ee nn nn : ss a a 552 ss = SS Sr ert ane Rees BD eS ain 4 “Pepenmenenae., George Washington Flowers Memorial Collection DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ESTABLISHED BY THE FAMILY OF COLONEL FLOWERS Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2021 with funding from Duke University Libraries https://archive.org/details/historyoffourthrOOhutc eA Adee eet mts). P 1" -) re ay er Pen hl a eas bal Pp yee on wtp}, ¥ ' i . : vat 4 : cur j as . ; j - keer BievoRY OF THE FOURTH REGIMENT NEW HAMPSHIRE VOLUNTEERS WHAT IT WAS WHERE IT WENT WHAT IT ACCOMPLISHED PUBLISHED BY THE HISTORY COMMITTEE OF THE FOURTH REGIMENT VETERAN ASSOCIATION JOHN G. HUTCHINSON FIRST SERGEANT CO. E. Historian. MANCHESTER, N. H. PRINTED BY JOHN B. CLARKE COMPANY 1913 CG alee es IX Ae HI76 H Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers September 27, 1861, August 30, 1865 a ee | i yar THE STORY OF THE FOURTH REGIMENT. Weor --- [Oc TENTH CORPS BADGE. ‘~\ \ ne : IN MEMORY\OF THE MEN OF THE FOURTH REGIMENT NEW HAMPSHIRE VOLUNTEER INFANTRY Who, in command of the wallant veteran, Colonel Whipple, in 1861 went to the front in, Ee NOE to the call of President Lin- coln’ 1 300,000 voluntéers, anth from Jacksonville, Florida, in 1862, to Fort Fisher, AN. C.; in 1865 were led by our brave and gallant Colonel Bell, who gave his IM that our country might endure, and after four lonz years’ servige returned to our New Hampshire homes im-command.of mie ; and of all our comrades who gave their livess, made great sacri- fices and bore an honorable record and helped ' o make our his- tory from 1861 to 1865, these pages are bi, Se by Your Hishorran. b ‘ “OUR SOLDIERS AND SAILORS” “To New Hampshire men the whole nation is a sepulehre, for their blood watered the soil of every state but their own, and their dust is mouldering by every great river and in every moun- tain pass from Maine to Georgia, from Charles to Rio Grande and the red river of the North. They died before Warren at Bunker Hill, before Washington at Yorktown, under the eye of Jackson at New Orleans; they were thrown in their hammock-shroud from the bloody deck of Paul Jones, and Lawrence, and Decatur, and Farragut; they marched with Sherman, they charged with Sheridan, they con- quered with Thomas, they fought it out on his own line with Grant. But no soldier of my native state ever fell on his own soil, or was buried in his dear native earth, unless the restless ocean cast his body on its narrow sea coast, or the love and care of parent, or brother, or child, restored to their sorrow and pride the corpse that had fallen a thousand miles from home.” Hon. F. B. SANBorn, Concord, Mass. In the Massachusetts Legislature March 14, 1889. INTRODUCTION, Pror. KH. J. BuRNHAM. 4 \ \ Theattle of Bull Run, fought on July 21, 1861, dispélled all illusions\in the North as to the nature of the struggle between the states.\. While the result of that battle was undyé elation and dangerous dyer-confidence among the people of Ahe South, in the North the effect was the crystallization of public opinion into a fixed determination to preserve the Union ot whatever terrible cost of blood and treasure. The members of the Fourth New Hampshire Volunteers, who assembled at Manchester for their regiynental formation during the month of September having enligted for three years or dur- ing the war, knew that theyNhad entered upon a hard and danger- ous service, from which many Af them would never return. There was no longer confident axsertion of the war ending within ninety days, and even New Franipshire, far removed from the seat of the conflict, had alfeady experienced something of the stern reality of warfare. / The body of young Ladd, a New Hampshire boy serving in the Sixth Massachusetts and killed at Baltimdre, had been brought back to his New Hampshire home for bukial at Alexandria. The Second New Hampshire, which left Portsmouth on June 20, had received its baptism of fire at Bull Run a month later, where twelve of its Amembers had been killed or mortally wounded. These were, Andeed, slight incidents, compared aN was to regimewt was organized and sent to the front. \ long controversy over slavery had reached a point beyond a settlement was no longer possible other than by the grim 9 10 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. arbitrament of war, Yet only eight years before there had been a general feeling throughout the country that the issues grow- , ing out of that controversy had been disposed of for at least a f generation to come by the,compromise measures of 1850. It has / been agreed by historians that when congress assembled in Def cember, 1853, the domestic quiet of the country was mofe nearly complete than it had been for many years. The pedple of all sections were, in general,\weary of the political unrest, business disturbance and social etmity which had so long dis- tracted them, and welcomed the compromise which seemed defi- nitely to fix the status, in so far as ‘slavery was concerned, of every state and territory. It is a signifigant fact, im this connec- tion, that at the presidential election in Nevembers 1852, the vote of the Free Soil party, which in 1848 was\ 290,000, fell to only 155,800. Everybody, except a handful of agitators and a few sagacious or scheming politicians, looked forward to a long period of political repose and friendly business and social intercourse be- tween the sections. Then, like the unexpected explosion of a hombNnell came the introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska bill in the senate by Stephen A. Douglas, chairman of the senate committee on ter- ritories, and immediately the country was ablaze with a confla- gration which was to be quenched only with a torrent of blood. Probably comparatively few of the young men who were gath- ering at Manchester during those September days of We knew or cared much about the terms of the compromise on the\crea- tion of the territories of Utah and New Mexico, but most of them did know, and cared a great deal about the violence and bloodshed which had bestowed upon another territory the title “Bleeding Kansas,” the direct result of the Kansas-Nebraska bill and its principle of squatter sovereignty which had thrown open the territories to a bitter and bloody struggle between pro- slavery and anti-slavery settlers for control of territorial govern- ment and the adoption of a constitution which should recognize slavery or prohibit it forever, as the event might turn. It is easy to see, after the lapse of more than a half century, that a Peaceful settlement of the question of slavery was rapidly Fourth\Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. th becoming impossible, if, indeed, it had ever been possible. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” by Harriet Beecher Stowe, of which three hundred thousand opies were soldin the United States in a single year, ned Yo people of the North against the institu- tion of slavery, and véry likely made, as Rufus Choate said it would, two million Abolitionists. On the other hand, the “raid” by John Brown with eighteen followers, upon the United States arsenal and other public buildings at Harper’s Ferry, in October, 1859, although it resulted, as any sane man must haye seen that it would, in the death of most,of the party and the execution of its leader, filled the entire South with gloomy apprehensions of the horrors of a servile insurrection. The presidential election of 1860 occurred in the confusion of party discord, sectional bitterness and universal distrust and apprehension. Abraham Lincoln was elected, and fortunately by a vote which made his title to the presidency indisputably clear, he receiving 180 electoral votes, while the other three can- didates received only 103 all together. \ In twenty years the party opposed to slavery, which in 1840 cast\only 7,000 votes, had gained control of the national government. \ Its candidate had carried every free state except New Jersey, and\had received four of the seven votes of that state. Ordinances of secession by, several of the ca states fol- lowed in rapid succession. South Carolina seceded\on December 20, and was immediately followed by Mississippi. By February 1 seven states had declared their purpose to withdraw from the Union, and on the eighth of the same month the Southern Con- federacy was organized at Montgomery, Alabama, by the adop- tion of a provisional constitution and the selection of Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia as provisional president and vice-president respectively. The \dis- ruption of the Union, long threatened and gravely apprehended, was an accomplished fact in so far as it lay in the power of the seceding states to make it so, and preparations were at once un- dertaken’ for armed resistance to federal authority. Meanwhile the people of the North were reluctant to accept the conclusion that war was inevitable. The closing months of 12 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. the Buchanan administration were marked by hesitancy, and President Lincoln, in his inaugural address on the fourth of March, stoutly reiterated what he had previously declared as a private citizen, that the people of the South need have no appre- hension on account of the coming in of a Republican administra- tion. He had no purpose, he declared, either directly or indi- rectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery, but he also stoutly maintained that the union of the states was perpetual. Resolves and ordinances of secession were legally void, and as President, sworn to the support of the Constitution, he should act on the assumption that the Union was still unbroken. He declared that the power confided to him by the people would be used to hold, occupy and possess the property and places of the United States and to collect the customs duties. Beyond that, there would be no using of force anywhere. There need be no bloodshed. He even went so far as to announce that wherever hostility to the United States was so great as to deter competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, he would not force strangers upon any community. His closing words deserve to be repeated on every suitable occasion, and may properly find a place in the history of a regiment which did its part faithfully and efficiently in maintaining the Union. In closing his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln said : “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being, your- selves the aggressors. _I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again ° touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” The prophecy has been fulfilled. The “better angels” have touched the “mystic chords” in the “chorus of the Union,” but fulfillment was to be attended by a sacrifice, both on the part Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 13 of himself and of the country, of which the newly inaugurated president could have no adequate apprehension on that fourth of - March, 1861. Several weeks of anxious suspense followed the inauguration. Then came the sailing of the Federal fleet from New York for the purpose of revictualling Fort Sumter, followed promptly by the demand of the Confederate authorities for the surrender of the fort. The first gun was fired at about four in the morning of April 12, and the war had begun. After a gallant defense Major Anderson was forced to surrender, and the garrison, leav- ing the fort with colors flying and drums beating, went on board the steamship Baltic—a vessel which was later to figure in one of the most thrilling incidents of the long service of the Fourth New Hampshire Volunteers. The bombardment of Fort Sumter set both sections of the country ablaze. By the end of the first week in May the num- ber of seceding states had been increased to eleven, and in the same week, so great had been the eagerness for military service, the Southern governors were compelled to announce that no fur- ther enlistments could be allowed. In the North, President Lin- coln’s proclamation, issued immediately after the fall of Sumter, calling for 75,000 men, was responded to with alacrity, and New Hampshire was not behind her sister states. Enthusiastic meet- ings were held, recruiting offices were opened, and, although the old-time militia system of the state had been abolished some years previously, the First New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment, completely organized and fully equipped, left Concord for Wash- ington on the twenty-fifth of May. The Second Regiment, the first from the state to be composed of volunteers enlisted for three years, left Portsmouth on June 20, and the Third Regiment, more elaborately equipped than any that preceded it, left Concord on September 3. The enthusiasm remained unabated, volunteers continued to press forward, and such had been New Hampshire’s readiness in filling her quota and in assuming her share of the burdens of the war, that, upon the departure of the Eighth Regiment from Manchester, January 25, 1862, the recruiting offices were closed by order of the war department. HISTORY COMMITTEE. More than fifty years after the commencement of the Civil War, and long after the return of the Fourth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, from that war, this record of what they accomplished is published for the benefit of the few surviving members and their children and interested friends. A history has now been published of each of the twenty-one different organizations which the Granite State sent to the war, with the exception of five—the Tenth, Heavy Artillery, Battery, Cavalry and Sharpshooters. There has also been published a his- tory of the Seventeenth Regiment, so called, of which only two companies were raised, and they were consolidated with the Sec- ond New Hampshire. The committee congratulates the survivors of the Fourth that their history, so long delayed, has at last been written. ‘There have been both advantages and disadvantages in the delay. It has rendered the record more complete than would other- wise have been possible, while on the other hand many interest- ing incidents have been lost. The dead cannot speak, and but few of the living are able to help in the compilation of tabulated records and the description of scenes in which they were actors so many years ago. The committee has been fortunaté, how- ever, in securing some diaries and other memoranda, which have enabled it to furnish the narrative for this volume. The committee is grateful to the comrades and friends of the regiment who have rendered financial aid to make this work a success, and to all the comrades who have in any way contributed to these pages. It is a great satisfaction to know that the his- tory which the regiment made from 1861 to 1865 is written and before the public in printed form, for criticism or commendation. The Fourth makes no claim to superiority, and makes no boast. it only maintains with just pride that it had a creditable if 14 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 15 modest part in achieving the great victory which culminated at Appomattox. The committee gratefully acknowledges the great financial assistance from the State of New Hampshire, without which it is hardly possible this work could have been completed. It is evidence that the great heart of the American public yet beats in sympathy for those who served their country honorably in war, and that, before he shall be borne to his silent tomb, the last sur- vivor of the Civil War, in dying, will be comforted and consoled by the thought that a grateful people have never forgotten the services of those who made great sacrifices that a nation might live. The work of this committee is completed, and this history is the report it makes to the surviving comrades of the Fourth Reg- iment, New Hampshire Volunteers. *CHARLES Henry Moors, a GEORGE Henry TILTON, AARON PEABODY ORDWAY, JOHN GouLpD HutTcHINsoNn, Evias ALEXANDER BRYANT, CHARLES HE. MILuer, History Committee. *Deceased. HISTORIAN. Six years after the war the first reunion of the Fourth Regi- ment was held at Manchester, September 21, 1871, when many of the leading officers of the regiment were present, including Colonel Whipple. On that occasion a history was spoken of, but no action was taken. From that time to the present the question has often been asked, “Shall we have a history?” A few com- rades were always interested in any movement having for its object a regimental record, but not until 1907 was any progress made. Those who served in the ranks had expected that this work would be undertaken by some of our officers in the war. Colonel Parker was looked upon as the ideal historian, for he served every hour of the regiment’s history as an officer, and, as heutenant-colonel, was its commanding officer after Colonel Bell was killed, but his busy life in educational work prevented. Lieutenant M. V. B. Richardson wrote a brief sketch for a local Manchester paper, which is given in Parr III of this volume. His early death, in 1885, lost us his services as historian. So the matter drifted along until the reunion of October 22, 1907, the forty-fifth anniversary of our first battle, when a his- tory committee was appointed, consisting of Lieut. Normand Burdick, Lieut. Charles H. Moore, George H. Tilton, Charles E. Miller, John G. Hutchinson. Before a meeting of the committee, Lieutenant Burdick died at Albany, N. Y., May 14, 1908. Then Aaron P. Ordway and Elias A. Bryant were added to the committee. The first start towards a history was made several years ago, when George H. Tilton, who served three years in Company D, a resident of Laconia, told your historian of his willingness to 16 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. Le contribute five hundred dollars towards a fund, provided any other one member of the regiment would do the same. The first meeting at which progress was made was on a rainy morning, November 17, 1908, when your historian, then in New York city visiting a sick son in a hospital, called on A. P. Ordway, a drum- mer boy of Company H, at his place of business on Thirty- seventh street. It was a meeting of two comrades, beardless boys, in 1861, who enlisted as drummer and fifer. No music was heard at this meeting but a history was discussed, and as soon as mention was made of Comrade Tilton’s generous offer, Comrade Ordway promised to respond with an equal sum, and has done so. The meeting of two comrades and the voluntary offering of Comrade Ordway, added to an equal sum cheerfully given by Comrade Tilton, settled the history question, and at a meeting of the committee, held at Laconia, January 30, 1909, the anni- versary of Colonel Whipple’s birth, an organization was com- pleted, with Lieutenant Charles H. Moore chairman, George H. Tilton. treasurer and business manager, and John G. Hutchin- son historian. Comrades Moore and Bryant have each given one hundred dol- lars; Colonel Bell’s son, of Boston, fifty dollars; a son of Ser- geant E. H. Nutting twenty-five dollars, and a small sum beside has enabled the committee to prosecute this work. We are in- debted to G. H. Tilton for much valuable time and expense, besides his first contribution ; to Comrade Bryant for his inter- esting diary and assistance rendered your Historian, and to Lieu- tenant Richardson for his record of the regiment, with several other papers that appear in Parts II] and IV. HE. J. Burnham, editor of the Manchester Union, who made the introduction to this volume, has, by advice and labor, assisted in compiling these pages. A great deal of time and care has been given to make our ros- ter as perfect as possible, and we are satisfied that it is more free from errors than any regimental roster yet printed. The infor- mation concerning officers and men of the regiment have been made as complete as could be expected. (Unpleasant events and 18 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. ’ unkind references are omitted.) It is not as complete as we wish it were, nor probably free from errors, but such as it is, we give it to you. “Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, Thinks what ne’er was, ne’er is, nor e’er shall be. In every work regard the writer’s end, Since none can compass more than they intend.” But a remnant of those who saw service with our regiment are now alive to read and enjoy the story. Many are suffering with dim sight and the feebleness of old age, but we hope that this record of what 1638 men did during four years’ service will find a welcome with our comrades, and may our sons and daughters enjoy the story long after those who had a part in that great Civil War shall have joined the battalions above. Joun G. HurcHrnson. Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. “TARS=s By Rev. C. A. Cressy. (Co. E, 4th N. H. Regt.) The hearts that felt the patriotic thrill When sounded forth a Nation’s call to arms, Are silent now, their lips forever still; They hear no more the battle’s stern alarms. They rest in honored graves they nobly won; Let “taps” be sounded now. Their work is done. Could they but speak, recount their struggles o’er, These pages would not then suffice to tell The hardships, trials they so nobly bore In battles where they fought, and, fighting fell. They sleep as ever sleep the true and brave; Let “taps” be sounded o’er each heroe’s grave. These written pages are inscribed to those Brave hearts and hands that answered Duty’s call,— Went forth to combat with a Nation’s foes, And dared with loyal hearts to bravely fall. The Nation grants them now their well-earned fame, Let “taps” be sounded for each honored name. 19 A GLANCE BACKWARD. The shot fired at Concord bridge, April 19, 1775—the shot “heard round the world’”—began the seven years’ war which established the independence of the United States. Twenty years of growth and peaceful development were followed by the two years’ war with England, from 1812 to 1814, after which, with the exception of occasional Indian outbreaks, our country was at peace for thirty-two years, when came the war with Mexico, from 1846 to 1848, a war which was generally looked upon with dis- favor in the North, as being waged for the acquisition of Texas and the extension of slave territory. It proved, however, to be a training school for many men who were afterwards to be promi- nent in the greatest war of modern times. There followed thirteen years of external peace, but of inter- nal controversy and agitation over the question of slavery, and the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in November, 1860, was promptly seized upon by South Carolina as a pretext for secession, in which she was followed by other Southern States, the organization of the Confederacy, and the selection of Jefferson Davis as its President. The inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861, found the country in an unprecedented state of excitement and unrest, with every indication that war between the states was in- evitable. The Confederacy had been active in preparing for the conflict, but the government at Washington had remained in- active during the entire winter. In his inaugural address, Pres- ident Lincoln earnestly counseled peace, but his counsels, unhap- pily, were not heeded by the South. Nearly six weeks of anxious waiting followed, and then, eighty- six years almost to a day, after the commencement of the Revo- 20 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 21 lutionary War, the Civil War opened, the first hostile shot being fired against Fort Sumter at 4 o’clock in the morning of April 12, 1861. The small garrison under Major Anderson surren- dered, only one man being killed, and he by the bursting of a gun during the final salute to the flag before it was hauled down. President Lincoln issued his first call for troops—75,000—on April 15, and 91,816 men responded to the call, New Hampshire furnishing a regiment. The second call was issued on May 3, for 500,000 three years’ men, and under this call, without the stimulus of bounties or dread of a draft, 700,680 men enlisted. Under this call there were raised and organized in New Hamp- shire the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Highth regiments of infantry, a battalion of cavalry, a light bat- tery and three companies of sharpshooters. All this was done in the space of a little more than six months by a State ranking twenty-fourth in population among the thirty-four states of the entire country, New Hampshire’s population by the census of 1860 being 326,073, and that of her largest city, Manchester, only 20,107. Of the total population of the state, only 494 were col- ored, distributed among the counties as follows: Merrimack, 122; Hillsborough, 107; Rockingham, 97; Belknap, 39; Che- shire, 35; Sullivan, 33; Strafford, 31; Grafton, 23; Cods, 7. Carroll County alone had an entire white population. The United States, in 1861, consisted of thirty-four states, seven territories, and the District of Columbia. The total popu- lation was 27,489,561, as contrasted with the nearly ninety mil- lions of half a century later. It was a small country, about to plunge into a gigantic war, and New Hampshire, one of the smaller of the states, was to do its full part in that war. Although Governor Berry and his council did not definitely decide to raise a fourth regiment of infantry until their meeting on the fourteenth and fifteenth of August, 1861, it had been gen- erally understood for some time previous that such action would be taken and recruiting had been going forward, nominally for the Third Regiment, but with a certainty that a surplus of vol- unteers would be carried over to the Fourth. The closing week of July witnessed great activity in Manchester and throughout 22 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. the state. The battle of Bull Run, instead of discouraging, had greatly stimulated enlistment. By the end of the month not only was the Third Regiment filling up rapidly, but a movement was under way for the formation of a light battery and a com- pany of sharpshooters. The Mirror, then the only daily newspaper in Manchester, contained advertisements for recruits by Captains Robert C. Dow and Michael T. Donahue, who were raising companies for the Third, and by Captain James W. Carr, who was already actively engaged in securing recruits for the Second. On July 24, an- other advertisement appeared, as follows: “100 Men WaAntTED IMMEDIATELY. To form a company to be known as the Stark Guards, in Man- chester. The pay and rations the same as in the United States Army, and to commence at their enlistment. Recruiting office, No. 5, Granite block (up stairs).” This advertisement bore the names of Capt. J. R. Bagley, Lieut. W. N. Haradon and Lieut. C. W. Tilton, recruiting off- cers. These gentlemen had been officers of the Independent company, the Mechanics Phalanx, and The Mirror said of them that they had had long experience in military affairs and were very popular. The First Regiment arrived in Concord on the fifth of August, at the expiration of its term of enlistment, and two days later, August 7, an advertisement appeared in Manchester’s daily paper stating that Orderly Sergeant O’F lynn, “at the request of many soldiers with whom he has been associated the past three months,” would raise a company to enlist for the war. The ad- vertisement concluded with the statement that “he is also recom- mended to this course by Lieutenant-Colonel Whipple.” This appears to be the first mention in print of Colonel Whipple’s probable connection with the Fourth Regiment. The Mirror of August 14, after stating that Orderly Sergeant O’Flynn was en- listing soldiers for the Third Regiment, added: “After the Third Regiment is full, he will form a company for the Fourth Regi- ment.” The Fourth Regiment was already looked upon as a Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 23 matter of course, and recruiting for it was going forward in many parts of the state. N. H. Brown of Derry, for example. was appointed recruiting officer for Derry, Londonderry, Hamp- stead, Windham, Chester and Auburn, and before the middle of August was actively engaged raising a company. August 15, 1861, the Governor and Council decided to author- ize the raising of the Fourth and Fifth Regiments, and Thomas J. Whipple was selected Colonel of the Fourth. It had been understood for some days previously—since the return of the First Regiment, in fact—that Colonel Whipple would be selected to command the new regiment. By August 20 the Governor and Council had decided that the Fourth should go into camp at Manchester, and that the name of the encampment should be Camp SULLIVAN, but the exact location had not been determined. This was left to Councilor Moody Currier, and within a few days the fair ground, at the north end of the city, had been selected. On the twentieth, also, appeared for the first time the advertisements of A. J. Edgerly and G. E. Sleeper, the former having his recruit- ing office in City Hall building, and the latter on the third floor of Smyth’s block. Sleeper, as special inducements to volunteers, stated that “This regiment will certainly have the Enfield rifle,” and “This company will be instructed in the zouave drill.” At the same time Capt. T. L. Newell was enlisting a company to be called the Manchester Cadets. Lieutenant M. V. B. Richardson was also recruiting in Manchester, and on the twenty-third of the month wanted “more, but good men, to enlist.” Care as to the quality of the make-up of the organizations is strikingly noticeable in all the advertisements of this period. August 26 the Stark Guards, Captain Bagley, came down from Concord, and on the same day a contract was made with Cyrus Dunn & Co. to furnish rations, they being the lowest bid- ders. The bids ranged from sixteen cents to twenty cents per day per man. At Concord, for the Third Regiment, the contract price had been nineteen and one-half cents per man. 24 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. August 27, under the heading, “Fourth Regiment,” The Mir- ror said: “We understand from Concord that the returns sent in show that 800 have already enlisted. We supposed that it would fill up quickly. When the First returned, we were assured by many of the soldiers that if Whipple was appointed colonel, three-quarters of that regiment would reénlist under him.” The actual number of enlistments at that date was somewhat exag- gerated, as may be seen by the dates of enlistment of the original men, but enlistment was going on rapidly, nevertheless. By August 29 Camp Sullivan was getting into shape. The Stark Guards were on the grounds, and with them was the Great Falls company, with about eighty men, that, like the Guards, had come from Concord as an overflow from the Third. There ~ were also thirty men from Londonderry, recruited by Wesley B. Knight, who had been out with the First. A portion of the camp ground was grown with low, scrub pines, and as some of the men were engaged in cutting these, they found seven old wallets, one of which contained twenty-five dollars in good money. It was not doubted that the wallets had been left by pickpockets, who had operated at the state fair. There was something of a mix-up in securing tents for the en- campment. The original contract had been made with H. A. Straw, agent of the Amoskeag corporation, but a Portland, Me, manufacturer represented to the Governor and Council that he had an improved, patent tent, much more desirable. Agent Straw was notified not to go on with the tents, but a few days later the Portland man announced his inability to fill the order, and the contract with Agent Straw was renewed. For this rea- son, there was some delay in getting the camp in full working order. Major Drew took charge of the camp on September 4, and it was visited by Governor Berry two days later. On the 6th, also, the surgeon, Dr. J. C. Eastman, came into camp. On the 10th the camp was enlivened by the arrival of two additional detach- ments—one from Andover, numbering about fifty men, and the other from Haverhill and vicinity with upwards of forty. September 13 there were 380 soldiers at Camp Sullivan, and Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 25 “tents arriving daily,” according to a newspaper item. After the arrival of Major Drew strict discipline was maintained, and especial attention was given to instruction in the duties of the guard. One young soldier, while on guard, was approached by an officer with, “See here, let me show you how to carry that gun.” The gun was respectfully surrendered, and the youthful soldier was surprised to find himself sharply rebuked for parting with it. Rev. Dr. Cyrus W. Wallace of Manchester conducted religious services at Camp Sullivan, Sunday afternoon, September 15, and “about 780 men” were reported to be present, “besides the Battery.” On the Saturday before there had arrived from Nashua 70 men under Captain Greenleaf; 90 from Laconia, un- der Captain Badger ; 50 from Rochester, 70 from Dover, Captain Sawyer, and 38 from Portsmouth, Lieutenant Towle. September 16 Capt. T. L. Newell came to camp with a full company, which became Company E. Tuesday, September 17, thirty men arrived from Milford, and on the 18th the Governor and Council again visited the camp. September 18, 19, and 20 the Regiment was mustered into the U.S. service by Lieutenant Ingham, U. S. A. September 22 was the last Sunday at Camp Sullivan. There was dress parade, Major Drew in command, at the close of which, at four in the afternoon, religious exercises were conducted by the chaplain, Rev. M. W. Willis. Governor Berry was in attend- ance. The chaplain distributed the “Army Hymn and Tune Book,” and several ladies joined in the singing. The exercises opened with the singing of a hymn to the tune of “America.” Then followed prayer and a short, patriotic address by the chap- lain. The exercises closed with the singing of “Old Hundred.” Afterwards, through the officers, Chaplain Willis distributed to each soldier a copy of the Testament and Psalms, as a gift of the American Bible Society. Thursday, September 26, was a national fast, in accordance with a proclamation by President Lincoln. It was also the last day which the Fourth was to pass at Camp Sullivan. Governor Berry was at the camp attended by Councilors Currier of Man- 26 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. chester and Tenney of Pittsfield. At dress parade the Governor, in a brief address, presented the regimental colors to Colonel Whipple, who made an appropriate and eloquent response. Lieu- tenant Ingham, of the regular army, then escorted to Colonel Whipple, Miss Nellie Grace Willis, who was proposed for adop- tion as Daughter of the Regiment. The colonel inquired if the men accepted the proposal, and was answered by a ringing shout of approval by the entire regiment. Colonel Whipple then re- ceived the national colors from Miss Willis’ hands. Miss Willis, fifteen years of age, was dressed to represent the colors which she presented, her costume consisting of a rich blue merino skirt, a white merino cape, trimmed with red velvet and red tassels, a superb gold-lace belt, with a field of blue bearing stars, and a military cap, entwined with a wreath. These exercises concluded, the men of the Fourth returned to their quarters, some to rest, and more to go on with prepara- tions for the stirring scenes of the morrow. COME S UL laeaW Headquarters. of Fourth New Hampshire Regiment. Manchester, September 21, 1861. GENERAL ORDER NO. 1. This Regiment is known as the FouRTH NEW HAMPSHIRH REGIMENT. The Field Officers are Colonel, THOMAS J. WHIPPLE. ‘Lieutenant Colonel, LOUIS BELL. ‘Major, JEREMIAH D. DREW. The Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Regimental Staff are as follows: Adjutant, HENRY W. FULLER. Quartermaster, JOHN L. KELLY. ‘Surgeon, JOSIAH C. EASTMAN. Assistant Surgeon, GEORGE P. GREELEY. ‘Commissary, DANIEL Q. COLE. ‘Chaplain, MARTIN W. WILLIS. Sergeant-Major, CHARLES L, BROWN. Quartermaster-Sergeant, CHARLES J. KELLY. Commissany-Sergeant, ALBERT K. TILTON. Drum-Major, HENRY J. WHITE. Fife Major, FRANCIS H. PIKE. Leader of ‘the Band, WALTER DIGNAM. The Companies in said Regiment shall be lettered from letter A to K, and shall be known and designated by such letters as have been assigned them, to wit: The Company commanded by Captain SAWYER shall be known as Co. A. The Company commanded by Captain GREENLEAF shall be known as Co. B. The Company commanded by Captain SLEEPER shall be known as Co. C. The Company commanded by Captain BADGER shall be known as Co. D. The Company commanded by Captain NEWELL shall be known as Co. BE. The Company commanded by Captain ORRIN BROWN shall ‘be known as Co. F. The Company commanded by Captain O’FLYNN ghall be known as Co. G. The Company commanded by Captain CLOUGH shall be known as Co. H. The Company commanded by Captain N. H. BROWN shal] be known as Co. I. The Company commanded by Captain BAGLEY shall be known as Co. K. The Commissioned Officers of Gempany A, ‘are Captain, CHARLES W. SAWYER. First Lieutenant, JASPER G. WALLACE. Ensign, HENRY W. LOCKE. The Commissioned Officers of Company B are Captain, RICHARD O. GREENLEAF, First Lieutenant, GEORGE F. TOWLE. Ensign, CHARLES A. CARLTON. 27 28 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. The Commissioned Officers of Company C are ‘ Captain, GILMAN E. SLEEPER. ‘First Lieutenant, MARTIN V. B. RICHARDSON. Ensign, FREDERICK A. KENDALL. The Commissioned Officers of Company D are ‘Captain, WILLIAM BADGER. First Lieutenant, CHARLES O. JENNISON, Ensign, DAVID O. BUIRLEIGH. The Commissioned Officers of Company E are (Captain, THOMPSON L. NEWELL. First Lieutenant, FRANK W. PARKER. Ensign, ANDREW J. EDGERLY. The Commissioned Officers of Company F are ‘Captain, ORRIN BROWN. First Lieutenant, ISAAC W. HOBBS. Ensign, CHARLES H. DRUMMER. The Commissioned Officers of Company G are (Captain, MICHAEL O’FLYNN. First Lieutenant, CHARLES W. HURD. Ensign, WILLIAM MAYNE. The Commissioned Officers of Company H are Captain, JOSEPH M. CLOUGH. First Lieutenant, ISRAEL L. DREW. Ensign, HENRY C. TUTTLE. The Commissioned Officers of Company I are (Captain, NATHANIEL H. BROWN. First Lieutenant, WILLIAM S. PILLSBURY. Ensign, TRUE SANBORN, Jr. The Commissioned Officers of Company K are (Captain, SONATHAN R. BAGLEY. First Lieutenant, EPHRIAM C. CURRIER. Ensign, CHARLES W. TILTON. The rank of Captains in this Regiment is as follows: Rank No. 1, Captain Greenleaf. Rank No. 2, cy Sleeper. Rank No. 3, iS Sawyer. Rank No. 4, eo Clough. Rank Noo. 5, y Newell. Rank No. 6, 5 Badger. Rank No. 7, Ss Bagley. Rank No. 8, 5 O’F lynn. Rank Noo. 9, a O. Brown. Rank No. 10, * N. H. Brown. The rank of Lieutenants in ‘this Regiment is as follows: Rank No, 1, Lieutenant Richardson. Rank No. 2, ie Wallace. Rank No. 3, a Drew. Rank No. 4, Ga Jennison. Rank No. 5, i Currier. Rank No. 6, si Pillsbury. Rank No. 7, Ae Towle. Rank No. 8, ey Hurd. Rank No. 9, oo Hobbs. Rank No. 10, a Parker. Fourth Regument New Hampshire Volunteers. 29 The rank of Ensigns in this Regiment is as follows: Rank No. Rank No. Rank No. ‘Rank No. (Rank No. Rank No. Rank No. Rank No. Rank Nio. Rank No. ESS Sales SANA AS Ww = = Ensign Sanborn. ss Drummer. Burleigh, Tuttle. Mayne, Locke. Edgerly. Tilton. Carlton. Kendall. The Non-Commissioned Officers in the several Companies in this Regiment are as follows: COMPANY A. First Sergeant, John H. Roberts. Second Sergeant, Thomas Mack. Third Sergeant, ‘William W. Whitney. Fourth Sergeant. Lewils (McD. Hussey. Fifth Sergeant, Samuel H. Runnels. Hirst Corporal, Eben H, Pierce. Second Corporal, Alvah Wentworth. Third Corporal, Martin L. Shapleigh. Fourth Corporal, Joseph H. Plumer. Fifth Corporal, Stephen T. Hall. ‘Sixth Corporal, George W. Hurd. ‘Seventh Corporal, Edward L. Goodwin. Eighth Corporal, John Nolan. COMPANY B. First Sergeant, Adelburt White, Second Sergeant, Warren ‘A. Wyman. Third Sergeant, Leonard A. Gay, Fourth Sergeant Charles A. Harris. Fifth Sergeant, John G. Simonds. ‘First Corporal, Warren ‘Billings. Second Corporal, John B. Bussell. Third Corporal, James H. Foye. Fourth Corporal, Hugh Watts. Fifth Corporal, George H. Emerson. ‘Sixth Corporal, Charles H. Perkins. Seventh Corporal, John R. Kimball. Eighth Corporal, John 'W. Brewster. COMPANY C. First Sergeantt Robert A. Seaver, Second ‘Sergeant, Benj. R. Wheeler. Third Sergeant, Elezer L. Sarsons. Fourth Sergeant, Dearborn 8S. Moody. Fifth Sergeant, Charles E. Colcord. First Corporal, Charles N. Fisher. Second Clorpor'al, Daniel W. Rollins. Third Corporal, Eben H. Nutting. Fourth Corporal, Ervin Colburn. Fifth Corporal, Thomas L. Gilpatrick. ‘Sixth Corporal, Charles Brown. Seventh Corporal, George W. Kidder. Highth Corporal, Perley B. Rand. COMPANY D. First Sergeant, Timothy W. Challis. ‘Second Sergeant, Adoniram J. Jonies. Third Sergeant, Albert H. C. Jewett. Fourth Sergeant, Francis H. Davis. Fifth Sergeant, Darius A. Drake. First Corporal, Alonzo J. Sargent. Second Corporal, (Abner L. Knowlton. Third Corporal, Jackson H. Lawrence. Fourth Corporal, Charles C. Cofran. Fifth Corporal, Samuel H. Prescott. Sixth Corporal, Augu'stus M. Smith. Seventh Corporal, Henry H. Jackson: Eighth Corporal, Charles C. Clark. 30 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. COMPANY E. First Sergeant, Frank B. Hutchinson. First Corporal, Charles M. Whiting. Second Sergeant, Cyrus H. Hubbard. ‘Second Corporal, Edmund O. Hill. Third Sergeant, Charles H. Reed. Third Corporal, Henry C. Osgood. Fourth Sergeant, Addison W. Tobbie. Fourth Corporal, Edwin Whitford. Fifth Sergeant, Stephen Kenidrick. Fifth Corporal, Violney Piper. Sixth Corporal, John P. Smiith. ‘Seventh Corporal, Charles H. Plumer. Eighth Corporal, Joseph C. Demerett. COMPANY F. First Sergeant, Mark H. Cowell. First Corporal, William H. Clement. Second Sergeant, Samuel L. Willey. ‘Second Corporal, George A. Miner. Third Sergeant, James M. Goodwin. ‘Third ‘Corporal, Clarence L. Chapman. Fourth Sergeant, Howard F. Parsons. Fourth Corporal, Charles P. Stevens. Fifth Sergeant, George A. Drew. Fifth Corporal, Thomas J. Burns. Sixth Corporal, Hiram Hurd. Seventh Corporal, Andrew Morrison. Eighth Corporal, Daniel Davis. COMPANY G. First Sergeant, Daniel Gile. First Corporal, Elbridge Gerry. Second Sergeanit, Zebina N. Annis. Second Corporal, Patrick Dowd. Third Sergeant, John Smith. Third Corporal, Richard Smith. Fourth Sergeant, Stephen C. ‘Chapman. Fourth Corporal, Charles P. Gileason. Fifth Sergeant, Frank Burr. Fifth Corporal, Peter O’Brien. Sixth Corporal, Jerome Blaisdell. Seventh Corporal, Francis Cahill. Eighth Corporal, George A. runnells. COMPANY H. First Sergeant, James F. Gilpatrick. First Corporal, John E. iAustin. Second Sergeant, Matthew Adiams. Second Corporal, Nelson P. Steinhour. Third Sergeant, Edmund F, McNeil. Third Corporal, Levi W. Simonds. Fourth Sergeant, Samuel B. Mason. Fourth Corporal, John W. Witham. Fifth Sergeant, Byron Noyes. Fifth Corporal, Walter B. Rowell. Sixth Corporal, Benjamin Wheeler. Seventh Corporal, Albert A. Woodworth. Eighth Corporal, John '§. C. Kelly. COMPANY I. First Sergeant, Amos L. Colburn. First Corporal, Albert D. W. Emerson. Second Sergeant, Henry M. Hicks, ‘Second Corporal, George W. Chaise. Third Sergeant, Jonathan Olark, Third Corporal, Frank A. Buzzell. Fourth Sergeant, Walter G. Brown. Fourth Corporal, William Smith. Fifth Sergean't,Daniel B. Flanders. Fifth Corporal, Frank A, Brown. Sixth Corporal, Eben Weed. Seventh Corporal, William R. Knowlton. Eighth Corporal, David Johnson. Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 31 COMPANY K. First Sergeant, George W. Huckins. First Corporal, Henry S. Woods. Second Sergeanit, Wesley B. Knight. Second Corporal, George H. McConihe. Third Sergeant, Job R. Giles. Third Corporal, Freeman C. Spaulding. Fourth Sergeant, Harvey M. Weed. Fourth Corporal, Benjamin L. Hartshorn. Fifth Sergeant, William S. Barker. Fifth Corporal, Stickney S. Gale. Sixth Sergeant, John P. Hodgman. Seventh Corporal, Charles H. Morrison. Eighth Corporal, John C. Estey. The position of tthe several Companies in itthis Regiment in Order of Battle will be according to the rank of Captain, and is as follows: Company B.—the First Company upon the right. Company D.—the Second Company. Company H.—the Third Company. Company F.—the Fourth Company, Company A.—the Fifth Company. Company G.—the Sixth Company. Company E.—the Seventh Company. Company I.—the Highth Company. Company K.—the Ninth Company. Company C.—the Tenth Company. The several Companies posted as above will be designated from right to left in the manceuvres, as First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Severth, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Companies. All officers and non-commissioned officers in this Regiment, will be recog- nized, respected, and obeyed according ito ‘their respective rank and position in the command. Officers of the day will be detailed for one day’s duty only, unless by express order. The morning reports of Companies signed by the Captlains and First Ser- geants will be handed to the Adjutant, before 8 o’clock in the morning. All Roll-calls prescribed by Secs. 224, 225, and 226 of Art. 27 of tthe Army Regulations will be strictly observed. The provisions of the Army Regulations of 1861 will be strictly observed as the acknowledged and standard authority from the War Department, for the government of this Regiment, except when special necessity requires 'their modi- fication, which necessity will be announced in General or Special Orders. By Command of THOMAS J. WHIPPLE, Cot. HENRY W. FULLER, ADJUTANT. OFF TO THE TROT The morning of September 27 dawned bright and fair, and the members of the Fourth were early astir, after a night of vivid anticipation. They had returned from their three days’ fur- lough the day before and at dress parade had been notified of the departure of the regiment. At the same time the colors had been presented by Governor Berry in a brief but stirrmg and patriotic address. The men also received their state pay from the date of enlistment, and an especially interesting feature of the occasion had been the introduction of Miss Nellie Willis, daughter of the chaplain, as the Daughter of the Regiment. This European custom had not been generally adopted by the Northern troops, and the Fourth enjoyed a somewhat unusual distinction in this respect, Miss Willis, afterwards the wife of Dr. Henry T. Boutwell of Manchester, accompanying the command to Washington and remaining with the regiment until it was or- dered into active service farther south. As the sun rose on Camp Sullivan all was bustle and excite- ment as the final preparations were made for the departure of the regiment. The morning’s rations were served, the more pru- dent of the soldier boys stowing away an extra portion in their haversacks for the possible needs of the long journey before them. At the signal, 9 A. M., tents were struck, folded in mili- tary fashion and placed on the wagons with which the regiment had been abundantly supplied by the state. There were twenty- two of these, designed for the service of the regiment at the front, but found to be impracticable and later left behind at Washington. Then came the order for formation by companies—a slow pro- cess that morning, for there were many farewells to be said, and the regimental authorities were not disposed to hurry matters. With most of the men from other parts of the state, the leave- 32 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 33 takings had occurred at home, at the end of the short furlough. There were others who had scarcely known what it was to have a home—hardy, care-free young men, who were little likely to fall victims to homesickness later on. One, whose neglected boy- hood had been passed in farm work here and there, was rejoicing in the possession of his first overcoat, the “spencer” of those days having hitherto supplied its place. With the state’s pay in his pocket, with a new uniform and an overcoat to boot, he was richer and happier than ever before in his life. The future was not troubling him. Those whose goodbyes had already been said, and those who had no goodbye to say, took their places in line, but with many others the last handclasp remained to be given, the last farewell to be spoken. Four companies were composed of Manchester men, and relatives and friends had come by hundreds to witness the departure from the regiment’s first camping ground. Other hundreds of well-dressed men and women had gathered as inter- _ ested spectators, and the scene was brilliant as well as sad. Flags were flying, the band was playing, ribbons fluttered in the Sep- tember breeze. Near by were the white tents and bright cannon of the First Light Battery, whose members looked on with lively interest or moved about, shaking hands with friends and acquaintance in the ranks. There were smiles and pleasant jests, but there were also half-suppressed sobs and tears that could not be restrained. Here a father held the hand of his son as he uttered a few parting words of hope and cheer. There a mother drew her boy to her breast for the last time—her boy of a few weeks before, a man now, and a soldier, who tried to conceal his emotion. Wives were clinging to husbands, sisters to brothers, sweethearts to loved ones. But now the adjutant is riding more rapidly back and forth and calling to the captains. The last men are taking their places in the ranks. A young officer throws his arms about a woman who tries to smile through her tears. Then he turns, waves his sword, and. endeavors to appear stern as he shouts again and again, “Fall in!” 34 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. The companies are formed at last; the field officers, mounted, are in their places, and the regiment is ready to move. It is a goodly regiment, as stout and brave as any that ever went to war. Before its long service is ended, it will have left its fallen heroes on many widely scattered fields. Today it numbers 1031, rank and file. The men are clothed in dark blue coats and light-blue trousers. They carry light-blue overcoats, and are supplied with uniform caps and slouch hats. The officers wear their bright, new sidearms with evident pride. Guns will be supplied the men at Washington; but the privates and non-coms are by no means wholly unarmed. It is the fashion, in these early days of the war, for friends to show their loyalty to the cause and their appreciation of the volunteers by the formal presentation of re- volvers and dirk-knives, along with more useful gifts. The dirks will later be used for cutting tobacco, and the revolvers, for the most part, will be thrown away; but the Fourth has many popu- lar men in its ranks, whose friends have seen to it that they shall go out well provided for deadly hand-to-hand encounters with - the enemy. With the exception of guns, all the men are fully equipped for active service, each carrying a blanket, haversack, canteen and knapsack. The knapsacks are heavy, being closely packed with mementoes and little home comforts, for the new men have not yet learned how little will suffice a tired soldier on the march. Now comes the final word of command, and the regiment moves through the gate of the old fair ground and out upon Elm street for its march to the railway station, the First Light Bat- tery firing a salute, and Dignam’s Cornet Band playing “The Girl I Left Behind Me.” It was a noticeable procession, such as Manchester has never seen before, and, by reason of the long train of baggage wagons, is not to see again. It is headed by Dignam’s Band of twenty-four pieces, with Francis H. Pike— the redoubtable “Saxie”—conspicuously in the lead. Old mem- bers of the First, now entering on their second term of service, recall that other day in the May before, when “Saxie,” reén- forced, it was hinted, by a draught from Colonel Tappan’s can- teen, led them and another band, making way with his baton Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 36 through the sullen, hostile crowd at Baltimore. Colonel Whipple, also, is in his place, and following with the swing of soldiers on the march and conscious of observation, comes company after company with full ranks, so soon to begin to be depleted, and never, notwithstanding energetic recruiting, to be completely filled again. Bringing up the rear is the long wagon train, the entire procession stretching along for many blocks. Some of the more active of the spectators keep pace with the regiment, boys marching beside their fathers in the ranks, and at least one young woman keeping step with her brother from the Fair Ground to the station. The sidewalks are crowded on either side; flags are displayed from residences and places of business; windows are filled with eager faces; handkerchiefs are waved, and cheer follows cheer ; the band plays its loudest, and the ranks of blue go marching on. At the railroad station a long train is in readiness, passenger coaches for the men, and freight cars for the wagons and horses. There is inevitably some delay, for time is required to put the twenty-two wagons on board, and there are still many scenes of parting, but at length the last word has been said, the signal is given, and, section by section, the long train moves slowly away from the old depot, itself to become in after years only a mem- ory. The Fourth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, is on its way to Washington. Citizens had gathered in considerable numbers at the small stations to see us pass, and in some instances whole families had come across the fields from their homes, and were waiting, seated on the fence by the railway track, to wave their farewells and en- deavor to catch a last fleeting glimpse of some relative or friend. At Nashua there was a delay in shifting to the Worcester tracks, and the time was improved by the Nashua contingent in greet- ing old acquaintances and saying goodbye. There was another long wait at Worcester, enlivened by the enthusiastic greetings of a large body of citizens, and after a somewhat tedious ride we passed through Norwich, and on to Allyn’s Point, where we ar- rived about midnight. Here we went on board the steamer Con- necticut and dropped down to the mouth of the Thames river, 36 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. where we dropped anchor, the water being too rough for a safe passage on the Sound. We adjusted ourselves for sleep as best we could, lying with our knapsacks for pillows, on the deck and on the cabin floors. Saturday morning we left our anchorage about daybreak and sailed through Long Island Sound, many of our comrades taking their last view of New England as they gazed upon the stretch of low-lying shore to the northward. We passed Hell Gate with- out incident, sailed along East River and across the harbor, and reached Jersey City about 8 p. M. Here we again boarded cars, and passed through Newark an hour later. Our first Sunday after leaving home was passed almost en- tirely on the cars. After riding all night, getting what sleep we could, we arrived at Philadelphia about 4.30 a. M., and marched to the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment saloon, where we had the luxury of soap and towels and a good breakfast. The men of the Fourth, in common with so many thousands of other soldiers from the North, had good reason to remember the justly cele- brated “Cooper Shop” in Philadelphia. The “History of the Thirteenth New Hampshire Volunteers” contains the following interesting and authentic account of this unique and beneficent institution : “We arrived at 6 p. M., landing at the freight depot at the foot of Washington avenue, then moved at once to supper at the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, No. 1009 Otsego street. Of this famous saloon, Mr. Wm. R. 8. Cooper of Phila- delphia furnishes the writer with the following, under date of December 12, 1884. The saloon was started by his father, Mr. Wm. M. Cooper, himself and a few friends, in April, 1861. At first they paid all the expenses out of their own pockets, after- wards received contributions for the saloon from citizens of Phil- adelphia, but not a cent from the United States, the State or the city. They also established a hospital for sick and wounded sol- diers. They could feed half a regiment at a time, and a whole regiment about every hour in the day. During the war they fed over 600,000 men, at an expense of ten to fifteen cents per meal. The affair caused the loss of all of Mr. Cooper’s business, and reduced the whole family to severe straits.” Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 37 Mr. Cooper had been successful in the cooperage business be- fore the war, and when he conceived his generous and patriotic enterprise, he devoted his large cooper’s shop to the purpose. If the soldiers who had enjoyed his hospitality had known of Mr. Cooper’s financial situation at the close of the war, and had each contributed ten cents toward a fund for his relief, he might have passed his remaining years in comfort, if not in affluence. It should be added that the same spirit of kindness and liber- ality towards the soldiers, both in going and returning, charac- terized the citizens of Philadelphia in general throughout the long war. We left Philadelphia at 9 a. M., and passed through Wilming- ton, Del., about noon. At 2 Pp. M. we crossed the Susquehanna river at Havre de Grace, two trips being required by the ferry boat to transport the regiment with its twenty cars. We arrived at Baltimore at 4 Pp. M., and marched through the city from one railroad station to the other without interference, although there was some hissing along the route. The regiment was without guns, but many of the men at that time carried personally owned revolvers and dirk-knives, and had they been attacked, would undoubtedly have rendered as good an account of themselves as was possible under the circumstances. One hundred and nine officers and men of the Fourth had passed through Baltimore the May preceding in the First New Hampshire, and in addition to these there were four men in our regiment who were with the Sixth Massachusetts on its stormy passage through the city on the 19th of April. These were Drum Major Henry J. White, Sergeant D. S. Moody of Com- pany C, Sergeant George A. Drew of Company F, and Drummer Frank Kent of Company F. Lieutenant Carleton of Company B had served three months in the Twelfth New York, and two men, Sergeant Annis of Company G and Charles Brackett of Company E, in the First Maine. It was a relief to march peace- fully for about two miles through Baltimore, where, five months before, the Sixth Massachusetts had been so fiercely assaulted. We left Baltimore about 9 p. M., in freight cars, and arriving in Washington about 2 P. m., September 30, went into a building 38 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. near the depot, called Soldiers’ Rest, devoted to the temporary use of incoming regiments. In the early morning we left our hardwood-floor bed with bones sore and went into a building near by called Soldiers’ Retreat, where we had for breakfast boiled fat salt pork with hard tack and black coffee. At 12 m., for dinner, we had black coffee, hard tack and boiled fat salt pork. In the afternoon we went to Camp Sherman, about a mile dis- tant from the Capitol, pitched our tents and prepared for camp life. We were located in a nice green field near the Bladensburg road, the Third New Hampshire and Ninth Maine being near us. It was over this Bladensburg road that the British marched when they captured Washington, in 1813, and near the encampment was the famous duelling ground on which Stephen Decatur, Jonathan Cilley, and so many other men of note had lost their lives over some punctilio of mistaken honor. Our first night at Camp SHERMAN, WASHINGTON, was cold and frosty. Wednesday we had dress parade at 5 Pp. M., and then marched over to the camp of the Third New Hampshire for a visit. Re- ceived our cartridge-boxes and belts. Corporal Charles H. Mor- rison of Company K drew the identical belt which he had worn during his service in the First Regiment, and which bore his name. After more than three years’ service Corporal Morrison died a prisoner of war. Thursday we drilled hard for six hours. Friday, October 4—a very hot day—had a five-mile march to the arsenal, where we received the Belgium rifle. They weighed eleven pounds, and sometimes appeared to be much heavier. Dress parade and prayers at 5 P. M. Second Sunday from home—Very hot and dry. Dress parade and religious services. Monday drilled continuously until 5 p.m. Evidently we were getting ready for serious work ahead. October 8—Rained last night; beautiful morning. Had first Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 39 battalion drill since leaving New Hampshire. At evening re- ceived orders to make ready to leave. October 9—At 1 o’clock this morning the long roll was sounded. We turned out, packed our knapsacks, struck tents and got ready to move. At sunrise we marched down to the Washington depot and took baggage cars for Annapolis, Md. We did not reach there until 6 p.m. Did not go into the city, but stopped about a mile outside, where we went into a field well grown with weeds and burrs. It rained hard, our tents had not reached us, and we were fortunate in having the Sixth Connecti- cut tents for use our first night at Camp WALTON, ANNAPOLIS. The next day we had a cold rain storm, with a scanty allow- ance of raw salt pork and hard-tack. Annapolis streets are nar- row, crooked and dirty. October 11—Capt. Orrin Brown of Company F reported for duty. He was sick when we left Manchester. October 12—Our tents came and were pitched near our former camp. General inspection Sunday. October 16—Our first brigade review by Gen. H. G. Wright. We are brigaded with the Sixth Connecticut, Ninth Maine and Fiftieth Pennsylvania. October 17—Rained hard last night; morning cold and cloudy. Orders read to us on dress parade that we are soon to go on an expedition. Saturday, October 19—Cloudy, with a little rain. At 3p. M. struck tents, and about sunset embarked on the steamer May- flower; sailed five miles down the Chesapeake bay and went aboard the Baltic. Commenced today to lose men, which must inevitably occur during our service. Private James H. Noyes of Company B was discharged today to become hospital steward of the Sixth New Hampshire. Afterwards was surgeon of the regi- ment. Private Henry S. Corey of Company D was discharged— first man wounded in the regiment, his foot crushed at Washing- ton, being run over by a heavily loaded team. The following 40 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. privates were discharged October 19 for various disabilities: Lo- renzo Green and George EH. Thyng of Company B, Henry H. Jackson, Winthrop H. Smith and Daniel Silver of Company D, Patrick O’Connor of Company K. We have lost eight men since leaving Manchester, and leave at Annapolis Lieutenants Drew and Pillsbury, sick. Boarded the Baltic with 1021 men. Sunday, October 20—On board the Baltic in Chesapeake Bay. This morning Lieutenant Sanborn with a detail of men came to us from Annapolis. They were detailed to care for the regi- mental property. First Lieutenant William 8. Pillsbury of Company I resigned today at Annapolis. This is the first vacancy among the commissioned officers. Daniel Q. Cole had been commissioned commissary on the organization of the regi- ment, but as the war department did not recognize this grade, he was commissioned first lieutenant of Company I, to fill the vacancy. He continued to discharge the duties of commissary, however, during his service. October 21—Middle of the forenoon weighed anchor and sailed down the bay until 8 Pp. M. Then anchored for the night. October 22—Sailed for Hampton Roads at 9 4. m. Anchored at night near the Rip Raps. Rained all day. Most of the men seasick. Weather unsettled. Salt fat pork, hard-tack and black coffee served three times a day. October 24 at anchor near For- tress Monroe. October 25 went ashore a few hours while the ves- sel was scrubbed. Stacked arms and looked about the island. James W. Patterson, Company B, of Nashua, died tonight, our first death. The next day Comrade Patterson’s funeral took place with burial near Fortress Monroe. A board was placed at his grave with name, company and regiment. Several of the sick of the regiment were sent ashore to the hospital. Sunday, October 27—Had inspection and prayer by Chaplain Willis on quarter deck. One month away from home. ON THE BALTIC. October 29—A beautiful morning. About 8 A. M. the great secret expedition started for somewhere to all of us unknown— Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 41 the expedition of naval vessels and transports, the greatest up to that time that had ever assembled under the American flag. The expedition against Port Royal, commanded by Gen. T’. W. Sherman, after many delays and much vexation to the com- mander, sailed out of Hampton Roads on the morning of Octo- ber 29, 1861. The Baltic, which had been lying off Fortress Monroe since its arrival from Annapolis with the Fourth, weighed anchor about eight o’clock. It was a sidewheel steamer, and one of the largest of that period. It had been chartered by the United States government before the attack on Fort Sum- ter, and was the vessel on which Major Anderson and the garri- son of that fort were transported to New York after the surren- der. It was now under way, with General Wright and staff and the Fourth New Hampshire on board, for a destination which was known only to the commanding general, who, with his staff and the Third New Hampshire, were on board the sister steam- ship Atlantic. The fleet, numbering nearly a hundred, presented a grand spec- tacle as it put out to sea in three columns, the smoke pouring from the smokestacks of the steamers, each of which had a trans- port sailing vessel in tow. The Baltic, under command of Cap- tain Comstock, a veteran seaman, was at the head of the right- hand column, and had in tow the great four-master, Ocean Ex- press. Hardly a man of the Fourth had ever been at sea, the trips from Allyn’s Point to Jersey City, and down the Chesa- peake from Annapolis to Fortress Monroe, constituting their entire experience with water transportation until now, when, about three o’clock in the afternoon, they found themselves out of sight of land for the first time. It was a novel experi- entire experience with water transportation until now, when, sion. ‘There was much seasickness, the rations were poor, and the stringy, ill-smelling condensed drinking water execrable. Long before the voyage ended, the men would gladly have gone ashore anywhere and in the face of the enemy. At about 3 o’clock in the morning of the thirty-first, the Baltic, being on the inside of the course and nearer land than the ships of the other columns, ran aground upon Frying Pan 42 Fourth Regvment New Hampshire Volunteers. shoals, off Cape Hatteras. It was a thrilling experience, and the history of the Fourth came near ending then and there. Cap- tain Comstock was on the bridge and had ordered the engines reversed, but nevertheless the vessel struck with such force that the men, in their bunks between decks, felt two violent shocks in quick succession. There was excitement and apprehension, but the men were kept below by the guards at the hatchways. The hawser of the Ocean Express was promptly cut, and the great ship barely passed the Baltie. A collision would have meant the destruction of both vessels and the probable loss of all on board. After a time the Baltic drew off from its perilous situation and having been found by the ship’s carpenters to have sustained no serious injuries, soon picked up the Ocean Express and continued on its course. On October 31 Corporal John S. C. Kelley from Atkinson, and a member of Company H, died and was buried at sea. A burial at sea, although common and familiar to seafaring men, is always peculiarly sad and impressive, and on this occasion was the more so by reason of being witnessed for the first time by the men of the Fourth, and following so quickly upon the great peril of the night before. The men gathered in solemn silence upon the deck, where a funeral service was held by Chaplain Wil- lis, Dignam’s band furnishing music appropriate to the occa- sion. Then the body, in uniform, lashed to a plank, heavily shotted and wrapped in a blanket, was consigned to its resting- place in the sea, while the Baltic kept on its course, bearing many a heavy and saddened heart. William Sherer, a Manches- ter man of Company K, died on November 5, and was given a burial at sea with similar solemn services. A terrific gale was encountered on November 2, and the soldier boys had their first experience of a storm at sea. The fleet was widely scattered, and for a time it seemed as if the expedition, from which so much had been hoped at the North, must come to an inglorious end. Several ships were badly damaged, and a few put back to Fortress Monroe, but the Baltic stoutly rode out the storm, although the hawser of the Ocean Express parted, and it was sometime before that big transport ship was picked up and rejoined the fleet at Hilton Head. Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 43 The men of the Fourth received six weeks’ pay on November 4, but the money was of little immediate use. Comrade Mokler recorded in his diary that he saw one man offer a dollar for a drink of water such as the officers had, but was refused. On the forenoon of that day land was in sight, and at sunset the Baltic came to anchor, none of the men yet knowing on what part of the coast they were. The fleet was collecting during the two following days, and, a reconnoissance having been made by Com- modore Dupont on the sixth, all was in readiness for the bom- bardment on the seventh. The points of attack were Fort Beauregard on Phillip’s Island, and Fort Walker on Hilton Head Island, the two command- ing the entrance to Port Royal harbor, at the mouth of Broad river. At 8 o’clock on the morning of November 7 the signal was given for the fleet of ten warships and five gunboats to begin the day’s work, which was the reduction or capture of the forts. The Wabash, with Commodore Dupont, led the line of heavy warships, the gunboats, drawing less water, forming an inner line nearer the shore. The first broadsides were poured upon Fort Beauregard, which responded noisily. Then the ships, one after another, swung to the left, crossed over to near Fort Walker and delivered a broadside against that fortification. This order was maintained throughout the fight, the ships moving in a “circle formation,” or, more exactly, in an ellipse, firing first upon one fort and then upon the other. Meanwhile the men on the transports, out of range, but with the scene of the conflict in full view, climbed upon every part of the rigging and crowded and jostled on the gunwales in their eagerness to witness what was, for most of them, their first glimpse of real war. It was more than a glimpse, too, for the men of the Fourth, in common with the other troops of the ex- pedition, were watching the progress of one of the most spectac- ular and effective bombardments of the entire four years of con- flict. It continued without interruption for five hours. At 1.15 the Ottawa signalled that Fort Walker was abandoned, and at 2.20 Commander Rodgers hoisted the Union flag over the captured fort. 44 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. The Wabash anchored at 2.45, and the transports then came up rapidly. General Wright’s brigade had landed by nightfall, the Fourth New Hampshire having the honor of being the first, or among the very first, troops to set foot on the soil of South Carolina. The Baltic, of deep draught and heavily loaded, could not come near the shore. Consequently the men of the Fourth were transferred to a smaller steamer and from this again to open boats. Even these could not touch dry land, and the regi- ment waded ashore, the men carrying their guns and cartridge- boxes above their heads as a precaution against wetting them. The landing was made on Port Royal Island, and the regiment, forming in line on the beach, marched to the enemy’s abandoned encampment, where the men, rejoicing over the events of the day, lay down and slept. October 29—The great naval expedition is off. After much waiting, an infinity of rumors and sundry disappointments, we are at last assured that the fleet, consisting of fifty sail, weighed anchor at daylight Tuesday, and amid favoring gales, stood southward on its momentous mission. It is of little consequence now whether Commodore Dupont’s private secretary did or did not abscond with certain papers— though we believe he did nothing of the kind. We apprehend, however, that there was some slight hitch of a similar character; but if, as now alleged, Dupont’s orders were mainly oral, and gathered in substance from a full consultation with the President and cabinet, the damage could not extend much beyond the loss of the code signals, which could be reme- died in a short time. Nor, if really valuable documents have been transferred to the enemy, will he have sufficient time to act upon them. The expedition was off Tuesday morning, and not many hours can pass away before it will strike the land some- where. : Of the forces embarked we have but little reliable information. It has been stated that General Sherman would have under him 25,000 troops, besides an auxiliary force of seamen of consider- able strength. It has been said that the seamen of the whole expedition number 10,000. But perhaps we shall be nearer the Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 46 truth if we estimate General Sherman’s force 25,000, inclusive of sailors who may in any way take part in the military opera- tions. We regret to add that, with the exception of a single regi- ment, the troops are entirely raw. By the action of the authori- ties at Washington this was unavoidable, as all the best drilled -and tried regiments were felt to be indispensable on the line of the Potomac. This circumstance must be taken into account in all our calculations respecting the fruits of the expedition. Nor would we be unmindful of the other inevitable hazards attending such an enterprise—the inclement season of the year on the southern coast, the immense disadvantage with which any floating armament must contend with land fortification, the danger of meeting au enemy forearmed and forewarned, and hundreds of little mishaps which, concurring, suffice to baffle and break the best laid plans. We can only see that in Commo- dore Dupont and General Sherman, and able assistants, the expe- dition has been put into the best of hands, and it remains to trust that nothing has been left undone to merit and secure suc- cess. If the expedition does succeed, it will put another face on the doomed rebellion. Fine weather, October 30, but strong wind off Hatteras. Last night, as the sun set in the western waters, the scene was beau- tiful beyond expression, and as the shades of evening came slowly over the broad ocean, the stars came forth with more than their usual New England splendor. This morning at sunrise thirty- two vessels were in sight. The Vanderbilt, with the Third New Hampshire, having in tow the Great Republic, was one-half mile to the westward; the Wabash one mile southwest. October 31—This morning, at 2.45, the Baltic struck on Fry- ing Pan Shoals off Hatteras, then said to be 150 miles from the mainland. There were five or six shocks, two of them very heavy, but the Baltic, under the careful guidance of her skillful commander, Captain Comstock, backed off. The hawser con- necting the Ocean Express was cut, and, being free, we were soon away from the dangerous sandbar. We remained in the vicinity until daylight, when we continued our voyage south- ward. It was fortunate for us that the wind was not high or the sea rough. We are behind the fleet today in consequence of our 46 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. delay. The weather is mild, with a gentle west wind. The nights resemble the cool, breezy month of June, and the days our New Hampshire Indian summer. Corporal John S. C. Kel- ley, a young boy of Company H, from Atkinson, died this even- ing. The first day of November, a cloudy morning with gentle breeze ; then the sun breaks forth in all its splendor, burnishing the ocean with broad silver belts. Now a gentle shower hides us from the fleet; then a beautiful rainbow spans the western sky, reminding one of the familiar rhyme, A rainbow at night is a sailor’s delight ; A rainbow in the morning, sailors take warning. This is proved to us, for now the sea is in confusion and tumult; the ship pitches and rocks; the waves splash into the portholes, wetting the bunks of those nearest them. We are consoled by the thought that the hand that puts the waves in motion has power to lull them to repose. At 9 a. M. we witnessed a sad funeral at sea. Corporal Kelley was given a respectful burial service—a short prayer, a few words by Chaplain Willis, a sol- emn dirge by Dignam’s band, and the plank was raised to which his body was strapped. Wrapped in his blanket, with weights attached, the blue Atlantic opened to receive and closed over all that was mortal of young Corporal Kelley, an exemplification of the tragedy of war. This day we took the Ocean Express in tow again. November 2—Still the storm rages. Last night at sunset the ocean presented a grand but awful appearance. Sea after sea came rolling in, and our vessel rose on the crest of a wave and plunged again into the trough of a succeeding sea. During the night the wind blew a hurricane. One of the horses died and was thrown overboard to the sharks. November 2—The hawser that connected the Baltic with the Ocean Express parted last night, and the vessel is now separated from us. An amusing incident came very near being a serious accident. William B. Reynolds of Company D was washing his clothes on the upper deck forward the wheelhouse, when a wave came, struck the wheelhouse and fell back, covering him three Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 47 feet under water and nearly carrying him away. Could see but seven of the fleet. Sunday, November 3—Last night the storm abated, and at 10 A. M. we could see land. Had religious services on deck. In the afternoon received our first pay, from muster in to November 1. At night we were run into by a sailing vessel, but not dam- aged. Warm and pleasant. Fire near the cookhouse caused some uneasiness, as there was a large supply of ammunition on board. On Boarp STEamEeR “Bawric,’” OFF Port Roya, ENTRANCE, Sunday, November 3, 1861. A week has passed since I sent my last letter and since that time we have experienced various adventures of all kinds. The next morning after I last wrote we raised anchor and dropped down the harbor some five miles and gradually the fleet as- sembled around us. The next morning we raised anchor again and the fleet got under way and steamed out of Hampton Roads by the lighthouse, now extinguished by the rebels and used by them as a lookout place. As we went by we could see cavalry and foot men on the shore and the lookout men signalling to Jeff Davis, I presume, that the great expedition was passing out to invade some part of their “sacred soil.” The fleet as we sailed out consisted of forty-seven sail in three lines. The flagship, “The Wabash” (forty-two-gun frigate) sailed in advance and the rest followed, each line con- taining a brigade. None of us knew any more about where we were going than we did when I wrote last. It was a glori- ous sight to see this great fleet, the largest that ever sailed, both in the tonnage of the vessel and in the number of soldiers on board, from any port in the world, not excepting the great Spanish armada. The sea was calm, and we glided over the water as smoothly as though we were on an inland lake through all that day and the next day, and when I went to bed the next night I had no thought then that I should have other than a quiet sleep; but at three o’clock in the morning, November 1, I waked and was half dozing when, thump, thump, and at once a wild tumult arose. I jumped out of my bunk, pulled on my clothes, and tushed up on deck, all the while the thumping keeping on so violently that I could hardly keep my legs. I knew at the first thump that the ship was aground and was fearful that the men in a panic would rush on deck and prevent the men of the 48 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. ship from doing what they could, so I at once rushed around at the men and ordered everyone below, and they obeyed. Meanwhile the engines were reversed, and as the big paddle wheels slowly revolved the thumping grew lighter and lghter; and as rocket after rocket rushed up into the air and the cap- tain shouted out the order to load the signal guns, thumping ceased and the great ship glided off the shoals; and as the man who threw the lead shouted out, “Ten fathom,” then “Eleven fathom,” then “T’nirteen fathom,” every heart beat more freely. When the carpenters reported that the ship did not leak we were all relieved and not a soul on board failed, I believe, in heart at least, to thank God, who had saved us harmless from so great a peril. Many of the ships in the fleet touched on the same shoals, but all, I believe, got off without wreck, though the “Illinois” lost one of her smoke pipes. After we got off the shoals we put out for the open sea. All went on well again till the next evening, when a poor fellow named Kelley, from Atkinson (a son of a lawyer at that place) died very suddenly of congestive fever, at seven o’clock. At nine the same evening all assembled on deck. The funeral services were read by the chaplain, and at the words “We commit his body to the sea,” the poor fel- low’s body, sewed up in his blanket, with a forty-two-pound shot sewed in, was slid off the plank on which it laid into the deep, cold water, the band meanwhile playing “Pleyel’s Hymn.” It was a very solemn sight, and I thought how his parents and brothers and sisters were sitting around the fire at home, lit- tle thinking that the one they loved was sinking through the blue waters to the bottom of the sea, a hundred miles from land. Our experience did not end here, for the next afternoon a wind rose and by dark was a most severe gale. We had a ship in tow and was dragging her by a four-inch rope when a great wave came and snapped the cable as if it were a piece of twine. The wind grew higher and higher, and before midnight a ter- rible storm was raging. The ship rocked and rolled and pitched most fearfully. It was a most glorious sight to stand on the deck and see the great waves chasing each other, the crest of each lit up with phorescence, but it was a fearful sight to see a huge wave rush down toward the ship and seem about to cover us, when at the instant it would be on us the ship would rise over it and then sink down between the waves. The wood- work inside the ship creaked and groaned and many of the men and officers thought the ship would go to pieces. Many men prayed that night, I have no doubt, who had not prayed for years. Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 49 The waves went down at last, and we thought our troubles were over, when today the ship caught on fire, but the fire was extinguished at once without causing an alarm. So we have experienced all the dangers incident to a voyage at sea. The storm scattered the vessels of the fleet widely apart, and not a ship was in sight till tonight, when twenty had made their appearance, and we are now in quiet water waiting. Now as for our whereabouts: we are in sight of land, which we under- stand is an island called “Hilton’s Head,” which you will find on the coast of Georgia, to the north of Savannah, so the prob- ability is that we shall make an ascent on that place, and if so we shall land, I presume, about day after tomorrow. The fleet will steam in and throw shells over the land and drive every enemy inland, when the army will land and throw up a fortification and hold the point till a larger force arrives, and then march on to Savannah. I will try and send this letter home by the “Baltic” and another one also, telling of our ad- ventures of the landing. LOUIS BELL. November 4—A report that a small steamer, the Governor, was sunk in the storm last Saturday proved true. No lives lost. The steamer Union was blown ashore, and the crew and several soldiers of the Fourth—teamsters—were taken prisoners, among them Quartermaster Sergeant Kelley, brother of Quartermaster John L. Kelley. About 5 p. m. the Baltic left the fleet and sailed in search of the Ocean Express. The gunboats were firing on a battery on shore. November 5—Sailed all last night. About 10 a. M. was boarded by the U. S. sloop of war, Dale. At 2. mM. met the rest of the fleet. Private William Sherer of Manchester, born in Deering, and one of the oldest men in Co. K, died today and was buried quietly at sea, because of the near approach of the attack on Port Royal. He left a wife and nine children. Corporal Henry H. Jackson of Co. D died today at his home in Laconia. He had been discharged sick at Annapolis. November 6—Arrived off Port Royal, S. C. Were at anchor all day far from shore. Fleet collecting together. Several ves- sels were damaged in the storm—one lost her masts. First Lieutenant Israel L. Drew of Co. H, brother of our major, who had been left behind sick at Annapolis, died there today. His 50 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. body was taken to his home in Lawrence, Mass., where he was given a military funeral and buried in Belleview cemetery. — Thursday, November 7, was a notable day in the history of the Fourth. We witnessed from the Baltic the successful bombard- ment of Forts Walker and Beauregard, and, at nightfall, stood on the soil of South Carolina, the first of the states to adopt an ordinance of secession, and the first in which a hostile shot was fired upon the Union flag. A New Hampshire man, John G. Foster, afterwards a major-general, was among the last to leave Fort Sumter with its little garrison the April before, and it was the fortune of the Fourth New Hampshire to be the first to land at the close of this eventful November day. It had been the original plan to make a combined land and naval attack at Port Royal, but this was abandoned, partly on account of the storm and partly by reason of the lack of sufficient boats for the prompt landing of the troops. Port Royal harbor was defended by two forts at its entrance—Walker, on Hilton Head Island, and Beauregard, at Bay Point on Phillip’s Island. Commodore Dupont, after a reconnoissance, had decided to attack the forts simultaneously, and at 8 o’clock, on the morning of November 7, the signal was given for the warships to prepare for action. 'The flagship Wabash led, starting at 8.10, the other war- ships following, one after another, in regular order. Meanwhile there was intense excitement on board the trans- ports, which remained out of range from the enemy’s fire. Masts, yards, shrouds, gunwales, and every available point of observation swarmed with soldiers, eager to witness the sublime spectacle. Words fail to describe the scene or the emotions of the men. At 9.26 the first gun was fired from Fort Walker, and this was followed by a second from Fort Beauregard. Then the Wabash replied, then the Susquehanna, and so on. As one shot followed another, cheer after cheer went up from the soldiers on the transports. Their enthusiasm rose. They were ready for anything when their turn should come. The fleet sailed round and round in a circle, or more exactly, an ellipse, affording the ships an opportunity to fire a broadside upon each fort in turn. The terrific combat lasted for five Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. dl hours, and the bursting of shells in mid-air, the bounding of shot on the water, and the bellowing of the distant-thunderlike cannon were sights and sounds that awakened feelings of awe in the breast of every spectator. The enemy’s marksmanship was poor, however, and only twelve men were killed in the entire fleet dur- ing the action. There were thirty large cannon in Fort Walker, and the captain of the Wabash said, after the battle, that if he had had those guns he could have sunk the whole fleet. By 3.30 the forts were found to have been abandoned. The firing from the warships ceased, and marines went ashore and ran up the stars and stripes amid the cheers of the fleet. Then came the order for the Third brigade to land, and toward evening the landing was effected. As General Wright was on the Baltic it fell to the Fourth, just about 1,000 strong, to take the lead. As the Baltic was of too deep draught for the shallow waters, the regiment was transferred to the Isaac Smith, which had taken part in the action, at the same time towing the Vandalia. It is perhaps worth noting that fourteen Smiths, members of the regiment, were thus for a short time on board a war vessel bear- ing the name of their numerous family. The Isaac Smith went as far inshore as was practicable, when the men were taken in surf boats, until these were aground, after which they waded ashore waist-deep in water, carrying their rifles and cartridge- boxes above their heads. They were on land at last, scarcely knowing where they were, and not knowing at all where the enemy might be. Wet, tired, and hungry, the men of the regiment slept, or tried to sleep, on their arms. In the morning, however, there was an agreeable change. Near by were plantations of sugar cane and of sweet potatoes, and the boys of the Fourth made up for the unappetizing rations on shipboard. The sweet potatoes were roasted, and the pith of the sugar cane was chewed with relish by men who for weeks had been supplied by the government with all they wanted, and more than they wanted, of salt pork. 52 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. Fort Waker, Hinron’s HEAp, Orr Braurort, 8. C., November 7, 1861. I am writing to you seated on a secession camp stool in Lieutenant-Colone! Bedou’s camp, out of which our shells today drove him and all the rest of the rebel crew. The fleet began this morning to pitch shells into the fort and kept it up till about 5 Pp. M., when we landed, to find everything deserted, the officers not having time to even take their little knicknacks away. Our forces all landed; only one man killed by the enemy’s fire. LOUIS BELL. GENERAL SHERMAN’S OFFICIAL REPORT. HEADQUARTERS EXPEDITION CORPS, Port Royat, S. C., Nov. 8, 1861. Adjutant General, United States Army, Washington, D. C.: Sir :—I have the honor to report that the force under my command embarked at Annapolis, Maryland, on the twenty-first of October, and arrived at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on the twenty-second. In consequence of the delay in the arrival of some of our transports, and the unfavorable state of the weather, the fleet was unable to. set out for the southern coast until the 29th, when, under the conyoy of a naval squadron in command of Commodore Dupont, and after the most mature consideration of the object of the expedition by that flag officer and myself, it was agreed to first reduce any works that might be found at Port Royal, South Carolina, and thus open the finest harbor on the coast that exists south of Hatteras. It was calculated to reach Port Royal in five days at most, but in consequence of adverse wind and a perilous storm on the day and night of the first of November, the fleet did not arrive at Port Royal bar until the fourth, and then but in part, for it had been almost entirely dispersed by the gale, and the vessels have been straggling in up to this date. The transport steamers Union, Belvidere, Osceola, and Peerless have not arrived. Two of them are known to be lost, and it is probable all are. It is gratifying, however, to say that none of the troop transports connected with the land forces were lost, though the Winfield Scott had to sacrifice her whole éargo, and the Roanoke a portion of her cargo, to save the lives of the regiments on board. The former will again be unable to put to sea. The vessels connected with the naval portion of the fleet have also suffered much, and some have been lost. Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 52 After a careful reconnoissance in Port Royal bay it was ascertained that the rebels had three earthworks of remarkable strength, strongly garrisoned, and covered by a fleet of three gunboats, under Captain Tatnall, late of the United States Navy, besides strong land forces, which the rebels were concentrating from Charleston and Savannah. The troops of the rebels were afterwards ascertained to have been commanded by General Brayton. One of the forts, and probably the strongest, was situated on Hil- ton’s Head, and the other two on Phillips’ Island. It was deemed proper to first reduce the fort on Hilton’s Head, though to do this a greater or less fire might have to be met from the batteries on Bay Point. At the same time our original plan of codperation of the land forces in this attack had to be set aside, in consequence of the loss dur- ing the voyage of a greater portion of our means of disembarkment, together with the fact that the only point where the troops should have landed was from five to six miles (meaning around the interven- ing shoal) from the anchoring place of our transports, altogether too great a distance for successful debarkation, with our limited means. It was, therefore, agreed that the place should be reduced by the naval force alone. In consequence of the shattered condition of the fleet, and the delay in the arrival of vessels that were indispensable for the attack, it had to be postponed until the seventh instant. I was a mere spectator of the combat, and it is not my province to render any report of this action. I deem it an imperative duty to say that the firing and manceuvring of our fleet against that of the rebels and their formidable batteries was a masterpiece of activity and professional skill, that must have elicited the applause of the rebels themselves as a tactical operation. I think that too much praise can- not be awarded to the science and skill exhibited by the flag officer of the naval squadron and the officers connected with his ships. I deem the performance a masterly one, and it ought to have been seen to be fully appreciated. After the works were reduced I took possession of them with the land forces. The beautifuily constructed work on Hilton’s Head was severely crippled, and many of the guns dismounted. Much slaughter had evidently been made there, many bodies having been buried in the fort, and some twenty or thirty were found some half a mile distant. The island for many miles was found strewn with army accoutrements and baggage of the rebels, which they threw away in their hasty retreat. We have also come into possession of about forty pieces of ordnance, most of which is the heaviest calibre and of the most approved models, and a large quantity of ammunition and camp equipage. It is my duty to report the valuable services of Mr. Pautelle, assist- ant in the coast survey, assisting with his accurate and extensive knowl- bg Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. edge of this country. His services are invaluable to the army as well as to the navy, and I earnestly recommend that important notice be taken of this very able and scientific officer by the War Department. I am, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, T. W. SHERMAN, Brigadier General Commanding. THE STORM AND THE NAVAL EXPEDITION. The violent storm of wind and rain which raged in this section of New York on Saturday and up to yesterday morning has nat- urally excited grave apprehensions respecting the safety of the fleet, which left Hampton Roads last Tuesday morning. By a well known meteorological law, storms as severe as that com- mence in the Gulf of Mexico and sweep up against a northeast wind along the whole line of our coast, often taking a week in the transit. The popular apprehension is that the storm must have encountered the fleet somewhere along the coast, and if such is the fact, the country must be prepared in a few days to hear very unwelcome news. It may be that the gale was not as severe below as we know it was above Hatteras, and in that case the damage would be but slight, but, unfortunately, the previous history of these great Atlantic storms does not warrant that sup- position. A heavy blow in the latitude of New York on Sat- urday generally indicates a storm at Washington on Friday, one at Hatteras on Thursday, and so on down the coast, but the vio- lence of the tempest does not usually abate as we approach its point of departure; hence the apprehensions of sea-faring men and others respecting its effect upon the naval expedition. The facts in our possession are few, but they are fitted to excite considerable uneasiness. We know that the fleet sailed on Tues- day, that it was seen off Hatteras on Wednesday, and that it did teach Beaufort, South Carolina, if that was its destination, by Friday at furthest. We also know that the storm which raged here on Saturday prevailed at Fortress Monroe on Friday, and in all probability was in the latitude of Charleston on Wednesday night or Thursday. There is no reason to fear that any harm Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 55 occurred to the steamships, gunboats or larger transports, but there were a number of small, heavily laden vessels in the expedi- tion that might have been injured. It is probable also that in case the storm was very severe the attack on the point intended was postponed for a time. THE GREAT EXPEDITION. November 7, 1861. The twenty-ninth of October will henceforth be signalized in the history of the Union as the day on which sailed the great armada to crush out the slave-holding rebellion against the authority of the republic. Nothing in the whole course of the war has pro- duced such a profound sensation throughout the states in rebel- lion as has the sailing of this expedition; nor has anything raised such high expectations of the speedy success of the federal cause. The period when an adequate force should lay hold upon the southern coast and produce a powerful diversion at the seat of the war in Virginia and in the Southwest has from the beginning been looked to as the point from which would date the wane of the rebellion and the reéstablishment of con- stitutional authority. That period has come. After various delays caused by storm and otherwise the expe- dition sailed from Hampton Roads at the date above mentioned. The composition of the naval force was as follows: Navat Force. Flag Officer in Command, SAMUEL F. Dupoint, of Delaware. Flag Captain, CuHartes H. Davis, of Massachusetts. Flag Lieutenant, SAMUEL W. Preston, of Illinois. 56 Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. VESSELS OF WAR. Flagship. 1. Steam Frigate Wabash): : c. -mcctuteteminiice cate teens 50 guns 2: Sloop Vandalia... . «i. +. signee | tee oeisoe a eee eae 20 guns 18 GUNBOATS. Augusta, Curlew, Gem of the Sea, Ottawa, and Pawnee, 9 guns each. Alabama, 7 guns. Isaac W. Smith, 6 guns. Penguin, Pocahontas and Seminole, 5 guns each. Florida, Mohican and Pemlina. Seneca, Unadilla and Georgia, 4 guns each. R. B. Forbes and Shawshene, 2 guns each. 23 TRANSPORTS—STEAMERS. Ariel, Atlantic, Baltic, Ben Deford, Cawhawba, Coatzacoalcos, Daniel Webster, Empire City, Ericsson, Locust Point, Marion, Mantanzas, Ocean Queen, Oriental, Parkersburg, Philadelphia, Potomac, Roanoke, Star of the South, Union, Vanderbilt, Winfield Scott, Illinois. 32 SAILING VESSELS. Ships. Great Republic, Ocean Express, Golden Eagle, Zenas Coffin. Bark. J. A. Bishop. Brigs. Belle of the Bay, Ellen P. Stewart. Schooners. Abbott, Allen, Aid, Vance, Clark, Underwood, English, Frambes, East, Western Star, Saratoga, Bright, McNeil, Faust, Miller, Chester, Satterthwaite, Snowflake, Molany, Aerial, Simms, Hewitt, Sarah, Saulsbury, Cullin. 5 STEAMBOATS. Mayflower, Belvidere, Governor, Peerless, Osceola. Fourth Regvment New Hampshire Volunteers. 57 2 STEAMTUGS. Guns OM Wika Retitee vate era. kere ons AL SiiGardtiericraeeeaecniioee ure. « 2 MIGICbba a gado pone obo Seer eRe De Sei Jey Maaiitonion aenpirisn creates ass 2 2 FERRY BOATS. Commodore Perry, Ethan Allen. Torat NAvaAL Force. Guns. INawalPViesselise o:.%tis sie:e sie. 2,0 sete ree ee 20 ASPEN PO LOFIS) Seeker nn ieee ns: ciko, tcloinicko OF 23 SarlimopViessels sitar cdc) cist oe ee a Oho 32 S fea Oat sunsets ctetetelecsis.a icjncovs «8s ts A Cee 5 SiiGRIUTED A635 Sate Eee tein doco bullets 2 IGS, JEON Bah ore Ee neROOIET oo Oo 95.0000 00% 2 ING) e820 Ree One Cee ROC io SUauoCoG 84 The following and probably other vessels would join the expe- dition on passing the points where they were stationed: Gunis. SEAVEITITE tan Atta SAO CRE Reta cio,c-oltiene-c 24 SAID ear bole a chi on EEE Oc Reb o.alblbalS b 50 LENE? 3.60: 6.c. Oo OE ane cl OSE CODS DES 4 DEO Gaboee nce pons pociouios a ondp yo 16 Sis, ILE SHIN GS ag Ci CEI coo ein. oGecan cous 50 SS iteltatlniaite sreretaycicrecc ~atens ovo dept orotate 15 Thus the entire fleet comprises ninety vessels. MARINES. The steamer Governor took a battalion of the United States marines, under command of Major Reynolds. Mitirary Force. The military force of the expedition has been variously esti- mated at from fifteen to twenty-five thousand men; but it may be quite safely stated at fifteen thousand, including troops and marines. Hight regiments are from New England, consisting of hardy, well-seasoned coast men; five are from New York, two from Pennsylvania, and one from Michigan. The artillery and marine corps are a well-trained and promising lot of men, fully 58 Fourth Regument New Hampshire Volunteers. equal to anything of the kind the rebels can bring against them. The military force is organized as follows: CoMMANDING GENERAL AND STAFF, Commander-in-Chief, Bric.-Gen. T. W. SHERMAN, Acting Major-General. STAFF. Asst. Adjt.-General, Capt. Louis Pelouze, 15th Infantry. Chief Quartermaster, Capt. Rufus Saxton, Asst. Quartermaster U. S. Army. Asst. Quartermaster, Capt. H. A. Hascall, Asst. Quartermaster U. S. Army. Asst. Quartermaster, Capt. C. E. Fuller, Asst. Quartermaster U. S. Army. Chief Commissary, Capt. M. R. Morgan, Asst. Com. Sub. U. S. Army. Chief Engineer, Capt. Q. A. Gilmore, U. S. Engineers. First Asst. Engineer, First Lieut. J. A. Tardy, Jr., U. S. Engineers. Second Asst. Engineer, Second Lieut. P. H. O’Rouke, U. S. Engineers. Topographical Engineer, First Lieut. J. H. Wilson, U. S. Engineers. Chief of Ordnance, First Lieut. Horace Porter, Ordnance Dept. U. S. Army. Assist. Chief of Ordnance, First Lieut. Horace Porter, Ordnance Dept., U. S. Army. Medical Director, Surgeon Geo. E. Cooper, U. S. Army, Med. Dept. Signal Officer, First Lieut. Theo. L. Dumont, U. S. Volunteers. Aide-de-Camp, Lieut. Chas. Magner, Twentieth Mass. Volunteers. Additional Paymaster, Major Z. K. Vaughborn. Additional Paymaster, Major J. L. Hewitt. Division. Commander, Brig.-Gen. T. W. Sherman, Acting Major-Gen. FIRST BRIGADE. Commanded by Bric.-GEN. EGBERT L. VIELE. Composed of New. Elampshire Third... 4. sone eee eee eae Col. E. W. Fellows Maine®Hichth: 20:33... 0c no. coe eee eee ee Col. Lee Strickland New. York Forty-Sixth? 2): «accent rene Col. Rudolph Rosa New) Work! Forty-Seventhi: (his... enee meee eiienic siete Col. Henry Moore New -York-Forty-Eighth2: 2) ipqmiecioeeisneiee risers Col. J. H. Perry fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. 59 SECOND BRIGADE. Commanded by Bric.-Gen. ISAAC INGALLS STEVENS. Composed of Petinsylvcrmuicrebntietliins .(. ( ac.sre oe eels aoa teTe Col. A. A. Terry Ile shave IN ial PAR Lee 3 Let ee ee Ar Col. Richworth Rich AMinicimiviodemlslaridimn en.