Tees os FN a Seay A 5 fi =H ie PES ARA x oie as : ef WES aia A se. is a i on Be * MEAL x mos Besa . . sar Be, CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell er Library E513.5 23d .£54 4 030 906 436 DATE DUE GAYLORD PRINTEDINYU.S.A. . a ee 1 ef} i \ ASST. SURG. J. A. EMMERTON. A RECORD OF THE TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT MASS. VOL. INFANTRY IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION 1861-1865 WITH ALPHABETICAL ROSTER; COMPANY ROLLS; PORTRAITS; MAPS; ETC., BY JAMES A. EMMERTON, A.B., M.D., CORPORAL OF CO. F. AND ASSIS’T SURG. OF THE TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. SURGEON OF THE SECOND MASSACHUSETTS ARTILLERY. BOSTON: WILLIAM WARE & CO. 1886. PRINTED FOR THE HISTORY COMMITTEE OF THE TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT ASSOCIATION AT THE SALEM PRESS, SALEM, MASS. TO THE MEMORY OF DR. GEORGE DERBY, THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED BY HIS COMRADES IN THE WAR, IN TESTIMONY OF THEIR GRATITUDE TO THE SURGEON AND ESTEEM FOR THE MAN. CORRESPONDENCE. ; Boston, JANUARY, 1882. Dr. James A. EmmMeRToN. Dear Sir: At the last reunion of the 23rd Mass. Regimental Association a committee was appointed, “with full powers,” to take charge of the matter of a his- tory of the Regiment. This committee have organized and in part perfected a plan of operations. They desire to find some one who has the time and inclination, to col- late and prepare for publication the facts, reminiscences, etc., which may come to them. After full consideration the committee have deputed the undersigned to make known to you their unanimous request that you should undertake this part of the work: they to furnish such material as can be gathered, leaving you free to make use of it as you think best, and to add what may, in your judgment, be necessary. As the committee are without funds and must look to the Association in the future for remuneration for any expenses incurred, they hesitate to ask you to take this labor upon yourself, knowing that it must necessarily (v) vi RECORD OF THE TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. be one of “Jove” rather than with any prospect of re- ward. Trusting, however, that after due deliberation we may receive a favorable answer, we remain, Very truly yours, Joun Gray, Chairman. Gro. W. Nason, Secretary. 13 Summer Street, Satem, Mass., Jan’y 21, 1882. JoHN Gray, Chairman, Dear Sire: Your letter announcing the unanimous vote of your committee, requesting me to collate and prepare for publication such material as you will provide towards a history of the 23rd Mass. Vol. Infty., came promptly to hand and has received the due deliberation you desire. I will cheerfully undertake the task, onerous as at best it must be, provided the veterans of the 23rd _ will cordially assist in providing material and will by pledged subscriptions insure the means of printing when the copy is prepared. Very truly yours, James A. EMMERTON. ‘MOLBIDOSS YW JUCTIIZEY PEs Jo ce}IUIMION AIOIST_L 1G,"up Kasems “soy, As fer uyor 13s ‘2109 0 "MA sHs 'UOSEN * MA “085 1D» ‘HSH TH 3 COMRADES OF THE 23RD REGIMENT ASSOCIATION: Your committee, appointed, at the annual reunion September 28, 1881, “ with full powers” to prepare a His- tory of the Twenty-third Reg’t Mass. Vol. Infy. in the War of the Rebellion, take pleasure in reporting, this year, with the finished volume. They consider themselves fortunate in securing the ser- vices of Dr. James A. Emmerton in preparing for the press the material they hadcollected. The committee have had opportunity to observe the large amount of time and labor the historian has given to the work and desire to impress upon the association a sense of his patient research, and careful, impartial investigation of all matters in which he found conflicting statements among his authorities. While, by the original understanding between the his- torian and the committee, he alone was to be the judge of the facts and the manner 6f their compilation, the com- mittee have no hesitation in accepting an equal respon- sibility for all statements of facts in its pages. Should any comrade fail to find matters treated as he expected, or at all, let him ask himself “Have I done anything to help the committee?” At least, let him re- member that less than one-fourth of those to whom they were sent paid any attention to the committee’s circulars. The committee desire to express their obligation to com- rades Tristram Griffin of ‘C’ for his very valuable help on the maps, to W. L. Welch of ‘A,’ whose indefatigable in- (vii) vill RECORD OF THE TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. dustry in correspondence has amplified and lent exactness to the text, and to the officers of the Fourth Police Station in Boston, for their courtesy in enabling us to copy the portrait of Col. Kurtz. For themselves, the committee will be perfectly satis- fied for all the time and labor they have given to the work assigned them, should the book (as they trust and believe it will) meet the approbation of the Association and prove itself to be that for which they have in common with the historian labored: a thoroughly reliable and readable “Record of the Twenty-third Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.” JoHN Gray, Chairman, Tuos. SwaseEy, Jr., Wm. D. Cory, Epwarp H. Haske, Gro. W. Nason, Secretary. PREFACE. Twenty-four years ago, ten hundreds of New England youths collected in nearly as many towns of eastern Massachusetts, gathered at Lynnfield. As the Twenty- third Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry they marched away on the eleventh of November, 1861, to their share of the War for the Preservation of the Union. Hardly had the new year opened when these new- made soldiers found themselves amid the dangers and pri- vations of Hatteras and in early February they took a prominent part in the battle of Roanoke Island — one of the completest, as it was nearly the first of Union victories. The capture of New Berne soon followed, and, after that, the regiment, although by no means inactive, saw little of pitched battle for two years. In the Virginia campaign of 1864 it was in the forefront of the almost uninterrupted fighting which followed the landing at Ber- muda Hundred and culminated in the stubborn and bloody repulse of Beauregard at Drury’s Bluff; it gained the foremost ground reached and held by the 18th Corps at Cold Harbor and bore its full share of the dangers and privations of the early days of the siege of Petersburg. After its return to North Carolina and the discharge of the non-reénlisted, the little remnant of veterans and re- cruits was chiefly employed in picket and outpost duty till the campaign of 1865 when it shared the fortunes of the column which opened communication with Gen. Sherman. It has been my purpose to depict the daily experience Gx) x RECORD OF THE TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. of the regiment in camp and march and to avoid the pro- lix explanations, including the general strategy of divi- sions, corps and armies, with which some regimental historians have filled their pages. Most of those whom such matter would interest will know it already; others can easily acquire it. Aware that my arrangement of the Roster is novel, I have been pleased to receive the hearty commendation of all whom I have consulted about it and feel sure that any one who will read and weigh my reasons, as printed in the prefatory notes to the Roster, will accept the change as an improvement. For others, who may recollect an old comrade as a member of their own or another company but cannot re- call his name without help, I have printed the rolls, giv- ing the original formation alphabetically and the recruits as I found them on the rolls at the State House. In addition to a pretty general reference to my authori- ties in the text and foot-notes and the acknowledgment by the Committee, in their report, of the invaluable as- sistance of comrade Tristram Griffin of ‘C’ on the maps and text, and of help from comrade Welch of ‘ A,’ the inde- futigable correspondent, who brought out valuable facts from Gov. T. J. Jarvis, Col. J. D. Whitford, R. R. Quidley pilot at Hatteras, and others of North Carolina; I desire personally to thank comrades Brooks of ‘A,’ Valentine of ‘F’ and Parsons of ‘I’ for the loan of their diaries; Col. Raymond, Maj. Dollard, Captains Whipple, Kent, Hammond, Center, Sawyer and Alex- ander; Dr. Roberts; Lieutenants Edgett, Sherman and Bates and comrades Andrews of ‘A,’ Dustin of ‘C,’ Emilio of ‘F,’ Hutchinson of ‘H,’ Low of ‘I,’ Hills of ‘I,’ Wing and Patch of ‘D,’ and others for extracts from their diaries, for general sketches and de- PREFACE. xi scriptions of special events or for help on the Roster. Capts. Whipple and Emilio and Dr. Roberts have shown their interest in the cause by sending me copies, at great length, of their diaries and correspondence. Outside the regiment, my thanks are due to Gen. Otis of the 10th Conn., to Gen. Stewart of the 9th New Jersey, to S. W. Higgins, Second officer of the Highlander, to com- rades E. T. Witherby of the 25th Mass. Vol. Inf., and especially to W. P. Derby, historian of the 27th Mass. Vol. Infy., for the use of his map-plates, etc. CoMRADES OF THE TWENTY-THIRD :— Now that my task is drawing to a close I will not pretend that I am not glad it is so nearly over. No one knows better than I its incompleteness and inaccuracy. I trust you may find something of interest in its pages and that if you have well authenticated corrections of the text or additions to the Roster, you will send them to Yours, very sincerely, James A. EMMERTON. 13 Summer STREET, Satem, Mass. SEPTEMBER, 1885. CONTENTS. DEDICATION - - - - - - - - = - iii CorRRESPONDENCE - - - - - - 7 < - wvi Report oF COMMITTEE” - - - - - - - - vii PREFACE - - = = - - - a wie = 2 ix ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS - - - - - - - xv ILLUSTRATIONS - - - : - - - - - - xviii CHAPTER I.—1-18. The call for more troops, 1. Formation of Companies, ‘A,’ 2. ‘B,’ ‘C’and‘D,’3. ‘E’ and‘F.’ Union Drill Club, 4. Patriotic Ode, 7. ‘G,’ 8. ‘H’ and ‘I,’ 9. Havelock Guards, 9. ‘K,’ 10. Band, 11. Lynnfield, 12. March to Salem, 14. On the Road, 15. Astor House, 16. CHAPTER II.—19-42. Annapolis, 19. California furnaces. Thanksgiving. Muster in, 20. Contrabands, 21. Pay, 22. Drumming out, 23. Camp Life, 24-6. Embark, 27. Highlander, 28. Hussar, 29. Underway, 31. On the Ocean, 32. Rescue, 33. Hatteras, 33. Water famine, 36. Storms, 88. Gun crew, 41. CHAPTER III.—43-60. Roanoke, 43. Naval attack, 44. Landing, 45. Battle, 47. Casual- ties, 48. The Pocoson, 49. The Charge, 50. Pork Point, 53. Camp Foster, 54. Rebel Flag, 55. The Prisoners, 57. The Gideon, 58. CHAPTER IV.—61-75. Leave Roanoke, 61. Slocum’s Creek. Through the mud, 62. Biv- ouac, 63. Battle New Berne, 64-5. Guncrew. Capt. Dayton, 67. Casualties, 68. Lt..Col. Merritt, 70. Capt. Sawyer, 74. Rebel Flag, 75. (xii) CONTENTS. Xili CHAPTER V.—76-89. Reconnoisances, 76. Picket, 77. ‘C’ at Batchelder’s Creek, 78. Wounded senthome. Jackson, 79. Suicide. The New Berne Progress, 80. Typhoid, 88. Batchelder’s Creek, 84. Red House, 88. CHAPTER VI.—90-109. New Berne’s History, 90. Topography, Map, 92. Company Quar- ters, 93. Hospital, 94. Contrabands, 95. Their schools, 96. Guard duty, 97. Regimental Surgeons, 98. Battle Ground, 99. Railroad bridge. Swift Creek, 100. Gen. Burnside, 101. Provost Marshal. Muddy Lane, 104. Lt. Greenleaf, Glee Club, 105. Camp Pendleton, 106. Col. Kurtz, 107. Capt. Russell, 108. CHAPTER VII.—110-133. Tarboro, 110. Roanoke, 112. Plymouth, 113. Burnt by rebels, 116. Goldsboro Expedition, 118. Kinston, 120. Whitehall, 124. Casualties, 127. Goldsboro, 129. CHAPTER VIII.—184-151. - South Carolina, 184. James Morton. Beaufort, 135. Port Royal. St. Helena. Gen. Hunter, 137. North Edisto. Corps d’ Afrique, 189. Return toN. Carolina, 140. Washington, 141. Carolina City. Q. M. Goldthwait. Dr. Roberts, 142. Fort Spinola, Bogue Island, 148. Wilcox bridge, 144. Fort Heckman. Cedar Point, 146. Dr. Cum- mings, 147. Street’s Ferry. Winton, 148. Chaplain Clarke, 149. Broad Creek. Swan Quarter. Elizabeth City, 150. CHAPTER IX.—152-170. Newport’s News, 152. Shelter tents. Hospital, 153. Gen. Foster, 154. Reénlistments. Fires, Christmas. Target-practice, 156. Sleigh- ing, 157. Furloughs, 158. Portsmouth, 159. Camp Phoenix, 160. Getty’s Line, 161. Bernard’s Mills. Tattoo drills, 162. Snow storm. Wren’s Mills, 163. Dr. Derby, 166. CHAPTER X.—171-199. Yorktown, 171. Bermuda Hundred, 178. Heckman’s Farm, 174. Point of Rocks, 175. Arrowfield Church, 177. Casualties, 179. Dru- ry’s Bluff, 181. The Colors, 189. Casualties, 194. Lt. Col. Cham- bers, 197. Lt. Wheeler, 199. xiv RECORD OF THE TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. CHAPTER XI.—200-221. Unbottled, 200. City Point, 201. Pamunkey, 202. New Castle Ferry. Cold Harbor. Its Etymology, 204. Gen. Stannard’s Report, 206. The Trenches, The flag of truce, 211. Surg. Whittier. Asst. Surg. Emmerton, 217. Casualties, 218. Maj. Brewster, 220. CHAPTER XII.—222-232. The trenches before Petersburg, 222. Col. Raymond wounded, 223. Burnside’s Mine, 224, ‘Our mine,” 225. The freshet, 228. Pickled tripe and watermelons, 228. Casualties, 228. To New Berne, 230. Stmr. Fawn, 230. CHAPTER XIII.—233-251. New Berne again. Duty south of Trent River. Consolidation, 233. End of three years. Yellow fever, 235. Hosp. Steward Prime, 236. Signalling, 237. Recruiting Service, 240. Kinston, 242. The ‘‘West- erners,” 243. Battle, 244. Casualties, 246. Lenoir General Hospi- tal. Chaplain Record, 247. New Berne again. Camp Distribution. Provost duty. Muster out, 249. Twenty-third Regiment Association, 250. THE ROSTER, - - - - - - - - 253. REGIMENTAL STATISTICS, - - - - - - - 256. THE ROLLs, - - - - Fi - - - - 335. Inpux, - - = = = = = = = = = 847%, ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. Alexander, for W. T. read W. B. . % . Allen, for Jos. C. read Stephen B. % . Atwood, Wm. T. Burial number, 1533. . Brown, for Ezra F. read Ezra LZ. . . Burbank, D. W. of ‘E.’ Sergt. Wd. Wrhall. . Burgess, of ‘D’. Disch. exp. of serv. . . Chandler, Thomas. At Togus, ’85. . . Clark, M. Bd. N. Bne. Clark, N. W. Bd. N. Cohota, b.in China. 8 yearsin U.S.A. a Clinton, Edw. Died 28 Jan. ’79, E. Boston. Clynes, dead. . _ 7 : : Cook, for Wm. L. read wm. 8. 3 _ 3 Collins, C. H. dead. 2 ; $ . 3 Cowgill, for G. A. read C. A. ‘ # é Cummings, E. P. Asst. Surg. . . . Day, Charles. Strike out C. é , ‘ Druhan, N. of ‘A’ was Corp. 7 . . Edwards, Geo. Died Togus 1 Aug. ’78. . Evans, E., real name E. E. Fowler. es 4 Fenton, read Finton. . . . 5 . Flint, S. Died Dec. ’85. ie s : i Fletcher, for Daniel read David. . : a Foster was the name of the consolidated hospitals. Fuller, for B. F. read B. M . ~ . : Ghe. At Togus, ’85. 7 . 2 - - Glass, J.B. . . . . : ; ‘ Goldsmith,E.f% . . . . ‘i - Goss. C. B. ‘H.’ - : i. ‘ Griffin, B. H. d. at Andersonville. ‘ x . PAGE. 4 128 259 219 128 266 269 271 272 271 271 273 272 348 274, 335 218 127 280 281 69 283 127 95 195 285 286 286 287 288 XVi RECORD OF THE TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL, Grimes, Wm. H. Co. ‘@.’ : ‘ . Higginbottom, J. At Togus ’85. . . . Howard, N. T. Co. . . . . Hart, for E. D. read Edw. C. . , Jones, Frederick ZL. : . . . . Jenness, L. TV. 3 . . . Jones, J. W. Wd. Not killed. ‘ 7 3 Laroque, A. M. ‘C’.. Bd. N. Bne. No. 1517. Lacy, Patrick. Dead. . . : . Lahey, John. d. Togus, 7 Sep. 4. Lord, John G. Co. I. 24, Nbpt. Enrd. Dec. 6, Corp. 8 Nov. 62, transferred to V. R. C. 18 Feb., ’64. Lufkin, H. d. Aug. ’85.. : Manning, A. E. Strike ati, & seo p. 199. * Nelson, Alex. Des. from Togus, 80 Aug., ’70. oO’ Connex, D. Dropped from Togus, 6 Apr., ‘81. INF. PAGE. 194, Nason, G. W., was elected Chief by the whole fire- apni Pay, Some sent home by ‘F’ belonged to ‘A’. Peirce, for Charles D. read Ch. P. . . Pitcher, Jona. At Togus ’85. ‘ Porter, T. F. ‘I’ Bd. Hampton, Va. No. 4020. Potter, W. A. ‘D’ Bd. N. Bne. No. 1488. Pratt, E. A. ‘i’ Bd. Hampton, Va. No. 8735 Pratt, H. ‘E.’ Bd. Andersonville. No. 5742. . Prince, G. ‘B’ Bd. Arlington, Va. No. 1367. Procter, G. A. Corp. ‘C’ instead of Parker, Pulsifer, D. F. ‘A’ Bd. N. Bne. No. 13382. Quinn, J. ‘K’ Bd. Arlington, Va. No. 11,087. Reeves, John. Omit I. p. 128. Bd. N. Bue. No, 1518. Richardson, E. L. ‘E’ Bd. N. Bne. No. 1527. Ricker, F. M. Omit. . ‘ a . : Parker, Chas. F. read Packer. 5 ‘ 3 Roberts, I. N. Bd. N. Bne. No. 1826. . . Robinson, 8. C. Died Togus, 22 July, ’77. . Rowley, J. M. Des. from Togus 4 Dec., ’78. Saunders, Il. T. Bd. N. Bne. No. 1523. . Saunders, T. S. Bd. N. Bne. No. 1418. 5 Saxton, S. Bd. N. Bne. No. 1530. ‘ . Sears, C. H. Bd. N. Bne. No. 1440. . 7 Shattuck, W. W. Bd. City Point, Va. No. 2778, Shaw, John. Bd. N. Bne. No. 1698. . 3 Sillers, D. Bd. N. Bne. No, 1828. a : 288 ong 294 236 296 295 296 299 208 298 800 800 802 806 808 806 22 128 312 812 818 318 318 813 40 813 34 815 815 218 809 816 816 317 818 818 asl 818 319 810 820 ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. Soule, Wm. At Togus Dec. ’58, Southwell, T. T. At Togus Dec., ’85 Stirling, W. 8. ‘A’ Wd. Whitehall. Sunrise, read sunset. Swash, Real depth, Jan. 62, put Gh feet. Talbot, Strike out ‘dishon’ read exp. of serv. Tibbetts, A. J. read Tebbetts, A. R. 18 Oct., read 18 Nov., 61. . xvii PAGE. 321 322 127 43 35 825 57 17 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. Abel, Wm. Henry, Capt. and A. A. G., : : 7 - 145 Academy Hospital, New Berne é 4 dl : - 94 Alexander, William B., Capt.‘ E’ . . * a . 658 Alley, Frank M., ‘C’ . . i . 7 + 150 Arrowfield Church, Map. . . Zs ‘ . - 178 Babson, Fitz J., Capt.‘A’ . ‘ 2 e ‘ » 145 Barrett, George V., lst Lt. ‘H’ 3 . 7 - . 33 Bates, Charles H., 1st Lt. ‘F’ é ; ss 3 : 4 Bermuda Hundred, etc., Map. 5 . ‘ 3 . 170 Brewster, E. A. P., Major . . ‘ : - - 220 Brooks, C. W., 1st Serg. ‘ A’ . é , - . 286 Brown, Henry C. Band-leader % < é ‘ » 249 Burchstead, David W., Corp. ‘F’ . : ° 3 - 190 Burnham, Simeon A. ‘E’ . 2 ‘ ‘ : - 389 Burnside, A. E., Maj. Gen. Phot., 62, . i 3 - 101 Camp Foster, Roanoke ‘ ‘ : : . - 47 Carlton, David, 1st Serg. ‘F’ 5 F . . - 108 Center, Addison, Capt. ‘C’ 3 3 ‘ ¢ 58, 145 Chambers, John G., Lt. Col. é < 5 . 145, 197 Chapple, Wm. F., ‘F’ . . ‘ é ‘ - 236 Clarke, Jonas B., Chaplain. : 3 : F 145, 149 Cole, Edwin L., ‘Ei’ i é : ‘ é » 190 Cole, William D.,‘E’ Hist. Com. . ‘ 5 - - vil Creasey, William J., lst Lt. ‘1’ : é 89 Cummings, E. P., Asst. Surg . ‘ . 147 Cummings, Wm. C., Serg. ‘A’ . - é A - 236 Derby, George, Surgeon . : . s - - 167 Doble, Francis M., lst. Lt. . . 5 - 3 - 145 Dollard, Robert, 2nd Lt. ‘E’ é é ¥ z » 4125 Drury’s Bluff, Map. . F . , : 18+ Elwell, Andrew, Col. ‘ ‘ j ‘ A . B8 Emilio, Luis F., Serg.‘F’ . us Fi ‘ . . 108 Emmerton, Charles S., Ist. Lt. and A. D.C. $ » 145 Emmerton, George R., 2nd Lt. ‘ F’ ; 3 7 7 4 Emmerton, James A., Asst. Surg. Front. Evans, Henry B., ‘A’ . j s 3 : 7 2 Fisher, George A., Ist. Lt. ‘A’ _ - is ‘ ‘ 2 Foster, John G., Maj.Gen. Phot. New Berne, 62, ° . . 154 (xviii) ILLUSTRATIONS. Foster Hospital, New Berne Fowler, Philip M., Serg. ‘F’ Fowler, Wm. T., Serg. ‘A’ Goldthwait, Jos. A., R. Q. M., Goodwin, John, Jr., 2nd Lt. «B’ Gray, John, ‘F’ Chairman Hist. Com. Hart, Carlos A., Capt. ‘K’ Hart, Samuel C., Capt. «D’ Haskell, Edward H.,‘C’ Hist. Com; Hatteras Inlet, Map of 2 . Hayward, Charles H., Ist Lt. ‘F’ Heckman, C. A., Brig. Gen. Howard, Nathaniel T., Serg. ‘H’ Howland, Cornelius, Jr., Capt. ‘D’ Hutchinson, Alden, Serg. ‘H’ Jail, New Berne 3 Jones, Frederic L., Corp. ‘ H : Kent, William L. Ckats ‘H’ Kilburn, Charles, Ist Serg. ‘H’ . Kurtz, John, Col. Lee, Francis H., Serg. ‘F’ Littlefield, John, Ist Lt.*K’ McDougall, John A., Ist Lt. 9th N. J. Marsh, Fred A., lst Serg. ‘H’ Martin, Knott V., Capt. ‘B’ < Masonic Hospital, New Berne f Maxim, Charles M., lst Serg.‘ EH’. Merritt, Henry, Lt. Col. . Mott, D. D., 1st Lt. 98th N. Y. S Muzzey, David P., 2nd Lt. ‘I’ . Nason, George W., ‘H,’ Secretary Hist. Com: New Berne, Battlefield, etc., Map New Berne, Map of Streets < North Carolina, Map . . Page, James W., ‘ E’ 7 . Peirce, Henry B., R. Q. M., ‘ Poor, Leverett, Serg.‘A’ . ‘ Post Office, New Berne . ‘ Prime, W. H. H., ‘F’ % f Presbyterian Church, New Berne . Prescott, William H., Serg. ‘H’ “i “« Progress” Office, New Berne . Quarter Mastér’s Office, New Berne xix PAGE. - 80 » 236 » 286 . 142 » 108 . vii » 145 » 83 . Vii « 25 . 33 . 145 - 150 . 83 » 1295 « 80 . 150 . 150 . 125 . 107 . 89 « 2 - 145 » 35 . 149 . 94 190 70 145 » 20 vil, 125 . 64 - 92 ~ g32 . 125 149 . 2 - 94 » 108 « 94 +» 150 . 80 . 4 XX RECORD OF THE TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. PAGE. Quarters‘ C,’ New Berne - . ° “i . . - 80 Quarters, Gen. Burnside, New Berne ‘ . * » 94 Quarters, Gen. Foster, New Berne . . - - 80 Quarters, Signal Corps, New Berne . . . - 80 Raulston, J. B., Capt. 81st N. Y. ‘ ‘ * » 145 Raymond, John W., Lt. Col. . . ‘i A « 2384 Record, Lewis L., Chaplain . 7 . . - 247 Regimental Hospital ‘ . . : . - 94 Richardson, Edward, ‘ K’ 7 . 7 ; ‘ - 389 Roanoke Fight, Map of . . 7 , . - 47 Roanoke Island, Map of . . . 7 : » 43 Roberts, Jacob, Asst. Surg. i : . . 127, 145 Rose, Stephen C., ‘ F’ . . : . - 190 Russell, Thomas, Capt. ‘1’ = F ‘ : - 108 Sawyer, Wesley C., Capt. ‘ H’ . “ : . - 58 Sherman, James L., 1st Lt. and Adj. 7 : 3 . 145 Stirling, William S., Serg. ‘ A’ is . . . . 2 Stone, Silas E., Asst. Surg. # ‘ . e » 88 Story, Edward A., Capt. . é . 5 - 58 Swasey, Thomas, Jr., Comm’y. Serg., Hist. Com. . - vii Telegraph Office, New Berne . . . . - 94 Valentine, H. E., ‘F’ - f . . : - 190 Waters, Henry F., Corp. ‘ F’ 6 7 . é - 236 Welch, William L., ‘ A’ 3 7 . é - 2, 236 Wheeler, Richard P., lst Lt. and A. D. C. . . - 145 Whipple, George M., Capt. ‘F’ 3 - 2 . . 4 Whittier, Samuel C., Surg. . . . . « 217 Woodbury, Henry P., Capt. ‘F’ 7 a ‘ % « 145 Woodhull, A. W., Surg. 9th N. J. . . . » 145 CHAPTER I. THE CALL YOR MORE TROOPS. FORMATION OF THE COMPANIES. LIFE AT LYNNFIELD. ON THE ROAD. Ovr flag had been fired upon at Sumter; and our militia, thanks to the foresight of Governor Andrew, had written in the streets of Baltimore, on the captured ferry- boat at Havre de Grace, on the deck of the rescued * Old Tronsides” and on the road to Annapolis Junction, their imperishable record of the readiness and versatile ability of the sons of Massachusetts in the defence of their country. Many men had volunteered, and earlier regiments of Massachusetts troops had begun that career whose his- tory is written in the blood-stained characters of many battle-fields. The north had learned, and many, even in the army, needed the lesson taught by the first Bull Run, that mere numbers and enthusiasm would not of themselves secure victory. Government and people, which first is, for our pur- pose, of little consequence, had settled down to a convic- tion of the need of serious and prolonged effort. Here and there, in eastern Massachusetts, as through all the land, frequently, not always, with a nucleus of three months’ soldiers, men were gathering into companies and volunteering to serve for three years. In compliance with a call for more troops from the cen- q@) tral government, the state authorities had sanctioned the formation of five new regiments. It is our purpose to sketch the formation and follow the intimate history of that one of them known as the Twenty-third Massachu- setts Volunteer Infantry. COMPANY ‘A.’ Some three weeks after the return and muster-out of the Eighth M. V. M., 2nd Lieut. E. A. P. Brewster and Sergt. C. S. Emmerton, late of Co. ‘J’ of that regiment, opened a recruiting office at No. 182 Essex St., Salem, calling for a Zouave company for the Nineteenth. Their old comrades rallied speedily to the new standard. In three days they numbered forty-eight. At the end of the first week, 80 Aug., 1861, Senator Wilson accepted them as @ company, assigned them to the Twenty-second M. V. I. as Co. ‘A,’ right flank company, and had given them a uniform. On the thirty-first of August they met together for the first time at Town Hall, and marched thence to the bar- racks on Winter Island. 4 Sept. Under escort, as far as the cars, of the Union Drill Club, they went, with full ranks, to Lynnfield. Here, on the recently evacuated camp-ground of the Nineteenth, they established themselves as the right flank company of the intended Twenty-second. As the regiment filled up, and other companies as- signed to it, arrived, Captain Brewster found that his claim to the right flank was not to go unchallenged. He assumed apparently, that, not having been mustered in, he could do as he pleased, and, in resistance to what he con- sidered injustice, he permitted, if he did not encourage, a spirit of insubordination which resulted in his command Serg. Leverett Poor. Ist. Lt. George A. Fisher. Henry B. Evans. Serg. William S. Stirling. Company ‘A.’ COMPANIES ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘o’, ‘D’. 3 being considered mutinous, and, as such, surrounded by the other companies and disarmed. In effect, he was squeezed out of the camp and organi- zation, and established his command in a neighboring field as Company ‘A’ and nucleus of the Twenty-third. COMPANY ‘B’. At Marblehead, Captain Knott V. Martin, who had commanded Co. ‘C,’ Eighth M. V. M. in the three months’ service, opened enlistment papers .on or before the sixth of September. As early as the twenty-fourth of that month he took to Lynnfield a partly formed company called the “Gerry Mechanics Phalanx.” 25 Oct., men who had been enlisted by John F. Devereux of Salem were merged in Captain Martin’s company. COMPANY ‘C’. Toward the latter part of August, 1861, Captain Ad- dison Center, who had commanded Co. 'G,’ Eighth M. V. M. in the three months’ service, opened rolls for a new com- pany in Center’s Block, Gloucester. He took about sixty men to Lynnfield, marching from Salem, on or about the fifteenth of September, and recruited to more than ninety at Lynnfield. The company filled up at Annapolis. COMPANY ‘D’. 16 Sept., 1861. Rolls were opened in New Bedford by Cornelius Howland, jr., for a company known as the “Clifford Guards,” with such success that on the sec- ond of October, ninety-eight men were enrolled and in camp at Lynnfield. 4 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. COMPANY ‘PR’, William T. Alexander of Plymouth, and then of Bos- ton, who had been a lieutenant of Co. ‘B,’ Third M. V. M., was authorized by Governor Andrew to recruit a company for the Twenty-third. 21 Sept. He took to camp at Lynnfield sixty men who had been enlisted in Plymouth, mainly by Hon. William T. Davis. When we started for the front, Company ‘EK’ numbered ninety- seven. COMPANY ‘F’, So early as 20 April, 1861, some scores of the young men of Salem, of all professions and conditions of life, formed the “Union Drill Club.” They had no common bond but the desire to learn something of military duty and, perhaps, the lack of any special affiliation with any of the existing militia companies whose “* Home Guards” were already military schools for other scores of their friends. At first they established a civil organization with presi- dents, treasurer, etc., and had four drill-masters called sergeants. For a time, too, they were satisfied with such uniformity of dress as their private wardrobes permitted. There was too much war in the air for this to continue, and within a month they had assumed a complete com- pany organization and voted a uniform. This was: for the officers, a blue, straight-vizored kepi trimmed with gold, a gray, single-breasted frock, collar and cuffs of blue with gold braid, and dark blue trousers. The men wore a gray kepi and Zouave jacket, the latter of gray flannel widely faced with blue, but cap, jacket and dark-blue trousers all trimmed with red. The kindness of the late John Bertram furnished a Capt. G. M. Whipple. Ist; Ltd, He Bates: 2nd. Lt. G. R. Emmerton. Original Officers of Company ‘F.’ COMPANY ‘F’. 5 hundred trade-muskets “sufficiently good for drilling purposes.” The club acquired a fair proficiency in the “School of the Company” and shared in escort duty as occasion re- quired: for instance, in the reception of Capt. R. B. Forbes’s Coast Guard, 1 July, and of the returned three months’ men on the 31st of that month. 30 Sept. Capt. George M. Whipple raised the ques- tion of enlisting for the war. 4th Lieut. George R. Emmerton “ believing that the times doubly demand an increased activity from the young men of the country,” offered a resolution “that the members of this club will enlist for the war provided authority be obtained,” etc., etc. Rev. George D. Wildes, rector of Grace Church, president of the early civil organization and honorary mem- ber since the military organization had been adopted, and other members of the club, made speeches. Major Henry Merritt of the Twenty-third M. V. I. kindly said * Come” and assured us of a place in the Twenty-third. Rolls were opened and twelve names, headed by that of your historian, were obtained that evening. The Club furnished eighteen to Company ‘F,’ five others to the Twen- ty-third and thirteen to other organizations. With the authority of Governor Andrew, G. M. Whip- ple opened a recruiting station at 31 Washington street, Salem. It was atime of great enthusiasm, and we had our full share of what benefit accrued from the numerous war- meetings held throughout the county. Ata meeting at Mechanic Hall, 3 Oct., 1861, the presence of Captain Brewster’s Company ‘A’ of the Twenty-third, in their brilliant Zouave uniform, and the singing of the Amphions seconded the eloquence of various speakers. The newspapers spoke a good word. The Salem 6 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. Gazette, 8 Oct., 1861, editorially asserted that “no single event has occurred in our city in reference to the present war, which is more cheering to every patriot than the enlistment of this organization of our young men.” In its phrase “ We are called, indeed, to lay our most precious jewels upon the altar now,” it furnished an epithet not read- ily forgotten in the regiment. Material aid was not lacking. A subscription, under the auspices of the Young Men’s Union, gave $600.00 to the company fund, and our comrade, the Rev. J. H. Thayer, whose professional duties ‘forbade his ardent de- sire to enlist, added $100.00 to that sum. 13 Oct., 1861, forty-three, rank and file, attended service at Crombie Street Church and listened to an excellent sermon from comrade Thayer. Did space permit it would be pleasant to record in more extended form some of the still fresh recollections ef a corporal of ‘F’ detailed on recruiting service in our neighboring country towns; of the toothless enthusiast of Topsfield to whom hard-tack had no terrors,— he could * goom ’em”— ; of the cheerful assent of a father in Hamil- ton who was, within the year, to lose an only son; of the tearful remonstrance of a mother who, giving per- mission to one, utterly refused to let the third and last son go; of the speedy agreement, over the stone wall of an orchard in east Hamilton, with one whose early wound, though thought sufficient to secure a discharge for dis- ability, did not prevent his reénlistment and subsequent effective service. For one of our war-meetings, Mrs. C. W. Upham, sister of Dr. O. W. Holmes, and mother of our then comrade O. W. H. Upham, furnished, at the suggestion and request of Lieut. G. R. Emmerton, the following ode: COMPANY ‘F’, 7 — PATRIOTIC ODE — DeEpDIcaTED TO THE UNION DRILL CLuB or SALEM. Tune — ‘' Scots wha hae.” Rally boys! Come forth to fight, For the Union, Law and Right; For the Nation’s honor, bright, Let us draw the sword! By the wrongs vile traitors wrought, By the ruin they have brought, Tyranny of deed and thought, Forward, is the word! See the Northern pride and flower Gathering in this fateful hour; Union is our strength and power,— Let us join the van! Lay the traitors in the dust; Die they shall, and die they must: They have broken every trust,— Forward every man! Massachusetts calls to-day, Beckoning all her sons away; She no longer brooks delay— Not a man must lag! Gird the sword, and join the throng; Right must triumph over wrong; In our cause we shall be strong,— Raise the starry flag! Meanwhile the company had gone to the barracks on Winter Island. These, within the space now occupied by the outworks of Fort Pickering, had been built by the city, an appropriation, 19 April, 1861, of $400.00 having been made for that purpose. The “Andrew Light Guard,” Capt. Wm. Cogswell’s Company ‘C,’ Second M. V. I., were the first occupants 1 May, 1861. Various other companies had found temporary accommodation there in- cluding ‘A’ of the Twenty-third who had been escorted thence, on their way to Lynnfield, by the “Union Drill Club.” 8 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. The city government expended, 14 Oct.. 1861, $25.00 for repairs. In honor of our early and constant friend, this sojourn in barracks was called Camp Bertram. Here, with nothing else to do, our new recruits had ample time for, and, in many instances, showed great zeal and readiness in acquiring the manual and other elementary drill. Still I do not know that any objected to the inter- ruption, on our last afternoon, occasioned by a large party of friends, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, with here and there a nearer and a dearer one. 18 Oct., 1861. We marched, eighty-seven strong, under escort of about forty of the old club, through a drizzling rain, to Peabody, and, on arrival by rail at Lynn- field, under escort of Company ‘ A’ and the drum corps, to camp. COMPANY ‘Gq’. First Lieut. John W. Raymond, Sergt. Henry P. Woodbury and private Daniel W. Hammond of Company ‘E,’ Eighth M. V. M., opened enlistment rolls in the Armo- ry Hall at Beverly. The men as enlisted went into camp on Beverly Common in the tents of Company ‘E’ of the Eighth. 29 Sept., 1861. Eighty-five strong, they attended divine service twice; in the morning at the Washington Street Church and after noon at the Baptist Church where they heard an original bymn written for the occasion by Mrs. Hanaford. They wore their new blue uniforms. 15 Oct., 1861. The “Rantoul Light Guards” left Beverly for Lynnfield. Many speeches were made. The captain was presented with a sword and his lieutenants with sashes. On the march to Salem, where they took cars, they were escorted by the Beverly Light Infantry and the * Drill Club of this place” says the Salem Gazette. COMPANIES ‘H’, ‘1’, 9 COMPANY ‘H’. Wesley Caleb Sawyer, then just graduated at Harvard College, offered his services to Senator Henry Wilson. He had hoped for a lieutenancy under some experienced captain who might teach him war. He was with diffi- culty persuaded to assume the distasteful task of raising a company by direct personal appeal in and near his na- tive town, Harvard, Mass. He raised about half a com- pany which he took to Lynnfield, where Senator Wilson again persuaded him to accept a commission as Captain and the responsibility which that office implies. Meanwhile a number of men, calling themselves “ Have- lock Guards,” had enlisted in Boston, were drilled by F. M. Doble, afterwards Lieutenant in the Twenty-third, and came to Lynnfield expecting to be the nucleus of a company in the Twenty-second under command of one Jacob C. Maine. It turned out that Maine could not get a commission and the men, refusing to serve under one George Cook, who at one time had a commission (after- wards revoked) as Captain in the Twenty-third, were for some days idlers about the camp, as unwilling to refuse duty entirely as they were to serve under officers whom they thought forced upon them. Finally, at the direct personal appeal of Adjutant General Schouler, they agreed to find places in the various companies of the Twenty- third. Sixteen of them joined Company ‘H.’ Their tent sign “Havelock Guards” may be recollected at Annapolis. Company ‘I’ was afterwards filled up in camp. COMPANY ‘TY’. In September, 1861, John Hobbs of Ipswich was rais- ing a company for the war. 1 Oct., the company was 10 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. reported as “rapidly filling.” 11 Oct. Colonel Kurtz “inspected, was much pleased and accepted the company for the 23rd.” 15 Oct. The company, ninety strong, under escort of the “Home Guards” with the Rowley band, marched to Town Hall. There they partook of a clam- chowder, etc., and enjoyed speeches till near midnight. While at Ipswich they “fed” at the Agawam Hotel. 16th. They spent an hour or two in Salem on their way to Lynnfield. The newspapers chronicle that they were “a noble looking set of men — almost every one carried a bouquet.” COMPANY ‘RK’. Carlos A. Hart, who had served as Second Lieutenant, Company ‘F,’ Fourth M. V. Militia in the three months’ service, received authority 22 Aug., 1861, from the Hon. Henry Wilson, to raise acompany for three years’ service in the Wilson Brigade. He opened a recruiting office in Cocasset Hall, Fox- boro, and posted the following call : TO ARMS! TO ARMS! RECRUITS FOR THE BAY STATE GUARDS TO GO INTO Hon. Henry Witson’s REGIMENT. Capt. Hart’s Company, now enlisting in Foxboro, will go into camp with Wilson’s Regiment next week and all who intend to enlist should apply without delay at THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMPANY aT Cocasset Haru, Foxsoro. COMPANY ‘x’, 11 Col. Wilson pledges himself that every man in his command shall have his full due in Good Rations, Good Clothing, Prompt Pay and the best treatment. Come at once if you wish to obtain a position in the best regiment that Massachusetts will send into the service. C. A. Hart, Captain, late of Co. ‘F,’ 4th Regt. Foxboro, Sept. 4, 1861. A public meeting was held in the Town Hall to aid the enlistment, and much patriotic sentiment was manifested by the best citizens of the place. John Littlefield, sur- geon dentist, who had represented Foxboro in the Gen- eral Court, was elected First Lieutenant. He left a suc- cessful practice at the call of his country, and, by example and active effort, was of material assistance in the forma- tion of the company. $160.00 was raised to help the cause. 13 Sept., 1861. The company of thirty went to Lynnfield and was assigned to the Twenty-third as Com- pany ‘K.’ Three officers and eighty enlisted men formed the company when it left Lynnfield. One hundred and eighteen men were in it during its three years’ service. Twenty-nine men reénlisted. THE BAND. Certain men, such as could afford to leave their civilian occupations for the enlisted men’s pay, and were, in their own estimation, capable of earning that pay as musicians, had collected at Lynnfield. When H. C. Brown, engaged as leader, put them to trial, he found some of them utterly incapable. Summarily sending these to their 12 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. homes he made successful search for drilled musicians, and, the regimental officers agreeing to make up the extra pay demanded, established the band which was so highly esteemed wherever the Twenty-third was posted until the government would no longer meet the expense, and, with other bands, it was discharged 30 Aug., 1862. LYNNFIELD. Our camp-ground at Lynnfield, the cradle of several regiments and batteries, is now the lawn of the country- seat of D. P. Ives, Esq. The line-officers’ tents, at right angles to the turnpike, faced southwesterly, so that those of Company ‘A,’ on the right of the line, were not far from the location of Mr. Ives’s house. The large building, near the railroad station, was used by the regimental quartermaster. The main guard and entrance to the parade were in that corner of the grounds. The officers had the usual house-tent, but the rank and file were housed ‘in Sibley tents. One of the earliest duties in Company ‘F’ was flooring the tents with the country boards provided for us. Their untrimmed edges left cracks which made a sort of savings bank for money or other small articles which slipped from the gaping pockets of our night-clothes. After a time we had bed- sacks and made a peaceful commercial raid upon a neigh- bor’s barn for straw to fill them. How can one hope to do more than select with passing touch from the teeming memories deeply engraved on our youthful minds by the novel experience of that first camp? Réveille. Hardly a trial to the young limbs not yet inured to the thin straw-beds and scanty blankets. Guard-mounting. Company-drill. At times little more than a sliddering about when the morning sun had turned LYNNFIELD. 13 to thin mud the surface of the drill ground stiffened by last night’s frost. Bringing to quarters and distributing the huge piles of clothing, arms and equipments which were to turn a thousand civilians into the outer seeming of soldiers. Dinner was always good and abundant. Never quite down to the prosaic monotony of the rations in the field, in some companies it was made a feast by the abun- dance of turkeys, puddings, pies, etc., furnished by our friends. Battalion drill. Men already somewhat posted in company drill entered with interest on the unknown ground of regimental combinations. They were nothing if not critical, and thought they had made a point when they refused to obey a “Forward” from the “ Order arms” or remained solemnly erect when first the unexplained or- der “Down” came to them. In the latter case their young conceit gained nothing but a contemptuous “ Well, stand up and be shot.” Dress parade. The line was formed on two sides of a square for lack of room. Visitors. Crowds of matrons and maids gazed with tender pride upon sons and brothers, and believed, if possible, more earnestly than ourselves, that they were admiring soldiers. Darkness came all too soon in those short November days, and drove us to our tents where cards, books, papers and the ever-present and wider-spreading pipe helped the time away. The distinctions of military caste came slowly (and never went far) among men who had lived equals all their lives. I recall an evening at company headquarters made jocund by the effortless flow of anecdote from a well- known Registrar, and a breakfast where nothing less than the extraordinary savoriness of a domestic chicken- pie would have reconciled a lieutenant, with reminis- cences of the Mexican war, to sitting at table with a corporal. 14 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. Standing guard, with the consequent broken sleep, was our most arduous duty. Few of us had, up to this time, had opportunity for studying night effects on such a pro- longed scale. My notebook recalls a tour of duty, when the stars glittering from a black sky, a well-arched Aurora Borealis and the waning moon vied with the glare of a huge bonfire in a neighboring camp, with our more modest guard-fires and with the flickering blaze in certain Sibley tents which gave them a glow of vitality in the ghostly ranks of their snowy mates. Arms and equipments, the bayonet-scabbards not with- out ineffectual protest from Colonel Kurtz, were dis- tributed. 31 Oct. The march to Salem. Weather and roads were all that could be wished. In our light marching order the twelve miles was an easy task. By way of Federal and Lynde streets we reached City Hall and es- corted thence the city government to the Common. Here we had a scant collation, a short drill and profuse hand- shakings. Soon after 3 Pp. M. we started for camp. Essex street was densely crowded. We halted there a while for our Officers to accept the hospitality of the Salem Light Infantry tendered them at the Essex House. Taking the route-step, after we left the streets, we reached camp with but one halt on the way, and, though not much tired, were excused from dress parade and roll-calls. 2 Nov. There had been a brisk northeaster during the day, and the rain, beginning about the time of evening roll-call, hinted an experience that we fully met. Half the night we were up loosening the guy-ropes (lest the can- vas, shortened by the rain, should pull the pegs from the ground and all should fall together) and retying the tapes at the door which the wind, flapping the loosened cloth, would immediately throw open again. Finally, the canvas ON THE ROAD. 15 had drunk up all the rain it would hold, the tapes were all torn away from the door and we, in the least wet and windy side of the tent, slept till morning disclosed a picture of desolation. The flat camp and parade were almost one puddle, and many tents were prostrate. Colonel Kurtz’s desire that the regiment might have an opportunity for special duty, rather than as a member of some coast expedition then talked of, and Gen. Wilson’s interest in accumulating Massachusetts regiments near himself, resulted in a request, 28 Oct., 1861, from Gen. Winfield Scott to Governor Andrew, that the regiment might be sent to Washington, but, 6 Nov., 1861, Colonel Kurtz was compelled to ask delay on account of insufficient equipage. In fact, our knapsacks, haversacks and can- teens did not reach us till the 7th, nor our dress coats and blankets till the 8th. 10 Nov.. The last Sunday in camp drew a great crowd of people, and, after services conducted by Rev. G. D. Wildes of Salem, we had our last handshakes with the friends we left behind us. 11 Nov. 1861. We were roused at four, and were fed, packed and ready by daylight, but the usual delays put off our start till near eleven. Stringent orders were issued against the destruction of property. The number of cases of spontaneous combustion in the straw and other camp-litter was very remarkable. ON THE ROAD. Boston was its hospitable self, cheered us on State street, fed us on the Common and would, doubtless, have sheltered us from the rain which drenched us on the way to the Old Colony station. Here were a thousand men and boys, many tenderly 16 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. nurtured, wet to the skin in mid-afternoon and, without change of clothing, gradually drying on the cars and in the Sound boat. But few, if any, were the worse for it. An interesting illustration of the protecting influence of a novel environment. The steamer State of Maine carried the right wing very comfortably. A limited supply of mince-pie and ale, which could be bought on board, met the need of but a few, and the hunger of the many was not appeased dur- ing the long hours of waiting off the Battery for the Metropolis bringing the left wing, the field and staff in- cluding the R. Q. M., and the rations. Can answer for the fierce hunger of one as we marched up Broadway, pass- ing Trinity as the clock struck twelve, on the way to the Park barracks. We were escorted by the Sons of Massa- chusetts who took the officers to breakfast at the Astor House while we were fed at the barracks. Some two thousand sons and daughters of Massachu- setts were present at the Astor House. Colonel Howe presided and speeches were made by Generals Burnside and Wilson, by Dr. Bellows, Chaplain Clarke and others. Adjutant Chambers was toasted as the printer-soldier of Massachusetts. General Burnside is reported by the Vew York Commercial Advertiser as saying: “The cause of the war is regarded as the strength of the enemy and he hoped every good general would avail himself of this force. Under any other name than slavery no good general would be excused from letting italone. If it be necessary, in order to maintain the Government, that slavery be re- moved, in God’s name let it be done.” General Wilson said: “You and I have listened te the most important speech made since the war.” At the barracks no very strict guard was kept, and the men scattered over the city. While there were, doubt- ON THE ROAD. 17 less, some who abused the liberty, those who did not were in the great majority; a proportion, in fact, that would have been quite impossible after some years of service. At 5 P.M. we went in light marching order up Broad- way and paid a passing salute to Mrs. Lincoln at the Metropolitan. The street was crowded, and our appear- ance, as we marched in platoons, singing, at intervals, our version of the John Brown song, which related the won- derful results to be expected when the rebels * should hear the rifles’ crack of the Old Bay State’s Twenty-third,” was the signal for the wildest enthusiasm. Even after dark it was not difficult, for those who remained sober, to get leave. A party of non-commissioned officers lodged and breakfasted at Lovering’s. 13 Oct., 1861. About noon we marched, up Broad- way, around Union Square and through 14th street to the ferry-boat. This, our first lengthy march in heavy march- ing order, was made no less fatiguing by the great slip- periness of the worn pavements. It was dark when, or soon after, we left Jersey City. One of the men fell from the cars, on our way across the state of New Jersey, but rejoined us soon after, not much the worse for the accident. Philadelphia’s hospitality, in the abundant refreshment at the Cooper Association rooms, was duly welcome at about 2 a.M., and the rest of the night was spent in the cars at rest in the streets of the City of Brotherly Love. Perryville, with its busy camps and teeming corrals, gave us our first proof of the scope of the governmental prepara- tions. About noon Companies ‘A’, ‘F’ and ‘D’ with Colonel, Major, Surgeon, Chaplain and Sutler went on board the little steamer “Star” for Annapolis. With the cheery daylight it was a very pleasant trip. With dusk, came fog, and, after dark, rain, and then, for 2 18 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. the large number of sleepy boys whom actual want of room kept exposed on the hurricane-deck, the misery of enforced wakefulness. Nor were our salt-water boys of Salem and New Bedford made any happier by the ineffi- cient clumsiness which kept us, through two hours of drenching rain, just off the pier, in vain endeavor to reacha berth. Finally, the sacred soil of the sunny south, otherwise the mud of the deserted Naval Academy, re- ceived us ankle-deep, and we were glad of such shelter and rest as could be obtained among the empty show-cases of the museum. CHAPTER II. ANNAPOLIS. LIFE AND INCIDENTS IN CAMP. THANKSGIVING. PAY. MUSTER-IN. CONTRABANDS. EMBARKATION. HIGHLANDER. HUS- SAR. THE VOYAGE. RESCUE OF NINTH NEW JERSEY OFFICERS. HATTERAS. THE INLET. THE SWASH. SCARCITY OF WATER. GALES. Next day, 15 Nov., 1861, began the experience which, though probably common enough, the 23rd was accus- tomed to consider peculiarly its own ; the being ordered to move on as soon as we were comfortably established. After a day’s work had made our museum room habitable, orders came to march to College Green and occupy a new building whose floors were thick with the mud of our predecessors and whose walls quaked with the tread of our unexpected numbers. 16 Nov. Again, after a busy forenoon of clearing up, the left wing, which had followed our course, enjoying the floor of the railroad station at Perryville the first night, joined us and, together, we marched to camp some two miles out of the city. The quiet of the next—Sunday—forenoon was broken by the excited rush of the officer of the guard through the camp with the cry “To Arms!” Your historian was puz- zled to imagine whom we could find to fight in such a place, and curious whether, when found, we could reach him with the bayonet — we had no ball cartridges — but fell in with the rest to receive General Burnside and hear some general orders, including one about foraging. Some one had been shooting turkeys. Suspicion against one of the companies was made certainty by the appearance, on the very scene of investigation, of two more of its men bringing more turkeys. The blue Zouave uniform dis- appeared from that day. The regiment gained in stead- iness all it lost in picturesqueness. (19) 20 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. We learned that our camp, pitched in the open field, was liable to be under water in rainy weather. A party was sent to a neighboring grove to prepare another camp. We moved, mostly by hand, next day. Only such trees as were actually in the way were removed. The slope of the land secured fair drainage. Barring a little awkwardness, arising from the location of the companies in camp, when we came to form line for parade, and that our water must all be brought from a distant roadside spring, the camp was very convenient and soon became comfortable. Some of us adopted the California furnace —a covered pit, near the centre of the tent, with air-duct coming in from one side to the bottom, and smoke-pipe from near the top on the opposite side. These, with very little fire, made our tents very comfortable. General Foster inspected and approved them. Perhaps they were too warm for those who, in a crowded tent, were compelled to sleep over or near the smoke-pipe. Others tried digging out the soil under the tents, some eighteen inches deep, except for a foot next the canvas. This largely increased the stand- ing room and available space, but was, perhaps, not so desirable as the stockading we learned to make afterwards amid the plentiful woods of the Carolinas. In accordance with the suggestion of Governor Andrew Co. ‘F’ celebrated Thanksgiving in a highly satisfactory manner. The company street was decorated with ever- green and holly. After listening to an open air service held by Chaplain Clark, to an accompaniment of coughs, two roast turkeys and two plum puddings were served in each tent, and, after dress-parade, we had bonfires and danced around them, singing “ Auld lang syne,” etc. All the pleasant days, and these were many, were passed in drill, company, battalion and brigade. 5 Dec. Mustered into United States service by Cap- tain Putnam, U. S. A. ANNAPOLIS. 21 From the time when we marched out of Annapolis be- tween two lines of grinning darkies the negroes were always about the camps. They came, with their trays of pies, etc., when permitted, in the daytime, and required little persuasion to induce them to come at night and give us specimens of their singing. “The words are very amusing . . . I give you a speci- men, although the effect is lost by not seeing the faces and motions of the singers. One foot is always in mo- tion; they shut their eyes and roll about their heads in the queerest manner. They all, men and women, sing the air or first treble part, and, when the spirit moves, the music gets decidedly boisterous. The chorus is evidently the part best relished by the singers.” + Wet or dry I mean to try Away in the wilderness. To get to heaven when I die Away in the wilderness. It’s a highway, it’s a highway, It’s a highway, Away in the wilderness. Jordan water, chilly and cold, Away, etc. I've got glory in my soul. Away, etc. I heard a voice, I couldn’t tell where, It must have been my Lord in the air. Down to a fountain I was led, There I eat of heavenly bread. It is the food for all my soul, The more I gets the more I grow. John and James are gone I know, Up to heaven long ago.' 1G. M. W. in “ Salem Observer.” 22 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. H. E. Valentine, of Co. ‘F,’ wrote down the music, as he heard it, in his diary, as follows: Hips oN rh @2e 2 ——*_ fF xf 4 et eg ev i i‘ os Bie oat ns ates Wet or dry I mean totry, A - way in the wilderness. D pecan els He 9 0p Ne t2 vi eS » | | is Se To get to heaven when I die, A-way in the wilderness. hy 4 ye ‘ he -- o- Ss S16 ae Se ed Itsa High - way, Its a High - way, Its a py Nt i x an <= Gy oe fp RN o [a hf } a jg oH a =o a o——9 Bd High way, A - way in the wil- der-ness. Our first payments came here. They were made partly in gold and partly in greenbacks which were eagerly taken by the boys for their novelty. From the lack of small coins or “currency,” fractional parts of dollars were put “in bills” into the hands of company officers to be paid to the men as opportunity offered. Of course sutlers and peddlers reaped a harvest from so much money in the hands of boys. I saw one drummer-boy swinging his new watch against the stove to see how often he could hit the iron without breaking the crystal. On the other band much money was sent home. ‘F’ sent $2,549.50, and‘ G’ $3,800.00. An incident of 7 Dec. is worth relating for itself and as an illustration of methods and tone of feeling among the early volunteers. DRUMMING OUT. 23 A member of ‘A’ had, in the words of Sp. Ord. No. 18, now before me, “by frequent dishonorable, dishonest and insubordinate conduct, as well as being a deserter from his regiment and recreant to the flag of his country become extremely obnoxious and a nuisance to the camp. The commanding officer orders that at two and a half o’clock on Saturday afternoon, December 7, 1861,” he “shall be stripped of every vestige of the uni- form of his Regiment and be drummed out of the service at the point of the bayonet as a person totally unfit to be allowed to associate with honorable soldiers.” Signed, Jon Kurtz, Cou.” J. G. Campers, ADJ. I copy an account sent by “V” to the Salem Register. “The regiment was drawn up in two lines, the right wing resting on the main entrance, the two lines facing each other about three feet apart. The two Reliefs, which were not on guard, were marched up to the left, the whole arranged in the following order: R Line of Soldiers. | | Main entrance to D F camp. Line of Soldiers. Colonel. Lieut. Colonel. C. Corporal’s guard. D. Drummer. F. Fifer. p. Prisoner. a. Adjutant. R. Reliefs of guard. The prisoner was brought to the place marked C where the charge was read. He was charged with stealing and in other ways becoming obnoxious to the regiment, besides being recreant to the flag of his country by de- serting. Then he was made to strip off his uniform and put on a pair of old, dark blue pants and an old jacket 24 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. buttoned on the back instead of on the front. The poor fellow cried like a child when first brought out of the tent. When all was ready the command was given, the corporal’s guard came to the ‘charge bayonets,’ the fifer struck up the ‘Rogue’s March’ accompanied by the drum, and he was marched just outside the lines through the main en- trance and left to shift for himself.” For myself, I pitied him till I saw he seemed to need no pity. “M” in another letter in the Register says: “During the process of stripping him and clothing him again, the fellow was loud and boisterous in his profane cursing of the regiment, and as he pulled off his military cap he tore the letter from it and kicked it from him with a horrid oath . . The impression upon the soldiery seemed cer- tainly to be of the most salutary character, and all the more so, as the poor wretch by his horrid blasphemies fairly endorsed his sentence, severe as it was, and pre- vented any reaction in his favor for sympathy on the part of his former comrades.” Life at camp “John A. Andrew” at Annapolis was very pleasant. Our tents were pitched in a position cen- tral to the other camps and near the brigade drill grounds which were also used for what seemed to us imposing division reviews. Ten thousand well-equipped infantry in an open field, whose rolling surface gave good points of view, are well worth seeing, even if, in their newness, they lacked something of the set-up of veterans. We had easy access to the city, along the railroad when the occasional rain and the constant army-wagons poached the roads into a condition impassable to pedestrians. We were well fed and busily employed in learning our new trade. The bright winter weather, so well adapted to out-door life, was so common that the rare rains were welcome for TENT LIFE. 25 rest and bringing up arrears of mending and corres- pondence. I venture to quote from a letter, signed “ V,” a sketch of evening life ina tent in Co.‘F.’ Those who recog- nize the parties will feel no less interest from the fact that so many of them have gone before. “Our (tent) Adjutant (W. 8.) is sitting on his bed- sack making much of his meerschaum and enveloped in a cloud of smoke . . L. R. is writing to some fair damsel if I can judge by the occasional lighting up of his eye; S. B. and F. M. are reclining on another sack, the one smoking and the other chewing a piece of tough cracker, tougher than even sailors get — so the knowing ones say. KE. P. is poring over Harper’s Weekly; J. McC. is reading on my right, while J. T. is perusing the Boston Journal; S.S., 5. H., A. M. and G. D. are writing letters; and E. J. is smoking and laughing at some joke from S. B. Your historian, one of the happy boys described, can endorse another letter signed “II.” “I am very much pleased with this life. Have gained in flesh till my face has the old school-boy roundness.” (A common experi- ence.) “Our army-rations are good and well-cooked and with the boxes from home, we, of the N. C. O., fare sumptuously; indeed, our lieutenants say better than they fare. I certainly think there is not a happier set of boys on the field. There have never been any cross words nor differences.” *“M”— before quoted —says Dec. 10: “Let me bear witness to the superb performances of the regimental band of this regiment, under Mr. Henry C. Brown of Boston. . . . Said the Chaplain (no mean judgeI trow), ‘Mr. Brown’s voluntaries at our Sabbath services are the most beautiful and appropriate that I ever heard.’ As this is Mr. Brown’s first attempt at gathering a band, and espec- 26 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. ially as they were all strangers to each other at the start, and some of them never saw each other till five days be- fore they left Lynnfield, I think it simple justice to call attention to Mr. Brown’s success as a leader and as one destined to cause even Gilmore himself to look well to his laurels. Mr. Cook of Fitchburg, the tenor drummer, is the best I ever saw beat a drum — another “Billy Gray” certainly. Would that you could have stood with me, last Saturday evening, near regimental headquarters and wit- nessed the profound enjoyment of the crowd while Brown and his associates discoursed, for an hour, music of the highest order.” From the same letter: “Some three regular religious exercises per week are enjoyed by the Chaplain and those disposed to meet in one of the largest tents (the head- quarter mess-tent) besides the Sabbath services at which the regiment are all present.” Again: “Sabbath evening witnessed an impressive scene — the crowded tent—the earnest devotion — the hearty songs of praise — and especially at the close when Lieut. Col. Merritt requested the prayers of the company in behalf of one of the sick soldiers in the hospital. But we learned at the close of this precious season of devo- tion that the poor fellow had died just as the meeting had opened. His name was Ansel Stall of ‘H’ from Lunen- burg, Mass.” How much the fighting strength of a regiment is de- pleted by the need of clerks and artificers in the various departments is familiar enough to all Massachusetts men, but a special drain upon the 23rd, almost all whose com- panies came from the very coast, occurred here when one hundred and forty men marched off at once to man the transports. Ball cartridges and target practice began in December. TARGET FIRING. 27 “At 100 yards a target, 6 feet by 22 inches, caught half the shots, but at 200 yards, only 18 shots” (probably from one company). Some doubt arose as to the accuracy of our Enfield rifles when we found that experienced riflemen missed a target which green school-boys could hit, although, literally, firing a gun for the first time in their lives. Rumors of a speedy move had been rife for weeks. Each was contradicted, in turn, by the report, from town, that there were no vessels to carry us. Even after the transports had come, work went on in camp as though we meantit for winter-quarters. Regulararmy-ovens were set up and a well, five feet square, was curbed with chestnut rails and furnished with bucket and winch on 4 Jan., 1862, only to be taken down on the 5th when positive orders came to start the next day. These were cold days with thermometer, hanging at the door of a warmed tent, at 18° +4 Fahr. and some inches of very light snow lying unmelted. It was from this we pulled our Sibley tents and through this we marched to Annapolis, a short walk made laborious by the ruts beneath the snow and our knapsacks overladen with all manner of extras which the prospect of short marches induced us to retain. Then came long hours in hollow square around huge bonfires on the green of the Naval Academy ; and, finally, we went, at dark, to our quarters on the schooner Highlander and the steamer Hussar. While the regiment was waiting, a sad mishap occurred to Co.‘C’. Some men of that company, detailed on gunboat Lancer, wereashore on leave for the purpose of getting pho- tographic portraits. While in an oyster saloon, the contents (buckshot) of a gun, accidentally discharged while in the hands of private William Bushey, struck private Thomas Butler in the right eye. “He never moved from his chair.” 28 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. The local authorities did not deem an inquest necessary. Butler was buried and Bushey returned to duty the same day. HATTERAS. The “Highlander,” “originally the ‘ Claremont’ built, probably, in New Jersey about 1858-9 and intended for the pine-wood trade,”? was a centre-board schooner of 561 tons. This tonnage must have included the space covered by the spar-deck which, high enough for three tiers of bunks, had been added to fit her for transport service. A tier of bunks was built in along each side and supplied with mattresses stuffed with dried sea-weed. The remain- ing spacewas filled with cots — narrow canvas-sacking beds on turned posts which reached from the deck to the beams overhead. They were arranged by twos, nearly touching in the ranks and with but a narrow passage-way between the double ranks. These passages were about thirty inches wide, none too much for men to pass one another in the lightest march- ing order. Now, suppose two hundred and odd men with arms, equipments, knapsacks, haversacks, everything that they could and more than they ought to carry, filing into these narrow aisles in the vain attempt to find their assigned bunks; and suppose as many more, equally encumbered, trying to reach similar accommodations in the lower hold and you may form some idea of the con- fusion which filled, for a time, the interior of the High- lander on that January evening. Finally, word was passed that men should take the nearest bunks. This speedily relieved the worst of the crowding and we set- r 28. W. Higgins, THE HIGHLANDER. 29 tled away with ‘A,’ ‘F’ and part of ‘D’ on the main deck ; the restin the hold. Sardines are packed closer, but those natives of the rolling deep are not subject to sea-sickness. Two hatches, one sky-light, without glass on its sides, and three or four glazed ports in each side, gave, for the main deck, fair light and air. The ship’s officers and our field and staff—. e., Colo- nel, Surgeon, Adjutant and Quartermaster — occupied the cabin proper and its state-rooms. The line-officers of our five companies had rooms in the same house for- ward of the cabin; one sleeping-room and a mess-room which also had berths along the sides. These rooms opened on the main deck. The galley and closets shared about equally the “eyes of her” on the main deck, and the forecastle was forward below. Mr. E. Smith, correspondent for the New York Times, was a fellow passenger. The Highlander remained for some time in the North Carolina waters, and, later, took troops to Texas. Major Dollard, 2nd Lieut. U. S. C. Cav. (formerly Sergeant of ‘E’) says: “At Brazos Santiago, in Jan., 1866, a terrific storm had driven upon the beach, within a space of ten miles, not less than twenty sailing and steam vessels. Among these I noticed the schooner Highlander. That she survived this calamity is extremely improbable.” The Hussar was one of those hulking barns-afloat, in- tended for freighting hay on the North River. Her black color (shared by everything afloat, under control of the navy, in the days before the adoption of the lead-colored war-paint said to have been introduced by the blockade- runners) and grace of outline gained for her and her mates the sobriquet “ blacksmith’s shop.” The arrangement of the Hugsar did not differ essentially from that of the Highlander. She had canvas-bottomed 30 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. cots “tween decks” and bunks with mattresses in the hold. In her they were four storeys high. She was armed with two 30 lb. Parrots and two 6 lb. Wiards. Having a condenser on board, the left wing never suffered for water, although at one time put on a per diem of one pint. Coffee, made with a steam-pipe in a barrel, was always provided ; but, such coffee !! In 1863 the Hussar might have been seen at Beaufort, N. C., sunk to her upper deck and apparently abandoned, but eighteen months later she turned up among the trans- ports at Brazos Santiago apparently as good as ever.* We lay in the harbor of Annapolis till Thursday, hav- ing been towed to a new anchorage the evening before. Early risers may recall the glorious sunrise of the 8th, which painted sky and sea and spars with living crimson, and may remember the burning of a deck-load of hay soon after, when blazing bales, thrown over to save the vessel, bore down uponus, and picket-boats were sent out to fend off the impromptu fire-ships. There had been rain the morning we started. Mist and fog accompanied us, but by noon it became clear and the full magnificence of the pageant was revealed. Not “ Like leviathans afloat Lay their bulwarks on the brine.” Our escorting gunboats were of that curious medley called forth by the sudden summons of war and made up largely of ferry-boats and tugs. In the weight and power of their metal alone were they imposing. Our steam transports varied from the huge Northerner, carry- ing with ease a full regiment, to the dumpiest of the army gunboats, and their tows from the full rigged ship (too § Dollard, UNDERWAY. 31 large, as the event proved, to enter at Hatteras) to the canal boat battery (utterly helpless without either horse or hawser). These, gay with flags and teeming with a joyously expectant army, made the pageant. As the more powerful boats passed their slower mates, cheer answered unto cheer and band to band. Senti- mental Brown played “Home, Sweet Home” and gallant Gilmore sent back “The girl I left behind me.” Bugle- solos found unexpected echoes. So, with laugh and song, we pushed on, not merely our possible fate but our course and destination, as well, utterly unknown. Fog held us still nextday. Nothing else could be seen. An occasional order, bugle-call or drum-roll assured us we were near friends. A clearer sky in the afternoon allowed us to start, and, before night, the leafless forest over our bow gradually turned to the masts of the real leviathans of our navy, anchored off Fort Monroe, and these suddenly bourgeoned out into a full foliage of Jack-tars manning the yards and cheering as each transport glided to its mooring. Few found our stop in Hampton Roads tedious. Frowning fortress, famous frigate, far-reaching fleet were too novel to all. The flag-of-truce boat that day brought some ladies from Dixieland and consigned them to a French frigate. Heavy guns in some rebel battery near Sewall’s point had a warlike sound, but were said to mean jubilation over a new flagstaff. Some were lucky enough to get ashore to have a nearer inspection of the interior of the fortress as well as of the huge guns on the beach and to obtain fresh commissary supplies from the sutler. Morning found us with bright sky and fairly smooth sea, meekly following the Hussar in a similar, though more scattered, column, to that in the bay. Some of the boys found the motion too frisky, but the right wing of 32 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. the 23rd was too web-footed to suffer long and we thought ourselves pretty fairly settled down to enjoy a sea-life. Towards dark a fresh gale from the southwest arose and so hindered us that it was decided to cast off the hawser. All hands, but enough to work ship, were ordered be- low, and, then,.as we stood off and on, ensued scenes which, though not without their laughable side, may per- haps best be left to the memories of the participants. One of these was provided by Commissary Chapple’s spaniel as “sick as a dog” in her master’s bunk. “Curly,” the pet of Company ‘F’, if not of the regiment, was conspicuous with her red blanket on the march through Boston and New York. Her pups, born on the eve of the battle at Roanoke Island, were in great demand as souvenirs of that affair. The sudden gale was soon over. Before midnight we were standing off and on under easy sail. Of course at daylight no Hussar was to be seen. We followed along with light and baffling winds towards Hatteras Inlet now generally known to be our destination. The Cape of Storms was to give us one more taste of its quality. In the hurry to shorten sail before a threat- ening squall the mainsail refused to come down and the wind, catching it, forced us over till unhappy soldiers were rolled out of their bunks. Our watchful Captain saw the difficulty and applied the only remedy. Running up the main rigging he swung across to the gaff and brought the sail down by his weight. + Few of us knew of the danger we had escaped. In such weather we could not pass the Inlet, but made for Hatteras Cove and there rode, with both anchors, within sight of the haven of rest beyond, but exposed to the force of a northeaster during the 14th and its remaining sea on the 15th. Sixteen of the fleet had shared the hospitalities of the Cove and to- Capt. C. Howland. lst Lt. C. H. Hayward. Capt. S. C. Hart. ‘ o lst Lt. Geo. V. Barrett. lst Lt. John Littlefield. ON THE OCEAN. 33 gether we tried in the light breeze to work our way to and into the Inlet. Finding the wind likely to fail us utterly we made signal for a tug by dropping our ensign from the martingale braces. In response, the steamer Pawtuxent took us in tow. We were nearing the outer bar and had begun to discuss the noonday pork and hard-tack when word came from the Pawtuxent, “Boat upset.” In less time than it takes to write it, three of our boats, manned by ready volun- teers, and one of them under command of Lieut. S. C. Hart of ‘D,’ were speeding to the rescue. The officers of the 9th New Jersey Volunteers had gone in to report their arrival to General Burnside, and, on their return, had been capsized in the breakers of the bar. Out of twelve, one, the second mate of the transport (the ship Ann E. Thompson), was never found; nine needed only warmth and dry clothing to be speedily all right again; and two, Colonel Allen and Surgeon Weller, defied the persistent efforts of Dr. Derby and his assistants to revive them. They had been in the water three-quarters of an hour. Meanwhile we had passed the already crumbling wreck of the “City of New York” and were quietly anchored at last in a “ pocket ” of the “swash.” The long stretch of shifting sand, reaching almost from the Capes of Virginia to the Cape of Fear and separating the ocean from the broad sounds of North Carolina, is sub- ject to constant change. What seems on the older charts a sturdy bulwark against the assaults of the ocean is but a thin thread on the modern maps. The frequent islands, both outside and inside, of the older time, are now only shoals occupied, if at all, only by water-fowl whose myriads we used to see against the horizon rising like the smoke of distant fires. Of course the accumulating waters of the many rivers 3 34 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. must find or make outlets. In the early days the chief openings were north of Roanoke. Through one of these the Adventurers under Raleigh and others passed to found the ill-fated settlement on Roanoke Island. All these have long been closed. Ocracoke Inlet, at the south, seems to have been most permanent and practicable. Perhaps it was, for many years, strictly the only one. The Hatteras Inlet of our experience isa modern affair. Some six miles south of it there was another, very simi- lar to it and called Hatteras Inlet, in 1738. An English ship took ground on its bar and could not be removed. Sand collected about her till the channel closed and dis- appeared so completely that even tradition had ceased to speak of it and aged men and women had never heard of it. By diligent inquiry, two old men have been found who had heard such stories from their ancestors. Perhaps no part of that slight sandy barrier between ‘sound and ocean seemed more secure than the site of the present outlet in the summer of 1846. All parts were lia- ‘ble to overflow in severe storms, but here were groves of live oak, not lofty, but with sturdy trunks and wide- spreading branches; here were houses, orchards, vine- yards, in short, all the results of the simple civilization of the hardy islanders. In September came a three days’ gale. The rain and persistent easterly wind heaped up the waters in the sounds. Suddenly the wind changed to northwest. Ocra- coke Inlet to the south, and the old-time inlets north of Roanoke, if any remained, were all too small to discharge the accumulated waters. On the morning of the seventh of September, Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds were pouring into the ocean by, at least, three new channels, Oregon, Hatteras and a narrow, nameless one a little south of the latter. This soon filled again. PAMLICO SOUND % BB geass HATTERAS INLET. N. C. ARRANGED For. Twenty Thiro History. BY TRISTRAM @RirFin ARCHITECT or G2... a3" REST. es oO cit *, fr al 3e « ATLANTI A paaee 4A gt _. _*# -¥, é HATTERAS INLET. 35 Hatteras people are used to rough weather and had gone to bed thinking it not much of a storm. By the dawn’s early light they saw a torrent of salt-water, where yes- terday they plucked figs and Scuppernong grapes, and watched while their oaks were undermined and toppled into the sea. Thework was not all done at once. Infact, one “hummock,” inhabited at the time of the storm and now long since washed away, did not disappear till after the pilots had begun to use the new inlet. Who knows how long it will last? Nearly forty years have elapsed since the waters cut through. For thirty years it has been the only channel at all equal to the de- mands of modern commerce. The next storm may seal it and open others. While the current is sufficient to keep the channel in the inlet proper of more than 20 feet in depth there are bars both outside and inside. That outside known as “the bar” is comparatively narrow and still affords some 15 feet of water. The broad bar inside having, in 1862, but 74 feet in its channel is “the swash” which gave us so much trouble. An early channel across it, still carrying 8 feet to within a short distance of the open sound, is closed at the inner end and forms the “ pocket” in which the Highlander and other vessels were moored till light- ened sufficiently to pass through the channel over “the swash.”* Getting inside the inlet did not assure safety to all. The army gunboat Zouave, with a number of 23rd men detailed on her, overrun her anchor, knocked a hole in her bottom and sank where her upper deck was just awash. No lives were lost, but some of the men could only bring 4The accompanying map of Hatteras, copied from the Coast-Survey, map of 1861, will, it is hoped, prove of interest. It gives, beside the exact topography, the approximate positions of the Highlander and Hussar. 36 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. away what they stood in. A coal transport took ground close by us, broke her back, and, pinned down by her cargo, became a speedy wreck. The Hussar and the side- wheeler New York swung their sterns together. While the Hussar escaped serious damage the after cabin of the New York was badly smashed. During our three weeks’ stay at Hatteras, one day in three was of rainy storm and some storms were of great se- verity. Other days were disagreeable enough from cold northerly wind, yet there were hours and days when the sunny south asserted itself, and all will recall the mild moonlight when the chat and pipe on deck were so enjoy- able until the silvery strains of Brown’s “Spanish retreat” warned us away to the soldier’s early bed. None too soon we got out our Sibley tents which had been stored away stiff with the ice and snow of Annap- olis. Through one soaking rain they hung, a huge, pyr- amidal mass of dripping, dirty canvas, from a line stretched between the masts. No account of life at Hatteras would be complete with- out mention of the scarcity of water. We had been de- layed by storm and shoals and might reasonably have expected to reach a fresh supply before the time of ex- treme need. Even this had not been left to chance, for General Burnside says in a letter to General McClellan, 26 Jan., 1862, “I took the precaution to arrange for a sup- ply of water before we left, ordering one schooner to leave each day till further orders, but not one has yet arrived. Our supply of water is nearly out.” Something must be allowed to the improvidence of school-boys called upon, for the first time in their lives, to measure water as something less free than air. One diary records what, in the slang of the time, is called a “he old wash in fresh water,” from the canteen of a cor- WATER FAMINE. 37 poral who was not in the ring, which— another diarist declares —drew extra supplies from the guarded water- butt on deck. Nor did said corporal sit up half the night, as another diarist boasts he did, to furtively convey a dip- perful from the water-butt, and to pour the precious fluid into his canteen, without spilling a drop, even in the Stygian darkness of the lower hold. Lest the corporal be accused of selfish waste, it may be well to add that his ab- lutions were performed in the Oriental method — pour- ing a trickling stream on outstretched palms — and that a wash of the character aforesaid may, in this way, be obtained with the use of an amount of water that would be ridiculous in the hand-basins of Occidental civilization. That water was really scarce came home to us one day when we were served with coffee made with the rain- water caught in the boat hanging from the stern-davits and redolent of other flavors than those belonging to the Mocha berry. Nee a “s Frank Howard, eee sf It will be noticed that all the wounded belong to the three right companies, ‘A,’*F’ and‘D.’ ‘B’ was color company. Howard of ‘I’ was in the gun-crew. At the funeral of Lieutenant Goodwin and Sergeant Morse at Marblehead, 24 April, 1862, business was sus- pended and the entire population took part. Flags were at half-mast everywhere. The public buildings as well as many private residences and stores and the Unitarian Church were draped in black. Shortly, General Foster ordered Colonel Kurtz to face to the right and file off into the woods in an attempt to flank the enemy’s left. Over against the location of the reserve artillery, which was within a few feet of the place where General Foster stood through the fight, was a copse of taller trees around which the 23rd filed and were as completely hidden as though mountains intervened. How shall I describe the attempt of a regiment, fully armed and equipped, to march through a swamp consid- ered impenetrable by the shingle-splitting “ cracker” “na- tive here and to the manner born?” Where, as one of THE “POCOSON.” 49 the natives told a member of the 23rd after the battle, “When one of our-un’s cows gets in there we-uns kills her because we-uns cant git her out.” After orderly marching became impossible, the men sprang from tussock to tussock in the vain hope of keeping dry. Too often the shaking, treacherous clumps yielded, and the rifle-cum- bered hand failed in its eager grasp at friendly bush. Wet through but undaunted, men began to grope along the sluggish water-courses whose sandy beds afforded some firmness of footing. Here the tenacious cat-briar made passage impossible till officers drew their swords and hewed a way through. Colonel Kurtz ordered com- pany-officers to do the best they could. Here and there a supple youngster crept through, and, returning, reported a possible way. Some of Company ‘A’ got through so far to the right that the rebel artillerists could be seen working their guns behind their parapet. Another party, from the left companies, showed in such force as to ex- change volleys with the enemy’s reserve. Another party, from ‘B,’ ‘ D,’ ‘F,’‘H’ and, perhaps, other companies, got through but did not engage the enemy. So here and there the light blue overcoats showed among the circling trees and wrung from the rebel commander “Boys, the d—ls have outflanked us and you will have to retreat.” Meanwhile, in front of the rebel battery, the 25th Mass. held their ground, until, their ammunition being ex- hausted, they had been relieved by the 10th Conn. The 27th, in column behind the copse aforesaid, was engaging the enemy by companies, each marching by the left flank to the open, delivering fire and yielding place to another company. All Foster’s brigade, except the 24th Mass. (detained by their transport getting aground) was in action. Reno was pushing against the enemy’s right the 21st 4 50 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. Mass., 51st N. Y. and 9th N. J. They were stubbornly and successfully struggling against the natural obstacles, plus the fire of the enemy, and had reached a point where they threatened to take the battery in reverse. At this crisis the 9th New York, of General Parke’s brigade, for some time awaiting its turn in the road to the rear, was ordered forward. Hardly had they, marching by the flank in rear of the 10th Conn., uncovered their leading companies, when their column was suddenly thrown into the wildest confusion. There was a grand fusillade of their muskets aimed in all directions but the right one. In the right centre of this melée Lieut. Col. Monteil of the 53rd N. Y. was enveloped. He had been for some time, a few paces to the right and front of our artillery, fighting on his own account. He had a carbine, or some short arm of precision, and, kneeling to load, would rise and fire after a very deliberate aim, and then, rub- bing his hands in satisfaction if he thought himself suc- cessful, would repeat. When the panic of the 9th N. Y. subsided Colonel Monteil was found dead. Gen. J. L. Otis, then a captain of the 10th Conn., writes me as follows: “The 9th broke up in utter con- fusion, rushed back down the road in a crowd firing their muskets in every direction, killing and wounding each other. The Generals sprang in among them and I did the same, catching hold of their muskets and throwing up the muzzles, at the same time trying to stem the tide of con- fusion; no less than three muskets were fired while I had my hands on them to throw them up, but the confusion was not stayed until they had got down the road and out of the line of fire. Fifteen men of the Hawkins Zouaves were killed and wounded by each other, and one of my own men had his gun shattered and his hand nearly shot away, so that he was disabled for life.” THE CHARGE. 51 Captain Denny, “ Wearing the Blue,” p. 75, says the 9th “fell back, at least a portion of the regiment, upon the 25th Mass., which was on its feet in an instant, the men using the bayonet and the officers drawing swords, while, with one breath, the cry went up ‘No Bull Run here !’” Just at this time the combined line of the 21st Mass. and three companies of the 51st N. Y. charged over the narrow space toward the rebel battery, and scattered mem- bers of the 23rd, which had been too much broken by the difficulties of the swamps for united regimental action, came in on the other side and, together, they occupied the battery from which the rebels were retreating at the full run. Colonel Ferrero of the 51st N. Y. led the remainder of his regiment into the battery and after them came the 9th N. Y. General Foster in his Report says, “and the 23rd Mass. — sent to turn the enemy’s left — had also made its appearance on that flank—another cause of the necessity of the enemy’s retreat.” Colonel Ferrero, 51st N. Y., in his report: “The enemy finding they were outflanked commenced to retreat, when the order was given by General Reno to charge.” “J. G.,” in a letter to the Salem Gazette of 18 March, 1862, reports a conversation with a rebel sergeant: “An orderly sergeant, who was in the battery, said the rebels would stand up against us when they had a fair chance and when asked why they did not, replied, “Why you turned our left flank and of course we knew it was all up with us.’ The 28rd appearing on the left flank of the battery caused a retreat before the charge was made.” Colonel Jordan, prisoner at Roanoke, was on parole at New Berne just before our attack upon that place and comforted Colonel Branch, to whom its defence was in- 52 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. trusted, with “I give you twenty-four hours to hold your forts. They will take them if the obstacles were twice as great. If they can do no better they will swim the river and come in your rear.” The gun-crew had, all this time, nothing to do but look on; and, although near enough to hear the dull thud of missiles when they struck those working the other guns, had escaped injury, except from one shell, which, burst- ing nearly over the gun, seriously wounded Howard of ‘I,’ who was discharged for consequent disability the following July, and just marked two others. The column pushed after the retreating rebels with the 24th Mass., which had not suffered the discomforts of the bivouac nor the trial of battle, in advance. His would have been a hard task who had tried to convince any sharer of that march that it was, as the map proves, less than four miles from the battle-field to Camp Foster. The 23rd joined in the pursuit. It was in that part of the column which marched over to Shallow-bag Bay, cut off the retreat of some and compelled the return of other rebels who were already embarked for Nag’s Head. Cap- tain Sawyer of Co. ‘H’ says: “ We captured the wounded Capt. O. Jennings Wise and turned him over to Dr. Derby, in whose care he survived till about seven o’clock the following evening.” After what seemed a weary way, the Highlander’s gun was sent with a column made up of the 4th R. I. and 10th Conn., under direct command of General Burnside, towards Pork Point Battery. Our flag, flying over the deserted battery, was a joyful sight. There was abundant loot in the officers’ quarters to give even the rear of the column achance. Men, as usual, made fools of themselves. There were pockets filled with smooth-bore bullets and grape-shot for souvenirs. One man was seen with a PORK POINT. 53 wooden rolling-pin hanging about his neck and another lugging a complete Shakespeare big as a family Bible. A third, more practical, had secured a bale of Killicknick. Shortly after our arrival General Foster came over, on horseback, to announce the surrender of all the enemy’s forces. Have always thought the scene memorable and have wished that a Detaille had been near to fix it with his magic pencil. Scene. The parade between the smoking embers of the barracks and the shell-torn officers quarters. Time. Early dusk brightened by the glare, from across the sound, of the burning battery at Red-stone point, fired by the enemy on his retreat. Znter. General Foster. A com- placent pride in his achievement sitting as easily on his manly features as he on his captured horse. Zo him Gen. Burnside, the commanding general, reaching up to pat the back of his successful subordinate and looking as if he would like to kiss him in his joy. The gun-crew was glad of the shelter of a small build- ing still heaped high with corn-fodder. Some huge shell had traversed the roof the day before, but that insured ventilation and roof enough was left for some protection from the drizzling rain. We locked the door, and, well pleased that we had secured a warm and dry bed, settled away to make up our much-missed sleep. We were doomed to disappointment. Mysterious prowlers drew bedding from beneath us and maledictions from Capt. Dayton. His empty threats did not much deter the thieves. By midnight your historian’s sleep was broken by the protruding handle of a plough on which the bedding had been piled. Daylight revealed what the sleepy twilight had passed unnoticed. Some other missile had stripped the sheathing from the back of the barn and left the corn- fodder an inviting prize to our prowling, bedless comrades. 54 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. Next day a party was sent out to secure a mule or some such help to transport our ammunition boxes and help pull the gun over the sandy roads towards Camp Foster, as the newly taken barracks were called. Some little dis- tance inland, we found the house of one Wm. Hayes, and the family not yet half recovered from their share of yes- terday’s bombardment. Unexploded shells in the front yard were too fresh reminders of those which had burst about them. A pony and two-wheeled cart, borrowed from these people, helped us on our weary way towards the barracks. It seems ridiculous now, but our little field-piece was cumbrous as a Columbiad then. Horse and men tiring out before camp was reached, the writer was sent forward to ask aid from the regiment. Getting astray in the thick woods he heard a rustling in the underbrush followed by the request, “ Mister, don’t shoot me.” The petitioner turned out to be a miserable, frightened and half starved rebel, who had been hiding since the surrender and whose hunger had at last prevailed over his fears. He knew the way to camp, not far off, and was soon turned loose among the prisoners. Capt. Dayton had by this time arrived. Not long after, Camp Foster was startled by a volley and the pattering of Minie balls. A seemingly impos- sible attack was our first thought, but the affair turned out nothing more serious than the carelessness of some neigh- boring regiment in emptying their loaded muskets. Most of the looting about camp was over by the time we ar- rived. The grotesque Georgian “tooth-picks ”— huge knives rudely made from farriers’ rasps and intended for the carving of Yankees—had all been gathered in. Col. Kurtz, in transmitting a flag to Gov. Andrew, says: “I accidentally got trace of a place where one of the rebel regiments had secreted their flag and immedi- CAMP FOSTER. 55 ately took the proper steps to secure it, and, by permis- sion of Gen. John G. Foster, send it to you as a trophy.’ It is described as a Georgia regimental flag made of heavy pongee silk with three longitudinal stripes, red, white and red, and a blue field in upper corner bearing on one side in gilt “Liberty or Death” surrounded by eleven stars and, on the other, S. G., enclosed by a wreath of oak- leaves. It was looped to the staff with red cord. In spite of the large amount of stores said to have been captured, the regiment suffered from scant supplies, and after a day or two, for which, as usual, the three days’ rations in our haversacks lasted, subsisted mostly on what was found in and about the barracks. Men became adepts in frying fritters of flour and water and, report says, one of these impromptu cooks only discovered on attempting to eat the cooked viand that he had mistaken and mixed ground plaster for flour. In these early days of our island life foraging was, to some extent, authorized. Capt. Dayton, duly armed with a pass or order, took out a party, but found so much more poverty than potatoes that his compassion prevailed and he returned empty-handed. Later a family with ten chil- dren was found sick, naked and hungry. Company ‘G,’ of the 23rd, furnished rations and contributed two large bags of clothing. 9 Feb. ’62. “Had charge of a squad which took a rebel Captain, Lieutenant and two others to search for the killed and wounded of a party which landed during our fight at the battery and attempted to resist our march towards the upper part of the island. We found the Orderly-Sergeant dead, with six or eight wounds. The night before, our men had buried four of the captain’s company and, on the 10th, another was found, wounded in the leg, who had lain 56 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. out in the woods near forty hours.”* Probably men of the 2nd N. Carolina, whose Lt. Col., Wharton J. Green, re- ports a loss of three killed and five injured in an action with the 21st Mass. His report of loss to the 21st “learned from themselves” must have been misunderstood. On the evening of the 9th a report that the prisoners were planning a revolt, gained credence. The 23rd was ordered to sleep on its arms. The gun-crew was turned out. The gun was put in position before Col. Kurtz’s quarters and the mountain-howitzer belonging to the 24th M. V. I. was put near it in charge of your historian. We made a brave show to all who did not know that the guns were not loaded and that all the ammunition was in the Colonel’s quarters. The night passed without further in- cident than that the howitzer’s crew awoke to the situa- tion and claimed their piece. Perhaps our evident prep- aration prevented the rise. More probably our three thousand disarmed prisoners had no idea of rising against three times their number of well-armed men. Success could not have availed much on an island so completely under control of our navy. ; Lack of “transportation,” by which my military readers will understand horses and wagons, hampered us not a little. When the 23rd’s knapsacks were brought on shore they were drawn to camp in a cart to which, for want of animals, a dozen of our prisoners were hitched. The huge landing-stage, which, some of us will recollect, was abuilding near us just before we left the Highlander, proved but of temporary use. Going to pieces in a gale, it was replaced by a permanent wharf. 14 Feb. Battalion drill under Col. Kurtz, who was 8 Diary of Jno. D. Parsons, Corp. of ‘I? THE PRISONERS. 57 riding the fine stallion given him by Col. Shaw and said to have been valued at $2,000.00. The motley crowd of prisoners in charge of the first brigade was near our own number, and, beside occupying barracks that we needed, was thought to call for a guard of 160 posts, which made guard duty, even by regiments, very onerous. So we were right glad to see them filing out of their quarters with their huge rolls of carpet- blanket bedding on their backs. The 23rd escorted 500 of them to the Spaulding. On the 17th, and next day, 1,000 were guarded by the 25th. Another duty that fell tothe 23rd was discharging the captured muskets. A. J. Tibbets of ‘F’ had long reason to remember the ugly wound he got in the forehead from the breech-pin of a piece which burst in his hands. 22 Feb., 62. The 23rd was ordered away in full marching order. Had gone about a mile, in a drenching rain, when we were overtaken by an aid with a counter- mand and returned to barracks. 26 Feb. First appearance of regimental pioneer corps. A letter of this date runs as follows: “We have set- tled down into so quiet a life in barracks that the days slip by and leave one little to note. Reveille wakes me, from sound sleep, between Corporals C. and W. in a broad bedstead-like bunk spread deep with pine-needles, to roll call and coffee without rolls. Company drill uses up the forenoon, and leaves us in no pleasant frame of mind on the question of tree-stumps. The rebels cleared the ground neatly enough for ordinary parade or slovenly drill, but thirteen inches from breast to back leaves too little chance to escape tripping over roots. Battalion or brigade drill come, after dinner, in a field, near by, which spreads, flat and square, over forty acres and has, on its southern 58 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. border, a fine live-oak which looks like a huge Baldwin apple-tree in full leaf. Toward night comes dress parade and for an hour the air resounds to the music of the three best bands in the division, those of the 23rd, 24th and 25th Mass. Now there is a difference in dress parades. At Lynn- field we easily satisfied ourselves and our uncritical civilian spectators; at Annapolis we did our best, but seldom under the stimulus of outside judgment ; here, the man who winks or shifts his weight to ease an aching corn disgraces a regiment. We have more room in barracks. Corp. C. has made us a table and benches so that Corp. W. and I can beat him and Serg. L. at our evening whist — when military discussion is not too loud around the Sibley stove, mounted on a half barrel of earth, in the middle of the room.” 23 Feb., Sunday. Union services were held by Chap- lains Clark, 23rd, Mellen, 24th, and James, 25th. At 3 P. M. Roanoke Cemetery was consecrated with appropriate ceremony. Gilmore’s 24th band furnished the music. 5 Mch., 62. Capt. W.B. Alexander of ‘E,’ who remained with his company in command of the steamer Hussar, received orders from Gen. Foster to proceed with his steamer to the mouth of the Alligator River and seize and send down a schooner concealed in a creek some four or five miles up the river. Q. M. Goldthwait and Serg. Maj. John- son brought the order and, with two natives for guides, ac- companied the expedition as volunteers. They reached the mouth of the river by 5 p.m. but waited till quite dark before dispatching the launch, with forty men fully armed and a four pounder mounted forward, under command of Lt. Atwood and the steamer’s boat under Mr. Ward, the first officer, with the volunteering officers and the guides. On the Capt. A. Center. Col. A. Elwell. Capt. W. C. Sawyer. Capt. W. B. Alexander. THE GIDEON. 59 steamer all hands were on the alert, a strong party ready to lend assistance if needed, and the guns loaded and run out. Soon after sunrise the boat-party returned towing the schooner Cornelia Dunkirk of about 50 tons burthen with all equipments in good order. She had been found stowed away in a creek and so covered and hidden with bushes, etc., as to defy easy discovery. By nine o’clock she was sent off to Roanoke with the volunteer officers, the guides, and men enough to man her. Hardly had she started when a gunboat came in sight, from the direction of Plymouth, with guns run out and men at quarters ready for action. After satisfying them- selves of the friendliness of the Hussar, an officer from the gunboat boarded her and explained that they had supposed her to be a rebel gunboat which had been in the habit of coming out of the Scuppernong river, and, after reconnoitering a bit, dodging back. Although beyond his instructions, Capt. Alexander took the suggestion of the gunboat officer and ran some twenty miles up the river in search of the rebel. They saw nothing of the rebel- steamer but came in sight of good store of turkeys, chickens, eggs, etc., on what they naturally considered a rebel plantation. On their return they met the “ Picket” sent to look for them, and to hasten their return to Roanoke where they found the right wing of the 23rd already embarked and the left wing waiting for them. Gen. Foster administered a mild scolding to the Captain for going beyond his orders but wished him better luck next time. The schooner was that known in the regiment as the “Gideon.” She did valuable service in the Quarter Master’s department. She was commanded by Landel T. Smith of ‘C.’ In April, 62, Shaw of ‘A,’ Thomas 60 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. of ‘F,’ Jeffs of ‘G’ and Burnham of ‘I’ “now acting as seamen on board Q. M. schooner Triump” were or- dered to Captain Smith for duty. 13 May,’62. Captain (sic) Smith and all others on board the “ Gideon” were ordered to report to their company commanders. She seems to have ended her days as a sort of wharf-boat or landing-stage at Hatteras. Gen. Wise had the following estimate of the impor- tance and value, in a military point of view, of Roanoke Island. , “It was the key to all the rear defences of Norfolk. It unlocked two sounds (Albermarle and Currituck); eight rivers (North, West, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Little, Chowan, Roanoke and Alligator); four canals (the Albermarle and Chesapeake, Dismal Swamp, North- west and Suffolk); and two railroads (the Petersburg and Norfolk and Seaboard and Roanoke). . . . It should have been defended at the expense of 20,000 men and of many millions of dollars.” CHAPTER IV. LANDING AT SLOCUM’S CREEK. THE MARCH THROUGH THE MUD. THE BATTLE. CASUALTIES. LT. COL. MERRITT. Tue right wing went, 6 Mch., ’62, on board the High- lander and waited, at anchor, through four days of raw northerly wind. 10th. The Gideon took off our cum- bersome deck-load. Some of the fleet got under-way. 11th. The brisk north wind continued and bothered the steamers when they attempted to turn their tows, of two or three schooners, to our southern course. Finally, this was accomplished and we started, towing from the port paddle-box of the steamer New York, while hawsers from other transports were made fast to her stern and other paddle-box. This was all very well while we had plenty of sea-room. In passing through the “ Marshes” — the narrow passage from Croatan to Pamlico Sound — the New York caught on the bottom and lay helpless under our jib-boom. Capt. Dayton ran and cut our hawser just in time to enable us to sheer clear, except for a parting scratch from our boat-davit. The other tow ran into the steamer. We made sail and ran off. Run- ning free over smooth water showed the Highlander’s best points. With our consort, the Gideon, we overtook and passed all the fleet and reached Hatteras but little after the gunboats. 12th. Few, who were there, can forget the balmy Spring morning on which we moved slowly towards New Berne, enjoying meanwhile a huge mail from home. In the afternoon we got up a larger crew for the 12 pounder. (61) 62 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. 13th. Through some misunderstanding the 23rd was, half an hour, late in answering the signal to land, but we were not unprepared, and, on receiving our orders, very soon joined the long strings of boats as at Roanoke. Perhaps I can not do better than quote from a letter of the time. “ Getting the whole gun-crew together, at about 11.30, we commenced that eventful twenty-four hours, at end of which our forces had taken all their boasted defences and driven the rebels I know not how far. With twenty- four men on the ropes, with promise of good travelling and a short road, we started out bravely. Soon we over- took the howitzers from the gunboats. A friendly trial of speed ensued. The blue-jackets bantered us with of- fers to report our progress. Capt. Dayton was deter- mined not to risk being left in the reserve, as at Roanoke, and, when a strip of beach came in our route, turned us on to the hard bottom in ancle-deep water. In that mile of amphibious travel we distanced our friends, who per- sisted in pulling through the dry sand above high-water mark, and we saw no more of them till they joined us on the battle field. A deserted cavalry-camp, with ample stores and break- fast still smoking on the table, was soon passed. Soon after this our troubles began. Persistent rain and the trampling army turned the road into a mortar-bed. We got some help from companies of the regiment halting on the roadside for other companies to overtake them. I went ahead to find the most available track among the trees and stumps. The real road was by this time marked by the deepest mud. When our own exertions would have been of little avail, we welcomed the aid of a yoke of oxen, sent back for the purpose by officers in advance. They pulled the gun over a rise of some ten feet in thirty, with twelve to fourteen inches of stiff, tenacious clay. So the BIVOUAC BEFORE NEW BERNE. 63 day wore away and darkness found the task incomplete. Gun and regiment were together and whole companies, re- lieving one another by short shifts, kept them so. Past troops, already enjoying their envied rest and the comfort of blazing fires, we plodded till our assigned place was reached and, until, in the woods, a little to the left of the road,—though we were not aware of it, dangerously near, if not directly under, the fire of the enemy’s guns,— we too rested.” Very few of us were, I fancy, aware, ere the speedy sleep of exhaustion came to us amid all the discomforts of that rainy bivouac, how much we had done. Gen. Burn- side says in his report: “The effecting of the landing and the approach to within a mile and a half of the ene- my’s works on the 13th, I consider as great a victory as the engagement of the 14th.” But little time for eating was left, for those who waited for daylight to get breakfast, before a rattling volley towards the front started us toward it. As we moved along the narrow road, the sound of a field piece, with its resulting missile ricocheting along an open field to our right, was an earnest of the impending battle. Shortly, Gen. Foster, who had been spying through the morning mists, met us, and, personally, telling Capt. Dayton that a single gun commanded the road, asked him to silence it. It was now but avery little way to our edge of the cleared space before the enemy’s works. We hulted among the trees on the edge of the wood and opened fire. Gen. Foster’s single gun developed into a battery. Not less than three guns, at first at least, paid us special attention. The heavy and well sustained musketry of the brigade at either side of us, and, after a little, the fire of the other howitzers, as they came up, made some diversion. 64 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. Edward S. Waters, C. E., of Salem, Mass., who served on Gen. Burnside’s staff for most of the war, and, with a Lieut. Raymond, bearer of dispatches to Gen. Burnside, shared all our experiences that day, had the curiosity to measure the distance afterwards, and found it 1000 feet. Have sometimes wondered whether any but enthusiastic greenhorns would have undertaken to serve a gun just there.® We were loading from the leather passing-cases, slung around the necks of some of the crew, and were dis- gusted to find that the wooden ammunition boxes, brought with so much toil through yesterday’s mud, were all filled with shells, and that we had no reserve of powder. The missiles, which seemed to fill the air, had made their mark on only two of the gun crew, and, at that, only on their clothing. Something struck or grazed a button on Capt. Dayton’s breast and compelled him, in spite of a determined effort to remain, to turn the piece over to his second in command, and to go to the rear for treatment and powder. There was but one cartridge left, and, when that was used, nothing to be done but put our bodies and ammunition-boxes behind the biggest trees, haul the gun into a place of comparative safety and await events. Something of an aggravation to us, sheltered from the direct fire, was the cross fire from our gunboats. Huge shells came up from the river, heralded by a roar like that of an express train, and, exploding, scattered their frag- ments at our feet. The 23rd regiment, following us up the road, filed into the woods and, after passing the 27th Mass., went “into * Mr. Waters’s map, which, he tells me, was made hurriedly, and, for the battle field proper, depends on some “rough horseback surveys” has been corrected from a map in the War of the Rebellion, Ser. I, Vol. IX, p. 248, from another by S. M. Allis, Co. K, 27th M. V. I, and from other sources. out aacrery. \ P YNFIMISHEDS Mies ‘A, Bart, 2,240 stck Hovwbed.. S. Breas. owe Sectéoa, [eee aye bantecr Y. daanines, B, Devtow Gur alse Marve batt, F}Gord 0.8. Ree? Bricave y Hokscetes if MAP GarteRy,’ | . OF . . . NEW BERNE & VICINITY. PRERARED FOR THE TWENTY THIRD HISTORY. BY TRISTRAM GRIFFIN ARCHITECT. oF 62.6, aa REOT., t 2 SCALE OF MILES 3 : S > & 8 $ on anysnn pasar eercarreeenneennia fo cadheccranenea tnvanenn nena BATTLE OF NEW BERNE. 65 line” on the left of that regiment. The woods were too thick for the exact execution of such an order and some left flank companies were for a time separated. Capt. Raymond of ‘G,’ in a letter to the Salem Register, says: “ We left bivouac about 6.30 and marched by right flank about a mile or so. Supposing some of the regi- ments were still ahead of us, you may judge of our sur- prise when we received the first fire of the enemy’s battery. Grape, canister and shell all playing about us in great quantities. By the movement at the head of the column, I supposed the order had been given ‘Into line on first company’ and, accordingly, undertook to half-wheel and forward into line, but found that the companies on the right were marching by the left (file left) into the woods. After marching some distance across a hollow, we halted, formed line and marched with fixed bayonets, with the batteries still some distance ahead.” : In Co. ‘ C’ the principal loss was from a shell which ex- ploded in the ranks. The line was hardly, if quite, formed when a round shot, or shell, hit Lt. Col. Mer- ritt and, horribly lacerating the anterior walls of his ab- domen, killed him. The regimental line, found to be exposed to a flanking fire from Fort Thompson, on the left of the enemy’s line, was slightly withdrawn. In their new place they kept up a brisk fire till their ammunition was nearly exhausted. They were relieved by the 11th Conn. Again slightly withdrawn, they lay with fixed bayonets till the charge, and then entered the works with the rest of the brigade. On the way to the city, Co’s ‘A’ and ‘F’ skirmished in ad- vance looking in vain for the enemy who was already far on the way towards Kinston on the cars specially pro- vided for his speedy retreat. Lieut. Bates, with a squad of Co. ‘F’, captured one Dr. West, claiming to be from 5 66 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. New Rochelle, N. Y., and Surg. C. 8S. A. His horse was ridden through the war by Col. Chambers. On approach- ing the burning railroad bridge, the 23rd was ordered into camp on the right of the track. The men were soon started up again, embarked on the steamer Delaware, car- ried around the city, landed at the railroad wharf and marched to the Fair Ground where they occupied the de- serted camp of the 35th N. C. To finish the record of the artillerists. Shortly after the charge, Capt. Dayton returned and we went into the enemy’s works in the wake of the infantry. We tried to use the wounded and abandoned horses to pull the gun, but for lack of harness, could not make them of much avail. Getting over to the railroad track, we put the gun on a platform car, and a company of the 51st N. Y. easily pulled us up to the burning bridge over the Trent. Not permitted to cross, we occupied a switch-man’s shanty at the southern end. Here we remained several days, eking out our rations with fresh beef,— pistolled within a stone’s throw of our quarters,— and qualifying its laxative effect with some exquisite Madeira found in de- serted cellars across the river. When, finally, the Hus- sar’s launch was sent for the gun, her steersman managed to find one of the “ Yankee catchers” as the rebels called the sharpened piles set aslant in the river for the very purpose. A handy tar on the landing stage soon calked the holes with rebel cotton and we made the trip without mishap. Col. Kurtz, in his report of the battle, says, “ particu- larly Capt. E.G. Dayton of the schooner Highlander, who volunteered to command the 12-pounder howitzer, the persevering manner in which he and his men drew the gun through the mud, in many places knee deep, and the very gallant manner in which they served it. . . met my GUN-CREW AT NEW BERNE. 67 warmest approbation. They made every shot tell and had, nearly or quite, fired their last charge before they re- ceived any support.” GuN-cREW aT New BERNE. E. G. Dayton of schr. Highlander, Captain. : James A. Emmerton, Corporal. Co. F. Edward C. Blossom, Private. Co. A. William C. Cummings, “ “ke John L. Foss, “ “eee William A. Gove, be be Gilman S. Higley, “ 6 ke Caleb Shaw, “ “ee Leroy S. Chamberlain, 6c “RB, William B. Bessom, “ oe Lemuel F. Estey, “ “te Charles W. Taylor, “ cc ke Melvin Sawyer, “ “ Dp, Isaac S. Peckham, “e “ee Benjamin Sprague, “ “ee Leander Washburn, ‘ oc oes John Gray, “ oR Samuel S. Hooper, “ be Geo. E. Osgood, “ ‘ck Samuel S. Southward, “ ke Geo. E. Burns, “ « 7, Thomas F. Porter, “ “ce Cutter, Miller, Wilson, Winslow of the schooner’s crew. Capt. Erastus G. Dayton’s injury proved more serious than seemed probable at first. It compelled him, by mid- summer of 1862, to give up his command and go home for treatment. In December of that year he was put in com- mand of the steamer “Monitor,” hospital transport be- tween the Carolinas and Washington. 9 March, 1863. By the help of Gen. Burnside he was appointed Acting Ensign in the Navy and ordered, in June, to the * Wissa- hickon” off Charleston. He had charge of a boat in the ill-fated attack on Sumter, 8 Sept. ’63, when our whole force was captured. 68 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. With his fellow officers he was confined in jail at Col- umbia, S. C. They were well treated and permitted to obtain, by flag of truce, such comforts as their friends at home could supply. The mere confinement, even under these comfortable circumstances, was more than the Cap- tain’s ardent spirit could endure. In company with an army officer, he escaped, one stormy night, and started for our lines in Tennessee. Space fails me to recount all the hardships endured in this attempt. Suffice it to say, he had reached within twenty-one miles of our lines and safety, when he was recaptured and reconsigned to rebel prisons. Ten of these, in turn, received him, till, at last, a mere skeleton, he reached Libby. Here his old comrades at Col- umbia heard of him, and secured his return to them. He was exchanged in October, ’64, and allowed three months leave of absence. He was then ordered to the “ Nereus” and, as a volunteer, was prominent in the attack on Fort Fisher. He served till the end of the war, and after mus- ter out, found employment on shore. He never recovered from the effects of his wound, but, when he applied for a pension, was refused, on the ground that when wounded he was in the Quarter-Master’s Department! He lived at The Forge, Cairo, Greene Co., N. Y. During a visit to a sis- ter at Brooklyn, N. Y., he had an attack of pneumonia, and died 12 April, 1879, leaving a widow, one son and a daughter. Mrs. Dayton has secured by special bill, a pen- sion of $15.00 a month as widow of an Acting Ensign. CASUALTIES AT NEW BERNE. KILLED. Merritt, Henry, Lieut. Col. Gray, Charles H., Corporal, Co. Morey, William, Private, “6 Potter, Walter A., “6 “ Churchill, Joseph L., “ 6 Ryan, James, “ ‘“ Sillers, Donald, “ & AREDOP CASUALTIES AT NEW BERNE. DIED OF WOUNDS. Vasconcellos, Matthew, Cavanagh, Charles, Wallis, William, 2nd, Williams, James E., Pillsbury, Wilson M., Fisher, Geo. A., Winslow, William H., Andrews, William A., Kelly, James W., Paine, Joseph A., Jr., Chenniel, Moses J., Cuthbertson, Hugh, Fenton, Patrick, Mears, Henry C., Millett, Arthur C., Blatchford, Charles, Butler, Frank, Atwood, Francis W., Buffington, Hiram §&., Chapdellan, Oliver, Day, Charles, Flint, Samuel, Almy, Allen, Bowman, Joshua B., Hillman, Alexander H., Jennings, Edward F., Johnson, Samuel, Lake, Noah J., Morse, Artemas, Sears, Charles H., Alexander, Wm. B., Terry, John D., Burbank, Asaph S., Thayer, Benjamin, Robbins, Louis L., Brooks, Samuel H., Brown, Ezra, Cummings, Edward, Pinkham, Wm. A., Dodge, James, Barry, Patrick, WOUNDED. Private, ee “ce “cc 2nd Lt., Sergeant, Corporal, Private, cc 66 “ce “cc oe Sergeant, Corporal, oe Private, cc “cc ec “ee Corporal, Private, sé ce Captain, Sergeant, Corporal, Private, Corporal, Private, “ac “ce oc Corporal, Private, Co. ce “ec Cc. D. G. “cc H. 70 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. Glidden, John, Private, Co. G. Sawyer, Wesley C., Captain, 66, 0 Hs Taylor, Walter, Private, Bio Willard, James M., ae eae ee Foss, John C., ie ee. Ks. Curtis, Charles H., se sc OK, Priv. C. H. Adams, carrying a message from Gen. Fos- ter to Capt. Daniel Messenger, was taken prisoner and, with him, Captain Messenger’s horse and outfit. Henry Merritt son of David and Anne (Ashby) was born in Marblehead, Mass., 4 June, 1819. 14 March, 1836. He enlisted in the Salem Mechanic Light Infan- try, and, from that date, his connection with the militia service of his state was unbroken, till he was commis- sioned to represent her as Major of the 23rd M. V. Infy. From Ist Serg. of the Mechanics he was promoted to 1st Lieut. and Adjutant of the 6th M. V. M., acted many years in this capacity, and, following his Colonel, Joseph Andrews, when promoted to command of a brigade, he became Brigade Major and Inspector. He served in this capacity while Gen. Andrews commanded Fort Warren. * He served an apprenticeship to the watchmaker’s trade, with Jesse Smith, of Salem, and followed this trade for several years after becoming of age. He afterwards be- came a partner in the Express business with his father and brothers. Endearing himself to the regiment by his gentle thoughtfulness for its welfare at Lynnfield and Annapolis, he knit these bonds stronger by the self-sacri- fice, which denied himself till the wants of the men were supplied, and, by the hardiness which made light of night- trips in row boats across the stormy waters of Hatteras. Men noted his coolness under fire at Roanoke, and his 10 An obituary of his much respected father and a sketch of the family may be found in Hist. Coll. Essex Inst., Vol. IV, p. 229. LT. COL. HENRY MERRITT. LIEUT.-COL. MERRITT. 71 cheery persistence in their struggle through its swamp, and, when word of the loss of the Lt. Col. passed along the line at New Berne, men mourned for they “loved him as a father.” As intimated above, Lt. Col. Merritt received his fatal wound very early in the action. The formation of the regiment, on the right company, had hardly proceeded beyond two companies, when he saw something which needed attention, and started from the flank to attend to it. As he passed along in the rear of so many of his fel- low townsmen his affable remarks and courteous answers leave several with the impression that they heard his last words. One of those who bore him from the field sent to the newspapers a statement that the wounded officer had returned an intelligent “Yes,” to the query whether he was ready to meet his Saviour. Others think this im- possible. The nature and extent of the wound make it, at best, improbable. His body, under charge of Sergt. Maj. Daniel H. John- son, Jr., reached Boston at 5 P.M. on the 19th. Adj. Gen. W.S. Schouler, A.A.G. William Brown of Salem, a committee of the Salem City Government and many friends assembled to meet it. In charge of an Escort of Honor,— Maj. Newton and other commissioned officers of the 2nd Battalion, M. V. M., detailed at Headquarters,—it was taken, across the city, to the Eastern Railroad Station where a special train had been provided by Supt. Pres- cott. The funeral car was appropriately draped and car- ried the inscription, in gold letters: * Lt. Col. Henry Merritt. We mourn his loss.” On Friday, the 21st of March, 1862, Salem, the home of his adoption and long residence, paused and put aside all her usual vocations, to honor her patriot dead. At an 72 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. early hour hundreds went to his late residence for a last look at their departed friend. He lay clad in the loose military overcoat which he had worn to the field. His face, singularly natural and fair, bore the aspect of sleep rather than of death. When the hour came for removal to a church for the public service, a friend stepped forward to cover the face. The Colonel’s aged mother, even then nearly fourscore, gently interposed and performed this last service with the remark, “My son, I have covered you many times before in your cradle, now I do it for the last time and with the flag of your country.” The following lines, suggested by the incident, may be found in the Boston Evening Transcript of the 27th March, 1862. THE MOTHER OF LT. COL. MERRITT. BY CHISLON4. Round the precious clay they gather That away must soon be hid From the eye of fond affection, Underneath the coffin-lid. One long look of love is given, — ’Tis the last they can bestow,— They the cherished face must cover, And, in sorrow, turn to go. But the gentle mother, — bowing *Neath the weight of grief and pain,— Gazing on the placid features, Bids them from the task refrain. ‘* Many times thy form I’ve covered, In thine innocence, my son, And, to-day, this last sad duty, By thy mother shall be done.” 11 Rev. Augustine Caldwell of Ipswich. THE FUNERAL. 13 Then she calmly took the standard, He so nobly did uphold, Gently spread it o’er the sleeper,— Wrapped him in its starry fold. Precious faith, that made that mother Sweetly bow to God’s dear will. Precious faith, that in that hour Bade the aching heart “be still.” Faith, that pointed through the darkness, To the realm of light above, Where the tender Father gathers All the children of His love. Happiness awaits that mother, A new joy to her is given; One the less on earth to love her One the more to greet in heaven. Few of the assembled company could have imagined that the meeting suggested in the last verse could be de- layed for more than twenty years, and that the already aged mother would have lingered here till she had reached within a little span, her five score years. -The local newspapers, from which much of the preced- ing account has been drawn, also record the imposing public ceremony with which Salem honored her illustrious dead. Not only were all available troops on escort duty but the people, in great numbers, thronged the South Church, where services were conducted by the Rev. G. D. Wildes, and afterwards, in spite of a cold storm, fol- lowed, in long procession, the remains of their fellow- townsman to his untimely grave. Col. Merritt’s almost life-long comrades of the Salem Mechanic Light Infantry resolved “ that — commencing his career as a soldier in our ranks, a quarter of a century ago, he has ever been regarded by us with affection, con- fidence and respect, in the various military positions of 74 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. honor and usefulness to which his energy and patriotism have advanced him.” The City Council of Salem, at a special meeting called by Mayor Webb, resolved “that —we bear cheerful testi- mony to the great worth of Col. Merritt, as a man of honor and integrity, whose private life was without blem- ish; as an exemplary and patriotic citizen, who at the call of his country freely offered his life in defence of her lib- erties and, as a soldier and officer, who has fallen, in the front of battle, in upholding the honor of our National flag.” When Captain Sawyer of ‘H’ was well enough, after the amputation of his left thigh, to start for home, Gen. Burnside, not only went with him to the boat, but, took personal care that he was comfortably lodged and properly attended. To the Captain’s verbal offer to resign his com- mission, General Burnside turned a deaf ear; asserting that he would hear nothing about resignation, at least, until a proper pension had taken its place. From New York homeward, the tender interest of the people in their wounded soldiers, never, indeed, lacking, but, in that early spring of 1862, not yet dulled by the use of the fol- lowing ensanguined years, struck our crippled Captain very forcibly. As soon as he could hobble out with crutches, his ser- vices were called upon to encourage enlistments from the platform. On the 19th of September he was appointed, by Special Order, No. 916, from Head Quarters at Boston, Jommandant of Camp Stevens at Groton Junction, Mass. Acting as a detailed officer of the 23rd Mass., he organ- ized the 53rd Mass. Vol. Militia and by his usefulness here somewhat reconciled his former comrades to the loss of his valuable services in camp and field. After he resigned, he travelled and studied in Europe GOV. JOHN A. ANDREW. 5 some four years. He was for some time a professor at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. For two years he has been Director of the District. Teachers’ Insti- tute and Professor at the Normal School, at Oshkosh, Wis- consin. He received the degree Ph.D. from Gottingen in 1870. In acknowledging, under date of 20 March, ’62, the re- ceipt of the flag captured by the 23rd at New Berne, Gov. John A. Andrew says, “The people of this state—Col- onel — watch the achievements of their gallant regiments in N. Carolina, with feelings of such pride and admiration, as, if you could realize them, would be a partial compen- sation for your labors and your losses. Your command- ing General, in whose impartiality, as well as gallantry, I have a perfect confidence, testifies to me most earnestly concerning the bravery, good discipline and good morals of every Massachusetts regiment in his Division. He looks to them as the backbone of his whole command. We look to them as eloquent witnesses testifying that the past fifty years of peaceful industry and mercantile pur- suits did not emasculate the high tone and spirit of our people, and that our common schools have been the nur- series of brave soldiers as well as honest citizens... . I have heard with the deepest regret of the death of Lieut. Colonel Merritt, an officer whose gentle and manly deportment (which I had an opportunity to observe in the camp) satisfied me that he possessed, in a large measure, those qualities which make a soldier admirable in the field.” CHAPTER V. RECONNOISSANCES. PICKET DUTY. WOUNDED SENT HOME. JACKSON. ‘(THE NEW BERNE PROGRESS.” THE TYPHOID FEVER. BATCHELDER’S CREEK. THE RED HOUSE. 15 March, 1862. Capt. John Hobbs of Co. ‘I’ 23rd “be- gan to bestir himself quite early last Saturday morning. By the time reveille was beaten he had seized 500 bbls. of rosin, 100 bbls. of spirits of turpentine and 75 bales of cotton.” *On Monday, Lieut. Hart, of ‘D,’ 23rd was detached for scouting and succeeded in capturing a heavy battery of two heavy guns just across the river from this camp.” 16 March, ’62. While the 23rd, by order of Gen. Burnside, accompanied by the 25th Mass., attended Divine Service, conducted by Chaplain James of the 25th, a party of 160 made up of Co. ‘ A,’ and detachments of ‘D’ and‘ F’ (30 from ‘F’) were sent on a reconnoissance under Capt. Brewster of Co. ‘A’ as far as Batchelder’s Creek, where they found the bridge burnt. On the way, they found a freight car, derailed and deserted, and its contents, of household goods, private papers, etc., scattered far and wide. The party was told of two guns hidden in the woods by the retreating enemy. With the assistance of some negroes, who brought mules, these were secured and brought in. They were, according to the “Progress,” a large iron gun and a 24-lb. howitzer and had been spiked. ‘We went to one plantation which the master had left with the niggers. One old woman was half 12 New Berne Progress, 22 Mch., '62. (76) OUTPOST DUTY. V7 crazed with joy when shesawus. She held up both hands and kept saying ‘Rejoicing.’ That was all we could get her to say. We had hot corn-cake, honey and eggs.” The party returned by sunset with its spoils. This is, if nothing else, pretty good marching. 20th. A party went out under Capt. Brewster starting at 3 A. M., to capture rebel pickets. Captures were con- fined to mules, poultry, etc. A silk-flag was found at Harrison’s by Lt. C. S. Emmerton, which, although hand- some when new, was made of such materials that it fell to pieces ina few years. It was hoped that rebel cavalry, which had “ gobbled ” three of the 51st Pa., the day before, would try to repeat the experiment on the 23rd Mass. Perhaps the bait was too large. The column reached camp at 8 P.M. “wet through and with mud to their knees.” 21st. Review by Gen. Burnside. The 23rd afterwards marched through the principal streets, visited the hospi- tals, etc. 23rd. ‘A,’‘F,’*D’ and ‘B,’ under Capt. Mar- tin started on a three days tour of duty on the outposts, and reached the camp of the 27th Mass., some ten miles out on the Trent road. 24th. Went out to Deep Gulley. Many “contrabands ” came in through the lines. In the afternoon they were ordered back to Jackson’s (where they remained till relieved by 10th Conn. after dark on the 26th), by Capt. Potter of Gen. Burnside’s staff who came up with “ten mounted men”—these were men of Belger’s battery, our only cavalry in those days.—“ This was our first picket, and the writer was the first officer detailed for that duty.” The rest of the regiment, except Co. ‘H,’ left at camp as guard, went out on the Neuse road. Four companies 3 Lt. C. H. Bates of ‘F.’ 78 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. were posted at cross roads some five miles out, while Co. *C,’ was sent out to outpost duty at Batchelder’s Creek. They found the quarters deserted and unvisited except by our own party a week before. All good things, which may be summed up as the milk and honey of North Carolina, were abundant, and the am- ple quarters and facilities for cooking were appreciated by men who had not been so comfortable since they left An- napolis. They heard nothing from the enemy and felt safe enough with one post out in the daytime and four at night. When, on the third day, orders were received to fall back on their reserve, the pang of parting with their cher- ished supplies was “most tolerable, and not to be en- dured.” Their only vehicle was a cart-body without wheels. Getting this upon the railroad track, they loaded it with provisions, and, while some pulled or pushed, others soaped the ways and struggled to keep the awkward sled in place. It was hard work, and when they reached the overturned box-car, with its load of household stuff, de- serted by the runaways of the 14th, they lost no time in putting one set of its wheels on the tracks, and, mounting the cart-body on them, went on their way rejoicing. They found the reserve alarmed, needlessly as it proved, by their improvised cavalry videttes, and, next day, re- lieved by the 10th Conn., the 23rd battalion returned to its camp on the Fair Ground. 22 March, ’62. The wounded from the battle at New Berne were divided into three classes. Slight wounds which could manage themselves; the more severe that could still bear removal to the North, and those which must still stand their chance in a Southern hospital. The first class was sent on board the steamer “ Louisiana.” The second, was taken to the * New Brunswick” under general charge of Capt. E. G. Dayton with J. B. Upham, WOUNDED SENT NORTH. q9 M.D., of Boston, Contract (volunteer?) Surgeon, Corp- oral J. A. Emmerton of the 23rd with Corporal B. W. Mayo of ‘I,’ 25th Mass. and privates Paris Smith of ae? Elijah Rockwood of ‘B,’ J. R. Barber of 'D,’ Sam. Hartwell of ‘F,’ G. J. Fayerweather of ‘G,’ Eben Mitch- ell of ‘H’ and Nathl. Drury of ‘K;’ all of 25th, attend- ants and nurses. At the Swash, thirteen of the first class were taken from the “ Louisiana” on board the New Bruns- wick.” Of the voyage, it may suffice to say that the boat afforded ample space, and, the troubled waters of Hatteras once left astern, pushed, although, report said, with but one wheel, so rapidly over the smooth ocean that she reached the pier at New York in mid-afternoon of the sec- ond day. Here, many willing hands lightened our task, and there were few, I fancy, of the wounded that did not sleep in their own homes on the third night, after leaving inhospitable Hatteras. 29 March, ’62. Our camp on the “Fair Ground” was rearranged. The tents were pitched on the former parade. Men began to long for beans. Ovens were built. In‘A’ they used the grate-bars, from under the boilers of a burned turpentine distillery near by, to hold up the bricks and earth of the roof, and, thus easily, secured an effective oven. 2 April, ’62. The typhoid fever, which raged so se- verely something later, had already such a hold on the regiment that the effective force for an expedition was but 300 men, who were arranged in six companies, and for these but three captains could be found, Martin, Center and Whipple. This force, accompanied by Lts. Ander- son and Pendleton of the staff, went, on the “Pilot Boy,” some sixty miles, down the Neuse, and up Bay River, to Jackson. They hoped to secure some militia, said to be encamped there. They reached Jackson at 5 P. M. 80 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. Finding no force there and having the most positive orders to return the same day, they did not land but turned back and reached New Berne at 11 P. Mm. 4 April. One of the diarists, with more force than ele- gance, writes, “Sick carted off to hospital ; three wagon- loads a day.” 9th. Pay-day was saddened by another attempt at suicide by private John McCartney of Co. ‘C.’ He, having twice attempted his life by drowning, was under surveillance. Taking advantage of the preoccupation natural to the day, he evaded his watchers, went to the river-bank, and cut his throat with a razor. He was observed by the sailors on a neighboring gunboat and taken to hospital where he died on the 16th. Co. ‘ F’ again sent home $2697.00 Some account of another regimental enterprise, com- menced the day after the battle, should no longer be de- layed. Sergt. Edward L. Davenport of ‘I’ had a finger in that “pi” from the beginning and, fortunately, published an account of it in the Zpswich Chronicle. ‘Saturday morning (the day after the battle), in com- pany with other soldiers, the writer left camp on a forag- ing expedition. Several deserted houses were visited, in some of which a supply of native wines was found. But we were in search of a printing-office and soon were on the right track. The door was wide open and we entered but the printers were gone. One or two soldiers were in the room searching for relics. The floor was covered with papers. One press was taken to pieces, ready to move. ‘The balance-wheel had been taken off the small press, a Gordon. There were two pages of matter, set and locked up, which we soon had on the press. On the second impression the press tumbled down. Not to be foiled by this, we covered a planer with a piece of cloth ‘«Progress” Office. Signal Corps Hd.-Qrs.,—1862. Views in New Berne, N. C. No. 2. THE NEW BERNE PROGRESS. 81 and with that and a mallet we pounded off something like a hundred copies of the paper. At this time, a boy, who had worked on the press, coming in, helped me set up the press again and we pulled off the first edition. This edi- tion was that already set up except a triumphant comment on the following paragraph. “The signals on the Neuse river, below our batteries, gave notice of the approach of the enemy yesterday afternoon about five o’clock. A boat was immediately sent down the river, and, onits return, we were placed in positive information of the presence of ten steamers and one large transport (schooner) in the river, only twelve miles below New Berne, and in a few miles of the blockade. Everything was active, and preparations were busy here last night, and a battle is expected to-day and the day will probably decide the fate of New Berne.” The comment was, “Friday did it! We have taken New Berne. The en- emy undertook to burn the town but were unsuccessful. Yankee Printer.” That sufficient help might be had, that all might be prop- erly absent from their companies and might secure their rations, a proper detail was secured on Sunday and, next day, the office opened with the following staff. George Mills Joy, Corp. of Co. ‘I,’ Editor; E. L. Davenport, Serg. of Co. ‘I,’ Foreman, and privates Benj. F. Arring- ton, John Gray and A. E. Manning of Co. ‘F,’ Wm. S. Burbank, Jr., of Co. ‘E,’ Bradford H. Hoyt of Co. ‘H’ and Simeon T. Swett of Co. ‘I,’ were detailed from the 23rd. Others were detailed from other regiments at the time, and, of course, the staff changed as the exigencies of the service demanded. Corp. John D. Parsons, of Co. ‘I,’ was detailed to the work in Sept., ’62. Corp. Joy who, had, before the war, published a paper at Marlboro, Mass., was promoted to Ist Lieut. in the Ist N. C. Vols., and in 1864 started “ The North Carolina 6 82 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. Times,” at New Berne, died, about 1881, at Eatontown, New Jersey. Serg. Edward Little Davenport got back into the line in time to be wounded at Drury’s Bluff. After his dis- charge he was editor and proprietor of “ The Ipswich Chronicle” and afterwards on the staff of “ The Boston Daily Advertiser.” He was severely hurt by a fall while leaving a railroad car at Somerville, where he lived, and died 25 Feb., ’84. Benjamin F. Arrington, who, after the war, printed “The Beverly Citizen,” died 9 April, 1871. John Gray, the efficient chairman of your History Com- mittee, is of the firm of W. Ware & Co., Publishers, Bos- ton. Corp. Parsons, who returned to his trade at Newbury- port after the war and was one of the oldest printers in that city, was made City Messenger in ‘68 and Janitor at the Custom House in ’72. His full and carefully copied diary has been of great service to your historian. He died 21 Dec., ’84. To return to Serg. Davenport’s description. * We used a room back of the office for kitchen and din- ing room and slept upstairs. Part of the building was at first occupied as ahospital. After a time we had more room. Our furniture, including beds, stove and crockery, was found in neighboring houses. Our rations were drawn in bulk, and the surplus was bartered at the shop for milk, butter, eggs, etc. Sometimes we hired a neg- ress tocook. Sometimes-we took that duty in turns or had a cook detailed. Two did press work, taking turns at pulling and roll- ing. The others were compositors or worked at job-work. We put all work possible into the cooler hours, resting through the mid-day. Our “outsides” were printed the ‘ TYPHOID FEVER. 83 evening previous. We arose at 4 A. M. and generally is- sued at about 4p. mM. Our edition was about 1200. No little difficulty was found in securing new matter. Some- times three weeks passed without a mail from the North. Once we printed with displayed headings an account of A GREAT BATTLE taken from the Old Testament. This found a large sale. At another time of scarcity we printed the Declaration of Independence. Our “plant” was helped out with the type, etc., from another office in town.” As has been hinted, April, 62 was marked by a great epidemic of typhoid fever. All, or most, of the regi- ments in the command suffered, and the general predis- posing cause was doubtless our long. confinement in the crowded transports. Dr. Stone writes me that his present impression is that the epidemic was generally attributed to the occupation of the deserted camp on the Fair Ground. This was probably the special cause which sent our sick- list up into the hundreds. Surgeon Derby, after his particularly admirable labors for the regiment, under fire on the battle-field, was ordered to take charge of the Academy Green Gen. Hosp. in the city. Asst. Surgeon Stone had, since the battle, been alone in attending the sick in camp, and, with Dr. Derby, those in a regimental hospital which had been established in a dwelling-house in a quarter of the city not far from the fair-ground. By the 9th this labor had become too great even for the indefatigable Stone, and, no other commissioned sur- geon being attainable in the general epidemic, your histo- rian, who had enjoyed all the opportunities of medical instruction which Massachusetts afforded, was detailed to assume some of the work. His diary of 10 April says, “There are about 150 well men in the regiment. Stone 84 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. and I were three hours examining, at sick-call, the men not yet sick enough for hospital.” The authorities determined to try the effect of a com- plete change of air. By Gen. Ord., No. 6, 9 April, 62, Col. Amory commanding brigade—this was Col. T. J. C. Amory of the 17th Mass., to whom, on the redistribu- tion of the troops into divisions under Foster, Reno and Parke, had been assigned a brigade made up of his own regiment, the 23rd and 25th Mass., and 6th N. H.— or- dered the 23rd to proceed to-morrow, if fair, if not, the next fair day, to the railroad bridge over Batchelder’s Creek for the purpose of repairing said bridge. They were to be accompanied by a company of artillery with two field-pieces. Regimental baggage must be trans- ported on platform cars. Under this order, the right wing of the 23rd, or less than 200, mostly sick, representing that body, crept slowly and with frequent halts, —one for lunch on Dr. Lind’s place, — through groves of stately pines already graced with the fragrant jasmine, and along fields where the cause of all our woes might be seen hanging, in tattered bolls, to last year’s cotton plants. It was a very different progress from that of the day after the battle when the same companies easily covered the ground twice. The right bank of Batchelder’s Creek, at the railroad, makes what might, in that flat country, almost be called a bluff. This was crowned by a cottage unpainted but new, and having an air as if it had been brought whole from some foreign country — New England, for instance. This fairly accommodated field and staff. A small room was the surgery, and the attic, with a few extemporized beds, made a sort of half-way house from the camp to the hospitals in the city. Some log-houses, to the rear, furnished kitchen, mess-room, ete. Co.‘A’ encamped in e BATCHELDER’S CREEK. 85 the yard as Head-quarters guard, and Captain Ashcroft’s guns were mounted near the burnt bridge so as to com- mand the track towards rebeldom. The regiment encamped near the track, 100 rods to- wards New Berne. The next day there was picket-tiring, about noon, with no special result. About dark the left wing joined us, and, next day all moved camp across the track. The enemy was not disposed to let us alone. Few days passed without some affuir. 14 April at 3.20 a.m. Lt. W. L. Kent of Co. ‘H’ took out his company to relieve the picket, which had been, as usual, thrown out to protect the bridge-builders. Soon after they were established the men at his post, on one of the narrow wood-roads, aroused the Lieutenant from a con- templative nap with the word that the enemy were upon them. He found sometwenty dismounted bushwhackers, in butternuts and slouched hats, coming towards them and surprised Johnny Reb. with a demand to surrender. In answer they “took trees” and sent a harmless volley. The return fire from the guns of Corp. Austin and priv. E. H. Stahl killed one and disabled another, who was helped away by his comrades in headlong flight to their horses. The dead rebel, who proved to be a private Zim- merman of a N. Carolina regiment, was brought to camp and buried with appropriate ceremony. Capt. Hobbs officiated in place of the absent chaplain. About this time we were ordered to connect our picket line with those of the regiments on either flank. After- wards this order was countermanded and the regiment was ordered to confine itself to the defence and rebuilding of the bridge. This had, all the while, been going on under the supervision of Brig. Q. M. Harris and the direct charge of Capt. Raymond of'G’ who was, at one time, temporarily disabled by the fall of a timber across his back and hips. 86 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. 16th. Alarm from pickets. The long roll was sounded and the men turned out to discover that the invaders were a party of contrabands coming out of the darkness. This day the first batch of cases of typhoid fever, too serious for treatment at the outpost, was sent into the city. These cases originated in the old camp. By this time the tide had turned and very few new cases occurred. 19th. Large fires in the neighboring woods. Trees, burned off at the roots, fell with the noise of thunder — or —field guns. Men slept on their arms against possible attack under cover of the smoke. In spite of the almost incessant nagging of our mis- guided neighbors, up the track, life at Batchelder’s Creek was not unpleasant. Once or twice we had sharp frosts. Very frequently the balmy spring mornings were made musical with the innumerable melody of uncaged mocking birds. We were, from a soldier’s point of view, an .easy ride from the city. Duty or pleasure brought us frequent vis- itors. Staff officers sent outto inspect and report. Na- val friends exhibiting the proverbial recklessness of sailors on horseback. Brig. Surgeon Galloupe with orders and advice. Surg. Derby for inspection and consultation over the more difficult cases. Asst. Surg. Stone trying, per- haps, to stay the early symptoms of the typhoid which shortly attacked him. Privates, detailed in the depart- ments, whose official position gave them the occasional use of their uncle’s horses. All these, with their fresh news of the world behind us, prevented anything like mo- notony in our outpost life. Let us not forget the sotrees musicales held in the west room at Head-quarters. A piano, borrowed from our neighbor May and touched by the deft fingers of Melville Wood, second leader of the regimental band, his violin in BATCHELDER’S CREEK. 87 the hands of the acknowledged master Andy Wyatt, and the banjo, thrummed by one of our artillerists, accompan- ied such vocal talent as could be found in the regiment, assisted by the plaintive minor of Jenny, the yellow-gal who came through the lines. Regular eyebrows might well have gone up in amazement at the mixture of per- formers and audience. 24 April, 62.“ Anexpedition under Capt. Martin left camp before daylight, for the purpose of capturing the euemy’s pickets. On arriving near their station, our force was discovered by a negro, who gave the alarm, and, springing to their horses, the rebels made their escape, receiving a volley from our boys. We secured one of their horses, nearly all of their arms, blankets, efc., and returned to camp. None were injured on our side.” About this time, continuous rain having interrupted the pleasant weather, orders to move, speedily countermanded, came in succession and left us, for some days, uncertain whether we were in camp or in wagons. 29 April. Co. ‘E’ on picket duty under Lt. Ham- mond, or one post.of it, was surprised and fired at. Priv. E. B. Braley was killed. Major Elwell reported as fol- lows. Head Quarters, 23rd Mass. Vol. Infy. R. Rd. Bridge, Batchelder’s Creek, 80 April, ’62. * The picket established by Spec. Order, No. 7, was at- tacked yesterday. They were posted, in accordance with the above-mentioned order, one-half mile in advance of the bridge, deployed on either side of the railroad to the distance of one-fourth of a mile. About 12 m. a body of rebel cavalry emerged from the woods and attacked the 14 Adj. Gen. Report, 1862. 88 RECORD OF TWENTY-THIRD MASS. VOL. INF. extreme right flank, passing between the right group and the rest of the picket, thus cutting them off. As far as can be ascertained the enemy numbered about seventy. The picket opened fire upon those of the enemy who were in advance, while the enemy returned fire with a volley of some twenty or thirty shots, killing one man, three shots penetrating his body. ‘The remainder of the picket instantly rallied to the spot, and the enemy re- treated taking with them, probably, the other three belong- ing to the group, as they are missing. Upon hearing the report in camp, sufficient force was immediately sent to the assistance of the picket. The reinforcement made an advance some two miles through the woods, but nothing could be heard of our missing or the enemy.” The affair has given rise to exaggerated stories, but it was not deemed of sufficient importance to give any alarm or call for any assistance. The picket force has been increased to treble its former numbers, and everything has been quiet since the attack. The names of the killed and wounded are Edward B. Braley, Co. ‘EK’, killed, Corp. Hiram J. Lauman and pri- vates Edward Smith and John Taylor of same company, missing.” Respectfully submitted, (signed) A. ELWELL, Maj. Comm’d’g. to Lieut. E. T. Parkinson, A.A.A.G., 1st Brig., Ist Div. In early May, —it took two or three days, —we moved across to the “Red House,” a picket station nearer the Trent Road. It seldom rains, —and never need —harder 15 The reinforcement was Co. ‘A.’, under command of Lt. George R. Emmerton of ‘F? THE RED HOUSE. 89 than on the 4th of May, ’62, at Red House. A diarist says, “We dug a well in our tent to-day two feet deep, and had eighteen inches of water in it. 6 May, ’62.