. If he had one characteristic more strongly marked than another, it was his retiring modesty. He was never known to appear in publie on but one occasion, and that was at the great war meeting in Providence, whilst he was at home siek, just before his fall. There were no extravaganeies in General Rodman's life or conduet. His character as a whole, was uniform in all its elements. Ile was an humble professor of our holy religion. From the time he left his home in the spring of 1861, to the hour of his fall, his Bible was his daily companion, and was daily read by him. When they stripped his person, they found it in his bosom, elotted with his blood.
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