History of Battery H First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery

CHAPTER I.

Formation of Battery H—Camp Mauran—On to Washington—Camp Barry.

Rhode Island enjoys the distinction of sending to the field in the War of the Rebellion a regiment of volunteer light artillery which ranked second to none in the service. The State was fortunate in having at the commencement of the conflict a battery of light artillery, which was widely known for its efficiency throughout the length and breadth of the land. It was originally chartered as an independent organization in 1801, and was composed of seafaring men, the officers being members of the Providence Marine Society, from whence its name was derived. It was equipped with heavy guns, adapted for coast defence. Subsequently muskets were used, and with old style field pieces it took part in the expedition to Acote’s Hill in 1842. In the year 1847 it was equipped as a light battery with four guns and caissons, battery wagon and forge. The first parade was made at a training on Smith’s Hill, in Providence, Oct. 17, 1847, and it was known as “flying artillery,” being the first light battery ever organized in the United States outside the regular army.

2In 1852 it made an excursion to Boston, with four guns, battery wagon and forge, and encamped on the Common. By its novel and interesting evolutions of “light artillery,” and firing six-pounder cannon with rapidity, which had never before been witnessed by the people of that city, it so excited their wonder and admiration that a movement was inaugurated to organize a similar battery there. Accordingly a delegation of gentlemen was chosen to proceed to Providence, who were instructed in the light artillery drill by Colonel Balch, of the Marine Artillery. Therefore it is justly claimed that this famous corps is not only the mother of Rhode Island batteries in the Civil War, but also of Massachusetts batteries, and through them of all volunteer light artillery.

From this battery sprang the men who subsequently won renown in the light artillery branch of the service during the war. Indeed, Governor Sprague himself commanded this battery for several years prior to the Rebellion, and had spared neither time nor money to raise it to a high standard of discipline and efficiency. Is it a marvel, then, that when the call to arms resounded through the land, this battery furnished from its membership officers and men who were a credit to their State and country, and were enabled to send at once a battery to the field fully manned and equipped for the service.

On the 13th of September, 1861, Governor Sprague received authority from the War Department to increase the number of Rhode Island batteries to eight, the whole to be known as the First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery. 3In May, 1862, although seven batteries had already been furnished for the regiment, yet when one more battery was required to complete the number it was promptly recruited and forwarded to the seat of war.

Battery H, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery, was organized in the city of Providence, R. I., about the first of May, 1862. It was quartered temporarily in Railroad Hall, where the men were drilled in marching movements until the formation of an artillery camp near Mashapaug Pond, Cranston, R. I., whither the battery was subsequently ordered. This camp was designated Camp Mauran, in honor of Gen. Edward C. Mauran, the adjutant-general of the State.

The first commander of the battery was Capt. Charles H. J. Hamlin, who was promoted from the position of quartermaster of the regiment. Captain Hamlin assumed command of the battery about the sixteenth of May, 1862, while it was in Camp Mauran. It recruited here more than four times its complement of men, but in consequence of the many requisitions from batteries in the field, whose ranks had been reduced by the casualties of war, it was deemed necessary to furnish them with recruits from this battery, and it was only after they were supplied that Battery H was completed and permitted to leave the State.

Sergt. Kirby Steinhauer, of Battery G, was promoted to second lieutenant of Battery H in September, 1862, and immediately reported for duty. Captain Hamlin resigned his commission the latter part of September, and Lieutenant Steinhauer assumed command of the battery. While in 4Camp Mauran the men were drilled by Lieutenant Steinhauer, and Sergeants Messinger, Lewis, Sayles, Colwell and Carpenter. Sergt. Franklin P. Burlingame was on duty in the city of Providence, engaged in recruiting for the battery.

On the 3d of October, 1862, Lieut. Jeffrey Hazard, of Battery A, who had been acting adjutant of the regiment, was commissioned captain of Battery H, arrived in camp and took command. Shortly after his arrival Captain Hazard was ordered by Governor Sprague to proceed to the Dexter Training Ground, where the Twelfth Rhode Island Infantry was encamped. Trouble was anticipated in regard to the bounties promised them by the State. Governor Sprague had decided that these bounties should not be paid until the arrival of the regiment within the lines of the army in Virginia. As a number of recruits from other regiments had received the bounty and deserted before arriving at the front, the governor took this precautionary measure to prevent desertions in the Twelfth. This order caused intense dissatisfaction among the men of this regiment, so much so that it threatened to culminate in open mutiny. On reaching the Training Ground Captain Hazard was ordered by the governor to place one gun of his battery at each of the four corners of the grounds, presumably with the view of intimidating into submission the soldiers of this regiment. This movement only enraged the infantry and made our situation extremely unpleasant, having less than fifty men against their one thousand. Had a gun been fired it is probable that a bloody encounter would have ensued, and it was with great difficulty that the guns were retired at the instance of 5the governor without a collision, and the battery returned to Camp Mauran.

The roll of the original officers and men attached to the battery while in Camp Mauran, comprised the following:

9On the 23d of October, 1862, the battery received orders to proceed to Washington, D. C. Preparations were immediately made to move from Camp Mauran. Marching to the railroad station in Providence, the battery boarded the cars, and the soldiers, after bidding adieu to the relatives and friends who had assembled there to witness their departure, were soon speeding along on their journey, eager to enter upon the untried scenes awaiting them. On arriving in New York city a number of recruits for the battery were received. Again proceeding on its way, the battery reached Washington on the 26th of October, and, until the 28th, were quartered in the Soldiers’ Retreat, when it was ordered to proceed to Camp Barry, situated on the Corcoran farm, on the Bladensburg road, near the toll gate.

This camp was established as an artillery camp of instruction for all volunteer batteries, for drill and discipline preparatory for service in the field. Soon after its arrival the battery exchanged the James rifled pieces with which it left Rhode Island for three-inch ordnance guns.

In November General McClellan was relieved from command of the Army of the Potomac, and General Burnside reluctantly assumed the position. His career while connected with its leadership is so well known to every one interested in the history of that army, that it is deemed inexpedient to dwell upon it here. The delay in sending forward the pontoons with which the army was to cross the Rappahannock and the lack of support that General Burnside received from some of his subordinates is attributed the disaster of the battle of Fredericksburg.

10At this time Washington was well protected by a cordon of forts completely encircling the city. We present herewith the accompanying map, which will more fully indicate the positions of the several forts than any description we might be able to give.

Washington
and its
Defences.

CHAPTER II.

Camp Barry—Artillery Drill—March to Fairfax Station—First Death in the Battery—Union Mills.

During the fall and winter of 1862–3 the battery was chiefly occupied in perfecting itself in drill. With other batteries, it frequently went to East Capitol Hill and engaged in battalion drill, and became quite proficient in light artillery movements. While at Camp Barry the battery suffered severely by the desertion of the men who had joined it in New York city. Their only apparent motive in enlisting was to obtain the bounty which was offered them, and then desert on the first opportunity. This was a serious drawback, and greatly impaired the usefulness of the battery.

Jan. 1st, 1863. This was a red-letter day in our history. We moved into new wooden barracks, which had recently been constructed. It was an agreeable change to our men from the cold and cheerless Sibley tents to the warm and comfortable quarters to which we were now assigned. We celebrated the event by a grand house-warming in the evening. The bill of fare was in marked contrast to what soldiers 12were accustomed to select while serving in the field. It consisted of a roast turkey supper with all the fixings. Not wishing to share our feast and pleasures alone, we invited as our guests the men of the Third New Jersey and Second Maine batteries. That occasion will long be remembered by the participants as a bright epoch in their soldier lives.

While encamped here we often obtained permission to visit Washington, and we made good use of our time while there. The Capitol was a place of special interest to us, and we were accustomed to visit the Senate Chamber and the House of Representatives, and hear the lawgivers of our land expound the momentous questions of the day. We recall the stalwart forms of Sumner and Wilson of Massachusetts, Anthony of our own little Rhody, and a score of others well known to fame, who stood as beacon lights in that stormy period of our nation’s history. The White House and Treasury Building were visited by us, likewise the Patent Office, where our First Rhode Island regiment was quartered in the spring of 1861, received our attention. What a contrast the city presented at that time to the Washington of to-day. Then (in 1863) the uncompleted monument of the “Father of his Country” was a disgrace to every patriotic citizen. Now that majestic shaft in full completion towers above all others in this country, while the public and private buildings will vie in splendor and magnitude with many of the capitals of the old world. The unpaved streets through which roamed the swine and fowl in the old war time days excite the wonder and admiration of the visitor at the present time by their well constructed appearance and cleanly condition.

Lieut. Charles F. Mason.

13January 5th. A mounted drill took place at nine A. M. to-day of all the batteries encamped here. Lieut.-Col. J. Albert Monroe, of our First Rhode Island Light Artillery regiment, was present in command.

January 19th, we received orders to prepare three days’ cooked rations. On the following day we marched into Washington in a terrific rain-storm. When we arrived on Arlington Heights the wheels of the battery sank into the mud nearly to the hubs.

On the 23d we arrived at Fairfax Station about noon, and went into camp. This was a severe and exhausting march, and many of our men became disabled and contracted diseases from the effects of which they never fully recovered.

On the 24th our battery was assigned to General Casey’s division, and attached to the Vermont brigade commanded by General Stannard. He was a brave and gentlemanly officer, and respected by the entire command. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Second Vermont Infantry in May, 1861, and was in May, 1862, assigned as colonel of the Ninth Vermont Infantry; promoted brigadier-general United States Volunteers, March 12, 1863, and brevetted major-general United States Volunteers, Oct. 28, 1864. General Stannard’s prompt movement upon the flank of Pickett’s division at Gettysburg won for him the strongest commendation of his superiors. He was four times wounded, the last time losing an arm in the successful assault on Fort Harrison, Sept. 29, 1864. He died in Washington, June 3, 1886.

14February 10th. Bugler Thomas J. Goff died to-day. The death of our comrade cast a sadness over us, as it was the first that had occurred since our existence as a battery.

February 12th. The battery was reviewed at two o’clock P. M. to-day, by General Stannard.

February 13th. Private William G. Manter died in camp hospital. He was buried in the little graveyard near our camp.

March 1st. Sergt. George P. Carpenter and Private John Phillips died in company hospital to-day. They were comrades tried and true, and we sorely missed them.

As we lacked a sufficient number of men to fully man our battery, several soldiers were detached from the different regiments of the Vermont brigade and sent to us on the 16th of this month.

March 23d. At seven A. M. the battery received orders to proceed with the Vermont brigade to Union Mills, Va. On arriving there the right section was ordered on picket on the heights overlooking the fording place at Kettle Run Shoals, and a detail of men was also sent to man an iron clad car on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, to act as guard at the same place.

April 9th. A severe snow storm set in which continued through the day and night, and was particularly trying to our men on picket, and a disappointment to the hopes of the government. It was the severest storm (so the traditional “oldest inhabitant” said) that had visited that section of the country for several years.

CHAPTER III

Battles of Chancellorsville and Salem Heights—Battery H Ordered to Chantilly, and Afterwards to Fairfax Court House—Return to Camp Barry—Picket Duty at Fairfax Seminary—Moved to Vicinity of Fort Scott.

When Gen. Joseph Hooker was appointed to succeed Burnside in command of the Army of the Potomac, he made earnest efforts to raise its morale and increase its efficiency. In the meantime the inclement season and the bad roads prevented any forward movement before spring. On the 13th of April General Hooker commenced his campaign by sending a force of cavalry, with artillery, across the upper fords of the Rappahannock, and thence to the Rapidan, preparatory to a general advance of the army. A storm and bad roads delayed the latter movement until the 27th. On the morning of that day the Fifth, Eleventh, and the Twelfth Corps moved toward the upper fords, which they reached the next day, and crossed on the 29th. Thence they moved to the Rapidan, and crossed that stream at Germania Ford and another some eight or ten miles above its confluence with the Rappahannock. 16From this stream they advanced to the vicinity of Chancellorsville, a village consisting of a single house and out-buildings, and here three corps were massed on the 30th.

On the morning of the 1st of May four corps were there prepared for an advanced against the enemy. During the 2d and 3d of May occurred one of the hardest fought battles, of the war. The losses on both sides were severe. On the 3d and 4th of May, Sedgwick’s Corps of nearly twenty thousand, fought an almost independent battle at Salem Heights, near Fredericksburg, about fourteen miles from Hooker’s position. They fought with determined bravery, but were compelled by the presence of a superior force to fall back, and recrossed the river in good order. The main body of Hooker’s army safely recrossed the river on the evening of the 5th. When morning revealed to the enemy the movement, they seemed more content to have it take place, and made no attempt to hasten it. The Union army had fought three days with about one-third of its numbers against the massed forces of the enemy, and though forced to yield some ground had repulsed their desperate assaults, and then returned to its old camps having suffered large losses but not seriously weakened.

May 4th. At the time of the battle of Chancellorsville, General Abercrombie ordered the right section under command of Captain Hazard, in connection with the Twelfth Vermont regiment of our brigade, to Rappahannock Station for the purpose of guarding the river at this point. While stationed here Captain Hazard relates that a number of negroes came across the river one morning, and the next day 17Hon. John Minor Botts crossed and claimed them as his property. He talked with them quite a while and endeavored to induce them to return with him. This they declined to do. Mr. Botts claimed to be a Union man, and said he would go to President Lincoln for redress. He also threatened to use his influence to have his friend, the Hon. John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky (who was holding out as a Union man), espouse the cause of the Confederacy unless his (Botts’s) property was returned. His “boys,” as he called them, were soon scattered and were employed in the army or at the north, and were about as free as they were after the Emancipation Proclamation. As an instance of the financial situation of the Confederacy at that period of the Rebellion, Mr. Botts, who wore a pair of cowhide shoes at this time, said they cost him twenty-five dollars in Confederate money, in Richmond.

While the right section of the battery was with Captain Hazard at Rappahannock Station, First Lieut. George W. Blair remained in command of the camp at Union Mills. On the 17th of the month the centre section, which was on picket guarding the ford at Kettle Run Shoals, was relieved by the left section.

At ten o’clock on the morning of the 20th the battery received marching orders and left Union Mills for Chantilly, near Centreville, arriving there about one P. M., and going into park near the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Maine regiments of infantry.

On the 24th many of the members of the battery availed themselves of the privilege of visiting the old Chantilly battlefield.

18May 26th. The sound of artillery firing was heard in the direction of Drownsville, causing our battery to be held in readiness to move at a moment’s notice.

May 29th. The long roll awakened us from our slumbers, and “boots and saddles” call was sounded. The battery was hitched up and ready to move in eight minutes. We anticipated an attack of the rebels on our picket line. If they had come upon us then they would have found confronting them the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Maine regiments (each eleven hundred strong), and, with the Eleventh Massachusetts Battery and our own battery, they would have met with a warm reception, as the night was very dark and we had the advantage of a good position.

June 7th. Reviewed at ten A. M. by Gen. Alfred Pleasonton.

June 12th. While the battery was drilling in rapid movements, this forenoon, one of our attached men, Private John D. White, of Company D, Sixteenth Vermont Infantry, met with a painful accident. In mounting, and while throwing his right leg over the back of his horse his left foot slipped from the stirrup, throwing him on the pummel of his saddle and causing a severe rupture. He remained in camp a week or more, and was then sent to the post hospital, at Camp Barry, and remained there until the muster out of his regiment.

It being the plan of the rebel General Lee to attempt an invasion of the northern States, he at once set his troops in motion and did not meet with any serious obstacle to his progress until Gettysburg was reached, which we will notice further on.

19On June 15th the battery witnessed the passage by its camp of the Eleventh, Twelfth, Second and Third Corps of the Army of the Potomac, on their way to intercept the rebel army, which was moving on Gettysburg. On this date Private Earl Fenner was ordered on special duty to carry dispatches to the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac. On his return he narrowly escaped capture by Mosby’s guerillas.

June 17th. We can hear distant cannonading in the direction of Aldie Gap. We learn that our forces are having quite a brush with the enemy. A large body of our troops are concentrating at Fairfax Court House, awaiting orders to move toward Gettysburg. A number of rebel prisoners passed our camp to-day under guard. Their brown butternut uniforms and slouch hats indicated that they hailed from North Carolina.

June 25th. The battery received orders to leave camp at Chantilly this morning at eight A. M., and proceed to Fairfax Court House, and report to Brig.-Gen. Henry J. Hunt, who had command of the Reserve Artillery of the Army of the Potomac. On our arrival there, Captain Hazard reported to General Hunt that the term of service of the attached men assigned from the Vermont brigade to our battery would expire on or about July 10th. The general, having more artillery than he needed, and noting the deficiency in the number of men in our battery, ordered Captain Hazard to report to Gen. William F. Barry, Chief of Artillery in the vicinity of Washington. Thus, owing to the depleted condition of the battery, we were not permitted to share with 20our sister batteries from our State in the honor of participating in the mighty struggle at Gettysburg a few days later, which shed so bright a lustre on the fame of the light artillery that Rhode Island furnished to the armies of the Union.

In accordance with the instructions from General Hunt our battery marched to Arlington Heights, camping outside of the intrenchments near Annandale Court House. About midnight an officer on General Barry’s staff directed Captain Hazard to withdraw his battery inside of the intrenchments, as there were no infantry troops to support us should the enemy appear in force. Accordingly we hitched up and shortly afterward moved within the intrenchments.

At eight o’clock on the morning of the 26th we left Arlington Heights and marched to Camp Barry.

June 28th. Our battery was again ordered to march, and, at eight P. M., left Camp Barry for Fairfax Seminary, passing through Washington, going over Long Bridge to Alexandria, Va., and from thence to Fairfax Seminary. On arriving in the vicinity of the Seminary a soldier on picket, from a New York regiment, fired upon our battery, mistaking us for the enemy. We then took position near Fort Ward, coming into action front, running our guns out of the embrasures and in line with the breastworks. As an attack was expected there our cannoneers remained at their posts till reveille the next morning. Captain Hazard reported with his command to Col. H. L. Abbott, of the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, commanding the Third Brigade, Defenses South of the Potomac.

21General Hooker ascertained that Lee’s army instead of threatening to attack him in front of Washington, had crossed the Potomac into Maryland. He accordingly made a similar movement, crossing between Harper’s Ferry and the capital. The 27th of June found the greater portion of his forces in the vicinity of Frederick. When nearing this place an order was received relieving him of the command of the Army of the Potomac, and appointing in his place Maj.-Gen. George G. Meade. Considerable astonishment was manifested among the army and the people at this unexpected change. It was subsequently stated that General Hooker was relieved at his own request, some of his plans not meeting with the approval of those in authority. He declared in his orders he felt that his usefulness was impaired, and he relinquished the command with regret at parting from his brave comrades, especially at this time when they were moving to drive the invaders from the loyal States. General Meade, upon whom this unsolicited and unexpected honor and responsibility was conferred, had been identified with the army from its organization, and had proved himself an able and competent officer. On the same day that he assumed command he issued orders for the movement of the army, rendered necessary in order to checkmate the operations of the Confederates.

On the 29th the position of our battery is thus defined by Colonel Abbott, commanding our brigade, in his report of affairs on Little River Turnpike, where our pickets were established. He says:

“I have the honor to report that the enemy have been reconnoitering 22on the Little River Turnpike, just in front of our pickets, both last night and to-day. On the first occasion three men put to flight a whole company of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth New York (infantry), although the only demonstration (the Confederates) made was to retreat on being challenged by the pickets. On the second two armed men shot a civilian and drove two others into our lines in sight of our pickets.

“Fort Worth is too high to command this road by night by artillery fire, and my infantry is too bad to be trusted to protect even a section of the light artillery there, where there is no retreat for it from cavalry.

“I have ridden over the position this morning, and would respectfully suggest that the Twenty-fifth Maine regiment, now near my right, be placed where this company now is, to hold the road, and cover a section of my battery (Hazard’s) to-night.

“After due examination I have decided, unless more force is available, to put the whole battery in position in the rifle-pits, between Forts Worth and Ward, covered by three companies of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth New York infantry, with orders to hold the Leesburg Turnpike, and await further developments in case of an attack to-night.

“I cannot hold the Little River Turnpike without more infantry. If the rebels pass Fort Worth on it, they ought to be stopped by the forces near Alexandria; if they then turn up on the Seminary plateau the light battery is ready to prevent their attacking our line in rear in that vicinity, and the convalescent men ought to hold their own camp. Their raid will thus do little good to them.

23“If I try to block the Little River pike, I fear I shall lose my guns to no purpose.”

Let us pause for awhile to observe the movements of the Union and Confederate armies now approaching Gettysburg, the county seat of Adams County, Pennsylvania, and eight or ten miles north of the Maryland line, and about forty miles north of Frederick, from which place the Federal army moved. On the evening of June 30th the Federal cavalry advance reached Gettysburg, passed through the village and encamped on the northerly side. On the following morning a deadly encounter took place between the Union and Confederate forces, which resulted in the success of the troops of the enemy and in the withdrawal of the Union forces to Cemetery Hill, which lies nearly south of Gettysburg, and derives its name from a cemetery which crowns its summit. Here our troops encamped for the night, throwing up breastworks along the whole front, the artillery well posted, and the positions on Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill (to the right) were made exceedingly strong.

On the morning of July 2d, General Meade arrived on the field, and determined to fight a defensive battle. The Federal line was an irregular semi-circle, the centre of which was Cemetery Hill, fronting the village, and thence running on the left southwest along the ridge fronting the Emmitsburg road, to the hill called Round Top; and on the right running nearly south over Culp’s Hill, and along the ridge fronting Rock Creek to the Baltimore Turnpike. The rebels furiously attacked our lines, and the result of the second day’s battle was the gain of some half a mile of ground 24where the Third Corps had been forced back, and the occupation of the extreme right of the Federal works. The gain of the Confederates on the left was at a heavy cost, the Union lines being in a stronger position than the day before.

The next day, the 3d, preparations were made to dislodge the enemy on our right. Our troops advanced at that point, and drove the entire force of the enemy out, and the Federal line was re-established as on the previous day, the rebels also returning to their former positions. While this engagement was transpiring on the right, it was comparatively quiet along the other parts of the line except the usual desultory picket firing.

At one o’clock a desperate charge on the Union lines at Cemetery Hill was made by the rebels, composed of a division of Longstreet’s corps under Pickett, which led the attack supported by other troops from Longstreet’s and Hill’s corps. Says Longstreet: “The signal gun broke the prevailing stillness, and immediately 150 Confederate cannon burst into a deafening roar, which was answered by a thunder almost as great from the Federal side.” The attack was gallantly made and the struggle fierce, but the picked troops of the rebel army were finally routed, and thus ended one of the greatest battles of modern times, which resulted in a glorious victory to the Union arms and turned the tide of rebel invasion, hurling Lee’s army back into Virginia, discomfited and disheartened.

We will now return to the Department of Washington, which was under the command of Maj.-Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman, with Brig.-Gen. Gustavus A. De Russy commanding 25defenses south of the Potomac, in which the brigade under Col. Henry L. Abbott formed a part. Battery H was attached to this brigade.

At three o’clock on the morning of July 2d, long roll was sounded. Our battery occupied the breastworks near Fort Ward, and remained in that position until reveille.

July 6th. At ten A. M. a review took place of the entire Twenty-second Corps by Generals Casey and De Russy. Our battery is assigned to the First Brigade, Third Division of the corps.

July 10th. The attached men from the Vermont regiments, who have served with the battery since last March, left us to-day. Their term of service has expired and they are about returning to their regiments to be mustered out. They are good soldiers and we part from them with sorrow.

July 16th. Our battery was inspected to-day by Captain Howard on General De Russy’s staff.

July 18th. The paymaster arrived in camp and we received two months’ pay, which was very welcome. While in camp here the several sections of the battery were drilled by the bugle call by First Lieut. Charles F. Mason, he also acting as bugler. First Sergt. Charles E. Bonn also assisted in drilling the battery.

August 6th. We find on this date only twenty-seven men fit for duty in camp, a large number being sick with chills and fever.

August 17th. Capt. Jeffrey Hazard, our battery commander, took his departure, having tendered his resignation 26from the service. He bade us “good bye” at retreat roll call and started for Rhode Island. Captain Hazard was a skillful and efficient officer, loved and respected by his men. While in command of the battery he brought it to a high state of proficiency in drill and discipline. Upon the resignation of Captain Hazard, First Lieut. Charles F. Mason assumed command of the battery. He was a brave and accomplished soldier, having previously served with Captain Hazard in Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. At the battle of Antietam both of these officers, then lieutenants in that battery, after many of their number had been killed or wounded, bravely worked the guns for the want of men.

August 30th. Our battery was inspected by Colonel Abbott, commanding Third Brigade, Twenty-second Army Corps, of the forces south of the Potomac.

August 31st. At 12.30 A. M. we bade farewell to our old camp at Fairfax Seminary and marched to Fort Scott, going into park in that vicinity.

September 1st. Moved our camp to higher land and nearer Fort Scott. Farrier George W. Tracy died to-day in hospital at Fairfax Seminary.

September 12th. Again the welcome paymaster appeared in camp. We signed the rolls and received two months’ pay.

September 30th. First Lieut. Crawford Allen, Jr., of Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, has been promoted to the command of our battery. Captain Allen came to us with a record of good service in the field. He was commissioned 27second lieutenant in Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Nov. 7, 1861, and on the 18th of November, in the following year, was promoted to first lieutenant. He participated with his battery in the Peninsular campaign, and in the battles of Antietam and the first and second Fredericksburg. In the latter engagement, May 2d, 1863, Captain Allen was slightly wounded. He was subsequently made adjutant of his regiment and acting adjutant-general of the artillery brigade of the Sixth Army Corps, which positions he continued to hold until he was promoted to the captaincy of Battery H, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Captain Hazard.

October 14th. We heard the sound of artillery firing in the direction of Thoroughfare Gap, caused by a skirmish of our troops with Gen. Fitz Hugh Lee’s cavalry. Our battery was ordered to hold itself in readiness to move at a moment’s notice.

October 18th. The battery was reviewed by Colonel Abbott, commanding our brigade.

October 20th. Captain Peirce, Chief of Artillery on the staff of General De Russy, inspected our battery to-day.

November 18th. Private Andrew Turner, who had gone to his home in Hope Village on a sick furlough, died in that place on this date.

November 17th. The battery was reviewed by Gen. William F. Barry, chief of artillery.

CHAPTER IV.

Again in Camp Barry—Batteries Reviewed by President Lincoln—Battery H Assigned to the Ninth Army Corps.

On the 22d of November our battery was ordered to proceed to our old camping ground, Camp Barry, on the Bladensburg Road, in the vicinity of Washington. We moved at two P. M. from Fort Scott, passing through Washington to Camp Barry, and occupied the old barracks that we had dedicated on January 1st. As this was the Sabbath, and as we observed the worshipers returning from church, it brought vividly to our minds the scenes we were accustomed to witness in our far-away northern homes, and of the privileges we had been deprived since we “donned the blue” and set forth to defend the Union established by our fathers.

Brevet Lieut.-Col. Crawford Allen, Jr.

29A little more than a year ago we had first encamped on this familiar ground, and although our battery had not suffered from the casualties of direct conflict with the enemy, yet we mourned the loss of several tried comrades who had succumbed to disease and lay buried near the little chapel at Fairfax Station, while others who could not withstand the hardships and exposures incident to a soldier’s life had been discharged from the service for disability, and had returned to their homes with shattered constitutions, the result of disease contracted in the army. Besides, we had lost many by desertion. The men who enlisted in New York had no intention of exposing their worthless bodies to rebel shot or bullet, and such recruits were a dead loss to the government. We record with great satisfaction the fact that but very few of these deserters were men who had enlisted in Rhode Island. Now that we had been rid of these worthless and unprofitable soldiers, those that remained in Camp Barry were comrades whom we had learned to respect and trust, and with whom we were still further to share the vicissitudes of a soldier’s career.

We found on our arrival at Camp Barry that Lieut.-Col. J. Albert Monroe, who had formerly been in command of the camp, had gone to the front and had been promoted to chief of artillery commanding the artillery brigade of the Second Corps. He had been relieved by Lieut.-Col. James A. Hall.

December 1st. A battalion drill of the batteries stationed here took place on East Capitol Hill. The troops consisted of the First Pennsylvania, Seventh Massachusetts, Second Connecticut, Second Maine, Thirty-third New York, Nineteenth New York, Fourth and Fifth New Jersey, and Battery H, First Rhode Island. All of these were light batteries under command of Major Hall.

December 15th. There was a grand review of the several batteries encamped here before President Lincoln and Cabinet 30and General Barry and Staff. The following batteries took part: First Pennsylvania, Second Connecticut, Second Maine, Thirty-third New York, Nineteenth New York, Fifth New Jersey, Fourth New Jersey, and Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. To our battery was accorded the honor of firing a salute upon the arrival of President Lincoln and party at the reviewing stand.

It was an inspiring scene, and we were grateful for the privilege of observing our good president, Abraham Lincoln, a man providentially raised up to lead our nation through the trials and difficulties through which we passed in our late civil conflict. Surely no other man in our times had such a tremendous burden of responsibility thrust upon him. How patiently and uncomplainingly he bore himself during all those years of war is fully recorded by the historian and well known to all.

December 23d. At eleven A. M. a review occurred before Gen. William F. Barry, participated in by all the batteries in camp. It took place on East Capitol Hill, in rear of Lincoln Hospital.

December 31st. We find on this date that our battery is incorporated in the Twenty-second Army Corps, commanded by Maj.-Gen. Christopher G. Augur, and that Lieut.-Col. James A. Hall is in command of our Light Artillery Camp of Instruction.

January 1st, 1864. The battery repeated to-day nearly the same order of exercises which occurred here just one year ago. We moved into new and more commodious barracks than those we had formerly occupied. In the evening a 31turkey supper was provided, and we invited the soldiers of the Third New Jersey and Second Maine batteries to be our guests. After supper, in the absence of the fair sex the comrades arranged what is known among old soldiers as a “stag dance.” This is a dance with the ladies left out. The comrades who personated the ladies were distinguished from their partners by white handkerchiefs tied on their right arms. And now the fun began. A grand march was the first in order, and then came the ball, which consisted of the following programme: Quadrille, Lanciers, Cotillion, Spanish Quadrille, Portland Fancy, followed by an old-fashioned Irish Break Down (with no broken heads, however). The entertainment continued until two o’clock the next morning, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all present.

February 5th. The following recruits came to the battery to-day: Edward Sweeney, William H. Stone, Thomas J. Lofts, Charles E. Millard and Josiah Sheffield.

February 12th. A grand review of all the batteries in camp took place to-day on East Capitol Hill. On returning to camp we learned that Private Henry N. Arnold had taken poison. The surgeons in charge were called to attend him, but he was beyond all help and died in great agony at four P. M. What prompted Comrade Arnold to commit this rash deed we never learned. His father came and conveyed his remains to Warwick, R. I., where they were interred in the family cemetery.

February 15th. The following recruits came to us: Charles Tweedale, Apollos Seekell, Hurbert Ochee, Franklin W. Dawley and George A. Williams.

32February 21st. A number of the men attended Divine service in Washington. In the evening our battery held services in the barracks. A clergyman from Washington, of the Free Will Baptist denomination, conducted the exercises.

March 3d. We had a grand review before President Lincoln and Cabinet on East Capitol Hill to-day, all the batteries encamped here participating. As on a previous occasion, Battery H was privileged to fire the salute on the arrival at the grand stand of the Presidential party, an honor we greatly appreciated. General Barry and staff and a large concourse of spectators also witnessed the ceremony.

March 14th. The battery was reviewed on East Capitol Hill by Gen. A. P. Howe.

Sunday, March 20th. Mounted inspection at ten A. M. Divine service was held in our barracks in the evening, led by a clergyman from the city.

April 10th. Mounted inspection to-day at ten A. M. The battery has at last received marching orders, and we expect to join the Ninth Army Corps, commanded by Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, when it arrives from Annapolis. This news was joyfully received by us, as we had become weary of the seeming inactivity of camp life and longed for more active duties in the field.

April 24th. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside and Rev. Augustus Woodbury, late chaplain of the First Rhode Island Infantry, visited us to-day and received a soldier’s welcome. We have now received orders to join the old Ninth Army Corps. We are proud of being attached to this gallant 33corps, commanded by the loved and esteemed Burnside, Rhode Island’s foremost soldier. This corps since its transfer from the West has been reorganized at Annapolis, and now numbers nearly twenty-five thousand men. It is composed of four divisions, three of white and one of colored troops. It has been well designated as “Burnside’s Geography Class,” for its tattered banners bear the inscriptions of battles in six states in which it has participated. Its history began in 1861, and was then known as “Burnside’s Coast Division,” and won substantial victories for the Union cause in North Carolina. It was afterwards reenforced by large accessions of regiments to its force, and was then organized into what is now designated as the Ninth Corps. After the transfer of the larger portion of the corps to the Army of the Potomac it was joined by a division from Port Royal under command of Gen. Isaac I. Stevens. It fought with great bravery at Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg, and when General Burnside was placed in command of the Department of the Ohio, the Ninth Corps was assigned to that department. It was subsequently dispatched to the assistance of General Grant at Vicksburg. It arrived at General Grant’s lines on the 14th, and was immediately employed in protecting the besieging forces from any hostile demonstrations in their rear. With other troops it kept the rebel General Johnston at bay, forced him back and drove him beyond Jackson, and then returned to Vicksburg. Its presence assured the successful termination of the siege. It was afterwards ordered to Annapolis, as we 34have already mentioned, and is now about to enter another field of action.

On the 23d of April, 1864, the Ninth Corps marched from Annapolis and proceeded to Washington, encamping on the Bladensburg Road about six miles from the city, on the night of the 24th. The next day, as it passed our camp at eleven A. M. on its way to Washington, Battery H joined the column and moved to its position, it being assigned to the First Brigade of the First Division. Our division commander was Gen. Thomas G. Stevenson; our brigade commander, Col. Sumner Carruth. On its arrival in the city the corps marched down Fourteenth Street and passed in review before President Lincoln, General Burnside, and a number of civil and military dignitaries. The colored division, under General Ferrero, was the first body of colored troops that had marched through Washington, and they appeared to great advantage, President Lincoln acknowledging their cheers with great respect and courtesy. The corps crossed Long Bridge and went into camp near Alexandria.

Lieut. Benjamin H. Child.

CHAPTER V.

Battery H with the Ninth Corps Moves towards Fairfax Court House—March to the Rapidan—Battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania—Battery Ordered to Washington—Fort Richardson.

As our battery had now joined its fortunes for a time with a corps that had won a well-earned reputation for valor shown on many hard contested fields, it was but natural we should realize that we were leaving behind us the comparative quiet of a defensive position to enter upon the more exciting scenes of aggressive warfare. What the future had in store for us we could only conjecture, but we were desirous of performing our share of labor and privation if we could but hasten the final overthrow of the fratricidal strife now waging so fiercely in our land.

April 27th. At eight A. M. the battery moved with the corps on the road towards Fairfax Court House. Our division led the advance. Camped that night at the above named place.

April 28th. Marched to Bristoe Station, arriving there at eight P. M., and encamped for the night.

36April 29th. At seven A. M. moved with our brigade and division to Catletts’ Station; reached there about two P. M. First Sergt. Charles E. Bonn left us to-day, he having received a commission as second lieutenant in Battery D, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. We bade him “good bye” with regret, as he had proved himself an efficient soldier and worthy comrade.

May 1st. No forward movement of our corps this beautiful Sabbath day, and we are enjoying ourselves by remaining quiet in camp. In the night a severe rain storm came on, which made our situation anything but agreeable, and was a strange contrast to the earlier part of the day.

May 2d. We received to-day twenty-five attached men from the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery. It was a welcome accession as our battery was greatly reduced in numbers. One of the Fourteenth shot himself severely in the hand, which will probably disable him for future service in the army.

May 4th. Moved at 7.30 A. M. Our battery and brigade took the advance. Marched as far as Brandy Station, where, after a brief halt, we again started on our way toward Rappahannock Station, and encamped on the same ground occupied by our right section one year ago, when it was performing picket duty on the Rappahannock River.

May 5th. Moved at 5.45 A. M. and crossed the Rapidan. The Army of the Potomac was now about to begin a campaign which was to finally result in crushing out the Rebellion. Upon the advance of the army soon after midnight, May 3d and 4th, from its position north of the Rapidan, the 37Ninth Corps, which had been guarding the Orange and Alexandria Railroad from Bull Run moved forward to preserve control of it in case the crossing of the Union army should be long delayed. On receiving word that the army had safely crossed the Rapidan, Burnside moved across with his corps and found our troops hotly engaged with the enemy. And now began the sanguinary battle of the Wilderness. The country into which the Union army had advanced was heavily wooded and covered with dwarf pines, cedars and scrub oaks, and presented serious obstacles for the movement of infantry, while it was wholly unfit for the use of cavalry or artillery. Our battery encamped that night near the Rapidan, and we were ordered to hold ourselves in readiness to move at a moment’s notice.

On the morning of the 6th of May Hancock with his corps was ordered by General Grant to make an assault in his front at five o’clock. General Burnside, who was approaching with his two divisions (the other, the colored division, having been sent to guard the wagon train,) was directed to move in between Wadsworth’s division of Warren’s corps, which was on the right of Hancock, and the remainder of Warren’s corps, which was still further to the right. Burnside was ordered, if he should succeed in breaking the enemy’s centre, to swing around to the left and envelop the right of Lee’s army. He arrived at the Wilderness Tavern at 6.50 A. M., and at that time was directed to send a division to the support of Hancock, but to continue with the remainder of his command in the execution of his previous order. Burnside had great difficulty in making his way through the 38dense forests which retarded his progress, but he finally succeeded in getting into the position assigned him.

Our battery marched at four A. M. to near Chancellorsville, where we heard heavy firing at the front. As we approached the Wilderness we passed many of the wounded going to the rear. We moved towards Yellow Pine Church and joined the artillery reserve of the Ninth Corps, commanded by Capt. John Edwards, Jr. Here we saw our infantry charging and driving the enemy across Mine Run. The Confederates reformed charged in return, forcing our troops back, to be driven themselves again in turn. This was repeated three times until our men finally held the ground and the enemy retired. The battery went into position near Yellow Pine Church, well advanced, remaining in position till nearly dark, then changed position and moved to the left and halted near Chancellorsville. After a brief stay here we marched a few miles and halted in the vicinity of Marysville, remaining in the saddle all night. We learned that our troops had taken 2,000 prisoners and forty-two pieces of artillery during the day. Thus ended the battle of the Wilderness. Our losses were severe. Those of the enemy were even more so.

On the evening of May 7th the army commenced its march towards Spottsylvania Court House. General Grant’s object in moving to this place was to prevent Lee from returning to Richmond in time to attempt to crush Butler, who was at City Point. By accident Lee obtained possession of Spottsylvania before our troops arrived. He had ordered Longstreet’s corps, now commanded by Anderson, 39to move in the morning (the 8th), but the woods being still on fire Anderson could not go into bivouac and marched directly to Spottsylvania that night. Some fortifications had already been thrown up here, and the Confederates immediately began to extend them, while a force was sent out to delay the advance of the Federal army. General Warren’s corps, after marching all night, reached a point about three miles from Spottsylvania Court House early Sunday morning, May 8th. As General Warren’s troops advanced the enemy’s artillery commenced to throw shells at it, but their cavalry and infantry fell back without offering much resistance. It soon appeared that they had selected a better position for battle. As the Union troops reached a large clearing the artillery of the rebels was found posted there with infantry supports. Beyond these was other infantry supports. General Warren immediately made preparations for battle. The Union troops were soon engaged and an obstinate combat ensued. The losses were large and many officers fell, and regiments that went into the contest two or three hundred strong returned with a mere handful of men. General Warren, however, steadily gained ground in spite of the efforts of the enemy to drive him back, and in the afternoon, being reinforced by a brigade from General Sedgwick’s corps, he succeeded in driving the enemy back to their intrenched line. The battle then ceased till the other corps should arrive and get into position. On the morning of May 7th, we find Battery H moving towards Mary’s Cross Roads, where it halted and awaited orders.

40May 8th, the battery marched at seven A. M., crossed the Po River and halted near Spottsylvania Court House. We could hear heavy cannonading on our extreme front.

On the 9th Battery H occupied the same position as the day before, opposite the court house. It was a great boon to our men to be allowed to obtain some needed rest, as they were very tired, and our horses had not been unharnessed for three days and nights. Most of this day was occupied by the Federal troops (nearly all of which arrived during the night and on that morning) in manœuvring to obtain good positions for further operations and in throwing up breastworks. It was while posting his forces and superintending the mounting of some artillery that the intrepid commander of the Sixth Corps, the lamented Sedgwick, was killed by one of the sharpshooters of the enemy. He was remonstrated with for exposing himself unnecessarily, for the bullets were whizzing through the air uncomfortably close to those standing near the general. “Why,” said Sedgwick, “they cannot hit an elephant at this distance.” Hardly had these words been uttered when the bullet of the sharpshooter struck him, and he fell into the arms of his attendant officer. He was one of the ablest soldiers in the army. He was modest, manly and courageous. General Grant says of him: “His loss was a severe one to the Army of the Potomac and to the nation.” He was beloved by the soldiers of the Sixth Corps, who regarded him as a father.

May 10th. At ten A. M. the march of our battery was reversed to Mary’s Cross Roads. Marched a few miles and camped for the night. We found the roads very muddy. 41Our base of supplies having been changed to Aquia Creek, we were ordered to join General Abercrombie’s forces at that place.

We learn that in the fight at Spottsylvania to-day the commander of our division in the Ninth Corps, Brig.-Gen. Thomas G. Stevenson, was killed. He was a brave and fearless soldier. Woodbury, in his Burnside and the Ninth Corps, says of him: “But the Ninth Corps suffered a severe loss in the death of General Stevenson, the commander of the First Division. He was killed early in the day by one of the enemy’s riflemen, while near his headquarters.” He further says: “He was the son of Hon. J. Thomas Stevenson (of Boston), well known as an able lawyer and a sagacious man of affairs. He was educated in the best schools of Boston, and at an early age he entered the counting-room of one of the most active merchants of that city. There by his faithfulness in duty, his promptness, and his generosity of disposition, he secured the entire confidence and love of his principal and the high esteem of the business community, and a brilliant commercial career opened before him. But when his country called him he could not neglect her summons. The parting words of his father to himself and his younger brother when they left home for the field well express the appreciation in which his domestic virtues were held: ‘Be as good soldiers as you have been sons. Your country can ask no more than that of you, and God will bless you.’

“In the spring of 1861 he was orderly sergeant of the New England Guards, and, upon the formation of the Fourth 42battalion of Massachusetts infantry he was chosen captain of one of its companies. On the 25th of April the battalion was sent to garrison Fort Independence, in Boston Harbor, and, on the 4th of May, Captain Stevenson was promoted to the rank of major. In this position he was distinguished for an excellent faculty for discipline and organization, which were subsequently of great benefit to him. On the first of August he received authority to raise and organize a regiment of infantry for a term of three years, and on the 7th of September he went into camp at Readville with twenty men. On the 9th of December he left the State of Massachusetts with the Twenty-fourth regiment—one of the finest and best drilled, organized, equipped and disciplined body of troops that Massachusetts had yet sent to the war. His regiment was assigned to General Foster’s brigade in the North Carolina expedition, and he soon gained the respect and friendship of his superior officers.

“The conduct of the Twenty-fourth regiment and its commander in North Carolina has already been made a matter of record. When Colonel Stevenson was assigned to the command of a brigade, in April, 1862, the choice was unanimously approved by his companions-in-arms. General Burnside regarded him as one of his best officers. ‘He has shown great courage and skill,’ once wrote the general, ‘and in organization and discipline he has no superior.’ General Foster was enthusiastic in his commendation. ‘He stands as high as any officer or soldier in the army of the United States,’ said he, ‘on the list of noble, loyal and devoted men.’ On the 27th of December he was promoted to the rank of 43brigadier-general, and, on the 14th of March, 1863, he was confirmed and commissioned to that grade. In February, 1863, he accompanied General Foster to South Carolina, where his brigade was attached to the Tenth Corps, and where he served with great fidelity and zeal throughout the year under Generals Foster, Hunter and Gillmore. In April, 1864, he reported to General Burnside at Annapolis, and was assigned to the command of the First Division.”

May 11th. Early this morning 9,000 rebel prisoners taken at the battle of Spottsylvania passed our camp going to the rear under guard.

May 12th. The men were given permission to view forty-two pieces of artillery taken from the enemy at Spottsylvania, as they were parked in the vicinity of our camp. Marched at seven A. M. to Oak Hill and camped for the night. Here we found batteries D and G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, the Third New Jersey, Second Maine, Eleventh Massachusetts, and Twenty-second New York batteries, and the First Rhode Island Cavalry, besides three regiments of the infantry of the Invalid Corps.

May 13th. Marched at seven A. M. for Marye’s Heights, where we encamped for the night.

May 14th. Although yesterday was stormy, this morning it cleared off and the weather was very pleasant, giving the men an opportunity to dry their clothing. About eleven P. M. we were routed out, ordered to hitch up and prepare to move at a moment’s notice.

May 15th. At four A. M. made preparations to move, but 44did not get started until six A. M., when we marched as far as Belle Fonte and encamped.

May 16th. At eight A. M. our battery moved into Fredericksburg and went into camp on the west side of the city. While here permission was given our men to visit the place and observe the effects of the destruction made by the shot and shell of Burnside’s army in 1862. Some of the churches and houses were badly riddled. Our corps commander, General Abercrombie, is waiting for the Eighth Corps to pass through the city to the front; then we will cross the Rappahannock River and march to Aquia Creek Landing to guard the base of supplies.

May 17th. Marched at 7.30 A. M. through Fredericksburg, crossing the Rappahannock River on pontoons, and encamped near Falmouth for the night.

May 18th. Again on the move towards Aquia Creek Landing. On arriving there went into camp on high land near the Landing.

May 19th. It is raining this morning and our boys are out on a foraging expedition, searching for hard tack and salt pork, for we are very short of rations, being allowanced to three hard tack a day until our supplies are brought down the river. There was a regiment of heavy artillery breaking camp near us and they left a number of boxes of hard bread and some salt pork, which our men brought into camp, and it proved a welcome addition to our stock of rations until our supplies can be forwarded to us.

May 20th. During the day four hundred rebel prisoners passed our camp going to the Landing to take the boat north.

45May 24th. At seven A. M. we marched to White Oak Barn, reporting to Major Cowan, chief of artillery. Waited in line three hours for the Third New Jersey Battery, which was lost somewhere on the road. When they came up our chief of artillery rode out to meet the captain. The major said: “Captain, where have you been?” “I have been trying to find the ‘white oak barn’ all the morning,” replied the Jerseyman. The major then said: “Here is the ‘White Oak Barn,’ captain, right here.” After a hearty laugh at the expense of the Jerseyman, the whole command moved to and through Fredericksburg and encamped a few miles beyond the city, and were guarded by the First Rhode Island Cavalry. Towards morning we marched to Westmoreland Plain.

May 25th. Moved at 7.30 A. M. towards Port Royal, Va. One squadron of the First Rhode Island Cavalry acted as advance guard, with squadrons on our right and left flanks as a precautionary measure against a surprise. Our battery followed the advance guard of the First Rhode Island Cavalry. During the day the Third New Jersey Battery again lost its way. The column arrived at Port Conway about 4.30 P. M. Here we found the Third New Jersey in position with their guns trained on the woods beyond the river. At seven P. M. the battery crossed the river on pontoons to Port Royal and encamped a mile and a half from the landing on Dr. Judd’s farm, a short distance from the barn where, in the following year, the assassinator of President Lincoln (Booth) was shot by Sergt. (Boston) Corbett.

May 28th. We are expecting to move with the troops 46here by transports to protect the capital from an attack by Gen. Jubal Early’s forces who have been detached from Lee’s army and are now moving in the direction of Washington.

Sunday, May 29th. Our battery was put aboard the transport St. Nicholas. We moved out on the river in tow of the steamer General Hooker, having for our protection and escort three gunboats.

May 30th. Steamed down the Rappahannock River at five A. M., under the escort of the gunboats, and anchored opposite Port Tappahannock.

May 31st. Moved again this morning down the river and anchored at nightfall.

June 2d. Arrived at the Sixth Street wharf in Washington at ten P. M., but did not disembark.

June 3d. This morning the battery disembarked, and marched to the Arsenal and turned our pieces over to the authorities in charge there. We then proceeded to the general corral and turned in our horses, as it is rumored that we are to go on duty acting as heavy artillery to garrison the forts in the defenses of Washington. From the corral we marched to the Soldiers Rest, where we were quartered for the night.

June 4th. At ten A. M. marched out of the Soldiers Rest, through Washington over Long Bridge to Fort Richardson, where we are to perform garrison duty for awhile.

First Sergt. George Messinger.

CHAPTER VI.

Life at Fort Richardson—Moved to Fort Smith and stationed there—Battery equipped again and sent to City Point.

Once more our battery was destined to forego an active participation in the stirring scenes at the front, and to the disappointment of our men we were assigned to the dull routine of garrison life, instead of the more congenial duties of a mounted battery.

Nothing of especial importance transpired during our stay in Fort Richardson. Our men were drilled at the guns in heavy artillery work, and also practiced in the use of mortars. An occasional long roll at night would relieve the monotony of our existence, when the men would hasten to the guns remaining there until reveille.

It was a source of regret to us that we were not permitted to remain with the Ninth Corps, which was at that time with the Army of the Potomac confronting the enemy at Cold Harbor, where a severe battle had just been fought. After the Wilderness and Spottsylvania battles General Grant became convinced that he had more artillery than could be 48brought into action at any one time. It occupied the roads in marching and taxing the trains in bringing up forage. He therefore sent back to the defenses of Washington over one hundred pieces of artillery, with the horses and caissons. As will be observed our battery was among the number returned. But we did not share our misfortunes alone, for Battery D, of our regiment, was ordered to turn in its guns and equipments to the Arsenal at Washington, and for a time garrisoned Fort Lincoln within the defenses.

General Burnside, who always took pride and satisfaction in having Rhode Island troops in his command, in a letter to General Grant dated June 28, 1864, requesting that more artillery might be added to his corps, said: “In addition to Benjamin’s battery, I should like Gitting’s battery of the Third Artillery and Allen’s (H) and Buckley’s (D) Rhode Island batteries, unless by so doing it would bring up too much field artillery. These have all been sent to Washington. If we are to continue our operations here, guns of heavier calibre will also be required, but these have been promised by General Hunt.”

We conclude that General Grant deemed it inexpedient to comply with this request, as the Rhode Island batteries were not sent to the Ninth Corps. At this time our battery was attached to the Twenty-second Corps, DeRussy’s Division, in the District of Alexandria.

July 10th. Left Fort Richardson at 9.30 A. M., and marched to Fort Smith, which is situated on the Potomac River, near Aqueduct Bridge. On our arrival at the fort we were assigned to No. 1 Barracks. During the night the 49assembly call was sounded, and we were ordered to take muskets and fall in. This greatly displeased our men, and at first they were inclined to rebel, but better counsels prevailed, and they accepted the situation with the best grace possible. Associated with us in the fort were several companies of the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery.

On the 14th, the left section of our battery was sent to Bailey’s Cross Roads for picket duty.

July 18th. Inspection at 10.30 A. M. of all the troops in the fort.

July 19th. The centre section was detailed for picket duty near Fort Strong. On the 25th the right section went on picket at the same place.

August 16th. Our battery was inspected and reviewed at ten A. M. by Capt. C. H. Whittlesey, Assistant Adjutant-General of the Artillery Reserve.

August 18th. At nine A. M. we bade adieu to the attached men of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio Infantry, who have served with us since the first of July. We held these soldiers in high esteem. Their term of service has expired and they are about to return to their regiment for muster-out. The original members of our battery are very much exercised, as they claim that they enlisted to serve the unexpired term of the regiment, and their term of service has already expired, and insist that they too should be mustered out. A meeting was held in the company mess room, and Corporal Howard 50was appointed a committee to wait upon President Lincoln and present our grievances to him. Upon interviewing the president he listened attentively to the complaint made by the committee, and then said: “I see by your petition that it has been through all the departments, and I find that your claim is right and just, and you should be discharged. You come at the eleventh hour to ‘Old Abe’ thinking he will order you discharged. But the government has 50,000 men just the same as you are. We cannot spare these men at present, but as soon as you can possibly be spared you shall be sent home. I am truly sorry for your men.” And this closed the interview of President Lincoln with our committee.

August 29th. Private Earl Fenner was detailed as acting sergeant, and ordered to duty as sergeant of the guard at the fort. Privates Sampson, Alderwick and Stone were detailed for picket, and ordered to report to the commanding officer of the picket near Fort Strong. During the afternoon the paymaster appeared in the fort and the men were paid two months’ pay. The men on picket were ordered to return to the fort and receive their pay, but they arrived too late as the paymaster had gone, and they were ordered back on picket, Private Alderwick having been detailed to relieve Private Hayfield on the outpost. On proceeding to the place, he was challenged and shot by Hayfield. He was hit in the right shoulder, causing a severe wound. It was generally thought that Hayfield was an unfit person to occupy the position of an outpost.

Lieut. Hezekiah Potter.

51August 31st. Long roll was sounded at three A. M. All the companies in the fort were ordered to the guns and remained there until reveille.

October 6th. Artificer Leon Allison was sent into Washington to-day by Captain Allen on official business. On his return he was brutally assaulted and all his valuables taken from him, even to the shoes on his feet. On his arrival at the fort he was sent to the hospital, where it was found that his jaw was broken.

October 13th. Private James Booth died in hospital near Fort Strong. He was buried by a detail of men from our battery.

October 16th. We have received welcome news to-day. Our battery is ordered to Camp Barry, where we are to receive guns and horses and be remounted again as a light battery. The men are delighted and almost beside themselves with joy. They have been very much dissatisfied, not having enlisted as heavy artillerymen it was but natural that they should long to return to their own arm of the service. We moved from Fort Smith at ten A. M., and on arriving at Camp Barry occupied barracks No. 1.

October 18th. Twenty-five men were detailed to draw horses and harnesses for the battery. This order was obeyed with alacrity. We were subsequently ordered to draw a battery of Napoleon guns.

October 25th. More good news. At twelve A. M. we marched into Washington to Sixth Street wharf and embarked on steamer St. Nicholas, bound for City Point, Va., where we are to join General Benham’s forces. This command is guarding the base of supplies for twenty miles or 52more down the James River, and the line of breastworks from City Point toward our front.

October 26th. We arrived at City Point at eleven A. M. and went into camp near the Landing for the night.

October 27th. Marched to main line of breastworks and encamped. At twelve P. M. the long roll was sounded, caused by an attack by the enemy on our front and the rebel gunboats on the James River. The cannoneers were ordered to their guns and remained there until reveille. On the 31st the battery was mustered for two months’ pay.

During the month of November all was quiet along our lines and winter quarters were ordered to be built for the men. They were arranged in groups of four. The month was cold and stormy.

December 25th, being Christmas, we were bountifully supplied with turkeys for our Christmas dinner. There was a turkey for each group of four men who occupied the log cabins which had been erected the previous month. It was a Christmas long to be remembered by every man in the battery, bringing to mind the good cheer and kind faces of our loved ones at home, and we looked forward with intense longing for the time when we should be permitted to return to them again.

CHAPTER VII.

Battery H Proceeds to Petersburg and Encamps near Fort Tracy—Life in the Trenches—Rebel Attack on Fort Stedman Repulsed.

When Battery H was ordered to the defenses of Washington, in May, 1864, the Army of the Potomac was engaged in a deadly struggle with the Confederate forces at Spottsylvania. Shortly after this encounter with the enemy Grant commenced his celebrated left flank movement, crossed the North Anna River, where a sharp battle was fought, and a few days later the Union army was engaged in the more hotly contested battle of Cold Harbor. After this engagement General Grant became convinced that he could not accomplish all he desired north of Richmond, and determined to hold the ground then occupied by his forces, and, after his cavalry had been sent to break up the railroad communication between Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley and Lynchburg, he began to move the Army of the Potomac again by the left flank to the south side of the James River, and where he believed he could more effectually cut off the sources of the enemy’s supplies. He accordingly moved his army from 54Cold Harbor and crossed the Chickahominy and James Rivers, and finally reached the vicinity of Petersburg, which he proceeded to invest with his forces. To the Army of the Potomac was entrusted the task of investing the place, while the Army of the James occupied Bermuda Hundred and the ground in possession of our troops north of the James River.

The Army of the Potomac was still investing Petersburg when Battery H reached City Point, in October, 1864. It will be observed that the battery did not immediately join the forces on the Petersburg front at that time, but remained at City Point until Jan. 2, 1865, when it was ordered to join the Artillery Brigade of the Sixth Corps.

On the 2d of January our battery moved toward Patrick Station, in front of Petersburg, Va., arriving there between three and four in the forenoon, and went into camp near Fort Tracy.

January 7th, soon after tattoo, the long roll sounded, and the men of the battery not on guard were ordered into the fort at double-quick and the troops on the right manned Batteries Nos. 9, 10, and 11. As our forces on the extreme right of the line, beyond the “Yellow House,” were heavily engaged with the enemy, our cannoneers remained at their guns till reveille.

Again on the 9th we were routed out at four o’clock in the morning by the sound of the long roll, caused by our pickets on the right of our lines being driven in by the enemy, and a sharp engagement followed. The rebels were finally driven back with a heavy loss. Our cannoneers, as usual, stood by their guns till morning.

55While our forces were besieging Petersburg, the pickets of the two armies would frequently engage in conversation, and a colloquy like the following would take place:

“I say, Billy Yank?”

“What do you want, Johnny Reb?”

“Have you got any soft tack?”

“Yes,” replied the Yank. “Do you want to trade tobacco for soft tack?”

“Yes,” said the Reb.

“Lay down your gun, then,” says our Yankee soldier, “and we will trade with you.”

Then the pickets on either side would approach each other and exchange soft tack for tobacco, and other commodities. This illustrates the good feeling that existed between the men who perhaps a few hours before had been opposed to each other in deadly combat, and the war might possibly have been brought to a speedier termination if it had been left to the soldiers of the two contending armies to settle.

On the 9th of January long roll sounded about four P. M., when we found that our pickets had been driven in on the right of our lines. A sharp engagement ensued between our troops and the enemy, which finally resulted in the rebels being forced back to their former positions with considerable loss. Our men stood to their guns until seven o’clock in the morning.

In consequence of our close proximity to the enemy, and the fear that they might make a sudden attack on our immediate front, the men were strictly enjoined not to leave camp 56without permission. On the evening of the 11th heavy firing was heard on the right of our lines, and we were ordered to be ready to move at short notice. The left section of our battery, under command of Lieut. Anthony B. Horton, had been ordered on the morning of this date to Hatcher’s Run for picket duty. This was in accordance with a movement in conjunction with other troops to get possession of the South Side Railroad. This section returned to camp on the 13th. At midnight we were again aroused from our slumbers by the sound of the long roll. We were led to expect that the enemy might be endeavoring to make an attack on our lines directly in our front, as heavy firing was heard in that direction. This, however, proved to be only a feint to withdraw attention from our right where the real attack of the enemy was made. They did not succeed, however, in gaining any advantage at that point and were forced to retire.

Again on the 14th the cannoneers were summoned to their posts to be ready to repel an attack of the enemy, and were ordered to remain by their pieces till reveille the next morning. On the succeeding night the same programme was repeated, with the exception that the men were allowed to retire at twelve P. M. On the 16th, one-half of the men of the battery remained by the guns until midnight, and the other half from midnight until the next morning. On the 19th at ten P. M. orders were received to be prepared to march to Hatcher’s Run at short notice. At reveille on the 20th the orders were countermanded and we returned to our quarters.

57For several days we were occupied in constructing a barrack to shelter us from the inclement weather. It was built of logs and said to resemble somewhat Noah’s ark. This ark was eighty-five feet long, seventeen feet wide, and a roof was made of poles, taking ninety-two pieces of our shelter tents to cover it. Five chimneys were built, with the intention of carrying the smoke out from the ark, but on the contrary when the wind was high, about as much smoke remained inside as was carried out at the top of these so-called chimneys, and occasioned the men to designate it as “The Old Smoke House.”

Perhaps it may not be amiss to insert the following stanzas, as they portrayed our thoughts and feelings at that time, and are indicative of the many privations and hardships endured by our soldiers at the front:

On the 7th of February cannonading was heard on our left in the direction of the position occupied by the Second Corps, and we understand that the Fifth and Second Corps with Gregg’s cavalry on the fifth of this month moved out from our left to Reams’s Station, and thence to Dinwiddie Court House, the Fifth Corps being directed to turn the enemy’s right, while the Second assailed it in front. The two corps then took position on the rebel flank, Smythe’s division, and McAllister’s brigade of Mott’s (of the Second Corps) gallantly repulsed the enemy’s attempt to turn the right of the former. The Confederates then sent a strong force around our left to strike it in flank and rear. Gregg’s cavalry was the first assailed and pushed back to Hatcher’s Run; Ayres’s division, which was hurrying up to the support of Crawford’s (both of the Fifth Corps), was next stricken in flank while marching, and pushed back, when the blow fell on Crawford with heavy loss. Following up their success the Confederates then attacked Humphrey’s (Second) Corps, which had had time to intrench, and which promptly sent them to the right about. The ground taken by the Second Corps was held, and our left thus permanently 59extended to Hatcher’s Run. These movements to the left involved the transfer of the Sixth and Ninth Corps to new positions. General Wheaton’s division of the Sixth Corps was engaged on the 7th, losing seventeen men wounded and about fifty prisoners. The engagement resulted in a prolongation of our line for a few miles and its intrenchment for a future point of departure. Lieut. Anthony B. Morton, with the left section of our battery, accompanied the Sixth Corps in this movement.

February 21st, a salute was fired in honor of the capture and occupation of Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina, by the army of Sherman, which had just completed its famous “march to the sea,” and was then moving through that state toward Goldsboro, North Carolina. That evening expecting an attack from the rebels, we remained by our guns all night, but no enemy appeared.

On the 22d, this being the birthday of the “Father of his Country,” we were hoping that the trite saying of “all quiet along the lines” might be our experience, and that we be allowed to celebrate it in a becoming manner, but we were doomed to disappointment, as the boom of cannon on our right, where the Ninth Corps was located, was a sure indication that the rebels were about to commence a celebration on their own account. At eight P. M. long roll sounded and our cannoneers repaired to their posts at the guns on the double-quick. The Fifth Corps, which was stationed in our rear, hastened to the assistance of the Ninth Corps. The Confederates had driven in our pickets and their reserves, and captured Batteries Nine, Ten and Eleven, near Yellow 60House, on the Welden Railroad, holding them for a short time. Our troops soon recovered from the attack, and in turn poured a heavy flanking fire on the Confederates, causing them to evacuate our batteries and retire in haste to their own lines.

February 26th, the left section of our battery, under Lieutenant Horton, was ordered to Hatcher’s Run to participate in a movement in conjunction with portions of the Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth Corps. He returned to the battery with his section on the 28th.

Early in March President Davis and General Lee had a consultation about the situation of affairs in and about Richmond and Petersburg, and they came to the conclusion that they must evacuate those places as soon as possible. General Lee determined to make an attack upon our lines around Petersburg to aid him in his plan of escape by the Danville Road. Near daybreak on the morning of the 25th, General Gordon (Confederate) made an attack on Fort Stedman and Battery Ten, nearly east of Petersburg, where our lines were the closest together. They captured our pickets and sent them to the rear as prisoners. Then they came upon our main line, where our men were sleeping, surprising them, capturing many and putting to flight the residue. Then turning to the right and left they took possession of Fort Stedman and Battery No. Ten. They also charged and carried Batteries Eleven and Twelve to our left, which they turned upon City Point.

In the absence of General Meade, who was at City Point, General Parke, commander of the Ninth Corps, took command. 61He ordered Hartranft with his division to the right of the breach, where he headed the rebels off in that direction and drove them back into Fort Stedman, while Wilcox with his division drove the enemy back into the intrenched lines which they had captured, and Batteries Eleven and Twelve were retaken by our forces. General Parke threw a line around outside of the captured fort and batteries, and the Confederates, being completely hemmed in, surrendered themselves as prisoners. General Meade, who had now arrived, at once ordered an advance along the front of the other corps holding our works on the left. Our forces succeeded in wresting from the enemy their intrenched picket line, which was held and strengthened by our troops.

While heavy firing was going on in our front, from the position of our battery near Fort Fisher we witnessed a grand and imposing sight as our infantry marched out of our lines and moved forward to the attack. This movement was observed by President Lincoln and several members of his Cabinet.

On the 28th of March our battery was ordered to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.

CHAPTER VIII.

Forward Movement of the Army of the Potomac—Capture of Petersburg and Richmond—Pursuit of Lee’s Army—Battle of Sailor’s Creek.

General Grant was now tightening his grip on the rebel lines, and he ordered a forward movement of all the forces concentrated around Petersburg, with the intention of capturing that city and Richmond also. On the 29th, in a communication to General Sheridan, he says: “Our line is now unbroken from the Appomattox to Dinwiddie. We are all ready, however, to give up all, from the Jerusalem Plank Road to Hatcher’s Run, whenever the forces can be used advantageously.... I now feel like ending the matter, if it is possible to do so, before going back. I do not want you, therefore, to cut loose and go after the enemy’s roads at present. In the morning push around the enemy, if you can, and get on to his right rear.... We will act all together as one army, until it is seen what can be done with the enemy.”

The rain fell in torrents from the night of the 29th to the morning of the 31st, and the roads were almost impassable. Sheridan advanced from Dinwiddie Court House, on the 6330th, towards Five Forks, and found the enemy there in full force, and, reinforced by the rebel cavalry, forced him back to Dinwiddie Court House. Here General Sheridan, instead of retreating with his command to the main army, deployed his cavalry on foot, leaving only mounted men enough to take charge of the horses, and compelled the enemy to deploy over a vast extent of wooded and broken country, making his progress slow. Two divisions of the Fifth Corps and General Mackenzie’s cavalry were sent to Sheridan’s assistance.

Thus reinforced, General Sheridan on the morning of the 1st of April drove the enemy back on Five Forks, where he assaulted and carried his strongly fortified works, capturing all his artillery and between five and six thousand prisoners.

Our battery marched at twelve P. M. to Fort Fisher, where the signal gun was to be fired at four A. M. and answered on our left by troops at Hatcher’s Run and on the right of our lines near Yellow House, which were signals for a general advance of our army on the works of the enemy. We received orders to join the First Brigade, First Division, of the Sixth Corps. This gallant corps had already won imperishable renown on many sanguinary fields under the lamented Sedgwick, and now, under Wright, its able corps commander, still maintained its well-earned reputation.

Our division commander, Gen. Frank Wheaton, a native of Rhode Island, was a brave and accomplished officer, respected and esteemed by every soldier of his command. The following sketch is taken from Bartlett’s Memoirs of Rhode Island Officers: “He is the son of Dr. Francis L. 64Wheaton [himself a surgeon in the war] and Amelia S. (Burrell) Wheaton. He was born in Providence, received his education in the public schools in his native city, and on graduating from the high school entered on a partial course of study in Brown University preparatory to his destined pursuit in life, that of civil engineering.

“In 1854, he went on a survey as chief of a party of reconnaissance to meet the Mexican commissioner, Senor Salazar.

“In June, 1855, two weeks after the survey had been completed, Mr. Wheaton received from President Pierce the appointment of first lieutenant of cavalry. On the first of March, 1861, he was promoted to a captaincy, and on the breaking out of the war was detailed with Captain Sitgreaves, Topographical Engineers, to muster into service the United States troops in Albany.

“In June, 1861, Captain Wheaton was appointed by Governor Sprague lieutenant-colonel of the Second Rhode Infantry. On the death of Colonel Slocum he was immediately promoted to the colonelcy of his regiment. In November, 1862, he was appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers. He commanded a brigade of the Sixth Corps, and was with it in its various campaigns and battles, until the battle of Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864, when, by order of General Sheridan, he was assigned to the command of the First Division, Sixth Corps. One month later he was recommended for promotion for services rendered at the battle of Cedar Creek, Va., and was breveted major-general of volunteers. After the battle of the Wilderness he received the 65brevet of lieutenant-colonel in the regular army, and later on received the brevet of colonel for distinguished services at the battle of Cold Harbor.

“On the 2d of April, 1865, the rebel lines before Petersburg, Va., were successfully assaulted by the Sixth Corps, the First Division of which was commanded by General Wheaton. For his services on this occasion he received the brevet of brigadier-general in the United States army. But the crowning honor of his career was the brevet of major-general in the regular army, conferred upon him for the masterly manner in which he defeated and drove back the rebel General Early, at Fort Stevens, within the city of Washington, on the night of the 12th of July, 1864. He was the immediate commander, on this occasion, of the United States forces, consisting of twelve regiments. At the close of the war he was ordered to the frontier, and, as brevet major-general of volunteers, commanded a district including the territories of Nebraska, Dacotah, and Montana. In November, 1865, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel in the Thirty-ninth United States Infantry, and subsequently colonel Second United States Infantry, and is at the present time a brigadier-general in the United States army.”

We will now return to the position occupied by our battery near Fort Fisher on the morning of April 2d. General Grant had issued orders for an assault on the enemy’s lines by General Wright with the Sixth Corps, and General Parke with the Ninth Corps, while General Humphreys with the Second, and General Ord with the Army of the James were 66ordered to hold themselves in readiness to take any advantage that could be taken from weakening in their front.

At half past four o’clock in the forenoon, our battery moved forward with the division, and, after crossing the rifle-pits, the right section of the battery was ordered into action in front of Fort Fisher, between two chimneys, and were soon engaged with a rebel battery, compelling it to retire. Then we poured an enfilading fire on a rebel fort, silencing its guns. The section then moved to our left, to the assistance of our infantry, who were hotly engaged with the enemy. The section was subsequently ordered to return to Fort Fisher. Here we found Generals Grant, Meade, Wheaton, Parke, Getty, and Sheridan, intently observing the movements of our troops, and the result of the battle. Our whole battery then moved nearer to a rebel fort in our front, opened fire upon it, and finally succeeded in silencing the enemy’s guns.

During the day the battery occupied seven different positions, the last one being in the rear of the Whitworth House. The enemy placed a rifle battery in position on the left, and obtained an enfilading fire at one thousand seven hundred yards, being beyond the extreme range of our guns. The battery was subsequently ordered to withdraw from this position, and went into park in rear of the First Division headquarters for the night. In this day’s action, three men of our battery were killed: Privates Gerritt S. Hill (an attached man from the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery), Thomas Carter, and Charles Vaslett; wounded severely, Private Eben Tongue; wounded slightly, Sergt. Esek S. 67Owen, Corp. John P. Campbell, 2d, and Privates William H. Stone, Gideon W. Arnold, and George W. Freeborn. Private Charles Tweedale was made permanently deaf. Our Battery Guidon, Horace F. Floyd, had his horse killed by a shell. The horse fell on Comrade Floyd, injuring him severely. Ten horses were killed in this action.

General Wheaton, in his report to Major Whittlesey, says:

“During our advance towards Petersburg, Capt. Crawford Allen, Jr.’s Battery H, of the First Rhode Island Artillery, was admirably handled and his losses were severe. His guns were always in front, frequently in advance of the skirmishers; and, as our lines moved forward, he invariably forced the enemy’s batteries to retire, and followed them closely. Earlier in the day, when the assault commenced, Captain Allen very handsomely compelled a section of the enemy’s artillery to retire. If these guns, occupying one of their intrenched works and thoroughly enfilading our lines, had not been silenced, they might have materially retarded our advance.”

While the Sixth Corps under Wright swung around to the left and moved to Hatcher’s Run, sweeping everything before them, the other corps were not idle. Ord and Humphreys succeeded in capturing the intrenched picket lines in their front. Ord took possession of the enemy’s intrenchments, the Second Corps soon followed, and the outer works were in the hands of the Union troops. Sheridan had also been successful on his part of the line. He met the enemy at Sutherland Station, and, with the assistance 68of Miles’ division of the Second Corps, captured the place, taking a large number of prisoners and some pieces of artillery, and putting to flight portions of three Confederate corps.

General Grant, in a dispatch to Col. T. S. Bowers at City Point well describes the situation of our army on the afternoon of the 2d of April. He says: “We are now up and have a continuous line of troops, and in a few hours will be intrenched from the Appomattox below Petersburg to the river above.... The whole captures since the army started out gunning will amount to not less than twelve thousand men, and probably fifty pieces of artillery.”

An assault was ordered to be made the following day at six A. M.; but the enemy evacuated Richmond and Petersburg on the morning of the 3d, and retreated toward Danville. General Sheridan with his cavalry, followed by General Meade with the Second and Sixth Corps, started in pursuit. General Ord proceeded to Burkeville along the South Side Road, the Ninth Corps following closely. Battery H moved with the First Division of the Sixth Corps. We crossed the South Side Railroad, passing a station on the road which read “Black and White Station,” meaning that both white and black persons could take the cars at that point. We marched about fifteen miles and encamped for the night at about ten P. M.

On the morning of the 4th of April we again started in full pursuit of the enemy. Our corps being in the centre of the other corps we marched on parallel roads. We here received an official dispatch that our forces were in possession 69of Richmond and Petersburg. We encamped that night about eleven P. M.

President Lincoln, who had been at City Point for several days, on the morning of the capture of Petersburg, received a dispatch from General Grant inviting him to ride out to Petersburg and he would meet him there. He found Grant in the captured city occupying the piazza of a deserted house. Mr. Lincoln warmly congratulated the general on the recent victory, thanking him and his army for the good results accomplished, and said: “Do you know, general, that I have had a sort of sneaking idea for some days that you intended to do something like this.” General Grant had with him at this time the officers of his staff and only a small escort of cavalry, all the troops having been sent in pursuit of General Lee and his fleeing army.

April 5th still found our division pursuing the Confederate forces. We did not meet many rebels, only a few prisoners captured by our cavalry at the front. After a short march we bivouacked for the night. On the morning of this date General Grant addressed the following communication to General Sherman: “All indications now are that Lee will attempt to reach Danville with the remnant of his force. Sheridan, who was up with him last night, reports all that is left, horse, foot, and dragoons, at twenty thousand, much demoralized. We hope to reduce this number one-half. I shall push on to Burkeville, and if a stand is made at Danville will go there. If you can possibly do so, push on from where you are, and let us see if we cannot finish the job with Lee and Johnston’s armies. Whether it will be better for 70you to strike for Greensboro’, or nearer to Danville, you will be better able to judge when you receive this. Rebel armies now are the only strategic points to strike at.”

On the morning of the 6th of April, Sheridan with his cavalry advanced on the road running from Deatonsville to Rice Station. Before long the enemy’s trains were discovered on this road, but little impression could be made upon them they were so strongly guarded. Leaving a sufficient force there to harrass the retreating column, he shifted the rest of his cavalry toward the left, across-country, but still keeping parallel to the enemy’s line of march. After crossing Sailor’s Creek he again attacked the enemy vigorously, destroying several hundred wagons, made many prisoners and captured sixteen pieces of artillery. But the most important fact was that he had prevented a corps of Confederate infantry, under Ewell, from joining Longstreet. The separation of these two rebel commands from each other led to the battle of Sailor’s Creek, a hard fought combat, in which infantry, artillery, and cavalry were all brought into action. This small creek, which is a tributary of the Appomattox, flows in a northwesterly direction across the road leading from Deatonsville to Rice’s Station. Sheridan sent Merritt with his division to the left on the Rice’s Station Road, west of the creek, making havoc with the enemy’s wagon trains, while Crook struck them further on and planted himself square across the road. This blocked Ewell’s progress, and he endeavored to make a stand here with a portion of his forces under Anderson, while the main body should escape through the woods in a westerly direction 71toward Farmville. But Crook at once assaulted Anderson’s front, overlapping his right, and Merritt attacked to the right of Crook. The enemy were thus held until the arrival of the Sixth Corps, under Wright, who were advancing “as fast as legs could carry them.”

Grant had directed that the Sixth Corps should follow Sheridan’s route of march since the discovery in the morning that Lee had evacuated Amelia Court House. In a note to Sheridan he said: “The Sixth Corps will go in with a vim any place you may dictate.”

On that morning our brigade with Battery H, led the advance of our division on the march, expecting every moment to encounter the enemy. When our corps reached Sailor’s Creek in the afternoon Seymour’s division was placed in position on the right of the road, while our division (Wheaton’s) formed on Seymour’s left. Both divisions moving forward together assailed the enemy’s front and left, together with Stagg’s brigade of cavalry which had been placed between Wheaton’s left and Devin’s right, while Merritt and Crook resumed the fight from their positions in front of Anderson.

Our battery went into action with our division, and fired fifteen rounds. We then changed our position to the brow of a hill overlooking the creek, where we remained until the close of the engagement. Generals Sheridan, Wright, and Custer were on this hill observing the progress of the battle. The enemy had now little chance of escape, and fought like tigers, but were pressed vigorously by Seymour and Wheaton, our forces gaining ground at all points except where Seymour’s 72left was checked. Here the enemy made a counter-charge, surging down almost to the creek, but our artillery, supported by Getty, who had arrived upon the ground, opened such a terrible fire upon them that they fell back to their original position. Ewell seeing that he was completely hemmed in on all sides, surrendered all those under his immediate command.

Anderson’s troops (rebel) had by this time become disorganized, and he with two thousand of his men escaped through the woods toward the Appomattox River, before they could be entirely surrounded. The fight was now over and night had fallen, but the cavalry and a part of the Sixth Corps pursued the enemy a few miles, anxious to complete a victory which had annihilated one corps of Lee’s army, and had compelled Longstreet to move to Farmville, and take a road north of the Appomattox River, instead of continuing toward Danville. The result of this victory was the capture of six general officers (including General Ewell) and seven thousand men. Sheridan immediately sent a staff officer to General Grant apprising him of the situation. At midnight he dispatched a message to Grant giving the names of the generals captured. He also wrote in the same dispatch: “If the thing is pressed, I think that Lee will surrender.” General Grant on receiving this message transmitted it by telegraph to President Lincoln, who was at City Point. The President in his quaint way telegraphed this characteristic reply: “Let the thing be pressed.”

CHAPTER IX.

Pursuit of Lee’s Army still continued—Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House—Sixth Corps march to Danville.

The morning of the 7th still found our troops in hot pursuit of Lee’s retreating army. Crook’s cavalry division overtook the main body of the Confederates at Farmville, and promptly attacked their trains on the north side of the Appomattox, with Gregg’s brigade. The enemy fiercely turned upon our forces, compelling them to recross the river, and captured a number of prisoners, among them Gregg himself. It was apparent that Lee had abandoned all effort to escape to the southwest by the way of Danville. He was no doubt endeavoring to make Lynchburg his objective point now. Sheridan determined to throw his cavalry across his path, and hold him till the infantry could overtake him.

On this morning Battery H moved with the corps toward Farmville, where it arrived about four P. M. Our infantry skirmished with the enemy successfully, and passing through this beautiful little village camped on the heights beyond.

Several of the chief officers of the fleeing army had met 74around a bivouac fire on the night of the 6th, and concluded that a capitulation was inevitable. They saw the hopelessness of the contest. Even if they could cut through the host of pursuers following so sharp upon their trail, they could only do so by the sacrifice of their remaining guns and munitions, and in a state of utter inefficiency from famine. General Lee was not present at this council, but its judgment was subsequently made known to him.

General Grant, who was now at Farmville, spared General Lee the pain of first proposing a surrender of his army, and addressed him a letter to that effect, saying: “The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia.” General Lee replied that he did not entertain the opinion of Grant concerning “the hopelessness of further resistance,” but reciprocated his desire “to avoid useless effusion of blood,” and asked what terms would be offered on condition of the surrender of his (Lee’s) army. To this Grant responded, “Peace being my great desire, there is but one condition, that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged.”

Receiving no immediate reply, the pursuit was continued on the 8th. Sheridan now pushed his cavalry along the roads parallel to the railroad leading to Appomattox Station, followed by General Ord’s command and the Fifth Corps. The Sixth Corps moved rapidly to the small village called Prospect Station, where we made a brief halt, and then marched a few miles out and encamped for the night on Farmville Heights.

75At midnight of the 8th General Grant received a communication from General Lee stating that he did not agree with Grant that the “emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army, but as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desire to know whether your proposals would lead to that end.”

On the morning of the 9th General Grant returned him an answer as follows: “I have no authority to treat for peace.... I will state, however, General, that I am equally anxious for peace with yourself, and the whole North entertains the same feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands of lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. Seriously hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, etc.”

General Grant, immediately after sending this message to Lee, started to join the column south of the Appomattox River. Early in the morning Battery H with the Sixth Corps moved out and advanced along the narrow road leading to Appomattox Court House. Late in the evening of the 8th, General Sheridan had struck the railroad at Appomattox Station, drove the enemy from there, and captured twenty-five pieces of artillery, a hospital train, and four trains of cars loaded with supplies for Lee’s army. Sheridan, in a characteristic dispatch to Grant, says: “Custer is still pushing on. If General Gibbon and the Fifth Corps can get up to-night, we will perhaps finish the job in the 76morning.” The following morning General Ord’s command and the Fifth Corps reached Appomattox Station just as the enemy was making a desperate effort to break through our cavalry. The infantry was at once thrown in. Sheridan then moved his troops around to the enemy’s left and decided to attack at once. Just as Custer’s division was forming to charge, a white flag appeared, and Custer sent word to Sheridan: “Lee has surrendered; do not charge; the white flag is up.” Sheridan immediately rode over to Appomattox Court House, where he was met by General Gordon, who requested a suspension of hostilities with the assurance that negotiations were then pending between Generals Grant and Lee for a capitulation. General Ord then joined the party. After shaking hands all around, and explaining the situation to Ord, General Gordon went away, agreeing to return in half an hour. When he came back at the appointed time he was accompanied by General Longstreet, who brought with him a dispatch, the duplicate of one that had been sent General Grant through General Meade’s lines back on the road over which Lee had been retreating. This dispatch read as follows:

“I received your note of this morning on the picket-line, whither I had come to meet you, and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposal of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army. I now ask an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose.”

General Grant joined Sheridan and Ord about one o’clock in the afternoon, and in company they proceeded to the 77dwelling of a Mr. McClean at Appomattox Court House. The interview here between the two commanders was brief, the business in hand frankly discussed, as became soldiers, and the result summed up in these concluding letters:

General: In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate: one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged: and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside.

General: I received you letter of this date, containing the terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed immediately to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.

78Let us now return to Battery H, which was moving on the road toward Appomattox. We had proceeded but a few miles when we heard the sound of cannon to our right and left, and we could not rid ourselves of the impression that the end of the continuous fighting of the past seven days was not far off. We knew that Grant had dogged the footsteps of the retreating foe with unrelenting vigor, and that Lee’s chances of escape were still growing less as the Union army pushed on, but we did not anticipate that before the sun had set on this eventful day that the Confederate host would lay down their arms and surrender to the Union forces.

On every side there were manifest indications of the utter demoralization of the rebel troops. Already weakness and fatigue had compelled many of them to throw away the arms which they were no longer able to carry, and hundreds of Confederate soldiers were lying by the roadside completely exhausted. A large number of cannon and ammunition wagons were scattered around in great confusion, as the horses were too weak to haul them, and had been cut loose. The ammunition had been scattered broadcast, the guns spiked, and some were buried in order to render them useless to our army. About eleven o’clock General Grant and staff, bespattered with mud, came galloping along, and passing us, disappeared in the direction of Appomattox. What movement was now on foot we could only conjecture, but of this much we were confident that the silent and modest chieftain who was riding swiftly by had Lee in his power, and would soon bring matters to a crisis.

79At ten o’clock our battery and about six thousand infantry, and cavalry of the Sixth Corps were ordered to file off into an open field on our right, and await further orders, and the commanding officers were directed to proceed to headquarters about half a mile away. It was evident that something unusual was about to transpire. We remained in this position until about three o’clock in the afternoon, when Gen. Frank Wheaton, our division commander, accompanied by his staff, came riding swiftly down the road and halted before our battery, and said: “Captain Allen, General Lee has surrendered; get your battery out on yonder hill and fire a salute of one hundred guns.”

Captain Allen turning to his command gave the order: “Battery attention!” He then said: “Boys, General Lee has surrendered. No more fighting. We are going to let you go home. We have orders to fire a salute of one hundred guns.” He then gave the command: “Drivers and cannoneers mount—forward double-quick—march!” No words can describe the effect of such news upon the men of our battery and the soldiers of the infantry near us. The men shouted, threw up their hats, the infantrymen flung down their muskets, hugged each other and rolled over on the ground in excess of joy. The men of our battery were so excited that the captain was compelled to repeat his order three times before it was obeyed.

We were well pleased that to our battery was accorded the honor of firing the first salute to celebrate the glorious victory won by the Union arms. The good news spread rapidly along our lines, and the boys in gray also heard the joyful 80tidings, and we have no doubt inwardly rejoiced in the thought that the long struggle was ended, and all would be allowed to return to their homes in peace.

As we review the events which transpired at this time, we are impressed with this thought: Was ever such generous terms allowed or magnanimity displayed as was shown by Grant to Lee’s defeated army? When informed by Lee that his troops were suffering for want of food, Grant directed that twenty-five thousand rations should be issued to the Confederate forces. In the meantime our soldiers hastened to divide their rations with their late enemies, to stay their hunger until provisions from the trains could be drawn for them. When Grant stipulated that the officers and men of Lee’s army should retain their horses as they would be needed in raising a crop “to carry themselves and their families through the next winter,” it deeply touched the heart of Lee, who said that this kind and thoughtful act would have a happy effect upon his army. Grant did not lose sight of the fact that these men were Americans, and his own countrymen, and his noble soul could not suffer any indignity to be heaped upon his misguided but gallant foes. Washington received the surrender of the British army at Yorktown in the War of the Revolution, although his antagonist Lord Cornwallis affected indisposition and declined to be present in person, but Grant spared Lee this humiliation at Appomattox, and designated three of his subordinate generals to carry into effect the paroling of Lee’s troops, while he himself hastened to Washington to stop the purchase of supplies, and what he deemed other useless outlay of money.

81The final parting of Lee with his soldiers who had followed him so faithfully during the entire war is said to have been very affecting. As the men crowded around their departing chief, he, with streaming eyes, grasped and pressed their outstretched hands, saying: “Men, we have fought through the war together. I have done the best that I could for you.” There were few dry eyes among those who witnessed the scene. The Confederates as fast as paroled took their way severally to their homes, many of them supplied with transportation, as well as food, by the government they had fought so long and bravely to destroy.

On the 11th of April our corps was ordered to march to Burkeville Station. We started at eight A. M., marched several miles and encamped. The next day, the 12th, we continued our march, and reached our destination on the 13th. This was a charming place, evidently a large and well ordered plantation before the war. Here we remained several days, enjoying to the utmost a much needed rest.

On the 15th we learned with profound sorrow and great indignation of the assassination of our beloved president Abraham Lincoln, at the hands of the miscreant Booth. It seemed almost incredible that this generous spirit, who in the words of his own declaration, “with charity to all, with malice toward none,” should have met such an untimely end when he was about to enter into the full fruition of the reward of his labors in the preservation of a “government of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

On the 22d of April Captain Allen forwarded the following report to the Adjutant General of the State of Rhode 82Island, concerning the movements of Battery H from the 1st to the 13th of April, 1865:

General: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by my battery during the recent battles between April 1st and 13th, 1865. On the evening of April 1st I received orders to join the First Division of the Sixth Corps, which I did at twelve P. M. of that day.

At 4.30 A. M., April 2d, I moved forward with the Division; and after crossing the rifle-pits opened upon a section of artillery which had a flank fire on our infantry. They were soon driven off, when I ceased firing, moved to the left brought up the caissons and awaited further orders. I then moved the battery forward with the skirmish line, and we soon engaged with one of the enemy’s batteries. This battery soon had to leave its position. I followed it up until I arrived at the Whitworth House, where I went into position. The enemy placed a rifle battery in position on my left, and obtained an enfilading fire upon my battery at seventeen hundred yards. Being beyond my extreme range I was ordered by Major Cowan to withdraw my guns, and went into park in rear of First Division headquarters for the night.

In this day’s action I lost four men killed: Privates Gerritt S. Hill, Thomas Carter, Charles Vaslett, and Eben Tongue.^[1] Wounded: Sergt. Esek S. Owen, slightly; Corp. John P. Campbell, 2d, severely; Privates Gideon W. Arnold, Michael Barry, and George W. Freeborn, slightly, and William H. Stone, severely.

April 6th, I went into action at Sailor’s Run Creek, remaining half an hour; no casualties. From April 1st to 13th, I have expended six hundred and thirty rounds of ammunition. Great credit is due to my officers and men for the manner in which they behaved while under a very hot fire.

83It was not known whether General Johnston would surrender on hearing the news of Lee’s capitulation, and if he did not Burkeville Station was the natural point from which to attack him. General Sheridan with his cavalry and the Sixth Corps was instructed to proceed to Greensboro, North Carolina, for the purpose of aiding General Sherman in hastening the surrender of Johnston.

At half-past six o’clock on the morning of the 23d the Sixth Corps started from Burkeville Station, our battery being attached to the First Brigade, First Division, which led the advance. We marched rapidly toward Danville, and camped for the night near Keyes Station.

On the 24th, we marched at 6.50 A. M., to Clark’s Ferry, on the Staunton River, a branch of the Roanoke River, and encamped for the night on the road to Danville.

April 25th, we marched twenty-one miles and camped for the night near Halifax Court House. Before going into camp we passed by an old farm-house, and in the doorway sat an old lady knitting. She said to us: “Where did all you Yankees spring from? Did you spring out of the ground? God bless you, boys, I wish you all good luck. It does my soul good to see the old flag once more. Peace has come at last. Thank God the war is over at last.”

The morning of the 26th at half past seven o’clock found us on the march. We reached the town of Halifax, where we met a large number of soldiers from Johnston’s army going to our rear, and they informed us that Johnston would soon surrender, and they were going home. They appeared to be contented that the war was drawing to a close.

84We arrived at Danville at five o’clock on the afternoon of the 27th. This town appeared to have been quite a business place before the war. Five railroads centred here, and the surroundings were very pleasant. A printing-office was discovered which was taken possession of by our troops, and a paper issued called “The Sixth Army Corps.” Some of our cavalry who had preceded us liberated the Union prisoners who had been confined in the slave-pen here. We encamped on the west side of the town.

April 28th, the official report of the surrender of General Johnston’s army was read to our battery at assembly call. We immediately moved into the town and fired a salute in honor of the surrender. General Sheridan with his cavalry had now arrived at South Boston, on the Dan River. On receiving a dispatch from Washington announcing the surrender of Johnston’s army, Sheridan returned with his cavalry to Petersburg.

CHAPTER X.

Return to City Point—March to Richmond—From thence to Washington—Returning Homeward—Muster-out.

Now that the two principal armies of the Confederacy had surrendered to the Union forces, the ultimate end of the Rebellion was a foregone conclusion, and the thoughts of muster-out and return home became uppermost in all our minds. We enjoyed several days’ rest at Danville before a retrograde movement was made.

On the morning of the 2d of May, in conjunction with the First Brigade of the First Division of the Sixth Corps, we started on our return march, camping at night at Laurel Hill. The next day (3d) we marched twenty-one miles, crossing Banister River at nightfall and went into camp. On the 4th we marched as far as Staunton, and camped for the night on the banks of the river near the railroad. Here we observed an extensive line of rifle-pits which had been constructed by the Confederates to defend the bridge and the railway at this point. On the 5th crossed the Staunton River on pontoons, and moved to Keyes’s Station, arriving there about three o’clock in the afternoon. After a short 86stay here we marched a few miles further on, to obtain good water, and encamped about six P. M.

May 6th, we broke camp at 7.30 A. M., and arrived at Burkeville Station at two o’clock in the afternoon. After a brief halt we moved two miles beyond and encamped. We were informed that the War Department had ordered the discharge of all men in the army as soon as possible, with the exception of regular troops. We remained here several days.

On the morning of the 15th we were ordered to hitch up, marched to the station, and loaded our battery, comprising the pieces and limber chests on the train for City Point. On the 20th of May we left Burkeville Station at seven A. M., and marched toward City Point. On the 22d, the battery, with the Sixth Corps, arrived at City Point at three o’clock in the afternoon.

On the 23d of May the Army of the Potomac under Meade, with the exception of the Sixth Corps, passed in review before President Johnson and his cabinet in Washington. It was witnessed by thousands of spectators, and is said to have been grand and impressive. It occupied over six hours in passing the grand stand which had been erected in front of the President’s house.

On the morning of the 24th, Sherman’s army commenced at ten o’clock to pass in review. The appearance of this army was in striking contrast to that of the Army of the Potomac the day before. The latter troops had been operating where full supplies of food and clothing had been regularly received from the North, while Sherman’s army, 87being far from its base of supplies, were not so well dressed as their comrades of the Army of the Potomac, and were to a great extent compelled to obtain their food from the country through which they passed. Perhaps they did not keep the perfect alignment of the well drilled troops of the Army of the Potomac, but nevertheless the marching of the Western army could not be excelled, and it was thoroughly drilled to endure hardships, either by long and continuous marches or through exposure to any climate without the ordinary shelter of a camp.

On the 25th of May, we painted the battery preparatory to going on review with the Sixth Corps in Washington. May 27th, we marched from City Point at seven A. M., and camped for the night near the outskirts of the town of Manchester.

On the 28th, we marched through Manchester, crossing the James River on pontoons, and marching up the main street of Richmond which had been the objective point of the Army of the Potomac for so many long years, we passed through and encamped outside the city.

We observed in Richmond the devastation made by the recent conflagration. It was said by an eye witness that on the evacuation of the place by the rebel army that an order was issued from General Ewell’s headquarters to fire the four principal tobacco warehouses of the city. The mayor dispatched by a committee of citizens a remonstrance against this reckless military order, but it was not heeded, and nothing was left but to submit to the destruction of their property. The authorities had taken the precaution to empty all the liquor into the streets, and to throw out the provisions 88which the Confederate government had left for the people to gather up. Some of the retreating rebel soldiers managed to get hold of a quantity of liquor, and from that moment law and order ceased to exist. Many of the stores were pillaged, and the sidewalks were encumbered with broken glass where the thieves had smashed the windows in their reckless haste to lay hands on the plunder within. The air was filled with the wild cries of distress, or the yells of roving pillagers. When our forces entered the city on the morning of the 3rd of April, it was found to have been fired in two places, and the place was in the most utter confusion. Our troops immediately set to work to extinguish the flames, which they finally succeeded in accomplishing.

May 29th, we moved to Hanover Court House and encamped.

On the 30th, we left Hanover Court House at seven o’clock in the morning, crossed the Pamunkey River on pontoons, marched a short distance, and encamped for the night. At eight o’clock the next morning (31st) we crossed the Mattapony River, directed our march toward Bowling Green, and camped there for the night.

June 1st, found the battery marching toward Fredericksburg; on the 2d, we were at Dumfries; on the 3d, at Fairfax Court House; on the 4th, at Hall’s Hill. On the 7th, we reached Long Bridge at Washington, where we went into camp. On the 8th, the Sixth Corps, which was necessarily absent on the occasion of the great review of the Army of the Potomac on the 23d of May, now passed in review before the President. The troops made a fine appearance, and their 89marching and perfect alignment received favorable comments from the spectators along the route of march. Our battery was excused from participation in the review.

At ten o’clock on the morning of the 9th, an order came directing Captain Allen to march his battery to the Arsenal at Washington, and turn the guns and equipage over to the commanding officer there, and the horses were turned into the general corral. We returned to camp about four P. M. Private Franklin P. Burlingame came out to visit us, he having been on detached service in the adjutant-general’s office in the War Department since the fall of 1863, when our battery lay at Fort Scott.

June 12th still found our battery in camp near Long-Bridge. Private Earl Fenner, who was orderly at headquarters, imparted the joyful information to us about nightfall that our battery had been ordered to proceed to Washington on the following day, at noon, and take the cars for Providence, R. I. These glad tidings induced the men to strike up the familiar song:

On the morning of the 13th, there was hurry and bustle in the various camps in our neighborhood. Preparations were being made to cross over Long Bridge into Washington, and from thence the different organizations would proceed on their homeward journey. At 12.30 we received orders to pack knapsacks, strike tents, and turn over all property belonging to the government to Quartermaster Sergeant Allen, and be ready to fall in at a moment’s notice. At 90two o’clock we bade adieu to old Virginia, and, marching into Washington, proceeded to the depot, and, at six P. M., boarded the train, with our faces toward the north, and our destination Rhode Island. While crossing the switch just out of Washington, a passenger train on the switch approached us from the opposite direction. There being but one track it should have waited on the upper end of the switch until our train had passed. The danger signal was up and could be seen a long distance, but instead of heeding the signal the passenger train from Baltimore came thundering along, and a frightful collision ensued. The locomotive of the passenger train struck our train in the centre, demolishing three cars, and resulted in the loss of thirty-four men killed and wounded. Ambulances from Washington were immediately dispatched to the scene, and removed the wounded.

Although none of Battery H were injured it was a sad sight to see our comrades of other commands after passing through all the dangers and vicissitudes of war, killed and mutilated in a railroad accident while returning to their homes. Comrade George F. Woodley, for many years since the war an honored citizen of Providence, was on board this train, and his escape from immediate death was almost miraculous. He was a member of Battery A, First New Jersey Artillery. He was sitting with a comrade on the top of a freight car, with a rubber blanket thrown over both of them as a protection from the rain. When the collision occurred his companion was instantly killed, while Comrade Woodley sustained a dislocation of the shoulder, besides receiving severe bruises. Just after midnight the track was cleared and we started on our way again.

91At sunrise on the 14th, we arrived in Baltimore, marched, through the city, and embarked on the cars for Philadelphia. We arrived in that city about eleven A. M. After disembarking from the cars we received a royal welcome from the good people of this city while on our way to the famous Cooper Shop, so well known to every Union soldier who passed through Philadelphia on his way to and from the seat of war. Here we found a bountiful collation awaiting us. After partaking of this welcome repast we continued on our way, and about four o’clock in the afternoon took the train for New York, arriving there about dark, and quartered for the night in the barracks at Castle Garden.

At three o’clock on the afternoon of the 15th, we left Castle Garden and marched to the wharf of the Neptune line of steamers, and embarked on the propeller Galatea for Providence. We were accompanied by Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. We left New York at five P. M., and arrived in Providence Friday morning, June 16th. A salute was fired in honor of our arrival, and, under escort of the Burnside Zouaves we marched to Washington Hall, where an elegant collation had been provided under the direction of the Commissary-General of the State. We were welcomed by Adjutant-General Edward C. Mauran, and then partook of the refreshments before us, after which we marched to the Silvey Barracks on the Cove lands, and were dismissed until the 28th of June, when we were ordered to report at the same place for final muster out. We were subsequently ordered to report on South Main Street, July 3d, where we received our discharge papers, and were paid off and mustered out of service.

92The following officers and men returned to Rhode Island with the battery:

As has already been mentioned Battery H was the last battery sent out from Rhode Island, and it labored under many disadvantages. It suffered severely by the desertion of men who enlisted solely for the bounty obtained, and many incurred physical disability incident to the service, causing their transfer to the Veteran Reserve Corps. All these circumstances contributed to weaken the battery for effective work, and we were unable to show such a long and honorable record as the majority of our Rhode Island batteries won on many hotly contested fields, yet every true soldier of our battery may take pride in the consciousness that he faithfully performed every duty and task assigned him, and that his name is recorded on the rolls as among those who risked their lives in the defense of constitutional liberty in the dark hours of the nation’s peril, and although ours may have been the humbler service, yet we stood ready to offer our all for home and fatherland.

MEMOIRS. — JEFFREY HAZARD. — CRAWFORD ALLEN, JR. — CLEMENT WEBSTER. — CHARLES F. MASON. — GEORGE W. BLAIR. — ELMER L. CORTHELL. — BENJAMIN H. CHILD. — ANTHONY B. HORTON. — WILLIAM B. WESTCOTT. — GEORGE LEWIS. — GEORGE MESSINGER. — HEZEKIAH POTTER. — JOHN P. CAMPBELL. — ESEK S. OWEN. — EMULOUS A. CHEEVER. — EARL FENNER. — FRANKLIN E. PAUL. — JOHN P. CAMPBELL. — LEON ALLISON. — HORACE F. FLOYD. — WARNER ALDEN. — SOLOMON CLOSE. — GEORGE W. FREEBORN. — SYDNEY A. GOODRICH. — JOHN A. GRAY. — GEORGE W. HARADON. — EDWARD N. LAWTON. — EDWIN NORTHROP. — ORVILLE BALCOM. — OTIS P. SNELL. — JOHN TAFT. — WILLIAM H. TASKER. — CHARLES D. VAUGHN. — ALBERT WELLS. — HENRY A. ALEXANDER. — HORACE C. BRIGGS.

Capt. Jeffrey Hazard, son of John Hazard, and grandson of Governor Jeffrey Hazard, was born in the town of Exeter, R. I., on the 23d day of September, 1835. His elder brother, John G. Hazard, served with distinction in the War of the Rebellion, rising from the rank of first lieutenant to brevet brigadier-general of volunteers. The subject of our sketch obtained his education at the Providence High School, and, previous to the war, was a teller in the Manufacturers’ Bank.

He received a commission as second lieutenant in Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Oct. 5, 1861, and was subsequently appointed regimental adjutant. He participated with his battery in many engagements. Among these may be mentioned Balls Bluff, Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, and Antietam. At the latter battle the battery won for itself great renown, holding an advanced position under a heavy fire from the enemy. It fought nearly 100four hours within three hundred yards of the enemy’s line of battle, losing four men killed and fifteen wounded. The only officers of the battery present with Captain Tompkins were lieutenants Hazard and Mason, who bravely worked the guns for want of men.

On the 1st of October, 1862, Lieutenant Hazard was promoted to the captaincy of Battery H, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Capt. C. H. J. Hamlin. Captain Hazard immediately proceeded to Rhode Island, joined the battery at Camp Mauran, and assumed command. Shortly after his arrival he was ordered by the governor to proceed with his battery to the Dexter Training Ground, where the Twelfth Rhode Island Infantry was encamped. Trouble was anticipated in regard to bounties, which had been promised the men before leaving the State. Four guns of the battery were placed at the corners of the grounds ready to repel any mutiny that might arise. Happily no blood was shed, and Captain Hazard returned with his command to Camp Mauran.

Oct. 23, 1862, Captain Hazard’s battery left Providence for Washington, D. C, and proceeded to the artillery camp of instruction, Camp Barry. While stationed here the battery attained great efficiency in drill and discipline, due in great measure to the indefatigable efforts of its commander.

At the time of the battle of Chancellorsville Captain Hazard, with one section of his battery, was ordered to Rappahannock Station, where it remained nine days with the Twelfth Vermont Infantry, for the purpose of guarding the river at that point.

101On the 29th of June, we find Captain Hazard with his battery on Little River Turnpike in the vicinity of Forts Worth and Ward, where it was engaged in supporting the picket line, as it was apprehended that the enemy, who were reconnoitering on the turnpike, might be seeking to force an entrance within our lines at that point. Commendable mention is made of the services rendered by Battery H at this time by Colonel Abbott, commanding the brigade to which the battery was attached.

On the 17th of August, Captain Hazard resigned his commission and took his departure on the evening of that date. The battery deplored the loss of its commander, for by his energy and ability he had labored to bring it to a high state of proficiency, and he had the satisfaction of knowing that it was unsurpassed by any of the volunteer batteries stationed around Washington.

On his retirement from the army Captain Hazard engaged in mercantile pursuits, and is now the senior member of the well known firm of the Hazard Cotton Company, cotton merchants, in the city of Providence.

He is connected with the Massachusetts Commandery Loyal Legion of the United States, and is a member of Prescott Post, No. 1, Department of Rhode Island, Grand Army of the Republic.

He is a member of the Providence Board of Trade, and held the office of president in 1887–8.

Lieut.-Col. Crawford Allen, Jr., was born in Providence, R. I., April 2, 1840. He is the son of Crawford and Sarah S. Allen, and grandson of the late Rev. Nathan B. Crocker. He received his education at Brown University, and, upon leaving that institution, he traveled in Europe, and subsequently made a voyage to China, visiting various islands in the East Indies. He afterwards went to California, and was in the city of San Francisco upon the breaking out of the Rebellion. He immediately returned to Rhode Island, and received a commission as second lieutenant in Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Nov. 7, 1861. This battery proceeded to Washington Dec. 7, 1861. It took part with the Army of the Potomac in the campaign on the Peninsula. It withdrew from the Peninsula, marching by way of Yorktown to Hampton, where it embarked for Alexandria. The guns were sent forward by transports, in charge of Lieutenant Allen. At the battle of Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862, the battery under Captain Owen fought with great bravery. This battery also performed good service at the second battle of Fredericksburg, May 2d and 3d, 1863, when Lieutenant Allen received a slight wound.

Shortly after this battle Lieutenant Allen was made adjutant of the regiment, and acting adjutant-general of the Artillery Brigade Sixth Army Corps, which positions he continued to hold until Sept. 30, 1863, when he was promoted 103to the captaincy of Battery H, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Captain Hazard. Captain Allen was mustered into Battery H Oct. 1, 1863. Captain Allen commanded Fort Richardson, near the falls of the Potomac, for several months.

A correspondent of the Providence Press, writing from Camp Barry, under date of November 30th, says:

“Captain Allen, in the time he has been with us, has shown himself quite efficient as a commander, as well as exceedingly popular with the men.”

In the battle before Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865, Captain Allen with his battery bore an honorable part. The battery went into action at four A. M., with one section under the immediate command of Captain Allen. It moved forward with the division, and, after crossing the rifle-pits, opened upon a section of rebel artillery which had a flank fire on the Federal infantry. It was soon driven off, when the battery ceased firing, moved to the left, towards Hatcher’s Run, bringing up the caissons and awaited orders. It then moved forward again with the skirmish line and engaged with a rebel battery, which soon had to leave its position. It was followed up until arriving at the Whitworth House, where the battery went into position, near the house which General Lee (Confederate) had occupied as his headquarters. The enemy had placed a rifle battery in position on the left, and obtained an enfilading fire at one thousand seven hundred yards. As the rebel battery was beyond the extreme range of our guns, Captain Allen went to Captain Adams of Battery G, of our regiment, and requested 104him to open fire upon the enemy. Captain Adams immediately opened on the rebel battery and soon silenced its fire.

Captain Allen was then ordered by Major Cowan to withdraw his guns, which he did, and went into park in rear of his First Division headquarters for the night. In this day’s action four men and ten horses were killed, and six men wounded.

General Wheaton, commanding the First Division of the Sixth Corps, in his report to Major Whittlesey, under date of the 15th of April, says:

“During our advance towards Petersburg Capt. Crawford Allen Jr.’s Battery H, of the First Rhode Island Artillery, was admirably handled, and his losses were severe. His guns were always in front, frequently in advance of the skirmishers; and as our lines moved forward he invariably forced the enemy’s batteries to retire, and followed them closely. Earlier in the day, when the assault commenced, Captain Allen very handsomely compelled a section of the enemy’s artillery to retire. If these guns, occupying one of their intrenched works and thoroughly enfilading our lines, had not been silenced, they might have materially retarded our advance.”

Captain Allen was promoted major for gallantry and meritorious services before Petersburg. He subsequently received the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel.

At the surrender of Lee’s army at Appomattox Court House, to Captain Allen with his battery was accorded the honor of firing the first salute in honor of the victory.

First Lieut. Clement Webster, son of Stephen and Lydia (Kimball) Webster, was born in Kennebunk, Me., Oct. 16, 1817. He attended the public schools of Kennebunk in his youth, and later, a seminary at Leamington, Me. He learned the trade of printer in Saco, Me., where he and his brother Stephen started the York County Herald, a weekly paper. About the year 1841 or 1842, he removed to Providence, R. I., where he worked at his trade as a printer, and was also for a time employed in the Providence post-office. He started the Providence Daily Post as editor, and was with the exception of brief intervals, its editor until his death.

In the early period of the war he received a commission in the Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, but Governor Sprague insisted that he should remain in Rhode Island, where he considered that he could be of greater service with his voice and pen, than in the field. Nevertheless later on he was desirous of taking a more active part in the Union cause, and accordingly was commissioned a first lieutenant in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. He was mustered into the service Oct. 14, 1862, but did not enter the field, and resigned his commission Feb. 7, 1863, in consequence of ill health. He died at Providence, R. I., Oct. 16, 1864.

He married Catherine P. Littlefield, of New Shoreham, R. I., May 15, 1839, by whom he had two sons. The elder son, Benjamin F., died at Providence in 1861. The other 106son, George E., after the death of his father became private secretary to Governor (then Senator) William Sprague, and was clerk of the Senate Committee of which the Senator was chairman during the session of 1864–65. He afterwards entered the Pension Bureau, where (interrupted by secret service work) he remained until the winter of 1871–72. He is at the present time (1894) clerk of the Common Pleas Division of the Supreme Court of this State.

Lieutenant Webster remarried Oct. 21, 1858, and of this marriage one child, Arthur M., was born. He died while a member of the Junior Class in Brown University.

First Lieut. Charles F. Mason, son of Earl P. and Ann (Larcher) Mason, was born in Providence, R. I., March 30, 1842. He is descended from good stock, his ancestor, Sampson Mason, being a dragoon in Cromwell’s army, the famous “Ironsides.” He came to this country in 1649, and settled in Dorchester, Mass., and afterwards removed to Seekonk, and thence to Rehoboth. The father of Lieutenant Mason was a prominent business man in Providence, being intimately identified with various railroad, steamship, and commercial interests, besides being connected with the celebrated firm of Mason, Chapin & Co., a house which still controls an immense trade in drugs, dye-stuffs, and chemicals.

107The subject of our sketch was educated at Merrick and Emory Lyon’s University Grammar School, in this city, and subsequently entered Brown University, graduating in the class of ’61.

Lieutenant Mason entered the service as second lieutenant of Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Dec. 24, 1861. He was present with his battery in the Peninsular campaign, and distinguished himself by his gallantry at the battle of Antietam, Md., where he personally assisted in working the guns, rendered necessary by the want of men. He was promoted to first lieutenant Oct. 1, 1862, and was subsequently transferred to Battery H, and mustered in Oct. 15, 1862.

Upon the resignation of Captain Hazard, Lieutenant Mason assumed command of the battery until the arrival of Capt. Crawford Allen, Jr., who had been appointed to succeed Captain Hazard.

In November, 1863, he was appointed on the staff of Col. Charles H. Tompkins, Chief of the Artillery Brigade, Sixth Army Corps, where he served with honor until he resigned his commission, April 21, 1864.

Lieutenant Mason is now prominently engaged in business in Providence, R. I. He is President of the Rhode Island Locomotive Works, and Treasurer of the Bolton Manufacturing Company. He is also connected with various commercial and mercantile enterprises. He is a member of the Providence Board of Trade.

First Lieut. George W. Blair, son of William and Zilphia (Ross) Blair, was born in Woolwich, Me., May 28, 1835. His grandfather, James Blair, was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, and was present at the battle of Bunker Hill. On his mother’s side, his grandfather, Ebenezer Ross, served in the War of 1812.

His parents removed to Bath, Me., when George was about four years of age, where he received a common school education. His father was a sea captain, and was lost at sea on a voyage from Bath to Baltimore. At the age of seventeen he learned the trade of blacksmithing, of Duncan & Davenport, of Bath, manufacturers of shipping supplies. He removed to Boston in 1856, and worked in the repair shop of the Eastern Railroad Company, East Boston. The following year he went to Providence, R. I., and was employed in the blacksmithing department of Thomas J. Hill’s machine shop. He remained here until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he enlisted as a private in the First Rhode Island Light Battery, April 17, 1861. The battery was mustered into service May 2, 1861, at the Patent Office, at Washington, D. C. At the expiration of its term of service (Aug. 6, 1861), it was mustered out. Soon after his return to Rhode Island, he enlisted for three years as sergeant in Battery B, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Aug. 13, 1861. While he was with this battery he participated in every engagement in which it took part. At the battle of Ball’s Bluff, the battery received its first baptism of fire. In the 109Peninsular campaign it took part in the Siege of Yorktown, battles of Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, Peach Orchard, Savage’s Station, White Oak Bridge, Glendale, and Malvern Hill. It also distinguished itself at the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg.

On the 2d of December, 1862, Sergeant Blair was promoted to first sergeant, which position he held until discharged to accept an appointment as first lieutenant in Battery I, of the same regiment, to date from Feb. 2, 1863. This battery was never organized, and he was subsequently transferred to Battery H, April 23, 1863. He served with credit in this battery, participating in the battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House. He resigned his commission April 29, 1864.

Shortly after his return north he was employed by the Fairbanks Scales Company, of Boston. He was afterwards appointed to the police force of that city, and served four years in that capacity. He then returned to his old position in the Fairbanks Scales Company. He was subsequently appointed special officer of the property connected with the Old South Church, of Boston.

About the year 1875, he removed to Providence and entered the employ of the Barstow Stove Company, remaining there several years, when he went to Sing Sing, N. Y., and was appointed inspector of stove mountings in the prison, and in the employ of the Perry Stove Company, formerly of Albany, N. Y. He remained with this company two years, but in consequence of ill health he was compelled to relinquish this position and returned to Providence, and entered 110the employ of the Providence Furniture Company, and had charge of the Stove Department for several years. Since that time he has been employed as night watchman at the Weybosset Mills, Olneyville, R. I.

Lieutenant Blair was at one time a member of Slocum Post, in Providence, but soon after the organization of Arnold Post, he was transferred to the latter post, where he has ever since retained his membership. He has held the several positions of adjutant, junior and senior vice commanders, and commander. He has also been president of Battery B Veteran Association.

Capt. Elmer L. Corthell enlisted as private in Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, June 6, 1861. He was promoted to corporal soon after the first battle of Bull Run, and was transferred to Battery F, of the same regiment, Oct. 31, 1861, and appointed sergeant the same date. He was promoted to second lieutenant Oct. 11, 1862, and assigned to Battery H; first lieutenant Nov. 6, 1863, and transferred to Battery G. He having established an excellent military reputation by long service in the field, was promoted to captain of Battery D, Oct. 21, 1864, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Captain Buckley. He was mustered out of service July 17, 1865. After the war he engaged in the business of civil engineering, and located at Chicago, Ill.

Capt. Elmer L. Corthell.

Second Lieut. Benjamin H. Child, son of John G. and Mary A. Child, was born in Providence, R. I., May 8, 1843. He was educated in the public schools of his native city. When he was fourteen years of age he was apprenticed to Grenville Greenleaf, to learn the wire working business.

At the age of eighteen he enlisted as a private in the Second Rhode Island Battery, afterwards known as Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, June 6, 1861. The battery was hotly engaged at the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861. It was the only six-gun volunteer battery taking all of its pieces from the field, two of them being in a disabled condition. Private Child was slightly wounded in this action. Battery A was connected with the Sixth, Ninth and Second Corps, Army of the Potomac. It was engaged in every battle in which the Second Corps participated. Private Child was present with his battery in the fight at Bolivar Heights, Sept. 16, 1861, and subsequently in the campaign on the Peninsula. On the 16th of July, 1862, he was promoted to corporal, and Sept. 12, 1862, he was made a sergeant. At the battle of Antietam he was again wounded, this time severely by a bullet in the head.

In the severe struggle at the battle of Gettysburg, Pa., Battery A fought with distinguished bravery, losing five men killed and twenty-three wounded. Here Sergeant Child was severely wounded in the shoulder, at the time of 112Pickett’s charge on Cemetery Ridge. He was sent to Satalee Hospital, at West Philadelphia. When sufficiently recovered to be removed he started for Rhode Island. While on his way home he passed through New York City, at the time of the draft riots. Sergeant Child witnessed the fearful scenes in the streets while he was being conveyed in a carriage through the city to the Fall River steamer where he was to embark for Rhode Island. It appeared as if the rabble might attempt to attack the wounded Union soldier, and he remarked that it would be “rather humiliating to be slaughtered by a mob after passing through the charge of Gettysburg.” But the driver of the carriage kept as far as possible from the centre of disturbance, and Sergeant Child was soon safely aboard the steamer. He was hurried aboard in such haste and in such rude fashion that, his wound, but imperfectly healed, had to be opened again, and the result is that he is troubled with a stiff shoulder to this day.

In recognition of his services in the field Governor Smith commissioned him a second lieutenant in Battery A. He was afterwards transferred to Battery H, his commission dating from Nov. 6, 1865. Owing to his wound he was unable to report for duty until after Christmas. He then proceeded to Brandy Station, where Battery A was at the front, and received his discharge from that battery. The mustering officer at General Sumner’s headquarters had hardly signed the papers when a shell burst through the tent, and seriously wounded that officer. Lieutenant Child then returned to Washington, and reported for duty to Captain 113Allen commanding Battery H, which was then stationed at Camp Barry, in the defenses of Washington. He was mustered into this battery Jan. 8, 1864. He served with credit in his new position until he was compelled in consequence of his wounds to resign his commission, Nov. 23, 1864. For about eighteen months he was employed in the quartermaster’s department at Washington.

On his return to Providence he was employed with Greenleaf & Company, on Westminster Street, for about two years. He was subsequently appointed watchman at the Rhode Island State Prison.

On the 1st of May, 1868, he was appointed by the late Mayor Thomas A. Doyle a patrolman on the police force of the City of Providence, and he was promoted to doorman, Station 1, June 4, 1874; sergeant, Aug. 16, 1877; captain, Aug. 8, 1879. Elected chief Jan. 5, 1881. Re-elected every year since.

He joined Prescott Post, No. 1, June 7, 1867. He was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Department Commander in 1887–8; he was elected a delegate at large to the National Encampment in 1888; and elected a member of the Council of Administration of the Department of Rhode Island in 1889. In 1890 he was elected to the position of Senior Vice Department Commander, and in the following year (1891) to that of Department Commander. He is a member of the Massachusetts Commandery, Loyal Legion of the United States. He is one of the committee on the publication of the History of Battery H.

114It may not be out of place here to mention the fact that Lieutenant Child’s twin brother, William D. Child, served with distinction in Battery A, entering the service as private and rising successively to the rank of first sergeant. After this battery was consolidated with Battery B, it took part in the fierce battle of Reams’s Station, Aug. 25, 1864, when the combined battery was nearly annihilated. The total of killed, wounded and missing numbered fifty-two, with a loss of all the guns and fifty horses. Lieut. William S. Perrin, who was in command of the battery, had his leg shattered and was taken prisoner. Lieutenants Chace and Spencer were also made prisoners. This disaster reduced the battery to seventy-two men. Captain Brown being on duty in Rhode Island, and the other officers in the hands of the enemy, the command devolved on First Sergeant Child, who continued to serve in that capacity until the arrival of Captain Brown.

On the fiftieth anniversary of his birth, which occurred May 8, 1893, the friends of Chief Child (and they are legion), in recognition of his long and faithful service on the police force of the city, determined to show their affection and esteem for him in a substantial manner. On the evening of the above date, at his own home, with a large assembly present, he was made the recipient of an elegant solid silver tea service, the gift of the officers and members of the Police Department; also a handsome remembrance from the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen of the City of Providence. One of the gifts which he prizes highly is a beautiful picture presented to him by his comrades 115of the Grand Army of the Republic. His estimable wife was also pleasantly remembered by several appropriate gifts from many friends and acquaintances.

Second Lieut. Anthony B. Horton, the son of John W. and Mary A. Horton, was born in the city of Providence, R. I., on the 22d of January, 1836. He attended the Fountain Street School in that city until his tenth year, when his parents removed to Rehoboth, Mass. He assisted his father on the farm during the spring, summer and fall months of the year, and attended the district school in the winter.

At the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted as private in Battery B, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. Aug. 13, 1861. On the 25th of March, 1862, he was promoted to corporal, and on the 1st of December of the same year he was advanced to sergeant. He re-enlisted Feb. 8, 1864, and was appointed first sergeant Oct. 3, 1864. He was discharged Dec. 19, 1864, to receive promotion as second lieutenant in Battery H, to date from Nov. 29, 1864. He was mustered into that battery Dec. 20, 1864. He was a very brave and gallant officer, cool and collected in the hour of battle. He was promoted to brevet first lieutenant April 2, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services before Petersburg, Va., to date from Nov. 29, 1864. He was mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

First Lieut. William B. Westcott, son of Harley and Laura Westcott, was born in Pawtuxet, R. I., March 16, 1841. He received his education in the public schools of his native village. In 1857 he went to Providence and was employed as a clerk in the grocery store of Thomas Merewether, and was thus engaged when the War of the Rebellion began.

On Dec. 2, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. He was promoted to sergeant Dec. 15, 1861, and quartermaster sergeant, June 9, 1862. On the 26th of April, 1864, he was promoted to second lieutenant of Battery H, and was mustered in May 1, 1864. He was promoted to first lieutenant March 2, 1865, and transferred to Battery B. He was mustered out with his battery June 12, 1865, and returned with it to Rhode Island.

Oct. 14, 1865, he entered the wholesale drug store of Oliver Johnson & Co., as a clerk, and has remained in the service of that company ever since. He is at the present time (1894) head clerk in that establishment.

Comrade Westcott joined Prescott Post, No. 1, G. A. R., of Providence, about December, 1867. He served as officer of the day for two years. He was department inspector in 1870–71, and assistant quartermaster-general of the department in 1874.

Comrade Westcott is a member of Hope Lodge, No. 4, I. O. O. F., and is also connected with Providence Council, No. 566, American Legion of Honor, having held the office of Commander in that order.

Lieut. George Lewis.

117His brother, Gilbert O. Westcott, also served honorably for three years in Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, and is a member of Prescott Post, No. 1, G. A. R. Another brother, George H. Westcott, served as a corporal in Company D, First Rhode Island Detached Militia. He died in 1875.

Second Lieut. George Lewis was born near Summit, in the town of Coventry, R. I., Nov. 1, 1831. His father, Benoni E. Lewis, in early life was a farmer, but afterwards became a carpenter and builder, doing business mainly in the villages of Harrisville, Quidnick, and Anthony. Sarah Lewis, the mother of Lieutenant Lewis, was the only daughter of the Hon. George and Martha (Stone) Hawkins, and a niece of the late venerable Rev. Richard C. Stone, “who with each of his nine children,” says the Bunker Hill (Ill.) Gazette, “have taught yearly in high schools, colleges and universities, from two to thirty-one years each.” His grandfather Hawkins in early life passed through the subordinate military ranks till he held a major’s commission. He was a representative in the General Assembly from 1819 to 1829, and senator from May, 1829, to 1831. For over forty years he was deacon in the Rice City Christian Church, of Coventry, R. I.

118In early youth Mr. Lewis attended the public schools at Rice City, in Coventry, and at Sterling, Conn. In March, 1841, his parents moved to the Crompton Mills, in Warwick, R. I. Here George was employed in the cotton mill as a back-piecer in the mule room. He afterwards went to live with his uncle in Coventry, working in the shingle mill and on the farm, except in the winter months, when he attended the public school.

About the first of April, 1848, at the age of sixteen, George was apprenticed for three years to his uncle, Jason Lewis, then of Phenix, to learn the carpenter’s trade. He afterwards left his uncle’s employ, and worked for his father, who had commenced the same business, continuing with him most of the time until the summer of 1852. In September of that year he moved to Providence, R. I., and worked for several firms until the spring of 1854. He was then employed by Cyrus T. Eddy & Company, with whom he continued the greater portion of the time until September, 1861, when he entered the service of his country as a private in Battery E, First Rhode Island Light Artillery.

He was mustered into the service Sept. 30, 1861, and participated in all the battles in which his battery was engaged. He was wounded slightly May 3, 1863, at the battle of Chancellorsville. He was promoted to lance corporal May 29, 1863; corporal Sept. 4, 1863; re-enlisted Feb. 1, 1864; lance sergeant April 9, 1864; sergeant Oct. 20, 1864, to date from October 4th; second lieutenant March 31, 1865; assigned to Battery H, May 29, 1865; never reported or mustered as such; mustered out of service June 14, 1865.

119After the close of the war Lieutenant Lewis resumed work for the same firm with whom he was employed before entering the army. He continued with them until February, 1866. He then went to Worcester, Mass., where he was employed as foreman in the carpenter shop of the “Earle Stove Company.” That company not succeeding in business closed their works in June, 1869. In July of that year Mr. Lewis entered the employ of Spicers & Peckham (now the Spicer Stove Company), the well-known and successful stove founders of Providence, R. I., with whom he is still (1894) employed, having had charge of their carpenter shop for over twenty-four years.

Mr. Lewis is a member of Slocum Post, No. 10, Grand Army of the Republic, and is also connected with the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Historical Society. He has served as a vice-president of the First Rhode Island Light Artillery Veteran Association.

He was chosen historian by his comrades to write the history of Battery E, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery. He labored with untiring zeal and ability to further this object, and the imperishable record he has been instrumental in preserving to the archives of the State will ever redound to his honor as a soldier and patriot.

First Sergt. George Messinger, the son of Eli and Ann J. (Roberts) Messinger, was born in the city of Providence, R. I., March 27, 1842. At the commencement of the Civil War, he was attending a private school in that city, preparatory to entering Brown University. With all the ardor and patriotism of youth, and imbued with a strong desire to serve his country in her hour of peril, he offered his services and was mustered into service as a private in Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, June 6, 1861. He participated with his battery in the first battle of Bull Run.

The battery was subsequently ordered to the Upper Potomac, and was stationed at different points between Harper’s Ferry and Washington. At the time of the battle of Ball’s Bluff one section of the battery to which Private Messinger had been assigned was stationed near Poolesville, Md. It was dismounted and crossed the Potomac on a scow, but took no active part in the engagement, and the next day recrossed the river and returned to its old camping ground.

About this time Private Messinger was seriously attacked with typhoid fever and pneumonia. His father, who had enlisted in the same battery, was detailed to attend him during his illness. His mother also came on from Providence, R. I., to render her assistance. He was removed to the house of Mrs. White, the mother of the well known (Confederate) Gen. Harry White. Private Messinger after becoming convalescent was granted a furlough, and returned to Rhode Island. On regaining his health he was detailed on recruiting service in Providence.

Company Clerk George Messinger.

121Battery H was then organizing in that city, and Private Messinger was transferred from Battery A and promoted to first sergeant of Battery H. The battery was subsequently ordered into camp near Mashapaug Bond, in Cranston, R. I. At this time frequent drafts were made upon the battery for recruits to serve in the batteries already in the field. Sergeant Messenger combined with his other duties that of drill master, and was kept constantly employed in that capacity until the battery left its camp and proceeded to Washington in October, 1862.

His career from that period until the termination of the war was closely identified with the history of the battery. In October, 1863, while the battery was stationed at Fairfax Court House, Sergeant Messinger was wounded by the accidental discharge of his revolver, the ball passing down his leg on the inside of his boot, entered his heel, and went through and lodged in the heel of his boot. It being in a vulnerable spot, he suffered considerable inconvenience from his wound.

Soon afterward, entirely unsolicited on his part, an application was made for him for a commission, which was signed by all of the officers of his battery and by the colonel and major of his regiment. The application was supposed to have been forwarded to the governor of Rhode Island, but nothing was ever heard from it, and in January, 1864, Sergeant Messinger re-enlisted as a veteran and received the customary furlough of thirty days.

122While at home on his furlough he had strong hopes that he might receive a commission from the governor. One day while reading a newspaper he was astounded to learn that a commission had been granted to a personal friend of his, but whose service as a non-commissioned officer was of a very recent date. Feeling aggrieved at this treatment he had received he went to the governor and requested that his application for a commission might be returned to him. He was greatly astonished to find that no application or recommendation had ever been received, and it was not until sixteen years later that he learned what had become of the papers that had been forwarded to the governor.

It may be well to state here that his friend who received the appointment was assigned to Battery E, in the very position which Sergeant Messinger had anticipated might be allotted to himself. In the very first battle in which this officer took part after he had joined his battery he was killed, so that Sergeant Messinger has good reason to congratulate himself that he did not receive the coveted commission at that time.

And now we are able to inform our readers what became of those papers. It seems there was a soldier well known in the battery (now deceased) whose name we do not desire to make public, who cherished an enmity against Sergeant Messinger because he had appointed him a corporal at Camp Mauran against his wishes. He only held the position a short time, then returned to the ranks, and was appointed mail carrier for the battery. He was present in the officers’ quarters to take the mail the morning the captain sent the 123papers to Rhode Island, and heard the captain express the desire that the papers might soon bring Sergeant Messinger his commission.

The mail carrier afterward said to Sergeant Messinger that he determined at that time that he (Messinger) should not have the commission if he could prevent it. He took the papers from the mail bag and destroyed them. No wonder they could not be found in the governor’s office, and that Sergeant Messinger did not receive appointment to the position which he was so well qualified to adorn.

After Captain Allen took command of the battery, Sergeant Messinger was appointed company clerk, and served in that capacity until the muster out of the battery. He settled all the affairs of the battery for Captain Allen in a manner creditable to himself and to all concerned. Even to this day there is no member of the battery who is more highly esteemed and respected than he, and no one who takes a livelier interest in the welfare of his comrades. He has had the opportunity and privilege of visiting many of the members who are scattered over the country, and they always find him ready to extend a hearty welcome to all; and no deserving comrade ever found him turning a deaf ear to his plea for help in time of need.

He is at present engaged in the manufacture of pottery at East Brookfield, Mass. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic in his town, and is an honored citizen of the community in which he lives. He is one of the committee on the publication of the History of Battery H.

Lieut. Hezekiah Potter, son of Christy and Lucius (Smith) Potter, was born in Pawtucket, R. I., on the 1st day of July, 1834. His parents subsequently removed to Providence, R. I., where he received his education in the public schools of that city.

Previous to the War for the Union he was engaged in the wholesale grocery business, first with his brother in the city of Syracuse, N. Y., and afterwards managed the same business for A. & W. Sprague with marked success for about five years. He was subsequently connected with William Sheldon in the same capacity.

In August, 1862, he was enrolled as private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. He was afterwards promoted to the rank of quartermaster-sergeant in this battery March 28, 1864. On the 21st of October, 1864, he received a commission as second lieutenant, and was assigned to Battery E. He was mustered into the battery on the same day of his arrival, Nov. 11, 1864. Although a man of few words he won the respect and esteem of all the members of the battery. He was cool and self-possessed under fire, and was always found reliable in every position he was placed. He participated with the battery in the almost daily conflicts with the enemy in the intrenchments before Petersburg, and was present at the final and successful assaults on the enemy’s lines, April 2, 1865. He was mustered out of service June 4, 1865.

First Sergt. John P. Campbell.

125After the close of the war he was employed for several years with Hubbard & Aldrich, wholesale grocers, in Providence, R. I. He has since been employed in various kinds of business.

First Sergt. John P. Campbell, son of James S. and Ann Campbell, was born in Treat’s Village, in the town of Voluntown, Conn., March 29, 1844. He was educated in the public schools of that place. During the Civil War he enlisted as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, June 24, 1862. He was mustered into service with his battery Oct. 14, 1862. By good conduct, gentlemanly bearing and kind consideration of all with whom he came in contact, he won the love and confidence of his comrades, and the approbation and esteem of his superior officers, and was successively promoted to corporal, sergeant, and in December, 1864, first sergeant, retaining that position on his muster out of service with the battery, June 28, 1865.

Comrade Campbell is at the present time (1894) a respected citizen of the village of Lafayette, in the town of North Kingstown, R. I. He holds the position of head overseer in the Rodman Mill, and is greatly beloved by all for his sterling worth, and especially by those employed under him for his many acts of kindness toward them.

Sergt. Esek S. Owen, son of Thomas J. and Dorcas (Sayles) Owen, was born in Smithfield, R. I., Aug. 21, 1839. His parents subsequently removed to Central Falls, R. I., where Esek attended school. His parents afterwards moved to Connecticut, and he attended school there for three years. He also pursued a course of study at the East Greenwich Academy.

He enrolled as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, May 19, 1862, and was mustered into service with his battery Oct. 14, 1862. In the battle before Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865, he commanded the left piece of the right section. In this engagement he was slightly wounded. He also commanded the left piece of the right section in the Battle of Sailor’s Creek, Va. He was always cool and self-possessed under fire, winning the respect and confidence of the men under his command. He was mustered out of service with his battery June 28, 1865. He is at the present time (1894) an esteemed citizen of Pueblo, Colorado.

Sergt. Emulous A. Cheever, son of Amos and Abigail (Keech) Cheever, was born in Attleboro, Mass., Aug. 27, 1841. Sergeant Cheever’s parents formerly resided in Wrentham, Mass., but subsequently removed to Attleboro, Mass., where the subject of our sketch was born. He received his education in the public schools of the town.

Corp. Earl Fenner.

127He enlisted in the service of his country Aug. 4, 1862, and was mustered in with his battery Oct. 14, 1862. He was promoted to corporal in 1862; and November 6th of that year was made a sergeant. He endeared himself to his comrades by his manly and upright character, and by many sterling qualities. He was mustered out of service with his battery June 28, 1865.

Corp. Earl Fenner was born in Providence, R. I., on the 20th day of April, 1841. He is the second son of James M. and Sarah A. Fenner. His mother was the daughter of Gould and Alary Brown, of North Kingstown, R. I. His ancestor, Capt. Arthur Fenner, erected in Johnston, R. I., (then a portion of the town of Providence) what was known as the “Old Fenner Castle,” a strongly constructed log house, built for the purpose of resisting the assaults of the Indians. The old “Castle” and the lands adjacent thereto descended in direct succession to James, son of Capt. Arthur Fenner; then to his son Thomas Fenner; then to James M. Fenner, the father of Comrade Earl Fenner.

The subject of our sketch attended the public schools of Providence in his youth.

When the War for the Union began Comrade Fenner 128became imbued with the martial spirit of the times, and was desirous of taking part in the great struggle for national existence. On the 25th day of August, 1861, he enrolled as a private in Battery C, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. This battery left Providence on the 31st of August, and proceeded to Washington. It remained at Camp Sprague engaged in daily drill until October, when it crossed the Potomac and encamped near Fort Corcoran, giving to its encampment the name of “Camp Randolph.” From thence it removed to Hall’s Hill, and again to Miner’s Hill, Va., and became identified with Porter’s division of the Army of the Potomac. While the battery was stationed here the privations and hardships of a soldier’s life greatly impaired the health of Comrade Fenner, and eventually caused his discharge from the service Dec. 9, 1861.

Regaining his health the following year he again yearned to serve his country in her hour of peril, and enlisted as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Sept. 24, 1862. From this time on until its final muster out Comrade Fenner became closely identified with its history. During his term of service he served as private, bugler and non-commissioned officer.

When the Army of the Potomac was moving towards Gettysburg, Pa., in June, 1863, Comrade Fenner was detailed to headquarters of the Third Brigade, of the Twenty-second Army Corps, and was ordered on special duty as a bearer of dispatches to the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac. As that army was on the march against the enemy his instructions were very explicit to deliver the dispatches 129entrusted to him to the general commanding wherever he might be found. On one occasion while returning from one of these journeys he narrowly escaped capture by Mosby’s guerillas near Germantown, Va.

In the battles before Petersburg, the engagement at Sailor’s Creek, and the closing scenes at Appomattox, where the surrender of the Confederate army occurred, Comrade Fenner was an active participant with his battery, and at the termination of the war returned to Rhode Island, where the battery was mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Comrade Fenner is a member of the First Rhode Island Light Artillery Veteran Association, and served as Executive Committee of Battery H in the regimental association a number of years. In 1891 he was chosen first-vice president of the association, and in 1892 president.

On the 27th of June, 1891, he called a meeting of the old members of Battery H, for the purpose of forming a veteran association of the battery. Starting with only four members, through his untiring efforts as secretary and treasurer, the association now numbers on its roll fifty members. He was unanimously chosen historian by his comrades of the battery. Having in his possession a very valuable war diary that he kept while in service it has formed the nucleus from which a large portion of the facts and incidents relating to the history of the battery have been gathered. This diary has also been the means of aiding many of his comrades and their widows in obtaining pensions, and likewise been of great service to the pension office in settling disputed cases.

Comrade Fenner is connected with various societies. He 130is a past chief patriarch of Narragansett Encampment, No. 1, I. O. O. F., and has held the office of recording secretary in Hope Lodge, No. 4, I. O. O. F. He is a past great sachem and past great prophet of the Great Council of the Improved Order of Red Men of Rhode Island, also holding the position of great mishewina in the Great Council for two years.

Comrade Fenner has been for several years in the employ of his brother, James M. Fenner, druggist, in the city of Providence.

Corp. Franklin E. Paul, son of Captain Clark and May (Young) Paul, was born in Dover, N. H., Sept. 14, 1829. He received his education in the public schools of his native town. His father was a sea captain, and followed the sea for over forty years. At the age of fifteen he went to North Bridgewater, now Brockton, Mass., and lived on a farm for about a year, and then learned the trade of boot and shoemaking. After serving faithfully three years as an apprentice, he started out for himself, working in different towns in Massachusetts.

In 1858 he removed to Mansfield, Mass., and in September of that year he married Almira Alger, daughter of Edmund Alger, Esq., of that town. While busy in his calling, the tocsin of war resounded throughout the land, and aroused within him a spirit of loyalty and devotion to country, and he determined to enroll himself among his country’s defenders, and do all in his power to maintain the honor and integrity of free institutions and good government.

Corp. Franklin E. Paul.

131On the 29th of September, 1862, he enlisted with five others from Mansfield, in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, and was mustered into service Oct. 14, 1862. Leaving a good home, a devoted wife, and a little daughter, he offered all upon his country’s altar, and served loyally and faithfully with his battery until the termination of the war. He was promoted to corporal in 1865. He was mustered out with the battery June 28, 1865.

On returning to his home in Mansfield, Mass., he worked at his trade for two years, and then removed to Boston to take charge of a large shoe manufactory on Pearl Street, in that city. He continued in this position until May 27, 1877, when he received an appointment as clerk in the Boston post-office, in which capacity he still remains.

In the year 1892 he was unanimously chosen first vice-president of Battery H Veteran Association, and in August, 1893, was elected to the office of president. On assuming the chair he delivered an excellent address appropriate to the occasion, which was listened to with marked interest and attention. He is also a member of the publication committee on the History of Battery H. He is held in high esteem by his comrades of Battery H, his associates in the Boston post-office, and by his fellow townsmen of Chelsea, Mass., where he now resides.

Corp. John P. Campbell, son of John and Nancy J. (Malin) Campbell, was born in Boston, Mass., on the 8th day of April, 1846. His parents were of Scotch descent. On his father’s side he is descended from the Campbells of Clyde, having an ancestry of rank in the Scottish Highlands. On his mother’s side also his ancestors attained high distinction.

The subject of our sketch in his youth was brought up in the family of Jeremiah Russell Smith, father of William Russell Smith, a noted musician in South Medfield, Mass. He attended the South Medfield and Walpole schools, previously going to schools in Boston.

In the War of the Rebellion he enlisted as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Sept. 19, 1862, and was mustered in Oct. 14, 1862. He was subsequently promoted to corporal. That he served with credit and honor in his battery is attested by his being wounded severely in hand, shoulder, and foot, in action near Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865. He was corporal of the right piece, of the right section of his battery in that engagement. He was mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Corp. John P. Campbell, 2d.

133Immediately upon his return from the army he went West, and was engaged in teaching in schools, holding some important positions in high schools, etc. He received his college education in Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa. After leaving college he read law under Judge Alonzo Converse, and was admitted to the bar in Iowa. He went to Abilene, Kansas, in the year 1876, where he located in the practice of law, and where he has since resided. He there established the “J. P. Campbell Collection Agency,” at the head of which he has continued since its formation. His practice has been in all courts, and has been a successful and profitable one. He is the author of several literary publications, brought out by some of the best known publishing houses in the country.

He is also well known as a lecturer, and has met with much success in that direction. His lectures on “What is Life?” “Courtship, Marriage, Divorce,” “A View of Heaven, from the Poet’s Standpoint,” and “The Soldier,” have been spoken of in the highest terms, and been received with universal favor. Of the author of these lectures this has been said:

“John Preston Campbell has, perhaps, the most complete and choicely selected law and literary library in the State of Kansas, and being greatly attached to books, of his more matured and written deliberations much that is entertaining, ennobling and beneficial may be expected. An hour was spent in his rooms examining his books and chatting with one of the most genial conversationalists we had ever met.”

He has always been in warm sympathy with his comrades-in-arms, the “boys who wore the blue” in the trying days of the Rebellion, and is an honored member of Post No. 63, Department of Kansas, Grand Army of the Republic.

Artificer Leon Allison, son of James and Josephine Allison, was born in Three Rivers, Canada, May 1, 1820. He worked on a farm until his eighteenth year, when he went to Spencer, Mass., where he learned the shoemaker’s trade. From there he removed to Providence and worked at his trade for awhile and then enlisted in the navy about the year 1841, serving on board the United States man-of-war Delaware for three years, when he was honorably discharged, returned to Providence, and resumed his former occupation, the shoemaking business, and was thus engaged when he entered the army in the War of the Rebellion.

He enlisted as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Oct. 9, 1862, and was mustered into service Oct. 14, 1862. He was subsequently promoted to artificer. While the battery was stationed at Fort Smith on the Potomac River, near Aqueduct Bridge, Comrade Allison was sent into Washington on official business. On his return he was brutally assaulted and all his valuables taken from him, even to the shoes on his feet. Upon his arrival at the fort he was sent to the hospital, where the surgeon found that his jaw was broken. After he had recovered from his injuries he resumed his duties in the battery, and served with credit until his muster out June 28, 1865.

On returning to Providence he again followed his accustomed avocation, and has been engaged in the shoemaking business ever since. Although a veteran in years as well as of the war, he is still active and strong for a man of his age, and is highly respected in the community.

Horace F. Floyd.

135He is a member of Prescott Post, No. 1, G. A. R., of Providence, and also of Battery H Veteran Association.

Guidon Horace F. Floyd was but a stripling of fifteen years of age when he entered the service of his country. He became so imbued with martial ardor that he walked from Webster, Mass., to Providence, R. I., and from thence to Camp Mauran, where he enlisted as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, and was mustered into service Oct. 14, 1862. He was subsequently promoted to battery guidon.

In January, 1863, while the battery was encamped near Fairfax Station, Va., Comrade Floyd was taken sick with typhoid and rheumatic fever, and was sent to the hospital at Fairfax Seminary, returning to the battery at Chantilly, Va., in May or June of that year. While stationed at Fort Scott in the fall of 1863, he was sick with rheumatism and malaria.

In the battle before Petersburg, Va., on the 2d of April, 1865, he won special commendation from his superior officers for his gallant conduct. He carried the battery guidon at the head of the battery throughout the entire action. In the seventh and last position which the battery occupied on that eventful day in rear of the Whitworth House, while the 136battery was under a very severe cross fire from the enemy he was ordered by Captain Allen to deliver a message to Colonel Cowan, commanding the Artillery Brigade of the Sixth Corps, requesting assistance. In compliance with this request the Colonel sent his New York battery to our support. Comrade Floyd on returning to the battery after delivering his message, while riding down our line of battle his horse was struck by a shell, killing him instantly. Our comrade was prostrated by the concussion of the shell, and his horse also falling upon him, injured his leg severely and caused a severe strain upon his bodily powers, producing nervous prostration, with which he suffered for some time afterwards. Colonel Cowan in referring to this affair said: “I received a dispatch from Captain Allen by the boy guidon of Battery H, and could not help admiring the courage and patriotism displayed by this lad on that occasion.” Comrade Floyd subsequently recovered from his injuries, and was mustered out with the battery, June 28, 1865.

Comrade Floyd now (in 1894) resides in Buffalo, N. Y. He is a member of Chapin Post, No. 2, Department of New York, and has held the office of adjutant in the post, and is also a past president of the Army and Navy Union of Buffalo. For over nineteen years he has been connected with the Seventy-fourth Regiment New York National Guard, rising from the ranks as private to the position of first lieutenant. He resigned this office several years ago to accept the position of armorer in the regiment. He is a member of DeMolay Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, and has held the office of marshal. He is also an active member of the Royal Arcanum.

137Comrade Floyd is held in high esteem by his military associates, his brethren in the various societies with which he is connected, and by his fellow citizens generally. In the opinion of the writer Comrade Floyd deserves a medal from Congress for the bravery he displayed in front of Petersburg.

Warner Alden, son of Oliver and Lucinda (Cobb) Alden, was born in North Middleboro, Mass., Feb. 3, 1830. He is a lineal descendant of John Alden, who came over in the Mayflower, and was one of the founders of the Plymouth Colony. His father, Oliver Alden, served in the War of 1812. His mother, Lucinda (Cobb) Alden, was the daughter of Ansel and Cynthia (Howard) Cobb. Comrade Alden’s parents had three children, Abner, William C., and Warner. Abner served at the age of nineteen in the Florida War, and was discharged as a first lieutenant. He died in 1883, in Iowa. William C. enlisted in the Third Massachusetts Infantry, during the War of the Rebellion, and went to Fortress Monroe, and served three months. Upon the expiration of his term of service he returned home with his regiment, re-enlisted and served three years in the Fortieth Massachusetts Infantry, and is now living in Boston.

In his youth Comrade Warner Alden received a common school education in the public schools of his native town. After leaving school he learned the trade of mason, which calling he still follows.

138Comrade Alden enlisted Oct. 1, 1862, in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, and was mustered into service with his battery Oct. 14, 1862. He served faithfully and continuously with his battery until he was mustered out of service June 28, 1865, at the termination of the war.

He married Matilda White. They have four children: Mabel J., May F., Lizzie N., and Gordon Brooks.

Comrade Alden is a worthy member of Prescott Post, No. 1, Department of Rhode Island, Grand Army of the Republic, having joined that Post Sept. 2, 1892. He is also a member of Battery H Veteran Association, First Rhode Island Light Artillery.

Solomon Close, son of Joseph and Sarah (Brown) Close, was born in the town of Greenwich, Fairfield County, State of Connecticut, Oct. 19, 1845. His ancestor, Thomas Close, came from England about the year 1661, and settled in Greenwich, Conn. He had four sons, Thomas, Joseph, Benjamin, and John. Comrade Close is a direct descendant from Joseph. The names of Thomas Close and Thomas Close, Jr., appear on the list of seventy-two proprietors who purchased a large tract of land in West Greenwich, Conn., in 1762.

The grandfather of Comrade Close (Solomon Close) was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. At the time of the attack made by the British upon West Greenwich, under 139Governor Tryon, Feb. 26, 1776, he was an eye witness of the escape of General Putnam down the precipice as he was being pursued by the British soldiers. Putnam afterwards said he could hear the enemy’s bullets strike in the trees as they fired at and overshot him as he rode down the steep declivity.

It is also related of Comrade Close’s grandfather that two other soldiers and himself were concealed for twenty-four hours in an old stone wall at Throg’s Neck, then occupied by the British. They were there for the purpose of capturing a British officer. They failed in the accomplishment of this object, however, as the enemy obtained information of their designs and instituted a search for the Yankee soldiers, who were hiding in an arch in the old stone wall, which was covered over with salt grass by a friend of the Yankee soldiers. While lying there the British walked over the very spot where they were concealed, and our comrade’s grandfather says he could have struck the blade of his knife into their feet as they walked over him. They halted near the spot for quite a while, as the grass was considerably trampled down at that point. One of the British soldiers remarked that the “d——d rebels” must have lain there the night before. They were subsequently released from their perilous position by the aid of their friend already alluded to, and made good their escape. It is stated that Solomon Close was present at the storming of Stony Point, by the Continental forces under the command of Gen. Anthony Wayne. Our comrade’s grandfather died Jan. 28, 1840, before his grandson was born, and for whom he was undoubtedly 140named. Other members of the Close family served with distinction in the War of the Revolution, and one particularly, Elnathan Close, was engaged in privateering. His exploits in connection with others like himself have formed the basis of many exciting tales.

Captain Andrew Meade and Elnathan Close, of Greenwich, with other daring spirits were engaged in privateering to the great annoyance of the enemy. They sallied out on their expeditions provided with large whaleboats, which were easily hidden from view in the day time in the small bays along the coast. On one occasion they proceeded by night to Ferry Point and seized upon a small store vessel, and secured her as a prize. The vessel was anchored in a small inlet known as Chimney Corner. The prize was so valuable that the enemy pursued them with one of their war vessels. They anchored off Chimney Corner, and began making dispositions to retake their vessel. But the people on shore who had assembled for the purpose of defending the prize, determined if possible to prevent its falling into the hands of the British. With a six-pounder, which was the only large gun in the town, they fired upon the British vessel. The first shot struck the deck of the vessel. The enemy returned the fire, but finding it impracticable to retake the vessel or inflict injury to the people on shore they relinquished their efforts in that direction and hastily withdrew.

The attack on the British vessel at Ferry Point had been made in two divisions. One division was commanded by Captain Meade and the other by Elnathan Close. Captain 141Meade while leaving the vessel with his division was wounded in both arms from shots fired by two marines on guard. Elnathan Close with his division at the same time boarded the vessel on the opposite side, soon had possession of the decks, and the forces below quickly surrendered with but little resistance.

Thus it will be seen that Comrade Close came of good military stock. On his mother’s side his ancestor, Thomas Brown, of Sussex, England, emigrated to this country in 1632. Comrade Close’s father, Joseph, was at one time captain of a company of militia at White Plains, N. Y., where he then resided. He subsequently removed to Greenwich, Conn., and purchased a farm of about one hundred acres, and pursued there his occupation of farmer and drover, dealing largely in cattle, which he bought mostly in the middle and western states.

Joseph Close’s family consisted of six children, four boys and two girls. One of these boys, Solomon, the subject of our sketch, was attending school when the War of the Rebellion began. He became imbued with martial ardor and had a strong desire to enter the army. But his parents opposed it. Not because they were not loyal to the Union cause, but they deemed it advisable that Solomon should remain at school a while longer.

In February, 1865, while his father was away buying cattle, our comrade decided that if he could not enter the service of his country as a soldier, he would go on a whaling voyage. To this proposition his mother reluctantly gave her consent. He proceeded to New York city and shipped 142for a voyage. From that city he was sent to New Bedford, from which port the ship was to depart. While waiting for the vessel to sail Comrade Close observed the arrival of a whaler from a long voyage in the Arctic regions. The appearance of the vessel and the crew and the rough usage to which they had been subjected cooled the ardor of our friend for a cruise in the northern seas, and he sought the shipping agent and requested that he might be allowed to enter the army instead. To this arrangement the agent consented, and, as there was no recruiting office in New Bedford, our comrade proceeded to Providence, R. I., and enlisted as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, March 7, 1865, and joined the battery at Burkeville Junction, Va., April 22, 1865, the day before the battery left that place for the long march to Danville, Va. Although not permitted to share in the more stirring scenes of the battery’s history, yet he cheerfully performed every duty incumbent upon him during his brief term of service, and was mustered out with the battery June 28, 1865.

On the 11th of June, 1866, he enlisted in the city of New York in Troop K, Fourth United States Cavalry, and served three years on the Texas frontier. In August, 1866, that dread scourge, cholera, made its appearance, and several men of his company were taken sick and died. Two of his tent-mates were among the victims. Comrade Close was detailed to regimental hospital to care for the sick, and remained there until the epidemic abated. His regiment was at that time stationed a few miles outside of the city of San Antonio, Texas. After the cholera had disappeared the several companies 143of the regiment were scattered for a time, some of them being sent to different posts on the frontier, his company being assigned to Fort Inge, about ninety-five miles west of San Antonio. His company scouted the country in the vicinity of the post for two years, having several sharp engagements with the Comanche Indians. In this capacity the company continued the larger portion of its stay in Texas, hunting Indians, Mexican bandits, and outlaws. It was subsequently relieved by the Ninth United States Cavalry, and the company was ordered to Fort Brown, Texas, where Comrade Close was honorably discharged, June 11, 1869, his term of service having expired. He arrived home July 4, 1869.

On the 22d of October, 1869, he was employed as locomotive fireman on the New York and New Haven Railroad. May 28, 1873, he was promoted to locomotive engineer, and still retains that position. Although our comrade has seen twenty-four years of railroad service, yet he has never had a collision, nor has a passenger been injured on any of the trains he has run. It is a singular coincidence that three of his brothers have also been locomotive engineers.

Comrade Close married Cornelia J. Husted Sept. 25, 1872. She died Oct. 29, 1873. He married Mary F. Knapp Sept. 26, 1876. They have two children, Joseph, born Feb. 25, 1878, and Mary F., born Dec. 11, 1879.

Comrade Close is a resident of Stamford, Conn., and is an honored member of Hobbie Post, No. 23, Department of Connecticut. As indicative of the esteem in which Comrade Close is held we will state that on the 11th of April, 1441893, he was made the recipient of a handsome gold badge of the Grand Army regulation pattern, studded with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, and presented to him by a number of his comrades and friends. He was elected Junior Vice Commander of Hobbie Post, Dec. 7, 1893. He is also a member of Battery H Veteran Association.

George W. Freeborn, son of Samuel and Eliza P. Freeborn, was born in Newport, R. I., on the 18th day of May, 1845. He received his education in the public schools of his native city. He enlisted as a recruit for Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Feb. 25, 1865, and reported to the battery at Fort Tracy, in front of Petersburg, Va., March 1, 1865. In the battle before Petersburg, April 2, 1865, he proved to be a man of courage and thoroughly reliable in every emergency. He was mustered out of service with the battery June 28, 1865. He returned to Newport, R. I., and in 1867 married Martha A. Goslin, the daughter of John and Jane Goslin. They have five children.

Comrade Freeborn is now residing in Fall River, Mass., and is foreman of the packing house of David M. Anthony. He is a member of Richard Borden Post, of Fall River, and is also a member of the Veteran Firemen’s Association, and the Firemen’s Relief Association. He is connected with the American Order of Druids, and a member of Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery Veteran Association.

Sydney A. Goodrich, son of Jacob M. and Hannah Goodrich, was born in Shapleigh, Maine, March 1848. In his youth his parents removed to Providence, R. I., where he attended the Transit and Arnold Street schools, until his enlistment in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Oct. 12, 1863. He reported to the battery at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C., about Oct. 17, 1863. He served with credit in his battery until his muster out of service June 28, 1865.

Comrade Goodrich is a member of Gen. Lander Post, No. 5, of Lynn, Mass., where he now resides. He is also a member of Battery H Veteran Association.

John A. Gray, son of Lawson D. and Harriet E. Gray, was born in the town of Walpole, Mass., Jan. 17, 1839. He attended the schools of that town in his youth. In the War of the Rebellion he enlisted in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Sept. 22, 1862, and was mustered into service with his battery Oct. 14, 1862. He served with credit during his entire service, and was mustered out June 25, 1865.

Returning to Walpole on the completion of his army service, he has ever since been an honored resident of that 146town. He is a member of Post No. 157, Department of Massachusetts, a member of Lodge No. 39, United Workmen, and is also connected with Battery H Veteran Association, and with the First Rhode Island Light Artillery Veteran Association.

George W. Haradon, son of Elisha and Sarah M. Haradon, was born in the town of Sharon, Mass., June 14, 1842. He attended the district school of the town in his youth, and later he attended the Bristol Academy at Taunton, Mass. After graduation he learned the carpenter’s trade. He enlisted as a recruit in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, March 2, 1865. He reported to the battery at Fort Tracy, in front of Petersburg, Va. He participated with his battery in the battle before Petersburg, April 2, 1865, where he displayed all the qualities that are requisite to make a good soldier. He was mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

He is now located in Manchester, N. H. He is a member of Passaconnaway Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men, attaining the rank of a chief in the tribe. He is regarded by his fellow townsmen as a man of sterling character and a good citizen.

Edwin Northrop.

Edward N. Lawton, son of Isaac and Mary Ann Lawton, was born in Newport, R. I., Jan. 15, 1847. He attended the public schools of that city in his youth. He enlisted as a recruit and was assigned to Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Feb. 27, 1865. He reported to the battery at Fort Tracy, Va., in front of Petersburg, Va., and was present with his battery at the battle before that place April 2, 1865, where he exemplified all the attributes that constitute a good soldier. He was mustered out with the battery June 28, 1865.

He is a member of Charles E. Lawton Post, No. 5, of Newport, R. I. He served two years as junior vice commander, and declined further advancement. He is also a member of Battery H First Rhode Island Light Artillery Veteran Association. He was a brave soldier, and, consequently, is a good citizen.

Edwin Northrop was born in Fishkill, N. Y., Dec. 15, 1838, his father being Jonas Northrop, of Bradford, Yorkshire County, England, who came to this country in the year 1830, at the age of nineteen. His mother, Ann Gaunt, was a native of Leeds, England.

Comrade Northrop received a common school education, and at the age of seventeen was apprenticed to learn wool 148sorting, and continued in this calling until his entrance into the service.

Comrade Northrop married Sarah Kyle, daughter of John Ballantine, of Blackstone, Mass., and four children were the fruit of this union.

At the commencement of the War of the Rebellion he made an ineffectual attempt to enlist in a company then forming in Woonsocket for the Second Rhode Island Infantry, afterwards designated as Company I, but so eager at that time were the young men of that town to enroll themselves among the defenders of the Union, that before Comrade Northrop’s turn came to enter the armory, it was announced that the roll was complete, and he was debarred the honor of enrolling his name with a company that won fame and renown in the annals of the history of the State.

Aug. 25, 1862, after making careful provision for his little family, he enlisted in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. He was mustered into service with his battery Oct. 14, 1862, and served faithfully and continuously with it until its final muster out June 28, 1865.

Soon after his return from the army he learned the dyer’s art, which calling he has since followed. He worked at his trade in Blackstone, Mass., leaving there in 1867, and settling in Norwalk, Conn. While here he became intensely interested in the principles of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was largely instrumental in the organization of Buckingham Post, No. 12, at that place. He was adjutant of the post from 1881 to 1883, and again in 1885, and its commander in 1884. He was aide-de-camp on the staff of 149Department Commander Ira E. Hicks, in 1882, and served the department as assistant mustering and inspecting officer.

In 1886 he removed with his family to Dalton, Mass., and here again took up the work of the Grand Army. He took an active part in organizing Hancock Post, No. 187, Department of Massachusetts. He was elected junior vice commander in 1887–8, senior vice commander 1889, commander 1890, and was also appointed post historian. His wife is an earnest working member of Hancock Woman’s Relief Corps, No. 133, of the Department of Massachusetts.

He was aide-de-camp to Department Commander Myron P. Walker; served as inspector and mustering officer, and was elected an alternate to the National Encampment in 1888.

On his removal to Kenyon, R. I., 1892, where he is employed by E. Kenyon & Sons, he became interested with the comrades of Burnside Post, No. 2, of Shannock, and before joining the post was, for services rendered, voted an honorary member. He is now (in 1894) commander of the post. He has received many testimonials of the esteem in which he is held by his comrades of Buckingham and Hancock posts, which he values very highly.

He is also a Free Mason, having joined the order in 1868, at Norwalk, Conn.

Sergt. Orville Balcom, son of William and Eliza Doty (Thomas) Balcom, was born in the town of Cumberland, R. I., in 1841. His parents removed to Attleboro, Mass., when he was six years of age. During his youth he attended the public schools of Attleboro. He was mustered as a private into Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Oct. 14, 1862. He was subsequently promoted to corporal and sergeant. In the battles before Petersburg and at Sailor’s Creek he performed every service incumbent upon him with credit to himself and likewise to the battery. He was mustered out of service June 28, 1865. He is a member of Battery H Veteran Association, and is connected with various societies in Attleboro, and enjoys the esteem and confidence of the citizens of that town.

Otis P. Snell, son of Barney and Rebecca Snell, was born in Cranston, R. I., in the year 1832. After he became a lad his parents removed to Smithfield, R. I., where Otis attended the district school in the fall and winter months, and assisted his father on the farm during the remainder of the year. He subsequently worked in a cotton mill for a time.

In the War of the Rebellion he enlisted in Battery H, 151First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Sept. 6, 1862, and was mustered into service Oct. 14, 1862. He participated with his battery in all the battles in which it was engaged, and proved himself a good soldier.

Since his return from the army Comrade Snell has worked in a cotton mill, but is now (1894) employed on a farm near Georgiaville, R. I. He is a member of Battery H Veteran Association. He is held in high esteem by his old comrades and his fellow townsmen.

John Taft, son of John and Jane (Moore) Taft, was born in Ireland June 5, 1832. He attended a private school in his youth. He afterwards emigrated to the United States, and located in Natick, R. I.

On the 20th of February, 1865, he enlisted as a recruit and was assigned to Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. He reported to the battery at Patrick’s Station, Va., Feb. 24, 1865. In the battles before Petersburg and at Sailor’s Creek he evinced great courage and proved to be reliable in every emergency. He was mustered out with the battery at Providence, R. I., June 28, 1865.

Comrade Taft married Jane Rafferty, daughter of John and Mary Rafferty. Two children have been born to them, namely, Thomas and Joseph P. Taft. Our comrade is an esteemed member of Reno Post No. 6, of East Greenwich, R. I., where he now resides, and is honored and respected by his fellow townsmen.

William H. Tasker, son of William and Annie (Carroll) Tasker, was born in Providence, R. I., Nov. 12, 1842. His father served as a soldier in the Mexican War, and was especially commended by his superior officer for bravery in battle. The subject of our sketch attended school in his youth in the city of Providence and also in the town of Johnston, R. I. In the Fall of 1862 he enlisted in the navy as an able seaman, and was assigned to the United States gunboat Iris. He was subsequently promoted to signal quartermaster for good conduct, and afterwards to quartermaster. After serving his time in the navy he was mustered out, and shortly afterwards enlisted as a private in Battery H, when it was stationed near Fort Tracy at Petersburg, March 7, 1865. In the battles before Petersburg, and also at Sailor’s Creek, he displayed good conduct in action, and was finally mustered out with his battery June 28, 1865.

Comrade Tasker is a member of Slocum Post, No. 10, of Providence, and is also a member of Farragut Naval Association, having served as lieutenant, lieutenant-commander, and commander in that association. He is connected with Battery H Veteran Association. He is now a resident of Rehoboth, Mass., having purchased the Bowen farm, and is therefore a respected tiller of the soil, honored and respected in the community.

Charles D. Vaughn, son of John and Catherine (Danforth) Vaughn, was born in Providence, R. I., July 17, 1836. He attended the public schools of that city in his youth. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted as a private in Company C, First Rhode Island Detached Militia, May 2, 1861. He participated with his regiment in the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, and was mustered out at the expiration of his term of service, Aug. 2, 1861. He enlisted as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Feb. 23, 1864, and served with credit in the battery until its muster out of service, June 28, 1865.

Albert Wells, son of Silas and Mary (Bowen) Wells, was born in Exeter, R. I., March 21, 1830. He attended the public schools of this place in his youth, also those in River Point and West Greenwich, R. I. His parents removing to Sterling, Conn., he attended school there, working a portion of the time in the Valentine mill in that town. His parents subsequently removed to Central Village, Plainfield, Conn., in 1847, and afterwards, in 1848, to Griswold, Conn., where he worked in Doane’s mill.

In 1849 Albert left home and went to Crompton to work in the machine shop in that place. In 1851 he married 154Almira O. Johnson, and subsequently went to West Greenwich where he worked on a farm, and afterwards engaged as a contractor for ship timber for Dexter Irons. In 1855 he took a contract for supplying ties for the Providence, Hartford and Fishkill Railroad Company. In 1857 he was a contractor for ship timber with the United States government.

Comrade Wells enlisted as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Aug. 5, 1862, and served honorably with the battery until its muster out of service June 28, 1865.

Shortly after his return to Rhode Island he worked for a while in the Liberty factory in West Greenwich, R. I. In 1866 he built a small shingle mill in that place, and was afterwards engaged in furnishing wood supplies for woolen mills. In 1877 he built a large mill farther up the stream for the same purpose. In 1882 he removed to Providence, R. I., and was employed in the Rhode Island Locomotive Works, remaining there until 1889, when he engaged in the carriage business for himself for one year, and then went to work in the repair shop of the Union Railroad Company, where he has remained until the present time (1894).

Comrade Wells is a member of Prescott Post, No. 1, of Providence, and is also connected with Battery H Veteran Association.

Henry A. Alexander, son of James A. and Jerusha M. (Skinner) Alexander, was born in Foxboro, Mass., on the 20th day of January, 1824. He attended the district school of that town in his youth, and subsequently attended school in Natick, Mass. He afterwards learned the business of a rubber worker, which calling he still follows.

He enlisted in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Sept. 25, 1862, and was mustered into service Oct. 14, 1862. Owing to failing health he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps Sept. 30, 1863. On his return from the army he located in his native town (Foxboro), and is an honored member of E. P. Carpenter Post, No. 91, of the Department of Massachusetts, Grand Army of the Republic. He is also a member of Fair Oaks Commandery No. 20, of Natick, Mass. He is also connected with Battery H Veteran Association.

Horace C. Briggs, son of Silas and Robey Briggs, was born in the town of Pittsfield, Oswego County, State of New York, on the 12th day of May, 1829. His grandfather, Joseph Briggs, served in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. During his youth the subject of our sketch attended the district school in his native town.

156Comrade Briggs enlisted in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Sept. 9, 1862. During a portion of his term of service he was on detached duty as an orderly for Lieut.-Col. J. Albert Monroe, of the First Rhode Island Light Artillery, who was chief of artillery of the Second Army Corps. He was mustered out of service with his battery at Providence, R. I., June 28, 1865.

Comrade Briggs is a member of E. B. Piper Post, No. 157, Department of Massachusetts. He has served as junior and senior vice commander of his post, and is held in high esteem by his fellow townsmen of Walpole, Mass., where he now resides. He is also a member of Battery H Veteran Association.

ROSTER. — Captains. — First Lieutenants. — Second Lieutenants. — First Sergeants. — Quartermaster-Sergeants. — Sergeants. — Corporals. — Buglers. — Artificers. — Privates.

Charles H. J. Hamlin. First lieutenant and quartermaster, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Oct. 3, 1861; promoted to captain, Battery H, May 16, 1862; never mustered; resigned, Sept. 27, 1862.

Jeffrey Hazard. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; second lieutenant, Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Oct. 5, 1861; promoted to first lieutenant and regimental adjutant; captain, Battery H, Oct. 1, 1862; resigned, Aug. 17, 1863.

Crawford Allen, Jr. Mustered Oct. 1, 1863; second lieutenant, Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Nov. 7, 1861; first lieutenant, Nov. 18, 1862; wounded May 3, 1863, at Fredericksburg; appointed regimental adjutant; acting adjutant-general, Artillery Brigade, Sixth Corps; captain, Battery H, Sept. 30, 1863; brevet major, April 2, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service before Petersburg, Va.; brevet lieutenant-colonel, June 12, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Clement Webster. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; resigned Feb. 7, 1863.

Charles F. Mason. Mustered Oct. 15, 1862; second lieutenant, Battery A, First R. I. Light Artillery, Dec. 24, 1861; first lieutenant, Oct. 1, 1862; transferred to Battery H, Oct. 15, 1862; subsequently appointed aide on Colonel Tompkins’s staff; resigned April 21, 1864.

George W. Blair. Mustered Feb. 6, 1863; private, First Rhode Island Light Battery, May 2, 1861; discharged Aug. 6, 1861; sergeant, Battery B, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Aug. 13, 1861; first sergeant, Dec. 2, 1861; discharged Feb. 6, 1863; first lieutenant, Battery I, to date from Feb. 2, 1863; battery never organized; first lieutenant, Battery H, April 23, 1863; resigned April 29, 1864.

Walter M. Knight. Mustered April 8, 1863; quartermaster-sergeant, Battery F, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Oct. 29, 1861; second lieutenant, Battery H, March 11, 1863; first lieutenant, April 22, 1864; brevet captain, April 2, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services before Petersburg, Va.; mustered out of service, June 28, 1865.

Allen Hoar. Mustered Aug. 24, 1864; private, Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Dec. 2, 1861; sergeant, June 9, 1862; wounded slightly Sept. 17, 1862, at battle of Antietam, Va.; second lieutenant, May 14, 1863; first lieutenant, Battery H, Aug. 17, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Kirby Steinhauer. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; sergeant, Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Dec. 2, 1861; second lieutenant, Battery H, June 4, 1862; first lieutenant, Battery D, Feb. 8, 1863; resigned April 19, 1864, on account of disability.

Elmer L. Corthell. Mustered about Oct. 30, 1862; private, Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, June 6, 1861; transferred to Battery F, Oct. 31, 1861; sergeant, Oct. 31, 1861; second lieutenant, Battery H, Oct. 11, 1862; first lieutenant, Battery G, Nov. 6, 1863; captain, Battery D, Oct. 21, 1864; mustered out of service July 17, 1865.

Walter M. Knight. See first lieutenant.

Benjamin H. Child. Mustered Jan. 8, 1864; private, Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, June 6, 1861; slightly wounded July 21, 1861, at battle of Bull Run; corporal, July 16, 1863; wounded slightly in head at battle of Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862; sergeant, Sept. 12, 1862; wounded severely in shoulder at battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863; second lieutenant, Battery H, Nov. 6, 1863; mustered Jan. 8, 1864; resigned Nov. 23, 1864, on account of wounds.

Samuel G. Colwell. Mustered Nov. 11, 1863; sergeant, Battery H, Oct. 14, 1862; second lieutenant, Nov. 6, 1863; transferred to Battery A, Nov. 14, 1863; resigned April 15, 1864, for physical disability.

162Anthony B. Horton. Mustered Dec. 20, 1864; private, Battery B, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Aug. 13, 1861; corporal, March 25, 1862; sergeant, Dec. 1, 1862; re-enlisted, Feb. 8, 1864; first sergeant, Oct. 3, 1864; discharged, Dec. 19, 1864; second lieutenant, Battery H, to date from Nov. 29, 1864; mustered, Dec. 20, 1864; brevet first lieutenant, April 2, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services before Petersburg, Va.; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

William B. Westcott. Mustered May 1, 1864; private, Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Dec. 2, 1861; sergeant, Dec. 2, 1861; quartermaster-sergeant, June 9, 1862; second-lieutenant, Battery H, April 26, 1864; first lieutenant, Battery B, March 2, 1865; mustered out of service June 12, 1865.

George Lewis. Enlisted as private in Battery E, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Sept. 24, 1861; mustered Sept. 30, 1861; wounded slightly May 3, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Va.; lance corporal, May 29, 1863; corporal, Sept. 4, 1863; re-enlisted, Feb. 1, 1864; lance sergeant, April 9, 1864; sergeant, Oct. 20, 1864, to date from Oct. 4; second lieutenant, March 31, 1865; assigned to Battery H, May 29, 1865; never reported or mustered as such; mustered out June 14, 1865.

George Messinger. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; private, Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, June 6, 1861; transferred and promoted to first sergeant, Battery H, July 8, 1862; appointed company clerk; reënlisted Jan. 4, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Jacob B. Lewis. Mustered as sergeant, Oct. 14, 1862; sergeant, Battery B, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Aug. 13, 1861; discharged Dec. 11, 1861; first sergeant, Battery H, Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out, June 28, 1865.

Charles E. Bonn. Mustered as corporal, Oct. 14, 1862; sergeant; first sergeant; second lieutenant, Battery D, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, April 26, 1864; first lieutenant, April 3, 1865; breveted captain; mustered out of service July 17, 1865.

John Evans. Mustered as private, Jan. 6, 1863; first sergeant; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

John P. Campbell, 1st. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal; sergeant; first sergeant in December, 1864; mustered out as such June 28, 1865.

Jenckes B. Stevens. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

164Hezekiah Potter. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; quartermaster-sergeant, March 28, 1864; second lieutenant, Battery E, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Oct. 21, 1864; mustered Nov. 11, 1864; first lieutenant, June 12, 1865; mustered out of service June 14, 1865.

Albert F. Allen. Mustered as sergeant, Oct. 14, 1862; quartermaster-sergeant, Oct. 21, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Thomas W. Sayles. Mustered as private, Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, June 6, 1861; transferred to Battery H and appointed sergeant, Aug. 21, 1862; first lieutenant, Troop D, Third Rhode Island Cavalry, Dec. 16, 1863; captain, Troop H, Dec. 26, 1864; mustered out of service Nov. 29, 1865.

Samuel G. Colwell. See second lieutenant.

George P. Carpenter. Mustered as sergeant, Oct. 14, 1862; died in hospital at camp near Fairfax Station, Va., March 1, 1863.

Franklin P. Burlingame. Mustered as sergeant, Oct. 14, 1862; subsequently ordered on detached service in adjutant-general’s office, war department, Washington, D. C., remaining there until June 28, 1865, when he was appointed to a clerkship in adjutant-general’s office.

165Charles De Wolf Gibson. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; promoted to sergeant in November, 1862; discharged from battery Nov. 2, 1863, to receive promotion as second lieutenant, Fourteenth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (colored). Never mustered as such.

Alfred M. Taylor. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; sergeant; first lieutenant, Company I, Fourteenth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (colored), March 9, 1864; dismissed the service, Dec. 29, 1864.

Esek S. Owen. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal, August, 1862; sergeant in 1864; wounded slightly in action near Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Benjamin Carter. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; sergeant; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Thomas Smith. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; sergeant; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Gardner L. Bennett. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; sergeant; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Apollos Seekell. Veteran; mustered as private in Battery H, Feb. 9, 1864; sergeant; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

James H. Rhodes. Mustered as corporal, Oct. 14, 1862; sergeant; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Emulous A. Cheever. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal in 1863: sergeant, Nov. 6, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

166Orville Balcom. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal; sergeant; mustered out of service, June 28, 1865.

John P. Campbell, 1st. See first sergeant.

Henry C. Brown. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

John P. Campbell, 1st. See first sergeant.

James H. Rhodes. See sergeant.

Charles E. Bonn. See first sergeant.

Wellington P. Dolloff. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Feb. 3, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate at Emory Hospital, Washington, D. C.

Hiram A. Carey. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Gilbert Mortimer Thain. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Dec. 5, 1862, on surgeon’s certificate.

James C. Engley. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Dec. 15, 1862, to receive promotion as second lieutenant in Fifth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery. Resigned April 21, 1863.

William H. Springer. Mustered as private Oct. 15, 1862; promoted corporal in 1863: absent sick in hospital since May 30, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Emulous A. Cheever. See sergeant.

167Michael Crogan. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal in 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Earl Fenner. Enlisted as private in Battery C, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Aug. 25, 1861; discharged on surgeon’s certificate, Dec. 15, 1861; enrolled as private in Battery H, Sept. 24, 1862; mustered Oct. 14, 1862; bugler; corporal, November, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Hurbert Ochee. Mustered as private, Feb. 10, 1864; corporal; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Franklin E. Paul. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Isaac Briggs. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Alexander Gilleland. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Orville Balcom. See sergeant.

William Boyer. Mustered as private, Dec. 31, 1862; corporal; deserted Nov. 26, 1863.

Isaac P. Noyes. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Job Randall. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Marvin Ryan. Veteran; mustered as private, Feb. 23, 1864; corporal; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

John P. Campbell, 2d. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; corporal; wounded severely, April 2, 1865, in action before Petersburg, Va.; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Charles P. Marsh. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps Aug. 13, 1864.

Thomas J. Goff. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; died in hospital at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 1, 1863.

Robert H. Cokeley. Mustered as private, Nov. 3, 1863; discharged Dec. 11, 1864, on surgeon’s certificate.

Charles S. Stringer. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; bugler; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Earl Fenner. See corporal.

Frank Dawson. Mustered as private, Feb. 23, 1864; bugler; mustered out of; service June 28, 1865.

Samuel T. Allen. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service, June 28, 1865.

Thomas Carter. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; killed April 2, 1865, in action near Petersburg, Va.

Leon Allison. Enlisted as a landsman in the United States Navy in 1841; served on United States man-of-war Delaware, and honorably discharged on expiration of term of service; mustered as an artificer in Battery H, Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

George E. Tracy. Mustered as private, Oct. 14, 1862; artificer; died in General Hospital at Fairfax Seminary, near Fort Worth, Va., Sept. 1, 1863.

Abbott, William. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Fort Scott, Va., Sept. 25, 1863.

Adams, George A. Veteran; mustered Oct. 16, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Albertes, Charles. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 22, 1862.

Alden, Warner. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Alderwick, George. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Aldrich, Frank A. Mustered Feb. 8, 1864; mustered out of service Jan. 24, 1865.

Alexander, Henry A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, Sept. 30, 1863.

Arnold, Gideon W. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; wounded slightly April 2, 1865, at battle of Petersburg, Va.; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Arnold, Henry N. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; died in barracks at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C., from effects of poison, Feb. 12, 1864.

Arnold, Henry O. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Balcom, Orville. See sergeant.

Bannon, Robert. Mustered Dec. 22, 1862; deserted Jan. 24, 1863.

170Barry, John. Mustered Feb. 28, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Barry, Michael. Mustered Nov. 4, 1863; wounded slightly in battle before Petersburg, April 2, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Barry, William. Mustered Feb. 17, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Bean, Asa S. Mustered Oct. 18, 1862; ambulance driver; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Begley, Michael. Mustered Feb. 20, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Belain, Edward. Mustered Jan. 10, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 31, 1863.

Bell, Peter. Mustered Jan. 10, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 6, 1863.

Bellows, Jay G. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Bennett, Gardner L. See sergeant.

Bingham, Henry. Mustered Jan. 10, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 31, 1863.

Bingham, Joseph. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged March 13, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Bishop, John. Mustered March 1, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Blabon, George R. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

171Blessington, Edward M. Mustered Dec. 24, 1862; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 24, 1863.

Bonhelt, Earl. Mustered Jan. 7, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 7, 1863.

Booth, James. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; died in hospital near Fort Strong, Va., Oct. 12, 1864.

Bouden, Charles H. Mustered Oct. 24, 1864; transferred to Battery B, Aug. 24, 1864.

Boyer, William. See corporal.

Brady, Henry. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C., Nov. 14, 1862.

Briggs, Horace C. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Briggs, Isaac. See corporal.

Bowen, William J. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Feb. 4, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Brahanny, William. Mustered Jan. 19, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 7, 1863.

Brown, Charles. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Brown, Francis A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Brown, George W. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Jan. 30, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

172Brown, Thomas. Enrolled Sept. 23, 1862; deserted Sept. 24, 1862.

Brown, William S. Alias William S. Huntley. Mustered Oct. 16, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Butterfield, Francis H. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service, June 28, 1865.

Butts, Horace R. Mustered as a veteran, Feb. 17, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Byars, Joseph. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged on surgeon’s certificate.

Byrns, Bernard. Mustered March 7, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Cahoone, James H. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Jan. 3, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Carmel, Thomas. Mustered Jan. 19, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 4, 1863.

Campbell, James. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Campbell, John P., 2d. See corporal.

Carlin, Michael. Veteran; mustered Dec. 3, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Carman, Gilbert. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged on surgeon’s certificate, date unknown.

Carman, Solomon. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged March 27, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

173Carter, Benjamin. See sergeant.

Caswell, Joseph. Mustered Feb. 27, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Chace, Lorin R. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged April 29, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Chapman, Cornelius. Mustered Feb. 18, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Cheever, Emulous A. See sergeant.

Cheney, Moses B. Mustered Nov. 3, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Clarke, George. Mustered Dec. 29, 1862; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 2, 1863.

Close, Solomon. Mustered March 7, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Coffee, Daniel. Mustered Jan. 13, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Coffee, William. Mustered January, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 31, 1863.

Cokeley, Robert H. See bugler.

Conner, Stephen H. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; wagoner; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Cook, William C. Mustered Jan. 3, 1863; deserted from the battery while on the march from Camp Barry, D. C., to Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 21, 1863.

Cooper, William. Mustered Jan. 19, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 7, 1863.

174Copeland, Silas. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; transferred to navy May 5, 1864.

Costello, James. Veteran; mustered Dec. 1, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Crandall, James B. B. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Crogan, Michael. See corporal.

Cross, George G. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Crowell, Charles. Enrolled Sept. 26, 1862; never mustered; deserted at Camp Mauran Sept. 28, 1862.

Cushman, William. Enrolled Sept. 26, 1862; never mustered; deserted from Camp Mauran Sept. 28, 1862.

Cutting, Erastus. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Dailey, Patrick. Mustered Feb. 25, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Damon, Charles H. Mustered Dec. 22, 1862; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 24, 1863.

Dawley, Franklin W. Mustered Feb. 10, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Dawley, Reynolds. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Union Mills, Va., May 4, 1863.

Dawson, Frank. See bugler.

Dee, Charles. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C., Nov. 9, 1862.

175Deney, Emil. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery near Fort Scott, Va., Sept. 8, 1863.

Dickson, William. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Mauran, date unknown.

Dolan, Thomas. Mustered Jan. 21, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 17, 1863.

Doramus, Robert H. Mustered Jan. 10, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 31, 1863.

Dougherty, Charles. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Drowne, William. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Dunn, Robert. Mustered Feb. 11, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Easterday, Christian. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Ellison, Charles J. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service May 22, 1865.

Ellsworth, William. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Jan. 26, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Evans, John. Mustered Jan. 6, 1863; mustered out of service, June 28, 1865.

Farrell, Joseph. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery while on the way to Washington, D. C., Oct. 23, 1862.

Farrell, Patrick. Mustered Feb. 28, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

176Fay, Thomas. Enrolled May 7, 1862; never mustered; deserted June 2, 1862, at Camp Mauran.

Fenner, Earl. See corporal.

Ferguson, John. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; no further account of him.

Fitton, Joseph. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Union Mills, Va., May 4, 1863.

Fitz Maurice, Charles. Mustered Jan. 21, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., March 10, 1863.

Flannigan, Peter. Enrolled May 17, 1862; never mustered; deserted from Camp Mauran May 16, 1862.

Foster, Richard. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Fox, Michael. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Fox, Peter. Mustered Feb. 20, 1865; mustered out of service, June 28, 1865.

Floyd, Horace F. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Flynn, Thomas P. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Freeborn, George W. Mustered Feb. 25, 1865; wounded slightly Apr. 2, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Gardner, Peter. Mustered Aug. 25, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Gilbert, William G. Mustered Jan. 17, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 3, 1863.

177Gilleland, Alexander. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Gladding, James M. Mustered Feb. 24, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Goetz, William. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Dec. 16, 1863.

Gongrady, Julius. Mustered Feb. 8, 1864; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., April 9, 1864.

Goodrich, Sydney A. Mustered Oct. 12, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Gould, Lewis. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged March 9, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Graham, Michael. Mustered Feb. 10, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Gray, John A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Green, Charles. Enrolled May 17, 1862; never mustered; deserted July 25, 1862.

Grimes, Joseph. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Dec. 19, 1862, on surgeon’s certificate.

Hall, Henry. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery while on the way to Washington, D. C., Oct. 23, 1862.

Hall, James. Enrolled Sept. 22, 1862; deserted Sept. 26, 1862.

Hamilton, John E. Mustered Jan. 21, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 5, 1863.

178Hamilton, William. Mustered Jan. 10, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., March 10, 1863.

Hammond, Daniel A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted April 9, 1864.

Haradon, George W. Mustered March 28, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Hardon, Rufus P. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Harris, Edward. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 4, 1862.

Hart, John. Mustered Oct. 15, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Mauran, Oct. 20, 1862.

Hart, Thomas. Mustered Nov. 17, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Haskins, Amos H. Mustered Dec. 16, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Haskins, John. Mustered Jan. 17, 1863; deserted from battery at Union Mills, Va., April 6, 1863.

Hayfield, Isaac F. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Hayfield, James F. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Hazelton, Andrew. Mustered Feb. 25, 1865: mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Heckman, David. Mustered Feb, 27, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

179Higgins, John. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Hill, John S. Mustered Jan. 10, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 3, 1863.

Hixon, William M. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; wagoner; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Hodges, Edward F. Mustered July 28, 1863; discharged June 9, 1864, on surgeon’s certificate.

Holmes, Albert. Mustered Jan. 21, 1863; deserted Feb. 5, 1863.

Howard, Albert E. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Howard, Henry I. Mustered Nov. 24, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Howard, William E. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Howe, Charles W. Mustered Feb. 17, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Hudson, George. Mustered Jan. 7, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 6, 1863.

Hunnewell, William H. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps April 17, 1864.

Ingraham, Martin O. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged June 9, 1864, on surgeon’s certificate.

Jack, Robert. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

180Jackson, Rowland. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Jason, William. Mustered Jan. 21, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 23, 1863.

Johnson, Edwin C. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Jones, Charles. Mustered Jan. 5, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 24, 1863.

Jones, William. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted while on the way to Washington, D. C., Oct. 23, 1862.

Keenan, Patrick. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; no further record of him.

Kennedy, John. Mustered Feb. 20, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Kent, Joseph. Mustered Jan. 17, 1864; discharged May 30, 1864, on surgeon’s certificate.

Kettelle, John B. F. Veteran; mustered Feb. 23, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

King, Frederick. Mustered March 21, 1864; deserted from battery at Fort C. F. Smith, Va., Sept. 19, 1864.

Knowles, Henry L. Mustered Jan. 1, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Knowles, Lucian B. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Dec. 31, 1862.

Lagenusse, Jules. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; no further record of him.

181Laugherty, Robert. Mustered Feb. 20, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Lawton, Edward N. Mustered Feb. 27, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Leach, George T. Mustered Nov. 27, 1863; transferred to navy May 5, 1864.

Leonard, John. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Lewis, Franklin. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Lewis, John. Mustered Feb. 21, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Lillibridge, Jacob L. Mustered Nov. 6, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Lofts, Thomas J. Mustered Jan. 13, 1864; transferred to navy May 5, 1864.

Logan, Matthew. Mustered Dec. 29, 1863; unjustly sentenced to hard labor by General Court Martial, July 8, 1865, for a trivial offence; released from confinement Nov. 12, 1865.

Lovely, Judson. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged March 9, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Lucas, Albert B. Mustered March 2, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Mahon, Thomas. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

182Mahon, William. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Maine, Gershom P. Enrolled May 14, 1862; never mustered; deserted July 31, 1862.

Martin, Thomas H. Mustered Feb. 27, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Mason, James. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Manter, William G. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; died in hospital Feb. 13, 1863, at Fairfax Station, Va.

Mathey, Ernest A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov, 14, 1862.

Maurin, Patrick. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged on surgeon’s certificate, date unknown.

McAnery, James. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at camp near Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 6, 1863; returned to battery April 19, 1863; deserted July, 1863.

McCabe, John. Mustered Jan. 23, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 3, 1863.

McCan, Barney. Enrolled Aug. 2, 1862; deserted Oct. 1, 1862.

McComb, William. Mustered Sept. 23, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

McDonough, James. Enrolled July 29, 1862; deserted Aug. 8, 1862.

McDonough, John. Mustered Nov. 13, 1863; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 26, 1863.

183McGuire, Bernard. Mustered Dec. 4, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

McMann, William. Mustered March 21, 1864; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., April 9, 1864.

McPartland, Matthew. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Jan. 5, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

McPratt, John. Mustered Dec. 16, 1862; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 24, 1863.

Mellor, William H. Enrolled June 23, 1862; never mustered; deserted Aug. 8, 1862.

Merrill, Asa T. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Dec. 19, 1862, on surgeon’s certificate.

Merrills, Henry. Mustered Feb. 28, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Millard, Charles E. Mustered Jan. 30, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Mitchell, John. Mustered Jan. 19, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 3, 1863.

Moore, John. Enrolled Oct. 6, 1862; never mustered; deserted Oct. 6, 1862.

Murphy, Bartlett. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Sept. 12, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Murphy, Daniel. Mustered Feb. 24, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Murphy, Patrick. Mustered Nov. 30, 1863; discharged Feb. 20, 1865, on surgeon’s certificate.

Murray, Michael. Mustered Jan. 20, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

184Nelson, John. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged April 16, 1864, on surgeon’s certificate.

Newman, John C. Veteran; mustered Feb. 23, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Northrop, Edwin. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Noyes, Isaac P. See corporal.

Nute, Edwin. Mustered Dec. 31, 1862; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 25, 1863.

Ochee, Hurbert. See corporal.

O’Conners, Thomas. Mustered Feb. 12, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

O’Neil, William. Mustered Jan. 20, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 31, 1863.

O’Rourke, John. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Aug. 10, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Packard, George W. Mustered Feb. 25, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Paul, Franklin E. See corporal.

Pearsons, John. Mustered March 2, 1865; mustered out of service, June 28, 1865.

Peck, Allen G. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged May 15, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Peck, William. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., March 18, 1864.

Phillips, Henry A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, Sept. 12, 1863.

185Phillips, John. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; died in hospital at Fairfax Station, Va., March 1, 1863.

Phillips, Luther A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Phinney, Henry. Mustered Feb. 23, 1864; died April 24, 1864, near Alexandria, Va.

Phinney, Thomas R. Enrolled Sept. 4, 1862; never mustered; deserted Oct. 10, 1862.

Pierpont, Thomas. Enrolled May 19, 1862; deserted July 1, 1862.

Pitts, George H. Mustered Feb. 24, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Potter, Hezekiah. See quartermaster-sergeant.

Potter, Leonard L. Enrolled Oct. 7, 1862; no further record of him.

Powers, John. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged March 16, 1864, on surgeon’s certificate.

Poyheren, Robert. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Pratt, John M. Mustered Dec. 16, 1862; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 24, 1863.

Price, Ellery W. Mustered March 2, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Randall, Job. See corporal.

Read, William H. Mustered Feb. 19, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

186Rearey, James. Mustered Feb. 18, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Reid, Uriah H. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Jan. 28, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Reid, William H. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from the battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Riley, Sylvester. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Jan. 16, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Ryan, Cornelius. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Ryan, John. Mustered Jan. 30, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 3, 1863.

Ryan, Marvin. Veteran; see corporal.

Ryan, William. Enrolled July 25, 1862; deserted Aug. 10, 1862.

Salas, Joseph. Mustered Jan. 17, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 25, 1863.

Sampson, John A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Schanck, Aaron B. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Seekell, Apollos. See sergeant.

Sheffield, Josiah. Mustered Feb. 5, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Simmons, Paul. Mustered Feb. 5, 1864; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., April 9, 1864.

187Simmons, Thomas E. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Nov. 25, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Smith, Ashael. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged March 13, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Smith, Charles. Enrolled Sept. 19, 1862; deserted Sept. 22, 1862.

Smith, Elisha. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Aug. 7, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Smith, Frederick A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Smith, George H. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Smith, James. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; transferred from Battery E; discharged March 25, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

Smith, John. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; sick in hospital in Washington, D. C., Jan. 20, 1863.

Smith, Thomas. See sergeant.

Smith, William H. Enrolled July 21, 1862; deserted July 26, 1862.

Snell, Otis P. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Spencer, Edward. Mustered Jan. 19, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 16, 1863.

Sprague, Charles. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

188Springer, William H. See corporal.

Stafford, Levi. Mustered Jan. 5, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Stewart, William P. Mustered Jan. 17, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 17, 1863.

Stone, William H. Mustered Jan. 16, 1864; severely wounded April 2, 1865, at battle of Petersburg, Va.; mustered out of service July 15, 1865.

Stringer, Charles S. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Sullivan, Dennis. Mustered Oct. 30. 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Jan. 1, 1863.

Sullivan, Patrick. Mustered Jan. 12, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 17, 1863.

Sweeney, Edward. Mustered Jan. 18, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Taber, Otis. Mustered March 2, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Taft, John. Mustered Feb. 20, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Tasker, William H. Enlisted in the navy in 1862. Mustered March 7, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Taylor, Alfred M. See sergeant.

Taylor, Robert W. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Mauran Oct. 22, 1862.

189Thompson, Richard. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Union Mills, Va., May 4, 1863.

Thompson, Robert P. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Thornley, William H. Mustered Feb. 16, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Tobin, Michael. Enrolled Sept. 3, 1862; deserted Sept. 10, 1862.

Todd, James W. Mustered Feb. 15, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Tongue, Eben. Mustered Feb. 23, 1865; severely wounded at battle of Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Tracy, Francis. Mustered Jan. 17, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 1, 1863.

Tracy, George E. See artificer.

Trucksaes, Herman E. O. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Dec. 16, 1862.

True, Elias R. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Dec. 20, 1862.

Tschamer, Baptiste. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 22, 1862.

Tully, John. Mustered Jan. 6, 1863; absent sick since April 14, 1863.

Turner, Andrew. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; died Nov. 18, 1863, at Hope Village, R. I.

190Tweedale, Charles. Mustered Jan. 15, 1864; transferred from Battery G; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Tweedale, William B. Mustered March 2, 1865; mustered out of service, June 28, 1865.

Vallette, Gilbert P. Mustered March 8, 1865; mustered out of service, June 28, 1865.

Varney, Henry C. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Vaslett, Charles. Mustered Feb. 23, 1864; killed in battle of Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865.

Vaughn, Albert A. Mustered Feb. 28, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Vaughn, Charles D. Mustered as private in Company C, First Rhode Island Detached Militia, May 2, 1861; mustered out at expiration of term of service Aug. 2, 1861; enlisted as private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, and mustered in Feb. 23, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Venner, John F. Mustered Nov. 11, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Vernon, George W. Mustered Jan. 17, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 3, 1863.

Vincent, Charles. Mustered Feb. 18, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Wade, James. Mustered Nov. 28, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

191Walden, Joseph, Jr. Mustered Feb. 20, 1865; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Ward, George. Mustered Dec. 17, 1862; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 24, 1863.

Ward, John. Mustered Feb. 24, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Weiner, T. Felix. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 15, 1862.

Wellman, Henry A. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; no further record of him.

Wells, Albert. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

White, Reuben G. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; discharged Jan. 23, 1863, on surgeon’s certificate.

White, William H. Veteran; mustered Feb. 23, 1864; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Whitney, George. Mustered Oct. 15, 1862; transferred from Battery G; deserted from Battery H at Camp Barry, D. C., Dec. 3, 1862.

Williams, George. Mustered Jan. 19, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 27, 1863.

Williams, George A. Mustered Feb. 10, 1864; discharged May 30, 1864, on surgeon’s certificate.

Wilson, Charles. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; no further record of him.

Wilson, Charles. Mustered Jan. 22, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 2, 1863.

192Wilson, Charles. Mustered Feb. 25, 1864; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, Va., April 24, 1864; arrested as a deserter June 6, 1864; deserted from Fort Richardson, Va., June 11, 1864.

Wilson, George. Mustered Dec. 24, 1862; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 23, 1863.

Wilson, James. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Barry, D. C., Nov. 2, 1862.

Wilson, James, 2d. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; deserted from battery at Camp Mauran, Oct. 19, 1862.

Wilson, James J. Mustered Jan. 1, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Jan. 29, 1863.

Wilson, John. Mustered Jan. 19, 1863; deserted from battery at Fairfax Station, Va., Feb. 6, 1863.

Wood, James. Mustered Oct. 14, 1862; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Woodward, Alden H. Mustered Oct. 23, 1863; mustered out of service June 28, 1865.

Roll of Men Temporarily Attached to Battery.

[This roll is not complete, but we have inserted the names and records of the attached men so far as obtainable.]

Clifford, Thomas, Twelfth Vermont Infantry, from March 16, 1863; absent sick in hospital at Alexandria, Va., as per regimental return, April 14, 1863.

Ormsbee, William H., Thirteenth Infantry, from March 16, 1863; absent sick in hospital at Alexandria, Va., since April 24, 1863; still in hospital June, 1863, as per regimental return.

White, Lucian, Thirteenth Vermont Infantry, from March 16, 1863; reported absent without leave since April 26, 1863; still absent without leave May 26, 1863, as per regimental return.

Connelly, J. C., Fourteenth Vermont Infantry, from March 16, 1863; absent without leave since May 28, 1863; no further account of him as per regimental return June, 1863.

Clark, I. T., Fifteenth Vermont Infantry, from March 16, 1863; reported sick on regimental return April 14, 1863.

Davis, Charles, Fifteenth Vermont Infantry, from March 16, 1863, to July 10, 1863.

194White, John D., Sixteenth Vermont Infantry, from March 16, 1863; badly hurt while on field drill at Chantilly, Va., June 12, 1863, being thrown on the pommel of his saddle, causing him to be ruptured. On the return of the battery to Camp Barry, June 26, 1863, he was sent to post hospital, remaining there until his regiment was mustered out of service, July 10, 1863.

Abbott, James M., Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Arnold, James, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Avery, Palmer, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864; reported sick in hospital since Aug. 15, 1864, when he reported to battery, no date given; reported as a deserter while on the march April 2, 1865.

Bacon, Charles D., Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Curtis, Frederick, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864; absent sick in hospital at Alexandria, Va., until June, 1864, when he returned to battery; returned to his regiment for muster-out Aug. 18, 1864.

Decker, Alonzo, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Degrane, Theodore, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

195Derby, Edwin B., Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864; absent sick in Emory Square Hospital since July 31, 1864; still in hospital September, 1864; reported to battery February, 1865; reported as a deserter while battery was on the march to Burkeville Junction, Va., April 17, 1865. The record reads, went to hospital at City Point, Va., May 6, 1865, and died there.

Gardner, Peter, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Hart, Thomas E., Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864; absent sick in hospital at Alexandria, Va., May 16, 1864.

Hill, Gerritt S., Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864; killed on Telegraph Road, in front of Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865, while the battery was under a very severe fire.

Hill, Seeley F., Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Mettler, Charles, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864; detailed as stretcher bearer at Artillery Brigade Headquarters, Sixth Army Corps, March 9, 1865.

Moss, Giles S., Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Murphy, John, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

196Murphy, John B., Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

O’Connor, John, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Rafflesbanner, Christian, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Slocum, John E., Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Slocum, Northrop, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864; absent sick in hospital since June, 1864; no further record of him; supposed to be discharged.

Starks, John, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Swartwout, James, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Tanney, Duane, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Tenney, Amos, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Vroman, William, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, from May 3, 1864, to Aug. 18, 1864.

Mortuary Record.

ADDENDA. — ERRATA.

Through inadvertence the services rendered to the battery by Surgeon John H. Merrill have been omitted. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon First Rhode Island Light Artillery Regiment, Aug. 25, 1862. He served with Battery H. for several months, and was afterwards on duty with the Artillery Brigade of the Second Corps. He was promoted to Surgeon April 6, 1863, and resigned March 16, 1864, in consequence of ill health. He was a kind and skillful surgeon, and universally beloved and respected by the officers and men.

On page 7, Willard M. Hixon, should read William M. Hixon.

On page 8, Edwin Northup, should read Edwin Northrop.

On page 25, “Capt. John G. Hazard, chief of artillery on General De Russy’s staff,” should read “Captain Howard on General De Russy’s staff.”

On page 82, William Freeborn is reported as slightly wounded. This is an error in Captain Allen’s report. It should read, “George W. Freeborn,” and mention should be made of his being wounded in his record on page 176. Also his name should appear on page 93 as one of the men mustered out June 28, 1865.

On page 132, Corp. John P. Campbell’s sketch reads: “born April, 1842,” should read “1846.”

On page 169, “Camp Barry, Va.,” should read “Camp Barry, D. C.”

201Sergt. George Messinger’s name should appear on page 94 as mustered out June 28, 1865.

Lieut. Benjamin F. Child in the Index to Illustrations, page ix., should read Benjamin H. Child.

Luther A. Phillips’s name appears in the Mortuary Record as having died since the war. This is erroneous, as we have recently learned that he is still living.

INDEX.

• 205Abbott, Col. H. L., First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 101.
• Abbott, James M., 194.
• Abbott, William, 6, 169.
• Abercrombie, Gen. John J., 16, 41, 44.
• Adams, George A., 93, 169.
• Adams, Capt. George W., Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 103, 104.
• Albertes, Charles, 6, 169.
• Alden, Warner, 6, 93, 137–138, 169.
• Alderwick, George, 6, 50, 93, 169.
• Aldrich, Frank A., 169.
• Alexander, Henry A., 6, 155, 169.
• Allen, Albert F., Q. M. Sergt., 6, 89, 92, 164.
• Allen, Lieut.-Col. Crawford, Jr., 26, 27, 51, 67, 79, 81, 82, 89, 92, 102–104, 107, 113, 123, 136, 159, 197.
• Allen, Samuel T., 6, 93, 168.
• Allison, Leon, 6, 51, 93, 134–135, 168.
• Anderson, Gen. R. H. (C. S. A.), 38, 39, 70, 71, 72.
• Anthony, Senator Henry B., 12.
• Arnold, Gideon W., 6, 67, 82, 93, 169.
• Arnold, Henry N., 6, 31, 169, 198.
• Arnold, Henry O., 6, 93, 169.
• Arnold, James, 194.
• Auger, Gen. Christopher G., 30.
• Avery, Palmer, 194.
• Ayres, Gen. Romeyne B., 58.
• Bacon, Charles D., 194.
• Balch, Col. Joseph, 2.
• Balcom, Sergt. Orville, 6, 93, 150, 166, 167, 169.
• Bannon, Robert, 169.
• 206Barry, John, 93, 170.
• Barry, Michael, 82, 93, 170.
• Barry, William, 93, 170, 198.
• Barry, Gen. William F., 19, 20, 27, 30, 32.
• Begley, Michael, 93, 170.
• Belain, Edward, 170.
• Bean, Asa S., 93, 170.
• Bell, Peter, 170.
• Bellows, Jay G., 6, 170.
• Benham, Gen. H. W., 51.
• Bennett, Sergt. Gardner L., 6, 92, 165, 170, 198.
• Bingham, Henry, 170.
• Bingham, Joseph, 6, 170.
• Bishop, John, 93, 170, 198.
• Blabon, George R., 93, 170.
• Blair, Lieut. George W., 17, 108–110, 160.
• Blessington, Edward M., 171.
• Bonhelt, Earl, 171.
• Bonn, Lieut. Charles E., 5, 25, 36, 163, 166, 199.
• Booth, James, 6, 51, 171, 198.
• Botts, Hon. John Minor, 17.
• Bouden, Charles H., 171.
• Bowen, William J., 6, 171.
• Bowers, Col. T. S., 68.
• Boyer, Corp. William, 167, 171.
• Brown, Capt. Thos. Fred., 114.
• Brady, Henry, 6, 171.
• Brahanny, William, 171.
• Briggs, Horace C., 6, 93, 155–156, 171.
• Briggs, Corp. Isaac, 6, 92, 167, 171, 198.
• Brown, Charles, 6, 171.
• Brown, Francis A., 6, 93, 171, 199.
• Brown, George W., 6, 171.
• Brown, Corp. Henry C., 5, 166, 199.
• Brown, Thomas, 172.
• Brown, William S., 6, 93, 172, 199.
• Buckley, Capt. William W., 48, 110.
• Burlingame, Sergt. Franklin P., 5, 89, 164, 198.
• Burnside, Gen. Ambrose E., 9, 32, 33, 34, 37, 41, 42, 43, 48.
• Butler, Gen. Benjamin F., 38.
• Butterfield, Francis H., 6, 93, 172.
• Butts, Horace R., 93, 172.
• 207Byars, Joseph, 172.
• Byrns, Bernard, 93, 172.
• Cahoone, James, 172.
• Campbell, James, 6, 172.
• Campbell, First Sergt. John P., 5, 92, 125, 163, 164.
• Campbell, Corp. John P., 6, 67, 82, 92, 132–133, 167, 172.
• Carey, Corp. Hiram A., 6, 92, 166, 198.
• Carlin, Michael, 171.
• Carman, Gilbert, 6, 172.
• Carman, Solomon, 6, 172.
• Carmel, Thomas, 172.
• Carpenter, Sergt. George P., 4, 5, 14, 164, 198.
• Carruth, Gen. Sumner, 34.
• Carter, Sergt. Benjamin, 6, 92, 165, 173, 198.
• Carter, Thomas, 6, 66, 82, 168.
• Casey, Gen. Silas, 13, 25.
• Caswell, Joseph, 93, 173.
• Chase, Lieut. James E., 114.
• Chase, Lorin R., 6, 173.
• Chapman, Cornelius, 93, 173.
• Cheever, Sergt. Emulous A., 6, 93, 126–127, 165, 166, 173.
• Cheney, Moses B., 93, 173.
• Child, Lieut. Benjamin H., 111–115, 161.
• Child, First Sergt. William D., Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 114.
• Clark, I. T., 193.
• Clarke, George, 173.
• Clifford, Thomas, 193.
• Close, Solomon, 93, 138–144, 173.
• Coffee, Daniel, 93, 173.
• Coffee, William, 173.
• Cokeley, Robert H., 168, 173, 199.
• Colwell, Sergt. Samuel G., 4, 5, 161, 164, 197.
• Connecticut troops mentioned:
  • First Heavy Artillery, 20.
  • Second Battery, 29, 30.
• Connelly, J. C., 193.
• Conner, Stephen H., 6, 93, 173.
• Cook, William C., 173.
• Cooper, William, 173.
• Copeland, Silas, 6, 174.
• 208Corthell, Capt. Elmer L., 110, 161.
• Costello, James, 174, 199.
• Cowan, Maj. Andrew, 45, 82, 104.
• Crandall, James B. B., 6, 174.
• Crawford, Gen. Samuel W., 58.
• Crittenden, Hon. John J., 17.
• Crogan, Corp. Michael, 6, 92, 167, 174.
• Crook, Gen. George, 70, 71, 73.
• Crowell, Charles, 174.
• Curtis, Frederick, 194.
• Cushman, William, 174.
• Custer, Gen. George A., 71, 75, 76.
• Cutting, Erastus, 93, 174.
• Dailey, Patrick, 93, 174.
• Damon, Charles H., 174.
• Davis, Charles, 193.
• Davis, President Jefferson (C. S. A.), 60.
• Dawley, Franklin W., 31, 93, 174.
• Dawley, Reynolds, 6, 174.
• Dawson, Frank, 93, 168, 174.
• Decker, Alonzo, 194.
• Dee, Charles, 6, 174.
• Degrane, Theodore, 194.
• Deney, Emil, 7, 175.
• Derby, Edwin B., 195.
• De Russy, Gen. Gustavus A., 24, 25, 27, 48.
• Devin, Gen. Thomas C., 71.
• Dickson, William, 7, 175.
• Dolan, Thomas, 175.
• Dolloff, Corp. Wellington P., 5, 166.
• Doramus, Robert H., 175.
• Dougherty, Charles, 7, 93, 175.
• Drown, William, 7, 175.
• Dunn, Robert, 93, 175.
• Early, Gen. Jubal (C. S. A.), 46, 65.
• Easterday, Christian, 7, 93, 175.
• Edwards, Capt. John, Jr. (Artillery Reserve), 38.
• Ellison, Charles J., 7, 93, 175.
• Ellsworth, William, 7, 175.
• Engley, Corp. James C., 6, 166.
• 209Evans, John, 93, 163, 175.
• Ewell, Gen. Richard S. (C. S. A.), 70, 87.
• Farrell, Joseph, 7, 175.
• Farrell, Patrick, 93, 175.
• Fay, Thomas, 176.
• Fenner, Corp. Earl, 7, 19, 50, 89, 92, 127–130, 167, 168, 176.
• Ferguson, John, 7, 176.
• Ferrero, Gen. Edward, 34.
• Fitton, Joseph, 7, 176.
• Fitz Maurice, Charles, 176.
• Flannigan, Peter, 176.
• Floyd, Horace F., 7, 67, 93, 135–137, 176.
• Flynn, Thomas P., 7, 176.
• Foster, Gen. John G., 42, 43.
• Foster, Richard, 7, 176.
• Fox, Michael, 7, 93, 176.
• Fox, Peter, 93, 176.
• Freeborn, George W., 67, 82, 144, 176.
• Gardner, Peter, 93, 176.
• Gardner, Peter, 195.
• Getty, Gen. George W., 66, 72.
• Gibbon, Gen. John, 75.
• Gibson, Sergt. Charles De Wolf, 5, 165, 198.
• Gilbert, William G., 93, 176.
• Gilleland, Corp. Alexander, 7, 92, 167, 177.
• Gillmore, Gen. Quincy A., 43.
• Gladding, James M., 93, 177.
• Goetz, William, 177.
• Goff, Thomas J., 6, 14, 168, 198.
• Gongrady, Julius, 177.
• Goodrich, Sydney A., 93, 145, 177.
• Gordon, Gen. John B. (C. S. A.), 60, 76.
• Gould, Lewis, 7, 177.
• Graham, Michael, 93, 177, 199.
• Grant, Gen. U. S., 33, 37, 38, 40, 47, 48, 53, 62, 65, 66, 68, 69, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80.
• Gray, John A., 6, 93, 143–146, 177, 199.
• Green, Charles, 7, 177.
• Gregg, Gen. David McG., 58, 73.
• Grimes, Joseph, 7, 177, 199.
• 210Hall, Henry, 7, 177.
• Hall, James, 7, 177.
• Hall, Lieut.-Col. James A., 29, 30.
• Hamilton, John E., 177.
• Hamilton, William, 178.
• Hamlin, Capt. Charles H. J., 3, 100, 159.
• Hammond, Daniel A., 7, 178.
• Hancock, Gen. Winfield S., 37.
• Haradon, George W., 93, 146, 178.
• Hardon, Rufus P., 7, 94, 178.
• Harris, Edward, 7, 178.
• Hart, John, 7, 178.
• Hart, Thomas, 94, 178.
• Hart, Thomas E., 195.
• Hartranft, Gen. John F., 61.
• Haskins, Amos H., 94, 178.
• Haskins, John, 178.
• Hayfield, Isaac F., 7, 50, 94, 178, 199.
• Hayfield, James F., 7, 94, 178.
• Hazard, Capt. Jeffrey, 4, 5, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27, 99–101, 103, 107, 159.
• Hazard, Gen. John G., 25, 99.
• Hazelton, Andrew, 94, 178.
• Heckman, David, 94, 178.
• Heintzelman, Gen. Samuel P., 24.
• Higgins, John, 7, 94, 179.
• Hill, Gen. A. P. (C. S. A.), 24.
• Hill, Gerritt S., 66, 82, 195.
• Hill, John S., 179.
• Hill, Seeley F., 195.
• Hixon, William M., 7, 94, 179.
• Hoar, Lieut. Allen, 92, 160.
• Hodges, Edward F., 179, 198.
• Holmes, Albert, 179.
• Hooker, Gen. Joseph, 15, 16, 21.
• Horton, Lieut. Anthony B., 56, 59, 60, 92, 115, 162.
• Howard, Albert E., 7, 179.
• Howard, Henry I., 94, 179.
• Howard, William E., 7, 94, 179.
• Howe, Gen. A. P., 32.
• Howe, Charles W., 94, 179.
• Hudson, George, 179.
• 211Humphreys, Gen. Andrew A., 58, 65, 67.
• Hunnewell, William H., 7, 179, 199.
• Hunt, Gen. Henry J., 19, 20, 48.
• Hunter, Gen. David, 43.
• Ingraham, Martin O., 7, 179.
• Jack, Robert, 7, 94, 179.
• Jackson, Rowland, 7, 94, 180.
• Jason, William, 180.
• Johnson, President Andrew, 86, 88.
• Johnson, Edwin C., 7, 94, 180.
• Johnston, Gen. Joseph E. (C. S. A.), 33, 69, 83, 84.
• Jones, Charles, 180.
• Jones, William, 7, 180.
• Keenan, Patrick, 7, 180.
• Kennedy, John, 94, 180.
• Kent, Joseph, 180.
• Kettelle, John B. F., 94, 180.
• King, Frederick, 180.
• Knight, Lieut. Walter M., 92, 100, 161, 197.
• Knowles, Henry L., 94, 180.
• Knowles, Lucian B., 180.
• Lagenusse, Jules, 7, 180.
• Laugherty, Robert, 94, 181.
• Lawton, Edward N., 94, 147, 181.
• Leach, George T., 181.
• Lee, Gen. Fitz Hugh, 27.
• Lee, Gen. Robert E. (C. S. A.), 18, 21, 24, 37, 38, 46, 60, 69, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 103, 104.
• Leonard, John, 7, 94, 181.
• Lewis, Franklin, 7, 181.
• Lewis, Lieut. George, 117–119, 162.
• Lewis, Sergt. Jacob B., 4, 5, 163.
• Lewis, John, 94, 181.
• Lillibridge, Jacob L., 94, 181, 199.
• Lincoln, President Abraham, 17, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 45, 50, 61, 69, 72, 74, 81.
• Lofts, Thomas J., 31, 181.
• Logan, Matthew, 181.
• Longstreet, Gen. James (C. S. A.), 24, 38, 70, 72, 76.
• 212Lovely, Judson, 7, 181.
• Lucas, Albert B., 94, 181.
• Mackenzie, Gen. Ronald S., 63.
• Mahon, Thomas, 7, 94, 181.
• Mahon, William, 7, 182, 199.
• Maine, Gershom P., 7, 182.
• Maine troops mentioned:
  • Second Battery, 12, 29, 30, 31, 43.
  • Twenty-fifth Infantry, 17, 18, 22.
  • Twenty-seventh Infantry, 17, 18.
• Manter, William G., 7, 14, 182, 199.
• Marsh, Charles P., 6, 168.
• Martin, Thomas H., 94, 182.
• Mason, Lieut. Charles F., 25, 26, 100, 106–107, 160.
• Mason, James, 7, 182.
• Massachusetts troops mentioned:
  • Seventh Battery, 29.
  • Eleventh Battery, 43.
  • Twenty-fourth Infantry, 42.
• Mathey, Ernest A., 7, 182.
• Mauran, Gen. Edward C., 3, 82, 91.
• Maurin, Patrick, 7, 182.
• McAllister, Col. Robert, 58.
• McAnery, James, 7, 182.
• McCabe, John, 182.
• McCan, Barney, 7, 182.
• McClellan, Gen. George B., 9.
• McComb, William, 94, 182.
• McDonough, James, 7, 182.
• McDonough, John, 182.
• McGuire, Bernard, 94, 183.
• McMann, William, 183.
• McPartland, Matthew, 7, 183.
• McPratt, John, 183.
• Meade, Gen. George G., 21, 23, 60, 61, 66, 68, 76, 86.
• Mellor, William H., 7, 183.
• Merrill, Asa T., 7, 183.
• Merrills, Henry, 94, 193.
• Merritt, Gen. Wesley, 70, 71.
• Messinger, First Sergt. George, 4, 5, 120–123, 163.
• Mettler, Charles, 195.
• 213Miles, Gen. Nelson A., 68.
• Millard, Charles E., 31, 94, 183.
• Mitchell, John, 183.
• Monroe, Lieut.-Col. J. Albert, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 13, 29.
• Moore, John, 7, 183.
• Moss, Giles S., 195.
• Mott, Gen. Gershom, 58.
• Murphy, Bartlett, 8, 183.
• Murphy, Daniel, 94, 183.
• Murphy, John, 195.
• Murphy, John B., 196.
• Murphy, Patrick, 183.
• Murray, Michael, 183.
• Nelson, John, S. 184.
• New Jersey troops mentioned:
  • Third Battery, 12, 31, 43, 45.
  • Fourth Battery, 29, 30.
  • Fifth Battery, 29, 30.
• Newman, John C., 94, 184.
• New York troops mentioned:
  • Fourteenth Artillery, 36, 49, 66.
  • Nineteenth Battery, 29, 30.
  • Twenty-second Battery, 43.
  • Thirty-third Battery, 29, 30.
  • One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Infantry, 22.
• Northrop, Edwin, 8, 94, 147–149, 184.
• Noyes, Corp. Isaac P., 8, 94, 167, 184.
• Nute, Edwin, 184.
• Ochee, Corp. Hurbert, 31, 92, 167, 184.
• O’Conners, Thomas, 94, 184.
• Ohio troops mentioned:
  • One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Infantry, 49.
• O’Neil, William, 184.
• Ord, Gen. Edward O. C., 65, 67, 68, 74, 76.
• Ormsbee, William H., 193.
• O’Rourke, John, 184.
• Owen, Capt. Charles D., Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 102.
• Owen, Sergt. Esek S., 5, 66, 82, 92, 126, 165.
• 214Packard, George W., 94, 184.
• Parke, Gen. John G., 60, 61, 65, 66.
• Paul, Corp. Franklin E., 8, 92, 130–131, 167, 184.
• Pearsons, John, 94, 184.
• Peck, Allen G., 8, 184.
• Peck, William, 8, 184.
• Pennsylvania troops mentioned:
  • First Battery, 29, 30.
• Perrin, Lieut. William S., 114.
• Phillips, Henry A., 8, 184.
• Phillips, John, 8, 14, 185, 199.
• Phillips, Luther A., 8, 94, 185, 199.
• Phinney, Henry, 185.
• Phinney, Thomas R., 8, 185.
• Pickett, Gen. George E. (C. S. A.), 13, 24, 112.
• Pierpont, Thomas, 8, 185.
• Pitts, George H., 94, 185.
• Pleasonton, Gen. Alfred, 18.
• Potter, Lieut. Hezekiah, 8, 124–125, 164, 185, 197.
• Potter, Leonard L., 8, 185.
• Powers, John, 8, 185.
• Poyheren, Robert, 8, 185.
• Pratt, John M., 185.
• Price, Ellery W., 94, 185.
• Providence Marine Society, 1.
• Providence Marine Artillery, 2.
• Rafflesbanner, Christian, 196.
• Randall, Corp. Job, 8, 92, 167, 185, 198.
• Read, William H., 8, 94, 185.
• Rearey, James, 94, 186.
• Regular troops mentioned:
  • Third Artillery (Gitting’s), 48.
  • Second Infantry, 65.
  • Thirty-ninth Infantry, 65.
• Reid, Thomas, 8.
• Reid, Uriah H., 8, 186, 199.
• Reid, William H., 8, 186.
• Rhode Island troops mentioned:
  • Third Heavy Artillery, 105.
  • First Rhode Island Light Battery, 108.
  • 215Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 4, 26, 99, 107, 110, 112, 114, 120, 121.
  • Battery B, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 108, 114, 115.
  • Battery C, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 128.
  • Battery D, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 36, 43, 48, 110.
  • Battery E, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 118, 119, 122.
  • Battery F, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 110.
  • Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, 3, 26, 27, 43, 91, 102, 103, 116, 117.
  • First Rhode Island Cavalry, 43, 45.
  • First Rhode Island Detached Militia, 12, 32, 117.
  • Second Rhode Island Infantry, 64.
  • Twelfth Rhode Island Infantry, 4, 100.
• Rhodes, Sergt. James H., 5, 92, 165, 166.
• Riley, Sylvester, 8, 186.
• Ryan, Cornelius, 8, 94, 186.
• Ryan, John, 186.
• Ryan, Corp. Marvin, 92, 167, 186, 198.
• Ryan, William, 8, 186.
• Salas, Joseph, 186.
• Sampson, John A., 8, 50, 94, 186.
• Sayles, Sergt. Thomas W., 4, 5, 164, 198.
• Schanck, Aaron B., 8, 94, 186.
• Sedgwick, Gen. John, 16, 39, 40, 63.
• Seekell, Sergt. Apollos, 31, 92, 165, 186.
• Seymour, Gen. Truman, 71.
• Sheffield, Josiah, 31, 94, 186.
• Sheridan, Gen. Philip H., 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 83, 84.
• Sherman, Gen. William T., 59, 69, 83, 86.
• Simmons, Paul, 186.
• Simmons, Thomas E., 8, 187, 199.
• Slocum, John E., 196.
• Slocum, Col. John S., 64.
• Slocum, Northrop, 196.
• Smith, Ashael, 8, 187, 199.
• Smith, Charles, 8, 187.
• Smith, Elisha, 8, 187, 199.
• Smith, Frederick A., 8, 94, 187.
• Smith, George H., 8, 94, 187.
• Smith, James, 8, 187.
• 216Smith, Gov. James Y., 112.
• Smith, John, 8, 187.
• Smith, Sergt. Thomas, 8, 92, 165, 187.
• Smith, William H., 8, 187.
• Smythe, Gen. Thomas A., 58.
• Snell, Otis P., 8, 94, 150–151, 187.
• Spencer, Edward, 187.
• Spencer, Lieut. Gideon, 114.
• Sprague, Charles, 8, 94, 187.
• Sprague, Gov. William, 2, 4, 105, 106.
• Springer, Corp. William H., 8, 92, 166, 188.
• Stafford, Levi, 94, 188.
• Stagg, Col. Peter, 71.
• Stannard, Gen. George, 13, 14.
• Shirks, John, 196.
• Steinhauer, Lieut. Kirby, 3, 4, 5, 161.
• Stevens, Gen. Isaac I., 33.
• Stevens, Q. M. Sergt. Jenckes B., 5, 163.
• Stevenson, Gen. Thomas G., 34, 41, 42.
• Stewart, William P., 188.
• Stone, William H., 31, 50, 67, 82, 94, 188.
• Stringer, Charles S., 8, 93, 168, 188, 198.
• Sullivan, Dennis, 188.
• Sullivan, Patrick, 188.
• Sumner, Senator Charles, 12.
• Sumner, Gen. Edwin V., 112.
• Swartwout, James, 196.
• Sweeney, Edward, 31, 188.
• Taber, Otis, 94, 188.
• Taft, John, 94, 151, 188.
• Tanney, Duane, 196.
• Tasker, William H., 94, 152, 188.
• Taylor, Sergt. Alfred M., 8, 165, 188.
• Taylor, Robert W., 8, 188.
• Tenney, Amos, 196.
• Thain, Corp. Gilbert Mortimer, 6, 166.
• Thompson, Richard, 8, 189.
• Thompson, Robert P., 8, 189.
• Thornley, William H., 94, 189.
• Tobin, Michael, 8, 189.
• Todd, James W., 94, 189.
• Tompkins, Gen. Charles H., 100, 107.
• 217Tongue, Eben, 66, 82, 94, 189.
• Tracy, Francis, 189.
• Tracy, George E., 8, 26, 168, 189, 198.
• Trucksaes, Herman E. O., 8, 189.
• True, Elias R., 8, 189.
• Tschamer, Baptiste, 8, 189.
• Tully, John, 189.
• Turner, Andrew, 8, 27, 189.
• Tweedale, Charles, 31, 67, 95, 190, 199.
• Tweedale, William B., 95, 190.
• United States troops mentioned:
  • Third Artillery (Gitting’s), 48.
  • Second Infantry, 65.
  • Thirty-ninth Infantry, 65.
• Vallette, Gilbert P., 95, 190, 199.
• Varney, Henry C., 8, 190.
• Vaslett, Charles, 66, 82, 190.
• Vaughn, Albert A., 95, 190.
• Vaughn, Charles D., 95, 153, 190.
• Venner, John F., 95, 190.
• Vermont troops mentioned:
  • Second Infantry, 13.
  • Ninth Infantry, 13.
  • Twelfth Infantry, 16, 100.
  • Sixteenth Infantry, 18.
• Vernon, George W., 190.
• Vincent, Charles, 95, 190.
• Vroman, William, 196.
• Wade, James, 95, 190.
• Wadsworth, Gen. James S., 37.
• Walden, Joseph, Jr., 95, 191.
• Ward, George, 191.
• Ward, John, 95, 191.
• Warren, Gen. Gouverneur K., 37, 39.
• Washington, Gen. George, 80.
• Webster, Lieut. Clement, 5, 105–106, 160, 197.
• Weiner, T. Felix, 8, 191.
• Wellman, Henry A., 8, 191.
• Wells, Albert, 8, 153–154, 191.
• Westcott, George H., 117.
• 218Westcott, Gilbert O., 117.
• Westcott, Lieut. William B., 116–117, 162.
• Wheaton, Dr. Francis L., 63.
• Wheaton, Gen. Frank, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 71, 79, 104.
• White, John D., 18, 194.
• White, Lucian, 193.
• White, Reuben G., 8, 191.
• White, William H., 95, 191, 199.
• Whitney, George, 191.
• Whittlesey, Major C. H., Assistant Adjutant-General Artillery Reserve, 49, 67, 104.
• Williams, George, 191.
• Williams, George A., 31, 191, 199.
• Wilson, Charles, 8, 191.
• Wilson, Charles, 191.
• Wilson, Charles, 192.
• Wilson, George, 192.
• Wilson, Senator Henry, 12.
• Wilson, James, 8, 192.
• Wilson, James, 2d, 8, 192.
• Wilson, James J., 192.
• Wilson, John, 192.
• Woodbury, Rev. Augustus, 32, 41.
• Wood, James, 8, 95, 192.
• Woodley, George F., 90.
• Woodward, Alden H., 95, 192.
• Wright, Gen. Horatio G., 63, 65, 67, 71.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES