USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the end of the century : a history, Volume 1 > Part 56
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
A regiment of infantry was at once organized, twenty-five hundred men volunteering, fifteen hundred more than was necessary or re- quired; these men came from all over the State and from all stations in its social and business life.
It was only with the greatest difficulty that the selections were made for representation among the towns for the companies of which this regiment was to be formed, so great was the desire of the citizens of the State to be numbered in its ranks. It was finally made up of six companies from Providence, one from Newport, one from Pawtucket, one from Westerly and one from Woonsocket.
Ambrose E. Burnside, then treasurer of the Illinois Central Rail- road, was hastily summoned from New York, where he then had an office, and placed in command of the regiment.
Within five days after the call for volunteers, the first half of the regiment, under the command of Colonel Burnside, left Providence for. Washington ( April 20), and four days later thesecond half, under Lieut .- Col. Joseph S. Pitman, proceeded thither. A battery of artillery was also organized by Capt. Charles H. Tompkins, and under his com- mand left Providence on the 18th of April, and after spending some days at Easton, Penn., in drill, arrived in Washington May 2, the first volunteer battery that entered the service.
The question of money for the support of the militia, called into service at various times when war had been declared, was one that had required most careful consideration by the Legislature of the Colony and State from the earliest days of its settlement. In every other such emergency timely warning had been given and money was freely provided, but with the outbreak of the Rebellion and this eall for troops the Legislature was not in session, nor was there time 'to call a special session to authorize the great expenditure of money which the emergency required. At this crisis Governor Sprague, for himself and the firm of A. & W. Sprague, guaranteed that the expense incurred should be paid, and thus enabled the troops from Rhode Island to more speedily get to the front.
Meanwhile the situation had reached a point where it was plainly apparent that a greater force was needed, and that enlistments for a. short period were useless; and when President Lincoln issued his second proclamation for more troops, enlistments were for three years. or the war. On the 18th of June Governor Sprague issued an order for the organization of a second regiment of infantry and a battery of artillery, and a camp for the purpose of organization was established on the Dexter Training Ground. Maj. John S. Slocum, of the First Regiment, was appointed colonel, and William Goddard, then a colonel on the governor's staff, was appointed temporary lieutenant-colonel.
Colonel Goddard soon after was assigned to other duties and his place was taken by Charles T. Robbins, also acting temporary lieuten-
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ant-colonel. On June 19 the regiment struck their tents and marched to Exchange Place, where appropriate exercises were held, and then resumed the march to Fox Point, where it embarked on the steamer State of Maine. The regiment arrived in Washington on the 22d, accompanied by Governor Sprague, John R. Bartlett, secretary of state, and Bishop Clark. This regiment had a most honorable record and was engaged in nearly all the great battles of the war, participat- ing in the battles of First Bull Run, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Marye's Heights, Salem Heights, Gettysburg, Rappahannock Station, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Fort Stevens, Opequan, Hatcher's Run, Sailor's Creek, and the surrender at Appomattox. It was mustered out of service May 24, 1865, and arrived in Providence the 17th of July following.
The first regiment which was enlisted for three months participated in the first battle of Bull Run. With the regiment at this time was Governor Sprague, who had a horse shot under him during the battle. This regiment, having completed its term of service, arrived in Provi- dence Sunday morning, July 28, and was mustered out August 2 following. The First Light Battery, R. I. Volunteers, completed its term of service at the same time and arrived in Providence July 31. In August another regiment of infantry was organized, the third. During its formation it was located at Camp Ames, on the Spring Green farm, Warwick. Early in September it left Providence for Fort Hamilton on Long Island.
Special orders No. 333, dated December 19, 1861, from the Adjutant General's Office at Washington, changed the name of the regiment offi- cially to that of the Third Regiment Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, and authorized it to be recruited to twelve companies of one hundred and fifty men each. It was the largest military organization up to that time ever sent into the field by the State of Rhode Island, and its term of service was a few days over four years. As evidence of the service which this regiment performed the names of the following sieges and battles were authorized to be inscribed upon the regimental colors: Fort Pulaski, Secessionville, Pocotaligo, Morris Island, Fort Sumter, Fort Wagner, Olustee, Drury's Bluff, Laurel Hill, Honey Hill, Deveaux Neck, Fort Burnham and Petersburg. Nathaniel W. Brown was its first colonel.
In September the Fourth Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers was organized by Col. Justus I. McCarty, U. S. A. This regiment was stationed near Apponaug at Camp Greene, so named in honor of Gen. Nathanael Greene. On the 5th of October the regiment broke camp and left for Washington. Soon after arriving Col. Isaac P. Rodman was appointed to its command, the commission of Colonel McCarty being revoked. The regiment participated in the battles of Roanoke
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Island, Newbern, Fort Macon, South Mountain, Antictam, Fredericks- burg, Suffolk, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Spring Church and Hatcher's Run.
It arrived in Providence, after more than three years of active service in the field, on October 7, 1864, and was mustered out of service on the 15th.
Meanwhile a regiment known as the First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery was in process of formation; it consisted of the follow- ing batteries : Battery A, mustered in June 6, Capt. Wm. H. Rey- nolds ; Battery B, mustercd in August 13, Capt. Thomas F. Vaughn; Battery C, mustered in August 25, Capt. William B. Weeden; Battery D, mustered in September 4, Capt. John A. Monroe; Battery E, mustered in September 30, Capt. George E. Randolph; Battery F, mustered in October 29, Capt. James Belger; Battery G, mustered in December 21, Capt. Charles D. Owen; Battery H, mustered in October 14, 1862, Capt. Jeffrey Hazard; this completed the regimental organization. Charles H. Tompkins was the colonel.
One of the guns which belonged to Battery B of this regiment is the famous Gettysburg gun, now mounted in front of the old State house in Providence. No adequate account of the services performed by this regiment can be given in an account relating to the regiment itself, for the batteries never served in a regimental formation, but as de- tached bodies, and their services extended over nearly the entire field of action during the war. In June, 1865, the batteries forming the regiment were mustered out of service.
The Fifth Rhode Island Volunteers was organized at Camp Green in October, 1861, from which it was transferred to Camp Slocum on the Dexter Training Ground in Providence. It was enlisted as a bat- talion with the intention of making it a full regiment. On the 27th of December, five companies then being filled, the battalion departed for Annapolis to join the expedition to North Carolina. It was com- manded by Maj. John G. Wright. Upon attaining the proportions of a regiment, Henry T. Sisson was appointed colonel. On May 27, 1863, by order of the secretary of war, the name of the regiment was changed to the Fifth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery. During its service the regiment participated in the following engagements : Roanoke Island, New Berne, Siege of Fort Macon, Rawle's Mill, first attack on New Berne, Kingston, Whitehall, Goldsboro, siege of Little Washington, and the second rebel attack on New Berne. On June 26, 1865, the regiment was mustered out of service at New Berne.
In the fall of 1861 a cavalry regiment was organized as the First Rhode Island Cavalry Regiment. Col. Robert B. Lawton, a veteran of the Mexican war and who had also seen service in the Seminole war in Florida, was placed in command. This regiment was composed of two battalions recruited in Rhode Island and one battalion from New
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Hampshire. The winter of 1861-2 was passed in camp at Pawtucket, and in March, 1862, it proceeded to Washington. This regiment saw hard service and was mustered out in Baltimore August 3, 1865.1
In the summer of 1862 more troops were called for and steps were at once taken to send another regiment into the field.
In August an attempt was made in Rhode Island to raise a regiment of colored troops, the first step taken towards this end in any Northern State, but for various reasons the project failed, the bane of military affairs, jealousy, being the main cause of the failure. This regiment was to be known as the Sixth Rhode Island Volunteers.
On the 22d of May, 1862, a general order was issued for the organi- zation of the Seventh Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers, to serve during the war. A camp was established in South Providence, named Camp Bliss, for drill and organization.
Here the regiment remained until Sept. 10, when it proceeded to Washington under the command of Col. Zenas R. Bliss. By general orders the names of the following battles in which the regiment had borne a meritorious part were directed to be inscribed on its colors : Fredericksburg, Siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Spring Church, Hatcher's Run. The regiment was mustered out of service at Alexandria, Va., on June 9, 1865.
The Eighth Regiment was planned of volunteers for three months, but the Ninth and Tenth regiments, both for that period of service, having been dispatched before its organization, it was considered that no more short term regiments were needed, and further steps towards its organization were abandoned.
A threatened attack upon the National Capital in May, 1862, caused much uneasiness, and a call was made for volunteers for three months' service for the defense of Washington. Within four days from the time the call for Rhode Island's quota was received the Ninth Regi- ment Rhode Island Volunteers was on the way to the defense of the capital, leaving Providence on the afternoon of May 27, under the command of Col. Charles T. Robbins. Subsequently John T. Pitman was appointed to its command. The service of the regiment was confined to garrison duty, and at the expiration of its term of enlistment it returned to Providence, arriving on the 31st of August, and a few days later it was mustered out of service. Though the names of no hard fought battles were ordered emblazoned on its colors, yet its service was an honorable one and history will give the regiment a deserved place in the reserved power of the nation.
The Tenth Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers was organized at the same time and for the same purpose that the Ninth Regiment was. It
1For a detailed account of the history of the various regiments see bibli- ography at the end of this work.
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
left Providence on the 27th of May, under command of Col. Zenas R. Bliss, and arrived in Washington on the 29th. During its term of enlistment the regiment performed good service in garrisoning the various forts which defended the western approach to the capital. On the 25th of August, its term of enlistment having expired, the regiment started for Providence, where it arrived on the 28th and was mustercd out of service on September 1. Certainly no regiment ever left the State more promptly in response to the governor's call, and no regiment hastened to the rescue of the capital under a more solemn sense of duty. Among the soldiers in the regiment were many of the boys of the Providence High School and students of Brown University.
With the Ninth and Tenth regiments went the Tenth Light Bat- tery Rhode Island Volunteers, or, as it was sometimes known, Com- pany L, Fourth Regiment Rhode Island Infantry. This battery was recruited from the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery. On the 29th of May a detachment of ninety men and three officers proceeded to Washington, and on June 6 another detachment of forty men, followed on the 9th by twenty-five men. The battery was commanded by Capt. Edwin C. Gallup. Though not sent to the front to engage in deadly conflict, it formed an important arm of the defense of Wash- ington at a time when it became necessary to withdraw more experi- enced troops from the fortifications around the city to reinforce the Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula. The battery was mustered out of service August 30, 1862.
Experience had shown now, if not before, that enlistments for three months were altogether too short terms, even for emergency troops, and when in the summer of 1862 the advance of the enemy across the Potomac and additional troops were called into the field, the term of enlistment was made for nine months. It was for this term of service that the Eleventh and Twelfth Regiments were recruited. The call for 300,000 troops for nine months' service was made on August 4, 1862. On the 23d of September the ranks of the Eleventh Regiment were filled, and on October 1st the regiment was mustered into service. Col. Edwin Metcalf, who had already seen active service, was ap- pointed to the command of the regiment. On the sixth of October the regiment broke camp and departed for Washington, where it arrived on the 8th. The regiment saw little active service in the field, it being assigned to special guard duty and work on fortifications. Upon completing its term of service it was ordered home, and arrived in Providence July 6 and on the 13th the regiment was mustercd out. The Twelfth Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers was mustered into service on October 13, under the command of Col. George H. Browne. The regiment participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, where it met with a severe loss of killed and wounded. During its months of
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service it was almost continually on the march, and from this fact earned the title of the "Trotting Twelfth", having travelled 3,500 miles, 500 of which were on foot. The regiment returned to Provi- dence on July 22 and on the 29th was mustered out of service.
On the 31st of August, 1862, the War Department issued an order for raising the first battalion Second Rhode Island Cavalry, to be under the command of Maj. Augustus W. Corliss. On the 15th an- other order was issued to make it a full regiment of three battalions.
The first battalion was enlisted December 24, 1862, and the second January 19, 1863. The two battalions were ordered to Louisiana, where they arrived in time to take part in the advance on Port Hudson, March 14, 1863. The losses which this regiment sustained in the hard service it saw so reduced its ranks that in August, 1863, it was con- solidated into one battalion of four companies and united with the First Louisiana Cavalry. This union produced discontent and de- moralization, and many of the officers resigned and were honorably discharged. Soon after this union the troops openly rebelled against the brutal acts of Lieut .- Colonel Robinson of the Louisiana Cavalry, and discontent and disorder followed. The identity of the regiment seemed lost, and Governor Smith warmly protested against the whole action, claiming if the regiment was to be broken up that it should be transferred to the Third Rhode Island Cavalry. The War Depart- ment subsequently repaired the injury, as far as possible, by issuing an order on January 14, 1864, for this purpose.
In November, 1862, there was organized in Providence a company of Hospital Guards, the command of which was placed with Capt. Christopher Blanding, formerly lieutenant-colonel of the Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery. This company was recruited by order of the War Department to serve as a guard at the Marine Hospital in Provi- dence, where many wounded soldiers were being nursed, and at Ports- mouth Grove, where the general government had established a hospital on a large scale, designated the Lovell General Hospital. At the latter place large numbers of both Union and Confederate soldiers were cared for during the war, and a substantial garrison force was necessary for the proper conduct of this station. Captain Blanding recruited his company from such men as had already seen service and had been disabled, yet were fit for light garrison duty. The company was mustered into service on the 6th of December, 1862, and it was not until August 25, 1865, that the hospital closed and the men were mustered out.
On the 17th of June, 1863, Governor Smith received authority from the War Department to enlist a colored company of heavy artillery; with such success was the company enlisted that by the 3d of Septem- ber authority had been given to organize a full regiment. Then came into being what was known at first as the Fourteenth Regiment Rhode
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Island Heavy Artillery, colored. A recruiting camp was established on the Dexter Training Ground, but as the companies were organized they were transferred to Dutch Island, in the southern portion of Narragansett Bay, where a eamp, designated as Camp Bailey, named in honor of Col. Charles E. Bailey, had been prepared. Lieut .- Col. Nelson Viall, a veteran of the Mexican War and who had already seen active service with the Army of the Potomae, was appointed to the command of this new regiment. All the officers were white. By the 19th of December one battalion was ready for duty at the front, and on this day it left Providenee, followed on the 8th of January, 1864, by the second battalion. It was not until the 3d of April that the third battalion left Rhode Island, for, in February, small-pox broke out among the troops and it was necessary to delay sailing. The regi- ment was eventually assigned to the Department of the Gulf, and its name changed to the Eleventh United States Heavy Artillery (col- ored). During its period of serviee the regiment performed most effectually all the duties assigned to it, which were laborious and often disagreeable. It had a record for excellent discipline and profieieney in drill, and was often complimented for the spirit in which it entered upon any duty assigned to it to perform. The regiment was mustered out of service October 2, 1865, but it was not until late in the month that it was disbanded.
The organization of the Third Regiment Rhode Island Cavalry was commeneed July 1, 1863, by Col. Willard Sayles, who was appointed to its command by the governor under authority of the secretary of war. With the large body of troops that a State the size of Rhode Island had already placed in the field, recruits for this regiment neees- sarily eame slowly, and it was not until the 31st of December that the first battalion left the State for active service at the front. Early in February the two companies of the Second Cavalry, which had been assigned to the First Louisiana Cavalry, were assigned to the Third. On April 25 three more companies joined the regiment at Alexandria, and another detachment of two companies joined the main body in the field May 8. It took part in the Red River Expedition, the battle of Pleasant Hill, the skirmishes at Alexandria and Governor Moore's plantation, the battle of Marksville Plain and Yellow Bayou. It also performed extended terms of patrol duty and participated in frequent expeditions after guerrillas. The regiment was mustered out of service at New Orleans, November 29, 1865. One more body of volunteer troops completes the list of Rhode Island's contribution to the Union army. In June, 1862, Company A of the Seventh Squadron Rhode Island Cavalry was enlisted in Providence. This squadron was under the command of Major Augustus W. Corliss, and was en- listed for three months' service. It was mustered into serviee June 24th and on the 28th left Providenee for Washington. After serving
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on picket duty and scouting, its term of service expired and on Septem- ber 26 it returned to Providence.
During the period of the war Rhode Island contributed 23,699 men. On the call of April 15, 1861, 3,147 men responded; on the call of May 3, 1861, 6,286 mcn ; on the call of July 2, 1862, 2,742 men; on the call of August 4, 1862, 2,059 men; on the call of October 17, 1863, and February 1, 1864, 3,686 men; the call of March 14, 1864, 1,906 men ; the call of July 18, 1864, 2,310 men; and the call of December 19, 1864, 1,563 men. With the same good order and evidence of good citizen- ship with which these volunteers sprang to the aid of the Nation when rebellion seemed likely to disrupt the Union, so when peace spread her mantle over the contending forces and war and rumors of war were no longer heard in the land, then those men who had survived the perils of the camp, the march and the battlefield, as orderly and with the same evidence of good citizenship, took up again their trades and pro- fessions and entered again upon the life and action of a nation at peace.
The closing years of the century were darkened by the clouds of war. During the period preceding the call of President Mckinley for volunteers, when the situation was of such a character that hos- tilities seemed imminent, Governor Dyer had caused a thorough inves- tigation of the condition of the State militia and the military stores in the possession of the State, and when, on the 23d day of April, 1898, the proclamation of the president was sent throughout the country calling for 200,000 volunteers for two years, or the war, no State was better prepared to respond to the call than Rhode Island.1
Recruiting offices were established in various parts of the State and recruits promptly responded. As fast as the men were enlisted they were assembled in squads and sent to the State Camp Grounds at Quonset Point, which was designated as Camp Dyer. Col. Henry B. Rose (retired) was placed in command of the rendezvous.
Although the quota assigned to Rhode Island was much smaller than the number required for a regiment, the War Department au- thorized the enlistment in Rhode Island of one regiment of infantry.
Lieut. Charles W. Abbot, Jr., 12th U. S. Infantry, and a former member of the Rhode Island militia, who had been on duty in Rhode Island since 1896 as United States army inspector and who was thor- oughly familiar with the whole system of the Rhode Island militia, was appointed colonel of the regiment. On the 18th of May the regiment was mustered into service, and eight days later it left the State com- pletely armed and equipped for active service. Its departure from
1For a complete account of "Rhode Island in the War with Spain," see the volume under this title compiled from the official records of the executive department of the State by Elisha Dyer, governor, Providence, 1900, also military reports for 1898, 1899, 1900.
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the State was made the occasion of a grand demonstration. A few days before its departure Gen. William Ames, a veteran of the Civil War, presented the regiment an elegant stand of colors. The regi- inent remained at various camps during the period of hostilities, con- stituting a portion of the reserve force of the country, and while it performed arduous service in camp and on the march, it was not privi- leged to add to its honorable record, service on the battlefield. On the 30th of March, 1899, the regiment was mustered out of the service at Camp Fornance, Columbia, South Carolina; the regiment, however, did not at once disband, but by voluntary agreement of nearly one thousand officers and men, proceeded to Providence. The reception of the regiment at Providence was attended with all the enthusiasm that had prevailed when it left the State. Crowds of people thronged the streets and the formal dismissal of the regiment on Dexter Training Ground, on April 1, 1899, was witnessed by a large concourse of people.
Under the second call for troops Rhode Island, besides furnishing sufficient men to recruit the regiment of infantry to its maximum standard, recruited two batteries of light artillery, both of which were formed from the two batteries of the State militia. Battery A was commanded by Capt. Edgar R. Baker and Battery B by Capt. Henry Wolcott. These batteries were mustered in June 28, 1898, and were located at the camp ground at Quonset Point during their entire period of service, which lasted only a few months.
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