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 42
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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 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
WILLIAM H. PERRY.
ILLIAM II. PERRY, from Pawtucket, enlisted as a private in the second regiment Rhode Island volunteers June 6th, 1861, at the age of twenty-one. He was soon promoted to a corporal, and again to a sergeant. He was commissioned a second-lieutenant in the same regiment on the 1st of October, 1864, and was promoted to a first-lieutenant on the 31st of January, 1865. He was killed in the battle of Sailor's Creek, near Peters- burg, Virginia, on the 6th of April, 1865. Captain Gleason fell in the same action. Both entered the service early in the war as privates, and by merit rose to their positions as officers.
448
RHODE ISLAND OFFICERS.
JAMES P. TAYLOR.
IEUTENANT JAMES P. TAYLOR, son of Anthony V. and Martha C. Taylor, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, January 3, 1822. Soon after he had reached the age of manhood, his parents removed to the city of Provi- dence, where he learned the art of wood engraving, which was his occupation at the time of his enlistment. He received a commission as second lieutenant in the first Rhode Island cavalry, on the 24th of December, 1861. His frank, genial manners, his integrity and high toned character won him many friends. and secured the esteem of all. Lieutenant Taylor was present with his regi- ment at the battle of Cedar Mountain, on the 9th of August, 1862. In the terrible scenes of that day he earned a noble record for his unwavering cour- age at the post of danger and duty. The fight took place on a day of extreme heat, and many were disabled from this cause alone. Lieutenant Taylor was among the number. The exhausting labors incident to the gallant part which he took throughout the action proved too much for his endurance, and at the end of the battle he left the field at the head of his troop, greatly prostrated. Conscious that he needed different ministrations from those that could be obtained in a bivouac, he started for the house of Mr. William Flint, about three miles distant, and arrived there on the morning of Sunday, the day after the battle, too feeble to utter a word. He sank rapidly under the effects of the sun-stroke received the day before, and died on the 10th of August.
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CHARLES W. GLEASON.
APTAIN CHARLES W. GLEASON, of Warwick, Rhode Island, enlisted as a private, June 5th, 1861, at the age of twenty-two, in the second regi- ment Rhode Island volunteers. After serving as a corporal and a ser- geant, he was promoted to a second-lieutenant in the same regiment, on the 16th of July, 1864, and as first-lieutenant October 1st, following. For gallant conduct at the battle of Winchester, Virginia, he was breveted captain, to date September 19th, 1864. Ile was promoted to captain January 31st, 1865, and was killed in action April 6th, 1865, at Sailor's Creek, near Petersburg, Virginia.
449
EDWIN K. SHERMAN, STEPHEN M. HOPKINS.
ISAAC D. KENYON.
SAAC D. KENYON was a son of the late Judge Lewis Kenyon, of Richmond, Rhode Island, and up to the time of his enlistment, he had been engaged in mercantile pursuits in Providence. He held the commission of captain in the twenty-first Connecticut volunteers. In the fight before Petersburg, on the 18th of August, 1864, he was mortally wounded while at his post in the trenches; and, after lingering two weeks, died at the eighteenth corps hospi- tal, September Ist, attended by his wife and brother, who had been summoned to his side. The obituary notice of Captain Kenyon, which appeared in the Providence Journal at the time of his death, thus speaks of him :
" Ile was a young man of uncommon native ability, which he had culti- vated more than is common for a business man. He was noble, brave, gener- ous and remarkably honorable and truthful. He was a genuine patriot, and it was purely for the love of his country that he engaged in its service, and not for military glory. On the contrary, his very fine sensibility and rather delicate constitution, must have made the business distasteful and unpleasant. Yet he overcame all these obstacles, and distinguished himself as a tactician and disciplinarian ; so much so, that he was promoted from the post he occu- pied, to the command of a refractory company, that at once became service- able and well-disciplined. He possessed in an uncommon degrec, the power of attaching his friends and associates to him, as is evidenced by correspon- dence with his friends in and out of the army, most of whom say they cannot refrain from tears when they speak of his death."
EDWIN K. SHERMAN.
DWIN K. SHERMAN was appointed second-lieutenant in the second regi- ment of Rhode Island volunteers, June 6th, 1861. Was promoted a first-lieutenant, July 22; and captain on the 20th of November, 1861. He died in the hospital at New York, July 15th, 1862.
STEPHEN M. HOPKINS.
TEPHEN M. HOPKINS, of Burrillville, Rhode Island, was appointed first- lieutenant in the twelfth Rhode Island volunteers, October 13th, 1862. Was wounded in the foot at Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 13th, 1862. He resigned December 19th, and soon after died from the effect of his wound.
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450
RHODE ISLAND OFFICERS.
HENRY L. NICOLAI.
HIS young officer was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on the 29th of April, 1841. He was naturally inclined towards military affairs, and, at the commencement of the war, was a member of the Newport Artillery Company. When the first regiment was formed, he enlisted in company F, and held the position of fourth-corporal at the battle of Bull Run. On the return of this regiment, after their three months of service, Corporal Nicolai enlisted in the first Rhode Island cavalry, as first-sergeant of troop A. On the 2d day of November, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of second-lieutenant. On the 17th of March, 1862, the severely-contested cavalry fight at Kelly's Ford took place. The first Rhode Island cavalry engaged the enemy with great honor to itself. Lieutenant Nicolai led his men to the charge three several times, and was killed by a shell just as victory had crowned the arms of the Union. He was a brave and promising officer, and his loss was keenly felt by his comrades in arms, who, at the time of his death, paid the following tribute to his memory :
CAMP NEAR POTOMAC BRIDGE, VIRGINIA, March 25th, 1863.
To the relatives and friends of Lieutenant Nicolai :
The officers of the first Rhode Island cavalry, wish to pay an appropriate tribute to the memory of a gallant officer, and to soften the affliction of those who mourn his loss.
We have known Lieutenant Nicolai, since the first organization of the regiment, as a private sol- dier and non-commissioned officer, and a commissioned officer. A sense of his duty to God and his native land, impelled him to take up arms; and his promotion was won step by step, by a constant display of zeal for our eause, and an able and manly discharge of his duties as a soldier. Three times on the day of his death, he had led his men to victory. Thrice the haughty foe charged upon us eon- dent of their success, and each time he was foremost among the brave men who routed the enemies of civilization. The battle was won and all danger apparently over, when Lieutenant Nicolai was struck in the shoulder by a cannon ball and instantly killed. For a soldier, there can be no prouder epitaph than " Died upon the field of honor." On many a weary march, in many a scene of danger, we had learned to admire and respect him.
" We shall meet him often in memory's halls, His portrait will hang on memory's walls."
Often shall we reeall his virtues when the day's march is done and the bivouae fires are lighted ; and sadly will it be said, we shall never find a braver sollier or a truer man.
ALFRED N. DUFFIE,
Acting Brigadier-General Commanding First Cavalry Brigade.
And twenty-nine commissioned officers first Rhode Island cavalry.
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ALBERT L. SMITH, CHARLES H. KELLEN, CHARLES A. SAWYER.
JOHN K. KNOWLES.
OHN K. KNOWLES, son of James and Ann Knowles, was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, August 14, 1835. He received his education chiefly at the common schools, after which he went through a course of instruction at Messrs. Potter & Hammond's Commercial Academy, in Provi- dence. He then taught school till the war broke out, when he enlisted at Chicago, in Sturges's Rifle Corps, with which he served through the several campaigns during General Mcclellan's command. Serving out his time, he returned to Rhode Island, where he was drafted. He was then commissioned a second-lieutenant in the fourth Rhode Island volunteers, August, 14th, 1863, and was killed in the attack on the fortifications before Petersburg, Virginia, on the 30th of July, 1864.
ALBERT L. SMITH.
LBERT L. SMITH, son of Stukely Smith, was born in Thompson, Connecti- cut, July 16th, 1822. He was a merchant, and enlisted from Paw- tueket as a private in the seventh regiment Rhode Island volunteers. Was promoted to a first-lieutenant April 3d, 1863, and died of brain fever at Nicklesville, Kentucky, on the 31st of August, 1863.
CHARLES H. KELLEN.
HARLES H. KELLEN enlisted from Willimantic, Connecticut, as first-sergeant July 16th, 1862, in the seventh regiment Rhode Island volunteers. Promoted to a second-lieutenant on the 7th of January, 1863, and fell mortally wounded at Fredericksburg, December 13th, 1862, before his com- mission could have reached him.
CHARLES A. SAWYER.
HARLES A. SAWYER enlisted from Nashua, New Hampshire, in the first Rhode Island cavalry, at the age of twenty-two, on the 4th of August, 1862. He was promoted to a first-lieutenant and adjutant of the same regiment on the 24th of June, 1863, and died November 15th, in the same year.
452
RHODE ISLAND OFFICERS.
CHARLES E. LAWTON.
HARLES E. LAWTON, son of Governor Lawton, of Newport, Rhode Island, was appointed first lieutenant of the fifth regiment of Rhode Island heavy artillery, August 27th, 1863, and made regimental quartermaster on the first of January, 1864. He took part in the various actions in which his regiment was engaged, and died of apoplexy at Newbern, North Carolina. on the 26th of December, 1864.
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JOSEPH MCINTYRE. .
OSEPH MCINTYRE, of Pawtucket, was appointed second-lieutenant in the fifth regiment of heavy artillery on the 11th of November, 1862; and was promoted to a first-lieutenant in the same regiment on the 14th of Feb- ruary, 1863. Promoted captain of the second regiment Rhode Island volun- teers, February 17, 1863 ; killed in the battle of the Wilderness, May 5th. 1864.
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