W. H. LOWDERMILK & CO., 
 Standard. Choice and Rare Law and 
 
 Miscellaneous Books, 
 
 Government Publications 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 


 HISTORY 
 
 THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS, 
 
 1 862- 1 86 j. 
 WITH A ROSTER. 
 
 A COMMITTEE OF THE REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 MILLS, KNIGHT & Co., PRINTERS, 115 CONGRESS STREET. 
 1884. 
 
E 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 r I ^HIS narrative was prepared by the committee 
 whose names are undersigned, to gratify the wish 
 of the surviving members for some connected account 
 of the services of the regiment, to exhibit to relatives 
 and friends, and to provide a book of handy reference 
 for their own convenience. 
 
 All the descriptions are by members who were present 
 at the scenes described ; imagination has no part in the 
 account. 
 
 Criticisms of generalship have been avoided except 
 where it was necessary to allude to the matter to explain 
 the spirit prevailing among the men. Lists of wounded in 
 action have not been given in the body of the narrative ; 
 to obtain accurate lists would call for more time than the 
 Committee could devote to the work. 
 
 The whole story of Reno s Brigade is told in the 
 
 M198517 
 
iv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 
 
 " History of the Twenty-First Massachusetts Regiment," 
 by General Charles F. Walcott, whose book appeared from 
 the press while this was in preparation. Upon the issue 
 of that work, it seemed, at first, hardly worth while to 
 proceed with this ; but, as the Twenty-First was not with 
 us in Mississippi, and General Walcott, although admirably 
 full in the brigade history, does not, of course, cover the 
 internal history of the Thirty-Fifth, it was thought best to 
 go on with this, omitting herein most of the general orders, 
 etc., given in that book. Of course every member of the 
 Thirty-Fifth will wish to possess, if he have not already, a 
 copy of the history of the Twenty-First, to fill up the story 
 of the old brigade, and a copy of Rev. Augustus Wood- 
 bury s " History of the Ninth Army Corps " to explain 
 the wider movements. 
 
 In place of maps and illustrations, material for which, of 
 merit superior to any we could obtain without great ex 
 pense, is within reach of all, we have inserted between the 
 chapters blank pages, upon which the owner can attach 
 such photographs, etc., as may be in his possession, and 
 thus add a personal character to the volume. 
 
 A regimental history must lack the general interest of 
 that of an army, while it misses much of the intense 
 sympathy called forth by a personal narrative ; on this 
 account it may appear, after all, that "the half has not 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 been told. 7 The committee will feel satisfied if the mem 
 bers agree that even a quarter part has found its way into 
 the pages of this book.. 
 
 COMMITTEE: 
 
 SUMNER <Z^K9X^^ for the Field and Staff. 
 
 THOMAS E. CUTTER " " " 
 
 EDMUND F. SNOW, of Company A. 
 
 GEORGE W. CREASEV, " " B. 
 
 EDMUND A. CAPEN, " " C. 
 
 JOHN N. MORSE, " " D. 
 
 HENRY A. MONK, " " E. 
 
 SOLOMON D. GRIMES. " " F. 
 
 CHRIS. METZGER, " " F. 
 
 JOSEPH C. HARDY, " " G. 
 
 WALDO TURNER, " " H. 
 
 JOHN D. COBB, " " /. 
 
 L GEORGE H. NASON, " " A". 
 
 BOSTON, January i, 1884. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 LYNNFIELD AND ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, 1862, . i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 MARYLAND AND BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN, 1862, . . 20 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 ANTIETAM, 1862, . . .35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FALL CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA SKIRMISH AT FAUQUIER 
 
 WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, 1862, 60 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 FREDERICKSBURG, AND WINTER NEAR FALMOUTH, 1862-1863, 79 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 NEWPORT NEWS, VA., AND SPRING IN KENTUCKY, 1863, . 104 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 MIDSUMMER IN MISSISSIPPI VICKSBURG AND JACKSON, 1863, 129 
 
v iii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WINTER IN EAST TENNESSEE CAMPBELL S STATION AND 
 KNOXVILLE, 1863-1864, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 VIRGINIA AGAIN WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN, 1864, 217 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SIEGE OF PETERSBURG THE MINE, 1864, 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 WELDON RAILROAD AND POPLAR SPRING CHURCH, 1864, . 283 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 WINTER QUARTERS, 1864-1865 " FORT HELL," 3 10 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 LIFE IN THE PRISON-PENS, 1864-1865, . . 3 2 9 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 THE END OF THE WAR, 1865, . 
 
 ROSTER. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 LYNNFIELD AND ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, 1862. 
 
 THE famous Seven Days fighting of the Army of the 
 Potomac under General McClellan, before Rich 
 mond, ended July i, 1862. During the hot days of that 
 long summer, the stayers-at-home read with the deepest 
 interest of the " Change of Base " to the James River, or 
 listened to the living story from the lips of some wounded 
 hero. Whether the movement was to be considered a 
 success or a defeat, this at least was clear, that the army 
 must be heavily reenforced ; and, accordingly, President 
 Lincoln called for three hundred thousand volunteers for 
 three years. Governor Andrew issued an official address, 
 dated July 2, stating the pressing need for more troops and 
 the terms of enlistment, and ending with these words : 
 "Massachusetts, which has never slumbered nor slept, 
 must now arise to still higher efforts, and pledge to all 
 the duties of patriotism, with renewed devotion, the indi 
 vidual efforts, the united hearts, heads and hands of all 
 her people." To many hearts this summons came with a 
 solemn power that could not be resisted. 
 
 Among the regiments formed of the men who enlisted 
 in answer to this call was the Thirty-Fifth Massachusetts 
 Volunteer Infantry. 
 
 The first mention of the regiment which we have found 
 is contained in the following advertisement, which appeared 
 in the Boston Journal, under date of the fourth of July : 
 
:!": \ :-*HIS*ifRYtQVTH.E THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 " Attention, Recruits I A few more good men are wanted 
 to fill up Captain Andrews Company, Fort Warren Bat 
 talion. Under the last urgent call of the President, this 
 battalion will probably be increased and make the Thirty- 
 Fifth Regiment, so that there will be a chance for actual 
 service. The following inducements are offered to all 
 wishing to enlist : 
 
 " $25 bounty in advance ; also, 
 " $13, one month s pay in advance ; 
 " $12 per month State aid ; and 
 " $75 bounty at close of war. 
 
 "Men of Massachusetts, citizens, patriots, rally under 
 the glorious flag of our country. Let the Old Bay State 
 lead the van. Let our people rush forth in their might. 
 Let us swell the Union ranks, and maintain our proud 
 position, that Massachusetts is ever foremost when duty 
 calls. 
 
 "Apply at once to the Recruiting Offices, No. 71 Union 
 Street, Boston, or corner of Park and School Streets, 
 Chelsea." 
 
 Another notice, dated the fifth, began as follows : " Fall 
 in, Recruits I Captain Dolan, Lieutenants Baldwin and 
 Hudson are rapidly filling their company with first-class 
 recruits for duty at Fort Warren ; " and, after giving the 
 terms as above, it adds : " Our country s call must be 
 obeyed ; her necessities must be our first and only con 
 sideration now ; she needs every one of her sons to defend 
 her holy cause, and the sooner you are ready to aid her 
 the sooner will her cause be gained. This battalion will 
 probably be recruited to the Thirty-Fifth Regiment, and 
 go to the seat of war." Thus, by the system of general 
 recruiting, was begun the formation of companies A and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 3 
 
 D of the Thirty-Fifth ; but the organization of the regi 
 ment did not begin until a month later. 
 
 The Government apportioned the number of men called 
 for among the loyal States according to population, and 
 the State divided its quota among the cities and towns 
 according to the last annual return of men liable to do 
 military duty under the laws of the Commonwealth. As 
 soon as the quotas were announced, each municipality 
 devoted its energies to finding, enlisting and forwarding 
 the men to camp. Every motive was appealed to, and all 
 sorts of inducements offered to the able-bodied men of the 
 community to enlist. Patriotism was aroused by eloquent 
 orators ; emotions were stirred by music, banners, pro 
 cessions and grand rallies of the people ; and thus excite 
 ment was kept constantly ablaze. In many places bounties 
 were offered in addition to those above mentioned, and 
 promises of private aid to families were frequent. This 
 continued through July, and about the first of August most 
 of the three years volunteers were ready for camp. 
 
 In the cities and larger towns full companies were formed 
 from the quotas, and fellow citizens were selected for offi 
 cers. The companies of the Thirty-Fifth formed in this way 
 were : B, from Newburyport ; C, from Chelsea ; G, from 
 Haverhill ; H, from Weymouth ; and K from Roxbury. 
 The quotas of smaller places united and formed com 
 panies under officers of their preference ; thus were made 
 up companies : E, from Randolph, Stoughton, etc. ; F, 
 from Rockport, Danvers, North Andover, etc. ; and I from 
 Dedham, Weston, Needham, etc. The following extract 
 from the " Memorial of Major Park " will serve as an ex 
 ample of the superior class of men obtained at this time : 
 
 "The permit to recruit the company, K, was accom 
 panied with a condition, provided it could be done in six 
 
4 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 days. In five days they had enrolled one hundred and 
 fifty names, from whom to select the one hundred and 
 one. Eighty of those who finally composed the company 
 were between twenty and thirty-five years of age, and but 
 two were over forty. About one-half of the company were 
 married men. All signed their names in clear, legible 
 handwriting. More than forty of them had been graduates 
 of the Washington Public School at Roxbury. Thirteen 
 were teachers in a Sunday School." 
 
 The camp for recruits in the eastern part of the State 
 was located at Lynnfield, in Essex County, on the north 
 side of the railroad, and bordering on Humphrey s Pond, 
 now called Suntaug Lake, and was named Camp Stanton 
 after the Secretary of War. The steep slope towards the 
 water was shaded by a heavy growth of pine trees, and 
 the pond offered facilities for bathing and washing. Two 
 companies of the Thirty-Second Regiment and the Thirty- 
 Third Regiment occupied the east part of the field, and a 
 battery the west end. Men enlisted for the Thirty-Fifth 
 were at first quartered about the middle, near the cottage, 
 used as a surgeon s office, etc., and the barn used for a 
 guard-house. They occupied wall tents, "A" tents, or old 
 militia tents, and in consideration of their delicacy were 
 furnished with straw to lie upon, but no blankets until 
 accepted for service. Food was served from cook-houses, 
 under direction of Mr. Haines, then of the Thirty-Second 
 Regiment, subsequently quartermaster of the Thirty-Fifth ; 
 but as the ration, though ample, seemed to most of the men 
 coarse and unpalatable, they procured additional eatables 
 from home or outside the camp. Squads for companies 
 A, D and the combination companies were the first upon 
 the ground, towards the end of July. The full companies 
 arrived nearly together : Company C on the fourth of 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 5 
 
 August, G and K on the fifth, B and H on the eighth. 
 Camp guards around the field were maintained from the 
 first, and passes were required to get in or out of the 
 rather crowded enclosure. 
 
 The enlisted men before going to Lynnfield passed a 
 preliminary examination of their physical qualifications, to 
 prevent loss of expenses upon rejected men. Upon arrival 
 in camp they were again, and more thoroughly, inspected 
 by the surgeons. It was amusing afterwards to recall how 
 much the men dreaded rejection and the loss of the chance 
 for actual service promised in the advertisement above. 
 The recruit was stripped, pounded on the chest, made to 
 walk and hop, had his ears pulled, eyes and teeth exam 
 ined, and was otherwise tortured, until he had shown his 
 paces, and was then accepted or rejected summarily. Few 
 were rejected. If accepted, the next thing in order was 
 his uniform. He went to the quartermaster s office ; a 
 gray, woollen blanket, marked U. S., was spread upon the 
 floor, into which were tossed a light-blue overcoat, rubber 
 blanket, cap, dress coat, blouse, trousers, shoes, socks, 
 drawers, shirts, knapsack, haversack, canteen, tin dipper, 
 plate and knife and fork. The four corners of the blanket 
 were brought together, and the man was ordered to shoulder 
 the bundle and betake himself to his tent, shed his citizen s 
 dress, and assume the appearance of a soldier. The mate 
 rials of the articles were good, but of a very coarse texture, 
 suited to the rough usage of the field. There were four 
 sizes of most of the clothing, and he whom none of these 
 fitted was obliged to fit himself to the size. Some of the 
 companies last to arrive fell short of a full uniform, and 
 were not supplied until after their arrival at the front. 
 
 A few of the men had experience as soldiers, in the 
 militia or in actual service ; these were the heroes of the 
 hour. Most of the recruits were somewhat acquainted 
 
6 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 with the manual of arms and company drill, acquired in 
 the many drill companies which the excitement of the war 
 had originated. As soon as sergeants and corporals of 
 companies were appointed, these exercises were practised 
 as opportunity offered. There were several dress parades 
 and guard mountings by portions of the regiment, and one 
 battalion drill under Adjutant Wales, on the twentieth, in 
 marching in line of battle. 
 
 The commissioned officers had little time to attend to 
 these matters. They were fully occupied in filling up their 
 companies, settling their private affairs, and making need 
 ful preparations; and, in addition, they were burdened 
 with an amount of clerical work the red tape system of 
 a time of peace sufficient to last a month. A person 
 inexperienced in military affairs has little notion of the 
 amount of writing to be done in the formation and man 
 agement of a regiment. There are reports and rolls of 
 all sorts daily, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly and annu 
 ally relating to the men, their descriptions, bounties, 
 pay, rations, ordnance, clothing, camp and garrison equi 
 page, muster-in, muster-out, furloughs, etc., ad infinitum, 
 to the Government, State and town authorities: all to be 
 studied out and prepared in good style and with unfailing 
 accuracy. The school of the army is a school of much 
 penmanship, as well as other learning. Their care also 
 was that their best men did not become impatient and 
 enlist in some other organization, to get sooner to the 
 front, or that their worst men did not run the guards to 
 secure another bounty. For no sooner was the call for 
 three years men nearly filled than another call was issued 
 for men for nine months service, and, in addition to the 
 shorter term, there was the attraction of a double bounty. 
 The mercenary class at once saw the advantage and tried 
 to exchange ; the patriot class, especially those having 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 7 
 
 families, grimly endured, while they felt the inequality of 
 treatment ; among the survivors it needs but little rubbing 
 to find a sore spot there still. The men were generally 
 allowed a short furlough, to close up their home affairs 
 and take leave of relatives and friends ; so that, upon the 
 whole, it is remarkable that so much information concern 
 ing the new sphere of life was acquired in so short a time ; 
 but all were eager to learn, and worked laboriously day 
 and night. 
 
 On the fourteenth of August the Thirty-Third Regiment 
 left for the seat of war, and, after the ground had been 
 swept, the Thirty-Fifth moved into the Sibley tents thus 
 vacated. Companies took their places in regular order 
 according to the army regulations and seniority of captains, 
 from right to left, as follows : 
 
 Right, A, D, E, F, B, G, C, H, I, K, Left, 
 
 and the regiment assumed an organized appearance. The 
 members began to get acquainted with each other and 
 their officers, and learned the lettering of the companies. 
 It will be noticed that, as far as possible, the letters of the 
 companies correspond with the initial letter of the surname 
 of the captain commanding, as follows : 
 
 Co. A, Capt. Andrews, Lieuts. Hood and Stickney. 
 
 " B, " Bartlett, " Hodges " Collins. 
 
 " C, " Cheever, " Blanchard " Mirick. 
 
 " D, " Dolan, " Baldwin " Hudson. 
 
 " E, " Niles, " Palmer " Ingell. 
 
 " F, " Oliver, " Preston " Williams. 
 
 " G, " Gibson, " Brooks " Washburn. 
 
 " H, t " Pratt, " Lyon " Burrell. 
 
 " I, " Willard, " Lathrop " Hill. 
 
 " K, " King, " Park " Blake. 
 
8 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 In this list, and in other cases hereafter, when, to avoid 
 repetition, the names of members of the regiment are not 
 given in full, they may be found by reference to the roster. 
 
 The field and staff officers were : Colonel, Edward A. 
 Wild, of Brookline ; Major, Sumner Carruth, of Chelsea ; 
 Adjutant, Nathaniel Wales, of Dorchester ; Surgeon, Fran 
 cis M. Lincoln, of Boston ; Assistant Surgeons, George 
 N. Munsell, of Harwich, and Albert W. Clark, of Woburn ; 
 Chaplain, Henry F. H. Miller, of Norton ; Quartermaster, 
 Samuel W. Haines, of Newburyport; Sergeant -Major, 
 Augustus Hatch, of Boston ; Quartermaster - Sergeant, 
 Albert F. Upton, of Boston ; Commissary-Sergeant, Edwin 
 N. Merrill, of Haverhill ; Hospital Steward, George F. 
 Wood, of Plymouth ; Principal Musician, Daniel Vining, 
 of Weymouth. The regiment never had a band attached, 
 although an attempt to recruit one was made at Lynnfield ; 
 it depended for music upon brigade bands, its own drum 
 corps, or Company K s Glee Club, which furnished excel 
 lent vocal music, associated with many scenes both of the 
 solemn and of the festive kind. 
 
 Colonel Wild had served as captain of Company A of 
 the First Massachusetts Regiment, in Hooker s Division, 
 at Blackburn s Ford, Bull Run, in Lower Maryland, and 
 on the Peninsula. He had been wounded before Rich 
 mond, and was assigned at first to the Thirty-Second Reg 
 iment as major, then to the command of Camp Stanton, 
 and afterwards to the Thirty-Fifth. He started with us 
 for the front carrying his arm in a sling. 
 
 Major Carruth, previously Captain of Company H, First 
 Massachusetts, had the same military experience with our 
 colonel, and had also returned home wounded (his arm 
 shattered at Fair Oakes), to be promoted to our regiment. 
 After Colonel Wild s promotion, he continued to be our 
 permanent commander to the end of the war. No lieutenant- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 9 
 
 colonel was appointed at Lynnfield. Adjutant Wales had 
 served in the Twenty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment, 
 under Colonel Stevenson. 
 
 Of the line officers, Captain Andrews had seen service 
 in the West ; Captain Bartlett had been Captain of Com 
 pany A, Eighth Massachusetts, with Lieutenants Hodges 
 and Collins among his lieutenants ; Captain Niles had 
 held the same rank in Company D, Fourth Massachusetts, 
 with Lieutenant Palmer among his corporals ; Captain 
 Gibson had been first sergeant of Company A, First 
 Massachusetts, and Lieutenant Washburn had been a 
 member of the same company ; Captain Oliver had expe 
 rience in the Fourteenth Massachusetts, and Lieutenant 
 Lyon in Company H of the Twelfth Massachusetts ; Ser 
 geant-Major Hatch had. been a sergeant of Company B, 
 First Massachusetts, and afterwards a second-lieutenant 
 in a New York regiment. Experienced soldiers were few 
 in the Thirty-Fifth, and no member had received a West 
 Point education. 
 
 The men being assembled and clothed, the next duty 
 was the " muster-in " of the companies. This ceremony 
 was performed in detail, from the ninth to the nineteenth 
 of August, by Lieutenant Elder of the United States Army. 
 Standing in line the roll was called, each man responding 
 to his name, then the oath was administered : " You do 
 solemnly swear that you will bear true allegiance to the 
 United States of America, and that you will serve them 
 faithfully and honestly against all their enemies or opposers 
 whomsoever, and observe and obey the orders of the Pres 
 ident of the United States, and the orders of the officers 
 appointed over yoft, according to the rules and articles for 
 the government of armies of the United States. So help 
 you God." 
 
 Few of the officers and men had ever seen the blue 
 
JO HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 book containing the United States army regulations, and 
 most never acquired more than a cursory knowledge of its 
 contents ; but they took the oath, trusting to be able to 
 comply with the intention, if not the letter of it. The term 
 of service was "for three years or during the war" lan 
 guage open to misconstruction ; the Government claiming 
 the words to include an enlistment for the whole war, the 
 men that it was for three years if the war should last so 
 long. The war ended during the third year of the regi 
 ment s term of service. 
 
 On the twentieth the arms were distributed. These 
 were nine hundred and sixty Enfield rifles of English 
 make. They were somewhat defective, the cones being 
 too much case-hardened and quite brittle, so that a large 
 number were turned into the Washington Arsenal within 
 three weeks ; nevertheless, so great was the scarcity of 
 weapons at the time, the regiment was thought very for 
 tunate to get them. The different belts, plates and boxes, 
 constituting the accoutrements, were given out at the same 
 time, or upon the following day. Some twenty thousand 
 rounds of ammunition were drawn in Boston, but none 
 were distributed ; nor were any experiments tried to test 
 the power of the rifles. 
 
 Being now fully armed and equipped, it was supposed 
 that a few days at least of camp duty and drill would be 
 allowed before active service ; the demand, however, for 
 more troops at Washington was so imperative no delay 
 could be permitted, and, much to the disappointment of 
 the men and grief of their friends, orders were received to 
 proceed immediately to the front, and the regiment started 
 accordingly on the twenty-second of August Friday. 
 
 There had been little sleep the previous night ; it was a 
 rainy morning, and falling into regimental line in the mud 
 was not pleasant. In addition to the burden of clothing, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. II 
 
 equipments, arms and rations furnished by the Govern 
 ment, each man had tried to include in his pack a private 
 assortment of writing cases, revolvers, toilet articles, water 
 filters, Bibles and other books, and a general assortment 
 of such medicines or comforts as he or his friends could 
 suggest ; and now, having by the aid of his companions 
 slung the mass upon his back, was deliberating upon the 
 question how far it would be possible to struggle along un 
 der it all. But patience and endurance are the first lessons 
 of a soldier ; so, while waiting for the cars, the men, dread 
 ing the task of reslinging and hooking their knapsacks, and 
 having no dry spot to drop them upon, amused themselves 
 chaffing each other s loads, and devising ways of propping 
 them up with their rifles to relieve their shoulders. That 
 regimental line of one thousand and thirteen men looked 
 a mile long ; it was our " Old Thirty-Fifth." 
 
 One o clock came before the long train filled with blue 
 coats started for Boston, by way of Salem. Arrived in 
 the city, the regiment marched by the right flank through 
 Blackstone and North Streets, Merchants Row, State, Court, 
 Tremont and Beacon Streets to the State House, cheered 
 and cheering as we went another regiment off to the war! 
 At the State House all looked for Governor Andrew no 
 departure without his consecrating words seemed in due 
 form but he was otherwise engaged ; so hurriedly receiv 
 ing a blue silk regimental flag and the small, white, State 
 flag the march was resumed. The blue flag bore the arms 
 of the United States, with the motto E pluribus unum, in 
 token that we were to bear it in the cause of the Union, 
 one and indivisible. The white flag was emblazoned with 
 the State arms, the uplifted sword, and the motto Ense 
 petit placidam sub libertate quietetn, signifying that we drew 
 the sword to gain enduring peace in a free land. They 
 were good words to fight under. A national flag, the stars 
 
12 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 and stripes, was not received until many months after 
 wards. 
 
 Relatives and friends crowded the way for parting words, 
 as we hastened on to the Old Colony Railway Station. It 
 was an exciting time. Into the cars we jammed, some 
 sick, some pale with sorrow, some roaring with laughter, 
 others shouting a last farewell to friends a perfect pan 
 demonium as the engine fastened on and the heavy 
 train moved slowly out of the station. 
 
 " Swift as the summons came they left 
 The plow mid-furrow standing still, 
 The half ground corn-grist in the mill, 
 The spade in earth, the axe in cleft ; 
 They went where duty seemed to call, 
 .... They only knew they could but die, 
 And death was not the worst of all." 
 
 We left Boston about five in the afternoon, and reaching 
 Fall River about ten o clock went on board the steamboat 
 Bay State. Every carpet had been taken up, all furniture 
 removed, and there were no beds in the berths. Men 
 turned in on the slats in the main and in the ladies cabin ; 
 that is, those who could get there. The officers had state 
 rooms, with beds but no blankets, and only one sheet. 
 The rest found space upon the decks to spread blankets, 
 although some hesitated to unroll the packs put together 
 so carefully ; but most were soon drowning their cares in 
 sleep. One Walsh, an old marine, with wits enlivened by 
 whiskey, gave to the wakeful ones a spirited free exhibition 
 of the bayonet drill, dancing about and whirling his rifle, 
 bayonet fixed, over the sleepers. The boat arrived at 
 Jersey City at ten in the morning, and by noon we were 
 on the way across New Jersey to Philadelphia, reaching 
 there about six in the evening. 
 
 Our reception in Philadelphia was most cordial ; greater 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 13 
 
 hospitality was never experienced. The regiment was 
 entertained at the far-famed Cooper s Shop. All Eastern 
 soldiers remember with gratitude this welcome oasis be 
 tween their homes and the front ; a little of the accustomed 
 properly cooked food, spread upon neatly arranged tables, 
 was relished exceedingly; and with the Thirty -Fifth the 
 saying, " As nice as the Philadelphia Cooper s Shop," 
 long endured as a standard of superlative comparison. 
 
 Summary justice was dealt out by the colonel s orders 
 to the stealthy venders of whiskey. Company K, with 
 details from other companies, was ordered to clean out 
 rum shops, kept open to soldiers contrary to orders; 
 bottles, demijohns, etc., were soon emptied of their con 
 tents. The colonel thus describes the affair : 
 
 " In the immediate neighborhood of the Union Volunteer 
 Refreshment Saloon, where we were supplied with a meal 
 by the hospitality of the citizens, there is a large number 
 of drinking shops, which have been a pest to every regi 
 ment passing through. I personally ordered the proprietor 
 of each establishment to sell no liquor to my men, warning 
 him of consequences, and at the same time setting a guard 
 at his door. Soon after, detecting them enticing men in 
 at back doors to drink and fill canteens, I ordered the 
 stock to be cleaned out at two places, a hotel and a saloon. 
 The order was summarily and thoroughly carried out by 
 my men. No serious personal violence was committed, 
 although we had occasion to overawe a large party of 
 zouaves and other bullies. The police followed me with 
 two writs of arrest, which I declined to accede to, but 
 warned them that if they caused us any delay I should be 
 obliged to take aldermen and all with me to Washington. 
 All this not from any wanton disrespect for municipal law, 
 but on the ground that in time of armed rebellion the exi- 
 
14 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 gencies of the military service .must take precedence of 
 all else." 
 
 Marching through the city to take the cars for Baltimore, 
 about nine in the evening, Company K brought up the 
 rear with fixed bayonets. The people along the route 
 turned out to a man, woman and baby. " Good bye ! " 
 "God bless you ! " "Come back safe ! " were the constant 
 exclamations. Women brought out water, and did all they 
 could to make the men comfortable ; in fact, it was quite 
 an ovation. Before getting into the cars all canteens were 
 examined, and drinks stronger than water were emptied 
 into the gutter. 
 
 Packed in the cars the men tried to sleep sitting erect 
 amid the racket, but it was a restless effort. The riotous 
 reception of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment in Balti 
 more a year before was still fresh in our thoughts, and 
 in the excited state of the popular mind we looked for 
 some active demonstrations of unfriendly feeling; but, on 
 the contrary, the regiment marched quietly through the 
 city before the people had fairly awakened from their 
 Sunday morning naps. Now and then a small flag would 
 be waved ; but generally the people whom we met stared 
 with indifference, or, at the worst, with sinister looks only : 
 we had had our row with the roughs of Philadelphia. After 
 a breakfast at the Soldier s Rest, box cars with rough, pine 
 benches were filled inside and upon the roofs, about eleven 
 o clock ; and now, as Uncle Sam s cattle, we jolted on 
 towards Washington, through hot and dusty Maryland. 
 At Baltimore things had first taken a noticeably foreign 
 look ; the windows about the station were crowded with 
 woolly heads and black faces, with wondering eyes, while 
 some of the dark hued, Indian-looking whites who strolled 
 among us we deemed to be spies in the enemy s service. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 15 
 
 We reached Washington about two in the afternoon, 
 August 24, and went at first to the barracks near the 
 Capitol, where another meal was offered a feed this 
 time, not a collation, and further proof that we were now 
 to be classed as Government live stock the slop-coffee 
 in wooden buckets, and old boiled horse, could not be 
 stomached ; some, however, worried down a crust of sour 
 bread buttered with patriotic words : it went down hard, 
 nevertheless. But when at five o clock the regiment formed 
 column, platoon front, with full ranks, and marched down 
 the grand Pennsylvania Avenue, drums beating and colors 
 flying, the soldier s pride in his regiment awakened, and 
 we stepped off cheerily, and did our best to keep the lines 
 exact and distances correct. Nevertheless, when the avenue 
 was passed and the drums stopped it seemed as if our 
 legs would stop also. 
 
 The Thirty-Fifth was assigned to the command of Brig 
 adier-General Casey, and ordered to camp beyond Arlington 
 Heights. We kept on by the White House, and crossed 
 the Potomac River above at Georgetown, on the Aqueduct 
 Bridge, and came down again on the further bank. As we 
 stepped off the bridge upon the "sacred soil " of Old Vir 
 ginia, some one struck up the song of "Old John Brown," 
 in which the whole column joined ; then, mindful that it 
 was Sunday evening, they followed with psalm tunes, and 
 the Arlington Hills echoed to the old Puritan music. 
 Darkness and dust together swallowed us up, and still the 
 column kept on. Some of the officers continued the reg 
 ular orders, "Right shoulder shift! Left shoulder 
 shift! " but the weary men carried their guns anyhow, and 
 darkness concealed the delinquency. The heat and fatigue 
 began to tell, and some stragglers appeared ; the column 
 began to lose shape. We struck the road from the Long 
 Bridge to Hunter s Chapel, and turning sharply to the 
 
1 6 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 right pushed along, encouraged by the words, " Only half 
 a mile more, boys ! " repeated ad nauseam. At Hunter s 
 Chapel the regiment turned into a field on the left, and 
 got orders to stack arms and rest for the night ; the 
 suddenness with which knapsacks were unslung was very 
 observable. A few gathered rails for fires and roasted 
 green corn, but most, worn out, wrapped themselves in 
 blankets and slept with the ashes-like soil of the Old 
 Dominion for a bed and a knapsack or cartridge box for 
 a pillow. 
 
 Such a looking set as we were on awakening ! stiff and 
 sore, daubed with dust, the newness gone from the uni 
 forms, a sorry sight indeed. Ah ! pity the sorrows of 
 the raw recruit while being broken in yet a dry bed, a 
 warm night, and sleep undisturbed are three of the soldier s 
 luxuries. We found our bivouac to be nearly opposite 
 Hunter s Chapel, in advance of Forts Craig and Rich 
 ardson, on the Columbia Turnpike, and upon ground 
 occupied the previous winter by Blenker s Division of the 
 Army of the Potomac. The men lay about resting and 
 cleaning up all the morning of the twenty-fifth, and 
 receiving a lot of "A" tents, by the energetic efforts of 
 Quartermaster Haines, pitched them in regular camp 
 further to the south of the road, calling the spot Camp 
 Casey. A few cartridges were distributed and instruction 
 given in loading with the minie ball, a new thing then, 
 calibre .577, 
 
 Next day the Thirty-Fifth was transferred to the command 
 of General Whipple, and by him (on the thirtieth) assigned 
 to Van Volkenburg s Brigade ; drill was commenced, and 
 an order of camp duty issued. At leisure moments the 
 pedlers carts drew swarms, eager to obtain watermelons 
 and peaches in exchange for sticky postage-stamps, of 
 which every one carried a wad in his pocket, for gold and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 17 
 
 silver money had disappeared when the greenbacks were 
 issued. Others wandered off to see the neighboring forts, 
 or bathe in the creek in front, or inspect the corduroy 
 roads or mud huts of last winter, now covered with rank 
 grass ; and some mused over the white railing of the little 
 cemetery, and read the strange German names of those of 
 Blenker s men who, thus early in the war, had found rest 
 here. 
 
 On the same day (twenty-sixth) we broke camp and 
 retired about half a mile to within the line of the forts. 
 Tents were again pitched between the Turnpike and Fort 
 Craig, the officers tents being among peach trees, and the 
 place designated Camp Whipple. There was hardly room 
 for dress parade, which we here learned to go through 
 decently ; and Colonel Wild gave the regiment an after 
 noon of drill in inarching at double-quick in line of battle 
 with the bayonet. These last days of August were full of 
 great events occurring in front of our camps, so quietly 
 occupied, for out at Manassas and Centreville "Stonewall" 
 Jackson and his men were for several days between Wash 
 ington and the army of General Pope. Fitz Hugh Lee, 
 on the twenty-seventh, captured stores at Burke s Station, 
 within twelve miles of Alexandria. If Old Stonewall had 
 been in sufficient force to turn towards Washington our 
 position would have been more lively. It became suffi 
 ciently exciting very soon. Sixty rounds of cartridges per 
 man were distributed, and night alarms, with beating of 
 the long roll, practised. 
 
 Distant cannonade was heard daily, and pickets were 
 posted along the turnpike to the front. Company I had a 
 tour of duty, August 29, on guard at Fort Runion and the 
 Long Bridge, where they saw the cavalrymen who had been 
 stampeded at Manassas and the droves of cattle hurried 
 over the Potomac to Washington ; evidently " something 
 
1 8 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 was up " in front, which did not look like victory. The 
 regiment was set to work digging intrenchments of regular 
 profile, flanking the forts; but the connection with the 
 commissary department was not well established, or army 
 rations too coarse, consequently our diet was poor, and 
 digging came hard ; men declared they had come out to 
 fight and not to handle the pick and shovel. 
 
 The liveliest incident was the narrow escape of Lieu 
 tenant Hood. He says : " I was lieutenant of the pickets 
 around Arlington Heights, and received, August 29, a 
 despatch from General McClellan directing me to detail 
 twenty-five extra men and march to Hunter s Chapel, and 
 await one of his staff. I did so, and we extended the 
 picket line to Ball s Cross Roads ; then McClellan made 
 his headquarters at Lee s mansion, the Arlington House. 
 At midnight the pickets were heard, and * boots to saddle 
 sounded ; I went to the Cross Roads, and finding troops 
 going into camp I assisted their officer in posting pickets. 
 On my return one of my pickets took me for a reb, never 
 made me dismount, but kept his gun and bayonet in my 
 face as we walked along ; he stumbled and pricked my 
 horse, and let me have it in face and eyes ; then ran and 
 cocked his gun again without loading, but it wouldn t shoot 
 worth a cent ; then the other picket came for me ; I dis 
 mounted, sung out that I was their officer and gave the 
 countersign. My men promised, if I would let them off, 
 to do better next time. I understood better picket duty, 
 but they may have meant shoot straighten When I got to 
 camp I found my face blackened with powder." 
 
 The lieutenant was afterwards very severely wounded at 
 Antietam. 
 
 At Camp Whipple, Major Carruth, now promoted to 
 lieutenant-colonel, arrived about the fifth of September, 
 bringing commissions for Captain Willard to be major, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 19 
 
 First-Lieutenant Lathrop to be a captain, and Second- 
 Lieutenant Hill to be a first-lieutenant ; also Lieutenant 
 Pope joined the regiment about the same time. Six four- 
 horse army wagons were issued to Quartermaster Haines 
 for transportation of baggage. 
 
 Ambulance trains from the front moved towards Wash 
 ington, with the slow motion which betokened wounded 
 men within ; and stragglers and portions of the Army of 
 the Potomac passed through camp, notably Meagher s 
 Brigade, of Sumner s Corps, sun-browned heroes of the 
 Peninsula, their clothes weather-stained and worn, flags 
 tattered and ranks thin, telling a tale of hard service, and 
 presenting an appearance which quite shocked us ; there 
 were even some wounded men among them. Soon after 
 these came visitors from General Pope s Army of Virginia, 
 with tales of narrow escapes and death of friends in the 
 battles about Groveton, called Second Bull Run. Surely 
 the crisis had now come, all the armies were about us, and 
 we were in good position to participate. We gazed over 
 to the city upon the half-finished dome of the Capitol, and 
 wondered if it would ever be completed it looked doubt 
 ful. But our short time for preparation was spent ; ready 
 or not ready it was time for the Thirty-Fifth to take the 
 field, to keep it until the end. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MARYLAND AND THE BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN, 1862. 
 
 /^ENERAL LEE, with the Confederate army, bore 
 VJT away from Washington in a north-west direction, 
 and crossed the Potomac River into Maryland, between 
 September 4 and 7, at the fords near Leesburg, and 
 encamped in the vicinity of Frederick City. His where 
 abouts were to us a subject of conjecture for several days. 
 General Pope was relieved from the command of our 
 army by General McClellan, who devoted himself to the 
 task of reorganizing the force, while moving it towards 
 Frederick to meet General Lee and protect Washington 
 and Baltimore. The Thirty-Fifth was now transferred to 
 the command of General Burnside, already north of the 
 Potomac, and orders were received in the morning of the 
 sixth of September to be ready to march in light order, 
 knapsacks and sick men to be left behind, and tents left 
 standing. Between five and six in the evening the regi 
 ment fell in and moved down to the Long Bridge, crossed, 
 and passed through the streets of Washington. At that 
 hour the people were at leisure, and doors and windows 
 were crowded with spectators. Expectation of battle was 
 vivid, and cheers followed the troops as they hurried 
 through the darkening streets, accompanied by the rumble 
 of heavy wagons and tramp of many feet. A part of the 
 regiment turned off to the arsenal to exchange muskets ; 
 the rest marched up Seventh Street, due north, into the 
 
21 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 dust and pale moonlight of the country roads, the night 
 air hot, but excitement cooling as the city was left behind. 
 On we pushed until past midnight, tramp, tramp, by quiet 
 farms and sleeping countrymen. Men began to express 
 fatigue in emphatic words, then straggling began, and 
 rebukes were of no avail. The rear had almost mingled 
 with the head of the column when, at half-past one o clock, 
 the order came to halt for the night; and, footsore and 
 weary, the men sought shelter in an oak grove beside the 
 road, and, gathering a few dried leaves, rolled themselves 
 in such coverings as they had and slept. 
 
 At sunrise (seventh), after a wash in the horse-trough 
 opposite, men scattered around among the neighboring 
 houses in search of a breakfast ; we had not yet learned 
 to subsist upon army rations. He was a lucky fellow who 
 found a cook not already overcrowded with applicants. 
 A move of about four miles only was made this day ; it 
 was Sunday, and excessively hot. We turned into some 
 woods on the left of the road near Leesboro, and waited 
 for the stragglers to come up. One of these poor fellows 
 having slept under a wayside hedge, striking into the road 
 in the morning, came face to face with General Burnside ; 
 making his best salute the man boldly inquired whether 
 the general had seen the Thirty-Fifth Massachusetts any 
 where. " Oh, yes," replied the urbane general dryly, 
 " you ll find them all the way from here to Washington ! " 
 Such are the effects of a night march upon new troops. 
 It should be said, however, that the other regiments upon 
 the road straggled as badly as our boys ; but ours were 
 more noticeable because we were so full in numbers. 
 
 At this camp Colonel W T ild instructed us in the duties of 
 a soldier on the march ; condemning straggling, permitting 
 foraging only when the commissary had forgotten us, and 
 then only for needful food; forbidding extravagance in 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 22 
 
 burning rail fences, and adding directions in regard to the 
 care of the wounded in battle, the enemy to be whipped 
 first and the disabled to be cared for afterward, they 
 were words of experience and were well heeded. Thence 
 forward the rear company marching with fixed bayonets 
 made straggling unprofitable. 
 
 On the eighth the regiment moved only a mile and 
 joined the brigade, of which we were for the next year 
 and a half to form a part. It was the Second Brigade 
 Reno s own of the Second Division (General Sturgis s) 
 of the Ninth Army Corps (General Burnside s), now com 
 manded by our proper brigadier, General Jesse L. Reno. 
 General Burnside was in command of the right wing of the 
 army, including General Hooker s First Corps with his 
 own. Our brigade, now under the leadership of Colonel 
 Ferrero, was composed of the Twenty-First Massachusetts, 
 Fifty-First New York and Fifty-First Pennsylvania regi 
 ments. We were carefully informed by the older members 
 that it was called " The Bloody Second Brigade," and it 
 was certain death to belong to if. With mouths open with 
 amazement we swallowed the startling information; but 
 the old veterans were not very far beside the truth after 
 all. They had served in North Carolina and in General 
 Pope s battles in Virginia, with great distinction and with 
 heavy losses. 
 
 The brigade marched about twelve miles on the ninth 
 to Brookville, a pretty Maryland village, headquarters of 
 General Burnside. From here Major Willard and Chaplain 
 Miller were sent back with one of the wagons to Arlington, 
 to strike the tents and care for the sick, many of whom 
 afterwards found their way into the dismal Convalescent 
 Camp at Alexandria. No movement of the brigade was 
 made on the tenth, but immense bodies of troops passed 
 our camp. 
 
23 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 The small supply of pork and hard bread, which fastid 
 ious appetites had placed in our haversacks at Arlington, 
 was now exhausted. Coffee without milk or sugar, so 
 bitter at first, had become pleasant ; raw salt pork was a 
 luxury, with a fine nutty flavor ; and hard bread took the 
 place it never afterwards gave up, as the first essential of 
 a soldier s life. The trees along the road were loaded 
 with green apples, and many of the men experimented 
 with a diet of sour apple sauce. Stray fowls were thrown 
 into the pot and devoured almost before they could utter 
 their last expiring clack. We began to understand the 
 saying, that an army moves upon its stomach. 
 
 After this, for a couple of days, the regiment plodded 
 along with the brigade. Hot days, dusty roads and bruised 
 feet make the bivouac on the ground at night a welcome 
 rest. The discomfort of marching in close ranks, with 
 perhaps a train of wagons or artillery in the middle of the 
 road, and another column of troops on the other side, all 
 hurrying forward, sometimes at double-quick, must be tried 
 for a few days to be duly appreciated. Experience was 
 gained daily. Lazy fellows found that a pound weight or 
 so of water in a canteen was a heavy lug, and learned to 
 beg their drink of neighbors and go light themselves. 
 The never ended discussion was begun whether, if in light 
 marching order, a choice must lie between an overcoat or 
 a blanket, which should be carried along. Also the boys 
 discovered that, in view of unexpected orders to move, it 
 was advisable to heat their pots of water first, then put in 
 the precious coffee, and woe to him who mixed his coffee 
 in the cold water, hoping for time to boil it ; if he did not 
 get an order to march, or detail for picket, some stumbler 
 would be sure to kick the burning rails and upset the mag 
 nificent array of blackening tin dippers but then was not 
 the air blue with maledictions ! 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 24 
 
 The left and centre of the army took the shorter course 
 through Rockville and nearer the Potomac. We of the 
 right wing struck off north along the Patuxent, through 
 Unity, then, on the eleventh, north-westward to Damascus. 
 Here Fred. F. Blakely, of Company C, lost the forefinger 
 of his right hand, by the accidental discharge of his gun 
 while on duty ; our first wounded man. As the infantry 
 moved on, sounds of cannon were heard and sometimes 
 the cavalry in advance came into view, or we passed a 
 field-piece unlimbered by the roadside, ready to open fire ; 
 but all conflict seemed to keep just ahead. On the twelfth, 
 halting at noon at New Market, to allow another division 
 to precede us on the turnpike from Baltimore to Frederick, 
 we heard that the enemy s cavalry had left the town that 
 morning. Following on, we reached the neighborhood of 
 Frederick at night, the last part of the way between the 
 hills solemnized by the heavy booming of cannon in front. 
 These old turnpikes in Maryland are the best of roads, 
 well macadamized with broken limestone ; and the stone 
 bridge over the Monocacy River, which the Confederates 
 tried to blow up, is striking for its solidity and foreign 
 appearance. The regiment turned into the fields north 
 of the road, on the west bank of the river, and finding 
 abundant straw the men made a comfortable bivouac. 
 There had been a skirmish at the bridge that day, and 
 several of our cavalry were killed and wounded. 
 
 On the following morning, the thirteenth, while awaiting 
 orders, the rise of ground west of us was covered with 
 men, perched upon the rail fence, watching the distant 
 fight between our cavalry and the retiring enemy. The 
 prospect from the hill, including the city and the distant 
 Catoctin Hills, was worth viewing, without its exciting 
 incidents. By companies, the regiment filed out to the 
 river bank and fired the new Enfields for the first time, 
 
25 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 not much to our satisfaction ; the cones of some snapped 
 off at the base, rendering such arms useless, for we had no 
 tools to extract the stumps ; and the ammunition seemed 
 to fit loosely, so that some were disgusted when their 
 bullets dropped into the water a few rods from the muzzle. 
 Several men were found who had never fired a gun. 
 
 By the middle of the afternoon the skirmish in front 
 had abated, and orders came to move forward. Who that 
 was present will ever forget the cheerful welcome received 
 as the heavy columns of troops passed through Frederick 
 City, flags and handkerchiefs waving, and friendly faces 
 greeting the soldiers from all sides ! 
 
 " Over the mountains winding down, 
 Horse and foot, into Frederick town." 
 
 At a corner of the streets General McClellan with his 
 staff reviewed the troops, and cheer after cheer rent the 
 air as the regiments passed. This welcome from patriotic 
 Marylanders made the soldiers feel as if they were to fight 
 upon their own soil, and greatly inspirited the army unused 
 to such moral support. The song of " Maryland, My 
 Maryland," was ever after a Union song. Our regiment 
 sang together " Marching Along " and " Old John Brown," 
 with grand effect, as we swung through the streets ; but 
 when we halted for a few moments in the outskirts, some 
 of the cynical elders of the brigade suggested : " Save 
 your breath, boys ; you ll need it ahead there ! " Too 
 true ! for we never sang together on the march afterwards, 
 we had no heart for it, it seemed like tempting evil 
 fortune. 
 
 Darkness gathered, but the march was continued. The 
 road was ascending, passing over the Catoctin range of 
 hills, outliers of the Blue Ridge. The scenery from these 
 by day-light is described as surpassingly fine ; but, as we 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 26 
 
 stumbled along at a quick pace over the heaps of broken 
 stone, dropped there for road mending some of the men 
 so tired as to be walking in their sleep we minded little 
 of the charm about us. The waning moon rose and was 
 reaching the zenith, when, late at night, descending the 
 hills we found ourselves in the valley near Middletown. 
 Here a halt was called, arms stacked, packs unslung, and 
 a few moments found the tired men wrapped in sleep. 
 Company D had the ill luck to be detailed for picket on 
 this the night before our first battle. 
 
 Waking stiff and sore to a beautiful Sunday morning 
 (September 14), the first thought was breakfast. Some 
 cattle were driven up and killed in the neighboring field, 
 and we tried broiling collops of steaming fresh beef upon 
 our ramrods. Some of the men visited the houses in the 
 town in search of eatables, but with little success. The 
 irrepressible Walsh returned with a tea-kettle and cabbage 
 of course he was a tailor as well as a marine and set 
 to work boiling the vegetable. While this was passing 
 artillery firing commenced, and white puffs of smoke 
 began to rise between us and the range of blue hills, 
 called the South Mountain, about one thousand feet high, 
 bounding our view on the west ; to which, however, we 
 gave little attention. Two o clock in the afternoon came, 
 and with it the order to "fall-in." The regiment was 
 about eight hundred strong, with Colonel Wild in com 
 mand. Walsh had not time to cook his cabbage ; so he 
 slung it, kettle and all, to his belt, in hopes of a chance 
 to finish it. 
 
 We passed through the quiet town, houses and churches 
 ominously silent and deserted, and out into the country, 
 meeting the Twelfth and Thirteenth Massachusetts Regi 
 ments, with other troops, resting by the roadside ; they 
 laughed at our announcement that we, such raw troops, 
 
27 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 were going into battle. The wooden bridge over a small 
 stream was destroyed, the timbers still smoking, but we 
 found no difficulty in fording. We stopped there a moment 
 to load our guns. As we proceeded ambulances met us, 
 returning with wounded men. The sound of firing in front 
 grew louder, and we could distinguish the rattle of mus 
 ketry and see a line of smoke rising half way up the hills. 
 " Now, men, forward ! right shoulder shift ! quick 
 time ! double quick ! " came the orders. We left the road, 
 crossed the fields, jumping brooks, and were soon close 
 upon our batteries, which were fuming like furnaces, and 
 sending shells into Turner s Pass on the right and up into 
 the woods on the left. 
 
 A brief halt was made at the battery ; then the order 
 came to hurry up the old Sharpsburg road, at Fox s Gap, 
 to the left. Away we went to the foot of the hills ; the 
 rear companies with difficulty closing up, so swift the 
 advance. It was about half past three o clock. The 
 cheering and rattle of musketry were lively above us, and 
 evidently our movement meant work. Half way up the 
 hill we met a wounded man borne in a stretcher upon the 
 shoulders of his friends. He shouted to us, as we breath 
 lessly hurried by : " Forward, boys, forward ! We re driving 
 them ! Don t let this scare you ; give em hell ! They 
 can t stand cold steel ! " We passed a low weather-stained, 
 house, and came into line of battle in its little cornfield, 
 to the left, facing the woods just below the summit of the 
 hill. 
 
 " Throw off your packs ! " Away go our bundles, never 
 to be seen again. " Fix bayonets ! " The rattle of the steel 
 replies. " Right face ! Forward by file left ! Double 
 quick ! Charge ! " And Company A led off gallantly up 
 into the thick woods in front, and through them into the 
 open field upon the summit, the proper scene of the action. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 28 
 
 Again we came into line, then forward across the field to 
 the wall on the west side fronting a log-house and more 
 woods, the right of the regiment resting, as it advanced, 
 upon a sunken road in which lay many dead and wounded 
 Confederates. A few scattering shots from the forest in 
 front saluted our appearance in the field. The momentary 
 halt gave Walsh an opportunity to deposit his precious 
 kettle in the corner of the wall, he now looking for warmer 
 work. 
 
 Immediately we started by the right flank and passed 
 on the double-quick the cross-roads made by the sunken 
 road, passing over the hill, meeting the road following the 
 ridge and leading to Rohrersville. Here stood Colonel 
 Wild, full of the fire of battle, urging us on with the most 
 vehement words. As we passed the colonel we saw several 
 dead and wounded of the enemy, lying by a pile of their 
 abandoned knapsacks, and either one of these wounded 
 men, or some one in the shrubbery behind them, fired a 
 shot which took effect in our ranks. Our boys rushed 
 fiercely at them with the bayonet ; but at the call of mercy, 
 11 Hold, men, don t strike a wounded man ! " they threw up 
 the steel. That little scene among the trees, with the 
 dead and wounded, their cadaverous faces and pale gray 
 clothing, arms thrown up for mercy, and the little cloud of 
 smoke dissipating above, left a vivid impression. 
 
 We kept along the ridge road to the north a little way, 
 then faced the forest, and, with bayonets at a charge, tried 
 to push through the tangled mass of vines and brambles, 
 in line of battle, on down the west side of the mountain. 
 The thicket was so close that only here and there could a 
 passage be forced through, and, as a consequence, the regi 
 ment, instead of advancing in line, broke into sections or 
 smaller parties, which moved forward by flank, dressing 
 on any point was impracticable. With bayonets forward, 
 
29 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 watching the front, anticipating momentarily a crossing of 
 steel with the foe, but meeting no one, down we went. 
 Some ways down we halted ; the movement had been so- 
 quick most were glad to rest a moment and recover breath. 
 The sun in the west shone brightly among the trees, the 
 bee hummed among the grasses, all sounds of battle near 
 us had ceased. We had penetrated far within the original 
 Confederate line, and the foe in this front had fled down 
 the road to the left. If any remained in position we were 
 well within their left flank. Knowing nothing of positions, 
 however, and in doubt what to do, the sections, coming 
 more together, marched back up the hill into the ridge 
 road again. 
 
 Here was a scene of unavoidable confusion, as the dif 
 ferent parties came out of the woods and sought to recover 
 their positions in the line. Such a shouting of company 
 letters, " Company A ! " " Company B ! " " Company C ! " 
 etc., was never heard before nor since. Soon, having 
 settled into something like a line, so as to be under com 
 mand, the column, consisting of about half the regiment, 
 the rest going back by another route, moved back by flank 
 to and across the sunken road,, and then south upon the 
 field on the summit. There the rest of our brigade 
 appeared, drawn up in two lines, Fifty-First New York 
 and Fifty-First Pennsylvania in front, Twenty-First Massa 
 chusetts in rear, and our left companies commenced 
 forming in rear of the line of the Twenty-First, and extend 
 ing to the right, about twenty feet in front of the easterly 
 boundary of the field. The sun was just down. 
 
 While this position was being taken, suddenly a sharp 
 fire of musketry burst upon us from the wood to our front 
 and right, out of which we had just come. The surprise 
 was complete. The darkening forest was lined with flashes 
 of the hostile guns, and their bullets cut the earth about 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 30 
 
 our feet ; the ground descending towards the enemy. In 
 stantly some of the men threw forward their rifles and 
 returned the fire, aiming over the heads of the line in 
 front. Orders were confused, some shouting, " Fire ! 
 fire ! " Others, more calm, " Cease firing ! " The latter 
 quickly prevailed, although, after a momentary interval, 
 while they were reloading or a new line coining up, the 
 enemy s musketry was continued, and men of our regiment 
 were being hit; and our line was drawn back into the edge 
 of the forest, east of the field, so as to be less exposed. 
 It was in this sudden attack that General Reno received a 
 mortal wound, and our colonel lost his arm. 
 
 When word spread that Colonel Wild was hit, there was 
 some hesitation as to who should succeed him, the lieu 
 tenant-colonel not being found at first. Captain Andrews 
 took command and led the regiment still further back into 
 the woods, so as to be protected while lying down by the 
 crest of the hill. It was quite dark ; the rest of the brigade 
 in our front and left kept up a steady, rattling fire of mus 
 ketry ; and so did the Confederates in our front, but they 
 did not advance, being content to expend their ammunition 
 on the trees over our heads ; so we lay and listened to the 
 steady whizzing of the bullets above us. 
 
 Had the enemy come out into the open field on our 
 right in force they would have flanked our position, and 
 recovered the ground they had lost in the afternoon ; but 
 they hesitated to advance in the darkness, and kept blazing 
 away without effecting anything until, having used up their 
 powder, their fire slackened and they retired. Meanwhile 
 our leader, fearing such a movement upon our right, drew 
 out the regiment from the woods into the sunken road, 
 which we found encumbered with dead and wounded Con 
 federates. Here, while the enemy s musketry was dying 
 away, we lay with bayonets fixed, peering into the darkness 
 
31 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 over the stone wall, which bounded the road on the north 
 side, awaiting the flank attack which did not come. Some 
 of the poor fellows in the road had strength enough to 
 speak, arid beg for water or a change of position, which 
 was willingly rendered them. When the contest-had ceased 
 General Sturgis sent up a section of artillery ; and, to let 
 the guns pass, our men moved the wounded and dead from 
 the road upon the bank, sometimes in the darkness placing 
 several bodies together, which lead observers in the morning 
 to report to the newspapers that " the rebels were piled in 
 heaps as high as the wall." We then marched into the field 
 north of the sunken road and stacked arms, with orders to 
 rest behind the stacks, but be ready for action at any mo 
 ment ; videttes were sent forward to the rail fence fronting 
 the western wood. It was about nine o clock in the evening, 
 and quite cold upon the hill top. The men were bathed 
 in perspiration from the exertion and excitement of battle, 
 but a renewal of the attack being feared few were per 
 mitted to return down the hill to the cornfield in search of 
 the blankets and coats thrown off before the first charge ; 
 some returned and reported nothing there friends in the 
 rear had made way with the goods. No fires were allowed, 
 so we tried to keep warm walking about, and by turns 
 endeavoring to catch a little sleep, lying four across four, 
 until the welcome sun arose. The fatigues of the day and 
 of the previous night s march made even these naps a 
 precious relief. 
 
 In the morning some made a breakfast upon the small 
 round biscuit with which the haversacks of the dead Con 
 federates about us were filled ; others preferred to go 
 hungry rather than do anything which seemed like robbing 
 the dead. Whether Walsh recovered his kettle of cabbage 
 was never reported. Down the east side of the hill, in our 
 rear, where the Confederate line of battle had lain the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 32 
 
 day before, along a stone wall, the ground was gray with 
 the knapsacks and blankets they had thrown off in the 
 fight and left behind in their hasty departure. From these, 
 with a good deal of fastidious examination for those little 
 creatures which love to lodge in the clothing of veteran 
 armies, we selected blankets to supply those we had lost. 
 The dead lay with faces upturned, already black with dis 
 solution, and objected not to the necessary appropriation. 
 Those who went over the field said that the Confederate 
 dead lay thicker to the left in the woods, but the horrors 
 beside us sufficed. 
 
 We noticed here and there a tall fellow in blue, with the 
 regulation Kossuth hat, betokening Western troops, for the 
 soldiers of the Army of the Potomac always wore the cloth 
 cap. They were the dead of the Seventeenth Michigan, 
 who, with the Seventy-Ninth New York (Highlanders), had 
 preceded us in the charge the afternoon before and had 
 broken the line of the enemy at the sunken road, thus 
 accounting for our so undisputed advance over the field. 
 The wounded man we had met on the hill-side was one 
 of theirs, and his words of cheer were a true statement of 
 the condition of the action at the moment. General Cox s 
 Kanawha Division had secured and held a place of vantage, 
 from which these two regiments had made their gallant 
 and successful charge. 
 
 General McClellan and staff passed up over the field, 
 and were received with cheers and every demonstration of 
 victory. Then our satisfaction was chilled by news that 
 our noble General Reno was dead, an irreparable loss 
 to the Ninth Corps, an officer whose name cannot be 
 repeated without a pang of sorrow ! 
 
 Colonel Wild s arm was amputated at the shoulder, and 
 the loss unfitted him for severe field service, though he 
 afterwards won additional honor as general in command 
 
33 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 of the well-known Wild s African Brigade. The Thirty- 
 Fifth was fated to lose its commanding officer in successive 
 actions ; he was the first to fall. The other officers wounded 
 were Captain B. F. Pratt, Second-Lieutenant Charles F. 
 Williams, Jr. (mortally), and First-Lieutenant William Hill. 
 Of the enlisted men, there were five killed or who died 
 of their wounds soon after : Addison Tarr, of Company A 
 (the first man killed in battle in the Thirty-Fifth) ; Andrew 
 J. Nash, of B ; George S. Sloan, of E ; George F. Whiting, 
 of I ; and Joseph W. Cobb, of K. There were some dozen 
 to twenty others wounded. 
 
 The men of the regiment who fired at the time of the 
 sudden attack were rightly blamed for doing so without 
 the colonel s orders, but such occurrences are not easily 
 avoided ; even veteran troops, when unexpectedly assaulted 
 in a wooded country, will, if they think they see an opening 
 for a shot, return the fire without orders, for the noise of 
 the attack drowns the commander s voice, it can never be 
 known how far the enemy will advance, and the ball or the 
 bayonet is the only thing to stop them. The marvel was 
 not that our raw men blazed away, but that they could be 
 stopped, and remain steady while the enemy s fire con 
 tinued. 
 
 The troops of Generals Hooker and Meacle had fought 
 the enemy bravely and successfully on the hills north of 
 Turner s Pass, and General Gibbon in the Pass itself. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Hayes, of the Twenty-Third Ohio, late 
 President Hayes, was wounded somewhere on the ridge 
 south of our point of attack. The Confederates had now 
 retired from the whole front to behind Antietam Creek. 
 
 Colonel Taylor, in his book, " Four Years with General 
 Lee," gives the forces engaged on the Confederate side at 
 South Mountain as follows : D. H. Hill had the brigades 
 of Rhodes, Garland, Colquitt, Anderson and Ripley, num- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 34 
 
 bering in all less than five thousand. About 3 P. M. he was 
 reenforced by the brigades of Drayton and Anderson, num 
 bering nineteen hundred, and late in the day was joined 
 by Longstreet, with the brigades of Evans, Pickett, Kem- 
 per, Jenkins, Hood and Whiting ; only four of these, how 
 ever, numbering three thousand, became seriously engaged, 
 and they not until dark. The troops of Garland, G. B. 
 Anderson, Ripley, Drayton and G. T. Anderson are else 
 where stated to have been engaged at Fox s Gap, and of 
 these the Twenty-Third North Carolina claimed to have 
 killed General Reno. The brigades of G. T. Anderson 
 and Drayton appear to have been the ones which left their 
 dead and wounded in the sunken road and their knapsacks 
 behind the walls, and Longstreet s men to have made the 
 attack at dark. 
 
 Captain Phisterer, in his " Statistical Record," gives the 
 total losses at South Mountain : Union, 2,325 ; Confederate, 
 
 4,343- 
 
 The importance to the National cause of this victory at 
 South Mountain, won by clash and courage from an enemy 
 strongly posted and elated with recent successes, can with 
 difficulty be estimated now. It was our first important 
 advantage after a series of disastrous battles. The effect 
 in restoring to the army confidence in its powers, and in 
 encouraging a disappointed people, was visible at once in 
 the spirit and disposition of the men and in the tone of the 
 newspapers and letters from home. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ANTIETAM. 
 
 ON the fifteenth of September the Confederate army 
 was divided: General Lee with Longstreet s and 
 other divisions, including the troops of D. H. Hill just 
 driven from South Mountain, had withdrawn into the angle 
 formed by the Potomac River and the Antietam Creek, 
 and lay upon the gently swelling hills in front of the 
 village of Sharpsburg, waiting to concentrate his army and 
 for his trains to cross the river into Virginia ; General 
 Jackson was distant from Lee about seventeen miles, at 
 Harper s Ferry, gathering in his prisoners and spoils ; for, 
 at eight o clock this morning, the garrison of Harpers 
 Ferry, some ten thousand men, with abundant stores, had 
 surrendered to Old Stonewall, who, by a masterly surround 
 and occupation of the commanding heights, had compelled 
 a surrender sooner than was thought possible. The officer 
 who succeeded General Miles, who was killed at the mo 
 ment of capitulation, was our afterwards friend and division 
 commander, General Julius White, of Indiana. The news 
 of this loss reached us next day, and caused almost as 
 much depression as our victory had given elation. 
 
 The weather was fine and favorable for the movements 
 of the armies ; but the men of our regiment, after the two 
 nights of broken rest and fatigues of battle, were happy to 
 lie upon the field during the morning and let the warm sun 
 thaw out limbs stiffened by the frosts of the previous night. 
 
36 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 General J. D. Cox, of the Kanawha Division, took com 
 mand of the Ninth Corps. Lieutenant Hudson had been 
 detailed upon the staff of Colonel Ferrero before the battle. 
 He says he had forty minutes chase after the Thirty-Fifth 
 the afternoon before, and was unable to catch up with it; 
 which shows the swiftness of our march from Middletown. 
 
 Having gathered up the stragglers, and looked after the 
 dead and wounded, the regiment formed, about two in the 
 afternoon, and took the road down the west slope of the 
 mountain. The sun seemed to brighten as we left that 
 scene of horror. It is said by those now living upon the 
 spot that a portion of the dead were buried by throwing 
 them into the well near the log-house at the cross roads. 
 The valley we entered was green and fertile, and dotted 
 with comfortable houses, many having a Dutch look, like 
 their owners names. One of our men, Greenleaf F. Jel- 
 lison, of Company C, accidentally shot himself in the foot 
 soon after we started. In a field by the road-side two young 
 bulls, a black and a red, seized with a desire to ape the 
 folly of their betters, or taking advantage of broken fences 
 to clear off old scores, were having a pitched battle. Our 
 boys named one " Mac," the other " Bob Lee," and de 
 clared that the former got the better of the contest. So 
 the auspices were propitious. 
 
 Approaching the banks of the Antietam at dark, a line 
 of batteries appeared, posted along the ridge in front ; 
 they were warmly engaged, sending shot and shell across 
 the stream at the enemy, whom the rise of ground con 
 cealed from us. The regiment, at first, turned in on the 
 right of the road and stacked arms ; then resumed them 
 and, moving further along the road, turned into a cornfield 
 on the left, where, with other troops massed there, we re 
 mained in bivouac all night and the following day. The 
 sixteenth was a beautiful day, and sitting upon a bundle, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 37 
 
 leaning one s back against a stack of arms and reading old 
 papers, would have been quite comfortable had it not been 
 for the shells and solid shot which our friends on the fur 
 ther side of the creek kept dropping into the field, generally 
 without effect other than noise and dust, but occasionally 
 maiming some poor fellow, causing a pause in the reading- 
 During the day Generals McClellan and Burnside passed 
 with numerous staffs, reconnoitring the front and drawing 
 the enemy s fire effectually. 
 
 At sundown we moved forward to the south and over 
 the ridge. The brigade formed en masse, and with the 
 straw from a large stack near by the men made a luxurious 
 bivouac. The scene from this position was very fine. In 
 front was the valley through which the Antietam ran to 
 join the Potomac somewhere to our south-east. Beyond 
 the creek the hills rose to a considerable elevation, crowned 
 with hay-stacks and the houses of Sharpsburg, among which 
 rested the Confederate army, with its batteries frowning 
 along the front. The country upon our right was hidden 
 from view by hills on our side of the creek. Behind us 
 were the batteries of Benjamin, Durell, and others on the 
 ridge. It was a clear evening ; all seemed to breathe 
 awhile and rest for the dread contest of the morrow. 
 Artillery was fired for some time from the enemy s line, 
 a few shots towards us, but most of them to the south 
 east, where the trains of light and bursting shells looked 
 like signals towards Harper s Ferry. We had a peaceful 
 night s rest. At midnight much needed rations were 
 brought up from the trains by the exertions of our after 
 wards quartermaster, Cutter. 
 
 Before the men had turned out on the morning of the 
 seventeenth the roar of battle came swelling down from 
 the right, and men exclaimed : " Boys, listen to the music ! 
 They have gone in on the right ! " Beyond the Antietam, 
 
33 
 
 above us, the corps of Generals Hooker, Mansfield, Sum- 
 ner and Franklin successively assailed the Confederate 
 left wing about Dunker Church, suffering and inflicting 
 losses in killed and wounded unprecedented at that period 
 of the war. The localities, times of entering the action 
 by different divisions, and work done by each are much 
 disputed ; and it does not belong to this story to try to 
 explain them. The high ground between shut of! the 
 scene from our view ; we heard only the thunder of the 
 mingled artillery and small arms as the tide of contest 
 rose and fell. Let it suffice here to say that the fight in 
 that direction lasted from daylight to noon, that the field 
 was a sea of blood, and the results indecisive. 
 
 In our front there was quiet in the early morning, except 
 an occasional picket shot down in the misty bed of the 
 creek. Directions were issued to have all canteens filled, 
 as the day was likely to be warm ; and men scattered with 
 back loads of canteens in search of wells. The crowding 
 about these and constant plying of the buckets muddied 
 the water, and yet he was fortunate who filled up with that 
 mixture. Firing began near us, and the word spread that 
 the regiment was falling in ; there was a rush from all 
 directions to the ranks. When formed, about ten o clock, 
 we marched by the left flank through the fields and clumps 
 of wood to the southward, Lieutenant-Colonel Carruth at 
 the head, Lieutenant Hudson, an aide of Colonel Ferrero, 
 acting as guide, coming out on the wooded bluff imme 
 diately overlooking the valley of the Antietam. Here one 
 of our batteries was engaged in a duel with a Confederate 
 battery upon the opposite hills. The enemy s shell flew 
 about us, at our feet and among the trees, but harmlessly ; 
 our experience of yesterday had familiarized us somewhat 
 with this long bowling. When, however, one of our shot 
 struck and exploded a caisson on the other side our cheers 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 39 
 
 were loud and long, and were replied to by a rather feeble 
 yell from our antagonists. 
 
 It was near eleven o clock, and a brisk contest had been 
 going on for some time upon the creek below us ; but the 
 trees and smoke concealed all from view. We could hear 
 our men shouting and their foes yelling, amid the rattle of 
 small arms ; it seemed hot work down there. These were 
 the unsuccessful movements to secure the bridge-crossing, 
 first by General Crook s brigade of the Kanawha Division, 
 afterwards by the Sixth New Hampshire and Second Mary 
 land of the First Brigade (General Nagle s) of our division. 
 At length the order came for us to move forward. We 
 descended the hill by the left flank, and passed between 
 the stalks of tall corn on the level, meeting several men 
 holding an arm or some member from which the red blood 
 was dripping. The air was close and stifling. While this 
 was being done, the following interesting conversation took 
 place between General Sturgis and Lieutenant Hudson, 
 aide : " Colonel Ferrero wishes to know what to do with 
 the regiments." Sturgis replied : " Have him move those 
 regiments (the three older ones) clown to the stream imme 
 diately, and take the bridge ! " " And what with this new 
 Thirty-Fifth Massachusetts ? " " Tell him to move it across 
 the bridge and up the hill in line of battle. There must 
 be no delay ; General Burnsicle is waiting for this to be 
 done now ! " ""Isn t that artillery aimed at the position ? " 
 "Yes ; but that shall be stopped." 
 
 . We reached the bank of the stream near a large spread 
 ing tree, where the water flowed dark and cool under the 
 overhanging foliage. At this point the creek ran nearly 
 from west to east. The opposite bank was high with an 
 abrupt rocky ascent, studded with trees, and completely 
 commanding the side upon which we were. Here the reg 
 iment halted awhile ; bundles were thrown off and piled, 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 and a guard set over them ; and bayonets were fixed. Not 
 a shot was fired at us from the other bank, the enemy s 
 attention being drawn to the fight above us, where the 
 sounds of battle still continued, seeming to increase as we 
 came nearer. 
 
 The country road ran up stream, close to the north bank 
 of the creek, and was bounded on the northerly side by a 
 fence and ploughed field, in which stood an old barn. 
 Beyond the field and a fence, which formed its west 
 boundary, was a wooded knoll, or two little knolls, facing 
 the opening of the bridge, and behind these Nagle s men 
 were posted. Colonel Ferrero ordered the Fifty-First 
 Pennsylvania to move forward by the right flank to Nagle s 
 position, then down with a yell and rush over the bridge. 
 The Twenty-First Massachusetts was placed in the ploughed 
 field along the fence bounding the road, and ordered to 
 open fire at the enemy across the creek ; which they did 
 warmly. Company A of our regiment was detailed to 
 take position on the left of the Twenty-First, and com 
 mence firing in the same manner. The Fifty-First New 
 York was posted on the right of the Twenty-First, but at 
 right angles to it, facing up stream towards the bridge. 
 The Fifty-First Pennsylvania proceeded as ordered, made 
 a dash from the knoll to the opening of the bridge, stopped 
 there and commenced firing. Our artillery was aimed at 
 the further end of the bridge, and had to be quieted before 
 the Fifty-First could proceed. 
 
 Colonel Ferrero moved diagonally across the ploughed 
 field to behind the knolls, and the Thirty-Fifth followed. 
 Colonel Ferrero sent Lieutenant Hudson from the knolls 
 to Colonel Hartranft, commanding the Fifty-First Penn 
 sylvania, to ask why he did not cross the bridge at once. 
 Colonel Hartranft was found at the right parapet with his 
 colors. When the order was communicated to him, he 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 41 
 
 said: "Does he wish it?" " Yes, sir." "Very well." 
 The Fifty-First Pennsylvania then started, the men firing 
 upwards and setting up a yell as a signal for our artillery 
 to cease firing on the bridge. Lieutenant Hudson then 
 asked Lieutenant-Colonel Potter, commanding the Fifty- 
 First New York, to follow. He assented, and his regiment 
 hurried after the Pennsylvanians. Most of our regiment, 
 Company D being now the head of the column, had passed 
 the fence near the knolls, when the shouting and din of 
 the conflict, now close at hand to our left, was redoubled. 
 It was the charge of the two regiments in accordance Math 
 the above orders. Colonel Ferrero said to Lieutenant 
 Hudson : " Hudson, tell your colonel to cross the bridge 
 immediately, move along the road to the right, form in 
 line and advance up the hill ! " The lieutenant did so. 
 
 " Forward ! " came the order to us. " Double quick ! " 
 And we rushed around between the little knolls and out of 
 the little grove, Lieutenant-Colonel Carruth leading, into 
 an open space facing the entrance to a stone bridge, with 
 parapets, crossing the creek. Here was a startling scene 
 of battle ; clouds of smoke overhung ; along the creek, 
 below the bridge, the Twenty-First Massachusetts and our 
 Company A were actively engaged with the enemy posted 
 behind trees, rails and stones, upon the rocky acclivity 
 across the stream ; dead and wounded men in blue lay 
 .about, some still tossing and writhing in their agony ; the 
 bridge was filled with men of the Fifty-First Pennsylvania 
 and Fifty-First New York, who had preceded us, some 
 kneeling behind the parapets of the bridge and firing up 
 at the gray coats, others crowding forward to the further 
 end of the bridge and also firing upward. 
 
 Our regiment came partly into line, as if to open fire 
 along the bank at the bridge ; then, by the colonel s com 
 mands, swung by the right again and joined the throng 
 
42 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 hurrying on to the further bank, the third regiment to 
 cross. Confederate sharpshooters dropped or slid from 
 the overhanging trees in which they had been hidden 
 one clinging to a branch the moment before he fell. It is 
 said that Colonel Ferrero seized a musket and fired among 
 them. In a shorter time than it takes to tell it we had 
 crowded across the bridge and filed into the road to the 
 right, where the two regiments which had preceded us were 
 halted. The line of the regiment was formed quickly 
 and steadily, facing the hill, which here rose more gently 
 than below the bridge. Men in gray came down the hill, 
 holding up both hands, or waving a dirty white rag, and 
 were sent to the rear as prisoners. They belonged to 
 Georgia regiments, of Toombs s Brigade, of General D. 
 R. Jones s Division. 
 
 The halt here was but for a few moments; then the 
 Thirty-Fifth was ordered forward up the hill, with a 
 promise that other regiments should follow in support. 
 Accordingly we advanced up the steep, climbing with 
 difficulty the high rail fences, at first in line of battle, then 
 swinging into column and moving by the right flank as we 
 neared the top. The regiment reached the bare brow of 
 the hill the first to appear there and moved some 
 distance by the right flank to the higher part of the rise. 
 Before us, towards Sharpsburg, the enemy were scattering 
 back to their artillery upon the hills on the hither side of 
 the town. The hostile battery, which we had been watch 
 ing an hour before, now, close at hand, opened upon us at 
 once, and sent the iron whizzing around us, shells taking 
 effect in Companies D and H, cutting Luther F. Read in 
 two, killing David W. Gushing, and severely wounding 
 Lieutenant Baldwin.* 
 
 *The commander of that battery, Moody, was subsequently a prisoner under 
 charge of Lieut. Baldwin, at Fort Warren. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 43 
 
 It was but high noon. If supports had been up, as 
 promised, the whole could have gone forward, kept the 
 already started enemy upon the go, and, as the zouaves 
 did at a later hour, driven the exposed gunners from their 
 artillery with less loss than afterwards befel, for we, at 
 least, were green enough to go anywhere without hes 
 itation ; and the subsequent Confederate reinforcements 
 from Harper s Ferry might have come too late. But we 
 knew nothing of the importance of prompt action at. that 
 hour; to stand still upon the exposed hill-top would be 
 murder ; moreover, General Sturgis had orders to hold 
 back his division most of the regiments being out of 
 ammunition and let the rear pass in front of him. 
 Accordingly our colonel, seeing no supports behind him, 
 ordered the regiment to retire under the brow of the hill 
 and -lie down. The shells hurtled around us as we climbed 
 the fence in retreat ; yet many, indignant at the notion of 
 falling back, and fearing more the bayonets of their com 
 patriots while getting over the fence than the missiles of 
 the enemy, waited a bit, until the line had crossed, before 
 following. The Confederate General D. H. Hill says he 
 caused his guns to open upon an " imposing force of Yan 
 kees " at twelve hundred yards distance, and routed them 
 by artillery fire alone, unaided by musketry. It is possible 
 that this imposing force was the Thirty-Fifth going up and 
 retiring as above. But they were neither routed nor flur 
 ried, and would have gone forward as readily then, when 
 they saw the enemy running, as afterwards when our men 
 fell back. As we thus came back over the fence our bat 
 teries, mistaking us for the enemy, commenced firing into 
 us. Colonel Carruth waved his hat, without effect j then 
 his voice rang out, " Unfurl those colors and wave them ! 
 Steady not too high ! " We had only the blue and the 
 white flags, no stars and stripes. No more shots came 
 
44 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 from the rear. Just under the crest of the hill we halted 
 and lay down upon the dried grass of the field. 
 
 Behind us was the deep valley of the bed of the creek r 
 into which the Confederate shells, passing over us, went 
 crashing among the trees about the bridge, almost making; 
 the crossing there impracticable. On our left regiments 
 were soon seen coming up, the Twenty-First Massachusetts 
 among the first, followed by our Company A, which now 
 rejoined the regiment ; its position in rear of the Twenty- 
 First having given the men of that regiment grounds for 
 their subsequent belief that they crossed before the Thirty- 
 Fifth. In front we, except the few videttes thrown forward, 
 could see nothing, the hill concealing all in that direction ; 
 but to our right the view was quite unobstructed, the land 
 being lower for some distance, then rising gently to the 
 haystacks and houses of the town. This space was un 
 occupied at first ; it was the interval in the centre of the 
 battle-field which separated the right and left wings of the 
 army. The sounds of battle had subsided in the direction 
 of the right wing. We learned afterwards that their fight 
 was for the most part over, thus early in the day. A shell, 
 skimming the crest of the hill, stole a haversack from a 
 man s back as he lay upon the ground, and sent it flying 
 towards the stream below, exciting merriment in spite of 
 the gravity of the situation. The whirring of the shells 
 above us had a drowsing effect, and some of our men 
 dozed ; others munched hard bread and conversed in low 
 tones ; some went for water by detail, filling canteens 
 from the warm, soft water of the creek. At such a time 
 men s characters reveal themselves : the religiously dis 
 posed bends his thoughts on Heaven; the less devout 
 watches the ants busy as usual at their never-ending 
 labors, and wishes he could be as small as they for a few 
 hours; while the more thoughtless cuts his tobacco and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 45 
 
 enjoys its soothing influence. We lay thus several hours 
 while the troops were coming over. It was slow work 
 passing Wilcox s Division and Hawkins s Brigade through 
 the narrow defile of the stone bridge, only twelve feet 
 wide, and under cross fire of artillery. No fords were 
 used near the bridge, if any practicable ones existed 
 there ; even the name of the stream was unknown at 
 first. Colonel Ferrero had offered to try to ford below 
 the bridge in the morning, but the attempt was dis 
 couraged. 
 
 Regiments moved over the hill to the left, and some 
 from behind passed steadily over us through our ranks, 
 some of the men seeming to prefer to join us for awhile, 
 but their officers preventing. On the right we saw for the 
 first time a line of skirmishers go forward in good style, 
 firing and loading. It was a pretty sight. They reached 
 the haystacks, and presently these burst into flame ; cheer 
 ing was heard in front, and it began to look like victory. 
 A Confederate battery was captured by the Ninth New 
 York (Hawkins s Zouaves) and held a short time. It 
 was the crisis of the battle ; at this hour the Confederate 
 line was badly broken as we learn from writers who 
 were present on that side their men had scattered 
 into the town and could not be rallied. Orders had 
 been issued for our brigade to be relieved, and sent 
 down to the road by the bridge. Lieutenant Hudson, 
 aide, was on the way to transmit them to Colonel Carruth- 
 but the order from General Cox, corps commander, 
 mentioned below, arrived first, to quite a contrary pur 
 port. For now came a turn in affairs. It was between 
 four and five o clock. The light troops of A. P. Hill, 
 Confederate general, which had left Harper s Ferry in the 
 morning, marching in haste, had arrived at the nick of 
 time for them ; and, catching our left, General Rodman s 
 
46 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Division, somewhat disorganized by its successful advance, 
 took them upon the flank and pressed them back irresist 
 ibly. Back came our line as swiftly as it had advanced, 
 but more scattered, the Zouaves badly cut up. There 
 was danger that the enemy would follow and overtake the 
 whole in a mass at the bridge head ; they must be stopped 
 at any cost. Colonel Ferrero had ordered our colonel to 
 form a line across the ravine, below and on our right, and 
 stop all stragglers, which had been obeyed. 
 
 One of our batteries had come over the bridge and 
 opened fire in front of us. Now, out of ammunition, one 
 section of it limbered up hurriedly, and prepared to fall 
 back. General Cox, seeing the danger of panic, gave the 
 order, " Send that big regiment over the hill ! " Lieutenant 
 Hudson told the general of Colonel Ferrero s order. Gen 
 eral Cox replied : " Yes, I know that, but the regiment 
 must move at once ; you see the need of haste." A line 
 of skirmishers along the brow of the next hill were shoot 
 ing minies uncomfortably our way. As soon as the order 
 was passed, Colonel Carruth started up : " Attention ! 
 Thirty-Fifth." We rose up at once and faced the front, 
 forming forward a little, the companies moving to their 
 positions. " Left face ! Forward march ! " Hardly 
 had the regiment faced and moved a little distance when 
 the battery came dashing full speed into us, breaking our 
 line for a moment, but the men undismayed closed up 
 immediately. A little way to the left, then facing to the 
 front, with a hurrah, the regiment went at a double quick, 
 in line of battle, over the hill and down the slope into 
 the valley towards Sharpsburg. 
 
 We passed the remnants of the first line and kept on 
 to a rail fence, partly broken down, enclosing a lane, into 
 which some of the men climbed. Here we halted, and, 
 laying our rifles upon the rails, opened fire at will upon 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 47 
 
 the enemy coming on to follow up their success. On our 
 left the other regiments of our brigade said, to be almost 
 out of ammunition were also engaged or lying down 
 waiting to repel the foe with the bayonet ; but the line in 
 that direction bent back exposing our flank. Behind us 
 was the slope of the hill down which we had come ; in 
 front was a ploughed field, sloping up to a wall of the 
 most solid construction, about two hundred yards off; 
 on the left front, cornfields with the high stalks and 
 waving blades uncut. Beyond these the hill rose more 
 steeply to the summit, upon which were the enemy s bat 
 teries. Behind the wall and in the cornfield was the Con 
 federate infantry ; their right overlapping our left, making 
 a cross fire upon our left companies. 
 
 Our first fire was a rattling volley ; then came the mo 
 mentary interval occupied in loading. The rifles were, of 
 course, muzzle loaders, with iron ramrods ; the cartridges 
 were new and the brown paper of the toughest description, 
 so that strong fingers were required to tear out the conical 
 ball and the little paper cup of gunpowder. Emptying 
 these into the muzzle and ramming home and capping the 
 piece took time seemingly a long time in the hurry of 
 action and to discharge sixty rounds in this way occupies 
 an hour or more of intense exertion. The men finding 
 this difficulty settled down to the work steadily, loading 
 and firing, aiming now to the wall, then to the cornfield, 
 and then elevating the sight pieces and trying for the can 
 noneers about the hostile guns. It was a steady roll of 
 musketry. The officers directed the aim of the men, 
 Captain Cheever s quaint phrase being, " Pop away ! boys, 
 Pop away ! " the file closers refraining from firing at first, 
 but watching their men as Colonel Wild in his instructions 
 had directed. 
 
 The enemy had not been idle, our men being hit behind 
 
48 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 our battery where N. I. Sweeney, of Company C, fell 
 and while we were advancing, and now at the fence. The 
 force of a minie ball or piece of shell striking any solid por 
 tion of the person is astonishing ; it comes like a blow from 
 a sledge hammer, and the recipient finds himself sprawling 
 on the ground before he is conscious of being hit ; then 
 he feels about for the wound, the benumbing blow dead 
 ening sensation for a few moments. Unless struck in the 
 head or about the heart men mortally wounded live some 
 time, often in great pain, and toss about upon the ground. 
 So now, while we were firing, men began to fall headlong, 
 or drop their guns and seize some portion of their bodies ; 
 arms dripping with blood were held up to be stanched, 
 and ghastly faces were turned to a friend for a last word. 
 The dropping shot and pieces of shell from the enemy 
 raised the dust in little puffs in the ploughed land before 
 and on the slope behind us. Now and then our men or 
 the Confederates raised a shout or yell at some well-aimed 
 missile, a flag was waved or the enemy s field pieces 
 changed position. It was work in dead earnest and 
 intensely exciting. The rising white smoke was quickly 
 wafted away. One spoke to his comrade, turned aside 
 and, looking back, saw him weltering upon the ground ; 
 but there was no time for thought then load and fire! 
 load and fire ! 
 
 Our regiment being so large and so steadily engaged 
 drew special attention from the Confederate batteries and 
 line. The bullets, zip ! zip ! close to the ear, shells burst 
 with sulphurous smoke, and pieces flew in every direction. 
 Our wounded accumulated rapidly, and the motionless 
 bodies of the dead, upon the back or face, with pallid 
 faces and arms thrown out. Some men repeated as they 
 fired a set phrase or oath, expressive of their feelings. 
 The color guard especially suffered. Color-Sergeant Moses 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 49 
 
 C. Bartlett was wounded and sent to the rear. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Carruth was disabled by a wound in the side of 
 the neck, near the jugular vein, and obliged to leave the 
 field. Captain King, acting major, walked along the line 
 directing the aim of the men to the cornfield, in which the 
 enemy were apparently forming for a charge, their flags 
 waving in the setting sun, he even took a gun and fired 
 it. Cheers were raised, but all were too busy to waste 
 much breath. The rifles with repeated discharges began 
 to get too hot to hold. Many of them became clogged by 
 the dirt from the powder, and the ball could not be forced 
 home ; but there were serviceable ones left upon the 
 ground, dropped by the dead and wounded. Thus a 
 man used two or three guns before his ammunition was 
 expended. 
 
 While this was going on Colonel Ferrero s aides, Lieu 
 tenants Walcott and Hudson, were with General Sturgis 
 at the bridge. Lieutenant Walcott said : " General, our 
 regiments can t hold that position any longer ; to my 
 certain knowledge they are mostly out of ammunition, 
 and some have been quite so for nearly an hour." To 
 which the general replied : "By - , they must hold it ; 
 we ve nothing else to hold it with ! " About the same time 
 General Burnside was calling upon General McClellan for 
 reinforcements, but without success. 
 
 As the sun went down the weight of fire of the Con 
 federate infantry increased rather than slackened, showing 
 additional troops for them; but none came for us. Word 
 was passed that we were to be relieved by some Con 
 necticut regiments, and glances were cast behind to see 
 if they were advancing. Ammunition was failing us, and 
 Captains Andrews (acting lieutenant-colonel), King and 
 Lathrop passed along the line, opening the boxes of the 
 fallen and distributing the cartridges found. A steady, 
 
50 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 but much weaker fire was continued, for our line had 
 grown wofully thin, and the disabled seemed as numerous 
 as the fighting men. It grew dark apace, and the flashes 
 of the guns of the Confederate line twinkled like a display 
 of fireworks. 
 
 No relief came. Our line had dwindled to a skirmish 
 line. Captain King, struck in seven places, was helped 
 off the field with the colors. The last cartridge was 
 expended. No communication from the rear had been 
 received for some time we seemed to be facing the 
 enemy alone it could be endured no longer. Word 
 was passed in an undertone, " Fall back to the hill ! " 
 and the relics of the regiment, amid a perfect storm of 
 bullets, retreated to the hill. Officers and men had done 
 all that could be asked of them. 
 
 The enemy did not follow. The object of the advance 
 of our brigade had been secured, his forward movement 
 stopped, and the position gained on the west bank saved. 
 General McClellan had sent word to Burnside, " Hold 
 the bridge at all hazards ; if that is lost all is lost." The 
 bridge was held. It was twilight. Behind the hill regi 
 ments were drawn up in solid lines the relief that did 
 not come to us. Seeing their steady appearance, our men 
 stopped and came together. Most of them went down to 
 the creek to drink and wash the powder and blood stains 
 from their hands and faces, which were a sight to behold ; 
 then formed in remnants of companies and marched up 
 the road, ascending the precipitous cliff to the left. At a 
 bend in the road some thoughtful commissary blessed 
 be his name had placed a barrel partly filled with 
 chunks of boiled fresh beef. Each man as he passed 
 dipped into this and moved on, munching a huge piece 
 for his late dinner. Arrived at the top of the hill, an 
 ammunition wagon was found and cartridge boxes replen- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 51 
 
 ishetl. It was too dark for further contest, and the conflict 
 had died away ; the enemy also had got all of fighting they 
 wanted for the day. Arms were stacked, and the men 
 rested. Captain Cheever lay here upon a blanket, injured 
 by some missile at the time the regiment retired behind 
 the brow of the hill, when first we ascended it after cross 
 ing; but he had, nevertheless, continued in command of 
 his company until now. Inquiries for friends passed 
 around ; hands were shaken when chums met, as if after 
 a long absence ; and low talk was busy about the events of 
 the day. It had been an afternoon in the valley of death. 
 In the evening Captain Lathrop and Lieutenant Hudson, 
 receiving information of wounded men within reach from 
 Corporal Whitman* (for he and several of Company G 
 appear to have been the last fighting men to leave the 
 rail fence), tried, with a squad of men, to make their way 
 in the intense darkness down to the fence to care for the 
 wounded ; but the party was stopped by a line of pickets 
 from the Fifty-First Pennsylvania, who had orders to per 
 mit no movement to be made which could possibly renew 
 the action. The officers were permitted to go beyond the 
 pickets, but were cautioned not to go far, and they did not 
 reach the fence. However, several of the wounded were 
 found who had crawled up to the pickets, and these were 
 placed in blankets, men holding the corners, and slowly 
 and painfully carried down the hill and across the bridge 
 to the temporary hospitals in the barns thereabouts. Re 
 turning to the regiment, so overcome with fatigue as 
 scarcely to be able to drag one foot after the other, they 
 found the men asleep behind their stacks of arms ; and, 
 rolling such covers as could be found about them, they 
 
 * Corporal Frank M. Whitman received, February 21, 1874, from the Secretary of 
 War, one of the bronze "Medals of Honor" conferred upon enlisted men only in 
 cases of distinguished gallantry, in accordance with an Act of Congress. 
 
52 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 also dropped at once into the sleep of utter exhaustion 
 only the guards, and those kept awake by the pain of 
 wounds, noticed the showers during the night. 
 
 The next morning was quiet for some time. We had 
 now in the daylight an opportunity to note the losses of 
 the regiment : Companies B, G and K were each repre 
 sented only by a small group of men, their three or four 
 stacks of arms seeming incredibly small. No field or 
 staff officer appeared except Adjutant Wales, who had 
 been struck by a ball but not wounded. He had left the 
 hospital to join the regiment, with an Enfield rifle in hand, 
 "to get a lick at the rebs," as he told Lieutenant Hudson. 
 Assistant Surgeon Munsell had been wounded at the field 
 hospital by a piece of shell. Of the line officers, Captains 
 Bartlett and Niles were killed or mortally wounded at the 
 rail fence ; Captains King, Cheever and Oliver were dis 
 abled by wounds ; Lieutenant Palmer was killed, and 
 Lieutenants Hood, Hodges, Baldwin, Ingell, Brooks, Park 
 and Blake were in the list of wounded. We had lost Cap 
 tain Pratt and Lieutenants Williams and Hill at South 
 Mountain. Only Captains Andrews and Lathrop and 
 some half dozen lieutenants remained for duty with the 
 regiment that morning. 
 
 Of the enlisted men the following were killed outright, 
 or died of their wounds soon afterwards : . 
 
 Company A Sergeant Edward Peggren ; Corporal 
 Robert L. Lincoln. 
 
 Company B Corporal William C. Colby; musician, 
 Benjamin H. Rogers ; privates, Joseph Cossar, David 
 R. Hinckley, George W. Hodgdon, Jeremiah Long, Jr., 
 Caleb C. Pike and Alphonso P. Reed. 
 
 Company C Sergeant Henry Bowen; privates, George 
 W. Alden, Joseph M. Goulding, John A. Lane, Joseph T. 
 Pratt, Nathaniel I. Sweeney and Charles E. Dam. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 53 
 
 Company D Luther F. Read. 
 
 Company E Privates, George Henry, Loren R. Brack- 
 ett, Levi A. Brandage, Richard H. Cox, Philip Donnehoe, 
 Joseph V. Sloan and James T. F. Smith. 
 
 Company F Corporal Thomas Clay; privates, Am 
 brose Hinds, Charles E. M. Welch and Joseph Wood. 
 
 Company G Privates, Stephen C. Adams, Herbert M. 
 Drew, George W. Ellis, Henry O. George, Andrew J. Gile, 
 William Hackett, Henry A. Hoyt, Harrison W. Sargent, 
 Charles H. Tarbox, Watson S. Williams, Clarence H. 
 Woodman, George A. Young and Augustus W. Dresser. 
 
 Company H Privates, David W. Gushing, William 
 Pike, Charles H. Robbins, William W. Smith and Nathan 
 F. Winslow. 
 
 Company I Corporal Edmund E. Hatton ; privates, 
 Ralph A. Jones, Charles Sulkoski, Nathan C. Treadwell, 
 Patrick Walsh and Joseph P. White. 
 
 Company K Sergeant Alfred C. Earle ; Corporal 
 Roscoe Bradley; privates, Dearborn S. Blake, Francis D. 
 Brown, Henry H. Cleveland, Tappan S. Eaton, Leander 
 W. Faunce, Horace Goodwin, Horatio B. Hackett, Charles 
 Inhof, Joseph Lambert, James Rust, Ivori R. Stillings, 
 Charles T. Wenborn, Ai B. Smith and Byley Lyford. 
 
 These were the sixty-nine heroes who laid down their 
 lives for that terrible day s work. Company B was the 
 color company. Companies G and K were subjected to a 
 cross fire, which accounts for their great loss. There were 
 also some one hundred and fifty men wounded, and some 
 missing ; making in all, at South Mountain and Antietam, 
 of the officers and men seventy-eight dead and about one 
 hundred and seventy-five wounded. Between two hundred 
 and fifty and three hundred men only were for duty behind 
 the stacks of arms on the eighteenth of September. 
 
 At first the regiment seemed wiped out, but many re- 
 
54 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 joined in course of the day who had gone off with the 
 wounded or on detail duty. Men found their clothing 
 and equipments bored by bullets in every conceivable 
 way. He was the exception who had not some curiosity 
 of the kind to exhibit. One man found a bullet hole 
 through the flesh of his thigh, which he was not aware of 
 in the excitement until he went to the creek to wash. 
 Thrilling accounts were given of the deaths of the fallen, 
 or of adventures in the fight. Walsh, the man with the 
 tea kettle, lay dead by the rail fence with the other noble 
 fellows. 
 
 The troops were withdrawn a little under the crest of 
 the hill, after the Confederates had observed us and sent 
 several shells about our ears, without harm, as a morning 
 greeting. It was showery, and the soil became slippery 
 mud at once. The order of last night was continued, to 
 do nothing likely to renew the action. If our generals 
 had all they wanted of fighting we were content, we also 
 had a sufficiency ; and, although the regiment would have 
 done its duty, the men had no present hunger for battle. 
 There was little movement upon either side ; both parties 
 were repairing damages. 
 
 The losses to the armies had been, according to Captain 
 Phisterer, Union: killed, 2.010; wounded, 9,416; miss 
 ing, 1,043; total, 12,469. Confederate total, 25,899. 
 
 At evening our brigade was at length relieved by fresh 
 troops, and we marched back over the bridge to get rations 
 and our packs, which had been left on the east side, as 
 above mentioned, before the bridge was taken. That 
 night we slept in an apple orchard near the crossing. 
 
 Next day it was found that General Lee had withdrawn 
 his army to the south side of the Potomac. Our brigade 
 was formed, and marched over the bridge again and across 
 the battle-field. On the field Colonel Ferrero read his 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 55 
 
 commission as a brigadier-general, just received. It was 
 accepted as a recognition of the services of the brigade 
 in the battle, and the announcement was greeted by loud 
 cheering and congratulations, especially among the older 
 regiments. We then passed the rail fence, where the 
 dead still lay, the stone wall and the cornfield, where 
 the enemy had been, and the station of their batteries 
 on the hill, marked by the bodies of the horses killed 
 in the action. We then turned to the left, away from 
 Sharpsburg, and, after a few miles, came out upon the 
 high land overlooking the Antietam, near the Iron-works, 
 and here made our bivouac. We staid upon these hills 
 until the twenty-sixth, looking out upon the beautiful 
 amphitheatre of hills through which ran the placid 
 Antietam. 
 
 On Sunday, the twenty-first, by direction of General 
 Burnside, special services were held in memory of the 
 dead, with prayers, addresses and sacred hymns, which 
 were very impressive and affecting. 
 
 The regiment was for a day or two under command of 
 Captain J. G. Wright, Acting Major of the Fifty-First New 
 York ; afterwards, for several days, Captain Andrews com 
 manded. Chaplain Miller arrived on the twenty-second ; 
 and, on the following day, Major Willard returned from 
 Washington, quite troubled in mind because he had no 
 share in our first battles. The first mail of letters for two 
 weeks, except a few on the twenty-first, was opened, and 
 late newspapers reached camp. We learned of the great 
 slaughter done and suffered by our right wing, the death 
 of General Mansfield, wound of General Hooker, and the 
 other losses. Also some of the Fifth Corps came into 
 camp and told of the disastrous reconnoissance by a 
 division of that corps across the Potomac, a short dis 
 tance from our station. 
 
56 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 We now began to think seriously and estimate the task 
 in hand. We numbered eight or nine officers and three 
 hundred and forty-eight men with the regiment. It was 
 but one month since we had left Lynnfield, and two-thirds 
 of our number were gone ; at this rate how many would 
 be left at the end of the three years? The patriotic fervor 
 which had sustained us did not effervesce so noticeably, 
 but began to weaken somewhat in the presence of such 
 stern realities. As one man expressed it, " patriotism was 
 played out," meaning that the hurrah-boys spirit had evap 
 orated. We had seen the slain of the Confederates on 
 South Mountain and our own dead at Antietam, and the 
 grave fact that we had engaged to be, and had become, 
 slayers of our fellowmen stared us in the face, without the 
 glamour of flash oratory and colored lights about it. The 
 thoughtful ones compared this fact with the religious 
 teachings of New England, and found it hard to reconcile 
 their duty with the gospel of the peaceful Jesus. Truly, 
 one should not be nurtured among the doves if he is fated 
 to contend with the eagles. The depression which usually 
 affects the mind for a time after the excitement of severe 
 battle was upon us. 
 
 The less easily impressed found amusement in bathing 
 in the creek, hunting for paw-paws, and even horse-racing 
 was tried, until the quartermaster objected to it as dele 
 terious to Government property. Some found relief by visit 
 ing the hospitals and caring for friends. Our hearts were 
 not yet hardened to the battle, nor had we learned to sub 
 mit patiently to the long delays in camp. We were cheered 
 by the calls of visitors from home. In this camp Mayor Fay, 
 of Chelsea, and Miss Gilson were introduced to the regi 
 ment. They were ministering angels to our wounded on 
 this and many subsequent occasions. Rev. J. G. Barthol 
 omew and Messrs. A. Josselyn and William Barton, of 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 57 
 
 Roxbury, visited camp about the first of October and 
 tasted life in the bivouac. Mrs. N. A. Moulton and 
 Eben Manson, of Newburyport, left home immediately 
 after the battle of Antietam, taking with them two trunks 
 filled with lint, bandages, and delicacies for the sick and 
 wounded. They visited all the hospitals where men of 
 the Thirty-Fifth could be found ; and, while they were 
 searching^ for wounded men from Company B, they did 
 not overlook those from other companies. They visited 
 the field hospitals at Antietam, and came to the regiment 
 when we were at the Iron-works. 
 
 The Kanawha Division and General J. D. Cox, our 
 corps commander, left the Ninth Corps to return to their 
 department west of the mountains. They were of good 
 fighting material, and are entitled to the first honors of 
 South Mountain. It was General Cox and his men who, 
 early in the day, turning a reconnoissance into a battle, 
 gained and held the south side of the pass until support 
 arrived to secure the victory. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth we moved by way of the Iron-works 
 to the more level ground on the east side of the Antietam, 
 and went, into regular camp near a brick house, making 
 shelters of rails and corn stalks. Camp duty, with all the 
 formalities, sick call, orderlie s call, morning company drill, 
 and afternoon battalion movements and dress parade, was 
 undertaken in earnest under Major Willard. Our first 
 grand review of the Ninth Army Corps was held October 
 3, in the fields north of our camp ground, the President, 
 Lincoln himself, riding past, accompanied by Generals 
 McClellan, Burnside and others all smiling and appar 
 ently on the best of terms with each other. 
 
 The nights were growing cold and frosty, and the thin 
 Confederate blankets, which many had not been able to 
 exchange, were a poor protection from the weather. We 
 
58 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 were pleased, therefore, to receive, on the fifth, wall tents 
 for the officers and shelter tents for the men, the latter 
 being the first of the kind we had possessed. They were 
 pieces of stout drilling or light duck cloth, about five feet 
 and a half square, with buttons and holes along three of 
 the edges. By joining two, four, or six of these, and laying 
 them over a ridge pole supported by two crotched stakes, 
 a low tent was made, much more comfortable aa an abode 
 than one would imagine. Each man carried his piece 
 upon his pack on the inarch, and every night the little 
 shelters sprang up like mushrooms, almost as soon as the 
 halt was ordered. These were the only roofs over our 
 heads until the end of our service, with brief exceptions ; 
 and many a soldier will remember, almost with affection, 
 his little square of weather-stained, scorched or patched 
 shelter tent, which protected him from the cold rains and 
 snows of winter and the burning suns of summer. 
 
 On the seventh of October the regiment again broke 
 camp and climbed the mountains, eastward, over roads 
 rough and full of obstacles, descending into Pleasant 
 Valley a spot fittingly named and camped near the 
 opening of the valley, under Maryland Heights, three or 
 four miles from Harper s Ferry. The rough life in our 
 rude huts of rails had the natural effect upon the personal 
 appearance of our men, and at the inspection held imme 
 diately after our arrival we were honored with the infor 
 mation that ours was the dirtiest regiment in the brigade. 
 To think that we could have so soon rivalled, even sur 
 passed the veterans in their most noticeable characteristic ! 
 The major felt hurt, and worked incessantly and effectually 
 to remedy the deformity. 
 
 Our ranks gradually swelled by the return of conva 
 lescents. A lot of knapsacks five hundred selected at 
 random from the one thousand which the regiment left at 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 59 
 
 Arlington were sent up from Washington, and some 
 lucky men found their own among them. A change of 
 underclothing had become extremely desirable. On the 
 tenth the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment, afterwards 
 our fast friends, joined the brigade. They were remark 
 able for their colonel the cordial Walter Harriman 
 for their dark-blue overcoats, handsome new Springfield 
 rifles, and, last but not least, their brass band. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Carruth returned on the thirteenth of October and 
 took command, his wound being sufficiently healed. The 
 most earnest efforts were now made by him to improve the 
 regiment in field movements, especially the drill in forma 
 tions against cavalry, by fours, by platoons, etc. Our first 
 brigade drill under General Ferrero was held on the twen 
 tieth of the month. 
 
 The spirit of the men improved ; strength returned with 
 the cooling air, better food and constant exercise ; and the 
 army was ready for the field again. The health of the 
 men of the regiment was remarkably good ; there was no 
 case of dangerous disease in the hospital of the regiment. 
 There had been no death by disease in the regiment since 
 its organization. 
 
 Meanwhile General Lee s army lay in the Shenandoah 
 Valley, along the banks of the Opequan, waiting for the 
 Union forces to cross the Potomac. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FALL CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA SKIRMISH AT FAUQUIER 
 SULPHUR SPRINGS, 1862. 
 
 SINCE leaving Arlington the weather had been dry, 
 with occasional showers, which had caused no special 
 discomfort ; but, on the twenty-sixth of October, a heavy 
 rain storm prevailed, swelling the brooks and softening 
 the roads. Fortunately for us we now had shelter tents. 
 Orders were received in the rain to be ready to move, 
 and, at noon of the twenty-seventh, the brigade fell into 
 column and left the Pleasant Valley now dreary after 
 the autumnal rain. We marched directly to the Potomac, 
 passing under the canal by a stone culvert, through which 
 a swollen brook also found a passage. A short distance 
 down the river, at Berlin, a pontoon-bridge had been thrown 
 across, composed of the very boats afterwards so famous 
 for not being at Fredericksburg at the time they were 
 wanted. They were the first we had seen, and, with the 
 usual precautionary order to break step, we passed the 
 famous river and trod again upon Virginia soil ; this time 
 no jubilant song announced the fact, but the step was 
 steadier and more soldierly. The Maryland campaign 
 had left but about four hundred men for duty with the 
 regiment. 
 
 Our brigade was among the first to cross, the Ninth 
 Corps, now under General Wilcox, going over this bridge, 
 followed by the First Corps. The Second and Fifth Corps 
 passed through Harper s Ferry and Snicker s Gap, and the 
 
6 1 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Sixth Corps crossed at another point. Moving slowly 
 along through Lovettsville and the fine country there 
 abouts, we halted several days near Wheatland at the end 
 of the month, to make out our first pay-rolls ; a difficult 
 task, so many had been the changes since leaving Lynn- 
 field. 
 
 There was a charm in those autumnal days along the 
 Blue Ridge which it is pleasant to recall ; the purple hills 
 lying upon our right, the foliage blazing forth in ruddy 
 hues, the soft sunlight, the hazy air, and the picturesque 
 columns of cavalry, infantry and artillery, in glittering 
 array, filling the roads all pleased or soothed the senses. 
 The evening camp-fires shone out cheerily, while the boys 
 gathered around and told stories, cracked jokes, or dis 
 cussed the movements in progress. Some will remember 
 the acrid smoke from the wood fires thereabouts, making 
 the eyelids sore and causing much manoeuvring to get to 
 windward of the blaze. General Pleasanton s cavalry pre 
 ceded the infantry, and occupied the different passes, called 
 gaps, in the mountains as the army advanced. Thus we 
 came opposite and passed successively Snicker s Gap, 
 Ashby s Gap, Manassas Gap and Chester Gap famous 
 scenes of cavalry fights and of Stuart s and Mosby s 
 raids and by the eighth of November had reached the 
 country in front of Thornton s Gap. 
 
 The itinerary of each day s march is as follows : Octo 
 ber 27, crossed at Berlin and camped near Lovettsville. 
 October 28, remained in same place and laid out camp 
 with company streets. October 29, knapsack drill at 
 ip A. M. ; marched in afternoon through Lovettsville, about 
 eight miles, bivouac j Companies G, I and K in woods, in 
 support of a battery. October 30, reveille at 3 A. M. ; 
 marched at 7 A. M., for two hours, about four miles, to 
 Wheatland ; making out pay-rolls rest of day and night. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 62 
 
 October 31, at Wheatland all day; picket duty; muster 
 for pay; order to pack up at 10 P.M.; did not march. 
 November i, brigade drill in the afternoon; the Ninth 
 Corps under Burnside again, with Second and Twelfth 
 Corps. November 2 (Sunday), marched at 10 A. M., and 
 until 5.30 P.M., fifteen miles; cannonade ahead all day; 
 bivouac in field by side of wood near Bloomfield, called 
 Cornstalk Camp ; General Hancock, in Snicker s Gap, 
 repulsed the enemy. November 3, pitched tents at n 
 A. M. ; began a forced march a little before 3 p. M. of 
 seven miles ; stopped in woods to load rifles ; passed 
 through Bloomfield, and camped at 5.30 P. M. November 
 4, marched at 9 A. M., about six miles, and camped near 
 Upperville ; firing heard all day. November 5, reveille at 
 4.30 A. M. ; marched from 8 A.M. to 12 M. ; passed through 
 Upperville, crossed Manassas Railroad at Piedmont and 
 camped near there ; firing heard all day ; many stone 
 walls by the road. November 6, left camp at 9 A. M., but 
 waited in the road until 11.15 A - M * > tnen marched fifteen 
 miles in five hours ; camped near Orleans ; cold and 
 windy. November 7, snow all day ; marched from 4 p. M. 
 until 6 P. M., halted in mud hole, then marched back five 
 miles to the right road ; water froze in canteens ; cavalry 
 pickets left ground as we came up to bivouac in woods. 
 
 By day the artillery of the cavalry would be heard ahead, 
 while we hurried forward to give support if needed, or 
 waited until they had reconnoitred the country in front. 
 By night some details would lie out on picket towards the 
 Blue Ridge, in the moonlight ; the baaing of a calf or 
 squealing of a captured pig would be smothered with 
 difficulty ; the rattling of sabres upon stirrups and clatter 
 of hoofs of an approaching squadron would be heard, the 
 vidette s challenge, the reply, the whispered countersign, and 
 " Pass, friends ! " all the romantic accompaniments of cam- 
 
63 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 paigning. But it was not all brightness, for on the seventh,, 
 near Orleans, the clouds hung gray with flurries of snow 
 all day, and at night it increased to a driving snow storm. 
 The scene was dismal and wintry as the darkness gath 
 ered around the column plodding along over the whitened 
 ground amid the falling snow-flakes picturesque, indeed, 
 but foretokening future hardship. The spirits of the men 
 were not enlivened when, after halting and jerking along 
 until late in the evening down a muddy cut towards Hedge- 
 man s River, or some such branch of the North Fork of 
 the Rappahannock, word was received from ahead that we 
 were upon the wrong road, the bridge was down, and the 
 rough track of five miles must be retraced. On such 
 occasions soldiers are apt to indulge in language more 
 strong than choice ; the right to grumble is reserved in 
 the terms of enlistment. The mud hole was nicknamed 
 on the spot Ferrero s Gap. Recovering the right road, 
 the brigade went into bivouac along it beside bright fires 
 of oak rails. 
 
 During this campaign the war was waged "with the 
 gloves on," and orders were very strict against depre 
 dation. On this night a staff officer rode among the 
 groups of shivering men about the wagons, repeating, 
 " Take the top rail only, men ; the top rail only ! " Ac 
 cordingly each man took his turn in going for a top ran\ 
 the fires did not lack for fuel, and, strange to relate, in 
 the morning few even of the bottom rails were left in 
 course of the night even these had become top rails. It 
 would be a sad sight to a land owner, but a comical one 
 to the disinterested spectator to see, the moment a regi 
 ment went into camp and ranks were broken, with what 
 speed the men rushed to the nearest rail fence, and how 
 the rails, like Birnam wood, seemed to take legs and the 
 whole fence come marching back to the stacks of arms. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 64 
 
 But on this night other events were occurring of greater 
 importance to the future of the army and ourselves. By 
 orders from Washington General McClellan was relieved 
 of the command of the army, and General Burnside was 
 directed to succeed him. The news of this change took 
 the troops by surprise, and was almost as great a shock 
 to the men as if the general commanding had been assas 
 sinated. General McClellan seemed as much a constituent 
 part of the Army of the Potomac as General Lee formed 
 of his army, and the affection for him, both among the 
 officers and the rank and file, was grievously wounded. 
 Of General Burnside we new troops knew little; all we 
 did know was to his advantage as a man and an officer, 
 and we were proud of him as our corps commander, hith 
 erto always successful ; but soldiers in our army saw their 
 general seldom and never intimately. There was a feeling 
 in the Ninth Corps that we, in spite of ourselves, were 
 partakers in the guilt of this unpopular change, since our 
 favorite general had taken precedence by it, and that it 
 would create a coldness between the men of the other 
 corps of the army and our own, which had not been a 
 sharer in all the campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, 
 but until this event was being rapidly assimilated with it. 
 
 The change was important to us personally, because if 
 General Burnside had remained a corps commander only 
 we, probably, should always have remained in the Army 
 of the Potomac. 
 
 On the eighth the vanguard of the army seemed to 
 have outmarched the supply trains ; rations were insuffi 
 cient, and cattle were killed, and beef, broiled upon the 
 coals and eaten without bread, was the only food obtain 
 able to stay the sharp hunger of the men. The mountains 
 bend away to the west near Chester Gap, so that our 
 southerly course lay further away from them. Passing 
 
65 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Waterloo we crossed the Upper Rappahannock at Mill- 
 ville, where the bridge was broken, and the Fifty-First 
 Pennsylvania and Thirty-Fifth Massachusetts kept on, 
 west, to the further end of the village of Amissville, con 
 spicuous for several painted houses with green blinds and 
 trailing roses still in bloom, while the rest of the brigade 
 turned more southerly to Jefferson. At this time two 
 divisions of Stonewall Jackson s Corps were yet in the 
 Shenandoah Valley, while Lee and Longstreet were about 
 Culpeper. General McClellan, writing of his intentions 
 in this campaign, says : 
 
 "I did expect that by striking in between Culpeper 
 Court House and Little Washington I could either sep 
 arate their army and beat them in detail, or else force 
 them to concentrate as far back as Gordonsville, and thus 
 place the Army of the Potomac in position either to adopt 
 the Fredericksburg line of advance upon Richmond or be 
 removed to the Peninsula, etc." 
 
 The cavalry, with our division in support, was apparently 
 in execution of this scheme, and we were now practically 
 between the widely separated wings of the Confederate 
 army and far in advance of our base. All was quiet about 
 us, however, on Sunday the ninth, although the inhabitants 
 seemed to view us askance, as if anticipating our early 
 departure, if not capture. Service was held in the little 
 wayside church, without steeple, near our camp ground, by 
 our chaplain, assisted by others. A private of the Fifty- 
 First died suddenly here ; he was said to have been poi 
 soned, a common report in the early days of the war. At 
 dress-parade the official order changing the commander of 
 the army was read. About dark that evening our First 
 Brigade relieved the two regiments at Amissville, and we 
 made a quick march over a rough road to Jefferson and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 66 
 
 took position with our brigade on some rising ground 
 overlooking the country to the westward. 
 
 In the morning heavy firing was heard in our front, and 
 orders were received to pack up and be ready to move 
 at a moment s notice. The Twenty-First Massachusetts, 
 Fifty-First New York and Eleventh New Hampshire 
 marched off in the direction of the noise, the Fifty-First 
 Pennsylvania and Thirty-Fifth Massachusetts remaining 
 in camp waiting further orders. A little before noon the 
 three regiments came back, reporting that the enemy had 
 "skedaddled." Distant firing continued during the day. 
 The affair was probably a reconnoissance of the Con 
 federates to ascertain our position and strength. They 
 were working down opposite us through the highlands. 
 We could see the Blue Ridge Mountains from camp, their 
 tops covered with snow. Rations continued scanty, and 
 the men tried to quiet the pangs of hunger with unripe 
 persimmons, a puckery diet, not suited to make "living 
 off the country" a favorite system with us. The place 
 was memorable for the immense flock of crows which 
 darkened the air in their flight out and returning to their 
 roosts. 
 
 After the Confederates retired, our brigade staff seemed 
 well assured of the security of our position ; not so, some 
 of the regimental commanders, who of their own accord 
 kept pickets out along their fronts. At 1 1 P. M. of the 
 eleventh there was a stir in rear of our brigade, caused 
 by the arrival of a reconnoitring party, sent from our 
 rear to find out who we were. We having crossed above 
 and come down the west side of the North Fork of the 
 Rappahannock, our presence in their front was unknown 
 to the division of our army posted on the river, and the 
 sound of our firing was quite unaccountable to them. 
 Word was sent to General Burnsicle, and orders came for 
 
67 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 us to return to the north bank of the river. We were 
 roused quietly at kalf-past one in the morning of the 
 twelfth, and at 4 A. M. stole off in the darkness upon the 
 road to the rear, recrossing the Rappahannock at Fauquier 
 White Sulphur Springs by climbing over trees felled into 
 the river, the bridge having been destroyed during General 
 Pope s campaign of the previous summer. We had had a 
 narrow escape from a serious and unprepared-for attack, 
 if not surprise, by General Stuart, whose adjutant-general 
 informed our lieutenant-colonel his unwilling guest a few 
 nights afterwards that Stuart s troops had prepared to 
 give us a lively time at daylight with their whole force, and 
 would very likely have captured most of our brigade. 
 
 At the Springs we were entirely out of rations for a day, 
 but there was corn for the animals, and we watched them 
 crunching it, and tried cracking the grains with our teeth ; 
 we had not yet learned how to satisfactorily appease our 
 appetite if we could lay hands upon an ear of corn. Lieu 
 tenant-Colonel Carruth and Adjutant Wales, enticed by 
 hunger, next day recrossed the river to Miller s house 
 not the white mansion-house visible from camp, but beyond 
 it about half a mile distant, where three men of the 
 Fifty-First Pennsylvania were posted ; our outer pickets 
 and cavalry being nearly half a mile further out. While 
 they were eating, a Confederate major, with a squad of 
 cavalry, coming in through a gap in our line of posts, 
 surrounded the house, captured our officers and the three 
 PennsylvanianSj and marched them off to Richmond, not 
 to return until the following spring. As they passed out 
 they saw our pickets, and the major said to our officers, 
 " If they fire on us we may be your prisoners " ; but our 
 men did not fire. Our officers were exonerated from 
 blame in the matter by a letter from General Sturgis. 
 
 The disturbance caused upon the opposite bank by this 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 68 
 
 capture was noticed from our camp, but its cause was not 
 immediately comprehended. As soon as the alarm was 
 given our battery opened upon the houses, and the regi 
 ments were ordered to fall in. The Thirty-Fifth, under 
 Major Willard, crossed to the west bank and skirmished 
 up to the houses where our officers had been waylaid ; 
 lines were formed and parties sent out, but nothing was 
 discovered of the missing ones or their captors. The 
 regiment remained on the spot all night. No fires were 
 permitted, and as, in the hurry, many had brought no 
 overcoats, there was much suffering from cold until a 
 detail of men was sent to camp for them. The boys 
 remember this as one of the nights when Jack Frost had 
 unobstructed sway. There was no alarm during the night, 
 and in the morning the regiment returned to camp, feeling 
 rather lonesome without their trusted Carruth and frolic 
 some Wales. 
 
 The retirement of the brigade from Jefferson may have 
 given the Confederates a hint that with a change of com 
 manders a change of plan of campaign might occur. In 
 fact, on the fourteenth, while we were returning from our 
 reconnoissance, General Halleck was telegraphing to Gen 
 eral Burnside the President s consent to the plan of advance 
 upon Richmond by way of Fredericksburg, adding the 
 words, " He thinks it will succeed if you move rapidly, 
 otherwise not." 
 
 Early in the morning of November 15 we received orders 
 to march, and broke camp ; but, it being the turn of the 
 Thirty-Fifth to march in rear, we waited until the whole 
 Second Division had passed before moving. There were 
 two roads down the river towards Fayetteville, one of 
 which led back from the Rappahannock, the other passed 
 the Springs and ruined hotels and, as it approached the 
 river, turned to the left, in full view from the opposite 
 
6g HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 bank. No secrecy was attempted in the movement, as 
 one would naturally expect. The whole division took the 
 road nearest to the river, followed by the ambulances and 
 train of wagons. The high canvas covers of the wagons 
 shone out conspicuously as they traversed the hills border 
 ing the lowlands of the river-bed. As we came near the 
 river we saw our cavalry pickets rushing down the hill on 
 the opposite side, and suspected danger. The Confederate 
 force on the west bank, said to be part of Stuart s cavalry, 
 was tempted by the display of our flank march to further 
 the President s recommendation with a shower of shells 
 from a battery planted near Hoffman s house. A more 
 rapid movement of trains was never seen, in fact it 
 was quite a stampede, as the bursting missiles came 
 whizzing about the ears of the teamsters, who never 
 were fond of the picket line. We also would have 
 been content to follow the brigade at a lively pace 
 in pursuance of the President s advice. But two of 
 the wagons got overturned at the brook or mud hole 
 east of the Springs and were destroyed; the rear of 
 the train had to be turned back upon the other 
 road, and our general began to think that Stuart was 
 having all the fun to himself. So he posted Durell s 
 battery and two guns of Roemer s along the ridge, with 
 orders to silence their opponents across the river, and 
 ordered the Thirty-Fifth back towards the Springs to 
 support the guns. Then ensued a brilliant display of 
 artillery practice, the positions on both sides being excel 
 lent, and the cannoneers working their pieces with a fury 
 that darkened the sky with smoke and made the air quiver 
 with the explosions. 
 
 There was a little hut upon the hill exposed to the 
 enemy s fire, and during the shelling the door was flung 
 open and a man rushed out carrying a child, followed by 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 70 
 
 a woman bearing another. The fright had so overcome 
 the poor woman that she fell headlong in the road before 
 her door it was a pitiful sight. She was raised imme 
 diately and escaped to the woods unhurt. At the same 
 time the ambulances were passing, in one of which, upon 
 the front seat, was Miss Gilson, of Chelsea, riding calmly 
 along amid the bursting shells not the only time the 
 regiment saw this lady present under fire. 
 
 After the wagons had passed the regiment was posted 
 under the ridge occupied by the artillery, and ordered to 
 lie down. Lieutenant Mcllvaine, of DurelPs Battery, was 
 mortally wounded, and carried by us, and one of the 
 gunners had his arm torn off. Only one of our regiment 
 was struck by a shell and he was not badly hurt, which 
 was wonderful, so many shells struck around, about and, 
 apparently, even among the men. It was said that the 
 enemy also fired pieces of railroad iron, but they may 
 have been oblong or percussion shells which had acquired 
 an end-over-end motion after first striking the ground. 
 
 Some mounted men appeared towards the ford of the 
 river, as if attempting to cross ; a company of the Seventh 
 Rhode Island was on picket there. The Thirty-Fifth was 
 now ordered back to the Springs, and lay down at the 
 opening of the road. Lieutenants Stickney and Hudson 
 were sent forward to dispute the crossing. Chaplain 
 Miller showed himself quite cool in danger while observ 
 ing the enemy from this position, so the day was notable 
 also as the only occasion when we saw a chaplain in action. 
 General Burns s Division came up on our right, and Lieu 
 tenant Benjamin planted his twenty-pounders upon the 
 hill near the Springs. When he opened, the enemy felt a 
 sudden call in the direction of Culpeper, the cross fire was 
 too much for them, they decamped and we saw no more 
 of Stuart or his battery. During this skirmish Major 
 
71 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Willard commanded, Captain Andrews acted as lieutenant- 
 colonel, Lieutenant Blanchard commanding Company A, 
 and Captain Lathrop acted as major.* 
 
 We started after the brigade, but had not gone far when 
 the regiment was halted, then sent to the right into the 
 woods, on picket at Lawson s Ford. There we spent an 
 uncomfortable night, without fires, on account of the near 
 ness of the enemy. To the soldier lack of fire means lack 
 of his pot of coffee by the cheerful blaze after a hard day s 
 work, and is not willingly endured whatever the danger. 
 There was at least one flame alight down by the brook 
 that night, over which some chops of a young pig were 
 sizzling with dry corn parching in the fat. During the 
 night Quartermaster Haines, with Upton and Cutter, came 
 up to the regiment, bringing needed rations from the com 
 missary wagons. 
 
 On the following day (Sunday, the sixteenth) we resumed 
 the march, joined the brigade at Fayetteville and kept on 
 to camp near Warrenton Junction, on the railroad, passing 
 through masses of the infantry of the other divisions of 
 the army of which we had seen but little for some time. 
 This was one of the hardest marches of the campaign, 
 and, by a singular coincidence, it happened upon the very 
 day upon which President Lincoln issued his famous order 
 in regard to the observance of Sunday in the army. At 
 the Junction the morning of the seventeenth opened with 
 rain, which, with intervals of drizzle, continued for several 
 days. Rations had been so scanty that an order of Major 
 Willard for one hard bread apiece, extra, was received with 
 cheers. We started again in the afternoon towards Fred- 
 ericksburg, and pushed along rapidly through the fields 
 beside the road, which was left for the passage of the 
 artillery and wagons, and, in the same way, through the 
 
 * An account of this skirmish is printed in 6 Rebellion Record, 195. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 72 
 
 mud and drizzle on the eighteenth, leaving camp about 
 7 A. M. and marching until noon. Many troops were in 
 motion. General Burnside passed, on the way to Falmouth. 
 On the nineteenth, in a down-pour of rain, the brigade 
 reached Falmouth, and marched through its one street 
 with the band playing "Yankee Doodle," and so came out 
 upon the open plateau near the Rappahannock, opposite 
 the upper part of the city of Fredericksburg. General 
 Sumner with the Second Corps had preceded us, and we 
 were probably the last of his Grand Division to arrive. 
 The plain was blue with lines of troops between us and 
 the river ; the waters of which ran turbid with the recent 
 rains, and foaming among the rocks, where had been an 
 easy ford in the drier seasons. 
 
 At that time there was but a small Confederate force in 
 Fredericksburg ; the movement, so far as concerned their 
 unpreparedness here, seeming to have been successful, 
 notwithstanding the hint of motion this way which we had 
 given them at the Sulphur Springs. As we approached 
 Falmouth the report was circulated that the army would 
 cross the river at once, keep on direct to Richmond, and 
 be there at Christmas. Something of the sort was our 
 general s intention, but, on arrival at the point of passage, 
 the pontoons were not in readiness, and no means were at 
 hand for crossing the trains. We waited near the railroad 
 some time, the boys occupying the moments so decisive of 
 the campaign in plucking up wild garlic, which grew abun 
 dantly there and was a novelty to us. The brigade then 
 marched to the plateau above the railroad, and went into 
 camp in the wide fields south of the Phillips House, a 
 handsome mansion in the modern style and a prominent 
 landmark, afterwards the headquarters of General Sumner 
 and chief signal station of the army, where the powerful tel 
 escopes and observation balloons were objects of interest. 
 
73 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Everything was wet ; it continued to rain all day the 
 twentieth and twenty-first, and, in pitching camp in com 
 pany streets, some dried a spot to lie upon by first building 
 fires upon the ground for the tent. Fences disappeared at 
 once, and our fuel henceforth was the green pitch pine, 
 with some beech wood near the river where the pickets 
 were. We lay until the twenty-fourth in this uncomfortable, 
 ill-drained location, the weather at last turning cold and 
 freezing the rough ground. The only memorable event 
 there was that, after the usual inspection and service on 
 Sunday the twenty-third, the regiment formed by divisions- 
 in-mass on centre division, and, after the chaplain had 
 read the Thanksgiving proclamation of Governor Andrew, 
 Major Willard required the whole regiment to repeat in 
 unison the final words, " God save the Commonwealth of 
 Massachusetts ! " We did so, but felt all the time that the 
 Old Commonwealth was safe enough at home, and what 
 most needed saving, or a little Thanksgiving comfort, was 
 the Thirty-Fifth Regiment. 
 
 The day after this ceremony (the twenty-fourth) the 
 brigade moved to a drier position, north-east of the 
 Phillips House, and formed camp in a hollow square, the 
 Fifty-First New York and Fifty-First Pennsylvania being 
 on the west side, the Twenty-First Massachusetts on the 
 south, we on the east and the Eleventh New Hampshire 
 on the north. The space in the centre was used for drills 
 and dress-parade. The Eleventh had a brass band which 
 played for evening parades, each regiment facing inward 
 in front of its camp and all going through the form 
 together. In the absence of Adjutant Wales, Lieutenants 
 Blanchard and Stickney, successively, performed the duties 
 of that office. The brigade was reviewed by General 
 Sumner on the twenty-sixth. About the same date First 
 Sergeant Oscar R. Livingstone was promoted to the rank 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 74 
 
 of second lieutenant, Sergeant-Major Hatch was promoted 
 to second lieutenant, and Sergeant S. G. Berry succeeded 
 him as sergeant-major of the regiment. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh (Thanksgiving Day) a brigade 
 service was held at 10 A. M. The chaplain of the Eleventh 
 New Hampshire read the proclamation of that State and 
 made appropriate remarks, the band played a few pieces, 
 and three hymns were sung. The services were quite 
 interesting. 
 
 From the Phillips House a wide view could be had of 
 the city of Fredericksburg opposite. The streets of the 
 city were regularly laid out, running parallel with the 
 river and at right angles to it, making blocks, most of the 
 buildings being of wood, except upon the principal streets 
 where brick was generally used. Rumors came to us of 
 a cavalry charge through the town, and a good deal was 
 said about flags of truce and agreements not to fire upon 
 the city and its evacuation by the inhabitants. Behind 
 the buildings of the city, upon the hills, earthworks and 
 batteries began to appear, and General Lee and his army 
 were plainly preparing to receive us, when, if ever, our 
 time to cross here should come. 
 
 Details were made for picket along the river bank 
 the tour of duty being twenty-four hours and no firing 
 allowed at the men in gray opposite. On the thirtieth the 
 regiment had one hundred and sixty men on this duty. 
 Fatigue parties were also sent to the rear, road making, 
 where they learned how to lay corduroy, with a foundation 
 of logs and cross pieces of smaller timber, the only means 
 of keeping the wagons above ground in that bottomless 
 country. These workers reported about the first of 
 December that they had seen the pontoon boats a little 
 way to the rear of our camp, in the hollow ; accordingly 
 we began to look for a move, which we did not relish just 
 
75 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 then for we were anticipating a first visit from the pay 
 master money having been among the things lost to 
 sight but to memory dear for some time past. 
 
 A ration of potatoes was issued an article we had 
 nearly forgotten the use of and company streets were 
 ordered swept in the morning of December 4 ; and, as a 
 matter of course after such preparation to stay, orders 
 came, while we were on battalion drill in the afternoon, 
 to move at half-past four, and we packed up in a bad 
 humor. The march was but a short distance, only about 
 three miles south, down the river to the rear of a battery, 
 which we were sent to guard and had some difficulty in 
 rinding. It was Battery B, Second Battalion, New York 
 Artillery ; the guns, four Parrott twenty-pounders. Camp 
 was located and tents pitched in a storm of rain, with hail 
 and snow. 
 
 Thenceforward for a week, sentries were kept constantly 
 on duty pacing the parapet of the little earthwork of the 
 battery, overlooking the level ground below, the river 
 flowing in its deep bed, and the lower part of the city and 
 the plain over which General Franklin s left wing of the 
 army afterwards made its advance. The officer of the 
 battery said he had been in that position since November 
 20, entirely without support. Next day Captain Lathrop, 
 sent out by the major to see if there were any troops near 
 us, met pickets some ways back from our camp, who said 
 that they were the outer pickets, and they knew nothing 
 of our regiment and the battery being outside of them. 
 
 On the sixth three inches of snow fell ; it was freezing 
 in true New England style, and the weather was as genuine 
 an importation from Massachusetts as the regiment itself. 
 The men not on guard duty employed themselves in cutting 
 wood, a constant labor in a winter camp, arid some engaged 
 in logging up their tents, orders or permission to do so 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 76 
 
 having been given about the eighth of December. The 
 slang word in that camp was " promptly," everything had 
 to be done promptly, from turning out at dress-parade to 
 dealing out the messes of baked beans. In the " Memoir 
 of Major Willard " there are given at length interesting 
 letters from him, describing the night duty at the battery, 
 the watch fires of the enemy, the logging up, and the worn 
 out shoes and almost bare feet of some of the men from 
 their rough tramp along the Blue Ridge. Members of the 
 regiment received new boots by mail, which was then con 
 sidered a novel use for the postal service. The sutler 
 came on the ninth, a certain forerunner of the paymaster, 
 who arrived next day, paying off the companies at different 
 hours from the tenth to the twelfth. 
 
 Meanwhile General Burnside had been endeavoring to 
 devise a way to get at the Confederates on something like 
 an equal footing, if possible. He concluded to try to 
 seize the heights behind the city by surprise, success to 
 depend upon the " promptness " of execution. Where we 
 were, the river was bordered by plains or table-lands rising 
 like terraces, one above another. The highest plateau 
 approached the river nearest on the east bank, giving our 
 artillery full command of the city and the plain below it. 
 Down stream the hills were further back, and General Lee 
 anticipated our crossing at Port Royal rather than in the 
 face of his batteries at the city, and sent Stonewall Jackson 
 down there. Our general made feints in that direction, 
 hoping to make General Lee carelessly secure at the city, 
 to the extent of diminishing his force there and rendering 
 the opposition to be met back of the city easy to be over 
 come. 
 
 On the ninth and tenth the woods behind our camp 
 became filled with infantry and artillery of Franklin s 
 Grand Division the First and Sixth Corps among 
 
77 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 whom we again recognized the Twelfth and Thirteenth 
 Massachusetts Regiments. The whole army was massing 
 at the river, the infantry under cover of the trees ; but, as 
 soon as it was dark on the tenth, three batteries took 
 positions along the heights where our battery was. The 
 night was very cold and the ground frozen ; the rumbling 
 of the gun carriages and cries of the drivers to their 
 horses made a great noise, and must have been heard by 
 the enemy. 
 
 The paymaster was busy at Major Willard s headquarters 
 until midnight of the tenth distributing the crisp green 
 backs, some of the boys said to put us in good humor for 
 the fight, as if a soldier could possibly be in a mind for a 
 death struggle with his pockets full of cash. It was whis 
 pered that the pontoons had been run down to the bank 
 in the darkness, and the crossing would be attempted at 
 three o clock in the morning. 
 
 The opinion prevalent in an army, its morale, powerfully 
 influences the success of its campaigns, and commanders 
 of armies composed of "thinking bayonets" are specially 
 solicitous to bring this opinion to concert with their plans ; 
 failing in this they hesitate before perilous action. The 
 past year s experience in the conduct of war in Virginia 
 had convinced many of the thinking men in the service 
 that it was expecting too much of the army to suppose it 
 would be able by direct assault to force back General Lee 
 from his position upon the Rappahannock, and the suc 
 cessive lines of the Mattapony, North and South Annas, 
 Pamunkey and Chickahominy, to Richmond, amid the 
 storms, snows and mud of winter, with rivers and swamps 
 swollen by rains ; the season seemed to forbid undertaking 
 such a campaign, if ever advisable. General Burnside was 
 more sanguine of success, for he, with subordinate armies 
 at Roanoke Island, Newberne, South Mountain and An- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 78 
 
 tietam Bridge, had given the Confederates the odds of 
 position and had uniformly won. He naturally reasoned 
 that what had been done on a small scale could be done 
 on a larger, if equal energy were displayed ; moreover, he 
 hoped to effect a surprise. The general, therefore, with 
 an army more or less disaffected towards his purpose, was 
 about to attempt the first step in this herculean labor. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FREDERICKSBURG, AND WINTER NEAR FALMOUTH, 1862-63. 
 
 THE opening of the contest at Fredericksburg was as 
 impressive as it was unfortunate. All the companies 
 except K had been paid before midnight, and the men had 
 been asleep in their little shelters a few hours when there 
 arose from the darkness and fog of the river the heavy 
 boom of signal guns, continued with occasional shots, 
 volleys and shouts of combatants. At last a crossing was 
 being attempted, and the engineers were trying to lay the 
 pontoon bridges. Many a man s heart beat faster at the 
 dread sound. More than one soldier bent his knee upon 
 the pine boughs of his rough bed and prayed for strength 
 to do his duty manfully, and that God would give the vic 
 tory to the cause which seemed so righteous. And yet 
 could it be right to attack, with fire and shells, a city filled 
 with homes only partly abandoned? how could a victory 
 follow, when the best of our men were shocked by a devas 
 tation so opposed to their principles ; when the meanest 
 spirit among our opponents could not but be made a hero 
 by the sight of his own city laid waste ? thus, morally 
 also, we were placed in a wrong position at the very 
 beginning. 
 
 The regiment was awakened at three in the morning. At 
 dawn, orders were received for us to join the brigade at 
 the Phillips House. By count, we had seventeen officers 
 and three hundred and fifty-three men in line. They were 
 
So HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 to take blankets and shelter tents only, in a roll across the 
 shoulders, and two days rations. The ground was frozen 
 and slippery in damp places, the morning bright overhead, 
 foggy in the river-bed. The lower bridges for Franklin s 
 crossing had been successfully laid, but the upper ones, 
 opposite the city, were not the fire of the enemy s sharp 
 shooters had been too hot for the engineers to work under. 
 We learned of this delay on our arrival at the brigade, 
 which had intended to cross upon the upper bridge ; 
 pending its completion, therefore, we had nothing to do 
 but wait, sitting upon boards or tufts of grass near the 
 Phillips House. Many of the members improved the 
 opportunity to drop a few lines home, and send off the 
 surplus of greenbacks, just received, by our ever-to-be- 
 remembered friend, Mayor Fay, of Chelsea. 
 
 Our artillery some one hundred and fifty guns of 
 various calibre opened all along our lines upon the 
 unfortunate city, for the purpose, as was said, of driving 
 out the Mississippi sharpshooters hidden in the houses 
 opposite the bridges ; and, if noise could compel them, 
 they would have left in a hurry, for of all the thunder of 
 artillery heard by the regiment during the war this seemed 
 the loudest. It was a constant, booming roar, rising and 
 falling in a peculiar way, occasioned, some said, by the 
 echoes from the city, or along the river headlands; gun 
 boats were mentioned at the time, but there were no 
 vessels so near to the city. Only houses were injured ; 
 the sharpshooters, though silenced for awhile, remained 
 until volunteers from the Seventh Michigan, Nineteenth 
 and Twentieth Massachusetts and Eighty-Ninth New York 
 crossed in boats and gallantly drove them out of the city. 
 All this was invisible to us, on account of the lowness of 
 the river-bed ; only the rattle of the musketry and sounds 
 of the contest were audible to us. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 8 1 
 
 It was early dark in the afternoon when the bridges 
 were completed, too late for any important further action. 
 The regiment was ordered back to the battery, and plodded 
 along through the now soft mud, to find their quarters laid 
 waste and the camp ground cut up by passing artillery and 
 wagons. Hardly were arms stacked when the order came 
 for the regiment to return to the Phillips House, with a 
 view to crossing the river that night. In an ill humor the 
 men fell in and retraced the heavy track across the sea of 
 mud. The glow of burning buildings in the opposite city 
 could be seen through the fog. It was quite dark; changes 
 of positions of troops had been made ; the head of the 
 column got bewildered and wandered around over the 
 open plain, with frequent halts to discuss localities, in a 
 way to distract tired men carrying abundant luggage. At 
 last our station was reached, only to find the order coun 
 termanded, with direction to return again to the battery 
 could the English language furnish words to express our 
 emotions ! It was a wearisome tramp back to camp, and, 
 when arrived there, it was difficult to find a dry spot large 
 enough to spread a blanket. One man noticed the long 
 hole in the ground, which had been dug and used for an 
 oven to bake some company s beans, and, raking out the 
 ashes, he made a luxurious bed, remarking, "There d be 
 many a poor fellow over there to-morrow night would be 
 glad of such a nice, comfortable grave to bury himself 
 in!" 
 
 Next morning (the twelfth) the regiment, under Major 
 Willard Captain Andrews having been appointed acting 
 lieutenant-colonel and Captain Lathrop acting major 
 taking the road by the river side, instead of upon the high 
 land, reached the upper pontoons and crossed to join the 
 brigade, which was found massed on the bank above the 
 bridges, sheltered from the enemy s artillery by the river 
 
82 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 bank and the houses of the city. As we passed over we 
 noted the holes in the pontoon boats made by the bullets 
 of the enemy the day before. Arms were stacked, 
 packs unslung and piled, and the men, a few at a time, 
 wandered up into the city to see the sights, while the 
 remainder devoted themselves to gazing between the 
 houses at the enemy s earthworks beyond the plain back 
 of the town, or sat upon the bank watching the dropping 
 of the shot into the river, aimed by guess at the pontoons, 
 and passing over our heads to plunge their cold hearts into 
 the frigid waters of the Rappahannock. The bottom of 
 that river must be iron-clad. We had hardly been in 
 Fredericksburg an hour when we saw Mayor Fay and 
 Miss Gilson coming on foot over the pontoon bridge. 
 As regiments came down the east bank to cross, their 
 flags and glistening steel would attract the eyes of the 
 Confederate gunners, and well-aimed shots would cause 
 a ducking of heads and swaying from side to side in the 
 ranks, quite amusing to see when the missile did not take 
 effect, but serious when it did. The visitors to the main 
 streets returned, generally bringing some useless article 
 which the inhabitants had not removed, and which had 
 attracted the soldier s fancy, but which he was not allowed 
 to retain by the provost-guard. Tobacco was discovered 
 in great abundance, in various shapes of pig, plug and 
 twist. Several had found old-fashioned calico dresses 
 and bonnets and came back dressed in them, cutting a 
 swell appearance and exciting much mirth. It was a 
 sickening mixture of death and frivolity. 
 
 Lieutenant Hudson and members of Company D from 
 Wayland happened upon the body of Reverend Arthur 
 B. Fuller, former Chaplain of the Sixteenth Massachusetts 
 Regiment, which they at once identified and cared for. 
 This noble spirit, while on his way the day before to take 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 83 
 
 passage for Washington, had been caught in the enthu 
 siasm at the moment of the crossing in boats, joined as 
 a volunteer in the assault, rifle in hand, and was killed 
 in the streets of the city. His body had lain among the 
 unrecognized dead until discovered by the members of our 
 regiment. The watches and valuable parcels entrusted to 
 him for conveyance home had been rifled from his body 
 by the plundering followers of the army. 
 
 Darkness and fog settled down ; another night of un 
 certainty for us and of preparation for the enemy was 
 coming on, and, with the soldiers wise thought for the 
 comfort of the present moment, the men gathered boards 
 and old doors from the houses and fences, and laid them 
 in lines behind the stacks of arms, for dry but rather 
 hard beds, and slept. No fires were permitted during 
 the darkness. 
 
 The morning of the thirteenth was foggy, as usual. In 
 other wars, and on several occasions during this, fog and 
 darkness were taken advantage of, to enable an assaulting 
 force to approach the enemy s works. In this case, as the 
 individual courage of the men was to be relied upon, and 
 not leadership, and the purpose was so obvious to every 
 one, it is possible that the Union loss would have be"en 
 less, and chance of success greater, had the troops been 
 massed under cover of this mysterious obscurity, near 
 enough for a charge upon the works at a run. On the 
 left of the army a brilliant dash was made during the 
 morning, with success at first ; a movement very like the 
 many left-flank moves at Petersburg, with similar results : 
 confusion by advancing in a wooded country, an exposed 
 flank, and a return discomfited to the starting point. 
 General Meade took a prominent part in the movement, 
 and the chivalrous Bayard was killed. 
 
 During the morning our brigade moved up into the 
 
84 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 principal street, and, with halts, southerly to near the 
 railroad track and station. Here, towards noon, there 
 was a rest for an hour or so in the street under cover of 
 the houses. Rations of raw salt pork were distributed. 
 The artillery of the enemy, distant about half a mile, had 
 a complete rake of the streets running at right angles to 
 the river ; and we watched their shots, the puffs of smoke 
 from the guns, the bursting of the shells near at hand, 
 and the showers of pieces clattering along the streets and 
 upon the sides of the houses, at which last part of the 
 performance we drew back our heads and relied upon our 
 ears. From our position we could see no movement of 
 their infantry ; but there was no appearance of our general 
 having effected his purpose of catching General Lee asleep. 
 Occasionally a solid shot or percussion shell would come 
 smashing through the buildings in front, scattering the 
 plaster and clouds of lime dust. Such pounding was as 
 harmless to us as our bombardment of two days before 
 had been to them. We saw a brigade, or division, in 
 good order come from near the railway station and 
 move to our right among the houses, as if to make an 
 assault, which we could not see ; they had green in their 
 caps, and were said to be General Meagher s men. The 
 ground, over which we looked, westward to the enemy s 
 lines was a rolling plain, cut just at our left by the railroad 
 running south-west, then south, its cutting deepening as it 
 neared their position. Houses, trees and fences were 
 scattered over the plain. The sun shone brightly upon 
 the scene. 
 
 About one o clock the major called, "Attention! " The 
 men fell in with compressed lips the time had come. 
 We marched by the right flank across the railroad, a 
 grade crossing, moved a block south of it, then turning 
 sharp to the west towards the enemy came again to the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 85 
 
 railroad beyond the station house, and recrossed to the 
 north side. We passed several dead men, one entirely 
 disembowelled and horribly mangled. Here we faced to 
 the front; General Ferrero appeared for a moment, and 
 gave the word to our commander. Major Willard, starting 
 in front and drawing up his powerful frame to its full 
 height, waving his huge cavalry sabre, gave the order in 
 his sonorous voice, " Forward Thirty-Fifth! On centre 
 dress! Remember Antietam ! " and set the example 
 himself by leading on. The regiment kept a good line, 
 and, at a double-quick, rapidly neared the Confederates. 
 Their shells struck all about; some would burst directly 
 in front ; there was time to see the explosion, and expect 
 the fragments before they came ; the dirt thrown up made 
 the ground seem travelling backward ; a man had time to 
 wonder why he was not hit by the whizzing pieces. The 
 sharp hiss of the more dangerous rifle-ball soon became 
 more noticeable. In advancing, the left of the regiment 
 kept along the railroad ; and, as that bent to the south, 
 the course was upon a road running directly to the south 
 end of Marye s Heights. 
 
 Major Willard, thus leading and encouraging us, doing 
 all that a heroic man could to further our general s plan, 
 was struck by a bullet in the body, and fell upon the field, 
 mortally wounded. The regiment, with the impetus he had 
 given it, passed on, getting breathless with the run and 
 their burdens, men dropping by the enemy s fire all along. 
 We reached a wire fence, enclosing the yard of a white 
 washed cottage. This fence broke the formation of the 
 line, the wires catching a man by some of his many bags 
 and bundles, and persisting in holding him until he un- 
 slung the impedimenta, or was extricated ; the right of the 
 regiment had to break through a board fence. Getting 
 through these obstructions, and passing to the side of the 
 
86 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 house towards the enemy, we found a little ridge a 
 hardly noticeable swell in the plain on the hither side 
 of which the men stopped and lay down to recover breath 
 and reform. Then, advancing to the crest, we found it 
 occupied by men of the Fifty-First Pennsylvania on the 
 left, and the Twenty-First Massachusetts and Eleventh 
 New Hampshire, and troops of the Second Corps, on the 
 right. They were firing at the enemy, and called to us to 
 open also, which we did at once, mingling with them for 
 the purpose. 
 
 The Confederates were distant about two hundred and 
 fifty yards. The ground sank down into a considerable 
 hollow from our ridge, then rose to their position, which 
 was at the foot of and upon a steep bank, where the upper 
 plateau, upon which Mr. Marye s house stood, meets the 
 lower. In our front was the south portion of Marye s 
 Heights, so called, and we fired directly towards the spot 
 now occupied by the National Cemetery. We could not 
 distinguish their men well, the color of their clothes and 
 hats being so like the soil of the bank, but aimed at the 
 line of puffs of white smoke from their rifles or the battery 
 behind them. Their infantry was in the sunken road which 
 ran along the base of the bank, covered by the stone bank- 
 wall, since partly or wholly removed, to build, it is said, the 
 porter s lodge at the cemetery. 
 
 On our left there were, at first, no troops ; our regiment 
 appeared to be the extreme left of our assaulting line 
 thereabouts. A board fence, running at right angles to 
 the front, separated the left from the right of the regiment. 
 Through this fence a heavy shot from the right occasion 
 ally tore a hole, one of them striking a poor fellow in the 
 bowels cut him nearly in two, tore off the leg of another 
 man and dashed it against the fence, then passed on its 
 way, spattering the men near by with blood and fragments 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 87 
 
 of flesh. The reports of the enemy s guns and the burst 
 ing of their shells seemed almost together, we were so 
 near them ; and the difficulty they found in depressing 
 their guns was our safety. Sergeant William H. Allen 
 was color-bearer ; the regimental flag was torn by bullets, 
 and the staff, cut half through by a ball, broke in two. 
 
 We received no orders to advance beyond this ridge, 
 nor was any attempt made to do so, in this part of the 
 line, until nearly dark. No general officer came near the 
 troops for a long time. To all appearances we could have 
 gone considerably nearer the heights, with some such a 
 rush into the hollow as at Antietam, and with similar loss, 
 but the exigency of the battle did not force us to it ; our 
 line, at first, would have been too thin to take the works, 
 and the men wisely preferred the ridge to such another 
 valley of death. It was reported at the time along the 
 line that a canal ran in the depression in front, which was 
 not the fact ; the real canal was to the right, and nearer 
 the city. The men loaded and fired deliberately, aiming 
 and calculating every shot but this was not the way to 
 take Marye s Heights. Most of the shots fired at us went 
 too high ; but there were sufficient lower down to keep up 
 the excitement, men of our regiment and of the others 
 falling all the time. Soon other lines of regiments 
 General Nagle s brigade of our corps and General Car 
 roll s brigade of the Third Corps came up behind us, 
 the men stopping as we had done, breathless, and remain 
 ing there, kneeling or lying down, in good lines, but 
 massed closely. 
 
 After firing an hour or so our ammunition was expended, 
 and our men drew back from the ridge, inviting the troops 
 behind to move up and continue the firing, which they did. 
 Lying on the hither side of the now muddy slope, we had 
 nothing to do but watch the enemy s missiles and our 
 
88 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 troops coming up to reenforce, when we had too many 
 men already, if no further advance was to be made. The 
 cottage behind us caught the enemy s bullets in a manner 
 remarkable to witness ; one could tell the height of the 
 thickest of the shower by a glance at the peppered wall. 
 A west chimney seemed to catch everything going, and 
 brick dust flew from it continually ; at last, it had crum 
 bled so, the upper part came rattling down amid the 
 shouts of the beholders. The declining sun behind the 
 Confederate lines illuminated the field towards the city, 
 and it was a splendid sight to see the admirably kept lines 
 of battle of our reinforcements, as they came towards us, 
 wavering a little to close up gaps, which the enemy s shells, 
 passing over heads, ploughed in their ranks. One full 
 regiment, or brigade, came on with drum corps beating 
 the charge in superb style. But they all stopped on 
 reaching our position, and lay or stooped down. Columns 
 in mass might have had momentum sufficient to pass the 
 ridge and go down into the hollow, but regiments in line 
 seemed powerless to get past us when once they had 
 stopped for breath after their long run. 
 
 A general rode up on horseback to the cottage fence, 
 and waved his hat to the men. It was General Griffin of 
 the Fifth Corps. The cheers with which he was received 
 drowned the sounds of battle. His division had been sent 
 to relieve ours. The Twenty-Second Massachusetts was 
 part of that division ; and, taking position along the ridge 
 at our left, they fired by volleys at the word of command, 
 as if upon drill, in an admirable manner. It was near sun 
 set when the Confederate line was relieved or reenforced, 
 for we could see the forms of their men dark against the 
 red western sky. The musketry from our lines redoubled 
 at the sight. The Twenty-Second or Eighteenth Massa 
 chusetts, also of Colonel Barnes s brigade it was impos- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 89 
 
 sible to distinguish the regiments there, unless acquainted 
 with the officers (corps badges had not come into use) 
 was forming column with the leading files over the ridge 
 at this time ; they made a charge to the front, but had to 
 come back, leaving their dead in the hollow. Captain 
 Andrews had taken command of our regiment, and, the 
 brigade being relieved, he formed such of the men as 
 could be got together in the mass of troops now gathered 
 behind the ridge, and waiting for darkness lead us back 
 to the city. We had been six hours in line of battle. The 
 field over which we retired was strown with the dead and 
 wounded, and equipments and equipage of all sorts ; any 
 thing picked up in the darkness, to replace goods lost, 
 was, more likely than not, found dabbled with blood when 
 brought to the light. 
 
 The losses in General Sturgis s division had been about 
 one thousand. In General Ferrero s brigade, eighty-three 
 killed and four hundred and thirty wounded ; of whom the 
 Eleventh New Hampshire (their first battle) lost thirty killed 
 and one hundred and seventy wounded. The casualties 
 in our regiment were ten killed and about sixty wounded. 
 The slaughter upon our right where the troops are said 
 to have been more exposed and to have approached nearer 
 the enemy was greater, General Hancock s division los 
 ing two thousand men, General French s twelve hundred 
 of General Couch s Second Corps and others in pro 
 portion. The total loss in the Union army was 12,353 ; 
 in the Confederate army, 4,576; as computed by Captain 
 Phisterer. 
 
 The names of the killed in the Thirty-Fifth were : Major 
 Sidney Willard ; First Lieutenant William Hill, then com 
 manding Company K (both originally officers of Company 
 I) ; John W. Hodges, of Company C ; Avery A. Capen 
 and Isaiah Hunt, of Company E ; First Sergeant Daniel 
 
90 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Lamson, of Company H ; Corporal John E. McKew and 
 George C. Bunker, of Company I ; Oliver S. Currier and 
 Oliver P. Robinson, of Company K. 
 
 Lieutenant Hill was a young man from mercantile life, 
 who had been wounded at South Mountain, and was not 
 very generally known in the regiment. Lieutenant Hatch 
 was wounded in the knee, apparently his only vulnerable 
 spot. 
 
 Our great and irreparable loss was in Major Willard, an 
 officer who lacked only the experience he was so solicitous 
 to obtain, to have made as fine a soldier, in appearance or 
 acquirements, as the army could produce. Intellectually, 
 morally and physically, he was the beau ideal of a com 
 mander of men. It is one of the compensations of the 
 service that it acquaints us with such men, who elevate 
 our conceptions of humanity, yet, too often, leave us only 
 their examples and not their living presence to admire. 
 He died in Fredericksburg the next day ; his last words 
 being, "Tell them I tried to do my duty to my country and 
 the regiment." No words can do fit honor to such sacrifice. 
 The motto of the Independent Cadets, with whom he re 
 ceived his military instruction, is " Monstrat viam" 
 
 The night, fortunately for the wounded upon the field, 
 was quite warm for the season. We spent it, as before, by 
 the river bank. Some of the officers and men gathered 
 in a house, where services were held. Lieutenant Mirick 
 read from the Bible, and a private soldier offered prayer. 
 In the morning the stragglers were collected, and ammu 
 nition was distributed. Small rations of whiskey were 
 dealt out, whether to counteract the fatigue and depression 
 of the defeat or to prepare us for another attempt is not 
 known ; for it was during this day that General Burnside, 
 bitterly disappointed at the failure of the assault, which 
 he at first attributed to slackness in his subordinate gen- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 9 1 
 
 erals resolved to form the Ninth Corps, consisting of 
 some eighteen old regiments and some new ones, and, 
 placing himself at their head, march to death or victory ; 
 but the cooler heads of Generals Sumner, Franklin, Hooker 
 and others dissuaded him. The chance for important re 
 sults from such an attempt was small ; the men were glad 
 to be spared a second trial of such a kind. A mail was 
 received, and the home letters were read during the sus 
 pense of waiting. At noon men had found flour in the 
 city, and, as the movement appeared to be abandoned, 
 all who could find utensils busied themselves frying batter 
 cakes for dinner. In such close contact lie, in war, the 
 sublimities of death in the grand assault and the meaner 
 duties by which the life of the soldier is sustained. 
 
 It came on very dark at night; orders to "fall-in" were 
 received, and the brigade marched back through the city, 
 as before, to the railway station, where the streets were 
 crowded with moving troops changing positions. Thence, 
 under cover of the darkness, we moved silently out to the 
 position of the day before along the ridge near the two 
 houses, and lay down upon the frozen mud, or, if one were 
 lucky, upon a board from the fence, and, rifle in hand, 
 waited in suspense for any movement from our foes. A 
 counter assault was dreaded in the bad position and rather 
 discouraged condition of the army. We felt how much 
 depended upon our holding the ridge to the death, and 
 the uncertainty of the result of a night attack upon our 
 single line made the situation one of terrible anxiety. 
 The Confederates tried the line, but, finding us ready, 
 desisted. Their generals discussed a plan of attack upon 
 the city, but abandoned it information which would have 
 been welcome to us that night. The men threw up a little 
 parapet of earth and rubbish, particularly upon the left 
 of the regiment, which was most exposed, which did good 
 
92 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 service as a shelter from the sharpshooters when daylight 
 came again. 
 
 During the day the situation remained the same, both 
 sides hesitating to take the initiative. Their marksmen 
 were very watchful and quick to fire at any part of the 
 person exposed above the ridge, while our men were for 
 bidden to use their rifles unless attacked. Few moved 
 more than once or twice during the whole day, but some, 
 with the dare-devil recklessness of their kind, would jump 
 up and run a few steps to enjoy the excitement of drawing 
 fire. Another terrible night came on, and it was getting 
 quite past longer endurance when, at midnight, after twenty- 
 eight hours of as trying picket duty as the regiment ever 
 endured, the brigade was relieved, and the men, stiff and 
 unnerved from their enforced quiet, fell in and marched 
 through the now deserted streets of the desolate city to 
 the pontoon bridges, where they crossed at once, much to 
 their astonishment, for it was the first intimation they had 
 received that the city was to be evacuated by our army. 
 After crossing the river the regiment marched to its barren 
 but welcome camp near the battery, reaching it about three 
 o clock in the rainy morning of the sixteenth of December. 
 
 At that time we supposed ourselves to have been among 
 the last to leave the city, but General Hooker testifies that 
 " it was late when I got the order to withdraw my com 
 mand, between three and four o clock in the morning, and 
 it was between eight and nine o clock when the last troops 
 were withdrawn. The enemy did not seem to realize but 
 that there were troops in the houses. I withdrew my 
 exterior lines of pickets last of all, and they were not 
 followed by the enemy." 
 
 The great event was over, and success had not perched 
 upon our standards. Our opponents at Marye s Heights 
 had been of Longstreet s Corps, as previously at South 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 93 
 
 Mountain and Antietam Bridge, and this time they got 
 the better of us. The enterprise had been carried out 
 with less energy than General Burnside had intended, 
 owing, apparently, to lack of explicit orders on the left 
 wing and lack of commanders with the men on the right ; 
 but the losses had been sufficient to excuse to the country 
 all further movement of the army that winter. The gen 
 eral, however, eager for results, declined to go into winter 
 quarters, and continued his plans for action ; as a conse 
 quence, keeping the men in a state of constant uneasiness, 
 and hindering them from trying to improve their temporary 
 camps and quarters. The winter months were, therefore, 
 full of discouragement and discomfort. 
 
 On the seventeenth of December, at 8 A. M., the regiment 
 left the camp in rear of the battery and returned to its 
 position in the square with the brigade, described in the 
 last chapter. On joining the brigade, Captain Lathrop 
 was sent, under a flag of truce, in command of a detail 
 of fifty men of the brigade (ten from the Thirty-Fifth) to 
 assist in burying the dead on the battle-field of Fredericks- 
 burg. The detail was allowed to approach the stone wall 
 as near as there were any bodies found lying. They buried 
 one hundred and eight men that afternoon, nearly all of 
 them stark naked, their clothing stripped off by the enemy. 
 
 The regiment found the locality of the camp cleared of 
 every kind of material for camp making rails gone, trees 
 cut down, even the roots dug for fuel, the whole place a 
 waste of loamy undulating field land. The low shelter 
 tents were pitched in company streets, and beds were 
 made of grass, pine-needles and pieces of cracker boxes. 
 Green pitch-pine wood was brought by wagons and fatigue 
 parties from a distance for the cooks smoky fires. If any 
 one would indulge in the luxury of a fire for himself he 
 had to bring his fuel upon his back a mile or so. 
 
94 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 The food was abundant but coarse : fat salt-pork, fresh 
 beef, beans, hard bread old and weevilly, baked for 
 McClellan s campaign, each box marked " White House " 
 and, occasionally, potatoes or rice, with, of course, 
 coffee and brown sugar. We had learned to make little 
 bags to hold the rations of ground coffee, sugar and salt. 
 The cooking utensils were the three or four iron pots of 
 the cook and our fire-blackened tin dippers, one of which 
 each man carried slung to his greasy haversack ; there 
 were also two or three small frying-pans to a company, 
 which some provident men had acquired on the route 
 hither or in the opposite city. The beans would be 
 cooked by stewing or baking in the iron pots ; these par 
 tially cleansed and then the coffee boiled in them. The 
 beans were eaten out of the tin dippers, and afterwards 
 the coffee was drunk from them ; if there were no beans 
 it was beef soup ; what the coffee tasted like one may 
 hardly imagine it was called coffee from habit rather 
 than from any resemblance to it in smell or taste. It 
 required a day s manoeuvring to get the utensils and hot 
 water to wash a woollen shirt the washerwoman never 
 called at the back door there ; the man who owned more 
 than one whole shirt was a fop. Sutlers were few at first, 
 being kept back by orders or the rough roads ; in their 
 absence we had to depend upon the cookies of our friends 
 of the Eleventh New Hampshire. Active games or sports 
 were hardly attempted ; the mud was a hindrance, even if 
 there had been spirit for them among the men. 
 
 We were too lately from home to take these things as 
 a matter of course and make the best of them, as old 
 soldiers do ; it takes a year s service to make a veteran. 
 December and January are hard months for human nature 
 to endure even in comfortable circumstances around the 
 domestic hearth ; our condition upon that Falmouth plain, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 95 
 
 in the situation we have described, could not but be mis 
 erable. Turn which way one would, it was cold comfort 
 everywhere for body or mind, and all tended to dejection. 
 The wind swept across the open fields and searched our 
 very marrow. The newspapers and letters from home, if 
 cheery, made the contrast of our position more gloomy ; 
 if they were depressed, so were we, and we threw them 
 aside. It was not pleasant to review the battles of the 
 past, or anticipate similar ones in the future. The country 
 was struggling through the great division of parties upon 
 the question of Emancipation, and party spirit and abuse 
 added to the darkness of the surroundings. At night, 
 sleep was happy release from care, but even then cold 
 compelled most of the men to turn out once or twice to 
 the fire to warm up. 
 
 The best relief was work to keep at something all the 
 time. Those who did so became veteran soldiers. Those 
 who lay about the cooks fires listlessly, or coiled up in 
 blankets in their little tents, soon found the way to the 
 surgeon s tent, the hospital and, often, to their graves. 
 The lying upon cold ground, indigestible food and low 
 spirits soon affected the health of the men, and the " sick- 
 call" of the surgeon was attended by a motley throng with 
 woe-begone faces, most of them really ill, but some of them 
 under suspicions of their first sergeants and the doctors as 
 chronic hospital " bummers/ as they were called. The 
 word "bummer " was used in this sense in the Army of the 
 Potomac long before Sherman s foragers adopted it and 
 made it famous. The bugler s sick-call was interpreted 
 as follows : " To the doc-tor ! To the doc-tor ! Come get 
 your pills for aches and ills! Come get your pills of 
 the doc-tor ! " If there was a pause out of place, or a false 
 note, it was because the bugler had a hair in his mouth and 
 had stopped to swear a bit at which the boys jeered. 
 
96 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Camp duty was carried out according to the usual pro 
 gramme, when the weather permitted, with regular morning 
 and afternoon drills and evening parades, with music from 
 the Eleventh New Hampshire Band. A tour of picket duty 
 for twenty-four hours took the regiment, or heavy details 
 from it, to the Rappahannock about once a week. Near 
 the river, below Falmouth, are deep curving gullies or 
 canyons, in which the reserves lay, while the videttes 
 paced the road along the river. In these ravines grew 
 quantities of laurel bush, and all who could whittle tried 
 carving laurel-wood pipes and ornaments ; some of the 
 results were quite elaborate and valuable. The men in 
 gray upon the opposite bank seemed to be busy very 
 much as we were, enduring as philosophically as possible 
 the winter months and keeping a watchful eye upon our 
 movements. Some attempts were made at trading with little 
 rafts freighted with coffee for tobacco, until the commerce 
 was declared contraband by orders from headquarters. 
 
 December 23, General Sumner reviewed the Right Grand 
 Division ; most of the Thirty-Fifth were excused, having 
 just come off picket ; the band of the Thirty-Third Mas 
 sachusetts played very finely. December 24, one hundred 
 men from the regiment on picket ; Captain Andrews had a 
 battalion drill with only sixty-four men present. December 
 25 (Christmas Day), baked beans for breakfast; no drills; 
 only duty was dress-parade ; pies, forty cents each ! De 
 cember 26, brigade drill in the afternoon. December 29, 
 orders to have three days rations on hand, but counter 
 manded; the Signal Corps balloon was up. December 
 30, Quartermaster Haines, having received his discharge, 
 started for home; Quartermaster- Sergeant Upton was 
 commissioned quartermaster of the regiment, and Ser 
 geant Cutter was appointed quartermaster-sergeant, with 
 Jesse Holmes as clerk. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 97 
 
 On New Year s Eve the band visited the headquarters 
 of each regiment of the brigade, and, while the hilarity of 
 the occasion was at full tide, some of the unsanctified 
 tried to tempt our chaplain from his steadfast ways ; but, 
 although there was some boisterous fun, they did not 
 succeed. Speaking of this gentleman reminds us of the 
 prayers which it was his duty to extemporize, bareheaded 
 in the freezing air, in front of the regiment, as part of the 
 exercises of evening parade. Doubtless each man receives 
 much or little good from such services, according to his 
 nature ; to some of us it seemed that so much petitioning 
 for the souls of such as should perish in the coming 
 " battel " did not tend to encourage the weak-kneed, and 
 might have been abbreviated. The creed of the soldiers 
 at the front was very simple ; they felt that our cause was 
 as near the cause of good and of God as it could well be 
 
 the Confederates probably thought the same of theirs 
 
 and each felt an entire confidence that it would be well 
 with those who lost their lives. " Poor fellow, it s all right 
 with him now," they said of the fallen, and they believed 
 it. Most of them despised anything like whining; they 
 preferred to turn their thoughts from the event of their 
 own death, and dwell upon their purpose and the means 
 of accomplishing it, leaving personal results to the Dis 
 penser of all. So our chaplain found his situation rather 
 a cold one his duty as postmaster of the regiment was 
 also unpleasant to him and he did not remain long with 
 us, but chose rather to enter actively into service as captain 
 in a colored regiment, where he served with credit through 
 the war. After he left we had no chaplain, and seldom 
 heard a religious service ; but the men were kept so con 
 stantly sobered by events that additional restraint was not 
 often needed. Why ask for a chaplain when we had a Pope 
 constantly present with us, for example and edification ? 
 
98 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 For some time Christmas boxes were delayed in Wash 
 ington, pending our movements, until they accumulated in 
 piles as big as the pyramids, and almost as old. Their 
 contents, mostly eatables, perished or acquired a strong 
 musty flavor, rather disappointing to the receiver when 
 they reached camp. One must be a new recruit, in such 
 a place, on such a diet, to fully appreciate and enjoy home 
 goodies. It is almost laughable now to think how much 
 the boys prized their boxes from home. 
 
 Furloughs were not granted to the men, for the reason 
 that we were not in winter quarters another source of 
 vexation ; for what was the use of winning honors if we 
 were not to be permitted, once in a while, to display our 
 heroic selves before the eyes of admiring relatives and 
 friends. 
 
 January 6, 1863, there was a grand review of the Ninth 
 Corps, at 2 P. M., before Generals Burnside, Sumner and 
 Wilcox. January 14, E. Jernagan, of Company E, died; 
 our first death by disease in camp since we had been in 
 service. January 15, the regiment was under command 
 of Captain Andrews, with Captain Pratt acting lieutenant- 
 colonel and Captain Lathrop acting major; Lieutenant 
 C. A. Blanchard was acting adjutant. There were two 
 captains in command of companies ; three companies were 
 commanded by first lieutenants, three by second lieuten 
 ants, and two by first sergeants. There were two hundred 
 and seventy-five non-commissioned officers and privates for 
 duty, sixty-eight men on extra duty, away from the regiment, 
 fifty on daily duty with the regiment ; total for duty, three 
 hundred and ninety-three. There were still eight hundred 
 and six names borne on the rolls as belonging to the regi 
 ment. The few officers present, however, received full 
 credit, for when the Adjutant-General s Report (Massa 
 chusetts) was printed it was found to contain the following 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 99 
 
 eulogium : "Among the many good regiments that Massa 
 chusetts has sent forward, few, if any, surpass the Thirty- 
 Fifth, especially in its officers," which, it is hoped, was 
 fully deserved. At all events the men learned how to 
 take care of themselves in a way which was always after 
 wards noticeable ; so that, at a subsequent time, when a 
 field officer of ours on staff duty informed the general of 
 the division that he felt it his duty to quit the staff and 
 return to the regiment then almost without officers 
 the general remarked, " Oh, don t bother yourself on that 
 account, your regiment runs itself ! " 
 
 On the sixteenth of January Shepard G. Wiggin, of 
 Company A, died of lung fever in the regimental hospital. 
 On the same day we were under orders to move, with three 
 days rations ; also on the seventeenth, eighteenth, nine 
 teenth, and on the twentieth the orders were to march at 
 four o clock next morning ; but these were countermanded 
 at ten o clock the same evening. This was the occasion 
 of the famous attempt to effect a lodgment on Lee s left 
 flank by a crossing at Banks s Ford above us, which was 
 frustrated by the severe storm, and got the name of the 
 " Mud-march." Sumner s Grand Division, being in sight 
 of the Confederate look-outs opposite, remained undis 
 turbed, as a mask for the rest of the army as it moved 
 up to the ford, and consequently did not get word to start 
 before the weather vetoed the movement; for which we 
 were duly thankful, for our quarters, wretched as they 
 were, would have been much worse had we, by a move, 
 lost the little store of comforts we had collected. The 
 Confederates, well informed of the predicament of our 
 army caught in the storm abroad in the fields of miry 
 clay and impassable roads, posted up a sign: "Burnside 
 stuck in the mud ! " in derision of our helplessness. 
 
 The pickets, however, had a share in the bad weather 
 
100 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 on the river bank on the twenty-first; those who were 
 present will remember the miseries of the situation. The 
 rain was mingled with sleet ; the pine-bough shelters in 
 the ravines were soaked with moisture, and made such 
 cold shower-baths the men preferred to stand or walk 
 about in the mud on the banks of the brook which drained 
 the gully. There was absolutely no place to sit which was 
 not soaked with the wet, nor dry fuel there for fires. The 
 troops present seemed to be in greater numbers than usual, 
 and more gray-coats were opposite ; each anticipating that 
 the other might try to cross at Falmouth. In the road 
 below the hill was an immense cannon, stalled in the mud, 
 and abandoned until fair weather should enable it to be 
 extricated. We wandered upon the hill above the little 
 town, and found there passing the Twentieth Massachu 
 setts, with whom we discussed the situation ; among them 
 was the lamented Lieutenant Ropes, afterwards killed at 
 Gettysburg. 
 
 At night the reserve guard was assembled in a little 
 dilapidated church on the hill, from which all the pews 
 and furniture had been removed ; and for light and warmth 
 the men, after placing beds of plaster five or six inches 
 deep here and there upon the floor for fireplaces, built 
 fires upon them with fuel from the neighboring fences. 
 In course of the night these fires burned round holes 
 through the flooring, but did not ignite the building fur 
 ther; the mud was tracked in to quite a depth and helped 
 to prevent the fires spreading. The enemy opposite, by 
 accident or intention perhaps fearing our immediate 
 crossing, and wishing to light up the scene or remove an 
 obstacle to their artillery range burned a long brick 
 factory for our amusement ; and the fire, the rain, the 
 turbid river, and gathered troops made an impressive 
 spectacle. In the morning the men waded through a sea 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 of mud to camp. After such a tour of duty, even the 
 poorest camp quarters seemed comfortable. 
 
 In the obscurity of that stormy night, Albert W. Daven 
 port, of Company B, on his way with the relief guard to 
 his vidette post, slipped, unseen by his comrades, from the 
 path along the verge of the cliff, and was drowned in the 
 river below, his cries being unheard in the tempest. His 
 absence was not discovered until the sergeant reached his 
 last posts and found his squad one man short. It was a 
 sad, lonely ending to life. His body was found by men of 
 the Second Maryland, a few days afterwards, and brought 
 to the regiment. A little enclosed lot in rear of camp was 
 used as a place of interment. 
 
 While Jacob G. Clarkson, of Company A, was drawing 
 his gun by the muzzle from under the eaves of his shelter 
 tent the charge exploded, injuring his thumb ; chloroform 
 was administered to him at the hospital tent, and he died 
 under its influence. 
 
 January 23, Franklin s men were straggling back from 
 the mud-march ; many of them stopped a few moments in 
 camp as they passed. On the same day there was a row 
 between some of the men of our brigade and the sutler, 
 whom they undertook to " clean out ; " two shots were 
 fired, and the crowd scattered. The roll was called to 
 discover absentees from quarters, but none of our men 
 appeared to have had an active part in the business. 
 
 There were several severe storms of rain and snow in 
 January, and, after the return from the mud-march, orders 
 for winter quarters were issued, and the men set about 
 making their camps as comfortable as possible. Pine logs 
 were brought from long distances, the tents raised and 
 banked up, and little chimneys built of sticks and clayey 
 mud, surmounted by a barrel. Sutlers and boxes from 
 home came in greater abundance. 
 
o? THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 January 26, General Burnside was relieved of the com 
 mand of the army, and General Hooker succeeded to his 
 place. January 28 and 29, snow fell to quite a depth and 
 lay drifted in the company streets, nearly covering some 
 of the low tents; the snow-flakes blew in between the 
 seams of the tent cloth and spread upon the blankets of 
 the sleepers, but comrades were found all right when dug 
 out in the morning; Lieutenant Park, wounded at An- 
 tietam, returned to duty with the regiment ; Lieutenant 
 Burrell left us, and was unable afterwards to rejoin the 
 regiment on account of physical disability. February 4, 
 James T. Andrews, of Company A, the captain s cousin, 
 died in camp. February 7, Sergeant William H. Mat 
 thews, of Company C, Sergeant of the Ambulance Corps, 
 fell a victim to the hardships of the campaign and died 
 of fever. 
 
 Other members of the regiment were transferred to 
 general hospitals about Washington, and died there from 
 diseases acquired in camp. Among them were : Francis 
 J. Nash, of Company B ; Henry Keiley, of Company E ; 
 James Rowe, of Company H ; Frederick A. Hews, of 
 Company I. Charles B. Blanchard, of Company H, who 
 was taken prisoner near Wheatland, Virginia, died in 
 Richmond. 
 
 With the assumption of command by General Hooker, 
 General Sedgwick afterwards the famous chief of the 
 Sixth Corps was assigned, for a few days, to the com 
 mand of the Ninth Corps. After him, for a short time, 
 General William F. Smith commanded the corps. He 
 was afterwards at the head of the Eighteenth Corps, at 
 Petersburg, and, it is said, was at one time urged by 
 General Grant for chief of the Army of the Potomac, in 
 place of General Meade ; but this was before the attack 
 on Petersburg. On the third of February, General Hooker 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 103 
 
 wanted to have General Smith appointed permanent com 
 mander of our corps. Halleck replied : " Major-General 
 Burnside is the permanent commander of the Ninth Army 
 Corps ; but make such temporary changes as you may 
 deem proper." General Smith was relieved, at Newport 
 News, by General Parke. 
 
 About the first of February the weather became milder 
 for several days ; the influence of spring was soon felt, 
 hope revived with the season, and the memory of the dark 
 days of December grew less oppressive. New supplies of 
 food, even soft bread once, and more vegetables, appeared 
 from the commissary s ; and General Hooker, dropping all 
 thoughts of present action, devoted his whole attention to 
 the improvement of his command. But we were not to 
 share his defeat at Chancellorsville, or the hard-won vic 
 tory of General Meade at Gettysburg. General Burnside 
 had expressed to the Government a wish that the Ninth 
 Corps might be sent to the department to which it was 
 intended to assign htm ; and General Hooker, under the 
 advices quoted above, was not loath to part with a body 
 of troops belonging so exclusively to his predecessor. 
 Rumor of change, as usual, had been busy for some time, 
 but was little credited ; when, therefore, we broke camp on 
 the ninth of February, and marched to the box-cars for 
 transfer to Acquia Creek, a smile lighted up many a face, 
 which had been clouded for weeks. Any change, especially 
 from scenes connected with defeat, is pleasant to the sol 
 dier ; and, as the plains of Falmouth and the steeples of 
 Fredericksburg passed out of view, we seemed to ourselves 
 new men. We little thought that when, next year, we should 
 again see those spires it would be from- the heights where 
 now the enemy s lines were so securely established. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NEWPORT NEWS, AND SPRING IN KENTUCKY, 1863. 
 
 THE Ninth Corps had been formed, in July, 1862, of 
 troops which had taken part in the Sherman Expe 
 dition to South Carolina and the Burnside Expedition to 
 North Carolina, and, after the successful occupation of 
 parts of the seaboard of those states, had held the country 
 gained. They had been called thence to reenforce General 
 McClellan upon the Peninsula, stopped at Newport News, 
 and ordered to Acquia Creek. From there two divisions 
 were sent to join General Pope, the third remaining until 
 the first days of September with General Burnside ; and, 
 afterwards, they had followed the fortunes of the Army of 
 the Potomac in the course we have thus far traced. The 
 fate of the Corps was to be sent about wherever there was 
 a call for assistance ; and it soon, very naturally, acquired 
 the name of " The Big Class in Geography. 7 Appear 
 ances were now in favor of its return to North Carolina, 
 and the first movement was in that direction. 
 
 From the wharf at Acquia Creek the Fifty-First Penn 
 sylvania, Twenty -First Massachusetts and Thirty-Fifth 
 went on board the steamer Louisiana, which lay in the 
 stream all day (February 9), receiving baggage, etc. At 
 five o clock next morning we were steaming steadily 
 down the Potomac, amid the jarring of machinery and 
 the swashing of water alongside a change of circum 
 stances so complete as to be quite bewildering. The 
 
105 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 steamer had in tow two schooners, containing the Fifty- 
 First New York and Eleventh New Hampshire. Head 
 lands of red earth or sand, crowned with dark pitch-pines, 
 appeared ahead and were passed, successively ; and, at 
 night, the broad waters of Chesapeake Bay opened out : 
 thence, the course was directly south to Fortress Monroe. 
 On the morning of the eleventh the famous fortress lay 
 upon our beam ; the noted Union gun, an immense cannon 
 of which great things were expected, conspicuous upon 
 the beach. Upon our other side the tide water rushed 
 and foamed among the rocks of the ill-reputed Rip Raps. 
 All around us the ships of war were riding at anchor, in 
 pleasant contrast with the scenery to which we had of late 
 been accustomed. Our crowded quarters upon the straw 
 between decks had, by this time, been sufficiently exam 
 ined, and the orders from General Dix were received with 
 satisfaction, to proceed to the entrance of James River 
 and land at Newport News. 
 
 At first view, Newport News had the appearance of a 
 place where nothing new ever occurred or was likely to 
 happen. A sandy plain, fifteen or twenty feet above the 
 river, with a few old barracks, and some earthworks and 
 ditches, constructed by General Butler s troops ; a gray sky, 
 with spits of rain, made up the desolate picture. Beyond 
 the plain was a swamp, with immense southern pitch-pines 
 the only striking feature of the scenery scattered 
 through it, and crossings leading out to Big Bethel and 
 Hampton, in which direction the pickets were posted while 
 we remained here. And yet, lonely as the spot seemed, it 
 had been the scene of stirring events ; for, on the ninth of 
 March, less than a year before, had occurred here the 
 naval battle between the iron-clad Merrimac and consorts 
 of the Confederate Navy and the Union wooden frigates 
 Cumberland and Congress, which revolutionized the system 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. Io6 
 
 of naval warfare throughout the world. The topmasts of 
 the Cumberland and the charred timbers of the hull of the 
 Congress still marked the spot, a warning to all who would 
 accept it of the danger of being behind the age in the art 
 of war. 
 
 The Third Division occupied the barracks ; the rest of 
 the corps encamped outside the entrenchments. Our 
 camp was formed in brigade line, facing the river, with 
 the swamp in rear; the older regiments upon the right, 
 the Eleventh New Hampshire upon our left. At first we 
 had our low shelter tents only, but, on the nineteenth, 
 " A " tents were distributed, one to every five of the men, 
 which made extremely close quarters. Some of these tents, 
 owing to the increasing scarcity of cotton, were made en 
 tirely of hemp cloth, and were about as useful as sieves 
 for keeping out rain ; the fibre did not swell with moisture 
 sufficiently to make the cloth water-tight, as canvas does. 
 At the same time changes were made in the position of 
 some of the companies in the regimental line : K, left 
 flank company, was transferred to the right wing, and H, 
 from the right wing, was made left flank company. 
 
 Here for six weeks we enjoyed what seemed, after Fal- 
 mouth, the fat of the land. Soft bread was issued in large 
 loaves a luxury never elsewhere so plentifully enjoyed 
 by the regiment. The locality is famous for fish and 
 oysters, and our men, bred within view of salt water, 
 relished these luxuries with appetites sharpened by the 
 sea breezes. The colored pedlers from the back country 
 opened a market at the east end of camp, and those boys 
 who were in funds lived high, while the penniless majority 
 were permitted to enjoy a free view of the tantalizing dis 
 play. There were shops on the most extensive scale at the 
 landing wharf, and these, with the other attractions, soon 
 cleaned out the last scraps of postal currency in the regiment. 
 
107 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 On the twenty-First of February, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Carruth and Adjutant Wales returned to us from Parole 
 Camp, Annapolis, having been exchanged. They received 
 a rousing welcome, and were serenaded by the Glee Club 
 of Company K ; all were glad to greet them personally, 
 and to feel that the Thirty-Fifth was made whole again. 
 Captains commanding cannot secure the respect which the 
 men readily yield to a field officer ; and, in various ways, 
 in dealing with brigade headquarters and the department, 
 a regiment with full field and staff gets more attention. 
 Promotions had occurred : Captain King was commissioned 
 major of the regiment ; First Lieutenants Baldwin, Preston, 
 Hood and Blanchard had become captains ; Second Lieu 
 tenants Hudson, Stickney, Ingell, Blake and Burrell had 
 become first lieutenants ; Sergeants Gottlieb, Wilkins, Dean, 
 Atkinson, Floyd, T. D. Hodges, Dunbar, Hawes and Mor- 
 rill were commissioned second lieutenants; but these latter, 
 from various causes, did not remain long on duty with the 
 regiment, so that the number of officers present continued 
 limited. Berry was sergeant-major; Cutter, quartermaster- 
 sergeant; and Plummer, commissary-sergeant, with Rice 
 as assistant. Promotions among the non-commissioned 
 officers were also very numerous. On the first of March 
 Chaplain Miller preached his farewell sermon to the regi 
 ment, he having tendered his resignation. Captains An 
 drews, Pratt and Adjutant Wales, successively, acted as 
 major or lieutenant-colonel. 
 
 The colonel and adjutant at once commenced work upon 
 the drill and discipline of the command. The officers were 
 schooled by the colonel in tactics and battalion movements. 
 The sergeants were thoroughly drilled in the manual of 
 arms by the adjutant; and they, in squads, set up the 
 men of their companies with an effect at once noticeable 
 at dress-parade. The regiment became so expert that 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. Io8 
 
 General Ferrero rode over at evening to witness the per 
 formance, which was as well timed and correct as the 
 motion of a perfect machine. Any superiority of this 
 kind flatters the pride of the men in their regiment ; we 
 had been so hardly used hitherto, there was danger of 
 losing the esprit de corps which unites soldiers to their 
 colors with affection superior to death. Some complained 
 of wasted labor, saying that no rebel force was ever known 
 to be frightened by such an exhibition, however excellent ; 
 but the effect above stated was worth the trouble. To 
 offset the show, the officers, notably Lieutenant Pope, 
 drilled their companies as skirmishers, with the bugle- 
 calls, and in the bayonet exercise. Had it been allowable 
 to expend some of the abundant ammunition in target 
 practice, for which the regiment was never better situated, 
 the employment of time could not have been more advan 
 tageous. But, although the Government had adopted rifled 
 arms, target practice was never encouraged ; men learned 
 the use of their weapons in battle or by stealth ; the usual 
 reason given for the interdict was, that so much firing 
 would occasion an alarm, which was generally true with 
 us, but not at Newport News. 
 
 February 25, there was a grand review in presence of 
 General Dix and many ladies from Fortress Monroe. 
 The column included thirty -five regiments and eight 
 batteries. 
 
 The temperature was milder than at Falmouth we had 
 but two cold snaps with snow but the location proved 
 unhealthy, owing to the stirring of the malarious swamp 
 in rear, when cutting the wood for camp purposes. The 
 embalming agents visited camp, and set up their machin 
 ery ; but we preferred to be excused their well-intentioned 
 manipulations. The Eleventh New Hampshire, robust 
 looking men, but who had not in childhood been through 
 
109 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 the diseases of that age, suffered seriously from what was 
 called black measles. Typhoid fever took from among 
 us : Zachariah Damon, of Company D ; Charles W. Cole, 
 of Company F; Sergeant David K. Hall and Corporal 
 John G. Dymond, of Company I. Thus this ground, like 
 most of the spots upon which the regiment staid any length 
 of time, was marked by the graves of some of our number. 
 The funeral ceremonies, if time permitted, were in military 
 form, with beat of drum, reversed arms, reading of scrip 
 ture and the parting volley. The little enclosing fences 
 and head-boards must long ago have gone to decay, and 
 the rain levelled the raised earth ; but there they rest, 
 along the line, from the ocean to the Mississippi. Of our 
 dead, also, Longfellow s lines now read truly : 
 " A soldier of the Union mustered out 
 Is the inscription on an unknown grave 
 At Newport News, beside the salt sea wave, 
 
 Nameless and dateless, 
 
 Thou unknown hero sleeping by the sea 
 In thy forgotten grave ! with secret shame 
 I feel my pulses beat, my forehead burn 
 When I remember, thou hast given for me 
 All that thou hadst, thy life, thy very name, 
 And I can give thee nothing in return." 
 
 It is permitted us to linger over these memories now, but 
 in those days the stern duties before us demanded quick 
 forgetfulness of the past. 
 
 On the thirteenth of March the Third Division, Getty s, 
 formerly Rodman s, was transferred across the river, and 
 never rejoined the corps. General Longstreet came down 
 to see what was going on, and, in April, Getty s Division 
 had hard fighting at Suffolk, under General Peck. Our 
 movement to the mouth of the James was thought by 
 General Lee to be the beginning of a transfer of the Army 
 of the Potomac to the Peninsula. The Ninth New York, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. IIO 
 
 Hawkins s Zouaves, remained behind as a provost-guard, 
 and formed a conspicuous object on drill in front of our 
 camp, at all hours of the day, their jaunty uniforms, full 
 ranks and accurate movements exciting our admiration. 
 The Fifty-First Pennsylvania and Fifty-First New York 
 moved into the barracks vacated by the Third Division. 
 From time to time we had brigade drills, with more or 
 less rather less success. 
 
 On the same day Captain Lathrop, who had been dan 
 gerously ill with malarial fever, in camp, since the second, 
 was conveyed to the steamboat for transfer to Philadelphia; 
 he recovered, but with health so much impaired that he 
 was obliged to resign, and he never rejoined the regiment. 
 Captain Cheever, who had rejoined after Antietam, found 
 himself unable to sustain the hardships of the winter 
 campaign, and did not again serve actively with the 
 regiment. 
 
 There was a brigade ball, on the fourteenth, on board 
 the steamboat City of Hudson, in commemoration of the 
 victory at Newbern, N. C., with ladies present from For 
 tress Monroe, the only festivity of the kind in which our 
 officers participated while in the service. 
 
 On Sunday, the fifteenth of March, Dr. MunselFs father 
 conducted a religious service with the regiment, and 
 preached a sermon from the text, " What I do now, ye 
 know not ; but shall know hereafter " ; the musical club 
 furnished the psalmody. 
 
 The weeks flew swiftly by. Occasional cannonading 
 was heard across the river, and hints were thrown out 
 that our future might lie in that direction. We were 
 sitting, as it were, upon the very door-step of Richmond, 
 and not even the wildest imagination could suggest that, 
 before we should enter that city, we must make an excur 
 sion to the far West. 
 
Ill HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 After an easterly storm, with snow, on the twentieth, 
 rumor took the incredible shape that the Ninth Corps was 
 to be sent to the Department of the Ohio, to the command 
 of which General Burnside had been assigned. It seemed 
 such a travesty of Greeley s Go West, young man!" we 
 doubted. But, on the twenty-fifth, the brigade got march 
 ing orders, and on the twenty-sixth we were off, after a 
 day of saturnalia, while waiting amid the ruins of camp, 
 after the tents had been struck. Many will remember 
 Card s antics with the distracted pedler s tip-cart, and the 
 mock dress parade with the big jug for colonel and the 
 little demijohnnie for adjutant. We embarked on the 
 steamer John Brooks, and were soon on the way up Ches 
 apeake Bay, leaving the grim fortress and the Peninsula 
 behind, with faces turned to distant scenes and adventures. 
 Captain Dolan resigned just before departure, and Lieu 
 tenant Collins was so much injured by a blow from a 
 musket, in a fracas on the boat, as to necessitate leaving 
 him in Baltimore for treatment ; he never rejoined the 
 regiment. 
 
 Landing at Baltimore, about noon of the twenty-seventh, 
 the brigade marched across the city to the north-west rail 
 road station. So much had we changed since our first 
 passage through these streets that appearances, which had 
 seemed foreign and almost hostile then, appeared now 
 homelike and friendly; the service had converted us, at 
 least, from provincials to true Union men. Our usual 
 luxurious conveyances box-cars were filled, some forty 
 men to each. Even straw was provided in some, to prevent 
 their bones wearing holes in the clothes of such as found 
 room to stretch out at length ; packing sardines was noth 
 ing to it. The train did not get fairly started until mid 
 night ; and, when moving, any uncommonly heavy jolt 
 would be followed by a chorus of dashes and exclamation 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 112 
 
 points. In the morning the men found that riding upon 
 the car-tops was as comfortable as within, barring the 
 cinders and tunnels, and certainly better for viewing the 
 scenery, for cattle do not require windows in their cars. 
 Those were merry times, passing through the towns, the 
 boys on top shouting and waving caps and flags, the 
 citizens rushing to doors and windows to respond, small 
 children astonished out of their wits, dogs barking, horses 
 frightened, and a lively time generally. Travellers upon 
 the country roads laughed at the chaff of the men, and 
 thought the train bore the liveliest freight that had passed 
 for many a day. Bound for the Great West, what cared 
 we ? It was all in the three years enlistment ! 
 
 The route lay, on the twenty-eighth, through York, Har- 
 risburg so near the yet unheard of fields of Gettysburg 
 and on, by the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, through 
 Altoona and the picturesque mountain scenery of Western 
 Pennsylvania, to Pittsburg on the twenty-ninth. There 
 was snow in the hill country, and everything was bleak 
 and cold compared with the mild climate of South-eastern 
 Virginia we had just left. At some of the towns rye coffee 
 was handed in, which was warming, but an unpleasant 
 substitute for real coffee, which we had no opportunity 
 to prepare. At Pittsburg a collation was generously fur 
 nished by the citizens, in a hall adorned with flags and 
 mottoes. We became sensible of our terrible appearance, 
 when some of the ladies of the city, being informed that 
 the men were not so rough in manners as in looks, sum 
 moned courage to attend upon us. As we had not seen 
 ourselves in a mirror for six months, a first view was com 
 ically surprising was it possible that the reflections were 
 correct images of the former delicate youths, now browned 
 and smoke stained, hirsute and thread-bare? Yea, verily; 
 and yet, after all, there is a great deal of comfort to human 
 
113 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 nature in feeling that one can lie in the dusty road, and 
 get as begrimed as he pleases, without shocking the pro 
 prieties of his associates. Common joys and common 
 sorrows made us one, and the customs and costumes of 
 the world had become as strange to us as we to them. 
 
 Leaving Pittsburg, we passed across the State of Ohio, 
 through Columbus and Xenia, to Cincinnati. The snow 
 was left behind, ploughed fields appeared, the air became 
 more spring-like ; we rapidly moved into a warmer climate. 
 Arriving at the latter city at 7.30 P. M. of the thirtieth, the 
 troops marched to the Union Market, Fifth Street, and 
 enjoyed an excellent collation furnished by the ladies. 
 Many eastern people were living there and came about, 
 examining the ranks for friends, and the greetings and 
 meetings were very interesting and cordial, though the 
 soldiers, perhaps, considered it fortunate that the darkness 
 of evening made their travel stains picturesque rather than 
 offensive. After lunch, the brigade crossed the Ohio River 
 to Covington in Kentucky, and stacked arms in the street 
 for the night. The boys, finding the night air chill, tore 
 down a side fence and soon had a blaze upon the pave 
 ment, rather to the astonishment of the citizens. Unroll 
 ing blankets the men lay down upon the sidewalks, with 
 heads to the wall and feet to the gutter, and found the 
 new quarters, at least, not so cramped as the box-cars. 
 
 Next morning (March 31) Lieutenant Ingell, opening 
 his eyes long after sunrise, found himself the observed 
 of all observers among the market women and people 
 passing to the ferry over the small strip of the sidewalk 
 that was left between his big feet and the curbstone. 
 " What ! " he exclaimed, " is it the custom in this great 
 and enlightened West for ladies to promenade thus through 
 a gentleman s bed-chamber before he is up in the morn 
 ing ? " Whereupon he roused out, and made his toilet by 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 114 
 
 combing his moustache. At night, quarters were provided 
 in halls and market places. 
 
 We found that General Burnside s Department included 
 not only Ohio, but also several other States north of the 
 Ohio River and parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. After 
 a day s waiting for orders, our division, the Second, was 
 assigned to Eastern Kentucky ; the First Division went 
 further to the west, into Central Kentucky, about Middle- 
 burg and Columbia. During the autumn before while 
 we were in Pleasant Valley Central Kentucky had been 
 the scene of an active campaign between the armies of 
 Generals Buell and Bragg. General Kirby Smith had 
 come in from the south-east by way of Cumberland Gap, 
 and Bragg had entered from the south near Columbia. 
 The movements had culminated at Perryville, south-west 
 of Camp Nelson, where the Confederates were worsted, 
 and they then left the State. While we were at Falmouth, 
 General Rosecrans, succeeding Buell, had fought with 
 Bragg s army the sanguinary battle of Stone s River, near 
 Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and he was now waiting there 
 until the railroads could be completed in his rear before 
 advancing upon Chattanooga. Our duty was to be, to 
 help block the road to any repetition of the operations of 
 the previous autumn, and to assist in covering the railroad 
 communications of Rosecrans. We were also to discourage 
 guerillas and prepare for a campaign, on our own account, 
 into East Tennessee, with the assistance of the Twenty- 
 Third Corps, then in process of formation. 
 
 Our first movement was by rail, on April i, to Paris, in 
 Bourbon County suggestive name where camp was 
 located on the fair grounds. The commissary began to 
 issue hard bread of the Cincinnati brand, an important 
 event to us whose chief article of food it was ; for this 
 bread was so superior in size, flavor and edible qualities 
 
115 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 that its appearance must be reckoned one of the pleasant 
 incidents upon our arrival in the West. It was substantial 
 evidence that the war was here conducted upon business 
 principles rather than by routine. Bacon-sides were issued 
 in place of pork, but were not quite so much to our taste. 
 
 The people about us were found to be about evenly 
 divided between Union and Confederate sympathies, the 
 same family furnishing members to both causes. Political 
 contests were bitter, and often not confined to words alone. 
 The officers of the regiment enjoyed flirtation with the fair 
 Kentucky belles, and many a gilt button was exchanged 
 for a smile from some fair one, who wanted this memento 
 from a hero s breast to pin upon her own. The handsome 
 captain of Company G lost nearly all his buttons in this way. 
 
 The Kentucky turnpikes are thoroughly macadamized 
 with broken limestone, and are as hard as rock, which we 
 discovered upon our first march, on the third, from Paris 
 to Mount Sterling, twenty-two miles. The feet of the men, 
 accustomed to the soft mud or sand of our late camp 
 grounds, were now subjected to a pounding which made 
 them swell so as to be almost disabled ; it was hard work 
 for the sergeants to get their details for picket that night. 
 Next morning, passing through the town, the regiment 
 went into camp with the brigade upon one of those admi 
 rable sites which can hardly be equalled outside of that 
 beautiful State. The blue-grass sward under foot was thick 
 and close as a lawn, and starred with spring flowers ; the 
 trees were lofty, symmetrical and overarching, and not a 
 particle of brush or undergrowth was there to mar the 
 park-like appearance. The rail fences enclosing the 
 grounds seemed sacred without the order forbidding their 
 use for firewood ; the rails were often of handsome black 
 walnut. The Twenty-First Massachusetts was, after a few 
 days in camp, moved into the town of Mount Sterling to 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. Il6 
 
 act as provost-guard ; and the members so won the com 
 mendation of the townspeople that the regiment remained 
 there several months, while the rest of the brigade was 
 upon its travels. The business part of the town had been 
 raided and burned a short time before our arrival. 
 
 Hitherto, the Thirty-Fifth had been without a national 
 color, the stars and stripes. While at this camp, April 8, 
 Major William S. King joined, from home, bringing a fine 
 silk flag ; he received a cordial welcome, and was serenaded 
 by the glee club and brigade band. It was remarkable 
 that when we had last seen him he was being carried 
 from the field at Antietam with our blue silk flag in 
 charge ; now he reappeared, unable yet from wounds to 
 take the field, but still flag in hand. The new color was 
 sent from Boston by Colonel Wild, and was his last 
 memento to the regiment. Major King, soon afterwards 
 promoted to lieutenant-colonel, was made chief-of-staff of 
 the Second Division until July i, when he was appointed 
 Provost-Marshal General of Kentucky, and, subsequently, 
 in August, Military Commandant of the District of Lex 
 ington. From the last duty he was relieved, April 5, 1864, 
 and ordered to Boston, as superintendent of recruiting 
 service in Massachusetts, which position he held until 
 commissioned colonel of the Fourth Massachusetts Heavy 
 Artillery Regiment. On account of his disability after 
 Antietam, the men in the ranks of the regiment saw little 
 of him ; but no officer took a deeper interest in the Thirty- 
 Fifth or its men, wherever he met them, than Colonel 
 King. At the close of the war he was brevetted brigadier- 
 general. 
 
 Reports reached headquarters of suspicious characters 
 lurking about the neighborhood, and Adjutant Wales, with 
 Lieutenant Hatch and twenty-five volunteers, went in pur 
 suit, on the twelfth, capturing two men belonging to Hum- 
 
1 17 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 phrey Marshall s cavalry, whom they turned over to the 
 provost-marshal. A raid, on a larger scale, was made 
 (thirteenth and fourteenth) by the Fifty-First New York 
 and Twenty-First Massachusetts to a place called Sharps- 
 burg, about sixteen miles out, after guerillas. They were 
 gone a day, and returned with twenty citizens and thirty 
 horses. 
 
 One of the vexations of the service was the long delay, 
 after orders to march, before the actual start. In excep 
 tional cases, the order to "pack up and be ready to march 
 in half an hour" was fulfilled according to the programme, 
 but more often the order came for preparation at some 
 unseasonable time, at evening or midnight; there would 
 be half an hour of haste, all would be ready, then would 
 follow hours or days of waiting for the momentarily ex 
 pected command to "fall in." It was the uncomfortable 
 result of the transmission of orders through the corps, 
 division and brigade headquarters to the regiment. The 
 lesson of patience is thus well learned by the soldier ; 
 high resolve and self-sacrificing spirit sustain him at the 
 start, but, after experiencing the countless irritations of 
 army discipline, it all settles down finally into a dogged 
 determination to hang on and endure all things. So on 
 the sixteenth the regiment was packed up all night, in 
 order to get off at the hour of four the next morning 1 
 Such things are easily borne in the presence of the enemy, 
 but in such a place as we then were the unnecessary loss 
 of sleep made the men angry. 
 
 The march of eighteen miles was westward to Winchester, 
 a pretty village, where we camped upon another of those 
 charming park- like grounds, remaining two weeks. The 
 paymaster made his welcome visit on the eighteenth, and, 
 in his wake, gathered shoals of pedlers, with country 
 produce, chicken and squirrel pies, fancy biscuits and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. Il8 
 
 roasted geese, the best of Old Kentucky viands ; the boys 
 did not go hungry. A new sutler appeared, one Gostoffer, 
 a careful man, but one not wise to attach his fortunes to 
 such a peripatetic organization. He did not get all that 
 the paymaster left, for the colonel rode over to Lexington 
 and expressed home, to the families of the members of 
 the regiment, the goodly sum of $12,000 of their pay. 
 Allotment rolls were prepared and sent to Massachusetts, 
 by which a portion of the pay of the men was made over 
 directly to families from the paymaster there, and risk of 
 loss by mail or express avoided. 
 
 The trim surroundings affected the men, and their per 
 sonal appearance received extra care ; even the paper 
 collar appeared, a certain indication of soft times, and 
 Sunday church-going became quite a matter of course. 
 General Sturgis reviewed the Second Brigade, and, as 
 part of the ceremony, marched us through the town, 
 battery and all, making a fine pageant. Tableaux were 
 presented in town, for the benefit of the hospitals, in 
 which the glee club took part, singing "Joys that we ve 
 tasted," "Lovely Night," and other airs, with frequent 
 applause. Evening dress-parades and Sunday inspections 
 were executed with the "snap" and punctiliousness our 
 late drill had taught. It was the first camp in which the 
 Thirty-Fifth enacted the part of a " crack " regiment, in 
 the presence of admiring spectators and lady friends. On 
 the twenty-seventh of April, Major King, Adjutant Wales, 
 Lieutenant Hatch and twenty-five men went upon a scout, 
 but returned unsuccessful the birds had flown. 
 
 Pickets and guards were distributed through the country 
 about camp, for Morgan s cavalry was a quickly moving 
 body, and a certain amount of watchfulness had to be 
 maintained even in these peaceful scenes. A pleasing 
 trick of the men to secure some of the coveted whiskey 
 
119 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 with which that district of Kentucky abounded was 
 for the picket to arrange with some colored brother to 
 fetch a jug of the corn-juice to an appointed place, where 
 the greenbacks would be present and the officers absent, 
 carefully warning him to beware of the provost-guard ; 
 thereupon a volunteer provost, of duly informed friends 
 from camp, were, by a remarkable coincidence, sure to 
 pounce upon the victim at the appointed spot, and, with 
 hearts as hard as adamant, sure to confiscate the ardent, 
 to the countryman s dismay. The jug would be borne to 
 camp in an innocent looking sack, to await the return of 
 the pickets ; but, alas ! sometimes the jug mysteriously 
 leaked, while waiting, and the thirsty pickets found them 
 selves as badly gulled as their sable friend. It used to be 
 said that certain old lovers of whiskey, as soon as tents 
 were pitched upon new ground, could strike a bee-line for 
 the nearest supply with unfailing certainty. 
 
 Colonel Wild was promoted to the grade of brigadier- 
 general, to date April 25 ; Lieutenant-Colonel Carruth 
 succeeded to the vacancy. Captain Andrews resigned, 
 after constant service with the regiment, having succeeded 
 to command, as senior captain, in two battles, and, also, 
 during several months in camp, in the unavoidable absence 
 of his superiors. Adjutant Wales sent in his resignation 
 on the twenty-fourth; but, at the colonel s solicitation, 
 withdrew it. First Lieutenant Park was, soon after, 
 commissioned captain, Second Lieutenant Pope, first 
 lieutenant, and Sergeants Meserve and Tobey, second 
 lieutenants. The medical staff suffered an entire change: 
 Surgeon Lincoln and Assistant Surgeons Munsell and 
 Clark resigning, and Surgeon Snow, who joined here, suc 
 ceeding, with Assistant Surgeon Roche in July. Alfred 
 Williams became our ever -faithful hospital steward. 
 There was a little fun at regimental headquarters over 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. I2O 
 
 this appointment of a steward. The future wearer of 
 the golden "caduceus," as unassuming a man as could 
 be found in the regiment, was summoned to the colonel s 
 tent, unwarned of what was in store for him ; there he 
 found the colonel and Surgeon Snow, with grave faces, 
 in deep cogitation over a sealed envelope, which, in fact, 
 contained the warrant of appointment. After some words 
 from the officers upon the sternness of the requirements 
 of discipline, the victim, whose countenance the while 
 expressed every degree of astonishment and mortification, 
 was informed that the envelope, which was handed to him, 
 contained certain charges against him, and that he might 
 retire to his quarters and prepare his defence. Somewhat 
 dazed he departed, but soon returned, having discovered 
 the point of the joke upon tearing the cover, and with 
 beaming face, amid a general laugh, expressed his will 
 ingness to answer the charge, and do honor to the 
 appointment, by the exercise of his utmost skill, then 
 and thereafter, upon any of the group who might desire 
 an amputation, blue pill or dose of castor oil. 
 
 Quartermaster Upton suffered a broken arm by a fall 
 from a strange horse, and, while he was laid up, Lieu 
 tenant Hawes was appointed to act in his place. An 
 order assigning the officers, present and absent, was issued 
 as follows : 
 
 Company A Captain, S. H. Andrews, succeeded by 
 Captain E. G. Park ; first lieutenant, J. W. Ingell ; second 
 lieutenant, Joseph Gottlieb. 
 
 Company B Captain, C. A. Blanchard; first lieutenant, 
 Gamaliel Hodges ; second lieutenant, N. W. Collins. 
 
 Company C Captain, T. P. Cheever ; first lieutenant, 
 F. B. Mirick ; second lieutenant, J. S. Tobey. 
 
 Company D Captain ; first lieutenant, John 
 
 W. Hudson ; second lieutenant, T. D. Hodges. 
 
121 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Company E Captain, D. J. Preston; first lieutenant, 
 J. B. Stickney ; second lieutenant, M. B. Hawes. 
 
 Company F Captain, S. C. Oliver; first lieutenant, 
 A. Hatch ; second lieutenant, A. Floyd. 
 
 Company G Captain, William Gibson ; first lieutenant, 
 William Washburn, Jr. ; second lieutenant, . 
 
 Company H Captain, B. F. Pratt ; first lieutenant, 
 George P. Lyons ; second lieutenant, J. W. Dean. 
 
 Company I Captain, John Lathrop ; first lieutenant, 
 Oliver Burrell ; second lieutenant, . 
 
 Company K Captain, E. G. Hood; first lieutenant, 
 A. A. Pope ; second lieutenant, W. N. Meserve. 
 
 Some of these officers temporarily served in different 
 companies from the above, in the absence of the per 
 manent officers. The brigade at this time was commanded 
 by Colonel Hartranft, of the Fifty-First Pennsylvania. 
 
 On the fourth of May the command began the march 
 to the south side of the Kentucky River, averaging about 
 fifteen miles travel each day. The following is a brief 
 itinerary : May 4, inarched at 8 A. M. to within seven miles 
 of Lexington ; wet day ; camp near a brook. May 5, 
 marched at 7 A. M. through Lexington and five miles 
 beyond ; showers ; camped near a brick church on the 
 left of the road. May 6, marched at 7 A. M. through 
 Nicholasville, by the site of the future Camp Nelson, 
 across the Kentucky River at Hickman s Bridge sur 
 rounded by fine, almost sublime scenery and went into 
 camp in the mud upon a hill near some log cabins ; rained 
 all night. May 7, roads muddy; through Camp Dick 
 Robinson to Lancaster, and camped on a hill side. May 
 8, cloudy ; marched at 8 A. M. ; road, hilly and rough ; 
 camp at Paint Lick Creek, near a fine spring ; the place 
 is also called Lowell. May 9, cleaning up and inspection. 
 May 10, reveille at 5 A. M. ; marched at eight back to Lan- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 122 
 
 caster. We always camped in the south or south-east 
 suburbs of the places near which we were posted ; that 
 being the direction from which raids were anticipated. 
 
 Our way on this journey lay through the paradise of 
 nature about Lexington, in the month of flowers, and the 
 hot sun and heavy knapsacks were forgotten in admiration of 
 that charming rural country. When passing through towns 
 column was formed, company or platoon front, and, with 
 drums beating and colors displayed, we did our best to 
 impress upon the natives our soldierly character and war 
 like disposition to defend the defenceless and carry woe 
 to the foeman. What a gallant show our heroes made on 
 such occasions ! At the crossing of the Kentucky River 
 the weather was rainy, the dust upon the hard road became 
 a thin skim of mud, which penetrated the shoes, worn by 
 the grinding rock, and cut and galled the feet badly. An 
 army brogan, made in imitation of a moccasin for use on 
 soft prairie land, was not stiff enough in the sole for such 
 work, and gave out after a few days wear. The quarter 
 master, however, found such easy hauling for the teams 
 that, contrary to his usual gentle negative, when offered a 
 foot-sore man s pack to carry he even smiled upon such 
 applicants, and answered, " Oh yes, pile them on ; if they 
 will stick, the mules will pull them all ! " 
 
 This reminds us that we have not yet mentioned that 
 useful masked battery, the army mule, for whom all men 
 in the ranks had a fellow feeling his treatment and that 
 of the common soldier were so much alike ; each was 
 expected to have endless endurance, and to be willing to 
 take any amount of punishment without flinching. His 
 cheerful voice was the accompaniment of our dreams, 
 "haw-he! haw-he! haw-he!" a sound, when first heard, 
 so strange as to strike the hearer dumb with terror. But 
 the boys soon learned that it was the signal of trains with 
 
123 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 supplies, and welcomed it as the most melodious of voices. 
 If the doctrine of the transmigration of souls were true, 
 what sinners those mules must have been in the former 
 stages of their existence ! 
 
 At Lancaster the colonel was, if possible, more exacting 
 than ever; nothing could suit him which was not done on 
 time or at the double-quick. Coming back from Paint 
 Lick special stress was laid upon falling out; the men kept 
 the ranks and files perfectly, and the ten miles were paced 
 off at a rate by the watch, which gave even him satisfaction. 
 Drills were in quick time or the double-quick. Shelter 
 tents were struck, knapsacks packed, line formed, the 
 regiment countermarched, company streets laid out anew 
 and tents up again all in the space of twenty minutes. 
 In truth, and without exaggeration, the Thirty-Fifth had 
 at this time, under efficient tutelage, become a model 
 regiment in drill, discipline, dress, and arrangement of 
 camp. General Sturgis, accompanied by his staff, after 
 viewing one of the parades of the regiment, remarked, 
 "That beats the regulars!" The thorough instruction 
 then received was never forgotten ; but, through whatever 
 hardships the men passed, when better times came around 
 a few days of favorable surroundings quickly retored the 
 regiment to its high standard. 
 
 Kentucky, being loyal, was not affected by the Eman 
 cipation Proclamation, and still continued to be a slave 
 State ; naturally, the runaway slaves sought service in the 
 army as attendants upon officers. General Burnside issued 
 an order, forbidding officers or men "to impede the service 
 of civil process having in view the recovery of slaves of 
 citizens of the State, to abet their escape, or employ them 
 against the consent of owners." This was an offset to his 
 famous order, containing the words, " It must be distinctly 
 understood that treason, expressed or implied, will not be 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 124 
 
 tolerated in this department." A negro boy, called "Mace," 
 had attached himself to our regiment, and a frequent call 
 from the officers tents was, " Mace ! Mace ! where is, that 
 d d Mace ! " One day a person, claiming to be his owner, 
 came upon the ground, and at headquarters was invited to 
 inspect the camp in quest of his delinquent chattel. Of 
 course, Mace was as scarce as usual ; the trembling wretch, 
 knowing where the softest heart beat, albeit under the 
 roughest exterior, lay hid under Lieutenant IngelPs bed, 
 upon which reposed the massive frame of its owner. In 
 due course, the claimant lifted the flap of the tent and 
 looked in ; no negro was visible, but Ingell reclined there, 
 revolver in hand, with all the ferocity of expression he 
 could summon flashing from his eyes, one glance of which 
 was sufficient to satisfy the hunter that, whether the prey 
 was there or not, it would be better not to disturb such a 
 couchant lion ; and he retired without discovering the 
 ebony. Ingell subjected himself to the danger of arrest 
 and punishment, but when did the dear old boy ever 
 estimate personal consequences when his sympathies were 
 appealed to by any one ! He is said to have remarked 
 that " no one, whether from heaven or hell, could search 
 that tent ! " It is to be remembered, also, that this was 
 in the heart of Old Kentucky, the home of Mrs. Stowe s 
 "Uncle Tom," and every dark skin in distress seemed 
 entitled to claim kinship with that old hero. 
 
 At Lancaster the turnpike divides. The road to the 
 south-east passes through Crab Orchard to Cumberland 
 Gap, becoming rougher and wilder as it proceeds. The 
 road to the south leads to Stanford and Somerset, near 
 Mill Springs the scene of General Thomas s victory over 
 Zollicoffer and traverses a more settled country upon 
 the Cumberland River; both roads, however, terminate 
 in East Tennessee. It was to be our fortune in the future 
 
125 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 to go to Tennessee by the first route and return by the 
 second ; at present, however, we took but a step upon 
 each^ 
 
 On the twenty-third of May, the brigade left Lancaster 
 for Crab Orchard, some twelve miles, over very dusty 
 roads, stopping over Sunday upon the banks of Dick s 
 River, a bright, clear stream, in which the boys enjoyed 
 a welcome bath. Camp had hardly been laid out on 
 Monday evening, at Crab Orchard, when an unexpected 
 summons came to proceed at once to Stanford. The 
 distance was only a dozen miles, but the cross-road was 
 deep with dust, which rose in suffocating clouds, making 
 the night darker and marching irksome, so that the men 
 reached Stanford in a charming state of ill temper. Camps 
 were passed all along, rather to our surprise, for up to this 
 time we had met no troops other than the Ninth Corps. 
 
 Preparations were making at Stanford for a grand advance 
 of all the forces into East Tennessee, by this road through 
 Somerset. Meanwhile, we camped quietly on one of those 
 charming lawns, this time almost under the eaves of a 
 mansion house, in which the officers messes obtained lux 
 urious fare, with even an imp of darkness to keep the flies 
 from their elevated noses with a peacock-feather brush. 
 The enlisted men, whom the increasing warmth of summer 
 affected with a desire for something lighter than the stand 
 ard bacon sides and hard bread, sought a change of food 
 at the tables of hospitable citizens for a modest consider 
 ation. In short, it began to be evident that we were 
 waxing fat enough to kill. Take a sample from Company 
 H : " Ho, there, James ! " called the sergeant, " you are 
 detailed for picket ! " " Picket, sergeant, picket ! why, I 
 ca-a-n t go, sergeant ; I ca-a-n t go ! " " Ca-a-n t go ; why 
 not ? " " Why, I ca-a-n t go, sergeant, I haven t had my 
 coffee ! " 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 126 
 
 While here a slave auction occurred in town ; a woman 
 and twin boys of eleven years were sold. The woman 
 brought four hundred and five dollars ; the boys were bid 
 off for three hundred and fifty and three hundred and five 
 dollars. This took place while the provost-guard in the 
 place was Company C, under Lieutenant Tobey, from the 
 patriotic city of Chelsea, from directly under the shadow 
 of the State House of that abolition State, Massachusetts, 
 and not a word or act of remonstrance ! Clearly the habit 
 of obedience to orders without question was becoming 
 deeply impressed, and, perhaps, upon a nearer view of the 
 " institution " it appeared less repulsive, especially when 
 compared with the condition of an enlisted man in the 
 ranks. 
 
 While the regiment was out on skirmish drill one after 
 noon, General Ferrero came riding by in his usual dashing, 
 McClellan style, and announced that his commission as 
 brigadier- general had been confirmed. He seemed highly 
 pleased to return to the brigade, and the men received 
 him with loud hurrahs, for it was always pleasant to see 
 accustomed faces back in their old places. Lieutenant 
 T. D. Hodges left the regiment to accept promotion in 
 General Wild s African Brigade. 
 
 Orders were received to have eight days rations con 
 stantly on hand five in knapsack, three in haversack 
 and all overcoats and superfluous clothing to be sent back 
 to Camp Nelson, in view of a forced march into East 
 Tennessee ; but, here again, fate had other things in store 
 for us before we should cross the Cumberland. The cus 
 tomary command, " Pack up and be ready to march imme 
 diately," reached us late in the afternoon of June 3, while 
 the regiment was on battalion drill ; and, as if there was 
 an attack somewhere in the neighborhood, we seized our 
 luggage, fell in and moved out upon the road at a quick 
 
127 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 pace the attack to be met was only about nine hundred 
 miles away by the route to be travelled. The head of column 
 turned north instead of south, and then curiosity was highly 
 excited to know "where we were bound " ; the only reply 
 was " The Army of the Potomac or Vicksburg, it is not 
 known which " ; and it was not until next day that word 
 was passed along the line that we were bound for Vicks 
 burg Vicksburg! Hades rather! the place, the cli 
 mate, and the warfare thereabouts had at that time the 
 reputation associated with the fiery pit of Gehenna. Gen 
 eral Grant was besieging Vicksburg and needed more force ; 
 we were to be lent to him for a time. 
 
 We kept on the road until one in the morning; then 
 turned into a church-yard for a short nap upon the un- 
 mown grass. At sunrise we were up and on again, and 
 all day until four in the afternoon, when we reached Nich- 
 olasville, thirty-four miles in twenty-two hours, including 
 halts for rest no joke to a soldier marching in close 
 ranks, under a hot sun, weighted with arms and knapsack. 
 It seemed as if the spirit of Grant had seized us at the 
 very start, to show how inarches were to be made when 
 he should grasp the reins. At Nicholasville, while the 
 baggage was being loaded, a locomotive exploded. Among 
 the men injured was John Leverett, of Company C, who 
 was so severely scalded that he died next day. 
 
 Crowding into the box cars at 9 P. M., foot-sore and dusty, 
 we selected the least uncomfortable position attainable, 
 and, speeding all night along the rails, were crossing the 
 river into Cincinnati at ten o clock next morning. Arms 
 were stacked in the street near the Sanitary Commission 
 Rooms, while waiting for food and transportation, and the 
 men were plied with attentions by the hospitable citizens. 
 Hot dinners were offered ; oranges were distributed ; small 
 boys were started at a run with pails of foaming beer to 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 128 
 
 try how far they could get among the men before their 
 cargo was captured ; altogether it was a festive time. 
 Mirth and fun grew fast and furious, for we were bound 
 for Vicksburg ; and the soldier drowns care of the future 
 in present joy. At night we were again packed in the box 
 cars upon the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, and were 
 traversing the broad cornfields of Indiana, passing through 
 Seymour and Mitchell, and over the bridge across the 
 Wabash at Vincennes. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MIDSUMMER IN MISSISSIPPI VICKSBURG AND JACKSON, 1863. 
 
 ON the sixth of June we were crossing the State of 
 Illinois, the level country stretching out like an 
 ocean to the horizon. Men on the car-tops practised 
 shooting on the wing at the pigs in the groves beside the 
 track, until it was found that the sport was growing into a 
 general fusillade and had to be stopped. Warm greetings 
 were extended to the troops by the inhabitants all along 
 the route. At one station the ladies were more than 
 usually attractive and very demonstrative in waving their 
 white handkerchiefs. Attracted by a flutter in the rear 
 of the officers car, the colonel found Lieutenants Hatch 
 and Washburn vigorously shaking in the air a gray blanket 
 of the largest size. "What s this, what s this, gentlemen?" 
 "Oh," replied Hatch, "don t you comprehend? there are 
 the ladies ; here are we ; this is the regimental pocket- 
 handkerchief long may it wave ! " 
 
 At Sandoval we changed direction from due west to 
 south, taking the Illinois Central Railroad. While waiting 
 for the train in the afternoon, the colonel to take the 
 cramps out of us and keep all hands from mischief 
 ordered a battalion drill. Perhaps the smooth, seemingly 
 limitless prairie offered a field for the exercise too oppor 
 tune to be neglected. The men groaned, but were soon 
 at work, changing direction, forming in mass, etc., on the 
 broadest parade-ground ever occupied. At Centralia, in the 
 
130 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 evening, pans of hot beef-steaks were passed into the cars, 
 and devoured as ravenously as by the animals in a men 
 agerie a name, by the way, which the Richmond papers 
 adopted in mentioning the Ninth Corps, " Burnside s Trav 
 elling Menagerie." 
 
 In the morning of June 7 we were at the jumping-off 
 place Cairo disembarking from the cars upon the 
 levee, at the mouth of the Ohio. This town, like the 
 land of Egypt from which it derives its name, is subject 
 to overflows, against which the citizens guard their lands 
 by broad dykes, upon which the streets are laid out, giving 
 the place a unique appearance, and, at least at the time 
 we saw it, entitling it to the name of the biggest mud-hole 
 we had met with up to date. The cooks built fires upon 
 the river bank and put the salt-pork on to boil, while the 
 men bathed in the tepid waters of the Ohio, diving off the 
 great coal barges. Tents were pitched for one night along 
 the muddy levee. The immense steamboat Imperial, with 
 decks tier above tier, was assigned to transport General 
 Ferrero and staff, the Eleventh New Hampshire, Ben 
 jamin s Battery, " E," Second United States Artillery and 
 our regiment, and late in the afternoon of the eighth we 
 were on board, with a mass of freight, and swung with the 
 current out of the Ohio upon the broad Mississippi, whose 
 winding course we were to follow for some five hundred 
 miles. 
 
 The great river, the Father of Waters, is impressive 
 only when we consider its volume, the great distance it 
 flows, and the vast extent of country which its branches 
 water. Like many other marvels, a partial view is tame 
 and ineffective. The banks are but little elevated above 
 the water, arid stretch off interminably, for the most part 
 still clothed with forest, the soil of blue clay or sand, with 
 occasional banks of red or yellow earth. The stream 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 131 
 
 meanders about so that in some of its windings it is 
 difficult to tell whether a steamboat, of which the smoke 
 may be visible over the trees, is coming up or following 
 down. But as we keep on day after day, and think that, 
 after all, we are traversing but a small portion of its course, 
 we begin to appreciate the majesty of the great river : 
 
 " Far down the beautiful river, 
 
 Past the Ohio shore, and past the mouth of the Wabash, 
 Into the golden stream of the broad and swift Mississippi ; 
 Onward o er sunken sands, through a wilderness sombre with forest, 
 Day after day they glided adown the turbulent river ; 
 Now through rushing chutes, among green islands, .where plume-like 
 Cotton woods nodded their shadowy crests, they swept with the 
 
 current, 
 
 Then emerged into broad lagoons, where silvery sand bars 
 Lay in the stream." 
 
 The names of places, then familiar to readers of the 
 war news, served as mile-posts to mark our descent : 
 Columbus, with General Folk s old fortifications, where 
 we ran aground and stuck all night ; Belmont, opposite, 
 where General Grant made his first essay in the war; 
 Island Number 10, which we passed on the ninth, the 
 scene of General Pope s victory ; Memphis, reached on 
 the tenth, famous for its gun-boat fight; Helena, where 
 we hitched up to the bank on the twelfth, which was, 
 within a few weeks after our visit, to be attacked and 
 bravely defended ; Milliken s Bend, on the thirteenth, and 
 other places at first, the states of Missouri and Arkansas 
 on the west, Kentucky and Tennessee on the east, and 
 now, as we approach our goal, Louisiana on the west and 
 Mississippi on the east. 
 
 Events on board were few, and card playing was resorted 
 to by many for amusement. The paymaster entertained 
 us one evening at Memphis with a greenback reception, 
 
132 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 and next day our sutler, Gostoffer, who at such times 
 clung closer than a brother, having us cornered on board, 
 exacted his dues for past luxuries. At Memphis we stopped 
 for coal, and at evening the levee was bright with twinkling 
 fires of the cooks preparing the rations. A certain degree 
 of reckless feeling seemed to inspire all on board ; the 
 body of a drowned soldier, who had probably fallen in 
 while intoxicated, was rolling in the water, between the 
 boats and the shore, and no one seemed to feel moved 
 to give it burial. 
 
 After leaving Memphis, the eleven crowded steamboats 
 kept within sight of each other for protection. General 
 Parke commanded on the Silver Moon, which occasionally 
 sounded its calliope. Details were made to picket the 
 hurricane deck, and these guards lay, rifle in hand, to 
 return with a volley any shot from the wooded shore which 
 lurking bushwhackers might send us. Our loaded boat 
 drew eight feet of water, and as there was but nine in the 
 channel the pilot was afraid to run in the night below 
 Helena, so the bows of the boat were run upon the bank 
 and pickets were sent ashore to prevent surprise. The 
 lead was thrown for soundings, and the boys caught the 
 lingo, "A quarter less three," "And a half six," etc., which 
 on many a rainy night afterwards, in bivouac or plodding 
 in the mud, served as a call which never failed to raise a 
 laugh. The water in the stream was of a gray color, and 
 when allowed to settle deposited fine sand, leaving the 
 upper part clear and palatable for drinking. 
 
 We reached Sherman s Landing, below Young s Point, on 
 the fourteenth of June, and disembarked upon the forest- 
 covered western bank, at the north end of the great ditch 
 or cut-off, which, commenced by General Williams in 1862, 
 and worked upon by the army of General Grant in the 
 February preceding our landing, was intended to turn the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 133 
 
 river and afford a passage to the fleet, harmlessly, past 
 Vicksburg. The soil was clayey and hard to dig through, 
 the dams broke unexpectedly and drove out the workmen, 
 and the river still ran undisturbed in its own channel. 
 Since the war the river has worn a channel through this 
 peninsula, at a point between this wrongly located ditch 
 and the city front. Down stream, looking south-east, lay 
 in plain view the buildings of the city of Vicksburg, situ 
 ated upon the high east bank, the court-house towering 
 conspicuously. Below us, under the right bank, were our 
 mortar-boats, enclosed rafts, each carrying a mortar of the 
 largest size, from which was thrown every few minutes a 
 shell into the doomed city. While the siege lasted these 
 ugly fellows kept up an incessant knocking at the front 
 door, while Grant and Sherman thundered at the rear. 
 Almost directly opposite our landing-place was the mouth 
 of the Yazoo River. 
 
 General Grant, having tried ineffectually as had Gen 
 eral Sherman previously to gain the rear of the city by 
 movements up the Yazoo, and failing in the cut-offs and 
 other schemes for getting by, had conceived the admirable 
 plan of taking the city in rear from the south. Gun-boats 
 and transports had run the gauntlet of Confederate bat 
 teries at the city and below, and were then used to ferry 
 the army across at Bruinsburg, below Bayou Pierre and 
 the mouth of the Big Black River, which flow in from the 
 north-east below the city, as the Yazoo does above. The 
 general then led his forces up the Big Black, making a 
 detour to Jackson, to turn back the Confederate army of 
 General Johnston the Fifty-Ninth Indiana being first in 
 the city and then coming back upon General Pemberton 
 enclosed him with his forces in Vicksburg. The fighting 
 had been sanguinary at Port Gibson, Raymond, Champion s 
 Hill and Big Black Bridge, but always in favor of the Union 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 cause, and greatly to the honor of the Thirteenth, Fifteenth 
 and Seventeenth Corps, the troops engafed. Upon arriv 
 ing behind the city Grant had ordered the usual grand 
 assault, on the twenty-second of May, which, as usual, was 
 a failure ; and since then regular approaches had been 
 made and a complete state of siege maintained. We were 
 not wanted to aid in the operations upon the lines facing 
 the city, there was sufficient force present for that purpose ; 
 our assistance was needed upon the reverse face, looking 
 to the east, where General Johnston threatened an advance 
 upon the rear of the troops fronting the city. General 
 Sherman had command of the left wing of the army 
 including the force fronting Johnston and to him our 
 two divisions were assigned. 
 
 Our landing below Young s Point was made in accord 
 ance with a first intention of placing our divisions at the 
 extreme south end of the city, which was the weakest part 
 of the circle of investment ; accordingly, on the fifteenth 
 of June, we crossed the Vicksburg and Shreveport Rail 
 road, on the Louisiana shore, through the swamp, south, 
 to the river bank below the city, at a point opposite War- 
 renton. The landing-place was crowded with negroes of 
 both sexes, who had attached themselves to the army, the 
 men enlisting in the loyal Louisiana and Mississippi regi 
 ments then forming ; they were a ragged and forlorn- 
 looking crowd. We, with the Seventh-Ninth New York 
 and Eighth Michigan, had boarded the steamboat Forest 
 Queen, and were examining the shot-holes and damages 
 she had sustained while running the batteries, when orders 
 came to disembark and camp in a cotton-wood grove on 
 the river bank. No sooner were tents pitched than a 
 command arrived to return to Sherman s Landing, which 
 was done, part of the way after dark, and very dark it was. 
 The men did not object to the trip, as they had a good 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 135 
 
 look at a Louisiana swamp, going and returning, and 
 another view of the city from below. The most noticeable 
 thing in the swamp was the trailing moss upon the trees, 
 which gave them the appearance of being hung in mourn 
 ing, and added a gloom to the forest which affected the 
 wayfarer. Vines with flaming trumpet flowers somewhat 
 relieved the sombre obscurity. 
 
 At noon, next day, we went aboard the Omaha, and, in 
 a heavy thunder storm, paddled up the Yazoo to Haines s 
 Bluff. The boat was crowded with men, and as no landing 
 was permitted until morning it was difficult to find space 
 to sit down, not to mention the luxury of lying at full 
 length. The heavy cannon, which had made the approach 
 to this point impracticable to our gun-boats, were still 
 resting in the earthworks, where the Confederates had so 
 hastily abandoned them when Grant came in their rear. 
 In the morning, the Western troops, who had occupied this 
 point, marching away as we landed, we proceeded inland, 
 about five miles, to Milldale, where camp was formed as 
 well as the narrow vale in which we were located would 
 permit, near a fine spring of water. The first days were 
 given to examining the country and eating blackberries, 
 until the lines could be laid out which we were to con 
 struct and defend if need be. One morning, while the 
 morning report books were under discussion, a heavy 
 explosion was heard in the direction of the city, followed 
 by heavier firing than ordinary, said to have been the 
 explosion of a mine under one of the enemy s forts. Upon 
 another morning General Grant visited our encampment, 
 and called upon General Parke, who commanded our 
 corps, to which a division of the Sixteenth Corps had been 
 temporarily added. General Potter led our division and 
 General Ferrero our brigade. 
 
 The district back of Vicksburg, called Walnut Hills, is 
 
136 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 cut by deep dells or ravines, like immense furrows, in all 
 directions. One goes up, then down, repeatedly, unless 
 following a ridge. Even the city itself is located upon 
 the same system, and the cuttings of the streets to grade, 
 through the ridges, served the citizens for convenient 
 banks, in which they dug the caves which sheltered them 
 from the mortar-firing above mentioned. Where we were 
 it was only necessary to throw up a breastwork upon 
 the ridge selected, cut down the trees, which grew thickly 
 upon the outer side, for a slashing or abatis; plant the 
 artillery at commanding angles, and a line was established 
 which was impregnable. General Johnston knew the diffi 
 culties of the approach and kept a respectful distance, near 
 Birdsong s Ferry, inclining rather to the south, down the 
 Big Black which ran across our front in hopes of suc 
 coring Pemberton, whose sortie, if made, would aim natu 
 rally in that direction. As soon as the work of digging 
 this line was commenced, we moved a mile nearer the 
 Yazoo landing, and pitched tents upon a side hill, in order 
 to be near the scene of our labors. The heat of the sun 
 was excessive ; fortunately, we were able to keep in shade 
 except when on the ridge handling the pick and spade in 
 the trenches then the labor was very arduous. 
 
 The luxuries of the place were blackberries and wild 
 plums ; later on, peaches, figs and paw-paws. None of us 
 ever saw these fruits in greater abundance so, in the 
 intervals of digging and camp duty, the boys feasted upon 
 these, while the constant booming in the direction of the 
 city warned the berry-pickers that they were only playing 
 at peace. And even among the bushes one had to keep 
 his eyes open for bees and hornets, which also love sweets, 
 and the snakes, which were of prodigious size and fatness. 
 Several new insect torments here introduced themselves, 
 peculiar to the climate, but the mosquitoes were not so 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 137 
 
 troublesome as sometimes further north. The colonel 
 commenced instructing the sergeants in tactics, and, there 
 being no level ground for battalion manoeuvres, to employ 
 the time usefully turned his critical eye upon the officers 
 company books and accounts. This course of clerical drill 
 produced valuable fruits, when at the end of their service 
 the officers came to settle with the auditor at Washington 
 for the losses and mishaps of such varied campaigns. Cap 
 tain Blanchard left for home, having resigned ; but he was 
 afterwards restored to his rank and returned to the regiment. 
 On the twenty-ninth we moved still further south-east, 
 about eight miles a hot march to McCalls, or Oak 
 Ridge ; and a sandy waterless ridge it was. In the deep 
 dells barrels were sunk ; these slowly collected from the 
 soil our drinking water, which was cool, though one often 
 had to wait a long while for a canteen-full. In the bright 
 moonlight nights the heavy masses of foliage and dark 
 shadows gave these ravines a very charming appearance. 
 Here we relieved some of Sherman s men, tall and straight 
 fellows, with their imposing felt hats, some armed with 
 Henry repeating rifles. They were full of stories about 
 the fights at Champion s Hill and other places, and we 
 Jistened with interest. To be sure the losses at Fred- 
 ericksburg alone in one day had been many more than 
 theirs during their whole campaign, but Eastern soldiers 
 were not inclined to boast of that day, and the Western 
 vim and self-confidence were so different from the tone of 
 the Eastern army it was a pleasure to listen to their talk. 
 We accepted in silence the epithets of "Holiday Soldiers," 
 etc., trusting to the course of events, rather than our 
 tongues, to prove our mettle. They had served well in 
 a magnificent campaign, and they were right to feel proud 
 of their share in it. At Oak Ridge we adopted from these 
 Western men the custom of raising beds and tents some 
 
138 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 two feet from the ground for the sake of coolness. The 
 usual bi-monthly muster for pay to compare the number 
 of men with the number on the rolls took place here, 
 and digging was resumed. 
 
 On the fourth of July we were enlivened by the arrival 
 of mails and rations, which kept us so busy we scarcely 
 noticed that the sounds of cannonading towards the city 
 had ceased. In course of the day, however, the rumor 
 was circulated that General Pemberton had surrendered, 
 and in the afternoon the news was officially confirmed 
 amid great rejoicing. The total losses to the Confederates 
 had been over 40,000 men, of whom 31,000 were the gar 
 rison of Vicksburg, and one hundred and seventy-two 
 pieces of artillery, with arms and munitions for 60,000 
 men ; altogether, the most damaging single blow the Con 
 federate cause suffered during the war. There was no 
 attempt at a triumph, and no troops, except General 
 Logan s division for a guard, marched into the city ; on 
 the contrary, the orders confirming the news also directed 
 an immediate march eastward to meet Johnston ; and, 
 before we could fairly realize the victory, we were upon 
 the road, leaving camp about six that evening, the men 
 feeling eager for a more active share in such achievements, 
 and, if ever such words are true, spoiling for a fight. 
 
 However, the excitement had time to cool a little during 
 the following two days while the corps lay massed by the 
 road side, waiting for the construction of a bridge over the 
 Big Black, at Birdsong s Ferry, by the leading brigade, of 
 which the Thirty-Sixth Massachusetts formed a part. Here 
 Assistant Surgeons Roche and Coburn joined, but the 
 latter was never mustered in, the regiment had become 
 too reduced in numbers to be entitled to two assistants. 
 Quartermaster Upton also returned, his arm having healed, 
 and took position on the division staff. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 139 
 
 General Sherman s plan of action is briefly stated in the 
 following order, circulated here : 
 
 "GENERAL ORDERS, No. 52. 
 " HEADQUARTERS OF THE EXPEDITION, 
 
 "CAMP AT FLOX, July 6, 1863. 
 
 " IV. The movement (of this division) will begin at four 
 o clock P. M. of July 6 (to-day). VI. All commanders will 
 hold their troops in perfect order for battle at all times, 
 and on encountering the enemy will engage him at once. 
 VII. Private pillage and plunder must cease; our sup 
 plies are now ample ; the people of the country 
 
 should be protected as far as possible against wanton acts 
 of irresponsible parties, etc. 
 
 " By order of MAJ. GEN. SHERMAN, 
 
 " R. M. SAWYER, A. A. G. 
 "Official: G. H. McKiBBEN, A. A. 6V 
 
 Drinking water became an item of chief interest at once, 
 and continued to be during the march. The soil was 
 porous and quickly absorbed rain, the rivers were swampy, 
 and the water said to be poisonous or malarious. Small 
 streams or springs there were none ; the people stored 
 their drinking water in huge brick cisterns under ground. 
 There were occasional clayey pond-holes where the rain 
 collected, which were our source of supply ; and the water 
 from them was sufficiently muddy and vile without the 
 flavoring extracted from the dead mule, which usually lay 
 stewing in the sun in the middle of the hole. The story 
 was that the retreating enemy had placed them there pur 
 posely; but this, like many similar tales, was crediting 
 them with too thoughtful a malignity. As the troops 
 passed, cotton presses, stored with bales of dbtton, then 
 of almost priceless value at the North, were seen waste- 
 fully burning, from lack of means of transportation. The 
 
140 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 old cotton-fields were planted with corn, now almost fit 
 for roasting, which formed an important part of our sus 
 tenance upon the trip. The people have a way, there 
 abouts, of girdling the immense trees instead of cutting 
 them down, and, thereafter, the slowly decaying trunks 
 barkless and for the most part branchless stand, like 
 ghosts, among the corn, forming a melancholy feature of 
 the scenery. 
 
 About two in the afternoon of July 7 the bridge was 
 ready and W 7 e crossed the river. In the bottom lands 
 some cotton-fields the sun beat down with power untem- 
 pered by the slightest breath of air. The effect was over 
 powering ; stout men dropped in the ranks as if shot, and 
 even the toughest gasped for breath and staggered on to 
 the upland, where there was some shade. The men affirm 
 that they never, before nor since, experienced such torrid 
 heat. The afterpiece was a thunder storm of great fury, 
 the flashing of the lightning and rolling of the thunder 
 being continuous instead of in explosions in the normal 
 way. Nevertheless, we kept upon the road, the grateful 
 rain pouring upon our soaked caps and down our backs in 
 bucketfuls. The mud in the road was unfathomable. At 
 midnight a halt was called, and, the storm having passed 
 over, we turned off the road in the pitchy darkness, and, 
 perched upon rails or brush, slept who could. Next morn 
 ing we had to wait for the road to dry, to be passable for 
 the artillery, and the start came again at mid-day ; where 
 upon the heat was so great as to compel a halt until the 
 sun should sink sufficiently to be borne, and thus the 
 march again drew out until midnight ; this time the air 
 being so warm and close as to induce drowsiness, so that 
 after every halt the men who had insensibly dropped asleep 
 had to be roused altogether, marching in such devitalized 
 air was trying work. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 14! 
 
 During the night of the tempest Lieutenant M. B. Hawes, 
 acting quartermaster, with the wagon train, was accident 
 ally killed. The following account of the storm and of the 
 lieutenant s death was written a few days after by one who 
 was near him at the time : 
 
 " It now became so dark I could not see my mare Sallie s 
 head. By this time the wind increased to a gale and it 
 never rained faster. Such vivid flashes of lightning and 
 such peals of thunder I never saw or heard. I found it 
 impossible to control Sallie on her back, so dismounted, 
 and then I had my hands full. The lightning struck all 
 around us, and boughs were falling in all directions. The 
 storm, or rather tempest, lasted about two hours, and, 
 more or less, all night. During the storm a bough fell 
 and struck Lieutenant Hawes, killing him instantly. He 
 was sitting in his wagon, only two or three wagons in rear 
 of ours. Lieutenant Hawes was a splendid fellow, pro 
 moted from the ranks, and was one of the most promising 
 officers in the regiment, and would, no doubt, soon have 
 been again promoted. I spoke with him only about an 
 hour before he was dead. He was always cheerful, with a 
 pleasant word for everybody. I understood the quarter 
 master of an Ohio regiment was also killed. Lieutenant 
 Hawes was buried next morning under a tree near the 
 place where he was killed." 
 
 We plodded along, during the eighth and ninth, towards 
 Jackson, through the cornfields and by-roads, the artillery 
 and trains occupying the best track, the forces of General 
 Johnston retiring as the Federals advanced. Sherman s 
 army of about 50,000 men marched in three columns, of 
 which our corps formed the left and most northerly. Our 
 route was by rough side roads ; but, thereby, we escaped 
 the worst of the dust. We passed the plantation of Joe 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 and Jefferson Davis, but hurried by so fast no opportunity 
 was given for an examination of a place where the Pres 
 ident of the Confederacy had plotted rebellion long before 
 the war began. It was said that stragglers opened Jeff s 
 library to free circulation, with no penalty for books not 
 returned. As we approached Jackson, the Confederate 
 cavalry was encountered, and the artillery began shelling 
 them, while the troops were massed in an opening to await 
 the result. A large house was in flames near by, and some 
 of the men who strolled in that direction returned with 
 small articles they had picked up, rather to the disgust of 
 others who were not yet hardened even by the scenes in 
 Fredericksburg to approve useless plundering. Generals 
 Sherman and Parke issued rigorous orders, forbidding 
 everything of the kind we had been accustomed to keep 
 even the apple trees under guard in Virginia. As the war 
 progressed, however, and especially under Sherman and 
 Sheridan and certain Confederate raiders, this leniency 
 towards private property was less regarded it is a diffi 
 cult thing to manage in civil war. The afternoon was to 
 us a specimen scene from Sherman s future " March to 
 the Sea." 
 
 On the tenth, crossing the wide ocean it was like 
 nothing else of cornfields west of the city, we struck the 
 road leading north to Canton, and at evening were in line 
 of battle, facing the city lying south of us, and in this 
 position lay upon our arms all night. The right (Ord s 
 Corps) and centre (Steele s Corps) of the army enclosed 
 the south and west sides of the town ; to the east was 
 Pearl River, which the cavalry was expected to watch. 
 General Johnston had about 30,000 men for duty. 
 
 At dawn our troops were in line, advancing, the First 
 Division in front with skirmishers deployed. While mov 
 ing up, an officer in a uniform coat, faded from blue to 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 143 
 
 bottle green, rode quietly by, attended by one or two 
 others. He was General Sherman even then an object 
 of curiosity ; but where was the immense staff, the flash 
 and glitter, which we were accustomed to associate with 
 the chief of a great army ? Evidently our present com 
 mander had come out to see and not to be seen. 
 
 Reaching and passing the buildings of the State Asylum 
 for the Insane and the grove near it which served for 
 our hospital and where Company K was detailed for guard 
 we traversed the grounds and sweet-potato patches, and 
 halted upon a wooded hill-side. The Second Michigan 
 was skirmishing in front upon a ridge facing the enemy s 
 intrenchments, and our duty for the day was simply to be 
 ready in case they should need support. The heat was 
 intense and, added to their previous exertions, overpowered 
 some dozen of the men, and so affected even the colonel 
 that he was obliged to retire to the hospital. During the 
 day an occasional chance bullet visited us, one hitting 
 Folsom, of Company I who was noted for catching stray 
 balls but they did not come often enough to prevent the 
 men from falling asleep. In the absence of field officers 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell, of the Fifty-First New York, 
 was assigned to command the regiment. He proved to 
 be an able officer, of pleasant manners, and so won our 
 regard that he never afterwards could approach the quar 
 ters of the Thirty-Fifth without being cheered by the men.^ 
 
 Before daybreak of the twelfth, the Thirty-Fifth moved 
 forward noiselessly, and at sunrise relieved the Seventeenth 
 Michigan upon the skirmish line. The right of the regi 
 ment rested upon a ridge close to the Canton road; .here 
 Adjutant Wales, inspecting our skirmish line, discovered a 
 gap of about two hundred yards between our right which 
 was the right of the Ninth Corps and the left of the 
 
 * Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell died at Aurora, Indiana, on January 16, 1884. 
 
144 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Western troops ; reporting the fact to Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Mitchell, the adjutant was ordered to report to General 
 Ferrero, who, finding that we had one company (K) not 
 on the skirmish line, ordered him to put it in the interval, 
 which he did by deploying it as skirmishers behind the hill 
 and then advancing. The Confederates made it warm 
 for K s men when they appeared on the crest of the hill. 
 General Ferrero and Captain McKibben were present at 
 the time. At this point the Canton road there was a 
 Confederate battery in a covering work made of earth and 
 bales of cotton ; the space between the opposing lines was 
 low ground cleared of trees and underbush, except what 
 had been left for abatis. The enemy s lines of entrench 
 ment retired on both sides of the battery, sweeping back 
 to enclose the town, and were occupied by his infantry 
 (Loring s division, mostly Mississippi troops), with pickets 
 and sharpshooters lying in the woods in their front. In 
 short, it was such a line as we had been making at Mill- 
 dale to receive them, and which they had declined to attack. 
 The centre and left of the regiment was stretched out 
 as skirmishers for some quarter of a mile to the left, all 
 but the right companies being in thick woods with much 
 underbrush. As this was our first experience in such 
 bushwhacking business, the day s operations were very 
 interesting as well as exciting. The men lay low or kept 
 behind trees, exchanging shots with their opponents 
 who lurked under cover in the same way and watched 
 the artillery duel. Lieutenant Benjamin, with his favorite 
 twenty-pounders, opened upon the enemy ; once or twice, 
 while getting the range, dropping a shell short into our 
 line, in the pleasant way the gunners had of letting the 
 infantry know that they had artillery support. The Con 
 federates who manned the cotton battery were the noisiest 
 lot we ever listened to,; we were so close as to easily hear 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 145 
 
 everything, their words of command, the discharges, and 
 the yells which they gave every time, with the compliments 
 they sent with the shot. The noise they made seemed to 
 keep up their courage, and as for their missiles they went 
 whirring overheard in search of the lunatics in the asylum. 
 General Sherman posted about one hundred guns in good 
 positions, which commanded the city in every part, but, 
 as ammunition was short, delayed opening fire until the 
 supply trains should come up. At night the men were 
 ordered to fix bayonets and receive any sallying party 
 with cold steel. The only event was the missing of our 
 lines by men returning from the rear in the darkness ; 
 Sergeant Luther S. Bailey, of Company G, in this way 
 wandered over to the Confederates and was taken pris 
 oner. 
 
 At daylight, July 13, we were, in turn, relieved by the 
 Seventh Rhode Island. In coming forward for the pur 
 pose, they made what seemed to us rather too much racket 
 with orders and tin pots rattling upon bayonets. The 
 enemy thought it an advance of our lines, and commenced 
 shooting in a brisk manner at once, keeping up a more 
 steady firing all day, to the damage of the Seventh, who 
 lost some fifteen killed and wounded. As they had started 
 the game we were content to let them play it out, and 
 retired into the reserve line to cook the longed-for coffee. 
 
 The following is a sample of the events which were 
 happening along the line in such work : One of our ser 
 geants, having in his usual systematic way done up his 
 morning "chores," which consisted of carefully combing 
 his hair, shaking and folding his rubber blanket, reading 
 his morning chapter in the Bible, and disposing of a bit 
 of hard bread and a sip of water all the time moving 
 about without regard to shelter, as if there was not a 
 sharpshooter within a thousand miles at length, ready 
 
146 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 to be relieved, received the salutations of the sergeant of 
 the Seventh, who had come to take his place, and, holding 
 his rifle across his breast in his left hand, with his right 
 pointed out the localities where the Confederate pickets 
 were hidden ; a shot came at the instant, passed through 
 the body of the sergeant of the Seventh, killing him, and 
 smashed the lower band of the rifle of our sergeant, doing 
 him no harm. The marvel was that our man was not fired 
 at before, when he was shaking his blanket. 
 
 The enemy continued very uneasy all day; the Thirty- 
 Fifth lay in support as upon the first day, this time in rear 
 of the Sixth New Hampshire ; but the rumpus in front was 
 so continuous as to prevent catching much of the precious 
 sleep which the men now needed extremely. At one time 
 during the day the efforts of the enemy were so violent as 
 to appear like an attempt to break our front line; the 
 humming of the bullets was quite lively, and the regiment 
 formed, moved into position, and even charged forward a 
 little way ; but, finally, the Confederates desisted and the 
 lines quieted down. It is possible that the capture of 
 Bailey, informing them that they had Massachusetts men 
 in their front, had excited their spite. By the next morn 
 ing (fourteenth) the men were so used up, from lack of 
 rest and food and the heat, a day was given for a respite, 
 and the regiment marched to the rear of the Asylum. 
 Many of the boys took a plunge in a mud-hole near by, 
 which was more cooling than cleansing. It was so dry 
 and warm the men slept anywhere upon the ground with 
 out covering; few carried more luggage than a shelter 
 tent or piece of rubber blanket for protection in case of 
 rain. On the fifteenth, Captain Pratt and fifty men went 
 on a scout south-eastward towards Pearl River, in support 
 of the engineers, who were investigating that weak point 
 in our investment. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 147 
 
 At half-past one in the morning of the sixteenth we 
 moved up to the reserve post, relieved the Twenty-Seventh 
 Michigan in support of skirmishers, and lay in the road 
 running under the ridge the whole day, reading old papers, 
 etc., with an occasional chance shot or shell from the 
 enemy, or an order to fall in, fix bayonets, etc., to relieve 
 the dullness of waiting. During the day our skirmishers 
 were advanced and the enemy were driven into their 
 intrenchments, where they appeared to be in full force, 
 quieting the suspicions entertained by our generals that 
 an evacuation was in progress. At night we got about 
 two hours sleep, and then crept forward quietly and 
 relieved the Forty-Sixth New York (Germans) on the 
 skirmish line. The position was nearly the same as on 
 the twelfth, and therefore the broken Dutch instructions 
 of our predecessors were little needed. It was about two 
 o clock, quite dark, and some care was required to post 
 the men without noise. Having selected cover and a hard 
 bread to munch we waited patiently for dawn, or for some 
 venturesome foeman to expose himself. A bright light 
 appeared over the city, the bells rang for fire, and there 
 was a great stir; then the glow died out, and all was quiet. 
 The cocks began to crow and the birds commenced to 
 sing. There was an alarm about the centre of the regi 
 ment and the musketry was brisk for a few moments, but 
 nothing came of it. 
 
 Soon it was gray dawn, but still no shots from the 
 enemy ; it began to look suspicious. Lieutenant Ingell 
 was eager for an advance, and sent back to ask permission 
 to go forward. General Ferrero was on the alert, and the 
 order was passed along the line to send out a few men to 
 try and draw the enemy s fire. They went out, discharged 
 their pieces and returned, and no hostile shot replied. At 
 the battery something was seen waving like a signal, and, 
 
148 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 as light increased, it was found to be a white flag displayed 
 by a colored man, who asked if he could come over, and 
 was answered in the affirmative. He was met half way 
 by Sergeant-Major Berry and an officer of the Forty-Sixth 
 New York, each bearing a white flag; they learned that 
 the city was being evacuated. The information spread 
 quickly; the order was given to move upon the works. 
 The right companies, under Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell, 
 with the flags, at once dashed up the road to the cotton 
 battery, sending word along the line to rally on the colors. 
 They found the battery almost deserted, waved the colors 
 in token of success, and hastened forward through the 
 city to the State Capitol, upon which the Confederate flag 
 still floated. Adjutant Wales, Sergeant-Major Berry and 
 Color-Sergeant A. J. White hurried in front; in haste they 
 climbed to the top of the stately edifice, and the rising 
 sun saluted the national flag, which Colonel Wild had so 
 lately sent from home, surmounting the stars and bars 
 upon the Capitol ! Adjutant Wales secured the Con 
 federate flag. Meanwhile the left companies advanced in 
 skirmish line through the woods and up to the works in 
 their front, also meeting no opposition from the enemy. 
 At their point of entrance there remained in position a 
 thirty-two pounder cannon, with shells beside it. They 
 made directly to the Capitol the Eleventh New Hamp 
 shire coming on in a handsome line upon the left and 
 found the rest of the regiment there, with our glorious 
 banner floating above in the morning light. 
 
 Our men had many adventures that morning in the 
 capture of prisoners, etc., which served to amuse the 
 circles about the camp-fires in after days. The regiment 
 collected one hundred and fifty-seven prisoners, including 
 one officer. The last of the retreating enemy were hurry 
 ing off, over Pearl River, to Eastern Mississippi. It was 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 149 
 
 a happy moment ! One may imagine the pleasurable feel 
 ings which comes over a poor, half-starved devil who 
 has laid out, in prospect, a day of hard picket duty, with, 
 perhaps, wounds or death to find all this passed away, 
 the enemy gone, and himself standing upon the earthworks 
 which have cost them so much labor, and the victory gained 
 with so little loss. The Thirty-Fifth was the first regiment 
 of the army to enter the city ; the first men over the Con 
 federate works were Sergeant Joseph E. Hood, Corporal 
 Newell Davis, Dennison Hooper, Jonathan Whitehouse 
 and one other, all belonging to our company F. 
 
 The centre and right wing of the army entered the town, 
 marching up the broad main avenue to the Capitol in tri 
 umphal columns. Our men, who were scattered about for 
 a few hours two companies to collect stragglers of the 
 enemy, and Companies D, G, H and I as safeguards upon 
 the property of citizens secured, most of them, at least 
 one good meal of broiled chicken and corn bread from 
 the breakfast tables of the people they were protecting. 
 We were soon relieved and returned over the scene of our 
 past labors, to the neighborhood of the Insane Asylum, 
 and given time to rest. 
 
 The casualties in the regiment, by the enemy, had been 
 Corporal Stephen R. Willis and Private Henry S. Hollis, 
 both of Company H, died of wounds, and eight others 
 wounded. The loss to the army was chiefly in General 
 Lauman s division, which through some misunderstanding 
 made an assault not intended by the general, and lost some 
 three hundred killed and wounded and two hundred pris 
 oners, with the colors of the Twenty-Eighth, Forty-First 
 and Fifty-Third Illinois regiments a bloody mistake ! 
 Of our share of the glory Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell, 
 Adjutant Wales, Sergeant-Major Berry and Color-Sergeant 
 White secured the greater part, of whom the last two after- 
 
150 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 wards lost their lives at Petersburg, Va., as did also Ser 
 geant Fiske, the bearer of the regimental flag. But we 
 must not forget that the alertness shown to improve the 
 moment was the result of Colonel Carruth s thorough drill 
 during the past months, of which he, unfortunately, did 
 not here gather the reward. The members of the regi 
 ment thought it rather a hard joke upon them when the 
 Northern papers gave the honors to the Thirty-Fifth Mis 
 souri, the editors thinking, probably, that it was not pos 
 sible for a Massachusetts regiment to have been present 
 here the armies of Grant and Sherman were well known 
 to be composed originally of Western troops. 
 
 The victory was, however, rather a barren one. General 
 Johnston retreated into a district whither it was not pos 
 sible for us to follow him in the heats of midsummer, and 
 the fruits were through the increase of demoralization in 
 his ranks and the clearing of the country rather than in 
 substantial trophies. General Sherman proceeded to make 
 Jackson as useless as possible to the Confederate cause, 
 by destroying all public property and tearing up the rails 
 on the roads out of the city for miles in every direction. 
 Our First Division devoted a couple of days to the track 
 north to Canton; and by watching their operations we 
 learned the method of making the rails worthless, by 
 bending them when heated in a fire made of the ties 
 which had supported them. 
 
 The occasion having now passed for which the Ninth 
 Corps had been sent south, a return to Kentucky was 
 directed forthwith, and we began to retrace our steps to 
 the banks of the Yazoo. The distance by the road is only 
 some fifty miles, but, owing to the burning sun, the dust, and 
 the haste with which the first days marches were pushed, 
 it proved the most exhausting journey in the experience 
 of the regiment. Rations were in short quantity, and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 151 
 
 were supplemented with green corn, unripe peaches and , 
 apples. The day s march would begin at daylight, a halt 
 would be made at noon, and the march continued until 
 after dark. The first day (July 20) we made twenty miles, 
 and went into bivouac in a large field with the First Divis 
 ion, near Clinton. The second day we rose at half-past 
 three o clock, and accomplished fifteen miles with great 
 difficulty. It was the hottest day of the season, dust rose 
 in suffocating clouds so that one could hardly see his 
 file leader and the fever and thirst were unendurable. 
 Weak men, overcome, threw themselves down by the road 
 side in desperation ; strong men fell, and lay struggling 
 and frothing at the mouth ; the ambulances and wagons 
 were filled with the helpless. Those days cost the regi 
 ment more good men than a battle. 
 
 On the twenty-second but seven miles were made, most 
 of the day being spent in a grove beside the road to enable 
 the column to close up. That evening the Big Black was 
 recrossed by a lower bridge, and, as before, we got a thorough 
 sousing from one of the tropical thunder storms, which for 
 opening the flood-gates of heaven and displaying its artil 
 lery are unexcelled. A good shower bath all around did 
 not come amiss, but its cleansing effects were lost by the 
 following night s bivouac in the mud of an old cotton-field. 
 A short march of eight miles in the morning brought the 
 " never-fell-outs " into the old camp at Milldale on the hill 
 side. Some stragglers were stopped by guerillas and lost 
 their watches, but were themselves released. The rest 
 came along in squads, and a ragged, mud-bespattered lot 
 they were, but right glad to ground arms at the spring and 
 quench a thirst made insatiable by past deprivation. Who 
 ever would learn to appreciate good water should make a 
 a forced march in that country in July, and the thought 
 thereof will make him thirsty forevermore. 
 
152 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 , Different reasons were given to account for the hurry of 
 the return. Some said it was done upon a wager; others 
 declared it was the scarcity of water, ".the distance between 
 drinks," and not their frequency, which induced haste ; 
 and another suggestion was, the wish to catch the first 
 boats up-river; so many troops were being shifted or 
 returned to their posts transportation was hard to obtain 
 the first to get back to Vicksburg would be the first 
 sent North. We did not gain anything by it, for we had 
 to wait for steamboats until the sixth of August, with 
 nothing to do but a little picket duty up the Yazoo. 
 
 The following communication was read at Milldale, rel 
 ative to the division of the Sixteenth Corps, which had 
 been serving with us : 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION, i6TH A. C. 
 
 "JACKSON, Miss., July 20, 1863. 
 " MAJOR-GENERAL J. G. PARKE, Com d g gth A. C. : 
 
 "Sir, Your order transferring our division to the Fif 
 teenth Army Corps is just received. Permit me, in behalf 
 of the division I command, to tender to you our thanks 
 for your uniform kindness to us and for the interest you 
 have manifested in our welfare during our temporary 
 assignment to duty with your corps. I am happy to 
 assure you that the opportunity offered us to witness the 
 conduct of the Eastern troops of your command has con 
 vinced us that they possess valor and discipline which we 
 may well emulate. Longer association would, we doubt 
 not, have matured and strengthened the friendship so aus 
 piciously begun. Our best wishes for your welfare and 
 success will constantly attend you. 
 
 "Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 
 
 "WM. S. SMITH, 
 " Brig. -Gen. Com d g First Division" 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 153 
 
 Those days at Milldale were too warm for any but the 
 most moderate exertion ; usually, about four in the after 
 noon, there would be a shower of more or less violence, 
 everything remaining wet and steaming until morning. 
 The deep trench we had dug for a rifle-pit on the summit 
 of our hill collected such a body of water that finally it 
 burst forth, came rushing down the steep, and swept away 
 several tents, scattering the contents all abroad, to the no 
 small discomfort of the inmates and amusement of their 
 comrades. 
 
 Many of the regiment were ill, prostrated by the climate, 
 but those who retained health enjoyed themselves in a 
 quiet way. From the cane-brakes near at hand long, 
 thick canes were collected and dragged to camp ; these 
 were cut into proper lengths, wattled together and sup 
 ported upon crotched stakes, making an elastic bedstead. 
 Upon this were spread rolls of the trailing moss from the 
 trees, and, high above all, the shelter tent, or a fly, was 
 spread for a canopy, making a luxurious resting-place. 
 The magnolia trees were in blossom, and the mocking 
 bird occasionally favored us with his song. The contents 
 of the mails from home were devoured with interest, and 
 ample leisure for discussion of the news from Port Hudson, 
 Gettysburg, the draft with lists of exempts, for disability, 
 which excited no little merriment and the return home 
 and festive receptions of the nine months men. After 
 reading the latter, the boys adopted a saying, often repeated 
 in times of special hardship, " We ll make this all right 
 when we get on to Boston Common," to which the em 
 phatic rejoinder would be, " That s so ! " 
 
 One of the companies received a box from home, which, 
 intended to reach them in the past winter at Falmouth, 
 had lain buried in some express ofiice, and when unearthed 
 had followed us down here. Considerable curiosity was 
 
154 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT,* 
 
 manifested to see its contents. When opened it displayed 
 a lot of woollen mittens ! a splendid pair for every man in 
 the company, from the good ladies at home. How the boys 
 roared could fortune have timed a gift more inopportunely ! 
 
 The insatiable ramblers, who are found in every company, 
 explored the neighborhood for figs and peaches, now ripe 
 and plentiful. Some, even, got an opportunity to visit 
 Vicksburg, and examine the captured works and spoils 
 of victory. Boats, crowded with paroled Confederates, 
 moved up the Yazoo, looking as gray as so many cargoes 
 of millers good natured, for the most part, and ready for 
 a stop to be put to the fighting. It appeared near the end 
 to us, for the Mississippi ran unfettered to the sea. Gen 
 eral Lee had again returned discomfitted to Virginia, and 
 our armies were in good condition and better spirits than 
 at any time since the war began. It seemed as though a 
 general forward movement would crush in the sides of the 
 sham edifice. 
 
 The worst effect of the situation with us was the malaria 
 and fever. Rations of quinine and whiskey were dealt out 
 as regularly as roll-call. Among the victims to disease at 
 Milldale were : Henry Kiley, of Company D ; Sergeant 
 Charles E. Gannett, of Company H ; Corporal John F. 
 Spofford, of Company F, and David Phalan, of Company 
 I. These found graves in the cathedral shades of the 
 Southern forest, where the drooping moss waves its ban 
 ners above, and the magnolia casts its pure petals upon 
 their resting places. Others: George H. Bacon, of Com 
 pany A ; John H. Birch and Samuel G. Wright, of Com 
 pany I, died on the passage up river, or at the hospitals 
 along the return route. 
 
 The small number of officers present was lessened by 
 the departure of Captains Pratt and Preston, who had 
 accepted promotions the former to lieutenant-colonel, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 155 
 
 the latter to major in General Wild s African Brigade 
 in North Carolina. With them went Corporal Francis A. 
 Bicknell, of Company H, William M. Titcomb, of Company 
 I, and Amory O. Balch, of Company K, who had received 
 commissions in the same corps. Doctor Snow was brigade 
 surgeon, and Quartermaster Upton was on the staff at 
 corps headquarters. Quartermaster-Sergeant Cutter was 
 acting regimental quartermaster. Adjutant Wales received 
 a commission as major of the regiment. 
 
 Before our departure General Grant issued an order 
 containing the following : " In returning the Ninth Corps 
 to its former command, it is with pleasure that the general 
 commanding acknowledges its valuable services in the 
 campaign just closed. Arriving at Vicksburg opportunely, 
 taking a position to hold at bay Johnston s army, then 
 threatening the forces investing the city, it was ready and 
 eager to assume the offensive at any moment. After the 
 fall of Vicksburg, it formed a part of the army which 
 drove Johnston from his position near the Big Black 
 River into his intrenchments at Jackson, and, after a 
 siege of eight days, compelled him to fly in disorder from 
 the Mississippi Valley. The endurance, valor and general 
 good conduct of the Ninth Corps are admired by all, and 
 its valuable cooperation in achieving the final triumph of 
 the campaign is gratefully acknowledged by the Army of 
 the Tennessee. Major-General Parke will cause the dif 
 ferent regiments and batteries of his command to inscribe 
 upon their banners and guidons Vicksburg and Jack 
 son. " It is not surprising that our men felt grateful to 
 General Grant, and rejoiced, with a sort of fellow-feeling, 
 in the subsequent brilliant campaigns of Grant and Sher 
 man and their gallant armies. 
 
 On the -sixth of August the regiment marched down to 
 Haines s Bluff and on board the steamboat Planet, which 
 
156 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 was already crowded with the Eleventh New Hampshire, 
 Fifty-First and Seventy-Ninth New York, and a company 
 of the Forty-Fifth Pennsylvania. General Welsh, com 
 manding the First Division, and staff were also on board." 
 The general, who had entered the service as colonel of 
 the Forty-Fifth Pennsylvania, was now ill with a disease 
 incurred in the campaign which proved fatal. 
 
 The progress up the river was similar to the journey 
 down, but slower, and the depth of water less, requiring 
 careful pilotage. The Planet was very much inferior to 
 the old Imperial, and our quarters were uncomfortably 
 crowded. When all the deck space, outside and in, was 
 occupied there was hardly room for each man to lie down, 
 and when a man had appropriated his six feet of plank, by 
 depositing his pack or spreading his shelter tent over it, 
 he kept it all the way, rain or shine. We stopped at 
 Helena and, on the ninth, at Memphis to coal-up. The 
 very sick were sent ashore to Overtoil Hospital. The 
 able-bodied were given a few hours ashore to stretch their 
 legs ; it is sad to relate that some, having discovered 
 "tangle-foot" whiskey, returned to the boat with legs less 
 steady from the stretching. The boys brought back all the 
 soft bread they could carry, and the decks were stacked 
 with loaves. The bread alone no one thought of butter 
 it was so long since any had been seen was a welcome 
 change from hard-tack and bacon-sides. Excellent coffee 
 was made by turning the steam from the boiler of the 
 steamboat into the mixture of ground coffee and cold 
 water. There was a pretty little green park, or square, 
 in Memphis, with a monument to General Jackson, bearing 
 the motto, " The Federal Union it must and shall be pre 
 served." Some Secessionist had chiselled off the word 
 " Federal," with which attempted improvement the face of 
 Jackson did not appear well pleased. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 157 
 
 We reached Cairo at daybreak on the morning of the 
 twelfth, and at 6 P. M. took the box cars for Cincinnati, 
 passing over the former route through Centralia, Sandoval 
 and Vincennes. If we were a hard-looking set when we 
 first passed this way, we were a deal rougher returning; 
 but our welcome along the road was more hearty than 
 ever; even the coarsest food of every-clay life, offered 
 along the way, was luxury after such a campaign. Arrived 
 at Cincinnati, August 14, the boys said they felt as if they 
 had got home. The regiment created a sensation in the 
 streets by displaying the Confederate flag taken at Jackson, 
 upside clown on our flag-staff, and the jest was received 
 with unbounded applause. With the victories, East and 
 West, the people were feeling quite happy. 
 
 We crossed immediately to Covington, and went into 
 camp near the One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Ohio, a 
 six months regiment, with whom we at once fraternized. 
 From them the boys caught several Western phrases, which 
 were constantly repeated, and, no doubt, they did the same 
 with our odd sayings. They were new troops, and were 
 astonished to see the dispatch with which our men levelled 
 a board fence, cut stakes and poles, pitched their shelters, 
 made fires, and had coffee boiling and all comfortable in 
 a few moments. Pedlers flocked about camp, but as our 
 pocket-books were empty their show of cakes and fruits 
 was more tantalizing than gratifying. To save fences, the 
 quartermaster drew wood for fuel from Government for 
 the first time sipce leaving Massachusetts. 
 
 On the fifteenth a detail of men was sent to assist the 
 officers of a battery, who, by the disabling of their men, 
 had been left helpless with their guns, caissons and horses 
 upon the Cincinnati side. Florian Matz, of Company I, 
 a veteran hostler, proved himself a useful man in this 
 movement. 
 
158 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Our stay near the great city was brief. A guard was 
 required to accompany a train of two hundred wagons 
 to Hickman s Bridge, and the general, to our vexation, 
 selected the Thirty-Fifth for the duty. All who were 
 unable to make a quick march some seven of the officers 
 and eighty of the men were sent to Camp Dennison, or 
 forwarded by rail to Nicholasville. When the "invincibles" 
 were drawn up in line they were found to number but six 
 officers and two hundred and twenty-five men truly, the 
 climate of Mississippi had done its work thoroughly! The 
 six officers were Adjutant Wales, Assistant Surgeon Roche, 
 Lieutenants Ingell, Pope, Tobey and Meserve. Captain 
 Sims, of the Fifty-First New York, was detailed to com 
 mand, but relieved next day by Captain Stuart, whose style 
 of. discipline was not favorably received by the boys. 
 
 The first day s march (August 18) was to Snow s Pond, 
 fifteen miles, where we met the train ; after that, the men 
 were given the privilege of riding or walking as they chose, 
 and they took turns at each the army wagon has no 
 springs, and riding in it is little better than walking. 
 Many took a lesson in mule driving, and improved their 
 acquaintance with that near relation of ours. The day s 
 march on the nineteenth was but eleven miles to Crit- 
 tenden, there being no watering-place for some distance 
 ahead. The afternoon was spent in boiling corn and 
 bacon, and devouring as much as each man could stuff; 
 as good an antidote for malaria, perhaps, as the doctor 
 could furnish. The location of camp was upon the edge 
 of a large cornfield, and the owner seemed to have no 
 objection to contributing a part of his crop to the Union 
 cause. 
 
 On the twentieth, thirty-one miles to Big Eagle Creek. 
 On the twenty-first Captain Stuart, Sergeant Hodgdon 
 and a detail of men captured two supposed guerillas, of 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 159 
 
 whose hiding place they were informed by a colored man ; 
 these prisoners were carried to Georgetown and delivered 
 to the authorities ; we marched eleven miles to Dry Run, 
 and camped on the Osborne estate, Scott County ; one 
 of the drivers insulted Captain Stuart, who fired his pistol 
 over the man s head, and tied him up under guard until 
 morning. On the twenty-second we went twenty-one miles 
 out of our way, through Georgetown and its rural surround 
 ings,, to Paris, to load the wagons with forage. Sunday, 
 the twenty-third, we rested ; the day was saddened by the 
 funeral of John Davis, of Company H, who died the night 
 before, and was buried at Paris. The men will always 
 remember the kindness of Dr. Griffith, of Paris, who 
 replenished their stock of tobacco on credit, trusting to 
 obtain payment at our future camp, when the regiment 
 should be paid off. 
 
 On the twenty-fourth we made twenty miles to the ponds 
 beyond Lexington, Adjutant Wales stopping in the city to 
 get mustered in as major. On the twenty-fifth the train 
 passed through Nicholasville, and the regiment parted 
 from it, three miles beyond, at a place afterwards called 
 Camp Parke, where Lieutenant Mirick, acting assistant 
 quartermaster on General Fry s staff, located our camp 
 ground. It was a pleasant thing to again pitch our shelter 
 tents in correct regimental form in the groves of Old Ken 
 tucky. At evening our new major Wales came into 
 camp ; there was a cry, " Fall in, Thirty-Fifth ! " The 
 men rallied and gave him three hearty cheers. Some 
 unfortunates were almost immediately detailed to return 
 to Covington, under Captain Rapelji, for another train. 
 We were in danger of earning more honors as mule drivers 
 than we coveted. 
 
 The Thirty-Fifth was the first of our brigade to arrive 
 upon the ground. The First Division was in camp south 
 
l6o HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 of us, and was suffering extremely from the debilitating 
 results of the Southern campaign ; more even than our 
 division. Our trip hither with the train and constant 
 activity had set up our regiment well, and the arrival of 
 the paymaster, Major Walker, with greenbacks and the 
 quartermaster s supplies of new clothing, changed the 
 appearance of things wonderfully in a few days. The 
 rust of the Mississippi rains was scraped from the gun 
 barrels and sword-scabbards, blacking brushes made their 
 appearance, belt-plates got a polishing, and when inspection 
 day came around on the thirtieth our major complimented 
 the men for their trim appearance ; and, if he approved, 
 the regiment must have deserved the commendation. 
 
 Lieutenant Meserve was adjutant, and Lieutenants 
 Mirick and Tobey, successively, quartermaster in this 
 camp. Colonel Carruth visited camp, but was too ill 
 to assume command ; and, indeed, he never seemed quite 
 to recover his old energetic ways after the Vicksburg trip. 
 His health, thereafter, was so broken that the hardships of 
 subsequent campaigns were too great, generally, for him 
 to endure. An elegant sword and belt, which had been 
 subscribed for by the non-commissioned officers at the 
 time of his promotion to the colonelcy, was exhibited and 
 presented to him at Camp Parke. Lieutenant Colonel 
 King called at our camp, and commanded at dress-parade 
 on the evening of September i ; he was on detached ser 
 vice at Lexington at this time. As for the "invincibles," 
 having now only the lightest camp duty to attend while 
 the sick and convalescent were recuperating, they led a 
 merry life, as who would not in such a country with money 
 in pocket. Big dinners of pork and cabbage or boiled 
 fowl, or even citizen hospitality, were enjoyed with keen 
 appetites, well knowing that the time for such things would 
 soon end if past experience was to be consulted. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. l6l 
 
 Men who had been left in Kentucky sick or detailed 
 now rejoined, full of accounts of John Morgan s raid north 
 of the Ohio, between July 8 and July 27 the days of our 
 trip out to Jackson and back. Morgan came to heavy 
 grief, and was captured with most of his men after a 
 spirited chase by our cavalry, which, under able leaders, 
 was now picking up in a way which soon made it more 
 than a match for the Confederate horse. We learned, 
 also, that General Burnside, finding the summer slipping 
 away and our return to duty with him delayed, had started 
 for East Tennessee, with cavalry and mounted infantry 
 and the Twenty-Third Corps, we to follow as soon as men 
 enough recovered to make it worth while. 
 
 Looking back over the campaign in Mississippi, it forms, 
 to those who were not attacked by the diseases of the cli 
 mate, one of the pleasantest chapters of the war. It was 
 laid among scenes where everything was novel and inter 
 esting; and, while upon it, we enjoyed a share of the 
 success which accompanied Grant and Sherman from that 
 time forward. We had a taste of the wine of victory, and 
 began to see the dawning of a successful end of the war, 
 of which, in the neighborhood of the political strife and 
 inefficiency about Washington, it was hard to continue 
 hopeful. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WINTER IN EAST TENNESSEE CAMPBELL S STATION AND 
 
 KNOXVILLE, 1863-64. 
 
 HE who breathes the air of mountains imbibes the 
 love of freedom with every inspiration. The people 
 inhabiting the hills and valleys of East Tennessee had 
 been distinguished from the beginning of the war for their 
 intelligent understanding of its causes and for their strong 
 attachment to the Union. For two long years they had 
 been subject to the odious rule of the Confederacy, and, 
 though constantly and cruelly harried, their young men 
 conscripted or driven across the mountains, their old men 
 imprisoned and shamefully abused, they had never given 
 up hope. The persecutions of the Scottish Covenanters 
 were not more severe nor more full of heart-rending inci 
 dent. President Lincoln had long been solicitous for their 
 relief. It was the good fortune of General Burnside and 
 the Twenty-Third Corps to carry the old flag back to East 
 Tennessee, there to remain, and it was our happiness to 
 assist in making its presence there permanently secure. 
 
 The general left Crab Orchard August 21 a body of 
 cavalry only making a feint upon the Cumberland Gap 
 road while the main army, largely mounted infantry, 
 bore away south through Montgomery, Tenn., passing 
 into the valley of East Tennessee by way of Kingston, 
 and so upon Knoxville from the south, September 3, and 
 taking Cumberland Gap in rear ; whereupon General Fra- 
 zier, the Confederate commander, surrendered with about 
 
163 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 twenty-five hundred men and eleven pieces of artillery. 
 Upon the appearance of the Union army near Kingston 
 the enemy s general Buckner had fled, burning the 
 high railroad bridge at Loudon. 
 
 While Burnside was making this advance, General Rose- 
 crans occupied Chattanooga, September 9, and was con 
 centrating in the valley of Chickamauga Creek, in front of 
 General Bragg. The Confederate authorities had sent 
 General Longstreet s Corps south to assist Bragg, fore 
 seeing that if Rosecrans were thoroughly beaten Burnside 
 must fly also. General Halleck, at Washington, became 
 frightened at Rosecrans s danger, and telegraphed to Burn- 
 side, September 13 received by him on the sixteenth 
 " It is important that all the available force of your com 
 mand be pushed forward into East Tennessee. So long 
 as you hold Tennessee, Kentucky is perfectly safe," etc., 
 and ordering him to connect with Rosecrans. General 
 Burnsicle s troops were over one hundred and twenty- five 
 miles from Chattanooga, but were started down the valley 
 on the eighteenth. On the nineteenth and twentieth, how 
 ever, Rosecrans was attacked, the sanguinary battle of 
 Chickamauga was fought, and but for General Thomas the 
 Union army would have been completely routed ; as it 
 was, Chattanooga was held, though almost in a state of 
 siege. 
 
 All these movements were of interest to us, because 
 they decided our whereabouts for the winter ; had Chicka 
 mauga been a Union victory we, probably, should have 
 lain in winter quarters in Kentucky. The First Division 
 started for Tennessee about the tenth of September. On 
 the seventh we, also, had orders; but General Grifrin, com 
 manding the division, protested that only two thousand 
 men were yet fit for duty in the whole Second Division, 
 and the order was countermanded. The regiments were 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 164 
 
 assigned to different posts in Kentucky : the Fifty-First 
 New York at Camp Nelson, the Fifty-First Pennsylvania 
 and Thirty-Fifth Massachusetts to Crab Orchard, and the 
 Eleventh New Hampshire to London on the road to Cum 
 berland Gap. The Twenty-First Massachusetts, not having 
 been in the Mississippi campaign, left Crab Orchard for 
 Tennessee about the sixteenth, with the Forty-Eighth Penn 
 sylvania and Second Maryland as the First Brigade of our 
 division. 
 
 We left Camp Parke and marched for our post at Crab 
 Orchard on the ninth of September, Captain Gibson in 
 command Major Wales and Quartermaster Upton being 
 away on leave. The men, for thirty cents each, hired a 
 farmer to carry their knapsacks the first afternoon, eleven 
 miles, to Camp Dick Robinson, passing Camp Nelson and 
 the picturesque scenery about Hickman s Bridge and the 
 Kentucky River for the third time. The major overtook 
 the icgiment next day on the road to Lancaster, where we 
 camped on a hill-side beyond the town, after a dusty march. 
 On the eleventh we again reached the Springs beyond Crab 
 Orchard. This town is a noted spa or mineral springs, 
 much resorted to by invalids and pleasure seekers in peace 
 times ; while we were there we had the use of the waters 
 pretty much to ourselves. 
 
 Here a lot of promotions was announced : First Lieu 
 tenants Lyon, Hudson, Mirick and Stickney became cap 
 tains ; Second Lieutenants Meserve, Tobey, Washburn and 
 Gottlieb became first lieutenants the first named lieu 
 tenant acting as adjutant, the second as quartermaster. 
 Also Sergeant-Major Berry and Sergeant Creasey became 
 first lieutenants; Austin J. White became sergeant-major. 
 At this time Doctor Snow was surgeon and Upton quarter 
 master of the Second Division. 
 
 On the fifteenth of September we were again under 
 
165 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 orders for Knoxville, again countermanded, and, instead, 
 we moved to the elevated fields of the Fair Grounds, east 
 of the town, at first camping near the covered arena, after 
 wards within the circle of the race-track, upon broad, level 
 grounds the track, just one mile around, tempting the 
 men to all kinds of trials of speed. This was called Camp 
 Carruth. After orders had been thus twice countermanded 
 the men made up their minds that Crab Orchard would be 
 our winter quarters, and began to build huts, for which the 
 ruinous fencing of the enclosure furnished inviting mate 
 rials. Some were doubters, and shook their heads at the 
 notion of winter quarters ; they pegged their tents close 
 to the ground to keep out the winds stole what hay 
 and straw they could for warm bedding, and kept their 
 knapsacks always packed. During the whole winter a 
 great source of amusement was the sanguine hopes of the 
 hut-builders, always disappointed, and the cynical com 
 ments of the doubters. The former, sometimes, out of 
 mere bravado, kept on logging-up, when the advance troops 
 were already falling back, saying, no one knows how long 
 we shall stop here, and plain signs are not to be trusted 
 in our case at least. 
 
 Captain Gibson was appointed provost-marshal in the 
 town, and Lieutenant Berry had command of the provost- 
 guard. On the eighteenth the twenty-five hundred pris 
 oners from the Gap passed through town on their way 
 North ; they were broad-faced, sturdy-looking fellows. In 
 the town there was some waving of handkerchiefs from 
 upper windows, and the prisoners cheered ; but there was 
 no violent demonstration of feeling. They were in charge 
 of the Eighty-Sixth and, our old friends, the One Hundred 
 and Twenty-Ninth Ohio. We had seen so many gray-coats 
 under guard during the summer, a few thousand more 
 seemed a matter of course the Confederacy was caving 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 1 66 
 
 in rapidly ; then came the news of Chickamauga, exagger 
 ated into a crushing disaster, and we felt blue ; the doubt 
 ers chuckled, they foresaw now that the comfortable huts 
 would soon be vacated. 
 
 While at this camp Adjutant Meserve had a narrow 
 escape while racing with Major Wales and Assistant 
 Surgeon Roche, his horse becoming unmanageable at the 
 sight of a dead mule, and throwing the rider, who was 
 dragged some distance, fortunately without other injuries 
 than severe bruises. Naaman Torrey, of Company H, 
 died at the post hospital, and his remains were buried in 
 the village cemetery, with military honors, the whole regi 
 ment attending ; he will be better remembered as " Father 
 Torrey." 
 
 The Fifty-First Pennsylvania and Thirty-Fifth received 
 the anticipated order for " over the mountains " on the 
 thirtieth of September, eight days rations to be carried 
 by each man in knapsack and haversack, which certainly 
 looked like preparation for a hungry land. Captain Gibson 
 was ill in town, and, consequently, had to be left behind ; 
 Captain Blanchard, next senior, now recommissioned, joined 
 the regiment and took command. The number of guns, 
 including provost-guard, was only about one hundred and 
 fifty at the start, so many men were sick or detailed. 
 
 The march over the mountains was worth making for 
 the pleasure of it alone. The road led through a wild 
 country abounding in natural beauties and wonders. The 
 month was October, the harvest season of the year, and, 
 like our tramp along the Blue Ridge the autumn previous, 
 the route was among hills glowing with resplendent foliage 
 or empurpled by distance. The way was enlivened by the 
 drum and fife, or the bugle echoing from the sides of the 
 hills, calling the halt, or the more unwelcome signal for 
 forward movement. Just before the start there was an 
 
167 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 alarm in camp, while the regiment was upon fatigue duty, 
 mending the road towards Mount Vernon, and Companies 
 G and I were hurried back to quarters ; but the expected 
 scrimmage with guerillas did not come off. 
 
 The column left Crab Orchard on the second of October, 
 passing over what appeared at that time the roughest road 
 we had ever seen. One of our wagons and one of the 
 Fifty-First got capsized during the afternoon ; others stuck 
 in the mud; the work of the teamsters was harder than 
 that of the foot soldiers ; the march was twelve miles 
 nearly to Mount Vernon. The second day we made but 
 five miles, passing through the town and over a moun 
 tain, and going into camp near a big spring a full stream, 
 or brook, issuing from the mouth of a cavern in the hill 
 side. Many of the men went into this cave without finding 
 the end; but, being without guides or proper lanterns, it 
 was rather a hazardous exploration. The following day 
 (the fourth) was a hard one for the teams, climbing over 
 Wild Cat Mountain the scene of several conflicts early 
 in the war, the lines of earthworks still visible. For the 
 sake of the draught animals we went into camp early, at 
 Little Rockcastle River, and the men spent the afternoon 
 hunting for pigs and persimmons. On the fifth there was 
 continued heavy work for teams, at one place a steep ascent 
 for a mile required the use of ten mules to haul each wagon. 
 The boys, however, felt frisky, and the mountain air was 
 so bracing that, a mile or so before getting into camp at 
 Pitman s, near London, they must needs have a race with 
 the artillery. The men set up a shout, the drivers whipped 
 up their horses, and away we went on the run, " Hi ! hi! 
 hi!" through the pitch-pine woods and over the sandy 
 road into the camp of the Eleventh New Hampshire, in a 
 way to scare off whatever of malaria still hung about us 
 that was a jolly race ! The men of the Eleventh were glad 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 1 68 
 
 to see the old brigade in such high spirits. We passed on 
 the road seventy-five Confederate prisoners for Camp Nel 
 son, under guards from the Eighty-Sixth Ohio. 
 
 The regiments had a rest of several days here while 
 waiting for batteries to come up; they were Benjamin s, 
 "E," Second United States Artillery, and Edwards, "L" 
 and "M," Third United States Artillery both old friends. 
 Major Wales and Lieutenant Washburn joined, the latter 
 being appointed permanent adjutant, a position which he 
 held to the end of our service, though absent on staff duty 
 or otherwise most of the time ; while he was away Lieu 
 tenant Meserve acted as adjutant until promoted captain. 
 Rations were all consumed, and the men were glad to fill 
 up their haversacks from the accumulated surplus of the 
 Eleventh, who had been here for some time. The Eleventh 
 was left at London to follow on with a supply train ; the 
 Fifty-First and Thirty-Fifth proceeded on the tenth to 
 Laurel Creek. This was the day of the battle of the First 
 Division and the Twenty-First Massachusetts of our old 
 brigade at Blue Springs near Bull Gap, of which there was 
 a good deal said when we first reached Knoxville. The 
 day following the roads improved, and we made twenty 
 miles, to beyond Barboursville on the Cumberland River, 
 here a wide, clear stream, with banks overhung with 
 foliage. 
 
 On the twelfth of October our march was sixteen miles 
 to the ford of the Cumberland, situated in the midst of 
 scenery worthy of an artist s pencil. The beautiful river, 
 enclosed by wooded mountains, affected the senses with an 
 indescribable charm. But the interest with us was more 
 practical ; there was, of course, no bridge, and this was 
 our first experience in fording a wide river ; the question 
 was, whether it would be better to try to cross barefoot 
 and bruise still more, upon the rough stones, the feet 
 
169 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 already raw with marching, or wear shoes and have wet feet 
 for twenty-four hours afterwards. It is a sufficient answer 
 to say that, whichever method was tried, the experimenter 
 wished afterwards that he had adopted the other. A regi 
 ment fording a river offers a picturesque foreground to fine 
 scenery, and if any of the men slip into holes the picture 
 becomes very lively. We camped beyond the ford, and 
 had an opportunity to dry clothes. Mountaineers came 
 in with chestnuts, and when we complained of the high 
 price declared the nuts worth it, for they had to cut down 
 the trees to pick them, whereupon we asked, with inquiring 
 minds, if that was the usual way of gathering fruit in that 
 country. The next day s tramp over Three Log Mountains 
 will be remembered for the down-pour of rain and the slip 
 pery roads ; the wet clay offered so little foothold that the 
 ordinary exertion of marching was doubled. That night 
 we pitched tents in a cold rain turning to snow, but within 
 sight of Cumberland Gap. 
 
 On the fourteenth of October the long train of infantry, 
 artillery and trains climbed the winding ascent to the 
 famous Gap a depression in the mountain range through 
 which the road found a passage. These Cumberland 
 Mountains are a continuation of the Virginia mountain 
 system, but on a grander scale, and the country about 
 them is wilder and more difficult by far. The summits 
 above the pass were fortified, and appeared impregnable 
 to the assaults of every foe but starvation. To give eclat 
 to our passage Parson Brownlow appeared, on the way to 
 his home in Knoxville, in company with his daughter, in a 
 carriage the only vehicle of the kind we met on the 
 journey. He was an old hero in our eyes, and when he 
 got out and walked up through the pass the regiment 
 cheered, while the band played patriotic tunes it was a 
 triumphal welcome home to the redoubtable patriot. The 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 1 70 
 
 boundary lines of three States Kentucky, Tennessee and 
 Virginia meet in the centre of an immense marking- 
 stone, upon which many of the boys took a seat, to be 
 able to say that they had been in all three States at once. 
 The view from the top was over an endless sea of billowy, 
 wooded hills, with few signs of human culture or habi 
 tation. 
 
 Coming down the south of the Gap we crossed Powell s 
 River a fine stream, tributary to the Clinch River upon 
 a bridge, just beyond which one of the men, stepping into 
 a log-house for a coal of fire to light his pipe, came flying 
 out, pursued by an old hag, in appearance a very witch of 
 the mountains probably an insane person her long 
 white hair streaming behind her. At Tazewell we halted 
 over for a day, the road being very difficult for the teams. 
 Apples and fresh pork were abundant ; the camp was 
 adorned with piles of the rosy fruit, which the boys 
 brought in for the pleasure of looking at them, for they 
 could not all be eaten nor carried along. The branches 
 of the trees about the camp-fires were hung with quarters 
 of unlucky pigs, who had died of blue-pill or the prod of 
 a soldier s bayonet, and were now seasoning for a savory 
 roast. Those of the regiment who were disposed towards 
 mild drinks made the acquaintance of the mellifluous sor 
 ghum molasses, while those who claimed to be iron-clads 
 tested their capacity with raw apple-jack just from the 
 still. 
 
 On the sixteenth, in a heavy rain,, we forded Clinch 
 River, a branch of the Tennessee, the water clear and 
 ice-cold, knee-deep. It was a pretty scene to watch 
 Captain Ingell leading across the wide stream, the rain 
 drops dripping from his hat and rubber coat, the water 
 gurgling around his massive legs, his steaming puffs for 
 breath, and pointed remarks upon the situation adding 
 
171 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 force to the whole. On the further bank the regiments 
 went into camp upon the hills in an upland cotton-field 
 the cotton still hanging in the bolls where blazing fires 
 restored the circulation to benumbed members. Next day 
 we plodded along with difficulty over a rough road, where 
 the brook, which usually accompanies the mountain roads, 
 was not satisfied with either side of the valley, but crossed 
 and recrossed the track continually, much to the discom 
 fiture of shoe leather and army socks, and so on through 
 Maynardsville, where the Union flag was flying. Passing 
 the village of Gravestown on the eighteenth, over a road 
 deep with soft, sticky mud, the rail fences before the houses 
 were gay with little red flags signs of small-pox within; 
 their hospitalities were, therefore, not sought, in spite of 
 the drizzle and dreariness without doors. At night we 
 camped within four miles of Knoxville and received letters 
 from home, which had preceded us by another route. On 
 the following morning (October 19) we reached the suburbs 
 of the city, and pitched our shelter tents south of Second 
 Creek, near the engine-house of the East Tennessee and 
 Kentucky Railroad, upon a field afterwards occupied by 
 the Confederate picket line. 
 
 The inarch of one hundred and forty miles over such 
 rough roads had given the boys troublesome appetites, 
 which they were destined to keep keen during the winter. 
 Captain Rapelji, brigade quartermaster, happening to pass 
 the camp, was saluted with such loud cries of "Hard-tack! 
 hard-tack ! " that he took offence and complained of the 
 insult, whereupon the major ordered a moonlight inspec 
 tion, not of stomachs, but of equipments, as a punishment 
 the preparation for inspection after a long march, pol 
 ishing guns, brasses, etc., is no light matter and he also 
 improved the occasion to censure the shouters for their 
 bad manners. On the twentieth, the cavalry of the depart- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 172 
 
 ment, both up and down the valley, met with such severe 
 handling that it was drawn nearer to Knoxville; so we 
 appeared to have arrived just in time for the fun ahead. 
 
 During the following two days an opportunity was given 
 to most of the men to visit the town, which they found 
 much better built and more city-like than they anticipated. 
 There were large railroad stations and freight houses, 
 hotels, markets, a university, asylum for deaf and dumb, 
 numerous churches and schools, and street lamps for gas ; 
 but the gasworks had been destroyed by the Confederates. 
 The town was not fortified, but situated upon hills com 
 manding the surrounding country to the north, and pro 
 tected by the Holston River and high hills on the south. 
 
 The higher powers seemed to be uncertain of the future, 
 to judge from their conduct towards us, for we got daily 
 orders to pack up and be ready to march, countermanded 
 again as often, until the repetition became vexatious. 
 Finally, at dark on the twenty-second, the regiment started 
 for the city, only to enjoy a comfortable sleep upon the 
 platform of the freight-house at the station. It rained in 
 the morning, and the troops crowded into the station, 
 where fires were built between the railroad ties, and the 
 men gathered about with steaming overcoats. Mingled 
 with us was a lot of East Tennessee cavalry, wild-looking 
 fellows, like Texas Rangers ; they had their saddles with 
 them and were waiting for remounts. A cooky-shop stood 
 open for trade in gingerbread and apples ; the first and last 
 time we saw a huckster s stand in that country. The weather 
 was dull and autumnal, and with the rather dilapidated 
 surroundings of the place oppressed the spirits. Chicka- 
 mauga still weighed upon the mind ; the rails we were 
 sitting upon ran directly to it, distant some one hundred 
 miles south-west, down the great valley of East Tennessee. 
 
 In the afternoon the box cars we were waiting for arrived, 
 
173 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 and in a pouring rain we ran slowly down to the Tennessee 
 River, opposite Loudon, some thirty miles, getting out at 
 the abutment of the high railroad bridge, the stone piers 
 still standing but superstructure destroyed as above men 
 tioned. It was dark, and scrambling through the mud to 
 the hills south of the railroad we received the usual sar 
 castic order, "Make yourselves comfortable for the night!" 
 and with fence-rails soaking wet, and with difficulty ignited, 
 we boiled the indispensable coffee, rigged some sort of 
 shelter, and sank to sleep in soft beds of mire. 
 
 After one day of full rations a roll of soft bread the 
 next day but half the quantity appeared, and we were 
 informed that in future half-rations only would be issued, 
 which meant an ever-present craving sense of hunger for 
 the rest of the campaign. As there was no occupation for 
 a day or two, and as it was of no use sitting about the fires 
 guessing what movements were afoot, the men started out 
 hunting for "belly-timber." One device was to make bread 
 of the shorts, bran or middlings, which could be obtained 
 in Loudon, although flour or bread could not. As to the 
 success of this, we advise any one who wishes to enjoy a 
 stunning headache to try bread made of pure shorts. The 
 cavalry, supported by infantry, were somewhere on the 
 south side of the Tennessee, towards a place called Phil 
 adelphia, and rumors of the defeat of Wolford s Cavalry, 
 alluded to above, found their way into camp. Distant 
 cannonading could be heard, but what it meant was none 
 of our business, at least so we were told ; it was slow work 
 for inquisitive Yankees to learn to leave to the general the 
 planning and management of the campaign. So complex 
 are extended field movements and so narrow the field of 
 view of each soldier, that what seems to him confusion 
 may be well-arranged combination, apparent defeat may 
 be success, or vice versa; consequently, the old soldier 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 174 
 
 learns to distrust first appearances and wait for orders,- 
 which constitutes his "steadiness" as compared with the 
 new recruit. 
 
 However, on the twenty-eighth the mystery was solved, 
 the infantry followed by the cavalry came back to the 
 north bank of the river, and four regiments, including 
 ours, were detailed to take up the pontoon-bridge, which 
 was a home-made affair of box boats. The further end of 
 the bridge was cut loose, and the boats were swung to our 
 side, dragged out by mules, and, with much heavy lifting, 
 the materials were loaded upon flat cars and sent towards 
 Knoxville. A locomotive and cars had been taken, piece 
 meal, to the south bank, and put together in running order; 
 there was not time to bring them back, and they must be 
 destroyed. A full head of steam was gathered in the 
 engine, the cars hitched on, and started for the brink of 
 the abyss where the bridge had been the driver jumping 
 off and leaving the train to its fate. We were busy upon 
 the river bank when the train was heard approaching the 
 abutment high above us ; all looked up and watched for 
 the catastrophe. On came the engine, roaring like a wild 
 bull ; it reached the abutment, leaped into the air, and 
 with its cars plunged headlong into the river; the agitated 
 waters foamed and raged, then flowed on calmly as before. 
 It seemed as if we had witnessed the drowning of a friend. 
 
 Soon after, a few mounted men in gray appeared upon 
 the southern bank, bearing a flag of truce. Captain 
 McKibben with some companions crossed in a boat and 
 returned with despatches for General Burnside, of which 
 we did not learn the contents ; but it was apparent that 
 the Confederates were gradually narrowing our field of 
 operations. They were, however, in no immediate haste 
 to cross the Tennessee, for next day we retired quietly 
 about six miles to the plain about Lenoir s Station, and 
 
175 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 went into camp, with the information that we might re 
 main there all winter, or not ; it would depend upon the 
 movements of the enemy. A large oven for a government 
 bakery was commenced at the station, an undertaking 
 which implied permanency, and the hut-builders were en 
 couraged to commence again, drawing lumber from a ruined 
 mill on the Kingston road. General Burnside stopped a 
 few clays in camp, and all things quieting down he re 
 turned to Knoxville. The little Army of the Ohio for 
 that was the proper name of Burnside s command was 
 posted with White s division of the Twenty-Third Corps at 
 London, our two divisions of the Ninth Corps at Lenoir s, 
 and the cavalry at the outposts. 
 
 The situation of Lenoir s was excellent for cantonments. 
 Wooded hills surrounded the level ground through which 
 the railroad ran. To the south was the clear-flowing 
 Holston, at this point joined by the Little Tennessee, 
 coming in from its sources among the North Carolina 
 mountains to form the Tennessee ; the three streams 
 dividing the country into three great triangles, from either 
 of which, by our pontoon-bridge, we could draw forage. 
 There was direct railroad connection with Knoxville, and, 
 by way of Kingston, communication was open with the 
 main army at Chattanooga, now under General Grant ; 
 for he, also, had come eastward from the Mississippi to 
 this central point of interest for the winter, and had super 
 seded General Rosecrans. The open ground between our 
 color-line and the railroad afforded a good field for evolu 
 tions, and morning and afternoon the Thirty-Fifth was busy 
 practising the skirmish drill under the direction of Major 
 Wales. The men soon became proficient in the movements 
 in obedience to the notes of Gardner s bugle : " Forward," 
 " In retreat," " Lie clown," " Rise up," " Commence firing," 
 V Cease firing," "Rally," etc. A foraging expedition 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 176 
 
 under command of Lieutenant Meserve, to the country 
 towards Kingston, was very successful. 
 
 Lieutenant Dunbar, Commissary-Sergeant Plummer and 
 a squad of convalescents joined on the fourth and fifth of 
 November, and on the ninth Captains Lyon and Hudson 
 returned ; the former took command of Company D, the 
 latter of Company H. Surgeon Snow left for Crab 
 Orchard, and Lieutenant Creasey was detailed on the staff 
 of Colonel Leasure, to collect men of the Ninth Corps in 
 Kentucky and Ohio. 
 
 Several alarms were occasioned by wandering Confed 
 erate scouts feeling the pickets. A light pontoon-bridge 
 was thrown across the Holston, south of our camp, to make 
 a connection with our mounted infantry on the Little Ten 
 nessee. The Thirty-Fifth spent the night of the eleventh on 
 the south bank on picket in the woods, without disturbance ; 
 several pigs met with a, to us, timely end, and persimmon 
 trees got a good whacking. 
 
 The Confederates, having failed in their efforts to pre 
 vent Grant and Thomas from opening railroad connection 
 between Chattanooga and the base of supplies at Nashville, 
 now turned their attention to freeing their own direct 
 communication with Lee s army and Virginia, which our 
 position severed. General Longstreet was given, by re 
 port, some 20,000 men for this purpose, General Bragg 
 thinking himself able to hold Grant in Chattanooga with 
 the remainder of his divided army ; an error in judgment 
 for which he had to pay dearly soon after at Lookout 
 Mountain and Missionary Ridge. 
 
 At three o clock in the morning of the fourteenth of No 
 vember, in the darkness and rain, the regiment was awakened 
 and ordered to " turn out without noise and stack arms on 
 the color line." The builders had their huts and mud 
 chimneys almost done and were anxious to learn "what 
 
177 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 was up," but the cynics were ready with their " I told you 
 so." After waiting some two hours, further orders came : 
 "Pack up and be ready to strike tents at a moment s 
 warning," the tents were left till the last moment on 
 account of the severity of the weather. Soon after, " Strike 
 tents ! " and when this was done, down came the rain in a 
 deluge. At daylight the trains began moving towards 
 Knoxville, and things began to look decidedly lively on 
 the road northward as the forenoon wore away wagons, 
 ambulances, artillery and troops, all on the move in the 
 road and alongside. No one appeared to be going towards 
 Loudon. This was the scene before us as we sat upon 
 our knapsacks among the ruins of camp, reading Parson 
 Brownlow s " Knoxville Whig and Rebel Ventilator," first 
 copies of which had just been issued arid were selling at 
 fifteen cents each. During the forenoon our pontoon- 
 bridge over the Holston, in rear of camp, was destroyed. 
 
 About two in the afternoon a locomotive came down 
 from Knoxville and stopped in front of us, a few rods dis 
 tant. From the tender jumped Generals Burnside and 
 Ferrero, and in less than fifteen minutes affairs took a 
 different turn ; the fighting portion of the army was faced 
 about, and soon the First Division, Ferrero s, was on the 
 way south towards Loudon. All this time the wildest 
 rumors were circulated, but no sounds of fighting reached 
 us until near sunset, when a few cannon-shots were heard. 
 It was announced that Longstreet was crossing the Tennes 
 see by a pontoon-bridge at Hough s Ferry below Loudon, 
 opposite General Julius White s division of the Twenty- 
 Third Corps, to whose aid our First Division had marched. 
 It was obvious to us that the enemy must be delayed as much 
 as possible to enable our trains to reach Knoxville and the 
 city to be fortified. He had about three men to our one, 
 so hindering rather than fighting him was our only prudent 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 178 
 
 course. It has since been stated that, by an understand 
 ing between Generals Grant and Burnside, our little army 
 was fronted close to Longstreet to bait him on and draw 
 him so far from Bragg that a return would be impracticable, 
 when the grand battles about Chattanooga should be de 
 livered. Finally the day passed, and we were still on the 
 same ground ; but, as most of the tents were down, there 
 was little chance for rest, even if the order for movement 
 at a moment s notice had not been continued. Some, 
 nevertheless, with the indifference to the future acquired 
 by experience, wisely improved the present by getting 
 three or four hours sleep. 
 
 We were routed out again at half-past one in the morn 
 ing of the fifteenth rather early for Sunday morning 
 and this time there was no delay ; in twenty minutes we 
 were upon the road south, towards Loudon, and a most 
 disagreeable march it proved. To say that the road was 
 rough and muddy that night is but a feeble description of 
 it ; men stumbled upon each other in the darkness, rapping 
 their file leaders over the head with their muskets, or 
 slipped and sat in the mud, then started on again, guided 
 by the exclamations of comrades rather than by sight, and 
 in the morning found themselves dabbled with mud to the 
 waist. At daylight we reached the high land about half a 
 mile below Loudon, and got a chance to cook coffee and 
 dry our clothes a little. 
 
 With the dawn the clouds cleared away for awhile and 
 it was colder, then November s gray sky settled down 
 over the scene. On first reaching the Tennessee no 
 enemy appeared ; about ten o clock the Twenty-First Mas 
 sachusetts was deployed as skirmishers and moved down 
 the river until they struck the foe, who, however, did not 
 attack us, being intent upon his crossing and seeking to 
 pass by our right-flank to get the start in a race for Knox- 
 
179 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 ville, which he knew to lie open to him. General Burnside 
 had about 6,000 men in hand ; General Potter command 
 ing the Ninth Corps, Colonel Sigfried our division, and 
 Colonel Schall our brigade. The Thirty-Fifth was drawn 
 back out of sight, and lay in a deep wooded valley, near 
 some deserted log huts of the Twenty-Third Corps, listen 
 ing to the light skirmishing in front ; our men poking over 
 the cast-off shoes about the premises, seeking to supply 
 deficiences in shoe-leather. 
 
 Meanwhile General White s Division of the Twenty- 
 Third Corps and our First Division had retired to Lenoir s, 
 leaving our division, in its turn, to cover the rear. About 
 the middle of the afternoon the Twenty-First came off the 
 skirmish line, column was formed,, and we started for Le 
 noir s at quick time with flankers out on the left. Reach 
 ing the neighborhood of the station at dusk, our regiment 
 was deployed as skirmishers, faced to the rear, across the 
 road we had just come over and the railroad. The position 
 was taken by order communicated through Captain Davis 
 of the brigade staff, and, as it was known that the enemy 
 was at least abreast of us on the road from Kingston to 
 Lenoir s, the arrangement was looked upon as a sacrifice 
 of the Thirty-Fifth. It was remarked to the Captain : 
 "This means that this regiment is to be killed, wounded 
 or taken prisoners ; " he replied, " It looks very much like 
 it, good bye," and rode off. 
 
 As the men took positions behind rocks and trees, peer 
 ing into the darkness, the last of the rear guard (cavalry) 
 rode past, and silence fell on all ; the chirp of an insect 
 sounded like the rebel yell, and every foot-fall was the 
 tramp of the advancing enemy. It was uncertain from 
 which direction the gray-coats might first appear, front, 
 flank or rear. Color-Sergeant Patch was posted down the 
 road with the colors, with instructions what to do with the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. l8o 
 
 flags should the regiment be overpowered. Such moments 
 are trying at the time, but, if the result be happy, are not 
 unpleasant to remember. But a sacrifice was not required ; 
 in a little while a galloping horse was heard in rear and 
 another staff officer appeared with orders to withdraw the 
 regiment, and, rallying the battalion, we marched in quick 
 time to Lenoir s and the open field in front of our old 
 camp ground. Here all the huts were burning with some 
 much-needed clothing and shoes, which there had been no 
 time to distribute in due form. A roll of bread two 
 day s half rations was given to each man for food until 
 Knoxville should be reached, twenty-four miles away. 
 Colonel Hartranft met us here and took command of our 
 division. The First Division and White s Division lay in 
 the woods on the north-west, side of the station, facing the 
 enemy on the Kingston road, and as we passed slowly 
 across the plain now ruddy with the flames, their skir 
 mishers kept up a pretty steady volley of musketry, sug 
 gestive of our fate had the regiment been left upon the 
 Loudon road. The night scene was thrillingly picturesque. 
 While Ferrero s and White s divisions thus maintained 
 their position at Lenoir s, again in their turn covering the 
 rear, Hartranft s Division, with mounted infantry, was sent 
 forward to occupy the junction of our road with another 
 road from Kingston coming in from the south-west some 
 eight miles nearer Knoxville at Campbell s Station, the 
 next point for which it was supposed Longstreet would 
 strike. The Thirty-Fifth was detailed to help forward 
 Benjamin s battery. The condition of the roads for the 
 movement of trains and artillery was execrable ; where the 
 wheels did not sink in the mud they were blocked by 
 rough rocks ; the horses had been overworked for the past 
 twenty-four hours and were now so balky as to be almost 
 useless for hauling ; so the column hitched along out of 
 
l8l HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Lenoir s at a snail s pace, the men not knowing at first the 
 cause of the delay. At last, patience became exhausted, 
 ranks were broken and the men caught hold of the muddy 
 rims of wheels or parts of gun-carriages, wherever a hand 
 could seize them, and pushed and shoved to assist the 
 animals. The fences along the way were burning to light 
 the work. In this way we were eight hours making the 
 first three miles. Towards morning Lieutenant Ben 
 jamin, finding that unless there were greater speed his 
 guns would fall into the hands of the enemy, ordered a 
 part of the ammunition and the rear caisson destroyed ; 
 in the latter, however, he failed, being unable to procure 
 an axe. He labored hard all night, and, notwithstanding 
 the perplexities of the situation, kept his temper through 
 out, talking very calmly to his men as if all was progress 
 ing favorably. The rope prolonges were brought out and 
 attached, and the guns were slowly dragged through the 
 mire by hand ; finally the horses of the mounted infantry 
 were used to haul them. 
 
 At daylight of the sixteenth, flankers were thrown out 
 upon our left, and much better progress was made. As we 
 approached the junction at Campbell s Station, the country 
 on our right was mostly open, cleared land ; on the left it 
 was heavily wooded, excepting a field of about six acres at 
 the meeting of the roads. The Thirty-Fifth formed line in 
 this field, north of the road, and advanced across it to the 
 woods on the further side. At this time the musketry was 
 quite brisk to our right, as we then faced, a little further 
 down the Kingston road, where Longstreet s advance had 
 engaged the mounted infantry and Morrison s brigade of 
 Ferrero s Division. Here several of our men were wounded 
 by shots from the right, but no enemy appeared in our 
 front, and as soon as the last of our wagons had passed, 
 we were marched to the line of battle north of the village. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 182 
 
 A commanding position had been selected by Generals 
 Burnside and Potter, and the artillery having been posted 
 all the troops were withdrawn from the junction, and 
 drawn up in line of battle from side to side of the open 
 country. We had five batteries on the Union side ; while 
 the Confederates were slow in getting up their artillery, 
 on account of the bad roads. With both our flanks rest 
 ing upon wooded hills, and the guns in position defended 
 by veteran soldiers, the narrow front of about a mile be 
 came a formidable barrier to Longstreet s progress. As 
 we faced to the rear, the Fifty-First Pennsylvania was upon 
 the left of this line, the Thirty-Fifth next, with a skirmish 
 line, composed of Companies C, D and K, in front. In 
 this left wing were the guns of Roemer s battery, which 
 did excellent service. To attack us the enemy must come 
 out of the woods and expose themselves to our artillery. 
 From our position we could see both armies, and it was a 
 grand sight. The Confederates came out in line with 
 colors flying, fully expecting, apparently, that as soon as 
 they got close to us we would retreat as before ; but they 
 were mistaken, for no sooner were they in sight than our 
 batteries poured shells and shrapnel into their ranks with 
 terrible effect ; we could see the shells burst among them, 
 and they would break and run for the woods. 
 
 At the opening of the engagement in this second posi 
 tion, about noon, we could see their batteries take position 
 in a field near the road we had passed over, and send 
 shells in our direction, which burst in too close proximity 
 to be pleasant; but their guns were soon silenced by our 
 batteries. We could also see their infantry marching 
 across from the Kingston road to the woods upon our left. 
 Their attack commenced upon the right of the line, 
 Ferrero s Division, and, being repulsed, worked towards 
 our front, avoiding a direct assault upon the centre, 
 
183 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 White s Division. After awhile, our artillery continuing 
 to shell them whenever they could be seen, we discovered 
 a force coming over the crest of the hill through the woods 
 on our left; Roemer immediately changed front and gave 
 them a few shot so well placed that they sought cover on 
 the double-quick, scattering "like nine-pins," as an ob 
 server expressed it. 
 
 They kept on, however, working around in the \voods 
 on the left, and to prevent being flanked it became neces 
 sary to withdraw the whole line of battle, between three 
 and four o clock, to a new position in rear, upon the top 
 of the hill we were occupying. This movement to the rear 
 was executed with perfect regularity, and we took up a 
 position similar to the former, but commanding it so that 
 the Confederates must still further stretch out their flank 
 to reach ours. The evolutions upon this battle-field were 
 like the moves upon a chess-board, and were executed 
 with a precision and regard for military art seldom dis 
 played in active field service in our thickly wooded country. 
 One of our batteries was stationed in an orchard near the 
 centre of the line of battle and a little in advance of this 
 last position ; beside it General Burnside remained most 
 of the time, carefully scanning the whole field. 
 
 Late in the afternoon the Confederates were observed 
 again working upon our flank, and we gave them the same 
 warm reception as before and with the same discomfitting 
 result. But this time their halt was only temporary, and 
 soon after, when most of our army, filing off by the right, 
 had taken the road towards Knoxville, and we were pre 
 paring to follow, the enemy again appeared coming on. 
 Our skirmishers, under command of Lieutenant Meserve, 
 opened a brisk fire and stood their ground without waver 
 ing. Word was sent to Roemer s battery, then limbering 
 up, the guns were again sighted and a round of shells sent 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 184 
 
 among the gray-coats which chilled their enthusiasm. It 
 was now late, and so dark it had become difficult to dis 
 tinguish friend from foe, even at short distance, and the 
 obscurity concealed the Confederates from our view. The 
 skirmishers were ordered to rally on the regiment, which 
 they did with a will, and the column turned into the road 
 and left the field to Longstreet and the darkness of night. 
 The purpose of delaying him for twenty-four hours longer 
 had been attained and our trains secured. 
 
 As we passed a wagon by the roadside, ammunition was 
 distributed, and then the men summoned resolution for an 
 other night march of sixteen miles. Skirmishing was heard 
 behind us all the first part of the night, General White s 
 Division of the Twenty-Third Corps and the cavalry now 
 covering the rear ; but towards morning this ceased. The 
 engineers felled trees across the road to retard the enemy, 
 who were easily distanced. The day s work on both sides 
 at Campbell s Station had been worthy of troops who had 
 come from Gettysburg and Vicksburg to test each other s 
 skill and courage in this far-away corner of the mountains. 
 The casualties in our regiment had been several slightly 
 wounded and one missing, Charles H. Ellis, of Company 
 I, adjutant s clerk, who was taken prisoner and died at 
 Belle Isle near Richmond. 
 
 This was, to most of the men, the third night without 
 sleep, so that their condition was pitiable. Night march 
 ing in close ranks is hard, under the most favorable cir 
 cumstances ; these last few hours before reaching Knox- 
 ville were spent as in a dream, many declaring that they 
 slept while marching ; officers dozed in the saddle ; tired 
 human nature could endure no more and insisted upon its 
 right to rest. After halting, numbers who had dropped 
 asleep had to be awakened with the warnings that to 
 rest now was a sure preliminary to Libby Prison ; a few, 
 
185 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 happily, continued wide awake and spurred on the rest. 
 The column entered Knoxville early in the morning of 
 November 17 ; a rest of a couple of hours was given, and the 
 half-starved men received rations of beef and hard bread. 
 
 General Ferrero s Division had reached the town first, 
 and was now posted on the high lands facing to the south 
 west and west and extending from the Holston River 
 around Fort Sanders, the salient, to Second Creek, which 
 was the stream running by our first camp ground near 
 Knoxville. Our division, arriving in town second, was 
 extended from Second Creek to First Creek and faced 
 north-west and north. The Twenty-Third Corps, coming 
 along in rear, now occupied Temperance Hill and the 
 north-east side of the town, also the high fortified hills on 
 the south side of the Holston, which were connected with 
 the city by a pontoon-bridge. Our First Brigade held the 
 left of our division line, our brigade the right, and our 
 regiment held the extreme right of all, next to the mill and 
 dam on First Creek. 
 
 Marching through the town to our position, we halted 
 and stacked arms in the open field upon the hill overlook 
 ing First Creek, the East Tennessee and Virginia Rail 
 road, and the rolling, cleared ground beyond, gently rising 
 from us to the pitch-pine woods through which was cut, 
 directly in our front, the road to Cumberland Gap ; to the 
 left was the road to Jacksboro. There were no buildings 
 of importance between us and the Gap road, but on the 
 left there were well-built houses with gardens extending 
 out upon the way to Jacksboro. On the outer slope of our 
 hill a line of intrenchments was drawn, and all hands went 
 busily to work to make cover. A large part of the labor 
 was done by citizens, especially colored volunteers from 
 the city, and in a surprisingly short time a trench sufficient 
 for our purpose was dug along the whole front. The 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. l86 
 
 Fifty-First Pennsylvania was in line upon our left"; then 
 the line was cut by the steep descent of the street to the 
 railroad station, and beyond was located the rest of our 
 brigade upon the high bluff overhanging the station. The 
 Fifteenth Indiana battery was posted on the highest part 
 of our hill, behind an earthwork and bales of cotton 
 sheathed with raw-hides. This work was called Battery 
 Billingsley, after an officer killed during the siege. 
 
 It was a strange sight to see citizens clothed in gray or 
 butternut, with long rifle in hand, come down and take 
 places by our side in the trenches for the defence of their 
 homes. We had been so long accustomed to look upon 
 that color as hostile, its appearance in our ranks was very 
 cheering to the men. Our shelter-tents were pitched in 
 regular order in rear of the battery and beside the city 
 street ; but most of the regiment passed the first night in the 
 trenches, sleeping upon their arms the first sleep to most 
 of them for seventy hours. Time for this work and rest 
 was gained by the heroic conduct of our cavalry, south of 
 the city, under General Sanders, in which action that gal 
 lant leader was mortally wounded. As the enemy closed 
 around pickets were sent out ; the detail of sixty men from 
 our regiment being under Captain Mirick. They con 
 structed a line of low rifle-pits about half a mile to the front, 
 and extending from the Gap road south to near Second 
 Creek, a line which was held by our brigade pickets during 
 the siege, connecting, of course, at both ends with the 
 pickets of the other divisions. During his tour of duty 
 Captain Mirick was wounded by a bullet from the enemy 
 through his wrist. As Longstreet had not sufficient force 
 to entirely invest the city, his main force was concentrated 
 around the south-west and west sides, where he had better 
 positions for his artillery and at the same time interposed 
 between us and Grant s army. 
 
187 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Central Burnside issued an order stating that there was 
 to be no further retreat, and Knoxville was to be held at 
 all hazards and to the last man. The question of food 
 supply seemed to be the most difficult to meet ; only half 
 or even quarter rations were issued, the bread sometimes 
 having the appearance of being made of a mixture of rye 
 and refuse grains and quite black in color; but the men 
 echoed the spirit of their beloved leader and stood up to 
 their share of the work unflinchingly. The following diary 
 of the siege, kept by Captain Nason, then First Sergeant of 
 Company K, sets forth the daily life of the enlisted men 
 during those trying days better than any description which 
 we can now give : 
 
 "Wednesday, November i8th. We were relieved from 
 the trenches in the morning by the Eleventh New Hamp 
 shire. Every preparation is being made to hold the city ; 
 the Fifty-First Pennsylvania and Thirty-Fifth were busy 
 most of the clay in stopping a run of water (First Creek) 
 by making a dam, filling up with dirt, stones and brush, in 
 order to overflow the space between the fortifications and 
 the railroad, which would be a great hindrance to the 
 enemy in making an assault. The citizens living outside 
 of our intrenchments were ordered to vacate their dwell 
 ings. Another detail from the regiment relieved the picket 
 at six P. M. 
 
 "Thursday, igth. A part of the regiment is ordered to 
 remain in the trenches, the rest to be ready to fall in at a 
 moment s notice. There was considerable picket firing 
 during the day. A rebel battery, with white horses, made 
 its appearance from the woods and fired three shots ; one 
 of them passed through a tent in Company E, without in 
 juring the occupant, who was eating his dinner ; one went 
 through the door of a building in rear of the right of the 
 regiment, and the other passed near General Burnside, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 1 88 
 
 who was inside the parapet looking through a glass. He 
 showed his white teeth, and sighting one of the guns, 
 quickly sent the white horses flying ; they were soon out 
 of sight with the rebel battery. At night every man for 
 detail was put at work digging. Slept in the trenches all 
 night ; I was awakened from sleep by the playing of Web 
 ster s March at the funeral of General Sanders ; the effect 
 in the stillness of night was solemn and impressive. 
 
 "Friday, 2oth. Foggy morning. In trenches all day ; 
 made a fire-place by digging into the bank. Picket firing 
 all day ; several shots from rebel batteries at five P. M. ; 
 no one injured. Drew half a day s rations of bread from 
 the commissary. The parapet covering the battery in rear 
 of our company was strengthened by placing cotton-bales 
 on the top and filling in with dirt ; a detail of the regiment 
 kept at work all night. 
 
 " Saturday, 2ist. Sergeant Worcester and seven men left 
 for picket at four A. M. Ripley, our cook, went to the picket 
 line with their breakfast, seven A. M. ; on returning, he 
 stopped and milked four quarts of milk from a stray cow. 
 It rained steadily until three p. M. The dam gave way 
 during the heavy rain, and men were immediately set at 
 work repairing it. A few shots were fired from the fort on 
 our left, the only firing from batteries during the clay. 
 
 "Sunday, 22cl. Two corporals and one private for picket 
 at four A. M.* Clear and pleasant. Less firing than usual. 
 Regiment ordered to discharge muskets and to police 
 camp. Lewis Morse obtained some meal and flour, with 
 which I made some bread and pancakes. At five P. M., 
 four or five shells came over to our right from a rebel 
 battery, exploding some distance to our rear ; a few shots 
 fired from the forts on our right silenced it ; also ours fired 
 again at eight P. M., without any reply. 
 
 * K was a small company for two years after Antietam. 
 
189 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 "Monday, 230!. Lieutenant Meserve and six men of K 
 on picket. I went into town and called on Mr. Locke, a 
 baker, from Massachusetts. Most of the stores were 
 closed, and prices very high : coffee, one dollar a pound ; 
 sugar, fifty cents ; molasses, two dollars per gallon. Sev 
 eral citizens, out of employment, were put to work on the 
 dam with a detail of troops, who worked all day and night. 
 A volley of musketry aroused the camp at eight P. M., and 
 we rallied to the trenches. The line of pickets occupied 
 by the Second Maryland was attacked and the men driven 
 from their posts, the rebels occupying the pits until day 
 light, when the Forty-Eighth Pennsylvania and Twenty- 
 First Massachusetts, with a detachment of thirty-six men 
 from the Thirty-Fifth on their right, charged on the picket 
 line, driving the enemy, and reestablished the line. Dur 
 ing the skirmish twenty-five houses were fired by men 
 detailed for that purpose, to prevent their occupation 
 by the enemy s sharpshooters. Many of them were val 
 uable, with grounds handsomely laid out. The scene 
 of the conflagration from the trenches was grand and 
 thrilling.* 
 
 * Major Wales was officer of the day. When, in the evening, the enemy made 
 their attack as above he came to the Thirty-Fifth and called for volunteers the 
 whole regiment at once sprang out of the trenches and over the works to the front ; 
 but only the thirty-six men were taken. The detachment was during the night under 
 the immediate command of Lieutenant Pope, who was officer of the picket. Our 
 pickets had been flanked by the break on the left, and obliged to abandon their pits 
 along our whole front ; falling back they set fire to the inflammables prepared in the 
 houses, and then formed line behind stumps and other cover in the open ground about 
 half way back to the railroad, and at such an angle as to cover the flank of our line 
 to the right. On the left were the burning buildings, casting a brilliant red glare over 
 the whole ground and into the woods in front. Occasionally a man could be seen 
 among the buildings carrying combustibles or a torch from one to the other. Our pits 
 in front were occupied by the enemy ; but they kept close, the slightest exposure above 
 the brink catching the light and revealing itself to our riflemen at once. They fired 
 at our men who were much more exposed. Great masses of flame, smoke and cinders 
 rolled overhead with imposing effect. 
 
 At daybreak Major Wales gave orders that, as soon as cheering should be heard 
 on our left the charge of the Twenty-First and Forty-Eighth we should jump up 
 
 I 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. IQO 
 
 "Tuesday, 24th. Rain most of the day. Very little picket 
 firing. Our loss in the charge, Monday night, was one 
 killed Private Henzy. The Eleventh New Happshire 
 and Fifty-First Pennsylvania each lost one man killed. 
 The Twenty-First and Forty- Eighth lost more. The Sec 
 ond Michigan lost eighty killed, wounded and missing, 
 leaving the major and adjutant on the field. A flag of 
 truce to bury their dead was fired upon by the enemy. 
 
 "Wednesday, 25th. Clear and pleasant. Washed 
 clothes. An alarm at 2 P. M., and we rallied in the trenches 
 expecting an attack, but only the usual picket firing oc 
 curred during the day. At 5 P. M. returned to our tents, 
 leaving one man from each company on guard. The band 
 played, morning, noon and night, in front of camp.* 
 
 "Thursday, November 26, National Thanksgiving Day. 
 Clear and frosty. Picket line strengthened on the left by 
 falling back into new pits to avoid the cross-fire from the 
 left, and six or eight buildings were destroyed at 5.30 A. M., 
 to prevent their occupation by the enemy s sharpshooters. 
 For my Thanksgiving dinner I had bean soup and bread 
 
 with a shout and dash with all speed for the rifle pits in front. The cheers were heard, 
 up sprang the men and charged forward recklessly, each trying to outrun the others 
 and get first to the line. The men in gray, startled by the attack on their right, left 
 in haste all but one, a fine fellow from a South Carolina regiment Palmetto Sharp 
 shooters who was found shot through the body in one of the pits. A man of our 
 detachment Henzy, of Company I stooped down to examine him ; at the same 
 moment a few bullets from the retreating foe came pattering among us, one of them 
 seeming to hit a stump with the peculiar sharp " chick ! " so well remembered by all 
 soldiers. Major Wales ordered the men to stand up, and walked afong the line ; com 
 ing to Henzy and seeing him still bending over the Confederate, he asked, " What is 
 that man down there for? " A comrade placing his hand on Henzy found him lifeless, 
 the ball which seemed to strike the stump had passed through his head. For the dash 
 exhibited in this charge this detail of thirty-six men from the regiment received due 
 credit from headquarters. 
 
 * This was the last day of the battles at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, 
 which proved such glorious Union victories and decided our fate, although as yet 
 unknown to us. The days, 26th to 28th, were those of the Mine Run affair in the 
 Army of the Potomac; so there was fighting at both ends of the great mountain range 
 and we in the middle. 
 
19 1 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 and molasses, using about all my next day s ration of 
 bread. Ordered to be ready to fall in at any moment. 
 Private Smith, of Company C, detailed as adjutant s clerk 
 at regimental headquarters in place of Ellis, missing since 
 the fifteenth.* 
 
 "Friday, 27th. Half of the men are ordered to remain 
 in the trenches day and night. Major Wales was officer of 
 the day. Made up daily report book since the thirteenth. 
 A quiet day. The houses on the north side of the creek 
 have been loop-holed in front and occupied by detailed 
 men as sharpshooters, which is more comfortable than 
 lying in the trenches. 
 
 " Saturday, 28th. Cloudy and wet; rained 8 A. M. Clark 
 of our company went to purchase some bread of a baker 
 who commenced selling, having been permitted by the 
 authorities to open his shop ; but Clark was unable to get 
 near, the crowd was so great the supply was unequal to 
 the demand. Batteries on our left commenced shelling, 
 which continued through the night. The enemy made an 
 assault on Fort Sanders about daylight, but were repulsed 
 by the First Division, with the loss (to the Confederates) of 
 
 * Our position was a singular one for thanksgiving, but half starved, exhausted 
 with watching and environed by enemies, we still had cause for gratitude. General 
 Burnside issued the following order: 
 
 "GENERAL FIELD ORDERS, No. 32. 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE OHIO, 
 
 " KNOXVILLE, TENN., Nov. 26, 1863. 
 
 "In accordance with the proclamation of the President of the United States, 
 Thursday, the twenty-sixth instant, will, so far as military operations permit, be ob 
 served by this army as a day of thanksgiving for the countless blessings vouchsafed 
 the country, and the fruitful successes granted to our armies during the past year. 
 Especially has this army cause for thankfulness for the Divine protection which has 
 so signally shielded us, and let us with grateful hearts offer prayer for its continuance, 
 and with a firm reliance on the God of Battles. 
 
 "By command of MAJ. GEN. BURNSIDE, 
 
 "LEWIS RICHMOND, A. A. G." 
 
 Within a day or two afterwards General Sherman started from Chattanooga, by 
 forced marches up the valley, to our relief. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 1 92 
 
 over eight hundred killed and wounded and four hundred 
 prisoners,* while our loss did not exceed fifty. After mid 
 night the picket line had been attacked for a mile, extending 
 to our regiment. The Forty-Eighth Pennsylvania pickets 
 were outflanked, the enemy getting into their rear, when a 
 scene of confusion followed, friend and foe being mixed 
 together. Houses were fired as before, and the same lurid 
 heavens canopied the scene. Our pickets were obliged to 
 retire, getting behind the stumps and fences, where they 
 remained until daylight, when Sunday, 29th, the Second 
 Brigade made a charge and drove out the enemy, thus 
 regaining our pits after twice being flanked out of them. 
 The boys charged forward with a will and determination 
 that would have driven twice their number, Major Wales 
 leading the Thirty-Fifth and calling upon us to yell our 
 loudest. We remained in the pits until the pickets were 
 relieved and had returned to camp. The Eleventh New 
 Hampshire lay in support in rear. The Thirty-Fifth lost 
 one man killed and one taken prisoner.! Corporal Solon 
 E. Morse, of Company K, was deceived by the enemy, who 
 told him not to fire on his own men, at the same time ask 
 ing him what regiment he belonged to ; he told them, and 
 was taken prisoner before he could escape. Before he was 
 undeceived he was heard urging our men not to run but 
 to come back to the pits, which if they had done they 
 would, no doubt, have been also captured. Morse died 
 at Belle Isle, near Richmond, in March following. 
 
 *Woodbury says eleven hundred killed and wounded, and three hundred un- 
 wounded prisoners. 
 
 t Frank A. Porter and E. P. Kelly, of Company G, were together in a rifle-pit, 
 when, about three o clock in the morning, they suddenly found themselves flanked on 
 the left and the enemy getting in their rear. They at once moved off to the right 
 when the Confederates ordered them to halt, but they paid no attention to the com 
 mand; they next heard the order " Fire ! " and received a volley, killing Porter, the 
 bullet entering his right side. Porter s body was left on the disputed ground until 
 daylight, when it was recovered by the charge of our men above mentioned. 
 
193 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 "An armistice was agreed on from 10 A. M. to 8 P. M. to 
 bury the dead and care for the wounded. I went to the 
 corps hospital. The ambulances were busy all day bring 
 ing in the wounded, mostly rebels. I saw a number of 
 prisoners belonging to Georgia and South Carolina regi 
 ments. The carnage before Fort Sanders and Benjamin s 
 battery was awful. A wire netting extended around the 
 stumps in front of the fort, which broke their line as they 
 came up. Some succeeded in reaching the breastwork 
 only to be shot. They crowded into the deep ditch outside 
 the fort, into which Lieutenant Benjamin threw shells 
 lighting them, it was said, with his cigar causing a fearful 
 slaughter. The enemy having many times our number, 
 too much praise cannot be awarded to Lieutenant Benja 
 min, who was as cool as he was brave.* 
 
 " Monday, 3oth. Very cold; ice half an inch thick. 
 Fixed up quarters in the trenches, making three fire-places 
 and room for ten members of the company. Made the pit 
 two feet wider to allow room to lie down. 
 
 "Tuesday, December i st. Cool and pleasant. An order 
 from General Burnside was read to the regiment by Adju 
 tant Meserve, complimenting the troops for their heroism 
 during the past seventeen days of trying experience ; also 
 mentioning the regiments which repulsed the attack on 
 Fort Sanders Seventy-Ninth New York (Highlanders), 
 Seventeenth Michigan and others, with Benjamin s and 
 Buckley s batteries. It was a glorious defence. He also 
 announced the great victory of our army under General 
 
 * For a detailed account of this attack on Fort Sanders, we refer to " Woodbury s 
 History of the Ninth Corps " and Captain Barrage s narrative in the Atlantic Monthly 
 for July, 1866. The scene of action was too far to our left for us to describe it as eye 
 witnesses, only the smoke and din of battle and the turmoil of the assault were dis 
 cernible by us; and, indeed, we were so busy in rectifying affairs in our front that 
 many were not certain until afterwards of the exact hour of the grand assault and 
 repulse. We were all kept in the trenches for the rest of the siege. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 194 
 
 Grant, with the loss to Bragg of six thousand prisoners 
 and fifty-one [forty] pieces of artillery and many stands 
 of colors. At the conclusion Major Wales proposed nine 
 cheers, which were given with a will. The whole line of 
 the army stood up on the works and cheered and waved 
 the colors, while the bands played, to inform Longstreet s 
 men that we had received the good news. Our battery on 
 the right opened at 5 P. M., throwing the shot further to 
 the right than usual ; no reply from the enemy. Drew 
 rations of coarse corn-meal. Made out monthly returns. 
 A quiet night. 
 
 "Wednesday, December 2d. Pleasant and warm. Gen 
 eral Potter issued an order, read to the regiment, honoring 
 the corps for good conduct during the late encounter with 
 the rebels. 
 
 "Thursday, 3d. Usual picket firing during the day. 
 Reports are current that the rebels are leaving. 
 
 "Friday, 4th. Very quiet. A number of cows are roam 
 ing between the lines ; some of them were brought in by 
 the pickets, and we were treated to fresh beef. A rebel 
 battery fired a few shots from our left, but Benjamin and 
 the Fifteenth Indiana soon made them skedaddle. More 
 picket firing towards night, but none during the night. An 
 officer of General Sherman s staff arrived in the city with 
 information that Sherman was only twenty-four hours away. 
 
 " Saturday, 5th. Very quiet. The rebs have left. Our 
 pickets advanced after daylight without finding an enemy, 
 but picked up one hundred and sixty stragglers for pris 
 oners, who made no resistance. They were an inferior- 
 looking lot from Georgia and South Carolina ; they were 
 tired of fighting and wished Bragg and Longstreet were 
 hung. Our brigade marched out about four miles on the 
 Gap road about 10 A.M., but found no enemy; they left 
 last night, our pickets heard them moving. Their pickets 
 
195 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 were withdrawn at 2 A. M. ; fires were left burning to deceive 
 us. Went to work on the pay-rolls and requisitions for 
 clothing. Men ordered to clean their guns." 
 
 General Sherman arrived in the city and surveyed the 
 defences, visiting our battery, where he was warmly wel 
 comed. The success of the whole campaign from Chat 
 tanooga up was almost too overwhelming to be true. 
 General Longstreet s army, disheartened by defeat and 
 by Sherman s arrival, had retired towards Virginia on the 
 Rogersville road. Knoxville had proved a Fredericksburg 
 to them. 
 
 On the seventh our two divisions and part of the 
 Twenty -Third Corps started north-eastward, upon the 
 track of the enemy, in light marching order, without tents. 
 Captain Lyon took command of the regiment for the 
 remainder of the winter. Major Wales, Lieutenant Berry, 
 Sergeant-Major White, Sergeants Bent and Castle, with 
 privates Wellington and Matz, started for the North by 
 way of Big Creek Gap, most of them upon recruiting 
 service. 
 
 Our first day s march was over good roads, making rap 
 idly thirteen miles, and going into bivouac in the same line 
 of battle as at Campbell s Station First Division on the 
 right, Twenty-Third Corps in the centre and Second Divis 
 ion on the left. Next day we made but seven miles on the 
 Rogersville road. Rations were scanty ; each man drew 
 one-half ration of pork, one-quarter ration of flour, and to 
 eke out the need picked up corn left by the horses and ate 
 it raw or parched. 
 
 On the ninth we made thirteen miles over muddy roads, 
 with the Clinch Mountains on the left, and went into biv 
 ouac in a bare, open valley, within two miles of Rutledge 
 Longstreet said to be twelve miles ahead, somewhere 
 about Bean s Station. The position we had was good for 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 196 
 
 defence; and, as the enemy were too strong for us to 
 attack, we awaited Longstreet s movements here until the 
 fifteenth, employing the days in devising ways and means 
 to fill our stomachs, which the short rations and winter 
 weather caused to be loud in their appeals for more food. 
 Here the coffee mills came to the rescue gallantly. In the 
 Western armies the coffee berry, to prevent fraud, was 
 issued burned but not ground, sometimes even unbrowned. 
 It was soon found that crushing it in a tin cup with a bay 
 onet was too slow, and the company cooks acquired at 
 least one old coffee mill to a company. As the coffee 
 ration fell short and the sugar ration ceased, these mills 
 were turned to grinding grain, corn or wheat, which was 
 generally first parched, or partly broken by pounding. A 
 good part of a man s time would be taken up grinding in 
 his turn such corn as he might have found, begged or 
 appropriated. The product was cooked in our battered 
 tin dippers, or fried into " flippers " upon half a canteen 
 stuck upon a split stick. 
 
 The nights were often cold and rainy. In these valleys 
 the air draws through with great force, as in a tunnel, and 
 sometimes whirls around suddenly to the opposite quarter, 
 so that the nicely-constructed shelter of rails, backed to 
 the cold rain from the north, would be found at midnight 
 open to a driving storm from the south, whereupon the 
 inmates had their choice of a shower bath or rousing out 
 to change front. Thus there was employment for day and 
 night. For amusement, after we had been without a change 
 of clothing for a fortnight, individuals could be seen retired 
 apart, in dishabille, examining their shirts with fixed atten 
 tion for gray-backs of the six-legged species, which were 
 said to be about camp. 
 
 The Twenty-Third Corps passed to the rear at midnight 
 of the fourteenth, and on the fifteenth we heard of a skir- 
 
IQ7 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 mish at Bean s Station and ninety prisoners were brought 
 in. About noon we moved a little way and formed line of 
 battle, remaining in position until evening, when we marched 
 back six miles and went into bivouac at one in the morn 
 ing. The day s ration had been flour, and some of the 
 wise ones had prepared for the emergency by frying it into 
 griddle cakes or flippers, while others had their whole ration 
 mixed in their dippers, but uncooked ; these gravely took 
 up the line of retreat, tin dippers in hand, and stumbling 
 by night over a muddy road full of holes was perilous to 
 the precious contents of those dippers. 
 
 On the sixteenth we got back to Blain s Cross Roads, 
 where a halt was ordered for coffee ; and, cannon being 
 heard in rear, division line of battle was formed, and a 
 barricade of rails and savin bushes was thrown up across 
 the valley. The most conspicuous person at times of 
 excitement during these harassing days was Captain Mc- 
 Kibben of the staff dashing about, the cape of his coat 
 thrown back, showing its scarlet lining, attended by order 
 lies who were the oracles to be consulted by us when 
 seeking to know what our movements portended. The 
 mounted infantry came in from the front, and an imme 
 diate attack was expected. The rain poured down at 
 midnight, but we managed to catch a few hours sleep. 
 
 On the seventeenth the muskets were put in order after 
 the rain, and the regiment formed in one rank, taking 
 ground to the left. There was light skirmishing in front 
 at noon, and our battery shelled the woods. The four left 
 companies under Lieutenant Pope were thrown out into 
 the woods, where they spent the night, with low fires, much 
 more snugly than the rest of the line, who suffered from 
 an intensely cold wind sweeping down the valley. Next 
 day the skirmish line was advanced a mile, but no enemy 
 was encountered in force, and it was announced that he 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 198 
 
 had left our front. That evening the paymaster, Major 
 Haggerty, paid off the regiment in a little hut in front of 
 the lines. 
 
 On the nineteenth we moved into the woods on the west 
 side of the valley, near a fine stream of water, and camp 
 was laid out in company streets; but, as the shelter tents 
 were still in Knoxville, the bough huts were pitched in 
 rather an irregular fashion, wtych characterized that camp 
 afterwards. The nights became bitter cold, but the wood 
 pile was unlimited, and the fires blazed up bright and 
 cheery. On the twenty-first and twenty-second our knap 
 sacks and the headquarter s baggage arrived with Quarter 
 master Tobey, and were gladly welcomed, for our clothing 
 was badly demoralized. Many of the men were ragged 
 and almost bare-foot, no clothing having been drawn since 
 we left Crab Orchard. Lieutenant Tobey brought news 
 of General Burnside s departure for the North, and the 
 arrival of General John G. Foster, of North Carolina 
 memory, to command the department. The mail came 
 along, and we learned with what deep interest the siege 
 of Knoxville had been watched by the Government and 
 the people of the North. President Lincoln, in particular, 
 was now elated and thankful over the result, and issued a 
 proclamation, stating that the enemy had left Knoxville 
 "under circumstances rendering it probable that the Union 
 forces cannot hereafter be dislodged from that important 
 post," and advising that " all loyal people do, on receipt 
 of the information, assemble at their places of worship 
 and render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God 
 for the great advancement of the national cause." Another 
 foothold had been gained, from which, as upon the Missis 
 sippi, a column could be driven through the Confederacy, 
 to separate another large territory from the Richmond 
 Government. The success was as depressing to the Con- 
 
199 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 federate leaders as it was cheering to the upholders of the 
 Union. 
 
 On the twenty-third there was an alarm, and the Fifty- 
 First New York, Eleventh New Hampshire and Thirty- 
 Fifth made a reconnoissance, with a section of Edward s 
 battery, two miles out, the First Brigade going still further; 
 but the foe had left. Returning to camp, we commenced 
 to log up the tents and bui!4 chimneys of sticks and mud 
 in the old Falmouth fashion, but now with ample materials 
 at our very doors ; wood-chopping and hauling employed 
 much of the time. Short rations continued ; on Christmas 
 Day there was no bread all day, and no other food but 
 fresh beef, issued at evening, for a Christmas dinner; even 
 salt to season it was a luxury. Pickets we kept posted up 
 the valley and towards the Holston, which lay to the east 
 ward, and, as the men upon this duty had advantages for 
 foraging, the position was rather sought than avoided, ex 
 cept by the shoeless. 
 
 The year 1864 opened w r ith rain, turning to snow, and 
 the weather very cold. The wind was high, and dodging 
 the smoke of the camp fires was an unending amusement. 
 On the third of January there was no bread nor materials 
 for it in camp, and two ears of corn on the cob were issued 
 to each man in place of the bread ration ; the grinders at 
 the mills thought it a good substitute, but some, consider 
 ing it rather mulish treatment, inquired how long it would 
 be before the order would come to fall in for rations of 
 hay whereupon " Fall in for your hay ! " became a camp 
 by-word. Captain Ingell, being asked how he liked so 
 much meal diet, replied, " It is very fattening to bipeds ; 
 besides, it tickles one s throat all the way down ! " The 
 Twenty-Third Corps and the First Division had been longer 
 in Tennessee than we, and were even worse off for shoes 
 and clothing. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 2OO 
 
 The older regiments of the Ninth Corps, which had 
 enlisted in 1861, were now approaching the expiration of 
 their three years term of service. Recruiting at home for 
 old regiments had little success, and, to prevent the loss to 
 the service of so many old soldiers, great exertions were 
 made to secure their reenlistment; among the inducements, 
 they were offered a thirty days furlough to their homes. 
 On the twenty-fifth of December the proposal to reenlist 
 was made to the veteran Twenty-First Massachusetts, and 
 within thirty-six hours two-thirds of the men had reenlisted 
 
 a brilliant page in the record of that heroic regiment. 
 Finally, all but about thirty of the Twenty-First reenlisted ; 
 these were transferred for a time to our regiment on the 
 seventh, and the same afternoon the reenlisted Twenty- 
 First started for home, in charge of one hundred and fifty 
 prisoners from Longstreet s forces, which, judging from 
 the men coming over to us, were in even more straitened 
 circumstances than we, if possible. 
 
 On the eighth of January the whole country was clothed 
 in a mantle of snow two inches deep. Small-pox was pre 
 vailing in the district, and all the men were vaccinated. 
 We had read in our youth of Valley Forge and the dark 
 days of the Revolution, and, outwardly, the scenes about 
 us were a renewal of history. We were probably more 
 stinted for food but rather better clothed than the Con 
 tinental army, although rags and tatters were conspicuous 
 with us ; certainly we were not better shod, and necessity 
 
 the mother of invention suggested that moccasins 
 would be better than bare feet upon the snow; accordingly, 
 squares of green hide were issued in couples, which the 
 same old mother was to teach each man how to make into 
 foot-wear. They were laughable affairs when made, and 
 put one in mind of the foot of an elephant. The boys 
 called these moccasins " thanks-of-Congress-shoes," and 
 
201 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 their ragged pantaloons " stars-and-stripes trousers." The 
 meat rations were eked out by purchasing livers, hearts 
 and tails; and tripe became fashionable. The poor beef- 
 on-the-hoof, starved for days, when slaughtered was found 
 to be almost without tallow even the kidney fat frizzling 
 away to nothing in the frying-pan. Nearly every other day 
 a half-ration of hard bread was issued ; but the rough jour 
 ney over the mountains had broken the crackers into such 
 small bits it was difficult to divide them fairly. A common 
 way was for the company cook to arrange the pieces upon 
 a board, as many piles as there were men in the company, 
 each pile containing what seemed to him enough fragments 
 to make a cracker. The men of the company then filed 
 by, and each one pointed out the pile which seemed to him 
 largest, and received it for his ration. It was fair play, 
 but slow work ; but time just then was not valuable in the 
 cook-house the fires were not overworked. The surgeon 
 had no patients ; all present were as healthy as they were 
 tough. 
 
 Rev. T. B. Fox, of Boston, visited camp at this time to 
 give us a word of encouragement, although he had no 
 special errand to us, we not being old enough as a regi 
 ment to reenlist. Those of the men who wished to hear 
 were drawn up in a half circle to listen ; and, out of mis 
 chief, the most ragged trousers and moccasin men were 
 put in front, while the rear rank thrust their tattered 
 elbows over the shoulders of their file leaders. A photo 
 graph of the scene would be worth having. The kind 
 gentleman hardly knew what to say to such a beggarly- 
 looking crowd ; but the boys were fat in spite of slim diet, 
 and their eyes twinkled with merriment, which proved how 
 little the present hardships penetrated. Those were tough 
 times, but not of discouragement ; in this, the inward spirit, 
 our men differed from the heroes of Valley Forge the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 2O2 
 
 prospect before us was brighter and more promising of 
 success. 
 
 Two men from each company, daily, were given passes 
 to go outside the pickets upon foraging excursions, to 
 wheedle from the needy inhabitants some portion of their 
 little store of food or seed corn in exchange for coffee, 
 salt, or least available greenbacks. The limestone hills 
 about us contained deep, half-explored caverns, adorned 
 with fairy grottos and glistening stalactites, undisturbed 
 by tourists, and fascinating for exploration ; and the view 
 from the uplands of a fine day towards the Great Smoky 
 Mountains upon the North Carolina line, rising tier above 
 tier in purple majesty, was a rich experience to the wan 
 dering forager, even if he found no food to satisfy bodily 
 hunger. 
 
 A few pairs of shoes were distributed soon after the 
 moccasin day, and were received as prophetic of marching 
 orders, which came on the sixteenth of January. The 
 Fourth Corps, under General Gordon Granger, had come 
 in contact with Longstreet in the country south of the 
 Holston, and it became necessary for our army to con 
 centrate. In the early morning the frozen ground made 
 decent roads, but when the sun had risen and penetrated 
 an inch or two the surface came off from the frozen sub 
 stratum with every step, and the feet became clogged with 
 huge lumps of sticky mud, which made marching desperate 
 work and often very laughable. The short-legged fellows 
 got the worst of it, for they had most footprints to make 
 and less power to sling their hoofs. Adjutant Meserve s 
 horse slipped suddenly upon the uncertain footing, and 
 came down upon his haunches in a way to endanger his 
 rider, but fortunately without harming him. This happened 
 after we had passed south through the isolated hills called 
 the Knobs, and approached the Holston at the Strawberry 
 
203 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Plains crossing. The brigade moved up over the hills over 
 looking the river, which wound around from north-east 
 to south-west, and was crossed in a bend by the railroad 
 bridge, successor to the one destroyed by General Sanders 
 in the raid of the previous June. We went into bivouac in 
 the woods upon the hill ; afterwards we moved over into 
 the dell behind it. General Longstreet had unexpectedly 
 marched southward to Dandridge, on the French Broad 
 River, as if to flank us towards Knoxville ; hence our 
 movement hither in support of the Fourth Corps. 
 
 Our Second Division headquarters were now broken up. 
 So many regiments had reenlisted, the only regiments left 
 in the division were the Second- Maryland, Eleventh New 
 Hampshire and Thirty-Fifth. Quartermaster Upton re 
 turned, and Captain Gibson joined from Kentucky ; they 
 did not stay long with the regiment, but resigned, and about 
 the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth left for the North. Gibson 
 was the last of the original captains of the regiment. 
 
 Appearances in front began to look squally; the infantry 
 on foot and mounted came slowly back over the railroad 
 bridge, and General Ferrero made preparations to burn 
 the structure when the enemy should appear. We had 
 several light snow storms, and smoky fires caused sore 
 eyes. While waiting the men began to log up again, but 
 work was stopped on the twenty-first, when orders came to 
 strike tents and pack up. A lively duel began across the 
 river between the opposing batteries; but from our position 
 in the woods little could be seen a few solid shot came 
 over doing no harm. Details of men were sent to the 
 station for fresh pork, left behind by some commissary, 
 and about midnight the brigade moved up to the station. 
 Two cannon had been left for lack of horses to draw them ; 
 one of them was taken in charge by the Eleventh New 
 Hampshire, and the Second Maryland and Thirty-Fifth 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 204 
 
 took the other. The rope prolonges were hitched on, and 
 the men taking hold as upon the rope of a fire-engine we 
 started on the road to Knoxville. It was a repetition of 
 the night before the battle at Campbell s Station, but not 
 so dark ; the deep mud was partly frozen, and tugging 
 away, each man his pound, the guns made slow but sure 
 progress. At daybreak the column reached the railroad 
 bridge over Flat Creek, and the cannon were handed over 
 to other troops, who hauled them to a place where they 
 were loaded upon cars and started south. While making 
 coffee, a few cavalry overcoats were distributed gratis, to 
 save them from the enemy ; but the demand was greater 
 than the supply. 
 
 Keeping along slowly towards Knoxville, we turned off 
 to the left, south from the railroad, into the Knoxville road 
 near Knave s farm, and, loading muskets, prepared to meet 
 the advancing enemy. They, however, appeared to be in 
 weak force, and, after engaging our skirmishers and finding 
 us ready, declined to come on a few spent bullets came 
 over and that was all. The Twenty-Seventh Michigan 
 advanced and drove them off. We were out of rations 
 and very tired ; our sleep was undisturbed. Early on the 
 twenty-third General Ferrero came along and gave infor 
 mation that the foe had retired ; Longstreet was not con 
 templating another siege of Knoxville. The troops were 
 ordered into camp on the ground. The quartermaster 
 reported that we should have plenty of rations before 
 night, and there was need, for we had received no bread 
 for three days and only half a ration of flour a diet of 
 fresh pork alone is not inviting. In the evening there was 
 an issue of four days half-rations of hard bread and flour, 
 and quarter-rations of coffee and sugar, and a fair supply 
 of clothes said to have come up river in a steamboat. 
 The roads over the mountains had become impassable ; 
 
205 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 our supplies, if they can be called such, came from Nash 
 ville by way of Chattanooga, Grant s army having the first 
 pick. Living off the country, when that country has been 
 already skinned by a Confederate army, is sucking a very 
 dry bone indeed. 
 
 On the twenty-fourth of January we kept on south, 
 passing through the city and five miles beyond, to Erin s 
 Station or Lyon s Mill. Here, upon a sunny, wooded slope, 
 inclining to the south into a dell, where the road and a 
 clear brook crossed the front, the brigade laid out a reg 
 ular camp, with regimental headquarters up the hill, com 
 pany streets leading down. This was the pleasantest camp 
 ground that winter. The weather became milder and like 
 early spring the boys even bathed in the creek and, 
 had the food question been less pressing, the situation for 
 winter could hardly have been improved ; but the half and 
 quarter rations were continued so long as we remained in 
 Tennessee. On one occasion in this camp sick-wheat flour 
 was issued. Foraging was absolutely necessary for sub 
 sistence ; but the people, though friendly, had already 
 parted with whatever they could reasonably be asked to 
 spare. 
 
 All sorts of rumors floated into camp about the Ninth 
 Corps being ordered to the North. It was plain that, if 
 the organization of the corps was to be maintained, it 
 would be cheaper for the Government to transport North 
 the few regiments still in Tennessee than to bring back 
 the reenlisted veterans. With this reasonable ground for 
 expectation, we listened to every story, however absurd, 
 with interest ; Captain Rapelji seemed to be the oracle, 
 at least he was always referred to as the authority and 
 source of rumor. There was also some talk about filling 
 up the regiments with East Tennesseeans ; but this 
 amounted to nothing. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 206 
 
 On the twenty-eighth Captain Hudson returned from 
 hospital at Knoxville. Forage had become so limited in 
 supply that most of the horses and mules were sent over 
 the mountains. On the first of February a hurried move 
 was made to Knoxville, where we crossed the pontoons to 
 the south side and climbed through the mud to Housetop 
 Mountain, and spent the night there, returning to camp 
 next day. It appears to have been a movement in support 
 of General Sturgis, who was up the French Broad River 
 with cavalry and had captured two steel guns and one 
 hundred prisoners, finally falling back towards Maryville. 
 
 Company drills and dress-parades were resumed, but 
 the display was small, at one time eight companies march 
 ing out under sergeants. The officers in camp were : 
 Captain Lyon, commanding ; Captains Ingell, Hudson 
 and Blanchard ; Assistant-Surgeon Roche ; Lieutenants 
 Pope, Meserve (adjutant), Tobey (quartermaster) and 
 Dunbar. There were about one hundred and fifty enlisted 
 men present for duty, armed. A common camp cry during 
 these months of frequent alarms was, " I hear a gun ! " 
 " I hear another ! " but the shout peculiar to this camp 
 was to cry out when a rider passed, "There he goes 
 stop him ! " which often quite disconcerted the wayfarer, 
 the object of such uncalled-for attention, and not seldom 
 thoroughly angered him. The band of the Eleventh New 
 Hampshire furnished music for dress-parades, as at Fal- 
 mouth. 
 
 The vendetta waged between loyal and disloyal Ten- 
 
 nesseeans found a victim close by our camp a citizen 
 
 of Secesh proclivities, while at work upon the roof of his 
 
 cabin, was shot by another from an ambush a dangerous 
 
 wound, but not fatal, in Dr. Roche s opinion. 
 
 Hunger pressed us closely, and, as often noticed in like 
 circumstances, the mind turned of itself to this theme at 
 
207 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 leisure moments, and the fancy painted the delights of the 
 well-spread tables of the past. In the dark, mild evenings 
 the boys would gather around the glorious camp-fires 
 one of our luxuries, the other being abundant good water 
 and one man after another, in turn, would relate some 
 past events of his life, dwelling long upon the eatables 
 portion. One old wanderer, who had been cook on board 
 a mackerel schooner, set forth the ample provender he 
 furnished brown bread and beans, plum duff, dumplings 
 and molasses, etc., all of the most substantial kinds, until 
 the stomachs of his auditors fairly ached, and they shouted, 
 " Enough of that; lets go and get a drink of water ! " On 
 the tenth of February, one diary states, "I have eaten 
 nothing for twenty-four hours except some flour cooked " 
 the cooking being simply boiling in water with a little salt. 
 
 Under these circumstances, news came into camp of a 
 vote of thanks passed by Congress, January 28, 1864: 
 "The thanks of Congress are hereby presented to Major- 
 General Ambrose E. Burnside, and through him to the 
 officers and men who have fought under his command, for 
 their gallantry, good conduct and soldier-like endurance." 
 So the boys felt that they were not so far buried in the 
 mountains as to be entirely forgotten. 
 
 General Foster s health failing an old wound reopening 
 he was relieved by General Schofield about the middle 
 of February. A change of commanders brought also a 
 change of our camp. On the sixth of February General 
 Grant had telegraphed to General Thomas, "Two divisions 
 have gone to Longstreet ; he is reenforced by troops from 
 the East. This makes it evident the enemy intend to 
 secure East Tennessee if they can," etc. On the fourteenth 
 Genera] Schofield telegraphed to General Thomas, " Long- 
 street has advanced to Strawberry Plains with pontoon- 
 boats," and asked for reinforcements. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 2o8 
 
 In a pouring rain, on the fifteenth, we moved a few miles, 
 through the mud and over swollen brooks, to the west side 
 of the railroad and nearer the city. The Fourth Corps 
 also passed us, going towards the town. Next day there 
 was an inspection with knapsacks, but the wood-choppers 
 kept busy logging up again; they had hardly got their 
 trees down when orders came for a change of camp to 
 a better location, about a mile west from town. Here 
 logging-up proceeded again, and made better progress. 
 The regiment was inspected by a lieutenant-colonel of 
 General Grant s staff. It was colder, and on the twenty- 
 first snow fell. 
 
 On the twenty-second the band played " Washington s 
 March" and "Yankee Doodle." Details of men were at 
 work upon the forts about the city, that everything might 
 be in readiness in case Longstreet should come on. At 
 evening the regiment was agreeably surprised by the infor 
 mation that Colonel Carruth had arrived at brigade head 
 quarters. The boys got together to go down and welcome 
 him; but, he being tired, they. gave it up for the night. 
 Next morning the colonel came into camp ; the men rallied, 
 and gave him nine rousing cheers. At dress-parade, the 
 regiment forming three sides of a square, the colonel ad 
 dressed them. He thanked them for their good behavior, 
 while he had been gone, in face of the enemy and in 
 camp. He had watched for all the news he could hear 
 from them while he was at home, and had heard nothing 
 but praise. He was very sorry that it so happened he 
 could not have shared their privations, hardships and 
 dangers during the East Tennessee campaign, and was in 
 hopes that their future campaigns would be less arduous 
 and that all might be spared to see their homes once more. 
 All he could ask of them in the future was to conduct 
 themselves as they had done. In conclusion, he hoped 
 
209 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 that his health would be spared him, so that he might not 
 leave them again until he led them home at the expiration 
 of their service. At evening he was serenaded by the 
 brigade band the first piece being "Home Again." The 
 colonel took command of the brigade. 
 
 At midnight the sergeant-major went the rounds, with 
 orders to be ready to march at daylight. Accordingly, on 
 the twenty-fourth, reveille sounded at half-past four ; tents 
 were struck, and we started with knapsacks, and camped 
 again at Strawberry Plains, after a march of nineteen 
 miles, which, as we moved rapidly and long distances 
 without the customary halts, made a hard day s work. 
 General Schofield passed twice, and Generals Parke, 
 Wilcox and Ferrero were with the troops. It began to 
 appear that Schofield was a driver. The Fourth and 
 Twenty-Third Corps were on the move as well as our 
 corps. 
 
 Next day, resting on the hill overlooking the river and 
 ruins of the bridge, we got a mail, which contained infor 
 mation that the Ninth Corps was expected North by way 
 of Chattanooga. On the contrary, we received orders, 
 February 26, to prepare for a fifteen days march, with 
 shelter tent and blanket roll only, one hundred rounds of 
 cartridges per man, and five days rations. It had the 
 appearance of a raid on the Virginia salt works, following 
 retiring Longstreet. The bridge being gone, a double 
 ferry was rigged of pontoon-boats, three boats to each 
 rope, each boat transporting twenty-five men at a time. 
 The regiment after crossing marched to the high ground 
 beside a ploughed field and camped. Company K, detailed 
 to guard the train, which crossed at a ford above, had a 
 hard march that day. On the twenty-eighth we proceeded 
 to Mossy Creek Confederate cavalry retiring as we ap 
 proached and, on the morrow, to Morristown and a mile 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 2IO 
 
 beyond. Many will remember the rainy time we had at 
 this place ; the whole country was flooded ; it was like the 
 old north-easters at home, and turned freezing cold at night. 
 A heavy and watchful picket was thrown out, for we were 
 close to the enemy in force. 
 
 Morristown had been General Longstreet s winter quar 
 ters ; the citizens appeared very neutral, and wisely so, for 
 with the armies of the Union and of the Confederacy 
 dancing to and fro, forward and back, over them, it was 
 best not to be too demonstrative. Our movements were 
 but a repetition of the famous campaigns in the Shenandoah 
 Valley, with points of compass reversed. We visited these 
 people unexpectedly, and on the second of March we as 
 suddenly took an early departure on the back track as far 
 as Mossy Creek. This may have been, however, not a 
 retreat, for the other corps did not share it, but simply a 
 precautionary change to protect the right flank to the east 
 ward along the Nolichucky River. Our front was quiet 
 except in the direction of the bends of the Chucky, whence 
 frequent alarms came in of East Tennessee or North Car 
 olina refugees cutting their way into the Union lines, or 
 of Confederate cavalry lurking about that front. But, 
 upon the whole, the camp at Mossy Creek was very quiet, 
 except some noisy debates among the men upon questions 
 of politics and theology, gotten up for amusement, but 
 too vociferous for headquarters to endure without re 
 monstrance. The penmen were, as usual, busy upon 
 pay-rolls and returns to the departments. Colonel Har- 
 riman came up with recruits for the Eleventh New 
 Hampshire, and Sergeants Farrington and Chamberlin and 
 a squad of detailed men arrived from Kentucky. March 
 5, Schofield telegraphed to Thomas, "Longstreet is slowly 
 moving towards Virginia." 
 
 On the twelfth we moved east again, this time upon the 
 
211 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Chucky road, with little halting, an advance guard under 
 Lieutenant Pope marching some distance in front. Thir 
 teen miles were covered before the two hours rest for 
 dinner ; then the Second Maryland and Thirty-Fifth went 
 in advance, scouting six miles out, much of the way at the 
 double-quick to keep up with our cavalry. It was fun to 
 see the colonel dashing ahead on his white horse, and the 
 men hurrying along so rapidly made the chase quite en 
 livening. Our packs were left at the halting place under 
 guard. The cavalry overtook the enemy, killing one and 
 capturing two. The prisoners were delivered to us and 
 escorted back to the resting place ; one of them, a butter 
 nut clad youngster, enacted the hero, and certainly bestrode 
 his horse in gallant fashion. Companies C and K were 
 left at the halting place, while the rest of the regiment 
 marched one or two miles on the cross-road towards Mor- 
 ristown, and went into bivouac among a lot of knobby hills, 
 making twenty-five miles for the day s run. Next morning 
 we marched into Morristown. This was our last duty at 
 the front in East Tennessee. 
 
 There was a large force about Morristown, judging from 
 the spread of tent cloth Fourth and Twenty-Third Corps 
 troops. Knapsacks came up from Knoxville, and we pitched 
 a regular camp. Quite unexpectedly, Lieutenant Pope, 
 Sergeant Worcester, Corporal Hague and several others 
 were detailed to proceed North on recruiting service, by 
 order of the War Department ; they left on the fourteenth 
 of March. On the seventeenth, what remained of the 
 Ninth Corps fell in at half-past five in the morning, the 
 adjutant, before moving, reading an order about straggling; 
 and, by the way, straggling was almost unknown in this 
 campaign. The teamsters were ordered to tell the citizens 
 that we were bound for Chucky Bend; but the band struck 
 up " Saint Patrick s Day in the Morning " and " Home 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 212 
 
 Again," and the report quickly circulated that we were 
 bound for Annapolis in Maryland. With light hearts the 
 boys stepped off that morning. Thus we parted from the 
 Fourth and Twenty-Third Corps, our tried companions of 
 that winter of hardship ; they remained to follow Long- 
 street towards the Virginia line, then to join General 
 Sherman in the campaign to Atlanta; we, by the long 
 route over the mountains, marched to face Longstreet 
 again in the Wilderness campaign. 
 
 We were beyond New Market at evening, and, next day, 
 passed Strawberry Plains, the pontoons over the Holston 
 and Flat Creek, to within seven miles of Knoxville, re 
 viewing the old camp grounds for the last time. Reaching 
 Knoxville in the morning, we had a spell of "bone-shaking" 
 winds, piercing chills from the mountains, which made it 
 almost impossible to get warm, however closely one crept 
 to the fire. All extra luggage and the regimental baggage 
 were sent around through Chattanooga, Nashville and 
 Louisville, with the sick or disabled men, by rail. The 
 Second Division was divided into two brigades Colonel 
 Titus, of the Ninth New Hampshire, taking the first, and 
 Colonel Carruth commanding the second. We were to 
 march to Kentucky by way of Jacksboro Gap and Point 
 Burnside. 
 
 W T e took the road at 9.30 A. M. on the twenty-first of 
 March and reached Clinton at dark, camping on the bank 
 of Clinch River opposite the town. On the twenty-second, 
 crossed the Clinch on flat boats, and marched in the snow 
 over swollen brooks sometimes crossed by a slippery 
 log -to camp not far from Jacksboro. March 23d, halted 
 at Jacksboro and drew full rations of everything : bacon 
 sides, pork, hard bread, coffee and sugar; the first full 
 rations since leaving Crab Orchard last October. If to 
 remember Mississippi makes one thirsty, one needs but 
 
213 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 recall Tennessee to feel hungry as well. Pack mules were 
 received to carry officers luggage, in place of wagons. 
 On leaving Jacksboro the way led directly up the side of 
 Elk Mountain, a tough climb ; but when the summit was 
 attained and, looking back, we saw the lovely valleys and 
 mountains of East Tennessee spread beneath us, a pang 
 of regret and ingratitude struck us that we could leave so 
 picturesque and interesting a country with cheerful smiles. 
 Before the ascent, a wretched style of joke was perpe 
 trated by putting large stones into a victim s knapsack, for 
 him to "tote " to the top full rations with a vengeance I 
 At night, camp was located near a tannery. 
 
 March 24th, passed through grand mountain scenery, 
 log houses and cornfields, to bivouac on a hill-side ; a 
 frosty night. 
 
 March 25th, marched through Chitwoods and crossed 
 the line between Kentucky and Tennessee. The band 
 struck up " Farewell to Old Tennessee " and " Arn t 
 you glad to get out of the Wilderness ; " the boys gave 
 three cheers for the appropriate selections. Camped in 
 a grove. 
 
 March 26th, we plodded on over steep hills and roads 
 deep with mud, halting at Beaver Creek, in a pine grove, to 
 draw rations ; here we met wagons from Burnside s Point, 
 to carry the knapsacks of disabled men. We passed that 
 day more than two hundred dead mules : these sharp hills 
 and heavy roads were killing to them. Poor creatures ! 
 they had died in the effort to keep us supplied with food 
 during the past winter ; but their remains were more 
 odorous than lovely, and it was not pleasant when passing 
 a deep hole to spring for a seeming rock and have the foot 
 slide upon the carcass of a defunct mule. The mountains 
 were full of holly bush, with red berries, and clumps of 
 trailing arbutus. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 214 
 
 March 2yth, reached Burnside s Point at the forks of the 
 Cumberland River, a depot of supplies at the head of 
 steamboat navigation. Halting there from eight in the 
 morning until noon, we enjoyed some of the sights of 
 civilization ; among them a table with a white cloth, knives 
 and forks, and a napkin ! but our boys were too barbarous 
 for the sutlers the penniless troops were inclined to ap 
 propriate the eatables without pay, and doors had to be 
 closed. The Seventh Rhode Island had been posted here 
 for three months past. Here Weston F. Hutchins joined 
 the regiment ; the first recruit to join the Thirty-Fifth 
 since the regiment had entered the service. He had tried 
 to enlist at Lynnfield, but was rejected then on account of 
 his minority. In the afternoon we crossed the Cumber 
 land on a pontoon-bridge, and passed through Somerset, 
 bands playing and colors flying. 
 
 March 28th, through Waynesborough to camp in the 
 woods. 
 
 March 29th, the Thirty-Fifth in its turn led the column. 
 We passed through Hall s Gap, an interesting place, well 
 fortified, the road winding along the hill-sides, enabling the 
 column to see and admire the romantic appearance of the 
 long train of marching troops. Camped at last upon the 
 blue-grass lands again. 
 
 March 3oth, the Thirty-Fifth in rear of all. Passed 
 through Stanford at eight in the morning and reached Old 
 Lancaster at noon, marching fast. Here we began to 
 meet our detailed men, who had passed the winter in 
 Kentucky, looking sleek and clean. " Ah," they remarked, 
 "you look rather tough !" we should think so ! The cli 
 mate was sensibly colder, and many had coughs, barking 
 all night in bivouac. 
 
 March 3ist, without a halt, passed Hickman s Bridge 
 and Camp Nelson, and pitched tents at old Camp Parke, 
 
215 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 now under leafless trees, desolate and soaked in rain ; a 
 stormy night. Clothing distributed in the evening. 
 
 On this march from Knoxville the division had tramped 
 one hundred and seventy miles in eleven successive days, 
 averaging over fifteen miles a day, over the roughest and 
 muddiest of mountain roads. 
 
 April ist, we marched to the railroad station at Nicholas- 
 ville and slept in a storehouse, and next day, taking cars, 
 reached Covington at three in the morning of the third, 
 and stacked arms near the barracks. Crossing to Cincin 
 nati in the afternoon, we left by rail at dark, over the same 
 route we had traversed in coming West, just a year before. 
 In Pittsburg, on the fifth, we were served with a bountiful 
 collation ; mottoes were displayed, " Welcome to our 
 Country s Defenders ! " " Welcome the Ninth ! " 
 
 April 6th, Harrisburg and coffee at the Soldier s Rest. 
 Baltimore in the evening, and quarters in a building on 
 South Eutaw Street ; a few were entertained at the Sol 
 diers Home, where, one diary notes, the soldier "slept in 
 a bed for the first time since leaving home, almost two 
 years ago." On the seventh, by steamboat Columbia, to 
 Annapolis. 
 
 As we passed thus swiftly through the cities of the pros 
 perous North, we seemed strangers and alien to the soil. 
 These people had ample food and warm places to sleep at 
 night, undisturbed by the constant watchfulness of the 
 front. How different was our daily life ! Yet hard as our 
 experience had been that winter, who that endured it all 
 would now change the remembrance for as many months 
 of inglorious ease at home ? Much as we suffered in Ten 
 nessee, not a few declared that when peace should come 
 they would like nothing better than to return there 
 few have done so. One member of the regiment who 
 revisited those scenes in 1870, says that the earthworks 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 2l6 
 
 were then standing about Knoxville much as we left them ; 
 the wood in front of our picket line had been cut down, 
 and in the open country beyond the city cemetery was 
 the National Cemetery. Examining the books of the 
 superintendent, the name of Ezra Currier, of Company B, 
 was the only one of the Thirty-Fifth whose grave was 
 marked with his name ; the other dead were removed 
 from the city lot where first interred, and their head-boards 
 marked "unknown." 
 
 After the war, Major Wales received the brevet rank of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel, for conspicuous gallantry 
 in command of the Thirty-Fifth Massachusetts Infantry at 
 Knoxville, Tennessee. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 VIRGINIA AGAIN WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN, 1864. 
 
 LANDING, April yth, at Annapolis where Burnside s 
 Expedition had been organized for the North Caro 
 lina campaign in December, 1861 the regiment marched 
 out by the brick buildings and grounds of the United 
 States Naval . Academy, through streets deep with yellow 
 mud, to camp beyond the railroad station ; moving further 
 out next day to a sandy plain about two miles from the 
 town and opposite the Parole Camp. We learned that 
 there were some twenty thousand troops about us intended 
 for the Ninth Corps, to be formed into four divisions, the 
 Fourth Division to be composed of colored troops, under 
 command of General Ferrero. The destination of the re- 
 . organized Ninth Corps was not disclosed, but several 
 things were pointed out to indicate an expedition on the 
 Southern coast : General Burnside was to command he 
 had hitherto generally held an independent position, and 
 probably would not be placed in the Potomac Army under 
 his junior, General Meade ; the location of the camp upon 
 a salt water harbor looked as if shipping was to be em 
 ployed ; the colored troops could hardly be intended for 
 the aristocratic Army of the Potomac, and the newspapers 
 and officers of the new regiments favored the expedition 
 theory. This served for camp and mess-table talk ; but 
 all were very busy preparing for an active campaign wher 
 ever it might be undertaken. 
 
2l8 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 It was almost pathetic to view our little camp ; the low 
 shelter tents, regularly pitched in company streets to be 
 sure, but mildewed and smoke-stained, and our two or 
 three old wall tents for headquarters and the officers, 
 without camp guards or any of the glitter of martial life 
 visible, and compare it with the quarters of the new troops, 
 where ample tent cloth sheltered officers and men in 
 bright uniforms, bands played, guards paced to and fro, 
 and such strict attention was given to form and ceremony 
 we hardly dared to go near them ; our recent life in the 
 backwoods made us shy of such grandeur. The officers 
 with the regiment were : Colonel Carruth, Captains Lyon, 
 Blanchard, Hudson and Ingell, Assistant Surgeon Roche 
 and Lieutenants Tobey and Meserve. The, last two were 
 now commissioned captains, and First Sergeants Farring- 
 ton and Wright, Sergeant-Major White, Quartermaster- 
 Sergeant Cutter, First Sergeants Cobb and Mason were 
 promoted to first lieutenants, most of them having com 
 manded companies or acted as officers for some time. Of 
 these, Cutter was appointed quartermaster, and Cobb 
 acting adjutant. Surgeon Snow came to the regiment 
 soon after its arrival, and Lieutenant Hatch joined from 
 detached service in the West. Major Wales returned on 
 the twenty-first, and Captains Stickney and Pope visited 
 us, the former having resigned. Sergeant Nason acted for 
 a time as sergeant-major, but the position was afterwards 
 given to Sergeant Hagan. There were about two hundred 
 and fifty enlisted men present, numbers having increased 
 by the return of the men detailed in Kentucky. In gen 
 eral, furloughs were denied, which caused some grumbling, 
 considering the long time we had been away from our 
 families, but betokened a short stop at Annapolis. 
 
 The clerical work of the regiment and companies was 
 pressed busily, and drills and dress-parades were resumed. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 2 19 
 
 Seventy-five new Springfield rifled muskets arrived to re 
 place worn-out arms. Friends came to see us ; Hon. 
 Charles Hudson father of the Captain of Company H 
 and our old friends, Mayor Fay and Miss Gilson, called. 
 A supply of " A" tents was received and pitched on the 
 twelfth, and struck again on the twenty-first more than 
 nine days of such luxury would be enervating. Generals 
 Grant and Burnside reviewed the troops drawn up in line 
 in front of their camps, and hearty cheers were given as 
 they passed the regiment. 
 
 Our old brigade, "Reno s Own," was broken up a 
 better brigade never faced the foe and parting with the 
 old regiments was like sundering family ties. The Thirty- 
 Fifth was assigned to the First Brigade of the First Di 
 vision, with other Massachusetts regiments, the Fifty- 
 Sixth, Fifty-Seventh and Fifty-Ninth, called "Veterans," 
 because to a considerable extent composed of men who 
 had seen a previous term of service ; and, in addition, the 
 Fourth, Eighth and Tenth United States Infantry regi 
 ments, of whom the Eighth never joined. General Thomas 
 G. Stevenson, formerly colonel of the Twenty-Fourth Mas 
 sachusetts, was to command the division. Colonel Carruth, 
 senior colonel, commanded the brigade, with Surgeon 
 Snow and Captain Tobey upon his staff. A conspicuous 
 addition to the corps was a regiment of cavalry with 
 hussar jackets overloaded with yellow braid, which quickly 
 earned them the nickname of "the Butterflies." 
 
 Great movements were impending, that was plain to 
 every one. How did we then look forward to the coming 
 campaign ? Rather wearily, it must be confessed ; to again 
 turn our backs upon home and the blessings of civilization 
 before time had dulled the dreary reminiscences of the 
 past winter was hard. Physically, however, the men con 
 stituting the remnant of the regiment were prepared for 
 
220 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 any hardship. Soldiering was no longer an enthusiasm, 
 nor a consciously difficult endurance, it had become ordi 
 nary every-day life ; the men went about every duty quietly, 
 but with assured confidence. We remarked among the 
 new troops a harsher discipline than prevailed in the army 
 of 1862. 
 
 On the twenty-third of April, after the usual scenes of 
 frolic when camp was broken, the Thirty Fifth took the 
 lead upon the road towards Washington and lightly covered 
 the dozen miles of level sandy Maryland before camp was 
 reached. At evening, the boys had their shelter tents 
 well up and coffee boiling before the new troops had 
 stacked arms and marched off by companies for water, 
 with an amount of ceremony which quite astounded our 
 men. Our officers, also, were surprised when some of 
 their friends of the brigade came over to complain of 
 being marched so fast we had forgotten our own days 
 of breaking in. Next day, however, we in turn followed in 
 rear, and had the fun of it. It rained and the roads were 
 heavy; the knapsacks of the regiments ahead became un 
 bearable, and their contents were thrown out along the 
 way in confusion. Our men improved the opportunity to 
 exchange old for new without cost. Books, stationery, 
 toilet articles and clothing of all kinds strewed the road 
 side ; new blankets were shed in such quantities that a 
 citizen was seen collecting them in, a farm wagon ; we had 
 not seen such a wholesale throwing off of baggage since 
 the Confederates abandoned their luggage at South Moun 
 tain. Just before going into camp in the mud and rain 
 we forded, knee deep, a branch of the Patuxent River; 
 General Stevenson, who happened to witness the crossing, 
 laughing and seeming to approve the way in which the 
 men unhesitatingly dashed into the stream, not delaying 
 the column, and setting the rear an example. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 221 
 
 On the twenty-fifth, after more fording of branches, we 
 reached the outskirts of Washington and halted some time 
 for the Eleventh Massachusetts battery to join. It cleared 
 off bright and sunny. Major Wales riding at the head of 
 the regiment, in column with the Ninth Corps, we passed, 
 company front, through the city to Fourteenth Street, and 
 by that thoroughfare to the Long Bridge. The sidewalks, 
 and even the streets, were thronged with people, great 
 interest being manifested to see the troops pass. The torn 
 colors of the old regiments were continually applauded. 
 It was amusing to us in the ranks to overhear the com 
 ments. At Willard s, President Lincoln and General 
 Burnside reviewed the column, and here the cheering and 
 enthusiasm were vehement, some of the boys even threw 
 up their caps. Yet there was a deeper feeling under it 
 all, as we passed the streets full of well-fed and well- 
 clothed statesmen, politicians, clerks and civil employes, 
 yes, morituri salutamus ! 
 
 " O Ceesar, we who are about to die 
 Salute you ! was the gladiator s cry 
 In the arena, standing face to face 
 With death, and with the Roman populace." 
 
 The overshadowing future solemnized the triumphal hour ; 
 we oldsters knew what was to come after. 
 
 Passing the familiar scenes about the Long Bridge, the 
 brigade turned to the left towards Alexandria, and went 
 into camp in a valley near some whitewashed barracks. 
 The Fifty-Sixth Massachusetts had an excellent band, and 
 for the first time we heard them play the soldiers chorus 
 from Faust, which afterwards became so familiar, com 
 mencing with the words : 
 
 " Glory to those who in battle fall 
 Their bright deeds we can with pride recall." 
 
222 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 The expectation of a naval expedition faded away. 
 Some of the veteran officers inquired if we did not feel a 
 sinking of the heart when treading again the soil of Vir 
 ginia; yes, and a rising of the heart, too, for Grant was to 
 lead us. Doubtless there would have been more shrink 
 ing if we had known that our indomitable leader s system 
 of campaign was to be attrition, with Lee s intrenched 
 army as the grindstone upon which we were to be ground. 
 For this the general has been censured, but his critics 
 should bear in mind that his great fear, during the whole 
 following year, was that Lee would escape him and con 
 centrate upon Sherman ; writing to the latter, April 19, 
 1864, from Culpeper, Grant says : " My directions then 
 would be, if the enemy in your front shows signs of joining 
 Lee, follow him up to the full extent of your ability. I 
 will prevent the concentration of Lee upon your front, if 
 it is in the power of this army to do it." No thought of 
 facing Lee for a day or two was in his brain when he 
 penned those lines. Our view of the field was too narrow. 
 The grasp upon Lee s army was to be constant he was to 
 be fought in the open field, if he would ; if not, he was to 
 be hammered. After the first battle, Lee remained within 
 his intrenchments, and pounding and grinding were our 
 general s only alternatives. But the position of the hammer 
 in the hands of Thor cannot be enviable. 
 
 We left Alexandria on the twenty-seventh, and marched 
 rapidly to near Fairfax Court House ; on the twenty- 
 eighth, through Centreville and Manassas to Bristoe ; 
 on the twenty-ninth, through Catlett s to Warrenton Junc 
 tion ; and on the thirtieth, to Bealton Station. The whole 
 country was one great unfenced plain, with occasional 
 woods ne ar streams the tramping ground of armies for 
 the past three years. The Thirty-Fifth and Ninth New 
 Hampshire, as guards, accompanied an endless train of 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 223 
 
 wagons. Near Centreville, the colonel rode back and 
 pointed out the localities of note about the town, Black 
 burn s Ford and Bull Run, his mind occupied with mem 
 ories of the old First Massachusetts Regiment and 1861. 
 At Warrenton Junction we recalled Major Willard and the 
 extra hard bread on the march across to Fredericksburg. 
 At Bealton, tents were pitched in the open plain west of 
 the railroad, camp duties resumed, and all were busy upon 
 the pay-rolls. It was said that the Ninth Corps was to be 
 located for some time along the railroad to protect it 
 from raiders. May ist, Lieutenant Creasey arrived and 
 took position on the brigade staff, as acting assistant 
 adjutant-general. The Tenth Regiment, United States 
 Infantry, with a good band, was encamped near us, 
 and, with the Fourth United States Infantry, was now 
 attached to our brigade, making it, we hoped, a crack 
 corps ; but we were too soon in action to gain proper 
 coherence as a brigade, or even to make their acquain 
 tance. The cars upon the railroad were rushing the 
 surplus baggage and supplies towards Washington, 
 one train wrecking seven cars in front of our camps, 
 and injuring six soldiers of their freight, besides scat 
 tering sugar and commissary stores broadcast for the 
 benefit of our boys. This was early in the morning of 
 May 4th, at the time the men were turning out to strike 
 tents and prepare for the inarch. After assisting to remove 
 the wreck, the regiment took the line of march towards 
 the Rappahannock, much to the disappointment of those 
 who looked for a resting spell guarding the railway. We 
 crossed the river on the pontoons near Rappahannock 
 Station, where the earthworks so gallantly captured by 
 General Russell of the Sixth Corps, in November pre 
 ceding, were still undisturbed. Following the railroad to 
 Brandy Station, situated in a wide, treeless waste, we halted 
 
224 
 
 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 about noon for several hours, to allow the teams to come 
 up. The railroad was then left and a course taken south 
 easterly across Mountain Run towards the Rapidan, 
 marching until late at night, and finally lying uncomfort 
 ably by the road in constant expectation of movement. 
 
 The strength of the brigade, by the morning report of 
 May 3d, was : 
 
 REGIMENTS. 
 
 PRESENT. 
 
 ABSENT. 
 
 Totals 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Fourth United States Infantry . . . 
 Tenth United States Infantry . . . 
 Thirty-Fifth Massachusetts Infantry . 
 Fifty-Sixth Massachusetts Infantry 
 Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Infantry. 
 Fifty-Ninth Massachusetts Infantry . 
 
 6 
 4 
 13 
 3 
 30 
 29 
 
 287 
 233 
 285 
 689 
 763 
 79 
 
 24 
 
 25 
 14 
 7 
 5 
 7 
 
 5 
 65 
 172 
 
 87 
 129 
 
 121 
 
 367 
 327 
 484 
 813 
 927 
 947 
 
 Aggregate 
 
 112 
 
 3,47 
 
 82 
 
 624 
 
 3,86s 
 
 The march with the wagons was resumed on the fifth, 
 and it was announced that the Thirty-Fifth was separated 
 for the present from the brigade and detailed to guard 
 the division supply train. The weather was clear and 
 warm. General Burnside and staff passed to the front 
 early in the morning. In the afternoon, as we approached 
 the Rapidan, the continuous roar of battle could be heard 
 rising from the forests on the south bank; the sound was 
 impressive, not only in itself, but from the momentous 
 consequences which were at stake. At Ely s Ford the 
 water was about three feet deep, the bottom stony and 
 current strong; the men waded across with difficulty, and 
 went into camp on the south bank. Company D, under 
 Lieutenant Hatch Captain Lyon having resigned 
 being detailed to guard the ammunition train, had to re- 
 cross, and became separated from the regiment until the 
 twenty-fifth of June. 
 
 The sounds of battle were renewed at daybreak, and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 225 
 
 lasted through this day, sixth, and, with the exception of 
 two or three days, were continued in some direction within 
 our hearing for three months and a half afterwards, until 
 habit made the sound so customary that the dead silence 
 of its cessation seemed irregular. We proceeded towards 
 the field of battle, coming out upon the bare hills near 
 the Old Wilderness Tavern, where the train went into park 
 in the large green pasture, with the twelve hundred wagons 
 of the Army of the Potomac. Major Wales had a tent 
 pitched, for shade, upon the hill, and we waited the result 
 of the conflict. Right, left and front were apparently un 
 broken forests, purple with the opening foliage. Through 
 these, from left to right, was visible a line of whitish-gray 
 smoke rising through the tree tops, marking the lines 
 of battle, from which the rattling sound of musketry pro 
 ceeded. No artillery was to be seen excepting the one 
 gun, without gunners, unlimbered, and left upon the brow 
 of our hill. All clay the volume of sound and clouds of 
 smoke sank and swelled, but scarcely a man could we see ; 
 only now and then a wounded soldier came to our tent, 
 thinking it a hospital, and received the attentions of Sur 
 geon Roche. 
 
 Our brigade was in front of us, in the left centre of the 
 
 O 
 
 army, between the Second and Fifth Corps. The Fifth 
 Corps formed the centre of the army, the Second Corps 
 the left wing; between the two corps was a gap, near the 
 intersection of the Brock Road and Plank Road. Steven 
 son s division reported at that point about eight in the 
 morning. The Second Brigade was sent to the left of the 
 Second Corps, where it did famous service. Our brigade 
 was turned off by Colonel Carruth to the front into the 
 unoccupied ground, and formed in four lines, the right 
 resting on some troops said to be of the Fifth Corps, but 
 still leaving a small gap on the left, at the road, beyond 
 
226 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 which was the First Massachusetts, of the Second Corps. 
 In this gap, in extension of our first line, we should have 
 been placed had we been present. In the first line were 
 the Fourth and Tenth United States Infantry, then the 
 Fifty-Sixth, Fifty-ninth next, and Fifty-Seventh in rear. 
 They had hardly got into position and lain down when a 
 tremendous musketry fire was opened upon them, which 
 lasted, with greater or less fury, until late in the afternoon. 
 Twice the enemy tried to break the lines by assault, but 
 failed ; late in the day they tried again, in great force, 
 rushing on with yells, but the brigade held on with the 
 steadiness of veterans, poured in volleys with telling effect, 
 and drove them back into the obscurity of the woods, end 
 ing the battle for the day on the left centre. The slaughter 
 was terrible : Colonel Griswold, of the Fifty-Sixth, was 
 killed; Colonel Bartlett, of the Fifty- Seventh, was wounded. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Collins, of the Eleventh New Hamp 
 shire, for some months our brigade commander in Ten 
 nessee, fell in another part of the field, and Colonel 
 Harriman was captured by the enemy. General Long- 
 street was among the wounded of the enemy. 
 
 Towards evening we observed a decided increase of 
 firing on the extreme right of the army, and, after dark, 
 the news came that the line of the Sixth Corps had been 
 broken. The question was asked whether a repetition of 
 Chancellorsville was impending; and the immense trains 
 whose position was exposed if the break should be a 
 bad one were set in motion, and continued through the 
 night, taking the road to the left of the army ; but disaster 
 was averted by the exertions of General Sedgwick, com 
 manding the Sixth Corps. The regiment lay in bivouac be 
 hind the stacks of arms, at one time being roused out to 
 corduroy, with boards and rails, a part of the road which 
 a small brook made difficult of passage for the wagons. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 22 7 
 
 On the seventh, the army commenced the move to the 
 left, towards Spottsylvania. The wagon trains kept as 
 near the rear of the centre as possible, moving a few miles 
 only over dusty roads. Our old friends, the Eleventh 
 New Hampshire, passed us with a cheerful morning greet 
 ing. At night the men got no sleep, the wagons being in 
 the road and expecting to move at any moment. The 
 same slow march to the left was continued next day, halt 
 ing about noon for coffee. A train of ambulances and 
 army wagons passed with the wounded from the front, who 
 were furnished with water by our men. Also some hundreds 
 of captured Confederates marched by under guard. The 
 locality we had reached was the ground over which Stone 
 wall Jackson advanced to turn Hooker s right at Chan- 
 cellorsville, a year before. The leaves of last autumn had 
 covered most of the relics of that unfortunate affair, but 
 groping among the rubbish by the road-side, a human skull 
 was uncovered ; a fit text for one disposed to moralize in 
 the midst of the great events transpiring. At dark we 
 kept on, the train went into park near the old Chancel- 
 lorsville House, and we got the first sound sleep for 
 several nights. We passed the junction of the roads at 
 Chancellorsville next morning, ninth, the whole area about 
 the mansion crowded with wagons and artillery and 
 columns of troops passing towards Spottsylvania. For 
 several succeeding days the trains remained in park along 
 the road towards Fredericksburg, the men patiently await 
 ing events and listening to the sounds of battle in front. 
 Part of the Fifty-Eighth Massachusetts passed to join the 
 Second Division. 
 
 This trifling at the rear had its irksome side. There 
 was a feeling among the officers and men that we were 
 playing truant ; the constant music of battle kept calling 
 calling and yet we dawdled beside the wagons, a 
 
228 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 necessary duty, but seeming unsoldierly at the beginning 
 of the campaign ; we did not appreciate, at that time r 
 General Grant s anxiety about the trains. At the front 
 one sees what is going on, knows his place and feels as if 
 he were doing his whole duty ; with the rear, he hears 
 the concentrated din of the fighting of the whole army, 
 knows nothing but what the exaggerated tales of stragglers 
 bring him, sees all the wounded congregated in the horrors 
 of the field hospital so that our losses appear like an army 
 of themselves and, if at all susceptible, he quickly gets 
 the blues. Much of such duty must be demoralizing ; but 
 it is well enough to lie in reserve occasionally, and some 
 times to visit the hospitals, to see what the thing is like. 
 Captain Blanchard expressed his views to the effect that 
 it was a duty unworthy of our regiment. The reply to him 
 was, not to worry his heroic soul, the duty would not be 
 likely to last long ! 
 
 On the tenth, there was sanguinary fighting, and our 
 division commander, General Thomas G. Stevenson, was 
 killed by a sharpshooter. He was succeeded by General 
 Thomas L. Crittenden, a son of Hon. John J. Crittenden r 
 and previously a commander of the left wing of the Army 
 of the Cumberland, under General Rosecrans. Major 
 Wales, having sent in his resignation at Alexandria, re 
 ceived his discharge, and returned to Massachusetts with 
 the body of General Stevenson, his former colonel in the 
 Twenty-Fourth Massachusetts. Captain Lyon also de 
 parted at the same time, leaving Captain Blanchard senior 
 officer and in command until the fifteenth. 
 
 Next day, we had rain in the afternoon, and the regi 
 ment moved a little way into the woods and tents were 
 pitched. At daylight of the twelfth heavy firing was heard 
 at the front, which continued with great rapidity until 
 three in the afternoon, then ceased, except a solitary can- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 229 
 
 non heard at intervals. This was the noise of battle 
 attendant upon General Hancock s successful assault with 
 the Second Corps upon the Confederate salient, in which 
 he captured Major-General Edward Johnson, Brigadier- 
 General Geo. H. Stewart, and some three thousand pris 
 oners and twenty cannon. After the prisoners were taken 
 to the rear, it is related that Hancock seeing Stewart, a 
 former friend, extended his hand, saying " How are you, 
 Stewart ? " The latter haughtily replied, " I am General 
 Stewart of the Confederate Army, and, under the circum 
 stances, I decline to take your hand." " And under any 
 other circumstances, General, I should not have offered 
 it," was Hancock s response. No anecdote could better 
 illustrate the disposition in which the two armies fought ; 
 the officers of the Confederate army bitterly vindictive and 
 making the war a personal affair, the Union army lenient 
 and without ill-will. Indeed this dissimilarity helps to 
 account for much of the difference in fighting spirit, which 
 some writers state was possessed in greater degree by the 
 Confederate soldier. Shakespeare wrote long ago : 
 
 " To be tender-minded does not become a sword ; " 
 
 but it was part of the task of the Union army to overcome 
 hostile hearts as well as hostile hands. 
 
 We halted in the drizzle near Salem Church, the scene 
 of General Sedgwick s battle of May 4th, 1863, and saw 
 these prisoners pass under guard ; their officers appeared 
 in no wise discouraged, but the men, as is usual with 
 prisoners, rather a bedraggled looking set. The regiment 
 spent the afternoon upon a by-road, repairing a bridge for 
 the wagons to pass. There was a pleasant house near by, 
 with greenhouses and exotic plants, among which the men 
 wandered during the halt. At night we reached the turn 
 pike and slept under some pine trees dripping with mois- 
 
230 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 ture. On the thirteenth, the trains and guards moved 
 rapidly over the pike to within three miles of Fredericks- 
 burg, where, in an open field, the wagons went into park ; 
 tents were pitched over the fourteenth and rations issued, 
 A military band wandered disconsolately about, like wet 
 fowls, in the rain and mud, their instruments bruised and 
 clothing much the worse for the ten days south of the 
 Rapidan. 
 
 We were surprised and cheered, on the fifteenth, by the 
 arrival of two officers, Captain Park and Adjutant Wash- 
 burn, from detached service at Lexington, Kentucky. 
 Captain Park took command of the regiment. Next day 
 the train moved towards the city and joined the immense 
 park of wagons near the old battle -field ; the regiment 
 turned to the south and went into camp upon a wooded 
 hill-side overlooking Hazel Run. The men improved the 
 opportunity to visit the scene of the battle of December 
 i3th, 1862, so memorable to us, searching for old land 
 marks. The ridge and sunken road with the stone wall 
 were so well defined as to be easily recognized, but the 
 plain below, where we had advanced, was now so changed 
 in appearance by the destruction of houses, fences, etc., 
 as to render locating any point quite difficult ; the small 
 house with the battered chimney was, however, recognized. 
 In the course of the day orders came from the front for 
 the regiment to join the brigade. Captain Blanchard drew 
 a breath of relief ; his wish, " to take a thousand before 
 breakfast," might now be gratified. 
 
 Early in the morning of May lyth, the regiment was on 
 the way south-westerly by the telegraph road towards 
 Spottsylvania. After some ten miles of easy marching, 
 we struck into a military road cut through the pine woods 
 and came out upon a rise of land overlooking the valley 
 of the Ny River. The lines of our army could be seen 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 231 
 
 extending far to the left, posted close up to the pine woods, 
 which separated them from the Confederate intrenchments 
 about Spottsylvania Court House. Turning off to the 
 right we met some of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Regi 
 ment, as before at South Mountain and . Fredericksburg r 
 and crossing the little Ny River upon a temporary bridge 
 found our brigade. 
 
 Our division was behind hastily constructed low in 
 trenchments upon the hither slope of a little elevation, 
 beyond a small brook, an affluent of the Ny, in which 
 some of the men were bathing as we approached. In front 
 of our lines was an open space for a few rods, then pine 
 woods with thick undergrowth ; upon our right were pine 
 woods, which concealed our troops in that direction ; but 
 in front of this forest, between it and the enemy, was an 
 open field, in which, at some distance from us, could be 
 seen the bodies of several soldiers, who had fallen in the 
 attack of the twelfth, still unburied. The scene of Gen 
 eral Hancock s surprise and capture of the Confederates, 
 mentioned above, was beyond these woods and fields. 
 We were shocked at the appearance of the men of the 
 brigade, so thoroughly had the struggles of the past few 
 days worn off their polish and newness ; their numbers 
 also were wofully diminished ; they looked, it was re 
 marked, as if they had just arrived from Blain s Cross 
 Roads by way of Big Creek Gap. A little picket firing was 
 going on in the forest in front ; one bullet intended for Lieu 
 tenant Farrington, passing through his shelter tent close 
 by his head. We learned that General J. H. Ledlie, an 
 officer entirely unknown to us, was in command of the 
 brigade, our colonel having gone to hospital. Lieu 
 tenant Creasey was upon his staff. At evening, orders 
 were received to be ready to assault the enemy s works in 
 front at an early hour next morning. There was a little 
 
232 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 moon throwing its soft light over the martial scene; the 
 men conversed quietly, in the subdued way so marked 
 when under orders to attack, then slept, rolled in their gray 
 blankets, and quiet reigned over the bivouac. 
 
 Awakened without noise, at half after three in the morn 
 ing, a double line was formed in front of our works ; the 
 front line was to advance and feel the enemy, we were to 
 support it. About five in the morning, the signal sounds 
 of attack were heard from our right, and our lines advanced 
 in good style into the woods. The enemy were awake, 
 and, conscious of our approach, opened upon us with 
 spherical case-shot ; the bursting missiles tearing through 
 the shrubbery and laying low several of our men. The 
 first line reached the opening before the Confederate 
 works, halted upon a ridge and commenced firing; the 
 Thirty-Fifth moving up, came close upon the rear of the 
 troops in front. Hardly had we attained this position, 
 when the Confederates fired a volley, and some person 
 whether authorized or not in the front line shouted 
 loudly " Retreat ! " Very likely it was done by some 
 bounty jumper, who, trusting to be undiscovered in the 
 confusion of an engagement, took this method of getting 
 out of an unpleasant situation. This danger of false 
 orders is one to which all troops, in which unwilling men 
 are serving, are constantly exposed, and it was our first 
 experience with that class. At all events, whoever 
 started it, the word was repeated, and the troops went 
 back in a decidedly hasty manner, the first line running 
 over our men, who thinking it was an overwhelming 
 counter attack and that the order to fall back was by 
 authority went to the rear with equal celerity. 
 
 On getting to the open space in front of our intrench- 
 ments, no pursuers being seen, the men stopped and 
 immediately formed into line again, those who had reached 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 233 
 
 the works coming out without hesitation. At this time a 
 natty-looking officer, apparently a lieutenant, appeared 
 and began to address the men in a rather excited manner, 
 " Fall in, Thirty-Fifth ! Steady, Thirty-Fifth ! " etc., while 
 our men looked at him calmly and wondering who he was. 
 One of our officers spoke to him, saying : " Don t trouble 
 yourself ; you attend to your business and we 11 attend to 
 ours !" to which, if he heard it which, fortunately for all 
 concerned, he probably did not he made no reply; our 
 officer was abashed to learn afterwards that the animated 
 gentleman was our new general, Ledlie. The Fifty- 
 Seventh Massachusetts, under the gallant Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Chandler, now went forward in admirably kept 
 ranks, but, singularly enough, by flank, to the front, and 
 the Thirty-Fifth again advanced in line of battle on their 
 right. The Fourth and Tenth United States Infantry 
 were on the right of the Thirty-Fifth. We passed through 
 the woods, reached the opening nearest the enemy, and, 
 at about one hundred yards from their intrenchments, the 
 whole line lay down, without firing a shot, and in this 
 position calmly sustained the fire of the enemy two or 
 three hours, with little loss to us, as the shells and bullets 
 of the Confederates passed over our heads. The order 
 was simply " to feel the enemy," and as it was plain they 
 were ready to receive us, no final assault was ordered. The 
 good conduct of Sergeant Alfred W. Tirrell (afterwards 
 lieutenant), while scouting on our left, was commended 
 by Captain Hudson. 
 
 While lying thus, a man in the uniform of a staff officer 
 came along the line with a solid shot in hand inquiring for 
 a certain battery; turning to the front he disappeared 
 through the line, which let him pass, not suspecting his 
 intention, until he pulled out a white handkerchief and 
 sprang lightly into the Confederate intrenchment, much to 
 
234 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 the chagrin of those who witnessed the performance. 
 That fellow has always been known in the regiment as the 
 " mysterious stranger," and guesses of all sorts have been 
 made about him : spy, deserter, or Confederate officer 
 accidentally caught in our lines, ghost or real flesh and 
 blood, he was of a most intrepid spirit. This was the 
 second instance of mistake in persons that morning, owing 
 to lack of mutual acquaintance in our brand-new brigade. 
 The line received orders to return to our intrenchments, 
 and the regiment retired by right of divisions to the rear, 
 as if on drill. One hundred men of the Thirty-Fifth were 
 detailed under command of Captain Meserve to occupy 
 the picket line during the rest of the day and the follow 
 ing night. 
 
 Our loss was : two officers wounded, Adjutant Wash- 
 burn and Lieutenant Wright, and twenty enlisted men 
 killed and wounded. The killed or mortally wounded 
 were : Corporal Alfred E. Waldo, of Company E, Corporal 
 John F. Cole and George Clark, of Company F, Sergeant 
 L. T. Holmes, of Company H, and Sergeant Wm. R, 
 Wright, of Company K. The fallen men were, of course, 
 well known ; no man dropped out of our ranks in this 
 campaign but it was like the loss of a brother to all the 
 rest. Of Sergeant Wright, a comrade preserved these 
 lines in a diary : " He bore his sufferings like a true hero, 
 being torn by canister in the left arm and right leg near 
 the hip, and did not fear to die, only feeling sorry for his 
 family, which he spoke kindly of, requesting me to tell 
 them that he died happy." 
 
 The day passed quietly, and was spent in resting or 
 in making the acquaintance of our comrades in the other 
 regiments of the brigade. On the nineteenth, before day 
 break, the whole division was withdrawn from the works, 
 the picket line covering the rear, and marched to the left 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 235 
 
 of the army, past General Burnside s headquarters near 
 which we stopped to make coffee and came out upon a 
 more open and level tract of country than we had seen for 
 some time. The movement was conducted in good order, 
 without appearance of the enemy, who were heard chopping 
 trees in our front as we left. 
 
 Reaching the extreme left, the Thirty-Fifth was ordered 
 forward as skirmishers to discover the enemy. The open 
 country offered a fine opportunity for a display of the 
 skirmish line, and the manoeuvre was neatly executed ; the 
 regiment moving up in line and deploying to the right and 
 left, then advancing as if on drill, General Ledlie and the 
 brigade looking on. After going forward about half a 
 mile, the left of the line being in oak woods, a position 
 was reached near a pine grove from which the Confederate 
 lines could be inspected ; their rifle-pits extending along 
 the further bank of the Po River or a branch of it. Here 
 the regiment remained until relieved by a detail for picket, 
 when we moved to the right and formed on the brigade 
 line at Queesenberry s ; the Fourth United States Infantry 
 coming up on our left. The usual line of intrenchments 
 covering our front was then thrown up, and the men slept 
 the sleep of the very weary, soon broken, however, by an 
 order to occupy the trenches, as an attack was expected, 
 but which did not occur. 
 
 The following day was spent in quiet; two lines of earth 
 works were built in our rear, and batteries placed at inter 
 vals, making a formidable defence. At evening the bands 
 played to cheer up the men. While we had been with the 
 trains no attack was made upon them, but on the nine 
 teenth we could hear behind us the music of battle from 
 General Ewell s attempt in imitation of Stonewall Jack 
 son to sweep upon our rear, which was repulsed by the 
 heavy-artillery regiments and some of our cavalry. 
 
236 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 The army commenced, on the twenty-first, another move 
 to the left ; the Second Corps had already started. It was 
 intended that the Ninth Corps should move eastward, 
 down the Po River to Stannard s Mill, cross there and ad 
 vance south upon the west side of the river. When General 
 Curtin, with his brigade of the Second Division, arrived at 
 the Mill, the Confederates appeared in such force that this 
 line of march could only be secured by a battle, which was 
 not advisable ; Curtin, therefore, held the position while 
 the rest of the corps passed in his rear to Guinea Station, 
 on the east side of the Frederick sburg and Richmond 
 Railroad. 
 
 We started about five in the afternoon. The pickets 
 under Lieutenant Farrington were left out, and had a hot 
 time that night before they were relieved. The Sixth 
 Corps occupied the works abandoned by us, and we had 
 gone but a short distance when the enemy, for whose 
 attack we had constantly watched, made an assault upon 
 that corps and suffered a severe repulse. While we 
 marched, the thunders of this battle in our rear filled our 
 ears and was then quite inexplicable, all had seemed so 
 quiet at our starting. All the night we kept on, with 
 flankers out upon the right, until we reached the Fred- 
 ericksburg turnpike, then northward upon this well worn 
 road until we met the cross road running east again to 
 Guinea s. We crossed the railroad early in the morning, 
 overtook at the station the rear of the corps which had 
 preceded us, and came to a halt near several houses for 
 coffee. Some will remember that as we passed a house 
 upon the left a window was thrown up, a head appeared, 
 and a volley of maledictions was hurled at us, much to the 
 amusement of the passing troops. 
 
 From Guinea Station we turned south again, falling in 
 left in front, and marched near the railroad, passing Gen- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 237 
 
 eral Grant s headquarters where General Burnside re 
 viewed the corps keeping on slowly all day, crossing 
 the railroad and several bridges, and halted for the night 
 in a ploughed field near the Mattapony River, where Lieu 
 tenant Farrington and the pickets caught up with the 
 regiment. 
 
 On the twenty-third we made slow progress southward, 
 over hot and dusty roads, while the Second Corps was 
 pushing forward to effect a crossing of the bridge over the 
 North Anna River. During the day a sergeant of some 
 regiment ahead passed us, while we halted, and attracted 
 attention by the excessive profanity with which he ad 
 dressed his men, who were tugging large quarters of fresh 
 beef. All at once General Burnside and staff came riding 
 through the woods ; the general overheard the sergeant s 
 blasphemy, stopped short, his eyes flashing with indigna- 
 tion 5 demanded the man s name and regiment, ordered 
 him reduced to the ranks, and his chevrons and stripes 
 torn off on the spot; an act of summary justice which 
 seemed quite to the satisfaction of the perspiring privates. 
 At twilight heavy musketry was heard ahead, and the 
 brigade stacked arms in a ploughed field on the right of 
 the road, got rations and slept, within a mile or two of the 
 North Anna. The country along the railroad was open 
 and inhabited, but as we approached the river we again 
 struck the pitch-pine forests, with roads much travelled 
 and deep with dust. The firing heard was the successful 
 assault of the Second Corps upon the bridge-head at 
 Chesterfield Bridge. 
 
 While we were making this long circuit, General Lee 
 had ample time to prepare his defence on the North Anna. 
 He formed his army in a V shape, the point resting upon 
 the river. The Fifth and Sixth Corps crossed above at 
 Jericho Mills and enveloped the west side of the angle, and 
 
238 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 tore up the Virginia Central Railroad ; the Second Corps 
 and part of the Ninth crossed at Chesterfield Bridge and 
 attacked the east side. We had reached the river at Ox 
 Ford, where the point of the V rested, and the plan was 
 for us to cross, crush in this angle, and become the centre 
 of the army connecting the Second and Fifth Corps. 
 
 On the sunny afternoon of the twenty-fourth of May, the 
 brigade started across the fields directly for a ford above 
 Ox Ford, coming out upon the high bank of the river, 
 which here runs in a deep cutting. The descent to the 
 stream was so abrupt that one of our officers, seeing Major 
 Putnam of the Fifty-Sixth going down on horse-back, re 
 marked to him, in allusion to " Old Put " of Revolutionary 
 fame, that " it was not quite so steep as Horse s Neck, 
 but would do for practice," at which he laughed ; but the 
 major was not so lucky as his ancestor, for he received a 
 mortal wound upon the opposite bank. 
 
 The North Anna was not very wide, but deep for ford 
 ing and full of rocks, consequently the crossing was slow 
 work. It was a picturesque spot and an interesting scene, 
 enlivened by a few rattling shots which echoed in the woods 
 above, but without other signs of an enemy near. General 
 Crittenden s intention had been to attack with the Sec 
 ond Brigade, but, as ours arrived first, as soon as we were 
 assembled upon the south bank, he commenced operations. 
 The Thirty-Fifth was again ordered forward as skirmishers, 
 to beat the thick woods in front. The men wished to 
 leave their knapsacks, but, as we did not expect to return 
 to the spot, they were obliged to lug them along. Form 
 ing in line of battle facing the south-east, Captain Hudson 
 was placed in charge of the left ; Captain Meserve, of the 
 right; while Captain Park, with Company G as reserve, 
 took the centre. The deployment was quickly made, the 
 line fronted, then, at the command, "Forward, guide 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 239 
 
 centre march!" the boys dashed ahead in the spirited 
 way an old soldier loves to see. The reserve had hard 
 work to keep up with the line, which, passing some pickets 
 on the right, wearing bucktails in their caps Pennsyl 
 vania Reserves of the Fifth Corps crossed several 
 ravines, and advancing some half a mile, driving back the 
 Confederate pickets, came out into an open field in full 
 view of the enemy s intrenchments. After exchanging 
 shots, forward again went the line over the open field, 
 driving the gray-coats from their pits and for the moment 
 clearing the field ; but they returned in force, too heavy 
 for a skirmish line to withstand, and compelled our men 
 to fall back across the field to the woods, where they took 
 position partly sheltered and held on. The right of our 
 line, companies A, E and F, though less close than the 
 left to the enemy s works, was more exposed upon the 
 flank, which the Confederates took advantage of, issued 
 from their intrenchments to the right, and coming behind 
 our line swept off four or five men, including Sergeant 
 Lunt, and compelled the right to retire also to the woods. 
 Meanwhile, the rest of the brigade had been formed in 
 two lines of battle, and came forward through the woods 
 with that swaying from side to side so noticeable in a close 
 line of battle advancing over rough wooded ground. They 
 bore to the left, coming up in rear of our line in the edge 
 of the woods behind companies H and I, and commenced 
 firing by volleys upon the enemy, who now opened a rapid 
 fire of artillery, and the action was hot for an hour or two, 
 without material change on either side, until ammunition 
 was pretty well used up. The right of the line of battle 
 was well covered by our skirmishers, but on the left the 
 most dangerous position, as it was nearest the Confederate 
 line the skirmishers, owing to the brigade coming up 
 behind our left companies, extended but a little way. 
 
240 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 This the enemy discovered after a time, and coming out 
 of their works upon our left, charged into them with their 
 well-known yells, which, added to the effect of a smart 
 shower driving in the faces of our men, broke the forma 
 tion, and the regiments fell back towards the river into a 
 line of works which the troops in our rear had constructed. 
 The left of our skirmish line went back with the rest, ex 
 cept several unfortunates who were surprised and captured; 
 the reserve and right under Captain Park remained out 
 until Captain Hudson came from the left with the news, 
 when they also were drawn back some distance and finally 
 into the works. 
 
 It had been a lively afternoon s work, and the advance 
 of the line as skirmishers was never better done by the 
 regiment ; the men, although obliged finally to retire, felt 
 proud of the performance and strengthened confidence in 
 the old Thirty-Fifth, and with justice, for General Crit- 
 tenden, speaking of its swift advance, said, "He had never 
 seen the like before." The losses of the regiments in the 
 line of battle were heavy. The much-admired Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Chandler, of the Fifty-Seventh, fell, mortally 
 wounded, and had to be abandoned to the enemy. The 
 loss of our regiment was small, as the men took advantage 
 of all shelter, six wounded and eight prisoners picked off 
 the flank, viz. : Sergeant J. W. Lunt, of Company A ; 
 Robert Steele, F. Sweeney and James A. Lord, of Com 
 pany C; Israel Roach and another, of Company F; Corporal 
 B. F. Pratt, of Company H ; and Sergeant Henry W. Tis- 
 dale, of Company I. Also Lieutenant Creasey, of General 
 Ledlie s staff, had the misfortune to be swept in by the 
 Confederate line, and was forced to spend the remainder 
 of his term of service as a prisoner of war. 
 
 The position of the enemy was found to be too strong 
 and too easily reenforced upon either flank to justify the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 241 
 
 cost of crushing it in, and our army remained astride of 
 the river, bridges being built or pontoons laid at all need 
 ful points. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth, unexpectedly to us, the regiment 
 was appointed the engineer corps for the First Division, 
 and ordered to report to Major Morton, chief engineer of 
 the Ninth Corps. The order came through General 
 Ledlie, who was directed to detail an old and reliable 
 regiment for the duty, and honored the Thirty-Fifth by the 
 selection. The detail of line regiments for engineer duty 
 was a novelty to us, and was introduced by Major Morton, 
 an officer whose service with the Army of the Potomac was 
 brief, but who was the most capable and zealous soldier our 
 regiment ever had intimate relation with. He was born 
 in Philadelphia in 1829, graduated at West Point in 1851, 
 and was appointed to the engineers. After serving as 
 assistant professor of engineering at the Academy, and 
 taking charge of various works, he went to Central 
 America at the head of the Chiriqui expedition in 1860. 
 In the spring of 1862 he was chief engineer of the Army 
 of the Ohio, and in the following October received the 
 same rank in the Army of the Cumberland, under Rose- 
 crans, and, soon after, he was made a brevet brigadier- 
 general. He built the intrenchments at Murfreesboro and 
 
 o 
 
 was engineer of the works at Chattanooga. At the time 
 the Thirty-Fifth was placed under his orders he was a 
 total stranger to us by name and reputation, and much as 
 we looked up to him, we never fully appreciated his worth 
 until we lost him. 
 
 The detail duty as engineers continued until about the 
 first of September following, and had its advantages, al 
 though the work was hard and often perilous. The com 
 manding officer of the regiment was placed in a difficult 
 position between two superiors, his brigadier and Major 
 
242 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Morton, both issuing orders, with a resulting double allow 
 ance of duty. Interference with his engineers was resented 
 by Major Morton, and whom to obey was sometimes a 
 vexatious question. This trouble could have been avoided 
 by bringing the engineer regiments of the corps under a 
 brigadier of their own, and this would have been best for 
 instruction and division of work ; but a withdrawal from 
 the line would have weakened it to that extent against 
 attack, therefore it was not attempted. The result was 
 that in addition to their severe extra labors, the men of 
 the regiment took part in all the battles of the First Di 
 vision with one exception which occurred during the 
 detail, although regular engineer regiments are exempted 
 from line duty in consideration of their other exertions. 
 
 General Grant, having decided that Lee s position on 
 the North Anna could not be carried without a loss dis- 
 proportioned to its value, determined to move to the 
 Pamunkey River. The base of supplies was transferred 
 from Fredericksburg to the White House, and the army, 
 undisturbed, executed another bold flank march in the face 
 of the enemy. Late on the twenty-sixth, the regiment was 
 withdrawn to the north side of the river and stacked arms 
 upon the bank, watching the returning troops ; the knap 
 sacks were put in wagons and each man given some tool, 
 pick, shovel or axe to carry. At daylight the Confederate 
 pickets approached the south bank and opened a scatter 
 ing but harmless fire, to which no reply was made. We 
 marched south-easterly, following the Fifth Corps, travelling 
 almost at a run when on the road, but stopping frequently 
 to fill up mud holes and places difficult for the artillery 
 and wagons. At night we built a temporary bridge over 
 a small stream, the regiment bein divided into three 
 reliefs and working all night. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth, we pushed along in the same way, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 243 
 
 passing King William s Church, the weather hot and roads 
 dusty, yet accomplishing twenty miles, and reaching the 
 Parnunkey at Hanovertown at six in the evening. We 
 crossed on the canvas pontoons and slept on the south bank. 
 
 South of the Pamunkey the country continued well 
 covered with woods, with occasional open tracts or old farm 
 lots ; the loose soil was cut into deep swampy ravines along 
 the numerous winding branches of Totopotomoy Creek; 
 a difficult country for offensive operations. The roads all 
 converged to the south-west, crossing the Chickahominy 
 River to Richmond, now not more than a dozen miles or 
 so distant. The Fifth Corps advanced to the front of 
 Shady Grove and skirmishing commenced; Near Hawes s 
 Shop we built a line of intrenchments in the woods on the 
 left of a church ; it was Sunday, and this was the nearest 
 we got to a religious observance of the day in this cam 
 paign. The line was hardly finished when the troops had 
 advanced so far as to render the works needless. General 
 Lee with his army held the north bank of the Chicka 
 hominy, covering the approaches to Richmond, and it was 
 anticipated that he would now yield ground only inch by 
 inch. Our corps approached his lines at Shady Grove, 
 and then with the Fifth Corps shifted along his front to 
 Bethesda Church and Cold Harbor; while the Second 
 and Sixth Corps were transferred from the right to the left 
 of the army. 
 
 The work for the whole army along this line was severe 
 to the limit of human endurance ; the weather hot, with 
 occasional showers, and very enervating. To most who 
 were there the memory of those days is probably a tangle 
 of confused incidents, which the following extract from 
 Captain then first sergeant Nason s diary will help to 
 unravel, and also exhibit the variety of duty performed by 
 the regiment as engineers : 
 
244 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 " Monday, May 3oth. Marched nine A. M., proceeding: 
 very cautiously, and having made only one and a half miles 
 at noon, halted for two hours and made coffee ; then again 
 moved on slowly half a mile and stacked arms in woods 
 on the right of our brigade. Soon after, moved by left 
 flank to the front about a mile, and took position in an 
 open field near the edge of woods at nine P. M. and threw 
 up breastworks (near Huntley s Corner) ; picket firing con 
 tinued through the night, at times quite lively, which twice 
 called us up, expecting an attack, but our pickets held 
 their ground ; slept an hour. Drew rations at midnight. 
 Our position is with left resting on the Shady Grove Road. 
 
 "Tuesday, May 3 1 st. Called up early. Regiment ordered 
 to cut road through woods for artillery to pass, which was 
 speedily done; meantime our position in the breast 
 works was filled by a portion of the Fourteenth Massachu 
 setts Artillery. After completing the road, returned to 
 our position in the works. Advanced with our brigade 
 half a mile at noon, by left flank, and formed line of battle 
 in woods, when we quickly commenced a breastwork. 
 Half an hour later the order came to retire to our old 
 position, a flank movement being anticipated. Several 
 men of the brigade were wounded before reaching the 
 works, two of the Thirty-Fifth slightly. The Fourteenth 
 Massachusetts and Second Maine batteries took position 
 in front of our intrenchments P. M., and earthworks to cover 
 them were thrown up by the Thirty-Fifth ; while at work 
 the rest of the brigade advanced, when biisk firing began, 
 but they held their position. Some picket firing during 
 the night, which passed quietly, obtaining considerable 
 sleep. 
 
 "Wednesday, June ist. Left intrenchments at eleven 
 and a half A. M., with tools, etc., and moved, by left flank, a 
 few rods in front of our outer line of breastworks. Stacked 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 245 
 
 arms and commenced, by order, to throw up a new line of 
 works at right angle with the old line* Worked steadily 
 till five P. M., when heavy volleys of musketry were heard 
 to our left, and a yell of the enemy ; we put on equipments 
 and resumed work. An hour later an attack was made in 
 our front, at right angles with the line we had partly 
 finished, which, of course, furnished us no protection, and, 
 our skirmishers being driven in, a rush was made for the 
 stacks of arms, which caused considerable confusion. As 
 we had no support outside of the intrenchments, we made 
 our way back to our old position, and, as soon as our 
 skirmishers arrived, opened a brisk fire, which, together 
 with shots from our artillery which was most ably served 
 .this day had the effect to drive back the enemy. Our 
 skirmishers again advanced to near their former position 
 and no further trouble occurred during the night. The 
 regiment escaped with only two wounded : Sergeant 
 William White of Company H, and H. C. Green of Com 
 pany I. Three recruits arrived for Company K, one an 
 old soldier. 
 
 "June 2d. Quiet morning. Left breastworks at three 
 p. M., moved by left flank slowly along eastward. Had 
 proceeded a mile and a half when our pickets in rear were 
 attacked. We had just passed a line of battle, which was 
 soon wheeled to the right and marched forward on the 
 double-quick towards the enemy. Our batteries got into 
 position and a brisk fire commenced on both sides, which 
 continued after dark. The enemy was held in check. 
 Our brigade was not engaged, but, while lying down in 
 readiness in the open field, our regiment had three men 
 wounded by our own shells. Retired a short distance in 
 rear of the Gibson House said to be eight miles from 
 Richmond in an air line and threw up breastworks, com- 
 
 *An odd piece of engineering never explained to us. 
 
246 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 pleting them at dark. A very heavy shower before the 
 attack wet us through, and made ,the roads in bad con 
 dition for awhile, but they soon dried up. Passed the 
 night quietly near the Gibson House (near Bethesda 
 Church). 
 
 "June 3d. Skirmishing commenced at daylight on our 
 right front, which terminated in an engagement, six and 
 half A. M. ; the Second and Third Divisions being engaged. 
 Several charges were made by the enemy, who were repulsed 
 each time ; losses heavy on both sides, but, we having the 
 best position for batteries, our loss said to be less than the 
 enemy s. They planted a battery quite near our skirmish 
 line, but were prevented from using it by our skirmishers. 
 Hard fighting during the day with ground gained by our; 
 side, also some prisoners. The regiment proceeded to the 
 second rear line of intrenchments at three P. M., and at 
 five commenced to build quite an extensive fort, shaped 
 like a square : eight feet high, twenty-eight feet through at 
 base, from which extends a platform six feet wide, termi 
 nating at the ditch, eight feet deep and fifteen feet wide. 
 The regiment was divided into two reliefs and continued 
 work through the night. The troops behaved well. The 
 rest of the brigade moved forward ; had a few wounded.* 
 
 " June 4th. No firing heard till seven A. M., which proved 
 to be our troops discharging their muskets. The enemy 
 left our front at four A. M. Those who visited the battle 
 field pronounced it equal in severity to anything ever wit 
 nessed. Horses covered the ground, and forty were 
 counted in the space of an acre. Trees were full of holes, 
 and many rebels lay where they fell ; their battery-men 
 suffered terribly. Orders at seven and a half A. M. to stop 
 work on the fort, which would have taken three days to 
 complete. Three cheers heard at our left at eleven 
 
 * Colonel Schall, of Fifty-First Pennsylvania, was killed this day. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 247 
 
 o clock predicted good news. We moved about half a 
 mile and stacked arms. Troops on the move. Moved 
 again at seven P. M., two miles south-eastward, and stacked 
 arms near division headquarters and put up shelter tents, 
 the first time for several days. A rainy night ; some picket 
 firing. 
 
 " Sunday, June 5th. Marched, five and a half A. M., a 
 short distance, and stacked arms in rear of the first line of 
 breastworks, left equipments, etc., and proceeded in front 
 of breastworks to make a passage to a fort being built 
 by the Fifty-First New York ; after which worked on 
 fort. Three privates of our regiment wounded while at 
 work. Heavy fighting on our left, nine p. M., and, soon 
 after, skirmishing in our front, which prevented the men 
 from working. We retired to our stacks, remaining be 
 hind the breastworks until midnight ; then moved one mile 
 to rear, working on a road upon a side hill until two and 
 a half A. M., when we lay down to rest. 
 
 "June 6th. Resumed work at four A.M. on road, and made 
 bridge near General Burnside s headquarters. Heavy 
 shelling by the enemy in the afternoon, several shots 
 falling near the regiment, but no one injured. Very warm 
 day. A shower at dark. Several recruits arrived for the 
 regiment. Henry Card found a box of hard bread, left by 
 some cook during the shelling, which replenished our 
 empty haversacks. Finished work on the bridge at ten 
 p. M. and turned in for the night. 
 
 "June yth. Moved at five A. M. to the fort and resumed 
 work, after disposing of our coffee. The regiment worked 
 by wings undisturbed till ten A. M. ; when our pickets in 
 front were attacked ; stopped work until our line was re 
 established, when the firing ceased, and work was again 
 resumed on the fort. While watching the progress of 
 work on the stockade a minie-ball passed spitefully 
 
248 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 through the left leg of my pants, just above the knee, the 
 only damage done. Heavy shelling by the enemy in the 
 afternoon, which continued one and a half hours ; the shots 
 passing over us to the rear. Heavy musketry on our right. 
 The Fifty-First New York, while at work on intrenchments 
 at the front, was attacked and several men taken prisoners. 
 A flag of truce appeared to our left, seven p. M., from the 
 enemy, to bury the dead, and there was no firing for two 
 hours in that quarter. Considerable picket firing during 
 the night. Relieved from work at nine P. M., retired to 
 woods outside of breastworks and bivouac for the night, 
 being relieved by the Eighth Michigan regiment. 
 
 " June 8th. Resumed work on, the fort, six A. M., relieving 
 in turn the Eighth Michigan, and commenced a traverse 
 from right front corner to centre of the rear. Dimensions 
 of fort : rear, one hundred and sixty feet ; right side, 
 eighty-three feet ; front, seventy-two feet ; left, one hun 
 dred and three feet. Were relieved at nine P. M. and 
 passed the night quietly in same position as before. One of 
 Company A was wounded slightly in the head while at work 
 on the fort. A quiet day in front, only light picket firing. 
 
 "June Qth. Returned to the fort at six and a half A. M., 
 finding three guns of Roemer s battery placed there during 
 the night. Captain Park being unwell, Captain Blanchard 
 took command. Finished the traverse and made a maga 
 zine, six feet deep, twelve feet long, covered with five feet 
 of earth. A slight shower in the afternoon. Finished 
 work at ten P. M. and retired to our usual position for the 
 night. Quiet night, moonlight evening ; the boys in the 
 best of spirits. 
 
 "June icth. A pleasant day. Captain Blanchard in 
 command. Remained quiet all day. Made out company 
 report from June ist to date. Roemer s battery opened 
 from the fort at noon, continuing till eight P. M., at 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 249 
 
 intervals of five minutes. One shot from the enemy 
 wounded three men in our front, bursting over the rifle 
 pits. Passed a night of undisturbed rest." 
 
 Such was life in the trenches on the Cold Harbor front. 
 Two members of the regiment died of wounds received 
 during these movements : James W. Bartlett, of Company 
 A, and George F. Sargent, of Company G. The diet upon 
 which these severe labors were prosecuted was hard bread, 
 coffee, salt pork, and, occasionally, fresh beef ; no vege 
 tables or change of any kind was made, yet few com 
 plained of illness. The endurance of the men was 
 wonderful, and their zeal was constantly commended by 
 Major Morton, who was superintending the work, visiting 
 it from time to time day and night, so that he seemed not 
 to require sleep to support his energetic life. The labors 
 of the officers were lighter than those of the men simply 
 to oversee the workers yet even they speak of the 
 severity of the constant mental and physical strain. Cap- 
 lain Hudson showed special ability in executing the plans 
 of Major Morton upon the fort. This earthwork when 
 completed was called Fort Fletcher, or the Red Fort, from 
 the color of the soil thrown up. Heavy oblong shells 
 were found in digging, relics of the siege artillery used in 
 McClellan s campaign, for in our front were Gaines s Mill, 
 Mechanicsville, New Cold Harbor, and other fields of 
 McClellan s operations. The movements during the days 
 above detailed were always to the left, General Burnside 
 covering the right of the army, and withdrawing from 
 Shady Grove to Bethesda Church and then to Cold 
 Harbor. The whole district became a maze of lines of 
 -earthworks, running in all directions, and difficult to thread 
 even to us who saw it grow. The owners of plantations 
 thereabouts must have been astonished when they came to 
 examine their premises after our departure. 
 
250 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 The losses of the opposing armies to this date had been 
 enormous, that of the Union the heaviest by far, as it was 
 generally the attacking party. The men who had fallen 
 could not be replaced, they were the bravest and most ex 
 perienced of the army, and the recruits and soldiers from 
 the fortifications were not equal to them in the steadiness 
 which only long service in action at the front can give. 
 Yet the pluck of the men, as stated in the diary above, 
 continued good ; they had learned to dread making assaults 
 upon fortified lines, for hitherto, cases of surprise excepted,. 
 they had found such defences impregnable ; but they 
 shared the confidence of their indomitable leader, Grant, 
 that somewhere, by manoeuvring and constant pressure, 
 he would find the weak spot in General Lee s armor. 
 
 Towards the end of May, the Ninth Corps, which had 
 hitherto received orders directly from General Grant, on 
 account of General Burnside s seniority in rank to General 
 Meade, was, by Burnside s waiver of superior rank, perma 
 nently joined to the Army of the Potomac. This ended 
 all talk about independent expeditions, expectations of 
 which had been kept alive among the men by unfounded 
 rumors. The number of men in the Thirty-Fifth at this 
 time was : for duty, two hundred and fifty-one, absent, 
 one hundred and thirty-five, total, three hundred and 
 eighty-six. Quartermaster Cutter joined the regiment for 
 a few days from the trains, all the quartermasters being 
 ordered to their regiments to oversee the commissary 
 department, which needed supervision among the new 
 troops. Lieutenant Berry joined from recruiting service, 
 and was received with a warm welcome ; he was a bright 
 soldierly spirit and a general favorite. 
 
 The strength of Lee s position along the Chickahominy 
 was so formidable that Grant, having delivered the grand 
 assault unsuccessfully on the third of June, now turned to 
 

 MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 251 
 
 the left again ; this time, as at Vicksburg, by a sweep 
 to the south upon the enemy s communication so grand in 
 conception that even Lee did not mistrust it, and remained 
 north of the James River until our attack upon Petersburg 
 was actually begun. So quietly was our army withdrawn 
 from Cold Harbor that the artillery of the enemy could be 
 heard by our retiring pickets firing upon our forts for an 
 hour after the garrisons had left them. The Fifth Corps 
 and cavalry crossed the Chickahominy to our left of Lee s 
 position, and then facing Richmond at the White Oak 
 swamp, served as a shield, behind which the rest of the 
 army passed undisturbed to the James River. 
 
 We started on the twelfth of June, repairing the road to 
 Tunstall s Station on the White House Railroad, which 
 we reached at evening ; Companies B and K staying behind 
 to repair a bridge, then following in rear. The cooks had 
 drawn the rations, and, unfortunately for them, had no time 
 to distribute them before the start ; they will, doubtless, 
 remember the " toting " of their burdens over the eleven 
 miles to the station that warm day. The day following, 
 slow progress was made, some ten miles south-easterly 
 towards the lower Chickahominy, stopping occasionally to 
 assist the wagons, which blocked the roads. Captain Park 
 was in command again. In the evening we were enter 
 tained with a road-side concert, in which Captains Blanchard 
 and Ingell and Sergeant Nason, with others, joined. On the 
 fourteenth we were at work at daylight repairing the road 
 through a swamp hole ; then moved on, crossing Black Creek 
 at Forge Mills, and passed to the south side of the Chicka 
 hominy soon after at Jones s Bridge. Here an island divided 
 the stream, requiring but one pontoon upon one side, two 
 upon the other, to bridge the river ; not a wide stream, surely, 
 for one so famous ; but the swamps upon either side were 
 extensive and wild and intricate beyond description. 
 
252 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Pushing along the road, in advance of everything, towards 
 the James River, we were told that Wild s African Brigade 
 was in the neighborhood, but we did not have the good 
 fortune to meet our former colonel, or the officers trans 
 ferred from the Thirty-Fifth to his command. The country 
 soon became open and cultivated. The road was shaded 
 by cherry and mulberry trees, which, when we halted, 
 became alive with blue jackets, gathering their fill of the 
 pleasant fruits. As we approached the James the masts 
 of transports could be seen above the trees upon the right, 
 enlivening the hearts of the men who were tired of the 
 endless pine forests we had been traversing. In the after 
 noon the regiment constructed a small bridge for the 
 artillery, then moved into the open country upon the 
 north bank of the river, at first halting among the other 
 corps near Charles City Court House, but keeping on 
 again, and in the evening reaching General Burnside s 
 headquarters at Wilcox s Landing. It was pleasant to 
 .again view a wide stretch of open water and homelike- 
 looking farms and fields. 
 
 In the morning, June i5th, the scene was surpassingly 
 fine as we marched down to the river bank. It was a 
 bright clear day, and the blue waters of the James danced 
 and sparkled in the sunlight, enlivened by white-winged 
 fleets of transports, with gunboats here and there, and 
 steam tugs moving busily about. On shore the masses of 
 troops, with bright gun barrels and brilliant flags, covered 
 the hills, waiting to cross. The Second and Sixth Corps 
 crossed by ferry at Westover Landing, above us. The 
 Fifth and Ninth Corps and trains of wagons passed over 
 the remarkable pontoon-bridge, half a mile long, from bank 
 to bank of the wide stream. During the day the regiment was 
 at work building rafts and repairing a pier, the latter under 
 direction of Captain Hudson. At eight in the evening 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 253 
 
 the approaches to the pontoon-bridge were completed, and 
 we crossed to the opposite bank, among the first troops 
 to arrive south of the river. We waited several hours in 
 the darkness upon the bank for the First Division to over 
 take us, enabling the unlucky cooks, again behind with 
 rations, to catch up. 
 
 The memorable campaign north of the James was ended. 
 The regiments which had crossed the Rapidan with such 
 full ranks were now shockingly reduced in numbers ; the 
 flower of the army had perished. It was impossible that 
 men should pass through such trials and labors so 
 incessantly prosecuted without injury to their morale as 
 combatants ; they were weary of the strife and longed for 
 rest, yet they were not disheartened ; ranks and files were 
 as well kept as ever, but, so tired were they, it was only 
 dogged determination that kept the men moving. Our 
 generals had not achieved the impossible in carrying by 
 assault Lee s impregnable intrenchments, but they had 
 tamed the spirit of the Confederate army from self-confident 
 pugnacity to a waning and discouraging defensive. It 
 recognized the hand of the conquerer impelling it into 
 "the last ditch." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SIEGE OF PETERSBURG THE MINE, 1864. 
 
 THE Second Corps having taken the advance towards 
 Petersburg, the march of our division was resumed, 
 and continued with scarcely a halt through the rest of the 
 warm night. At daylight, June 16, the woods beside the 
 road were full of stragglers from the troops ahead who 
 had stopped to breakfast, and General Ledlie, who had on 
 the ninth of June succeeded General Crittenden in the 
 command of the First Division, complained in strong 
 language of the "coffee boilers." We kept on until nine 
 in the morning, and then halted ourselves for the indis 
 pensable pot of coffee. About five in the afternoon, after 
 a march of eighteen miles, we reached the open undulating 
 country within two miles of the City of Petersburg, ap 
 proaching it from the north-east. Other troops had pre 
 ceded us, and had carried by assault part of the outer 
 line of strong detached earthworks, built long before for 
 the protection of the city. By the road-side lay the first 
 dead negro soldier we had seen in the campaign. The 
 regiment halted by Major Morton s direction at some old 
 log: huts or Confederate barracks, and remained there over 
 
 o 
 
 night, listening to the heavy skirmishing fire of the Eigh 
 teenth and Second Corps in front, and expecting moment 
 arily to be called upon for work. 
 
 The First Division was not actively engaged until the 
 following afternoon, June 17, when they made a dashing 
 
255 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 charge from one of the deep ravines and captured a line 
 of works, but were unable to hold them on account of a 
 failure of ammunition, as appears in the record of the 
 Twenty- First Massachusetts in the Adjutant- General s 
 Report for 1864. Major Morton, our too intrepid chief 
 tain, was killed while retiring with Hartranft s brigade from 
 an advanced position, which they had taken but were too 
 weak to hold, near the Norfolk Railroad cut on the left. 
 He fell somewhere near the spot afterwards occupied by 
 Fort Morton. His loss at any time would have been 
 inestimable, but happening at that time, just at the begin 
 ning of siege operations, it was peculiarly heavy, and deeply 
 affected all who knew him and recognized his value to the 
 army. Our old friend, Major McKibben, so conspicuous 
 on General Ferrero s staff in East Tennessee, was also- 
 severely wounded in the same affair. 
 
 At dark the regiment moved to the left, and worked 
 most of the night turning the face of a Confederate lunette, 
 which had been captured, it was said, by the Seventh 
 Rhode Island, Thirty Sixth Massachusetts and others of 
 General Potter s division. There was an uncountable 
 number of muskets lying about, which had belonged to 
 the Confederates who had been captured or had fled, 
 leaving their arms behind them. We filled the ditch on 
 the north front of the work sufficiently to form platforms 
 for artillery, and cut embrasures through the parapet 
 opening towards the enemy, who still occupied a line of 
 works on the hither side of the pine woods afterwards 
 our camp ground and from that elevation spitefully threw 
 over an occasional shell, the gunners, probably, being at 
 tracted by the gleam or glint of our shovels. When the work 
 was completed, it was occupied by the Fourteenth Massa 
 chusetts battery. Our men retired to the woods in rear and 
 got such sleep as they could behind their stacks of arms. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 256 
 
 In the morning (eighteenth) the Confederates had with 
 drawn from the front of the pine woods, mentioned above, 
 to the ridge beyond the railroad and the brooks forming 
 Harrison s Creek, and had established permanent lines 
 upon the north and east sides of the elevation called 
 Cemetery Hill, which lay between them and Petersburg. 
 Details of men were sent out from the regiment for bridge 
 building, road cutting, and even to bury or burn the bodies 
 of the artillery horses killed in the action. At night we 
 camped in the grove near General Burnside s headquarters. 
 The tool wagons arrived bringing our knapsacks, which we 
 had not seen since leaving Cold Harbor. 
 
 On the twentieth of June the regiment moved camp to 
 the pine woods spoken of above, and located near Genera! 
 Ledlie s headquarters, where we remained for nearly two 
 months, during the rest of June, July and part of August. 
 During these hot, dry months of summer, the siege was 
 carried on with great zeal and the defence was equally 
 persistent. The Ninth Corps extended from the locality 
 of Fort Haskell and the left of the Second Corps, near 
 the hill upon which Fort Steadman was afterwards con 
 structed, through the deep valley under Cemetery Hill 
 and between Fort Morton and the Crater, towards the 
 position of Fort Rice and the right of the Fifth Corps. 
 The distance between the hostile lines was greater in front 
 of our division than in front of the other divisions, the 
 brook valley being wider arid flatter ; but all our advanced 
 infantry lines were commanded by the higher position of 
 the enemy. Our infantry lay in two lines of trenches, 
 those of the front line called the pickets being relieved 
 every three days by the rear line. The difference between 
 them was not material, the most important item being that 
 the rear had more shade from the pine woods and more 
 .undisturbed rest. 
 
257 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 During the whole two months a steady firing of mus 
 ketry was maintained between the advanced lines day and 
 night, and as soon as the artillery could be placed in posi 
 tion under suitable cover this arm also joined in the horrid 
 din. Not only field guns and siege cannon were used, but 
 also, when a siege was decided upon, mortars of various 
 calibre were hauled to the front and a perpendicular fire 
 of bomb-shells opened, in which proceeding the Con 
 federates also took part, at first with small coehorns, 
 afterwards with the largest mortars. Death stalked abroad 
 in that valley in the most varied form ; the air was filled 
 with lead and iron missiles of every shape. Sharpshooters 
 watched the opposing lines with quick eyes for an exposed 
 head or limb, and wherever men were supposed to be con 
 gregated the bomb-shells were dropped with fatal accuracy. 
 Hair-breadth escapes were the order of the day, and of 
 every day and night. 
 
 At first our camp was pitched as usual, with shelters of 
 green boughs for additional shade, but casualties and nar 
 row escapes became so frequent that bullet-proof shelters 
 or stockades had to be thrown up upon the exposed side 
 of the tents, which allowed sleep with a sense of security. 
 The dead and wounded of the battles of the seventeenth 
 had been removed, except the body of one Confederate 
 who had crawled into the bushes to die, and remained 
 undiscovered until the odor of decomposition disclosed 
 such an unwelcome guest upon* our camp ground. There 
 was some water to be had at first from springs, but the 
 burning sun soon shrunk them, and the men resorted to 
 well digging, sinking as many as four barrels in depth to 
 reach the water, which, when obtained, was sweet and cool. 
 Morning, noon and evening the bands of the Fifty-Sixth 
 Massachusetts and other regiments played at General 
 Ledlie s headquarters to cheer the men, with good effect ; 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 258 
 
 but we got extremely well acquainted with their collection 
 of music, patriotic, operatic or other, during that summer. 
 We staid so long in this camp it began to seem quite like 
 a home, and its incidents were family events. On the 
 twenty-fifth of June, Lieutenant Hatch and Company D 
 returned to the regiment from detached service, having 
 been absent since the fifth of May. 
 
 The duties of the regiment were too various to mention 
 in detail; they followed naturally the progress of a siege. 
 At first there was road cutting and bridge building, to get 
 the artillery forward ; then the infantry lines were strength 
 ened, cover thrown up to protect the cannoneers, and abatis 
 of felled trees laid in front of these, the day work being 
 the stockading of General Ledlie s headquarters, and bower 
 building for shade. The infantry line well settled and 
 secure, strong redoubts or forts, with thick parapets, were 
 begun at prominent points, and the labor upon them pushed 
 forward day and night by reliefs. The principal works of 
 the kind near us were a mortar battery and Fort Morton. 
 After the enclosures of these were completed came the 
 cutting of the embrasures, digging magazines, bomb proofs 
 and traverses, opening of covered ways of approach from 
 rear to front, and protecting the outer sides with obstacles, 
 ditches and entanglements. We lead the same busy life 
 as at Cold Harbor, detailed in the last chapter, excepting 
 that the work was now much heavier, the cuttings and 
 covered ways were deeper, and the exposure while at work 
 greater. 
 
 Labor at the front occupied most of the night time. 
 The men were frequently employed digging ditches or 
 planting abatis between the lines, exposed to the enemy s 
 fire, their only cover being the darkness, and it took a cool 
 head and steady hand to stand upon the parapet of our 
 earthworks, unsheltered from the cross fire, and cut em- 
 
259 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 brasures for guns, drive the poles and make the necessary 
 hurdle work or wattling to support the earth at the sides. 
 It would be pleasant to mention the names of some yet 
 living who were conspicuous for steadiness in such work, 
 but as they might object we forbear. Among others, Ser 
 geant Oakman, of Company C, who afterwards died of 
 wounds received in action, seemed to linger over such a 
 task as if he had a partiality for it, and would not quit 
 until his critical eye was satisfied. Captain Hudson took 
 such interest, in his always earnest way, as to be appointed 
 engineer officer of the division. After the main lines were 
 thus established, the regiment, for days in succession, was 
 taken to the rear into the woods, and taught by the regulars 
 to construct gabions, fascines, and other siege materials. 
 From the eighth to the twentieth of July the regiment 
 averaged about one hundred and fifty gabions a day, and 
 became very expert. 
 
 Now and then a small squad of recruits would arrive 
 from Boston, usually bringing a long roll of enlisted men 
 who never put in an appearance having secured the 
 heavy bounties, for which they had enlisted, they had 
 jumped the service on the way to the front. Those who 
 came through were the men who had intended honest 
 service, and they generally made respectable soldiers. 
 These new men were kept under drill, but the old mem 
 bers were so busy as not to admit even of dress-parade at 
 evening; an occasional inspection was the only manoeuvre. 
 
 Our labors at the front were not performed without loss. 
 Among the men were many slight wounds or injuries not 
 of record. On the twenty-sixth of June, Corporal Charles 
 P. Merrill, of Company B, had an arm broken by a falling 
 tree ; Samuel L. Knight, of Company F, was wounded in 
 camp while preparing supper. On the night of July 4, 
 while at work at the front, Charles G. Bates, of Company 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 260. 
 
 C, was mortally wounded in the bowels ; Sergeant Oakman 
 was also wounded ; George T. Tucker, of Company I, was 
 shot in the body and died. On the sixth, William H. 
 Amerige, of Company F, was wounded in the chin by a 
 piece of a shell which burst immediately after leaving the 
 gun of one of our batteries, in front of which we were at 
 work; and there were others of a like nature. At night 
 the camp was so raked by bullets coming over from the 
 lines, chicking in the tree trunks and logs, it seemed more 
 dangerous to go about than it really was ; frequently a 
 comrade in passing out to the mail bag would say, " Good 
 bye, boys, I m going to post a letter/ by way of joke upon 
 the dangers of the locality. 
 
 Our greatest loss here was in our commanding officer 
 Captain Edward G. Park on the first day of July. The 
 woods had become so thinned by cutting in our front that 
 in the afternoon, when the western sun shone in brightly, 
 our regimental headquarters were quite visible to the sharp 
 shooters in the Confederate lines ; but all had become so 
 accustomed to the place that the stray bullets were little 
 noticed, except to point a jest when any one was startled 
 by the sudden hiss of a passing ball. The captain was hit 
 by one of these shots, while close to headquarters, at this 
 favorite hour for sharpshooting, near the spot where 
 Knight had been struck a few days before. His excla 
 mation called several to him, who assisted him to his 
 camp bed, upon which he reclined with expressions of 
 intense pain. His coat was removed, and it was found 
 that a minie-ball had struck the elbow and passed under 
 the muscles of the right forearm, some six inches, where 
 it could be plainly distinguished. The group about him 
 tried to make light of the affair to the captain in our 
 jocular way, calling it a furlough, and congratulating him 
 upon his good luck. In truth those present envied him 
 
26 1 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 the wound. An ambulance was brought and the captain 
 was transferred to it, and left for the field hospital as 
 we suppose for a brief excursion home after his wound 
 was dressed ; but it was his last parting from the regiment 
 he loved so well. He received the furlough as suggested, 
 but, owing to the debilitated state of his system from the 
 campaign in Mississippi and the current year, the flesh 
 refused to heal, gangrene set in, and he died at his home 
 in Roxbury, August 14, 1864. His father writes: "With 
 out opening his eyes, and in a voice clear as a clarion, he 
 broke the solemn stillness of that beautiful Sabbath morn 
 ing by the command, Stack Arms ! " then sank into the 
 sleep of death ; the march of life for him was ended. 
 
 He had been wounded in the left arm at Antietam, as 
 First Lieutenant of Company K ; returned to the regiment 
 at Falmouth ; went with us to Vicksburg, where he, with 
 so many others, nearly died of disease, which prevented 
 his participation in the East Tennessee campaign. Before 
 his death he received the commission of major in the regi 
 ment, upon the recommendation, among others, of General 
 Burnside, in the following letter, which is reproduced as a 
 tribute to the major s memory, and also as showing our 
 general s estimate of the services of the Thirty-Fifth, as 
 engineers : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS NINTH ARMY CORPS, 
 
 " BEFORE PETERSBURG, VA., July 20, 1864. 
 "To His EXCELLENCY JOHN A. ANDREW, 
 
 " Governor of Massachusetts : 
 
 "Sir, I have pleasure in recommending to your favor 
 able consideration, for the vacant majority of the Thirty- 
 Fifth Massachusetts Volunteers Infantry, Captain Edward 
 G. Park, senior captain. His wounds at Antietam and 
 before Petersburg, his disease after the Mississippi cam- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 262 
 
 paign entitled him to consideration ; still more so does 
 the praise which Major Morton, late chief engineer in my 
 staff, has always bestowed on the zeal and ability shown 
 in the government and direction of the Thirty-Fifth, which 
 during the greater part of the present campaign has been 
 detailed as an engineer corps under his orders. I advocate 
 the captain s claim to promotion with sincerity and con 
 fidence. I have the honor to be, sir, 
 
 " Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 "A. E. BURNSIDE, 
 
 " Major- General U. S. Vols" 
 
 A " Memorial of Major Park " has been published, but 
 is now out of print, which contains many interesting par 
 ticulars of his life and the great sacrifice which he made 
 for the country. From lines therein by W. R. E. we pluck 
 this flower to place upon his grave : 
 
 " Death were no terror to his soul, but only sweet release, 
 If so the war-torn land might taste the earlier fruit of peace." 
 
 The officers with the regiment at this time were Captains 
 Blanchard, Ingell and Hudson, Lieutenants Hatch, Berry, 
 Farrington, White, Wright, Cobb (acting adjutant) and 
 Mason ; Captain Meserve being on duty at corps head 
 quarters. In so small a group the loss of Major Park 
 made a deep impression. 
 
 Captain Blanchard took command after Major Park 
 left, and did his best to sustain the dignity he esteemed 
 so highly during the following month. The adjutant 
 jokingly told him to be careful of himself, for to take 
 command of the Thirty-Fifth was to receive a death 
 warrant; it would be his turn next. But the Captain of 
 "bully" B considered himself as invulnerable in body as 
 he certainly was in spirit. 
 
263 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Those were laborious days, and trying to the soul and 
 body of man. After the tremendous exertions of the 
 campaign we seemed to be little nearer the end. It is 
 always darkest just before day, and that hot summer under 
 fire was the murkiest of all. The political excitement at 
 the North was at fever heat. The peace party declared 
 the war a failure, and newspapers containing such doctrine 
 and the most discouraging views were freely circulated in 
 the army, giving to the men in the ranks, who had little 
 other means of forming a judgment, false impressions of 
 the strength of our opponents and of the spirit of the North. 
 It was not until the atmosphere was cleared by Sherman s 
 and Sheridan s victories and the November presidential 
 election that the country was sure of its position ; mean 
 time partisan politicians did all they could to blacken 
 character and discourage patriotism. It is wonderful that 
 men could be got on any terms to enlist in our armies, or 
 that those who had enlisted remained steadfast under such 
 showers of bullets from the front and of invectives from 
 the rear. 
 
 Among the enlisted men there was little inclination for 
 fun, an occasional sing together was about all the circum 
 stances admitted. To rest out the weariness of labors, 
 which were double severe in that Southern climate in mid 
 summer, was about all they longed for. Captain Ingell, 
 however, here as everywhere, was irrepressible in spirit, 
 and must get up a dinner party. The service of plate was 
 such an assortment of battered tin plates and cups as had 
 survived, in the mess chest, the many journeys of the 
 regiment ; the food the best the commissary s stores 
 supplied, which were better than ordinary from our near 
 ness to our base of supplies at City Point. These, with 
 sundry sutler s goods, garnished with IngelPs smiling 
 welcome, made a feast not to be despised, as Captain 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 264 
 
 Meserve indicates in the following witty lines, which breathe 
 the spirit of the occasion : 
 
 " I 11 ne er forget a table set 
 
 At Captain Ingell s tent, 
 A merchant prince could scarce evince 
 
 Such airs grandiloquent. 
 He sent behests to numerous guests 
 
 And courtly was his phrase ; 
 With welcome hand and greeting bland 
 
 He asked us in4o graze. 
 The narrow board was richly stored 
 
 With commissary fare, 
 And O, my eyes ! a rich surprise, 
 
 Tomatoes too were there. 
 But better still, a right good-will 
 
 Was very manifest ; 
 A merrier set was never met 
 
 A soldier s lunch to test." 
 
 Captain Ingell s genius for fun shone most resplendent 
 at such times. He had all the wit and humor of old Jack 
 Falstaff, but added thereto the courage of a soldier and 
 the kindest of hearts. 
 
 A badge for the Ninth Corps was adopted, and required 
 to be worn conspicuously upon the cap. It was a shield 
 bearing a crossed anchor and cannon, with a cable fouled 
 about the anchor in the form of the figure 9, emblematic 
 of the early history of the corps, as the Coast Division of 
 the Army of the Potomac. General W. F. Bartlett took 
 command of the brigade on the twenty-third of July, and 
 thoughtfully sent to the men of the regiment a package of 
 home newspapers, as a notice of his arrival and kind 
 intentions towards us."* 
 
 At the sutler s, several men had been met from the 
 Second Division whose clothing was so deeply stained 
 with the yellow clay of the soil as to excite question how 
 
 *See page no of General F. W. Palfrey s Memoir of General Wm. F. Bartlett. 
 19 
 
265 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 it happened. In this way the secret leaked out that the 
 Forty-Eighth Pennsylvania, old coal miners, under Lieu 
 tenant-Colonel Henry Pleasants, were digging a mine in 
 front of General Potter s division, extending under the 
 enemy s fort. Towards the end of July, Adjutant Wash- 
 burn, who had been serving, since Spottsylvania, on the 
 staff of General Sigfried, in Ferrero s Fourth Division, 
 colored troops, happened into camp and informed us that 
 the mine was nearly completed, and that his division was 
 under daily drill, practising the manoeuvres to be executed 
 when the mine should be exploded and the division should 
 head the charge into the Confederate lines. Small pieces 
 of the stiff marl, dug through in cutting the shaft, were 
 handed about among the men as curiosities. A great 
 event was approaching. During all this time the regiment 
 was at work, day times, upon the gabions, which at night 
 they placed at the front and filled with earth, to strengthen 
 the parapet or top the breastworks at exposed places. 
 
 Observations had been taken by Captain Blanchard of 
 the covered way leading to the locality of the mine, and it 
 was the intention that our men should work all night of 
 the twenty-ninth, placing gabions in position. Companies 
 A, B and K were detailed in the afternoon to get out 
 stakes to pin the gabions in place. In the evening, 
 however, orders were received to pack knapsacks and be 
 ready to fall in with haversacks and canteens, guns, equip 
 ments, intrenching tools and extra ammunition. It was 
 whispered that the mine was to be blown up, and that we 
 should take some part in the general movement, but we 
 did not anticipate any important share, as no special in 
 structions were given us ; in fact, when we were leaving 
 t camp, so little information had been given to Captain 
 Blanchard, commanding the regiment, that he expressed 
 doubt whether we should get in at all. There were but six 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 266 
 
 officers accompanying the regiment, including Blanchard. 
 Lieutenant Berry remarked to the men of his company, G, 
 that they should have an officer present to lead them that 
 day, if he knew himself. 
 
 About two o clock in the morning of the thirtieth, the 
 regiment had assembled, leaving knapsacks in camp and 
 carrying tools, and joined the brigade outside the woods 
 near camp. From thence the column moved very slowly 
 and silently to the left, along the rear of Fort Morton to 
 the widest covered way, and, through it, forward to the 
 Norfolk Railroad cut and the extreme front of General 
 Potter s lines, a locality with which we were little ac 
 quainted. A brook ran in the lowest part of the valley 
 from which the land rose front and rear. Behind us was 
 Fort Morton; in front were our advance breastworks; 
 before them, a gradually rising hill upon which was the 
 enemy s fort to be blown up. We followed in rear of the 
 First Division, the provisional brigade, composed mostly 
 of regiments of heavy artillery which had joined after the 
 Wilderness, taking the position at the head and nearest the 
 enemy. The night was not very dark, a waning moon 
 hung phantom-like in the north-east, over our pine woods. 
 The column was closely massed in regimental lines of 
 battle, but without noise, fearing to alarm the enemy, whose 
 sharpshooters were alert and kept up the usual dropping 
 fire, a bullet now and then falling near the regiment. We 
 saw no other troops save our own division, and not a word 
 was said in explanation of the intended movement or the 
 work to be accomplished. We were formed for an assault, 
 that was all we knew. 
 
 After awhile a report came that the affair was a failure, 
 the fuses had been fired, but were damp and had gone out. 
 It was getting to be daylight fast, about five o clock, and the 
 sky was ruddy with the dawn. In this position of affairs, 
 
267 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 suddenly and unexpectedly the ground was felt to tremble 
 beneath our feet, a mysterious rumbling was heard, and 
 before us, where the morning light was revealing the Con 
 federate fort, there rose high into the air an immense 
 column of earth mingled with parts of artillery carriages, 
 bodies of men, and other wreck, the red explosions of the 
 burning powder still glowing in the mass. Clouds of thick 
 smoke and dust rolled from the summit, presenting an 
 appearance as if the earth thrown up would spread out and 
 partially cover our front line; it did not, however, its 
 material was too heavy, but sank down into the form of an 
 immense ant-hill with the crater in the centre, some one 
 hundred and fifty feet long by sixty wide and twenty-five 
 feet deep, the interior rough with boulders of clay. Awe 
 struck and astounded our front lines recoiled involuntarily, 
 human nature was unbalanced by the terrible spectacle, 
 but it was only momentarily, then, recovering presence of 
 mind, the men raised a cheer and charged forward over 
 our lines, across the interval and into the still smoking 
 crater. At the same instant our artillery of eighteen siege 
 guns, eighteen large mortars, twenty-eight coehorns, and 
 eighty field pieces, opened all along the front, the passing 
 missiles sounding like railroad trains above our heads and 
 apparently exploding in the very works we were assaulting. 
 As seen from our position in rear, it was a grand sight as 
 the heavy column of men went up over our parapet, 
 recalling the assaults into the deadly breach so famous in 
 history. 
 
 As soon as the last regiment was out of the works, the 
 Thirty-Fifth moved up to the front in battalion line. The 
 rear of the parapet had been levelled up so that the right 
 and centre of the regiment had free passage out ; the two 
 left companies were cut off by a traverse and Captain 
 Blanchard sent his adjutant to have them right face and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 268 
 
 file left in rear of the regiment. While this was doing, 
 General Ledlie, who stood on our left close to the front 
 line, gave the captain some orders, which, unfortunately, 
 no other officer heard. Immediately the regiment went 
 forward over our works and up across the open field, some 
 one hundred and twenty-five yards, to the crater. As we 
 moved across this clear space there was time to look about 
 a bit. Overhead hung the cloud of dust and smoke, now 
 orange red in the first rays of the rising sun. On the right 
 the ground sank away into a deep ravine, across which the 
 opposing forces could be seen exchanging shots. On the 
 left, the whole more level tract lay open far to the south, 
 crossed and recrossed by the discharge of guns from either 
 side. No other troops seemed in motion, or in position 
 to move ; on the contrary, right and left, the battle seemed 
 an artillery duel only, instead of the sweeping assault 
 which would imply a grand attack ; the inference was that 
 our division was the only force engaged ; such hasty judg 
 ments often affect results. It was not until after the fight 
 that we learned that others beside the colored troops and 
 ours were in the assault the other divisions went up in 
 the hollows to the right and left. 
 
 Captain Blanchard, in writing of the affair a few weeks 
 after, says : " It being intended to carry the works and 
 heights, the Thirty-Fifth was to follow closely our brigade, 
 and, as soon as the works were carried, to throw up breast 
 works. We reached and carried the enemy s first line and 
 the regiment with their tools soon changed its face to the 
 rear. Having given my orders and the men well at work, 
 I was hit in the left shoulder, so disabling me that I was 
 obliged to leave the field." Others say that the regiment 
 had not commenced work when the captain was wounded, 
 but was waiting at the crater for his directions. The ad 
 jutant says that from the right of the battalion he saw 
 
269 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Captain Blanchard looking about, examining the works, or 
 looking for him, as he has since thought, when the above- 
 mentioned wound was received ; that First Sergeant Moses 
 Bartlett of Company B sprang forward to support the 
 captain and was shot dead ; that the order had probably 
 been given to turn the works, for, at the same instant, the 
 men advanced and went to work energetically upon the 
 face of the crater nearest our lines. The incident occupied 
 but a moment. The adjutant then inquired for the next 
 senior officer, Lieutenant Hatch, and was told that he had 
 been shot across both legs, while coming over our works, 
 and been taken to the rear. He then asked for the next 
 senior, Lieutenant Berry, and was informed that Berry 
 had fallen dead within a rod from our lines. Thus three 
 out of the six officers were gone in the first fifteen minutes 
 after the blow-up. The three juniors came together and 
 consulted upon what was to be done. 
 
 In front was the immense mound of the crater, of gentle 
 slope perhaps fifteen feet high, formed of loose earth, in 
 which were half-buried bodies of dead Confederates, broken 
 gun carriages, tools and platform timbers in great confusion. 
 Within the crater our troops were cheering loudly and cel 
 ebrating the success of their assault, but making no motion 
 in a body to secure the ridge of the hill. Our officers, 
 therefore, hastily decided to keep the men at the work 
 they were upon, turn the face of the line secured and 
 connect it with our intrenchments. Lieutenant A. J. 
 White took charge of the left of the regiment, Lieutenant 
 Farrington the centre, and Acting Adjutant Cobb the right, 
 and superintended the labors of the men. 
 
 At first there was little firing from the enemy, only a few 
 sharpshooters to right and left, whose aim, however, as 
 we have seen, was with deadly accuracy. In a few minutes 
 a gun on the left opened from a position where our artillery 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 270 
 
 could not silence it, and a detail of men was made to occupy 
 the crest of the crater and try to keep down its fire, which 
 enfiladed the line. Squads of Confederate prisoners came 
 to the rear, with many of our wounded, some of the latter 
 lying down under cover of the excavation we were making. 
 Our wounded were sent off the field, and Lieutenant Far- 
 rington, by advice of the other officers, went back also, to 
 collect the men who had gone to help the disabled, get 
 orders, and, if approved, commence a narrow trench, or 
 sap, from our lines towards the crater, to connect with one 
 which we now had a few men engaged upon. 
 
 Thus the first half hour, while the enemy were confused 
 by the surprise, and when alone success was possible, 
 slipped away; the Confederates concentrated infantry and 
 artillery around the crater, which at once became a death 
 trap to those who were in it. Staff officers, among them 
 Captain Hudson, came from our lines with orders to " push 
 forward to the crest of the hill in front," but as it seemed 
 useless to try to get through the mass of men in the crater 
 we kept on digging, expecting that when the orders reached 
 the head of the column the whole would go forward to 
 gether, if possible ; but the troops did not move, and we 
 supposed there was some obstacle in the way. 
 
 The enemy s fire from right and left grew more deadly; 
 wounded men crowded upon us ; as fast as our men opened 
 the bank these poor fellows crept into it, some refusing to 
 budge even when partially covered with earth, and our 
 officers would say, " Bury them if they wont move ! " 
 Some stragglers came with -them, and more white troops 
 moved up to mingle with the crowd in the crater and add 
 to the confusion. After awhile the excitement and severity 
 of their exertions exhausted our men, and they stopped 
 for rest. At this time the head of the column of the 
 Fourth Division (colored) was seen coming over our 
 
271 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 intrenchments. They were gallantly led by their officers, 
 Colonel Sigfried s brigade, upon whose staff we saw Adju 
 tant Washburn, charging forward upon our left into the 
 crater. What they could do now it was not easy to see, 
 but they came up as spiritedly as could be wished, yet 
 stringing out by the flank. Their color bearers, fine mus 
 cular fellows, some of them stripped to the waist, shouted 
 and displayed their flags most manfully, but, alas, most 
 vainly it was too late ! 
 
 After they had passed "to the front their appearance 
 seemed to add greater fury to the enemy, and the carnage 
 became terrible past description. Wounded and stragglers 
 accumulated so that no more work could be done, except 
 that the sap to the rear was continued, but the soil was so 
 hard baked it could with difficulty be broken by the pick 
 axe. All were more or less disabled for labor by nervous 
 prostration, after their violent exertions at first and by the 
 scenes of horror about them. We supposed that the as 
 sault upon the second line had failed, but that the position 
 secured would be held till night, when, in the darkness, it 
 could be connected and made part of our intrenchments. 
 The scene grew, if possible, more terrible as the cross fire 
 of the Confederate artillery and mortars was concentrated 
 upon the crater and the space between it and our lines. 
 Spherical case shot burst continually over and among the 
 crowd of wounded and stragglers, who would send up 
 groans of agony. Our boys did what they could to help 
 the disabled, and declared that they had not been under 
 such a hot fire since Antietam ; in fact, few expected to 
 survive until night or get back to our lines, so completely 
 was the space swept by the shower of missiles. 
 
 About nine o clock in the morning the colored division, 
 with some white troops, broke and came to the rear, many 
 of the men retiring slowly and, apparently, reluctantly ; 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 272 
 
 but they were so confused that there was no command 
 over them. Lieutenant White dashed among them, waving 
 his sword and shouting, " Rally ! Rally ! " but the adjutant 
 suggested to him that it would be better to let them go to 
 the rear and clear the field, and White desisted, having 
 received a flesh wound in the shoulder in the melee. 
 After this, it had become so evident that nothing more 
 could be done by daylight, while exposed to such a mur 
 derous fire, it was decided to take what remained of the 
 regiment back to our intrenchments. Word was passed 
 among the men to retire in small parties so as to attract 
 no special attention from the enemy, which was obeyed as 
 opportunity offered, a few not getting off until afternoon, 
 but all bringing their guns and tools with them ; only two 
 or three, too severely wounded to be hastily moved, pre 
 ferred to take their chances of getting off quietly at night, 
 and so remained to be taken prisoners. In this way, by 
 running the gauntlet, most of the men got back within our 
 lines by eleven o clock. 
 
 There they found the rest of the regiment drawn up 
 under Lieutenant Farrington, and, by direction of Captain 
 Hudson, details were sent back through the narrow covered 
 way under the railroad to bring up ammunition. It was 
 noticeable that even in this work strong men were still so 
 nervously affected as to be physically unable to lift between 
 them the boxes, each containing one thousand cartridges, 
 and the boxes had to be broken open and the packages 
 carried te the front in shelter tents, as many as each man 
 could lug. Going to the rear for this purpose, we passed part 
 of the Eighteenth Corps moving up with difficulty through 
 the narrow passage. We told them that the affair was 
 ended. Shortly after noon the regiment was marched 
 back to camp under Lieutenant Farrington, and Captain 
 Ingell took command. 
 
273 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 The order to retire the troops was issued by General 
 Meade about nine o clock, and by General Burnside 
 between eleven and twelve. All who could, or who pre 
 ferred risking death rather than Libby Prison, escaped as 
 we had done in small parties; but some nine hundred men 
 and seventy-five officers were captured, with General Bart- 
 lett, who, wearing an artificial leg which had been crushed 
 in the action, could not escape if he would. Our adjutant, 
 Washburn, was taken prisoner with others of the brigade 
 staff, and suffered semi-starvation within the Confederacy 
 until the end of the war. The total loss of the army was 
 placed at 4,400; of this, the Ninth Corps had 3,828 in 
 killed, wounded and prisoners. General Humphreys puts 
 the total at 3,500. 
 
 The loss of the Thirty-Fifth had been : one officer and 
 eleven men killed or died of wounds, and some thirty-four 
 others wounded, out of about one hundred and sixty pres 
 ent for duty. The names of the fallen were : Lieutenant 
 Samuel K. Berry; First Sergeant Moses C. Bartlett, of 
 Company B ; Sergeant Robert C. Davidson, of Company 
 C ; John H. Gill and Cornelius Kalaher, of Company E ; 
 Solomon Richardson, of Company F ; Patrick Grealish, 
 of Company G ; Sergeant John Q. Hunt and Corporal 
 Leonard Pratt, of Company H ; Michael Colbert and 
 Perez F. Fearing, of Company I ; George A. Greenwood, 
 of Company K. How much of grief and severed friend 
 ship this list expresses to those who remember them well ! 
 Lieutenant Berry was the darling of the regiment. His 
 youthful figure and earnest face, lighted by those dark 
 eyes aflame with the fire of battle, his long black hair and 
 waving sword, as he led Company G over our intrench- 
 ments, will never be forgotten. The words of Lowell 
 seem written for him : 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 274 
 
 1 Brave, good and true, 
 
 I see him stand before me now, 
 And read again on that young brow 
 
 Where every hope was new, 
 
 Ifow sweet were life ! Yet, by the mouth firm set 
 And look made up for Duty s utmost debt, 
 
 I could divine he knew 
 
 That death within the sulphurous hostile lines, 
 In the mere wreck of nobly-pitched designs, 
 
 Plucks heart s ease and not rue. 
 
 Right in the van, 
 
 On the red rampart s slippery swell, 
 
 With heart that beat a charge, he fell 
 Foeward, as fits a man." 
 
 Ah, that was a terrible day, and as exasperating as ter 
 rible ! Would that it and its horrible scenes were buried 
 in oblivion to haunt our dreams no more ! 
 
 At evening, visiting the wounded at the field hospital, 
 where Doctors Snow and Roche and the other surgeons 
 were worn out with the severity of their labors, where the 
 bodies of the men who had died under the surgeon s knife 
 still lay undisturbed and ghastly upon the tables, it was 
 pleasant to find Captain Blanchard, Lieutenant Hatch and 
 the other wounded comfortably stretched upon white bed 
 spreads under snowy tent cloth, discussing, under clouds 
 of smoke from their pipes, the events of the day. 
 
 The causes of the failure were pretty evenly divided 
 there was a bad place chosen for the assault, bad or inju 
 dicious generalship and overtasked troops. 
 
 Of the position it is sufficient to say that the charge was 
 made into a reentering angle, or into the mouth of a pocket, 
 the sides representing the enemy s undisturbed lines; the 
 further the column advanced the more subject it became 
 to cross fire. This difficulty had been pointed out before- 
 
275 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 hand to General Meade, and he was opposed to the assault, 
 from his own observations and the following letter : 
 
 i HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, 
 
 "OFFICE OF CHIEF ENGINEER, July 24, 1864. 
 " General, In reply to your communication of this 
 date, I have the honor to say that the line of the enemy s 
 works in front of General Burnsicle is not situated on the 
 crest of the ridge separating us from Petersburg that 
 the enemy have undoubtedly occupied the ridge as a sec 
 ond line. Should General Burnsicle succeed in exploding 
 his mine he would probably be able to take the enemy s 
 first line, which is about one hundred yards in advance of 
 his approach. Beyond this I do not think he could advance 
 until the works in front of the Fifth Corps are carried, as 
 the Ninth Corps columns would be taken in flank by a 
 heavy artillery fire from works in front of the centre of the 
 Fifth Corps, and in front from the works on the crest near 
 Cemetery Hill. I do not believe that the works in front 
 of the Fifth Corps can be carried until our lines can be 
 extended to the left so as to envelope the enemy s line. 
 " Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "J. C. DUANE, Major of Engineers. 
 "MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE." 
 
 The ridge referred to in the above was not then actually 
 occupied, but the delay of our advance enabled the enemy 
 to seize and use it in the way mentioned during the action. 
 It was hoped that the explosion would so shake the enemy 
 as to frighten them from their lines ; they did vacate near 
 the crater, but the flank fire was still severe as evinced by 
 the above losses of the Thirty-Fifth in getting out of our 
 works. It was known to the generals, but not to the men 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 276 
 
 in the column, that the Petersburg lines were held by a 
 weaker Confederate force than usual ; a little instruction 
 on that point would have been encouraging. Something 
 was said, at the moment of the blow-up, about some of the 
 loaded chambers not having exploded; if the men had 
 been forewarned of this danger they would have kept out 
 of the crater, and the confusion would have been avoided 
 to a considerable extent. 
 
 As for the subordinate generals nothing need be said ; 
 they were condemned by a court of inquiry. And not a 
 little blame rests with the superior officers of the army for 
 interfering at the last moment with the plans of General 
 Burnside, substituting for the troops he had chosen and 
 drilled for the assault others who were neither in proper 
 spirit nor fully informed for the work. General Grant s 
 words upon this point are : " General Burnside wanted to 
 put his colored troops in advance, and I believe if he had 
 done so it would have been a success." For a coup-de- 
 main, fresh troops, who have been little under fire, are 
 sometimes to be preferred to older soldiers whose expe 
 rience of such attacks has been unfortunate. 
 
 Of the troops, no one who has followed this story thus 
 far can hesitate to believe that the men were worn out ; 
 still capable of great endurance, but retaining little of the 
 "devilment" which springs forward to an assault as to a 
 marriage feast. They would have followed able leaders, 
 but these failed them. It was well known that the men 
 of the heavy artillery regiments and dismounted cavalry 
 were dissatisfied upon being taken from the employment 
 proper to their branches of the service and used as infantry 
 in such work as this ; they had not enlisted for it. Yet 
 these men were placed in the front of the column, and no 
 one had a right to be disappointed if they proved a " for 
 lorn hope " indeed. It was easy to foresee that there would 
 
277 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 be confusion and disorder there always is after a charge 
 yet no pains were taken to inform each individual man 
 of the plan of attack, and that success would depend upon 
 the work of the first fifteen minutes. It was a well estab 
 lished custom in the army that the troops carrying a line 
 of works should reform and hold the captured line, while 
 fresh and unbroken battalions should come up in their 
 rear, pass over and assault any second line; this rule was 
 to be disregarded in this plan, and the men who secured 
 the first were to keep on, necessarily in disorder, and occupy 
 interior positions. 
 
 The final preparations were too hurried. In view of our 
 regiment s part in it and lack of special orders it is amus 
 ing to read the following evidence of Lieutenant Beauyard, 
 U. S. Engineers, before the Board of Inquiry. He says : 
 " I was sent by Major Duane to report to General Burn- 
 side for duty as an engineer." Question. "Were there 
 working parties for the assaulting columns and engineer 
 officers to lead them ? " A?iswer. " Not that I know of." 
 Quest. " No arrangement had been made with you by Gen 
 eral Burnside for anything of that sort ? " A/is. " No, 
 sir ; not previous to the assault." Quest. " Had you 
 been placed in charge of a proper working party, suitably 
 equipped, could you not, immediately after the explosion 
 of the mine, have levelled the enemy s parapets, so as to 
 allow troops in line of battle to have passed through ? " 
 Ans. " I think I could. When the enemy afterwards had 
 a flank fire between the enemy s lines and ours, I offered 
 General Burnside to run a covered way from our line to 
 the enemy s line on the right and left of the crater." 
 Quest. " Would any advantage have ensued from simply 
 holding the crater without advancing further ? " Ans. 
 " No, sir ; I do not think so." Quest. " Were there any 
 preparations made in the way of collecting gabions and so 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 278 
 
 forth, so that if the troops had been successful we could 
 have crowned the crest ? " Ans. " No, sir ; not that I 
 know of. 7 Quest. " Were tools collected or used picks, 
 shovels, axes, etc. ? " Ans. " I did not see any." 
 
 Had such a general as Reno or St. Clair Morton been 
 present, bad though the position and the spirit of the 
 troops, the crest of Cemetery Hill might have been 
 gained, but could it have been held? when we remember 
 the slowness of the generals in supporting each other, the 
 obstacles in the way and the impossibility of crossing the 
 artillery, it may be doubtful. Perhaps the wretched affair 
 ended for the best after all, and it was well that the death- 
 hug of Grant upon Lee should continue until the active 
 Sheridan arrived to close the rear. 
 
 If our regiment was to have part in the assault as engi 
 neers, it would seem that the proper place for us was near 
 the head of the column rather than in the rear. Bat, 
 strangely enough, it appears not to have been General 
 Burnside s intention that the Thirty-Fifth should take part 
 in the charge ; the other engineer regiments did not. One 
 of our musicians, writing from the field hospital of the 
 First Division, August 5, 1864, relates the following: 
 "General Burnside visited the hospital, yesterda}^ and 
 went through the different wards, in which were a number 
 of our wounded. As he came to Sergeant Davidson of 
 Company C, leg amputated (mortal), he asked him what 
 regiment he belonged to. The sergeant replied, The 
 Thirty-Fifth. The general said, * Were they in the fight ? 
 and asked, Who ordered them to go in ? He said he 
 gave no orders for the Thirty-Fifth to go in for they were 
 engineers, but he would inquire into it." The writer adds, 
 "Captain Ingell commands the regiment and the boys are 
 in the best of spirits, ready and willing to shovel or fight. 
 But the story that the regiment was put in without orders 
 
279 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 spread among the men, and they blamed their officers for 
 suffering the imposition. 
 
 The only ones who came out of the affair with unques 
 tioned glory were Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants and the 
 two others, Lieutenant Jacob Douty and Sergeant Henry 
 Rees, who volunteered to relight the fuse, and the Forty- 
 Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment. But there were other 
 instances of noble conduct by individuals, which this is 
 not the place for recording. 
 
 Next day an armistice was requested of the Confederate 
 commander, but denied. The regiment fell in to bury the 
 dead, but, upon reception of the above news, was dis 
 missed. Captain Ingell and several others visited our 
 front and Fort Morton, from which by the aid of a glass 
 our wounded lying between the lines could be seen ; they 
 were under fire from the Confederates and could not be 
 reached. They had sticks with rags upon the end, which 
 they waved as signals and as fans to drive away the swarms 
 of flies. The rays of the sun poured down upon them with 
 broiling heat, and their situation, having lain there now 
 twenty-four hours, was heart-rending to witness how much 
 more horrible to endure ! At last several surgeons were 
 allowed to go upon the field and distribute water and 
 stimulants. 
 
 It was not until the following day (August i) that the 
 flag of truce was answered favorably and an armistice 
 declared from five to nine in the morning. The Thirty- 
 Fifth went upon the field about six o clock and engaged 
 in- the burial of the dead. It was a scene long to be 
 remembered with loathing. The soldiers of the two armies 
 stood up in the opposing lines, arms laid aside, and curi 
 ously examined each other; the Confederates, in their 
 earth-colored brown, hardly distinguishable from the soil 
 upon which they stood ; our men in blue, strikingly con- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 280 
 
 trasted in appearance and equipment. Half way to the 
 crater were the flags of truce Generals Potter, Ferrero 
 and others upon our side, General Johnson upon the 
 other; they conversed amicably about the situation. The 
 Thirty-Fifth, aided by one of the regiments from the 
 Fourth Division and other troops, dug long trenches, while 
 search was made upon the bodies of the dead for marks 
 of identification. If the name was discovered it was 
 written upon paper, and pinned upon the breast of the 
 corpse. The bodies were then taken to the trench, the 
 names copied off, the remains wrapped in a blanket, if one 
 were at hand, and hastily covered with earth. Some three 
 hundred were thus buried, a large portion of them colored 
 men. The scorching heat of the sun had so hastened 
 decomposition that the faces of all were black and shriv 
 elled ; a white man could be distinguished only by his 
 hair, or by turning down his clothing. Wherever a limb 
 had been shot off, or a skull broken down, or in the hollows 
 of the eyes, the flies had alighted, and now amid the fester 
 ing flesh the maggots revelled, moving over and over. The 
 stench was sickening, and so penetrated the clothing and 
 , impressed the senses that it remained in the nostrils for 
 days afterward. It was, for the small space of ground 
 covered, the concentration of horrors, and the effects of 
 the burning sun, one of the most revolting scenes of death 
 during the war. Some four or five only of the wounded 
 were found alive after those long hours of anguish, and 
 they were emaciated to skeletons and could hardly have 
 survived. 
 
 The bodies of the dead of the Thirty-Fifth were iden 
 tified by clothing or articles in the pocket, for there was 
 scarcely a trace of resemblance left, except in case of 
 Lieutenant Berry, whose bonny black hair was so distin 
 guishing a mark. Tenderly his remains were wrapped in 
 
28 1 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 a covering and laid to rest in that field upon which he had 
 fallen so heroically. 
 
 Returning to camp the men dejectedly sought their 
 quarters, feeling that the Old Ninth Corps was defunct, 
 body and soul. It was several days before the men 
 engaged in this "needlessly miserable affair," as General 
 Grant called it, recovered the ordinary tone of spirits. 
 
 Details were made to repair the forts, and night work was 
 resumed, while days were spent in trying to sleep, tor 
 mented by swarms of flies which now infested camp unen- 
 durably. Gifts of fresh vegetables, tomatoes and cabbages, 
 were received from the Sanitary Commission, but they had 
 been so levied upon on their way to the front that when 
 they reached us little was left but the expression of good 
 will. Occasionally, when the lines were quiet, some black- 
 coated member of the Christian Commission passed along 
 the front distributing religious literature; but the efforts 
 of both of these benevolent societies were principally con 
 fined to the hospitals, which, it was thought, they sometimes 
 made too attractive for the prompt return of convalescents 
 to their regiments. 
 
 Captain Tobey, writing from the brigade-quartermaster s 
 office, says of the First Brigade, which had started with 
 such full ranks from Annapolis three months before: "The 
 brigade, who are all except the Thirty- Fifth in the front 
 line six days and out one, are having a hard time of it. 
 Some of the regiments are losing from six to ten men a 
 day; the Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts is considered the 
 most unlucky, and most of their officers have been killed 
 in the trenches or during the last fight. There is a rumor 
 afloat that the Ninth Corps is going to leave this place, 
 and, God knows, I hope it is true, for if they don t take 
 them out soon there will be no one left ! " So thought 
 old "Jack" Tobey, the very sound of whose voice would 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 282 
 
 "snake" a stalled team out of the worst mud hole in all 
 Virginia. 
 
 The siege went on as before the mine " scrape," as the 
 boys aptly termed it, putting a name and a judgment upon 
 it in one word, and the pickets and artillery weaned the 
 air with their constant din. There were frequent alarms 
 of attacks, but the Confederates never came out; they 
 blew up part of our intrenchment in retaliation, but it was 
 immediately reoccupiecl by our troops, and the "Johnnies" 
 could only stand and laugh at their failure. 
 
 A new fort was commenced by the regiment, under 
 direction of Captain Hudson (staff engineer officer), using 
 narrow bandages for a tape line to measure by ; so inad 
 equately provided with equipment for engineering were 
 the troops at the front, while extravagance ran riot at 
 Washington. Captain Ingell was threatened with fever ; 
 more pieces of bone began to prick through the flesh of 
 his arm, which had been shattered by a bullet at Antietam, 
 and he was obliged to go to the field hospital. Lieutenant 
 White being still upon the sick list from his wound, Lieu 
 tenant Farrington commanded the regiment. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 WELDON RAILROAD, AND POPLAR SPRING CHURCH, 1864. 
 
 ON the fourteenth of August our regiment was at the 
 front, digging, until eleven at night, then received 
 orders to return to camp, pack up, and be ready to march. 
 Moving out of the pine grove our abode so long we 
 joined the brigade and marched about four miles to the 
 left, leaving the thunder of the siege behind, and halted 
 in the woods, somewhere beyond the spot afterwards called 
 Hancock Station. At daylight the regiments were strung 
 along, at intervals, upon some old intrenchments, relieving 
 troops of the Fifth Corps. Our division was now under 
 command of our old friend, General Julius White, first 
 heard of at Harper s Ferry, and later of the Twenty-Third 
 Corps and East Tennessee memory ; the brigade was com 
 manded by the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Barnes, of the 
 Twenty-Ninth Massachusetts. Pickets were advanced to 
 the front in a drenching shower, and then, huts having 
 been built, the boys had a night s sound sleep, out of 
 range of Confederate bullets for the first time for two 
 months. All were very weary, many having had no sleep 
 for two days, yet some waked to wonder at the stillness 
 of our new location. 
 
 Captain Ingell, hearing of the movement and anxious 
 about "his boys," left his sick bed and joined us, after we 
 had moved camp back beyond a swamp and repitched in 
 company streets. From this spot he sent an interesting 
 
284 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 letter, probably the last he ever wrote, concerning a new 
 danger which threatened the Thirty-Fifth ; he had heard 
 that the regiment was to be filled up with German and 
 French substitutes. He says : " I have been in hospital 
 by advice of Dr. Snow for rest and quiet, to prevent a 
 fever with which I was threatened, and my arm troubles 
 me at times. I returned to the regiment last evening, 
 they having during my absence moved about four miles to 
 the extreme left of our lines, and being now encamped in a 
 fine grove, doing picket duty with thirty men out, and cavalry 
 pickets outside of us. There are no rebels in front of us, 
 and the never-ceasing fire from artillery and pickets, to 
 which we have been for months subjected, has entirely 
 ceased, and we can hardly sleep, all is so quiet ; but the 
 enemy have been moving to their right, yesterday and 
 during the night, and we are expecting an attack on this 
 line, and are held in readiness to move at any moment. I 
 have received news of the recruits, German and French. 
 I hardly expected that this regiment would go into the 
 importing of German and French goods, and cannot see 
 what use they are to make of them ; however, if they 
 come properly consigned, and with proper invoices and 
 descriptive lists, with duties paid and properly avouched 
 for, I suppose I shall have to receive them ; if they do not, 
 I shall tell them, in the best German at my command, to 
 go to the devil. Officers and men are sorry these men are 
 to come among us." He ends with these words, so touch- 
 ingly pathetic in view of his near future, "Having I believe 
 told you all I think of now, I await events." While at the 
 hospital he had been passed by the examining board for 
 the Invalid Reserve Corps, on account of his old wound ; 
 but he was bent upon seeing the Thirty-Fifth through one 
 more fight. At this camp, Captain Ingell appointed Jesse 
 Holmes quartermaster-sergeant. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 285 
 
 For several days we had very heavy showers, which made 
 the roads heavy and the fields soaked with moisture. On 
 the eighteenth the Fifth Corps moved to the left, and 
 reaching the Weldon Railroad near the Globe Tavern, or 
 Yellow House as we called it, moved up the railroad 
 towards Petersburg; but being met in force they intrenched 
 themselves and held the position, but with exposed flanks. 
 The divisions of the Ninth Corps were ordered up to con 
 nect the right of the Fifth with the lines about Petersburg, 
 The nineteenth was a day of drizzle, the mud deep and 
 slippery in the fields. The regiment marched to brigade 
 headquarters, and, as soon as the troops were assembled 
 and pickets drawn in, started, left in front, with the First 
 Division, in a south-west direction, towards the supposed 
 right of the Fifth Corps, guided by the sound of cannon 
 ading. The Third Division preceded, and the Second 
 Division followed ours. 
 
 After two or three miles we came out into wide corn 
 fields with woods to the north-west and south-east, and, 
 hearing musketry, the double-quick step was taken, and a 
 series of hurried but well executed field movements ensued. 
 We came by flank into line of battle and went forward over 
 fences towards the western woods, the regiments keeping 
 their lines remarkably well, then halted and wheeled about 
 in retreat a few rods, then fronting moved more to the left 
 and again forward, all in accordance with orders from 
 General White, who appeared on horseback in front of the 
 regiment, waving his light felt hat and calling upon the 
 men to remember Campbell s Station and Knoxville, at 
 which the boys cheered vociferously. It was the most 
 inspiriting scene for many a day. Forward we went close 
 up to the woods bordering the railroad, then again to the 
 left and immediately back to the right, just in time ; the 
 Confederates Colquitt s brigade of Mahone s division 
 
286 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 were coming through the woods upon the charge. Kneel 
 ing in the mud, the word was, "Fire, and give them 
 hell ! " and at it we went, firing and loading as rapidly 
 as nimble fingers could. The only command of the 
 officers was, " Fire low, men, fire low ! " and the carnage 
 was deadly. 
 
 As soon as our line of fire became distinct, the artillery 
 in rear opened, throwing the shells so closely to our heads 
 that the boys asserted they cut the tops of the corn-stalks. 
 A steady fire was maintained for over half an hour, officers 
 taking the guns of the wounded and adding their shots to 
 the storm of bullets, when the enemy retired in confusion, 
 leaving their dead and wounded and some prisoners who 
 came in through our line when the firing stopped. Two 
 men of one of our companies carried thirteen prisoners to 
 the rear. The woods were full of their fallen men, and it 
 took the whole of the next morning to remove them. We 
 had reached the ground in the nick of time to cover the 
 flank of the Third Division and the Fifth Corps ; and our 
 division and regiment never did better or more timely 
 service than upon that day. General Warren, command 
 ing the Fifth Corps, recognized the service and kindly sent 
 his thanks to the division ; and yet these were the men 
 who, a few days before, had failed at the Mine evidently 
 leadership is everything in war. 
 
 But our loss was cruel. Of the four officers with the 
 regiment in the action, two, Captain Ingell and Lieutenant 
 A. J. White, received wounds which proved mortal. Of 
 the enlisted men the killed or mortally wounded were : 
 Sergeant Albert G. Drake, William Dunbar and James 
 Gay, of Company A ; George F. Cossett, of Company C ; 
 and Frank Williams, of Company K ; there were about 
 twenty-five others wounded, and five men taken prisoners 
 from the picket line. Lieutenant Farrington was on duty 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 287 
 
 as brigade officer of the day ; Captains Hudson and Me- 
 serve and Lieutenant Wright on the division staff; so 
 that, at the end of the action, there were but the two 
 junior lieutenants and a little over one hundred men left 
 for duty, the smallest number during the regiment s term 
 of service. The whole First Division numbered probably 
 less than one thousand men, so many had been the casual 
 ties in that sanguinary campaign. 
 
 Darkness shut down upon the scene almost before the 
 smoke had lifted through the misty air. A renewal of the 
 attack was apprehended, and the line was moved to the 
 left into a bow in the woods, where, upon corn-stalk beds, 
 the men got such sleep as the care of watching and the 
 dripping rain allowed. During the night all was still 
 except the groans and cries of the Confederate wounded 
 in the dark forest, who had to wait until daylight before 
 they could be moved. 
 
 In the morning, after waiting some hours for the attack 
 which did not come, pickets were thrown out, the dead 
 buried, the wounded sent to the field hospitals, and the 
 whole line was drawn back to the east side of the open 
 field, and a line of intrenchments thrown up in extension 
 of the right of the Fifth Corps and our Third Division. 
 Here some of the men learned that the other engineer 
 regiments, as at the " mine-scrape," had not been in the 
 battle, but were engaged in the duties of their detail. At 
 first this was exceedingly irritating to our officers, who felt 
 again accused of want of care of their men, and led to a 
 remonstrance being sent to headquarters; but the vexation 
 soon subsided when the other side of the question the 
 absolute need of every man of the division at the front 
 was considered. 
 
 On the twenty-first, the lines were completely intrenched, 
 the left of the Fifth Corps placed en echelon and the Ninth 
 
288 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Corps extended north-eastward towards Petersburg, where 
 connection was made with our fortified lines, now held by 
 the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps. The railroad track was 
 torn up, but prisoners said the Confederates would recover 
 the Weldon Railroad if it took every man they had. They 
 came around on the left of the Fifth Corps in the morning 
 of that day, and about noon, having posted their artillery 
 so as to enfilade our earthworks, they commenced pitching 
 over round shot in the most lively manner. The men of 
 the Third Division, to our left, were obliged to get over 
 on the outside of their intrenchments for cover. Had the 
 enemy thrown shell their bombardment would have been 
 murderous ; as it was, it proved a game of long bowling 
 in a style which was quite amusing to the regiment. The 
 shot would strike the ground once, usually, before reaching 
 us, then rebound, skim our line, or rebound again, before 
 or behind us, sometimes in the midst of us. One of the pecu 
 liarities was that the ball could be seen before it reached 
 us, its line of flight calculated with accuracy, and by step 
 ping forward or back the missile avoided, as one would a 
 wild base-ball or foot-ball. Some remarkable dodging was 
 done, and more than one roar of laughter rose at some 
 quick movement on the part of officer or man to escnpe 
 the cold iron. We had two or three hit and badly bruised. 
 The Confederates, having as they supposed sufficiently 
 shaken our line, charged upon the seemingly exposed left 
 flank of the Fifth Corps, got so far forward as to be them 
 selves flanked by the foremost lines, and were surrounded 
 and captured in large numbers, to the great satisfaction of 
 General Warren and his men, who, in the confusion of the 
 first occupancy of the place, had also lost prisoners. No 
 attack was made by infantry on our front; the Thirty-Fifth 
 was never attacked in line of battle behind earthworks 
 our luck always was to assault, not defend, them. We 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 289 
 
 built heavy traverses to meet a repetition of the cross 
 fire, should it be with shell instead of shot, but it never 
 came. 
 
 The Second Corps had gone further south to Ream s 
 Station, but was not so successful in holding the ground. 
 Tremendous uproar of battle came from that direction, 
 and we were several times drawn out to march to their 
 assistance, but the general hesitated to weaken the lines, 
 so it was a scene of pitching and repitching tents and 
 shifting about for a dav or two, all within a few hundred 
 
 O J 
 
 yards, in a thoroughly uncomfortable way. Lieutenant 
 Farrington commanded the regiment. A noteworthy event 
 of those days was the promotion of First Sergeant Nason 
 to the rank of first lieutenant, a most efficient addition to 
 our list of but three officers. The new lieutenant went on 
 duty at once upon the picket line. 
 
 As soon as our line of intrenchment was secured by 
 traverses and abatis, we received the usual orders to leave 
 it, August 27, and proceeded nearly a mile to the right, 
 where we relieved colored troops at the angle where Fort 
 Howard was subsequently constructed, at that time occu 
 pied by the Eleventh Massachusetts battery. The ground 
 was so moist that when the heel was pressed into it the 
 hole would fill with water : raised beds, therefore, became 
 the order of the day, with leafy bowers overhead. These 
 shelters extended along the works, with a road between for 
 the passage of troops. We now faced northward, having 
 so far environed the city ; the sounds of the siege guns 
 came from our front. It was a quiet spot; the pickets 
 lying in the woods in front were seldom disturbed ; but, as 
 our angle was an exposed point, early rising was required. 
 The men were roused out before daylight and formed in 
 the trenches, where, after inspection and drill, to awaken 
 the sleepy ones, arms were stacked until broad daylight. 
 
290 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 The system of detailing regiments for engineer duty was 
 discontinued about the first of September. 
 
 On the thirty-first of August Captain Ingell died of his 
 wound at the division field hospital. He was visited before 
 his death by several members of the regiment. His trusty 
 sword was taken down and laid by his side upon the bed, 
 to his manifest pleasure. The fatal bullet had so injured 
 his spine as to cause paralysis of the lower part of the 
 body, but his mind was as active, wit as bright, and smile 
 as ready as ever. His talk was of a return to wife and 
 home ; but there was a cast of sadness upon his face, an 
 appeal for sympathy in his eyes, which spoke the soul s 
 consciousness of his end, and cannot be recalled without 
 a tear. " The dear old boy " is the way in which the 
 members of the regiment speak of him. 
 
 Now a great change took place in the corps and in the 
 regiment. The regiments of the First Division had become 
 so reduced in numbers that the organization was broken 
 up, and the troops composing it were transferred to the 
 other divisions. The Thirty-Fifth was assigned to the 
 First Brigade General Curtin s of the Second Division 
 General Potter s composed of the Fifty-First New 
 York, Forty-Fifth and Forty-Eighth Pennsylvania, Fourth 
 and Seventh Rhode Island, and Twenty-First, Thirty-Fifth, 
 Thirty-Sixth and Fifty-Eighth Massachusetts regiments ; 
 an excellent body of troops, of which we were at once, 
 without our own fault, rendered unfit to form part. The 
 breaking up of the First Division returned to duty with 
 the regiment all the detached officers, whose presence was 
 now made indispensable by the arrival of three hundred 
 and eighty-five German and French substitutes. Captain 
 Hudson, now promoted to major, took command, and 
 the additional company officers were Captain Pope 
 returned from recruiting service Captains Meserve and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 291 
 
 Tobey, Lieutenant Wright and a new lieutenant, Mac 
 kenzie, who came with the recruits and could speak their 
 language. 
 
 The presence of so many of the officers encouraged the 
 men, but the inundation of foreigners was as objectionable 
 to them as Captain Ingell had stated in the letter quoted 
 at the beginning of this chapter ; they wrote home that 
 the Thirty-Fifth had "gone up," and to direct letters in 
 future to the " First Hamburghers." They had heard of 
 the Hessians hired by the British in the Revolution, but 
 had never anticipated being associated with them as rep 
 resentatives of Massachusetts valor. Not that the men 
 were not good fellows enough many of them were fine 
 fellows but they could not speak English. This prevented 
 communication except through an interpreter any little 
 difficulty could only be got over by long round-about expla 
 nations and translations, and the bother was a constant 
 one. It is very strange that the Government accepted 
 these men for service in an English-speaking regiment at 
 the front, in contravention of the paragraph of the army 
 regulations which requires in the recruit a competent 
 knowledge of English. 
 
 The recruits themselves were dissatisfied, claiming to 
 have been enlisted for manual labor and not as soldiers. 
 One of them wrote to Major Hudson, as follows, translated 
 from the German : " I am one of the people brought from 
 Germany upon some kind of deceitful agreement that we 
 should all have good wages, every man at his own business. 
 When we had arrived the police took us and kept us to 
 gether for soldiers, and they gave us one hundred dollars in 
 paper money, not worth thirty dollars in gold, and we hear 
 that we are all volunteers, and then we hear afterwards 
 
 that we are substitutes Is that what you call 
 
 an oath when a man in a white coat and straw hat talks 
 
292 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 some words of English which only one man Kiihler 
 understands?" etc. 
 
 The agreement referred to may be found in print in the 
 Government Diplomatic Correspondence, 1864, part 3, 
 page 191. The words "soldier" and " military service " 
 are studiously avoided, either to deceive the German Gov 
 ernment or the men who signed it. 
 
 On the other hand, Surgeon B. J. Jeffries, an officer of 
 high character, who spoke French and English, says : " I 
 acted as interpreter for the provost-marshal when the men 
 were sworn into the service both in French and English. 
 
 By conversation with the men I ascertained 
 
 that they came to be soldiers, although, as they told me 
 themselves, this could not of course be expressed in the 
 contract which they all signed before embarking from 
 Europe, for fear of international difficulty. The men 
 knew that they were making another contract with the 
 United States when they were sworn in, which was in no 
 way compulsory and not connected with the other." 
 
 Our lieutenant-colonel, William S. King, in a letter to 
 Governor Andrew, explanatory of the matter, writes : 
 "That in no case was compulsion used, nor could any 
 single person there doubt the purpose for which the papers 
 were submitted for their signatures. Our officers were in 
 uniform, the general conversation was of their destination, 
 the very camp at Galloup s Island to which they were to 
 be conveyed was in plain sight, and was shown to them, 
 dotted with its white tents and barracks, and upon the 
 departure of the first squad of about one hundred for 
 camp, the others, thinking that they had been rejected as 
 recruits, broke out into violent demonstrations of disap 
 pointment and anger, and were only appeased by assuV- 
 ances given them that they, too, would go to camp as soon 
 as the formalities of enlistment could be completed." 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 293 
 
 It was unavoidable that, upon the cessation of enlist 
 ments from patriotic motives, the usual mercenary induce 
 ments of trade should not be resorted to; the mistake was 
 in sending these men directly to the front, within a few 
 rods of the picket line, where they, at first, so far as abil 
 ity for service was concerned, were simply of the value of 
 a lot of dummies before whom their officers were tongue- 
 tied. They were distributed to companies by Major Hud 
 son, who was of a most friendly disposition towards them, 
 and did all he could to smooth over the difficulties of the 
 situation. The recruits, after some murmuring, accepted 
 the inevitable and endeavored, with good success, to catch 
 the words of command, and get acquainted with the man 
 ual of arms and some of the common battalion movements. 
 In the course of the month of September such progress 
 had been made in their education that an observer would 
 hardly have suspected that the men before him understood 
 no English but the brief orders as laid down in the tactics, 
 which had been drilled into their memories by constant 
 repetition. Our own officers and men knew the hollowness 
 of appearances, and hoped that our first battle with them 
 would be in line or behind breastworks, and not where 
 complicated manoeuvres might be required. As it fell 
 out, however, in the next action we got into the worst 
 possible situation for troops so difficult to handle in 
 an emergency. 
 
 In other respects the spirit of the regiment was excel 
 lent. The return of our officers, renewal of camp disci 
 pline, drills and parades, light picket duty, pleasant camp, 
 and the news of General Sherman s victory at Atlanta, all 
 combined to enliven and renew expectation of final success. 
 Quartermaster Cutter pitched his tent at the front with the 
 regiment, and rations and supplies were regular and suffi 
 cient. In the moonlight evenings the bands played, and 
 
294 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 our new men, of whom many were skilful singers, joined 
 in admirable choruses, which made the woods ring and 
 attracted much attention from the other regiments about 
 us. Our position had been changed a short distance to 
 the left when newly brigaded. The rough temporary 
 breastworks were torn down and a new and handsome 
 line built. There was an open space in front, an old field ; 
 beyond this the forest trees had been slashed or felled, 
 their tops falling outward, making an almost impenetrable 
 abatis; and beyond this, in the woods, lay our pickets, 
 within calling distance of our camp. Videttes would be 
 sent out occasionally through the forest to feel the enemy, 
 and the latter would try our line in the same way to ascer 
 tain if any change had o ccurred ; but this spying business, 
 though it occasioned alarms, never amounted to anything. 
 General Grant and staff rode along the front, returning 
 after a few hours, and were cheered uproarously ; the men 
 still retained perfect confidence in his success, although 
 the victory was so slow in coming. Daily brigade guard- 
 mountings took place in front of the intrenchments, and 
 our dress-parades were performed there ; but the space 
 was too limited for drills, which were generally held in the 
 open fields in rear of our woods, near army headquarters. 
 The first dress-parade since leaving Bealton was held on 
 the nineteenth of September, and General Potter reviewed 
 the brigade on the twenty-first of the month. 
 
 The increase in rank and file brought with it many pro 
 motions, mostly from among the old members : Sergeants 
 Patch, Bent, Worcester, J. N. Morse and Lloyd received 
 commissions as first lieutenants ; Sergeants Hardy, Calder, 
 Alfred Blanchard, Jr., Von Echstadt, Mackenzie, William 
 White, Riggs, Angier and Ireland received second lieu 
 tenancies. Of these Von Echstadt, a new man, never 
 joined, and Mackenzie, the interpreter, soon left. The 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 295 
 
 others were mustered as opportunity offered, some of them 
 not until after a winter spent in the Confederate prison at 
 Salisbury, North Carolina, and one, at least, on that ac 
 count was never mustered ; Sergeant Charles A. Merrill, 
 of Company H, was promoted to a first lieutenancy in the 
 Fourth Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. 
 
 We learned of the death, at his home, of Lieutenant 
 Austin J. White (commissioned captain before he died), of 
 the wound received at the Weldon Railroad. Mention 
 has already been made of his gallant deeds at Jackson, 
 Miss., and in the mine affair. His injury was not supposed 
 to be of a mortal nature, and the news of his death gave a 
 severe shock to his many friends in the regiment. This 
 had been a summer of costly sacrifices, and when we recall 
 the noble self-forgetfulness of men like Captain White we 
 cannot but wonder at the mystery of life, that such as he 
 should die and we yet live. 
 
 On Sunday, the twenty-fifth of September, another two- 
 handed movement was begun by General Grant. General 
 Butler marched out upon the right at Deep Bottom in 
 front of Richmond, and carried by assault a part of the 
 .Confederate line at Chapin s Bluff. We were to engage 
 in a similar movement to our left towards the Boydton 
 plank road; this time the Fifth Corps to be the pivot and 
 the Ninth Corps to swing around upon their left. At first 
 our division marched ostentatiously to the right several 
 miles, and went into camp for two days in the woods in 
 rear of Fort Sedgwick, not far from Hancock Station. 
 This was intended for a blind to make Lee suppose we 
 were concentrating in Butler s front. While waiting, the 
 companies were rearranged and took position, according to 
 rank of commanding officers, in battalion lines as follows : 
 right C, F, G, E, I, D, K, H, A, B left. Up to this 
 date Company B had been color company since we left 
 
296 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Lynnfield. Sergeant Thomas Castle continued to be the 
 bearer of the national color. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth we all moved back to the woods 
 near the Gurley House, behind the camp we had lately 
 occupied, and remained in bivouac concealed in the forest. 
 The weather was of that sombre gray aspect which portends 
 rain and October gales, and pretty well typified the rather 
 grave feeling of some of the old Thirty-Fifth at the pros 
 pect of going into action in the woods with the regiment 
 in such an unmanageable condition. Captain Sampson, 
 of the Twenty-First Massachusetts, was the choice spirit 
 of the occasion, and his ardent soul did much to relieve 
 the tedium of the slowly moving hours of waiting before 
 battle. 
 
 Towards noon of the thirtieth, after news had been 
 received of General Butler s success, the column was 
 formed, left in front, and marched westward, taking a 
 wood road, called Poplar Spring Church Road, to Peebles 
 Farm, a part of the Fifth Corps having preceded. As the 
 regiment was passing in the valley just before reaching the 
 farm, the enemy, who had constructed a redoubt, with one 
 gun commanding this road, fired a solid shot which raked 
 the whole length of the regiment, passing just over the 
 men, and causing a laughable bobbing of heads. That 
 was the gun s last shot, for, in a few moments afterward, 
 Griffin s and Ayres divisions of the Fifth Corps, which had 
 been drawn up fronting the Confederate works at the farm, 
 charged with ringing cheers across the open field and car 
 ried them in brilliant style, taking a number of prisoners 
 and the gun which had so narrowly missed us. 
 
 We were at once ordered forward at the double-quick, 
 and, coming out into the fields and fronting, followed the 
 other lines of battle across the open and up to the cap 
 tured works, which were quite strong, especially the redoubt, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 297 
 
 which had a deep ditch. Thereupon ensued an hour or 
 so of what seemed to us unaccountable delay. The only 
 Confederates in that vicinity had been captured or had fled 
 towards Petersburg, and, to all appearances, a quick dash 
 forward at once would place us upon the Boydton Road. 
 What seemed hesitation to us was probably the time occu 
 pied in moving the Fifth Corps into line, connecting their 
 right with the works at the Weldon Railroad, and placing 
 on the left of that corps the two divisions of our corps. 
 As it was the intention to place our regiment upon the 
 extreme left of this extended line, we were, of course, the 
 last to be brought into position, hence the long waiting 
 until late in the afternoon. 
 
 At last we were ordered forward and marched north 
 westward, across the Church Road to the Pegram House 
 then standing near the spot where Fort Welch was 
 afterwards built and alorig a ridge of the cornfield, 
 beyond the house, towards the Boydton Road. It was 
 very quiet excepting a few solid shot or shell which, 
 coming from the direction of Petersburg, whizzed over 
 head or struck in the pine woods on our right, which now 
 concealed everything cityward. On this ridge the regiment 
 was faced north, and Major Hudson skirmishing in front 
 led on down to the high rail fence, separating the field we 
 were in from the woods. Jumping the fence and finding 
 no enemy there the major ordered the regiment over to 
 the north side, also, and up to the northerly edge of the 
 grove overlooking open ground towards Petersburg, and 
 in plain view of the Confederate lines covering the Boyd 
 ton Road near the B. H. Jones House. This movement 
 was effected slowly but in good order, and the men lay 
 down in line pending further action, a few bullets from a 
 line of the enemy in front chicking in the tree tops. 
 
 An aide came riding from the right, the direction of the 
 
298 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Church Road and the rest of our division, and directed 
 the major to throw forward the right of the regiment by a 
 half wheel probably to conform to some general line 
 which was done, an unfortunate move as it happened, and 
 the men lay down again. The adjutant asked the staff 
 officer what there was upon our immediate right, and got 
 for a reply, " Nothing but a few pickets." We knew there 
 was nothing but skirmishers upon our left. It seemed a 
 queer position to be in, thus cast loose at night-fall upon 
 the extreme left of the army. 
 
 While we were thus situated and quietly watching a line 
 of battle approaching in front, upon whom we expected 
 immediate orders to charge or open fire, a battalion, said 
 to be bounty jumpers, came up behind us, appearing to be 
 forming, when suddenly they left for the rear with a haste 
 truly amazing what could it mean? In a moment the 
 mystery was explained, a column of Confederates charged 
 upon our right-rear from the direction of the Church Road, 
 coming upon us through the underbrush before we discov 
 ered their approach. It would have been impossible to 
 devise a worse plight for our regiment as then constituted. 
 It was worse than the surprise at South Mountain, for then 
 the attack was in front and we could at least understand 
 orders. For change of direction there was no time. 
 Defence was out of the question ; we should have shot our 
 own men. In front was the line we had been watching, 
 on our right and rear were the new enemies, already seiz 
 ing men from the right companies as they broke towards 
 the left. The only thing to do was to collar our recruits, 
 shout "Git!" in the best German at our command, as 
 Captain Ingell would have done, and then takes ourselves 
 off over the fence to the left into a field of sorghum, many 
 of the men, however, getting in a shot before crossing the 
 fence, which hindered the enemy a little, their foremost 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 299 
 
 men also stopping to gather in those of our regiment who 
 still clung to earth too much surprised to rise. 
 
 Crossing the fence, the little Twenty-First battalion, 
 under Captain Sampson, deployed as skirmishers, covered 
 our flight of a few rods to the ridge in the open field, 
 spoken of above, situated west of the Pegram House. 
 Here Sergeant Thomas Castle took position with the 
 colors, and the men began to rally in a good position for 
 defence, except that it was open to the left. Our recruits 
 were full of fight, and some of them began firing recklessly 
 from behind the ridge through our forming line, one shot 
 killing First Sergeant Young, of Company E, a noble 
 fellow. This back fire discouraged the formation, and now, 
 to our surprise for we had hitherto supposed that the 
 surround affected only our regiment on looking to the 
 right we saw the whole of our brigade coming rapidly to 
 the rear in line of battle, they also having been outflanked. 
 This gave the impression of a worse state of affairs than 
 we had supposed ; it also left our position again unsup 
 ported upon the flanks, and " Fall back ! " was again the 
 word, this time with the expectation of resting our left 
 upon the Confederate line of works and redoubt captured 
 in the early afternoon. 
 
 In effecting this second movement to the rear, as it was 
 now twilight, great confusion resulted. A part of the regi 
 ment under Lieutenant Patch succeeded in getting in with 
 the left v flank of the brigade, and did some service there. 
 Another part was with Captain Pope and the regimental 
 colors. The major, adjutant and several other officers 
 and another part of the regiment got lost in the darkness 
 and strange locality, and went wandering to the westward, 
 where they came upon a Confederate line of intrenchments 
 newly dug. The major sprang over them, revolver in hand, 
 but they were entirely vacant, their men having been drawn 
 
300 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 to their left. By taking a direction at right angles to these 
 works, this part of the regiment also succeeded in getting 
 into our left, where our cavalry was posted, and reached 
 Poplar Spring Church, from whence they rejoined the other 
 men in the morning. When the whole left had been swung 
 back some distance, the Confederate assailants struck the 
 angle of Wilcox s division and the Fifth Corps, who were 
 securely established, and were repulsed with heavy loss. 
 
 On October i the division was in position behind the 
 intrenchments near the redoubt above mentioned, and 
 here the regiment was assembled about daylight. To say 
 that there was a general feeling of shame and disgust over 
 the events of the night before would weakly characterize 
 the expressions used. And yet it was hard to see what 
 else could have happened under the circumstances. If we 
 had never crossed the rail fence, but had remained in line 
 upon it, we should have been fronted just right to open 
 upon the enemy, who had surrounded us in our advanced 
 position, and we could then have done as good service as 
 at the Weldon Railroad ; but even then, the line of the 
 brigade retiring would have left us with flanks exposed 
 and subject to capture in toto, very much as the Fifty- 
 Eighth was, which delayed too long to retreat. 
 
 The casualties in the regiment were killed or died of 
 wounds, ten : Sergeant W. B. D. Andrews and Francis 
 Gentsch, of Company A ; John Vandervende, of Company 
 B ; Sergeant William C. Oakman, of Company C ; Michael 
 Neil, of Company D; Sergeant George I. Young and Nich 
 olas Schnecker, of Company E ; Corporal Charles A. 
 Crocker, of Company H ; Corporal William C. Stimpson, 
 Jr., and Frederick Metzger, of Company I. Lieutenant 
 John W. Fiske, formerly our color bearer, promoted to 
 the Fifty-Eighth Massachusetts, was among the killed. 
 About fifteen were known to be wounded ; among them, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS, 301 
 
 First Lieutenants Farrington and John N. Morse, and 
 Second Lieutenant Angier ; but among the one hundred 
 and sixty-three who were missing, some never afterwards 
 heard from were supposed to be among the dead. Among 
 the captured were Lieutenants Alfred Blanchard, Jr., then 
 orderly sergeant, and Alfred Ireland. Of the prisoners 
 Lieutenant Blanchard reports that there were in the pen 
 at Salisbury, North Carolina, in February following, one 
 hundred and twenty men belonging to the Thirty-Fifth. 
 Some of the recruits took the oath to serve the Con 
 federacy, but most did not, remaining true to the stars 
 and stripes, in spite of their first dissatisfaction and the 
 sufferings of prison life. 
 
 There were several amusing incidents ; indeed the whole 
 affair after it was over was a laughable one, we were so 
 completely surprised and skedaddled. Captain Tobey, 
 who was a short, thick set, pugilist of a man, was calmly 
 surveying the front, when he was grabbed from behind by 
 two Confederates ; taking in the situation at a glance he 
 threw up both arms with such force as to clear the grip 
 of his captors, then, ducking his head, he bolted for the 
 nearest cover, and escaped into our lines, much to the 
 merriment of his boon companions. 
 
 Lieutenant Farrington, regimental commander after the 
 Weldon Railroad battle, received a very dangerous wound, 
 the bone of the left upper arm being broken by a bullet. 
 Lying in the woods after our men had left, the victors 
 insisted upon his joining the squad of prisoners for Peters 
 burg; he refused, feeling unable to move, and informed 
 them that if they wanted him in Petersburg they must 
 carry him. He was left for awhile, and recovering some 
 strength got off unobserved in the darkness and reached 
 our pickets. His arm was successfully treated in the 
 hospital at City Point, the bone being resected. 
 
302 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Captain Sampson, of the Twenty-First Massachusetts, 
 planted his flag on the ridge and rallying his men, who 
 showed the same heroic spirit as upon many another field, 
 hung to the spot until he fell. He was entitled to his dis 
 charge, but had remained with his battalion to lead them 
 in one more action. The honor of the old Twenty-First 
 was worthily sustained by him that day. The earthwork 
 next on the left of Fort Welch was named, after him, 
 Fort Sampson. 
 
 The first of October was drizzling and dull, and there was 
 nothing to do but to sit about in the dripping rain waiting 
 for something to turn up, and discussing the particulars of 
 the battle and where the fault lay, a by no means cheerful 
 amusement. It was said afterwards by Major Hudson, 
 who was well informed, to have miscarried through the 
 oversight of some general officer j but, of course, the 
 unwieldiness of our regiment made the mischance worse 
 than it should have been to us. 
 
 That night another saddening event happened. Sergeant 
 McCulloch, of Company C, chief of pioneers, was killed 
 by a falling tree, which struck him while sitting upon a 
 log superintending the slashing of the forest along the 
 front. A grave was dug upon the ground which the regi 
 ment occupied and his remains were laid away, while a 
 group of sorrowing comrades assisted in the interment. 
 
 Next day (October 2) the sun came out, and a recon- 
 noisance in force was made by a part of the Second Corps, 
 while the Ninth Corps moved up into position in line with 
 the Pegram House (position of Fort Welch) and threw up 
 intrenchments, which continued to be the line of the army 
 until the end of the siege. There was no interruption 
 except a few shells thrown with remarkable accuracy by 
 the Confederates from our left and enfilading the line, 
 killing or wounding some in the Thirty-Sixth Massachusetts 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 303 
 
 on our left, and wounding several of our men. Pickets 
 under Captain Meserve occupied nearly the ground of our 
 furthest advance on the thirtieth, and recovered most of 
 the dead, whose bodies had been stripped ; the needs of 
 the Confederates requiring the clothing, but not requiring 
 the mangling and ill usage which some of the bodies had 
 received, as if stabbed or bayonetted in mere wantonness 
 of hatred. 
 
 The enemy s pickets called out to send over to them 
 the rest of the Fifty-Eighth Massachusetts ; as they had 
 most of that regiment, they would like to have the spec 
 imen complete. Also, referring to the Thirty-Fifth, they 
 said, " We have caught some real live Yankees this time, 
 they can t speak a word of English ! " The picket posts 
 of the opposing armies were close together here, but by 
 agreement no firing was permitted without previous warn 
 ing, so that the conversation on the lines was quite social, 
 and so much trading was begun that stringent orders had 
 to be passed to stop it. Captain Burrage, of the Thirty- 
 Sixth, went out for a Richmond newspaper, and the Con 
 federate officer craftily claimed that he had advanced too 
 far within their posts, and retained him a prisoner, much 
 to his chagrin. 
 
 The memories connected with this camp are mostly of 
 a pleasant character. The intrenchments were strength 
 ened and forts built ; a strong redoubt, called Fort Fisher, 
 was constructed on the right of our regimental line, which 
 rested on the Church Road ; another, larger one, called 
 Fort Welch, was made on the left where the Pegram 
 House had stood. The batteries of the enemy on the 
 Boydton Road, which enfiladed our line, occasionally sent 
 us a few compliments, which necessitated building trav 
 erses, but did us no harm. The trees about camp were 
 full of bullets, the relics of the storm of lead on the thir- 
 
304 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 tieth, and a number of the slain were buried with a very 
 light covering of earth upon the ground of our camp. As 
 decomposition proceeded, more earth was needed, and 
 beside one grave there was a shovel placed, to add from 
 time to time additional loam to the expanding heap. 
 These bodies were removed as soon as the weather per 
 mitted to the corps cemetery, and properly interred, not 
 however without incident. The arm of one of the bodies, 
 carried upon a stretcher, slipped off, and swung with each 
 movement of the bearers as if desirous of shaking hands ; 
 one of the recruits seized it to replace it, when the limb 
 separated from the body and remained in his grasp, much 
 to his horror, for he was very superstitious. 
 
 Dr. Carr, our new assistant surgeon, joined on the 
 seventh of October, and proved an excellent doctor and 
 pleasant companion. On the eighth, to the great delight 
 of the old members, Colonel Carruth arrived in camp, but 
 did not take command, having duties on court martial. 
 He had for some months contemplated resigning on 
 account of ill health, but was persuaded out of it by his 
 friends in the regiment, who, remembering his zealous 
 ways, thought his name alone at the head of the Thirty- 
 Fifth would be stronger than the presence of any other 
 officer. Drills and instruction were resumed under the 
 vigorous direction of Major Hudson, and great improve 
 ment was soon apparent in the recruits in their knowledge 
 of our language and ways, and in soldierly duties ; a lively 
 scrimmage consolidated most of them with the regiment 
 in feeling and interest. 
 
 On the fourteenth of October occurred the first military 
 execution witnessed by the regiment. The efforts of the 
 peace party and the mercantile prosperity, caused and 
 maintained largely by the extravagant expenditure of the 
 Government, had almost put an end to recruiting, Boun- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 305 
 
 ties of one thousand dollars and upwards the estimated 
 value of life to the common man were paid to men to 
 enlist, who then had at least an even chance of escaping 
 service at the front by getting into hospital or slipping off 
 on their way from the recruiting stations. If they reached 
 the front, the worst of them did as little duty as possible 
 and deserted to the enemy when able. These men were 
 called bounty-jumpers. The Government determined to 
 stop the desertion, and if any were caught of those who 
 went over to the enemy they were shot or hung, according 
 to sentence, without reprieve. The scene of a military 
 execution has been often described, but to witness one is 
 always impressive. In this instance the division was 
 drawn up to form three sides of a square ; the condemned 
 man marched into the enclosure, preceded by the band 
 playing the woful miserere, and followed by the firing party 
 
 a squad of men from the provost-guard. The plain 
 pine-board coffin was laid upon the ground and the culprit 
 seated upon its end, while the officer of the provost read 
 the warrant of execution. The prisoner was then blind 
 folded, that his pleading eyes might not disturb the aim of 
 his executioners ; the officer, by motion of his hands, not 
 by words, gave the commands, " Ready ! Aim ! Fire ! " a 
 burst of flame followed from the muzzles of the rifles, and 
 the victim fell back with a heavy thud upon the hollow 
 box prepared for his burial ; the smoke was wafted away 
 
 he was a moment before alive, in the vigor of health, 
 now he was dead! the surgeon walked to his side and 
 examined the lifeless clay. This affair was conducted 
 with such order and solemnity as to prove very affecting. 
 The prisoner was at least as calm as the spectators, for he 
 leaned down to pick up a straw while the warrant was being 
 read. It is a rule that the musket of one of the firing 
 party shall be loaded with a blank cartridge, so that no 
 
306 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 one can be certain that he fired a fatal shot ; but all are 
 bidden, sometimes by the condemned himself, to aim with 
 care that the man may be killed at once. Such executions 
 were quite common in the army during the winter of 1864- 
 1865. In this connection we may add that no one of the 
 original members of the Thirty-Fifth is known to have 
 deserted to the enemy. The men who are reported in the 
 roster as deserters were generally, in the first case, strag 
 glers who were ashamed to rejoin, and then tempted to stay 
 away permanently ; and no one of them, if returned, was 
 ever punished by more than the ordinary camp discipline of 
 tying-up, or extra police duty, or some disgrace of that kind. 
 
 At this camp, the Thirty-Ninth New Jersey and One 
 Hundred and Seventy-Ninth New York joined the brigade. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth, another left flank move was com 
 menced, this time the Ninth Corps to be the pivot and 
 the Second and Fifth Corps to swing out to Hatcher s 
 Run, and the regiment was under orders over the twenty- 
 sixth. On the twenty-seventh the march began, Colonel 
 Carruth in command of the regiment. The division moved 
 out several miles to Wells s Farm, threw up a line of works, 
 which, of course, was not attacked, and remained over 
 night. There was some skirmishing, and a very heavy 
 and, at the time, unaccountable musketry fire was kept up 
 a little way to our left. This was explained afterwards by 
 a statement that the swinging corps had become so much 
 confused in the thick woods and swamps as to have lost 
 all points of direction, and this din of arms was ordered 
 to give them the direction of the point as a guide. Next 
 day the troops all came back to their old camps, having 
 found the enemy very strongly posted, and General Grant 
 not wishing to do anything which by any exaggeration of 
 the newspapers could be made to appear like a defeat of 
 our armies just before election. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 307 
 
 For now the great crisis was at hand, the November 
 election of 1864, which was to decide whether the people 
 of the North were so tired of the war as to be willing to 
 give the Government to the peace party, for the sake of an 
 end on any terms, or whether, now, with Sherman s and 
 Sheridan s victories and Grant s masterly supervision, the 
 end of the long sacrifice was to be won in one final effort 
 of all the moral and physical forces of the Union. None 
 of the Massachusetts soldiers voted, many from the other 
 states did, and the result was throughout country and army 
 one tremendous verdict in favor of the continuance of the 
 war, cost what it might. 
 
 As soon as this decision was announced in the Confed 
 erate army in our front, desertions from it to us and to 
 their rear commenced, and increased in numbers as the 
 winter progressed, and the result became plainly inevitable. 
 Those who came into our lines announced that the result 
 of the election had furthered the work of disheartening 
 their army, and that only the most insensible fire-eaters 
 had now any expectation of final success but many of 
 Lee s army would stick to the ranks from love of him, in 
 stubborn determination to abide the end. We therefore 
 looked for severe and sanguinary fighting yet to come ; 
 another campaign with perhaps long marches into the 
 interior in pursuit of the concentrated armies of the 
 Confederacy. 
 
 The other event in November was Thanksgiving, which 
 was appointed for the twenty-fourth, but the turkey feast 
 was celebrated by us on the twenty-sixth, because the 
 express boxes were two days behind time. On the twenty- 
 fifth, a lot of apples, onions and cooked turkeys, sent by 
 kind friends in New York, was received and issued to the 
 men; and on the twenty-sixth, besides the many boxes for 
 individuals, there came an ample gift from Boston mer- 
 
308 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 chants, especially to our recruits, of apples, bolognas, pies 
 and cooked turkeys, so that for once every man in the reg 
 iment had plenty of good things to eat. The pies had 
 been neatly packed in casks, but by rough handling they 
 had become broken into pieces, and, when opened, were a 
 mass of crumbs, which, nevertheless, retained the honest 
 pie flavor, and were scooped up and measured out by the 
 dipper full, a way of eating pie which caused a good deal 
 of fun among the men. Here we were with an excellent 
 dinner spread, where, by leaning the head to one side, the 
 Confederate pickets could be seen and almost spoken to j 
 and yet we ate this feast in peace and quietness, and with 
 thankful hearts, and not a few reminiscences of our last 
 two celebrations of the day, at Falmouth and while besieged 
 in Knoxville, and with heartily cheered toasts and proph 
 ecies that our next year s feast would be kept with our 
 dear ones at home. 
 
 Quartermaster Cutter had again returned to the regi 
 ment for the winter, and tented with Assistant Surgeon 
 Carr. We gained Captain Mirick from detached service, 
 but lost Captain Meserve, who received the commission of 
 major in Colonel King s new regiment, the Fourth Massa 
 chusetts Heavy Artillery. We doubt if the major found 
 the promotion adequate compensation for the loss of sev 
 eral months of companionship with his old chums and 
 comrades in the Thirty-Fifth, at any rate they sadly missed 
 him. News of Captain Blanchard s discharge reached 
 camp, his wound received at the mine proved so disabling 
 as to compel his retirement from active service, and finally 
 led him gently down to the grave. May the gallant captain 
 rest in peace ! The Thirty-Fifth was his pride, and he 
 spurned with indignation anything but the severest duty 
 for the regiment. 
 
 We had occasional alarms, but nothing resulted except 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 309 
 
 watchfulness. We had now been away from the imme 
 diate front of Petersburg over three months, and the other 
 corps, who had held our old intrenchments and endured 
 the pounding these long weeks, began to think it was time 
 for them to have a respite. So, on the twenty-ninth of 
 November, we left this pleasant camp on the extreme left, 
 which we had such an unfortunate experience in acquiring, 
 and, being relieved by the Second Corps, marched again 
 to the right to the Jones House and Hancock s Station, in 
 rear of Fort Sedgwick. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 WINTER QUARTERS, 1864-65 "FORT HELL." 
 
 THE Ninth Corps was now posted in the intrenchments 
 and forts along a line of about seven miles, from 
 Fort McGilvery on the Appomattox around to Fort How 
 ard the redoubt built at the angle of the works we had 
 occupied in August, after the battles upon the Weldon 
 Railroad. The First Division, under General Wilcox, was 
 stationed nearest the Appomattox ; our division, General 
 Potter s, extended from Fort Meikle, next south of Fort 
 Morton, to the left, including Forts Rice, Sedgwick, Davis, 
 etc. Fort Sedgwick was garrisoned by the Seventh Rhode 
 Island and Forty-Eighth Pennsylvania regiments, with bat 
 teries. The military railroad, which had been constructed 
 while we were at the left of the army, extended along the 
 whole rear of this line. The Fourth Division (colored 
 troops) had been transferred to the Twenty-Fifth Corps; 
 their presence with us, while it added little to our strength 
 so unwilling were our generals to trust in them had, 
 owing to the prejudice of color, affected the standing of 
 the corps, and thereby injured its esprit. In place of 
 them we now had a new Third Division, composed of six 
 Pennsylvania regiments, numbered Two Hundredth, Two 
 Hundred and Fifth, Two Hundred and Seventh, Two 
 Hundred and Eighth, Two Hundred and Ninth and Two 
 Hundred and Eleventh, which were encamped along the 
 railroad and proved to be composed of good soldiers. 
 
311 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT 
 
 West of the railroad and the Jones House there was a 
 tract of low, swampy land, covered with pine forest. The 
 camp of the Thirty-Fifth was located on the west of this 
 swamp, upon the open upland, from which the forest had 
 been stripped, leaving the stumps everywhere prominent, 
 and about four hundred yards in rear of Fort Sedgwick. 
 
 It was announced that we should probably remain upon 
 this spot all winter ; and, after a few days study of the 
 locality, a regular camp was laid out, in company streets, 
 with regimental headquarters and officers tents upon the 
 left, on account of the wet land in rear. The color line 
 was the highest ground, from which the land fell off gently 
 to the rear, making a good drainage. Pitch-pine logs were 
 abundant for the cutting, and the men were skilful in 
 handling the axes ; accordingly hut building was indus 
 triously pursued, with a resulting success never equalled 
 by the regiment. Colonel Carruth superintended the con 
 struction. Each hut was made long enough for what was 
 called a double-tent roof, formed of four pieces of shelter 
 tent, about eleven feet long and six feet wide, the sides 
 high enough for a gun to stand upright under the eaves. 
 Chimneys of sticks, mud and barrels were placed at the 
 ends, and beds, shelving, flooring and such conveniences 
 added within, according to the ingenuity of the occupants. 
 In a short time the men were sheltered more comfortably 
 than ever before in the service ; they took great pride in 
 policing the grounds, and the camp was pronounced by 
 the medical inspector to be the best on the line. 
 
 From our color line to the front extended the open 
 stumpage land, which served as a place of deposit for 
 Confederate projectiles, mortar shells and spent bullets 
 in great numbers. Beyond this plain was a ravine, from 
 which the land rose to our main line of breastworks, sup 
 ported by Fort Sedgwick, called "Fort Hell," on the left, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 312 
 
 and Fort Rice some distance to the right. From the left 
 of Fort Sedgwick our lines fell back to Fort Davis, which 
 was some ways off and about on a line with our camp. In 
 front of our intrenchments were planted obstructions of all 
 kinds, abatis of limbs of trees, pikes pointing outward and 
 chevaux defrise. Beyond these was our picket line, a low 
 earthwork, with rifle pits at intervals, raised higher, and, 
 in some instances, strengthened with gabions and head 
 logs with loop holes. Some three hundred yards off was 
 the Confederate picket line, behind that their main line, 
 supported by forts the one opposite us called Fort 
 Mahone, or " Damnation " by the soldiers ; they also had 
 an interior line of great strength. Right and left the lines 
 extended in the same manner, except that to the right the 
 opposing lines gradually came close together, while to the 
 left the space between widened out rapidly. Half way 
 between Forts Sedgwick and Rice was a mortar battery, 
 under command of Lieutenant Loomis, of the First Con 
 necticut Heavy Artillery, an officer of remarkable nerve 
 and contempt of danger. 
 
 The duty of the regiment was light simply to be ready 
 at all times, night or day, to rush to the breastworks con 
 necting the forts, in case of an attack, and to furnish a 
 daily detail of officers and men for the picket line and an 
 alarm guard on the breastworks. The length of our brigade 
 picket line in December was about fifteen hundred and 
 eighty-one paces, with eighty-five posts, guarded by from 
 four to eight commissioned officers and three hundred and 
 thirty-three men ; the lines were shifted and posts changed 
 from time to time, also the number of men. There was 
 no firing of musketry during the day, and horizontal artil 
 lery fire was so infrequent as to be always noticeable ; but 
 there was a constant fusillade of small arms at night and 
 duels of the noisiest kind in the daytime between the 
 
313 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 mortar batteries called the perpendicular fire which 
 threw nine-inch shells, sometimes even into the swamp 
 behind our camp ; generally, however, they exploded in 
 the air over our forts, or scattered their fragments in 
 front of our color line, but with all their noise and terrific 
 appearance seldom injured anybody. The weather during 
 the winter was changeable cold snaps, with snow and 
 hail and all the discomforts of a Northern winter, alter 
 nated with intervals of mild, sunny days, when it was a 
 delight to be abroad. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel King having been promoted to a 
 colonelcy, as before mentioned, Mr. Burr Porter, a stranger 
 to the regiment, was named for the vacancy by Governor 
 Andrew over Major Hudson, who had earned the promo 
 tion. A remonstrance was made against this slight to the 
 major, and the matter was arranged by the appointment 
 of Mr. Porter to a cavalry regiment, and Major Hudson 
 became lieutenant-colonel in January. 
 
 The events during the winter were not very exciting, but 
 were sufficient to constantly stimulate expectation of an 
 early breaking up of the Confederacy. On the eighth of 
 December cautionary orders were received to be ready to 
 move at any moment ; they were repeated on the ninth, 
 and the men were directed to sleep with equipments on. 
 The occasion of this excitement was that the Fifth Corps 
 and a division of the Second Corps had gone on a raid 
 due south to the North Carolina state line to destroy the 
 railroad, and a counter move was looked for from the 
 Confederates upon our lines weakened by the absence of 
 those troops. 
 
 On the tenth, a double execution, by hanging, of two 
 deserters took place in the fields near Hancock Station, 
 at which the division was required to be present. The 
 effect upon the men was less impressive than death by 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 314 
 
 shooting ; the incidents of a hanging scene are more vile 
 and less blood curdling. One of the spectators, who had 
 probably been at work fixing up some officers accounts, 
 wanted to know whether the ropes and slip-nooses would 
 be charged to the condemned men s camp and garrison 
 equipage accounts ! 
 
 With this grim event for the morning s entertainment, 
 at four in the afternoon a provisional division, composed 
 of troops not in the forts, was massed at the Jones House, 
 and started south, at dark, down the Jerusalem plank road 
 to Nottaway River, some twenty miles, marching all night 
 in mud ankle deep, the footing made worse by the broken 
 remnants of the planks of which the road had been con 
 structed. The purpose of the expedition was to discover 
 the whereabouts of the Fifth Corps, which had been off 
 on the raid above mentioned for several days, and, if 
 needed, to give assistance. 
 
 In the morning, reaching the Nottaway, the raiders were 
 found to be all right and coming back in high spirits, after 
 destroying the railroad and trying their hands a little at 
 foraging, of which they had read so much in connection 
 with Sherman s marches, but had so little in their own 
 experience of late. After a rest from nine until afternoon, 
 our presence being superfluous, while our absence from the 
 Petersburg line might be discovered, we started back, 
 footsore and weary, but braced up by a change to cold 
 freezing weather, and made the return trip in seven hours, 
 over roads now stiff and extremely rough for night march 
 ing. The return journey was the hardest of the year, and 
 will long be remembered by those whose foot gear gave 
 out, and who found themselves obliged to hop along with 
 feet exposed to the frozen ground. We had lain so long in 
 camp that our walking powers had suffered, and next morn 
 ing found us as stiff and sore a lot of heroes as was ever 
 
315 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 collected within our cognizance. The colonel had thought 
 fully sent forward to camp and ordered hot coffee prepared, 
 which was issued immediately upon arrival, and did much, 
 aided by the comfortable quarters, to banish the fatigues 
 of a winter march of nearly forty miles in twenty-four 
 hours. The orders to be in readiness were renewed, but 
 the Confederates respected our condition and allowed the 
 weary to rest undisturbed. 
 
 On the sixteenth there was a tremendous bombardment, 
 and some one hundred bomb shells burst in front of our 
 camp. This was followed on the seventeenth by good 
 news from General Sherman. 
 
 Bullets came over at night from the picket line, and 
 could be heard "chicking" in the trees, but seldom hurt 
 ing any one. Folsom, of Company I, whose name it was 
 always quite safe to place on the list of wounded before 
 the roll was called after an action, was struck in his tent 
 by a spent ball, for the fifth time on as many separate 
 occasions. His record was equalled by Sergeant Haskell, 
 of Company C, who, in March following, was wounded for 
 the sixth time. It was a mystery that while some men 
 seemed invulnerable through every exposure, others could 
 never come under fire but they were found by some kind 
 of missile at once ; the men used to remark of such unfor 
 tunates that the bullets did not know them ; absentees 
 returning to the regiment were apt to be treated in this 
 unfriendly way by the leaden messengers. An officer 
 writing in his tent at evening was startled by the sharp 
 " thud ! " of a bullet in the logs of his hovel, " Come in ; 
 don t stop to knock ! " said he, and went on with his work. 
 He was, we believe, the one who entered in his diary, 
 " Captain and I spend our evenings studying rhetoric (!) 
 and playing checkers, then I read a sermon, after which 
 we turn in." 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 316 
 
 The old regimental flags having become worn to rags 
 and tatters, a requisition was made upon the quarter 
 master s department for a new stand, and upon the twen 
 tieth of December a handsome national flag and a blue 
 regimental color were received and planted for exhibition 
 upon the color line, where they were much admired for 
 brilliancy of dye. The old as well as these new colors 
 were afterwards marked with inscriptions and the names 
 of battles in which the Thirty-Fifth had taken part, and are 
 deposited in the Doric Hall of the State House in Boston, 
 with the flags of the other Massachusetts regiments. 
 
 Our sutler, Mr. Williams, who had been with us a part 
 of the summer and at the camp near Poplar Spring Church, 
 made a change of business, and was succeeded by Mr. A. 
 G. Merrill, a native of Maine, who proved an excellent 
 caterer, and remained with the regiment until the end of 
 its term of service. 
 
 Desertions from the enemy were constant. On the 
 twenty-first six men came over from the Forty-Fifth or 
 Forty-Sixth Virginia, saying that they had been conscripted 
 and forced into the ranks, and that their whole company 
 would follow them in a few days. One declared that the 
 end of the war was very near; he hoped that we would 
 "hang Jeff Davis, but let Bob Lee off, for he was a good 
 fellow " ; there were other expressions which showed a 
 feeling of deep hatred in the Confederate rank and file 
 towards their President. They spoke of their short rations 
 a small piece of bacon and a corn pone, each, for the 
 twenty-four hours. Afterwards we saw strewed about their 
 winter quarters English preserved meat cans, showing that 
 in part their subsistence came through the blockade. These 
 deserters devoured the crackers, coffee and sutler s stores 
 which were offered them with the appetite of half-famished 
 men, which we, with our last winter s experience in East 
 
317 HISTORV OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Tennessee, could fully appreciate. To get across to us 
 they would take advantage of darkness and stormy nights, 
 and run the risk of being shot by their own men, as well 
 as by our pickets, but none were known to have been 
 killed between the lines ; comrades probably fired high in 
 such cases, and were even known to cheer and wave their 
 hats when some conspicuously bold escape by daylight 
 was successfully effected. 
 
 Watching through a field glass the movements among 
 the Confederate pickets or within their interior lines, their 
 artillery drill, effect of our shots, etc., was an amusement 
 of our idle hours during the winter. They seemed to be 
 busied most of the time with carrying and splitting wood 
 for their fires, or sitting over the smoking embers in a 
 rather disconsolate way, suggestive of anything but a 
 brilliant future for their cause ; the meditations of those 
 hours, if recorded, must now be interesting reading. 
 
 Among our men, on the contrary, the prospect for the 
 future continually brightened ; the desertions were ocular 
 proof of the failing Confederacy ; to these were added, on 
 the twenty-fourth, news of Sherman s capture of Savan 
 nah, and, in January, of General Thomas s victory at 
 Nashville and the storming of the forts at Wilmington; 
 in February, the fall of Charleston and Columbia, and 
 Sherman s progress northward ; the thermometer of hope 
 rose steadily. With finger upon the heart at Richmond, 
 we seemed to feel the ebbing of the pulse as thus the 
 limbs were successively lopped off. There were occasional 
 events, however, near us, which prevented this feeling 
 that the war was over making too rapid progress, and 
 indicated a bitterly hostile spirit still alive in some, at 
 least, of our opponents. It was our custom to relieve the 
 pickets in the afternoon, that the men might be fresh and 
 alert during the night, and that the Confederates might 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 318 
 
 see by daylight that the movement in our lines was simply 
 the relief. On the twenty-seventh of December some 
 black-hearted artillery man in their main line treacherously 
 fired two spherical-case shells at our returning picket detail, 
 one only of which took effect, killing Corporal Charles W. 
 Oilman, of Company C an excellent man and wound 
 ing three others, two of Company C and one of Company 
 E the latter, Henry Lenkorf, died of his wounds soon 
 after in the field hospital. This act was loudly condemned 
 on both sides as a breach of the tacit agreement not to 
 fire during the day, but the author of the deed would 
 probably reply that the understanding had reference only 
 to the pickets, and not to the artillery and mortars, which 
 opened whenever they saw game worth the powder. 
 
 The eventful year (1864) closed cold and blustering, and 
 New Year s Day opened revealing the country white with 
 a light fall of snow, which, however, was gone before night. 
 
 Colonel Carruth was absent at brigade headquarters in 
 command of the brigade, from time to time, during the 
 winter, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hudson commanded the 
 regiment on such occasions. Captain Mirick had returned 
 from detached service the last of October, and upon the 
 third of January was detailed acting assistant inspector- 
 general of the Third Brigade of the First Division, com 
 posed of many of the regiments which had constituted our 
 old First Division. Our commissary, William H. P. Plum- 
 mer, had continued along with the same troops as brigade 
 commissary since the breaking up of the division. Sergeant 
 William P. Rice and Samuel Pray did commissary duty 
 with the regiment. On the fourth of January First Lieu 
 tenant Nason was mustered in as captain, and Second 
 Lieutenant Bent as first lieutenant. 
 
 On the eighth a new lot of white flannel for corps badges 
 was cut up and distributed, the color for our division re- 
 
319 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 quiring more frequent renewal than the red and blue. On 
 the tenth a storm of rain was so severe as to flood the 
 rifle pits along the picket lines ; and, upon both the Con 
 federate side and ours, the guards stacked arms on the 
 bank and paced their beats, fully exposed, with hostilities 
 suspended for the time by the elements. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth of January news was received of the 
 promotion of Major Hudson to lieutenant-colonel. We 
 had not since South Mountain gone into action with a 
 colonel and lieutenant-colonel present at the same time, 
 and never with a full list of field officers present ; now that 
 we had them with us, we were anticipating what it would 
 be like to be so well commanded in battle. 
 
 On the last day of January the Confederate Vice- 
 President, Alexander H. Stephens, and Messrs. Campbell 
 and Hunter, as peace commissioners, passed through the 
 lines to City Point under a flag of truce, and had an inter 
 view with President Lincoln and officers of the National 
 Government. Expectation was a-tip-toe in both armies, 
 and the wearied rank and file hoped the result would be a 
 peace with honor to both parties with, of course, the 
 Union saved. Next day the Confederates opposite us 
 commenced cheering loudly, and our boys replied as 
 vigorously ; the shouting ran along the lines and died 
 away. What it was all about no one knew ; probably an 
 explosion of pent-up emotion. But the commission had 
 no result other than to reveal the growing apprehensions 
 of the Confederate leaders. 
 
 During February many furloughs were granted, and 
 some men of the regiment who had not been away from 
 their companies since the departure from Lynnfield were 
 now rewarded by a visit to their homes. A leave of 
 absence was a pleasant thing to anticipate and enjoy, but 
 the pain of again parting from loved ones more than 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 32O 
 
 equalled the pleasures ; several declared upon returning 
 that they wanted no more furloughs until the fighting 
 business was ended. Visitors came to camp from the 
 North ; among them Hon. Charles Hudson, father of our 
 lieutenant-colonel, and Mr. Nathan Carruth, uncle of our 
 colonel. 
 
 More military executions and noisy bombardments were 
 the only exciting events during February. Occasional 
 orders to be ready to march, to make an attack or to meet 
 one, were received, and a vigilant watch was kept for signs 
 of an evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg, but no 
 active results followed on our part. Our former major 
 Wales sent us a foot-ball, which was hailed with delight 
 by the boys, and athletic exercises were practised to keep 
 the men in condition, or long equestrian trips made to the 
 right or left, with such Government nags and dilapidated 
 harness as could be found or borrowed. 
 
 On the twenty-fourth another list of promotions was an 
 nounced : Captain Mirick to be major; First Lieutenants 
 Wright and Mason to be captains ; Second Lieutenants 
 Hardy and Worcester to be first lieutenants ; Sergeants 
 Ellis, Chamberlin and Bagley to be second lieutenants. 
 On the same day a tremendous shotted salute was fired 
 along the lines, by order of General Grant in honor of 
 the capture of the Wilmington forts to the amazement 
 of the Confederates, who did not relish such a method of 
 demonstrating joy at their defeat. 
 
 On the third of March Major Haviland paid off the 
 regiment. On the seventh, at dusk, we received orders to 
 relieve the Forty-Eighth Pennsylvania, to whom we gave 
 up our comfortable huts, and received in exchange their 
 damp bomb-proofs and hovels in the northerly and more 
 exposed part of Fort Sedgwick, where we were quartered 
 during the rest of the month. The fort was not regularly 
 
321 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 planned, but was an irregular enclosure, as if the accidental 
 line of breastworks first thrown up by the skirmishers of 
 the Fifth Corps, when they effected a lodgment across the 
 Jerusalem plank road in June previous, had been taken 
 for the outline, upon which heavy parapets and deep 
 ditches had been constructed by the troops during the 
 summer and autumn. The result was, nevertheless, so 
 strong that the Confederates, having at one time decided 
 to make an assault here, upon consideration, changed the 
 scene to Fort Steadman, as mentioned hereafter. They 
 also began a mine from their works to blow us up and 
 made some progress, but did not complete it the entrance 
 was to be seen long afterwards. The interior of our fort 
 was divided into two quite distinct parts, of which the 
 southerly was more properly called Fort Sedgwick and 
 contained the best engineering work (that part continued 
 to be garrisoned by the Seventh Rhode Island), while our 
 half was nick-named "Fort Hell." The general incli 
 nation of- the land was to the rear, making a considerable 
 cover of itself. This slope was burrowed into and dug 
 out in the construction of bomb-proofs, covered ways, 
 drains, wells, magazines and shelters, in a way to puzzle 
 a stranger to get about by daylight ; much more was it a 
 labyrinth in the night-time. The armament of the fort 
 and its outworks was twelve cannon and eight mortars. 
 The parapet nearest to the enemy was formed of a double 
 tier of gabions, with cross-ties and stamped earth, ten to 
 fifteen feet thick, cut by embrasures, from which a cross 
 fire from the batteries at either end was obtained over 
 most of the ground in front. In the rear the parapet was 
 but one gabion in height, for infantry defence only. The 
 deep ditch in front was partly filled with rain water and 
 was a bad place to get past, even if the long range of 
 half-buried pikes, abatis and chevaux de frise did not stop 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 322 
 
 the assailants. Within easy speaking distance in front was 
 our picket line. The Confederates exhibited good sense 
 in not assaulting these defences. The order of companies 
 in the regimental line was rearranged as follows: right 
 I, E, K, D, F, H, B, A, C, G left. 
 
 The first days in the fort were wet and wretchedly un 
 comfortable ; it took some time to learn the capabilities of 
 the place. The quarters of the men were in long, barrack- 
 like bomb-proofs, or, rather, bullet-proofs, for they would not 
 stop an unexploded shell. They were low structures of 
 logs opening to the rear, with frequent doors for easy exit 
 in case of alarm, and chimneys here and there for warmth 
 and cooking. The roofs were made of logs and earth, in 
 rainy weather moist and dripping, and making the interior 
 at all times dark and dismal. The officers, at first, occu 
 pied the bomb-proofs which their predecessors had made, 
 by digging a deep cellar, roofing with cross layers of the 
 largest logs, and covering all with great piles of earth, 
 making mounds of considerable size. Entrance to these 
 underground quarters was obtained by cutting steps down 
 to the floor, and chimneys were built up from them, making 
 upon the whole about as chill and gloomy a tomb as one 
 could well wish to be buried in. Rain turned these rat 
 holes into dripping baths, which continued to drip long 
 after the weather above ground had cleared. After a few 
 days trial of underground life most of the officers pitched 
 tents in rear of the mounds of their bomb-proofs, and occu 
 pied them, except when an uncommonly severe mortar 
 shelling made the security from flying pieces compensate 
 for the descent into Avernus. 
 
 The days were getting soft and spring-like, and it was 
 pleasant loitering about the banquette, watching the Con 
 federates, or engaged under a fly tent in the endless work 
 of company and regimental accounts and letter writing. 
 
323 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Our view to the rear was quite open, including a long 
 stretch of the military railroad. While we were at work 
 the Confederates would occasionally open with artillery, 
 firing over our heads at the trains, the car-tops crowded 
 with blue coats, moving slowly along the track to the left 
 or back to City Point, but their aim was so inaccurate they 
 never seemed to succeed in hitting the mark. 
 
 Their mortar shelling would commence after dinner or 
 at tea time, seldom in the morning, and would be carried 
 on for an hour or two with commendable industry. At 
 such times, most of our garrison would find the occasion 
 sufficiently exciting to abandon other employment and 
 witness the performance ; but there were exceptions, such 
 as Smith of Company C, the adjutant s clerk, who kept on 
 with his writing, as if nothing less than a nine-inch shell 
 exploding between his feet could disconcert him. The 
 best place to see, and the most secure place, was as near 
 to the picket line as possible, because the shells were 
 intended for the interior of the fort; the men in rear, 
 therefore, crowded to the front. In the daytime the burst 
 of smoke from the Confederate mortars could be seen ; a 
 black speck would dart into the sky, a mile high, it was 
 said though none of us took pains to measure it with a 
 tape line there the speck seemed to hang a moment, 
 increasing in size, rolling over and over lazily, and the 
 revolving fuse beginning to whisper audibly, as it darted 
 down towards us, at first, softly, "I m a-coming, I m a- 
 coming " ; then louder and more angrily, " I m coming ! 
 I m coming ! " and, at last, with an explosion to crack 
 the drum of the ear, " I m HERE ! " and the ragged chunks 
 of iron, hot with the explosion and smelling strongly of 
 sulphur, would fly in all directions. 
 
 All we asked for was a few at a time, but when the 
 mortars, both to left and right, began, the cross-fire practice 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 324 
 
 was infernal ; the shells came too fast to be watched, and 
 the spectators losing their reckoning would be startled by 
 explosions so near and unexpected as to be astounding. 
 On the twentieth the enemy threw into our fort one hundred 
 shells, and as many outside ; nine of the largest bombs 
 burst or buried themselves in the earth within fifty square 
 yards in one minute of time. One would suppose that this 
 could not be done without great slaughter ; but on that 
 day, owing to precaution, not a man was hurt, yet the 
 interior of the fort was burrowed by great holes, where the 
 bombs had exploded after burying themselves in the ground. 
 
 The mortar practice at night was more terrible in ap 
 pearance, but less dreaded, because the brightly burning 
 fuses could be more easily distinguished and the shells 
 avoided. This perpendicular fire was more irksome, be 
 cause the infantry could only stand and take it without 
 reply ; there was nothing to vent one s anger upon. Lieu 
 tenant Loomis, with his mortar battery, was the only person 
 so happily situated as to be able to return shot for shot in 
 kind. One of our men declared it to be a kind of warfare 
 too mean for decent men, anyhow, and that if he ever 
 got a chance he would give those "blarsted" Confederate 
 mortars a kick all round ; and, amusing to relate, he after 
 wards actually carried out his threat, and administered the 
 indignity, at which such F. F. V. mortars doubtless felt 
 excessively mortified. 
 
 There was so much correspondence between the pickets 
 that advantage of it was taken by both parties to spread 
 information which would encourage desertions. Our gen 
 erals offered the price of a stand of arms to all deserters 
 from the Confederate army who brought their muskets 
 with them. On the other hand the enemy opened com 
 munication by letter with bounty-jumpers and substitutes 
 in our ranks, among them with our Germans, offering them 
 
325 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 an open road to Europe by way of Mexico. The temp 
 tation was too strong for some of the dissatisfied ones, and 
 on the night of the twenty-first four of them deserted to 
 the enemy from their picket post, an offence for which 
 hanging would be too mild a punishment, but they were 
 never captured. 
 
 Every night the pickets in front and on the flanks kept 
 up a dropping fire of musketry. They were restrained by 
 order from firing recklessly or rapidly, except, of course, 
 in case of attack ; each man, therefore, expended his shots 
 only upon suspicious looking objects, in his front; but, 
 nevertheless, the amount of ammunition expended was 
 excessive, and more guns were burst than at any other 
 time in the experience of the regiment. The Confederates 
 fired in a similar manner, partly to prevent desertions j 
 their bullets came singing or whizzing or caterwauling over 
 our heads, in every musical tone or pitch, all night, as we 
 slept. So accustomed did our ears become to these scat 
 tering shots that while, ordinarily, the noise was not ob 
 served, any increase or diminution would excite attention, 
 and a party at cards would drop the pasteboards, snatch 
 up the guns or swords, which always lay close at hand, and 
 hurry to the front, to return and resume the game when 
 the ordinary pop-popping was renewed. The proximity of 
 the lines, and consequent danger of surprise, demanded, 
 when attack threatened, the presence of every man at the 
 parapets instantaneously and with a celerity of movement 
 not laid down in the tactics. Rushing out in this way, 
 among the thousand pit-falls of our honey-comb of a fort, 
 amid the singing bullets, was a common excitement. The 
 situation was a remarkable one for the labors of a reformer, 
 nevertheless one of the officers found time to prepare and 
 deliver to an appreciative audience a lecture on temperance, 
 the Confederate bullets furnishing the cat-calls. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 326 
 
 About three o clock in the morning of the twenty-fifth, 
 the lieutenant-colonel being away on furlough, the colonel 
 and adjutant were sleeping quietly in the headquarters 
 hut, when, with a start, both sprang up, broad awake; 
 "What is it?" asked the colonel. "Don t know, sir," 
 was the reply, " but there s something up." In a moment 
 they had slipped on boots, buckled sword belts, and were 
 in the open air. In front our pickets were firing not more 
 rapidly than usually, but the dull boom of a gun, subdued 
 cries and musket shots came over the lines from far to 
 the right. "An attack upon the right," said the colonel. 
 " Rally the men!" and in a few seconds the regiment 
 was under arms along the front parapet. The noise of 
 fighting continued, and the field guns opened from the 
 forts along the line ; but it was not until daylight that we 
 learned that the Confederate attack, which had been 
 threatened upon our front, had been delivered and re 
 pulsed at Fort Steadman. 
 
 The enemy had during the night sent over men pre 
 tending to be deserters bringing in their arms ; these out 
 numbered and captured the pickets in front of Fort 
 Steadman then followed heavy columns of infantry, who 
 easily occupied the fort and the adjacent works, making 
 prisoners of many of the sleeping garrisons. In doing 
 this, in the darkness, their troops became disordered, failed 
 to advance and secure their victory, and were completely 
 defeated when our artillery waked up, and General Hart- 
 ranft and his gallant Pennsylvanians charged upon their 
 front, with the troops belonging to that part of our line 
 upon the flanks, and captured two thousand prisoners and 
 a number of regimental flags. It was the mine affair 
 again with sides reversed, and the Confederate failure to 
 move forward promptly was even less excusable than ours 
 had been, for the ground before them for some distance 
 23 
 
327 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 was lower instead of higher than the works they had 
 occupied. But the same confusion, after the first charge, 
 led to the same inability of the assaulting party to secure 
 the intended results. It was a desperate attempt, with 
 hardly a chance of final success, and if planned by General 
 Lee was the worst specimen of generalship he exhibited 
 within our ken during the war. 
 
 Fort Steadman was about two miles, by the curvature of 
 the lines, to our right, and a few of the members of the 
 regiment were allowed to visit the scene, while the flag of 
 truce was flying for burial of the Confederate dead, which 
 in this case was granted at once, not after forty-eight hours 
 delay as after the mine affair. Major Mirick was found 
 all right, after doing deeds of valor in defence of Fort 
 Haskell, next on the left of Fort Steadman. Commissary- 
 Sergeant Plummer was also safe and sound, but his stores 
 of beef, pork and hard bread had been almost captured. 
 The garrison of the fort had been the Fourteenth New 
 York Heavy Artillery, which had been among the first to 
 enter the crater; the adjacent works were occupied by 
 regiments formerly of our old First Division, so that the 
 troops, as well as the character of the combat, were about 
 the same as in that affair, and the result of this helped 
 to countervail the unpleasant memories of that misfortune. 
 This brilliant recovery of Fort Steadman has always been 
 considered by the army as the happy beginning of the 
 triumphant ending of the war. 
 
 A division of the Sixth Corps moved down from the left 
 and passed along the railroad in our rear, but was not 
 needed to complete the success, and after awhile returned, 
 followed soon after by the long column of prisoners in 
 gray marching to army headquarters, before and in plain 
 sight of their late comrades in Fort Mahone, who must 
 have thought the spectacle bitterly discouraging. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 328 
 
 To make a diversion, the Second and Sixth Corps, dur 
 ing the morning, moved out from our old position near 
 Fort Welch Poplar Spring Church on the left, and 
 captured the Confederate picket line in front, at Dr. Bois- 
 seu s house (we called it Bosworth s), where we had been 
 " skedaddled " on the thirtieth of September. This line 
 continued to be held by our army, and its proximity to the 
 Boydton Road enabled the Sixth Corps to make their 
 assault from it on the second of April following so grandly 
 successful. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LIFE IN THE CONFEDERATE PRISONS. 
 
 WHILE the regiment was passing the months of 
 winter in the comfortable quarters and with the 
 hopeful anticipations described in the last chapter, many of 
 our comrades were enduring privation and dejection be 
 yond the power of language to describe within the prisons, 
 or pens, as they were called, scattered through the seaboard 
 states of the Confederacy. Before, therefore, we enter 
 upon the last days of the grand drama, let us leave the 
 Thirty-Fifth in Fort Sedgwick, and turn our attention for 
 a time to those who were so unhappily separated from us. 
 
 Until the Wilderness campaign but five names of enlisted 
 men of the Thirty-Fifth had been inscribed upon the prison 
 rolls of the Confederacy. 
 
 The first man captured in 1864 was Seth H. Manson, of 
 Company B, on the eighteenth of May. 
 
 It was not until May 24, 1864, that men were snatched 
 out of the skirmish line of the regiment in battle. The 
 manner of it has been described in the account of the 
 battle on the North Anna River. Among the men taken 
 that day was Sergeant Henry W. Tisdale, who, by request, 
 has furnished a narrative of the prison life of the men then 
 captured. Our greatest loss in prisoners occurred on the 
 thirtieth of September, 1864, as related in Chapter XI ; 
 for these Lieutenant Alfred Blanchard, Jr., has consented 
 
330 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 to speak, in a description of Salisbury, N. C., and Dan 
 ville, Va., prisons. 
 
 Sergeant Tisdale writes as follows : 
 
 " I was captured at the battle of North Anna River, Va., 
 May 24, 1864. The brigade was in hasty retreat Stopping 
 to give a wounded man some water I became separated 
 from my company, and in the woods, mist and rain got out 
 of the right line of retreat. Coming to an open field, I 
 was startled by seeing some men spring from the tall grass 
 with the yell, * Drop that gun ! } Don t fire on your own 
 men ! I called in reply, only to call forth a second yell, 
 Drop that gun ! ! and then the humiliating conviction 
 came over me that I was a prisoner. A few seconds more 
 and you would have been a dead man, was the greeting of 
 the reb, as he took my rifle. I was loath to give it up, 
 for it bore the scar of a rebel bullet, received at Jackson, 
 Miss., and I hoped to carry it home as a relic of the war. 
 
 " I was mortified at finding myself apparently the only 
 prisoner from the Thirty-Fifth, but soon others were 
 brought in, and in all nine of us were captured. We 
 were taken to Anderson s Station, where we were relieved 
 of all government property, as the rebs claimed it to be, 
 viz., tents, knapsacks and rubber blankets. The Confed 
 erate soldiers were in the main good looking men, but were 
 poorly uniformed, in a variety of colors and styles, with not 
 a little of the blue. Though poorly clothed they prided 
 themselves upon their skill in the use of the rifle, saying 
 that nearly all of their camp drill for the past winter had 
 been at target practice. 
 
 "On the twenty-fifth of May we were marched south, 
 about five miles, to Taylorsville. Desolation was about 
 us on every hand. We remained there till dark, and then 
 a ten-mile march brought us to Ashland, where neither 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 331 
 
 cold nor rain could keep us from sleeping soundly upon 
 a grassy plat of mother earth. We woke to find ourselves 
 under a guard of citizens, and were permitted to converse 
 with them freely. We learned that all able-bodied men 
 were in the service, directly in the ranks or as nurses, 
 teamsters, etc. They professed to have the fullest confi 
 dence in the success of their cause, and were full of ire at 
 the enlistment of negroes by our government, but admitted 
 that they also used the blacks in fort building, etc. In the 
 afternoon we were on the cars on for Richmond, and at 
 night were within the walls of the second story of Libby 
 Prison. 
 
 "A roster of our names, regiments, rank, etc., was made ; 
 we were searched and all United States money was taken, 
 with the promise that it would be refunded at the end of 
 the war; those who had time adopted ways of concealment, 
 such as hiding it under the tongue, between the soles of 
 the shoes, etc. Men fortunate enough to have saved blan 
 kets and coats were allowed to keep them. We were four 
 days in Libby ; the first two passed quite comfortably, the 
 last two overcrowded with new arrivals. Our rations of 
 one-half pound of corn bread, one-quarter pound of pork 
 and one-half pint of rice were easily disposed of. Two 
 lots of prisoners came up from Belle Isle ; they confirmed 
 the reports of hard treatment there, that they were obliged 
 to splice out their rations with dogs, rats, etc., and that 
 boxes of supplies sent by the U. S. S. Commission and by 
 friends were for the most part confiscated by the rebs. 
 
 "May3ist. We bade good-bye to Libby, and eleven 
 hundred of us were packed in box cars, sixty to a car, en 
 route for Andersonville, Ga. Four of us had formed a 
 mess, offensive and defensive, agreeing to share our united 
 possessions, future gains and fortunes. Three were from 
 the Thirty-Fifth : B. F. Pratt, 3d, of Company H, J. A. 
 
332 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Lord, of Company C, and your humble servant ; the fourth 
 was Emery Smith, Third New York Cavalry, formerly a 
 member of the Eighteenth Massachusetts. One of us 
 having some Confederate money invested in biscuit at one 
 dollar each. After a ride of twenty hours we were landed 
 at Danville, for rations ; a small allowance of coarse corn 
 bread and fat bacon was given us. Again we moved on, 
 at almost funeral pace, and, June 2d, we were landed in a 
 fine grove at Charlotte, N. C. Here again our mess invested 
 in biscuit, two dozen for five dollars and a half, with which, 
 and the rations, we were enabled to sleep with our hunger 
 tolerably satisfied. At midnight a heavy shower awoke 
 us to the fact that we had none of Uncle Sam s shelter 
 tents over us, and we agreed that if ever we were permitted 
 to use them again we would do so without grumbling. 
 
 "June 3d. Again in box cars, sixty-five men to a car. 
 A ride of two hundred and sixty-eight miles brought us to 
 Augusta, Ga. For a portion of the way we were permitted 
 to ride upon the tops of the cars, where we swarmed like 
 bees. The sight of fields of strawberries and other fruits 
 made our mouths water. We saw also gangs of slaves at 
 work, women at the plow, etc. At Augusta we were placed 
 in some cotton sheds, under a guard of citizens, whose 
 courteous treatment was in pleasant contrast with the un 
 feeling guard we had upon the train. They were quite 
 willing to exchange money one greenback dollar for ten 
 Confederate and to buy all watches and jewelry offered. 
 Pratt sold his watch for one hundred dollars (Confederate), 
 which we laid aside as a reserve fund. 
 
 "June 6th. Again on the move for Andersonville. As 
 we neared our journey s end an increasing soberness came 
 over us, and there was but little disposition to joke with 
 each other or with the rebel guard ; this partly from weari 
 ness, but more from an increasing conviction that the hor- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 333 
 
 rors of Andersonville were but too true. After a ride of 
 two hundred and fifty miles, at noon, June 7, we were 
 drawn up in line just outside the prison. Soon a grim- 
 visaged, wiry-looking man came riding down the line, and 
 when nearly opposite our position yelled, with savage 
 oaths, to some gunboat men to dress up. This was our 
 first view of the commandant of the prison, Captain Wirz.* 
 
 "We were counted off into detachments, as the rebs 
 called them, of two hundred and seventy, and subdivided 
 into messes of ninety men each. Each mess was put in 
 charge of a sergeant, who was instructed to make a roster 
 of his men, and that his duties would be to draw and divide 
 their rations, report and look after the sick, etc. When 
 the call was made for sergeants to volunteer for this duty, 
 it flashed upon me that here was a chance to avoid what I 
 had felt would be the worst feature of prison life idleness 
 and with a bound I sprang to the front to secure the 
 position. I was accepted and put in charge of third mess, 
 Detachment 76. I found that, in addition to the blessing 
 of plenty to do, there were double rations as a perquisite 
 of office. 
 
 " Late in the afternoon we filed into our prison home, 
 begrimed with dust and dirt, weary, faint, and hungry. As 
 the heavy timber gates swung open for our entrance, more 
 than one of us felt, from what we had seen outside, like 
 saying, Abandon hope all ye who enter here ! Escorted 
 inside the gate we were dismissed by the rebel guard and 
 left to find quarters for ourselves as best we could. This 
 was no easy task so crowded was the place ; it was impos 
 sible to locate my ninety together, so bidding each to shift 
 for himself our mess turned its attention to finding a spot 
 large enough to squat upon without encroaching upon the 
 domain of our predecessors. We possessed for shelter 
 
 * Captain Wirz was condemned and hung at Washington after the war. 
 
334 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 and covering two woollen blankets and two overcoats, and 
 had been fortunate enough to gobble and bring in tent 
 poles, so that we soon had our blankets over us for a tent. 
 Our next thought was to get cleansed, but how to do this 
 without soap was our query as we betook ourselves to the 
 creek. We were told that there was a reb sutler on the 
 other side of the prison, and soon ten dollars of our 
 hoarded hundred were exchanged for a bar of soap about 
 an inch and a half square by twelve long. 
 
 " Perhaps the best idea of our prison life can be con 
 veyed by copying at intervals from my diary : 
 
 " * June 8th. I find the prison to contain fifteen acres, 
 surrounded by a double stockade of hewed pine logs, 
 twenty feet in height, and closely guarded by sentinels, 
 who stand in sentry boxes overlooking the camp. A bat 
 tery of six pieces commands the enclosure. Inside the 
 stockade and about fifteen feet from it is the dead line, a 
 narrow rail upon posts about three feet high outside this 
 railing we are not allowed to pass, nor- even to touch the 
 rail ; the guard have orders to shoot any one disobeying 
 these rules. Through the centre of the camp, from north 
 to south, runs a sluggish stream styled " the creek," about 
 four feet wide and half-knee deep. The upper portion, for 
 about fifteen feet, is for drinking purposes ; the rest, from 
 before daylight to late at night, is more or less crowded 
 with men bathing or washing clothes in the muddy fluid. 
 On either side of the stream is a strip of swampy land, 
 about two rods wide, the lower portion of which is used 
 for a sink, the balance as a place of deposit for the refuse 
 of the camp. 
 
 " Going over the enclosure and coming in contact with 
 its inmates, one s eyes fill with tears and the heart shrinks 
 in horror at the scenes around him men almost skeletons 
 from lack of food, from diarrhoea, and chills and fever; 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 335 
 
 others racked with rheumatic pains or bloated with scurvy ; 
 more than half of them clothed in rags, and all begrimed 
 with the pitch-pine smoke from the fires. Added to these 
 horrors, one finds a spirit of selfishness sad to witness 
 the strong oppressing the weak. Pratt of our mess found 
 by bitter experience to-day that there were those who 
 would deliberately rob a fellow prisoner. Going to bathe 
 he left his clothes upon the bank ; when he resumed them 
 he found, to his grief, that his pocket-book was gone, and 
 with it the balance of our reserve fund. " I do not care 
 for the money," he said, with tears streaming down his 
 cheeks, " but those pictures of my wife and child, if I only 
 had them they might have the money." Talking over the 
 matter with a prisoner who has been here quite a while, 
 he said there was an organized band, termed " raiders " 
 by their fellow prisoners, who were in league to rob and 
 plunder each new arrival. 
 
 " Most of the men have shelters of some kind tents 
 of blankets, overcoats, or rags patched together ; booths 
 of pine or oak boughs ; mud huts or caves in the hill-side. 
 The north side is honeycombed with burrows, some large 
 enough to contain twenty men. 
 
 " June i2th. For three days I have been very busy 
 organizing my ninety into squads to go for wood, for 
 rations, and to get out the sick at sick-call. No rations 
 are issued to any detachment of which the members are 
 not at roll-call, " all present or accounted for." The rations 
 are brought in the afternoon meal and rice in fifty 
 pound bags, corn bread in sheets about eighteen inches by 
 twenty four and two or three inches thick, sometimes half- 
 cooked or baked so hard as to endanger our teeth. Bacon 
 sides form the meat ration. Men sent out for wood go 
 under guard and take an oath not to attempt to escape. 
 I went to sick-call to-day ; disease is showing itself among 
 
336 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 us already. The place for examination is near the south 
 western corner, between the two stockades. Nearly two 
 thousand were reported sick, to attend to whom were but 
 two or three surgeons. I saw the saddest sight I ever 
 witnessed men were brought out in blankets by scores 
 weak and emaciated from diarrhoea or bloated and loath 
 some from scurvy, begging to be taken to hospital or that 
 something might be done for them, at least a shelter from 
 the sun and rain. I find that some have been here nearly 
 a year. 
 
 " At the reb sutler s, fruit and vegetables can be bought : 
 eggs, one dollar (Confederate) per dozen ; potatoes, one 
 dollar and sixty cents per dozen ; beans, fifty cents per 
 quart ; cucumbers, sixty cents apiece ; onions, one dollar 
 per dozen ; salt, twenty-five cents per gill ; watermelon, 
 twenty-five cents a slice, etc. As each lot of prisoners 
 brings more or less money, the sutler finds them willing 
 and, too often, unwise purchasers of his stock. 
 
 " June i3th. Rainy most of last night, cold and drizzly 
 to-day. Hundreds of poor fellows are shivering about 
 camp. God pity and help them, for none of us can do 
 anything for them. It seems as if the officials had no 
 desire to promote our comfort in the least. Reports are 
 in circulation that a part of us are to be paroled soon. 
 
 " June i5th. To-day is the third of a cold rain, and it 
 is making sad havoc with the weak and shelterless ; the 
 number of sick and the death rate are on the increase. 
 We had to take down our blankets to keep warm, pre 
 ferring wetting to freezing. Further experience of the 
 prison makes it more sad and sickening. The commandant 
 seems to have but little executive ability, and to be totally 
 devoid of humanity. 
 
 " Planning and working to escape occupy the time of 
 thousands of the well and strong. Many make the attempt 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 337 
 
 when let out for wood, or from the hospital when detailed 
 as nurses or assistants. Inside the prison, tunnelling is 
 constantly going on ; eighteen men burrowed out last night. 
 Not one in a hundred succeeds in getting to the land of 
 freedom, for the daily circuit of the camp by the pack of 
 blood-hounds, kept for the purpose, soon discovers the 
 trail of the runaways, and a few hours find them back 
 again. Some return with bodies torn by the teeth of 
 these savage pursuers. Yesterday the rebs discovered an 
 unfinished tunnel, actually breaking into it just outside 
 the stockade, its makers having struck a little too near 
 the surface. The work of tunnelling is carried on in the 
 night; a number club together, keeping the matter to 
 themselves ; they select a spot as near to the dead-line as 
 possible, and sink a shaft from the inside of some " she 
 bang," cave or dug-out, maybe pretending to be digging 
 a well ; then they aim to reach the surface just outside the 
 stockade. Case knives, spoons, wooden shovels and tin 
 plates are the tools for digging, and the excavated earth is 
 carried away to the creek or covered with rubbish. Some 
 of the pretended wells are sunk thirty feet. 
 
 " June 1 6th. Foggy morning. I had a trying time 
 drawing rations last night, not getting them till after 
 dark, and drawing uncooked bacon and rice. The task 
 of distributing these in the darkness, relieved only by the 
 pitch-pine torches, to the impatient and half-starved men 
 crowding upon one another in their eagerness, was a hard 
 one. This makes two days we have received raw rations 
 without being allowed to go out for wood with which to 
 cook them. The despairing look with which some of 
 those who had no wood received their portions was sad 
 to witness. Some burrow in the earth for roots of the 
 pine forest which formerly occupied the ground. In fact 
 this digging for roots has become the daily occupation of 
 
338 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 hundreds ; each scrap, even if no larger than a pipe-stem, 
 is eagerly seized, split, and stacked in the sun to dry. 
 This neglect to provide us or allow us to go out and get 
 wood seems utterly inexcusable, and one s blood boils as 
 he thinks of the piles of refuse tops and branches trimmed 
 from the timber and now lying outside the stockade. It 
 seems to most of us proof of a deliberate plan to weaken 
 us in all ways short of actual starvation. 
 
 " June i yth. Eleven hundred Yanks in to-day. They 
 bring all sorts of reports as to the progress of the war, 
 some encouraging and some discouraging. 
 
 " * June i8th. Heavy rain from four P. M. yesterday till 
 midnight; got well soaked drawing rations. Succeeded 
 in getting two of my ninety into hospital, and another has 
 developed scurvy badly. 
 
 " June iQth. Sun out to-day for the first time this 
 week. One poor fellow killed last night while attempting 
 to tunnel out, the earth caving in upon him. Two nearly 
 finished tunnels discovered by the rebs to-day. Search 
 ing for tunnels has become a daily task for the rebs ; they 
 go about the camp poking their heads into tents, etc., on 
 the hunt. 
 
 " June 2oth. My clothes are giving out and I am 
 obliged to do some mending to-day. Thank God for the 
 preservation of my sewing-case, with a good supply of 
 needles and thread ! the use of it excites pleasant thoughts 
 of home and dear ones, which help to relieve the surround 
 ing gloom. Heavy rain soaked us again ; these continued 
 rains are making sad work with the sick. Mud walls are 
 crumbling, and dug-outs are filled with water, while the 
 would-be occupants sit outside in mute despair. Felt ill 
 to-day. 
 
 " June 2 1 st. Passed a poor night and have felt weak 
 and lank to-day. Raiders were plenty about camp last 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 339 
 
 night ; the cry of " robbers ! thieves ! murder ! " testified 
 to some helpless one being their victim. 
 
 " June 22d. Weak and drowsy to-day. I made some 
 tea from white oak bark for medical relief. 
 
 " June 26th. The first day for a week that I have felt 
 well. Did some washing. Weather scalding hot. Report 
 circulated that we are to be paroled ; it sent a gleam of 
 hope over the camp. Got another man into the hospital. 
 More prisoners in to-day. Have drawn rations of fresh 
 meat the past three days, a pleasing change from hog and 
 hominy. It is generally well cooked, but here and there 
 a piece comes raw or burned to shoe leather. 
 
 " June 28th. Sent another man to the hospital. Eight 
 hundred more Yanks in to-day. Heavy thunder shower 
 just at night. It has been a busy week, I have had to 
 draw rations for the whole detachment ; but I thank God 
 for thus having plenty to do; I feel it a great aid in keep 
 ing cheerful amid so much that is depressing in our prison 
 life. I cannot be too thankful also for the extra rations 
 allowed to those of us in charge of detachments, for with 
 the increasing number of the sick, I have, on some days, 
 extras (beyond my own and tent mates needs) for distri 
 bution among the needy ones about us. I have made 
 some meal vinegar, by soaking meal in the sun until fer 
 mented, when quite a palatable drink is made, which is a 
 valuable preventive of scurvy. 
 
 " Stirring scenes in camp just at dark. A reb lieutenant 
 and guard came in, and proceeded with fixed bayonets to 
 arrest some of the raiders. Their doings of late have 
 become so heartless as to enlist the aid of the commandant 
 of the prison, and he now proposes to clear them out and 
 to punish the ringleaders. Frequently within the past week 
 they have carried on their operations in broad daylight, in 
 open defiance of the peacefully disposed. Noticing a 
 
34 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 crowd gathered one day last week I pressed through it 
 and found a young cavalryman had just been robbed of 
 his pocket-book and watch ; he was begging with tears for 
 the watch, a present from his dead mother, but in vain ; 
 and more than one of us standing about him felt like 
 pitching in "to the rescue," but the ugly looks of the 
 dozen or more raiders, who encircled him, cowed us, 
 perhaps to our shame. But now, with the rebel guard 
 behind us, the tables were turned, and from one end to 
 the other of the camp rang the cries, " Here s one ! " 
 "Here s one ! " " Here they are ! " and soon about fifty 
 were taken to the guard-house. Of these, fifteen of the 
 most notorious were retained and the rest sent into 
 camp, but only to meet the long pent-up vengeance of 
 their fellow prisoners, who obliged them to run a gauntlet 
 of clubs and switches not over tenderly applied. Their 
 tents were confiscated ; in them were found dirk-knives, 
 billies and other murderous weapons, watches by dozens 
 and trinkets of various kinds, many of which were iden 
 tified and restored to their owners. 
 
 " June 3oth. The raiders were completely cleared out 
 to-day; near a hundred have been taken in all. After 
 their arrest Captain Wirz called us sergeants before him, 
 and addressed us concerning the disposal of them, advising 
 a drum-head court-martial, and promising that whatever 
 method of punishment should be decided upon he would 
 see it faithfully executed. As a result a jury, judge advo 
 cate, etc., were selected, and a regular military court (in 
 form) was organized, before which the statements of wit 
 nesses are to be taken in writing. 
 
 " July 3^. The past three days have witnessed an 
 agreeable change in our prison life. For some time past 
 the rebs have been making an addition to our domain on 
 the north side ; yesterday the news came that it was fin- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 341 
 
 ished and that all detachments above number 48 were to 
 be moved to the new ground; truly there was joy in the 
 camp. The removal was made in a bungling manner, 
 showing again lack of orderly and military system of 
 doing business among the officials ; for instead of having 
 a comfortable opening for our egress made in the old 
 stockade, we were required to crowd through a space 
 _ scarce wide enough for two abreast, to say nothing of our 
 loads of baggage, every scrap of which we clung to as a 
 miser to his gold. Then instead of having the new lots 
 properly staked off, and each detachment upon its pre 
 scribed lot, we were all ordered to move at once, and were 
 told that " unless we were upon the new ground in two 
 hours our blankets would be confiscated." And again, 
 instead of having the loppings from the trees, of which 
 the stockade was made, properly portioned out to each 
 detachment, each was allowed to gobble all it could ; so 
 that between the crowding to get through, rushing for the 
 best positions, and struggling to heap up piles of brush 
 wood, the scene was almost a pandemonium, and not a 
 few free fights were had over disputed ground or fire-wood. 
 I succeeded in getting most of my ninety together, fortu 
 nately upon a good spot. It was a pleasure to be able to 
 move about freely, and not have to watch lest you tread 
 upon somebody s shebang, or fall into some underground 
 lodging place. 
 
 "July 4th. Woke with thoughts of home, inspired by 
 "the day we celebrate." For the past two weeks I have 
 been saving up the extra rations allowed me of meal and 
 rice, we four having determined to have a Fourth of July 
 dinner, if possible. The extra rations have at times been 
 liberal, so that by scrimping a little we saved what, put 
 upon the market, brought us the sum of two dollars and 
 seventy cents. With this we concluded to have a bean 
 
342 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 soup. We purchased of the reb sutler two onions for 
 sixty-five cents, six potatoes for eighty cents, a red pepper 
 for twenty-five cents, one and one-half pints of beans for 
 thirty-five cents, and pork for forty cents. We had a jolly 
 time cooking it, and smacked our lips as heartily in eating 
 it as ever at any Fourth of July in the Old Bay State. 
 
 " July icth. Another busy clay. I have from six to ten 
 hours work daily, in drawing rations and distributing them, 
 looking after the sick, etc., so that with the daily task of 
 "skirmishing" for vermin and keeping clean not many 
 idle moments remain. Have felt weak from the heat and 
 diarrhoea some of the time. Several new lots of prisoners 
 have come in. I have had sad and trying times with the 
 sick two more have died and ten others are in a bad way. 
 The surgeons have been without medicines for the past 
 five days. The hospital is crowded to overflowing, and 
 many sick are obliged to lie and waste away without any 
 thing being done for them. It is amazing to see the lack 
 of humanity on the part of the reb officials, for many of 
 us think that the " Dutch Captain " is not the only guilty 
 party. It seems to us that with a little energy on their 
 part shelter from the blazing sun could be provided from 
 the surrounding forests. Many a man comes in here hale 
 and hearty, but robbed of his tent and blanket soon gets 
 weak from exposure to the sun and chill night air, and 
 falls an easy victim to disease. Oh, how often does the 
 angel of death seem to be an angel of mercy to such 
 suffering ones ! 
 
 " * Yesterday was the first time for five days that sick- 
 call has been sounded. It brought together, it seems to 
 me, the saddest sight I have yet seen in the prison. Be 
 tween four and five hundred crowded the streets and by 
 paths leading to the gate ; more than half of them assisted 
 by their comrades, and scores lugged in blankets exposed 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 343 
 
 to the blazing sun. Some died on the way, and many were 
 sunstruck. The process of inspection by the surgeons was 
 a slow one, and when about three-fourths were examined 
 word came that " no more can be attended to," and so 
 back to quarters under the noonday sun, hobbled, crawled 
 or were borne the balance, with their hopes of something 
 being done for their relief dashed from them. 
 
 " July i2th. Yesterday witnessed the strange, sad scene 
 of the hanging of six of the ringleaders of the raiders, found 
 guilty of murder and robbery, and condemned to death on 
 the gallows. From the moment of the appearance of the 
 rebel guard with lumber for the gallows till their bodies 
 swung cold in death and were removed, the camp presented 
 an unnatural and solemn quiet. Since their arrest a reg 
 ular police has been formed, made up of our own members. 
 Into their hands the six were consigned by Captain Wirz^ 
 with a statement of the finding and sentence of the court- 
 martial, and that to their hands and their fellow prisoners 
 he committed the responsibility of its execution. The day 
 was one of the few when the sun seemed to abate its 
 intense heat and was clear and cool. The part of the 
 camp affording a view of the gallows was black with 
 humanity, and as the hour (half past four) drew near a 
 solemn stillness came over all. On the way to the gallows 
 one broke away and frantically rushed across the swamp 
 in an attempt to escape, but in vain. At the above hour 
 they were arranged upon the platform, with meal sacks 
 over their heads, and at the signal the drop fell and they 
 met their doom. 
 
 " Not a few debates have been had upon the justifiable- 
 ness of this affair, but, with a few exceptions made up of 
 their fellow conspirators, the universal judgment of the 
 camp has been that it was but their just deserts ; their 
 conduct here was probably but a continuation of a life of 
 
344 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 blackness and crime entered upon before the war. The 
 police are doing good duty, and many abuses about the 
 camp are corrected. Sent two more of the ninety to the 
 hospital to-day. The remaining nine of the raiders have 
 been sentenced to the stocks for a season before being 
 allowed back to camp. These stocks have been most of 
 the time filled with those who have attempted to escape 
 while out with the wood squads, or for other misdemeanors. 
 
 " July lyth. Sunday. Up to our removal to our new 
 quarters no attempt has been made to note the Sabbath 
 from our week-day routine, but to-cfey, with the privilege 
 of open space, many gatherings for worship, prayer and 
 conference have been held about the camp. Very touching 
 have been the prayers offered, mainly for loved ones at 
 home. The only noteworthy event of the past week has 
 been the calling of the sergeants of detachments out before 
 Captain Wirz, who, in language anything but courteous, 
 informed us of an organized attempt to break out of the 
 stockade. He warned us against the attempt, saying that 
 if we tried it he should open fire with grape and canister, 
 and the slaughter of the sick and feeble would be terrible, 
 and would be laid to our charge. We think that no such 
 design has been contemplated, and that it is a ruse of the 
 " Dutch Captain" to frighten us from it. We now number 
 30,000, and as our guards are only raw recruits and con 
 scripts, many of us believe that, were it not for the sick 
 and feeble, our escape on a grand scale could be easily 
 effected. I feel like trying my hand at tunnelling, rather 
 than remain here for the winter. 
 
 " July 24th. Two years yesterday since I enlisted. 
 Little did I think that a part of my three years service 
 was to be spent as a prisoner of war. Two months of 
 prison life, and health and strength still remain to me. 
 The past week has brought many recruits to our numbers, 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 345 
 
 so that the whole stockade is again crowded. The number 
 of the weak and sick is on the increase, and the rebs 
 report that they are kept on short allowance of medicines 
 needful for their relief. What medicines they do have 
 seem to afford but little aid against the diseases springing 
 from constant warfare with hunger, nakedness, bad water 
 and lack of vegetable food. 
 
 " August yth. I have been very busy with work incident 
 to the increasing number of sick in the ninety. Many of 
 the worst cases have been taken to the hospital. On the 
 morning of the fourth, word came that all the worst cases 
 in camp be brought to the gate, and that from them a 
 large number would be taken out to the hospital. On the 
 strength of this thousands crowded in a dense mass in the 
 streets and by-paths leading to the gate, some hobbling 
 there, some literally crawling on hands and knees, and 
 hundreds, too weak to hobble and crawl, were carried in 
 blankets by comrades. But all in vain, for at ten A. M. 
 came word that " no more would be taken out to-day." 
 The next morning came the word again, and those who 
 were able were again in waiting, many with glad and 
 expectant faces, feeling that, whatever the change in store 
 for them, at least it could bring them to no worse condition. 
 But again came word that no more would be taken out till 
 two P. M. At two it was announced that the sick from the 
 first eleven detachments only would be taken. Pencil 
 cannot picture the despairing faces nor words describe 
 the sad scenes incident to these two days gatherings of 
 the sick of Andersonville Prison, especially as this last 
 word came, and those who were able hobbled or were 
 borne back to their quarters. Many were sunstruck ; a 
 dozen or more died while waiting or on the way, among 
 them one of my ninety, while waiting the second day. He 
 had been wasting from diarrhoea, and had become a sad 
 
346 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 and loathsome spectacle, of whom it might be said in truth 
 before death released him, "he was eaten of worms." The 
 Good Book says, " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick," 
 and truly might it be said of scores about the camp, who 
 have up to this day fought a good fight with hunger, naked 
 ness and disease ; they are now hopeless, heart-sick and 
 discouraged. The indignation in the camp at this need 
 less cruelty to the suffering is intense, and many of us feel 
 that were Captain Wirz to come into camp unattended he 
 would be torn limb from limb. 
 
 "August 1 4th. The number of sick still increases. 
 We have had heavy rains, which with the scorching sun 
 have brought increased suffering. None have been taken 
 to the hospital ; no medicines have been given out. Even 
 the supply of so simple an article as vinegar, of great ser 
 vice in scurvy, has ceased. The ravages of this disease 
 are terrible; many are going about the camp with bleeding 
 mouths and their teeth actually falling out. The death 
 rate has increased from fifty to seventy-five per day. Five 
 more have died of the ninety, making thirteen during our 
 nine weeks stay. I cannot be too thankful for having so 
 much to do to occupy my thoughts and time. I notice 
 that those prisoners who keep busy stand it the best. 
 Many are the devices to keep from idleness, such as 
 tearing clown and rebuilding their mud huts, digging for 
 roots for fuel, well digging, tunnelling, carving knicknacks 
 out of bones hoarded from their meat rations, patching 
 their clothing, etc. Not a few packs of cards have strag 
 gled into camp, and many checker-boards have been made. 
 These are freely lent, and from dawn till dark groups can 
 be seen all about the camp, and the merry laugh shows 
 that not all is dreary and dark. Many a well-worn Bible 
 and Testament can be seen in constant use going from one 
 to another. An occasional copy of some rebel newspaper 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 347 
 
 is thrown in by the guard, which is read till worn to shreds. 
 I was both glad and sorry to come across my old friend 
 and Christian brother, D. F. Nichols, from Dedham, a 
 member of the Eighteenth Massachusetts. I found he 
 had been here nearly a year, and, though somewhat weak, 
 is battling bravely for life. He has been a help to many 
 in the plying of his trade as a shoemaker, and has kindly 
 repaired my nearly worn-out shoes. 
 
 " I was surprised one morning to find Pratt absent 
 from his place; this was explained by his soon putting 
 in an appearance, covered from head to foot with red 
 clay, which plainly said " tunnelling." He has with others 
 started a tunnel from the inside of a neighboring hut ; they 
 have obtained boards, with which they bridge over the 
 opening during the day, covering them with earth and 
 pine boughs, so that the tunnel-hunting rebs will see 
 nothing should they poke their heads into the place. 
 
 " 4 August 2 1 st. The weather has been warm and very 
 trying to sick and well. The death rate holds its own ; 
 three out of the ninety have died. Among them Israel 
 Roach, of Company F, of our regiment. It was with 
 tearful eyes we of the Thirty-Fifth bore his remains to 
 the gate, pinned the scrap of paper denoting his name 
 and regiment upon his breast, and delivered them to the 
 stolid rebel guard. I have had many pleasant chats with 
 him during our prison days. He had, I think, typhoid 
 fever, and was delirious in his last hours. Two or three 
 times a day now can be seen the "dead-wagon " an old 
 army wagon rigged with stakes and railing, into which are 
 piled our dead comrades, as a farmer would pile a load of 
 wood drawn by four mules around the south-west corner 
 of the stockade to the final resting place. One cannot 
 but feel as he looks upon those about him struggling to 
 live, that no battle-field of the war or hospital scene can 
 
348 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 show grander examples of patient, heroic endurance. One 
 at least of the reb surgeons has sympathy for us; he ex 
 pressed his indignation at the fact that so little vegetable 
 food was allowed us, and said that he begged of Captain 
 Wirz the use of an army wagon with which to go into the 
 adjacent country and get sweet potatoes, etc., for the pris 
 oners, and had been refused. 
 
 " In one thing Divine Providence has richly blessed 
 us ; it seems almost a miracle wrought for our comfort. 
 This is the opening of a copious spring just above the 
 marsh, and between the dead-line and the stockade. We 
 noticed it gushing forth, just after a very heavy shower ; 
 the attention of the reb officials was called to it, and many 
 of us think they must have forgotten themselves, for they 
 furnished some troughs and two half-barrels, into which 
 the water was conducted just clear of the dead-line. The 
 water flows clear and cool, and quite freely, so that the 
 barrels are kept full, though drawn upon as fast as in line 
 we fill our cups, tin pails, coffee pots, etc. 
 
 " We realize as weeks go by that our clothing will wear 
 out, and that we cannot make a requisition on the quarter 
 master. Some of us sergeants of nineties have found we 
 can do a little stealing from the Confederacy, Our rations 
 of meal and rice are brought to us in twilled cotton sacks, 
 delivered late in the afternoon, and we are required to 
 return the sacks when we draw rations the next day. We 
 have noticed that often, when late or in a pouring rain, the 
 reb commissary, as the sacks were thrown up to him on 
 the wagon, would not stop to count them. Watching 
 for our chances, we would keep back one or more. I 
 have succeeded in capturing some half dozen, from 
 which I undertook to make a shirt, but had to give it 
 up and content myself with patching my old ones. 
 The other sacks did excellent duty on needy comrades. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS, 349 
 
 We have not stopped to consider the morality of the 
 transaction. 
 
 " As each squad of Yanks comes in, they are portioned 
 out among the nineties, taking the place of the dead and 
 those who are transferred to the hospital. I find, on 
 looking over my roster, that I have men from every state 
 in the Union but two. 
 
 " The tunnel upon which Pratt and his comrades have 
 been laboring, and which they hoped to finish in a few 
 days, has come to an untimely end. To their dismay the 
 rebel tunnel-squad marched directly to the spot and poked 
 their heads into the "shebang," but were evidently discon 
 certed at finding no hole; but soon one of them said: 
 " This is the place, I know it is," and getting a club and 
 beating on the spot the hollow sound revealed the secret, 
 and then the order, " Pull down the hut ! " was obeyed, 
 and poor Pratt s toils were ended. Reports are current 
 that the rebs have spies about the camp night and day, 
 but Pratt thinks that some fellow has turned informer, for 
 it is asserted that the reward of a lot of tobacco, or a posi 
 tion as nurse in the hospital, is ready for any one who will 
 give notice of attempts at tunnelling. 
 
 " September i8th. Early in the month barracks were 
 erected on the north side of the prison. During the past 
 week numbers of prisoners have been taken out ; reports 
 are conflicting as to their destination ; at one time that an 
 exchange is going on, which causes hope, but which is 
 soon changed to gloom, as the report comes that we are 
 to be removed to a new stockade. Reports are flying 
 about that Sherman is near. 
 
 "Our detachment received orders, September 12, to be 
 in readiness to move the next morning. At daylight we 
 were packed and at the gate. Word came that we would 
 not be transferred until night, and soon again that an 
 
350 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 accident had occurred by which seven of our men had 
 been killed and the track torn up j so, for a week, we 
 have been waiting patiently, hoping each new day would 
 let us out. The sick have been placed in the .barracks, 
 where they have good shelter from the sun and rain. 
 They suffer much from want of proper food, as their 
 rations are, in the main, the same as are given to the 
 rest of the camp. Occasionally they have a little flour 
 and cooked rice this latter often most miserably pre 
 pared, often mere slops, or, on the other hand, scorched 
 to a crisp. 
 
 " Our rations have been cut down a little, and the meal, 
 a good deal of the time, is of a miserable quality, nothing 
 but " cob-meal " we say, and, to devour it, not a little sput 
 tering has to be done to get rid of the bits of husk, silk 
 and cracked corn mixed with the better portion. Our 
 varying rations are bacon, meal, molasses and beans 
 the latter long harvested, and often flavored with the 
 bugs or insects which "have found them a good place for 
 tunnelling. 
 
 " October 2d. Two weeks more in the Pine Log Prison. 
 I succeeded, near the last of the month, in getting all of 
 the sick of the ninety into the barracks Steele and Taber 
 of our regiment among them ; both were sick with scurvy. 
 Patches of the latter have developed upon my legs ; but 
 so long as they do not swell I do not feel anxious. I have 
 felt lonesome and depressed at times during the past two 
 weeks. For nearly a month we have been waiting and are 
 ready to go anywhere ; to get to a worse place would be 
 scarcely possible. 
 
 " October nth. Nine days since writing in my diary. 
 We were ordered to be ready to move on the fifth, and 
 late in the afternoon the gates swung open and about one 
 thousand of us marched out into what we felt was God s 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 351 
 
 world again. How cheering was the sight of the green 
 grass ! I felt almost like kissing it for joy. We were two 
 nights and one day in crowded box cars, and on the morn 
 ing of the seventh landed outside the city of Savannah. 
 On the way we passed, drawn up on a siding, a train load 
 of returning rebel prisoners. The contrast between their 
 sleek faces and seemingly comfortable clothing and our 
 blackened faces and tattered rags, we at least could see. 
 Cheers we gave them as they generously tossed us some 
 of Uncle Sam s hard tack. 
 
 " * We were ushered into another stockade, and siven 
 
 o 
 
 rations of fresh beef and sweet potatoes. We have been 
 divided into detachments of one hundred, over one of 
 which I have been placed. Our mess is broken up by the 
 escape of Lord while en route. We think it a vain attempt, 
 and expect to see him back. Our stay here is evidently 
 to be but temporary, but the four days improved rations 
 are already having a marked effect for good. I was told 
 that eating raw fresh meat was goo d for scurvy, and have 
 accordingly eaten a good-sized piece each day, with good 
 effect upon my legs. Scores of citizens climb to the top 
 of the stockade and look down upon us, with evident, and 
 in many instances expressed, sympathy, in the shape of 
 second-hand clothing, tobacco, etc., thrown in to us. 
 
 "October iyth. Another change, and, thus far, an 
 agreeable one. As we prophesied, Lord was recaptured 
 and brought into Savannah, but, unfortunately, placed in a 
 different detachment. On the thirteenth we were moved 
 about eighty miles to a newly-built stockade, near Millen, 
 Ga. Thus far we can find no fault with our quarters and 
 but little with our rations, which are near double the 
 amount of those at Andersonville. We draw one pint of 
 meal, six ounces of uncooked beef, teaspoonful of salt, six 
 teaspoonfuls of rice, each day, also sweet potatoes two or 
 
352 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 three times a week the rice some days changed for beans, 
 but the latter so buggy we get pretty hungry before we eat 
 them. Our prison lot contains forty-two acres, and as 
 there are present but about eight thousand of us, we have 
 a chance to spread out without hinderance. It is christened 
 Camp Lawton, has a fine stream running through it, several 
 rods of which are reserved for drinking purposes, another 
 section with a gravelly bottom for bathing, another section 
 for the washing of clothes, and the last section as a sewer. 
 Over this latter are built water-closet facilities, contrasting 
 favorably with the horribly filthy arrangements of Ander- 
 sonville. 
 
 " As we marched upon the ground we were divided into 
 thousands, subdivided into hundreds, and located in mili 
 tary order. Ten brick ovens have been built, ten large 
 iron kettles set in place, and the cooking for each thousand 
 is to be done independently. A large number of iron 
 kettles, holding two gallons, have been given us. The 
 officer in charge appears to be a gentleman as well as a 
 soldier, and does his duty for our comfort. We question, 
 why this change of rations and treatment from that of 
 Andersonville, and think that Jeff Davis or General Winder, 
 or somebody, has repented of evil deeds, and is now doing 
 works meet for repentance. Thirty of each hundred 
 have been permitted to go out for boughs for bedding. 
 Out of the debris remaining from the building of the stock 
 ade our mess are building quarters, ready for cold weather, 
 if need be. Our few axes are kept going from dawn 
 till dark. 
 
 " October 3Oth. We have had two busy weeks working 
 on our "prison-house," and have got up quite roomy and 
 comfortable quarters. Thanks to the fresh meat and sweet 
 potatoes many of us have been cured of scurvy. Medicines 
 are scarce and the cool weather is telling upon the feeble 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 353 
 
 and those who are poorly clad. The death rate has 
 increased to four or five per day. An unoccupied part of 
 camp is used for a ball ground, and many games are had 
 these sunny October days. We hear nothing of exchange, 
 and many bitter words against our government are spoken 
 as our rations decrease, and it looks like Andersonville 
 over again in that direction. Some two hundred and 
 seventy-five have taken the oath to serve the Confederacy, 
 doubtless from varying motives ; but, to most of us, no 
 motive can justify the transaction. 
 
 "November 2oth. Have had frosty nights, and the 
 autumn foliage of the surrounding forests makes one think 
 of his Northern home. Smith parted with a couple of his 
 rings for meal sacks, from which we obtained material for 
 patching. Truly can we say that not only have we coats 
 of many colors, but shirts and trousers ditto. On election 
 day the rebs proposed to us that we have an election, and 
 express our choice for Lincoln or McClellan. We Lincoln 
 men felt in doubt as to the result, as so many were bitter 
 against the government for not effecting an exchange. 
 Differently colored beans were used for ballots, and at 
 sunset the result was announced: 3014 for Lincoln, 1050 
 for McClellan. Not much comfort for the rebs, we thought. 
 An exchange has at last reached us, and two lots of the 
 sick have been sent away, this time indeed and in truth 
 en route to our own lines. It is touching to witness the 
 joy of the poor fellows as at last they could feel certain 
 that they were "going home." Some detestable business 
 was done by some of the reb surgeons and our own men in 
 the matter. The surgeon would examine a sick man and 
 pronounce him a fit subject for exchange, then go and sell 
 the poor man s chance to some perhaps nearly well man, 
 for money or other gift. 
 
 " November 28th. The past eight days have been 
 
354 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 fruitful in change. For some days rumors crept into camp 
 that General Sherman was near. On the twenty-second, 
 long trains of box cars were in sight from the prison, and 
 word came to "pack up and be ready to move." Cold, 
 raw, and drizzly without, most of us were in our shelters, 
 and the order to turn out was no agreeable one to us in 
 our rags, and having no hope of exchange. Some tried to 
 hide in their quarters, burying themselves beneath their 
 bedding of pine boughs. This was soon discovered, and a 
 rebel bayonet thrust in their faces scattered their hopes of 
 staying behind to welcome Sherman. We were hastily 
 crowded into the box cars, almost at the point of the 
 bayonet, for upon some of us protesting that "this car is 
 full," we were made to see that there was room for more 
 by a bayonet charge. The cold increased, as a few scatter 
 ing snow-flakes plainly told us. All night and until ten 
 the next night getting over the eighty miles to Savannah 
 now waiting for hours at some siding, or backing and filling 
 at some rising grade, to get our heavily freighted train 
 along. Midnight of the twenty-third found us massed in 
 one of the vacant squares in the city of Savannah, chilled 
 to the bone with the cold, weak and faint from hunger. 
 
 " We lay down in heaps to keep warm. Those of us 
 from Massachusetts talked of the morrow (Thursday) as 
 probably Thanksgiving Day in the Old Bay State. I went 
 to sleep with mind and heart busy with thoughts of the glad 
 old Thanksgiving days of the past, and " Lo ! I dreamed a 
 dream." I was at home,, sitting at my mother s table, 
 alone, clothed in my prison rags, and before me a large 
 turkey, cranberry sauce, etc., I grasped the carving knife 
 to help myself and woke to find that the gray November 
 clouds had gone, the stars were glittering overhead, and I 
 was cold and hungry. 
 
 " We remained through the twenty-fourth at Savannah. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 355 
 
 Rations of hard tack were given us. A few friendly citizens 
 brought us extras in the shape of cold victuals. The guard 
 treated us well. One train load was sent off, destined, we 
 were told, for Florida. No exchange for us now, we felt. 
 Into box cars again on the twenty-fifth, and at nine P. M. 
 en route for Charleston, S. C. A tedious journey, most of 
 the way through pine forests and dismal swamps. The 
 towns and villages through which we passed spoke plainly 
 of desolation and poverty. We were given rations of 
 bread at Charleston, and the citizens treated us kindly. 
 Here we found that our final destination was Florence, S. 
 C., to another stockade prison. A ride of one hundred 
 and ten miles, tolerably comfortable by day, as a kindly 
 Providence favored us. with bright, mild weather, but chilly 
 and dreary at night, and at three A. M. this morning, 
 twenty-eighth, we were turned into a field, where we piled 
 together upon the frosty grass and, overcome by intense 
 weariness, forgot hunger and cold, and slept till the sun 
 was above the horizon. In the distance we could discern 
 our new prison-home the dim outlines of a stockade 
 overhung with a cloud of smoke, through which the morn 
 ing sun seemed hardly to penetrate. We were soon in our 
 new abode, with failing hearts, questioning ourselves and 
 each other, " Can we stand it through the winter ? " we 
 are determined to try. 
 
 " We find the prison to be on the same plan as at 
 Andersonville, of about fifteen acres, five of which are an 
 uninhabitable swamp ; through the centre runs a clear and 
 rapid stream ; thank God for this ! In building here the 
 rebs were wiser than at Andersonville, for outside the 
 stockade they have dug a deep trench, so that tunnelling 
 is scarcely possible. The men are divided into thousands, 
 sub-divided into hundreds. Our mess, now reduced to 
 Pratt and myself, is placed in the fourth hundred of the 
 
356 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 fourth thousand ; Smith was so fortunate as to go out with 
 those at Millen for exchange. Rations of about one pint 
 of raw meal, one pint of flour, and one-half pint of black 
 beans, were given us, of which we made a grand stew, 
 speedily devoured, and " licked the platter clean," to make 
 sure that nothing was wasted. Report says that there are 
 about twelve thousand in camp. A squad of police is on 
 duty, made up of our own men, and good order seems to 
 reign. No shelter is provided by the rebs. Most of the 
 men have built some sort of mud huts ; building walls of 
 two or three feet and roofing with blankets, brushwood 
 and mud, with a fire-place and chimney at the front of 
 bricks made from the clay, which, providentially, abounds 
 in the prison. 
 
 " December 4. Winter has come by the calendar, but 
 not as yet in reality, for the weather has been delightful, 
 so that we have needed no fire for warmth. Wood squads 
 go out of the prison daily, mainly to cut wood for the camp ; 
 some, however, work for the reb officers, making tubs, 
 pails, birch-brooms, and building log cabins. These squads 
 give the " parole " that they will not try to run away or go 
 more than one mile from camp, and are allowed extra 
 rations. We miss the extra rations of Andersonville and 
 Millen (I not being a detachment sergeant here), and now 
 I find myself hungry and growing weak. 
 
 " We have taken a comrade, Hall, into our mess ; he 
 has a good blanket to add to our stock. We have nearly 
 finished a good mud hut, fire-place and chimney, roofed 
 with our blankets, so that we feel quite well prepared for 
 winter. A few sick have been paroled during the week. 
 There is a great rush to get out on the work squads, for, 
 in addition to extra rations, they have opportunity to trade 
 with the rebel guard and the negroes. The latter come to 
 our men, on the sly, as they are at work in the woods, and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 357 
 
 bring sweet potatoes, beans, etc., which they barter for 
 pens, knives, pocket-books, buttons especially U. S. 
 combs, and carved knick-knacks made by the prisoners. 
 From these extras brought into camp by the squads quite 
 a trade is carried on inside the stockade. I have deter 
 mined to try my hand at it, and have sold my quart cup, 
 tin plate and a small kettle for capital. Felt discouraged 
 to-day in trying to mend my ragged clothing shirt, pants 
 and blouse have become literally " rags and patches " ; I 
 counted fourteen different patches upon my pants. The 
 week closes with Hall out at work with one of the squads, 
 which gives us encouragement. I have tried to get out to 
 work, and also upon the police, but thus far in vain. 
 
 " December i8th. The past two weeks have brought win 
 ter weather, a new factor as a cause for suffering. In Ander- 
 sonville it was heat, now it is cold ; and the past week has 
 seen a dozen or more poor fellows numbered with the dead, 
 with the verdict, "frozen to death." The prisoners, as a 
 whole, are worse off for clothing than at Andersonville ; 
 scores are shoeless and hatless. The wood furnished for 
 fuel is mostly green, and almost defies our attempts to get 
 any heat from it. The smoke about the camp is suffocating, 
 and our men look more like negroes than white men. We 
 have have had some rations of fresh meat, which have 
 been a great blessing to those having scurvy. Hall has 
 been taken sick and sent to hospital. We made four 
 kettles of soup, Hall having got the materials for it from 
 outside, and sold three with good success. With the profit 
 we bought some pepper and salt. The fourth got sour and 
 was a total loss. The iron camp kettles given us at Millen 
 are of great service to us here. I found Sergeant Lunt 
 of Company A here the past week, and he has cast in his 
 lot with our mess. I borrowed from comrades a copy of 
 Harper s Monthly and Volume VI of " Hume s History of 
 25 
 
358 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 England," which have helped to cheer some of the other 
 wise dull hours. 
 
 " December 26th. The week has brought an agreeable 
 change to our mess and myself. On the twenty-second, the 
 reb quartermaster came into camp calling for a boss car 
 penter and seven assistants. Lunt was selected, and I 
 was fortunate to get with him as a " striker." We have 
 now had three days outside, and never did fresh air, fields 
 and woods seem so rich a blessing. We have been set to 
 work to build a log cabin for one of the officials ; going 
 out at sunrise into the woods, and through the day cutting 
 logs and riving shingles. I had all I could do the first day 
 to swing the axe, and had the reb overseer been with us 
 much of the time, I fear I should have given out. Our 
 extras are liberal and our three days experience begins 
 to rake us feel like men again. Pratt acts as cook, and 
 as we come in at sunset, with our extras and bundles of 
 pine upon our shoulders, greets us with a smiling face, a 
 gallon of hot coffee (?) made from burnt corn meal, bean 
 soup and baked hoe cake, which by the light of a pitch 
 pine knot we gratefully devour. 
 
 " Every Sabbath forenoon we are counted off. The 
 guard comes in and we upon the west side are made to 
 pass the creek to the east side, and there wait, shivering 
 it may be in the rain and cold, while the guards go through 
 our quarters and take account of those who are too sick to 
 crawl out. Then the whole camp is required to cross the 
 bridge in order, by hundreds and by fours, between two 
 reb officers, who count us as we pass ; it often takes four 
 hours to complete the count. I was most of the day 
 patching my shirt with an old meal sack, which I had 
 foraged outside. 
 
 " January ist, 1865. No change for the better; no 
 signs of an exchange, and some of our poor fellows, weary 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 359 
 
 and heart sick, are taking the oath of allegiance to the 
 Southern Confederacy not many, although the rebs are 
 giving invitations freely, coupled with promises of clothing, 
 etc. The cold snaps multiply and little patches of ice 
 fringe the edges of the creek, and with each cold wave one 
 or more poor fellow gives up the fight, and, in prison 
 phraseology, is " exchanged." 
 
 " February, 1865. Our work squad has been out day 
 by day ; the last part of the time cutting wood for use in 
 the stockade. Our extras have been cut do\vn, and, from 
 what we can see, we have concluded that the rebel guard 
 are not abundantly supplied. Thanks to the negroes, who 
 have always something for us, as they slyly stray in upon 
 us in our wood-cutting expeditions handing us a few 
 sweet potatoes or a little bag of beans, and often refusing 
 all pay. Up to near the middle of January we were 
 allowed to take our foraging into the stockade without 
 hinderance. All at once came the word from the overseer 
 that no more would be allowed to go in ; we meekly 
 received the order, but mentally said "we would see." 
 And we did see, and for a few days, with well padded 
 bosoms and bulky trowser legs and caps with well stuffed 
 crowns, we bore in many a treasure to our comrades. But 
 this was soon ended ; the guard detailed to watch us began 
 to more than look at us, and a hand upon the hat crown or 
 pant leg ended the flank movement. Another plan was 
 successful for a season: each was allowed to take in a 
 stick of wood on his shoulder ; some men would split and 
 hollow out these logs, fill them with beans, and with the 
 sticks dowelled together march into camp. This also was 
 soon ended, for one night the overseer himself stood by 
 and with a club not over gently tapped each log, and, as 
 now and then one gave a hollow sound, he would distinctly 
 say, "Drop that ! " One day Lunt was given an ox-head 
 
360 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 by the overseer, and for two days we revelled in beef soup. 
 In dressing it for cooking, Pratt threw the eyes outside, 
 and, to his surprise, saw a comrade pick them up and try 
 to cook them ; but he gave it up after boiling them for an 
 hour or more. 
 
 " With the entry for February i my diary closed, for 
 want of paper to write upon. The following closing 
 account is given from memory : 
 
 " As the month drew on, those of us working outside 
 made up our minds that if there was no exchange at hand 
 Sherman was, and also the doom of the Southern Con 
 federacy. A rebel paper or fragment of one would come 
 into our hands and from it we thought we could read that 
 perplexity and doubt were with the rebel leaders. Our 
 extra rations were again cut down ; but we noticed that 
 the rations of the rebel guard were also reduced. Often 
 to appease my hunger I would stroll about the rear of the 
 officers quarters, during the hour given for nooning, and 
 search for bones, sweet potato parings, bits of corn bread, 
 etc. Near the middle of the month rumors came thick 
 and fast that an exchange had been agreed upon, and they 
 gave hope and cheer to all. In the last week the work 
 began and soon reached our thousand, and we marched 
 out with hearts too full for utterance, feeling sure that we 
 had bidden good-bye to our last rebel prison. 
 
 " Many were too weak to walk even the few rods to the 
 now welcome box cars, and were supported or lugged in 
 blankets by comrades. We were crowded in at the point 
 of the bayonet, but we did not care, we were going home ! 
 Soon after getting started Pratt was taken sick and grew 
 rapidly worse, so that on the second day he could scarcely 
 sit up. We were two nights and one day on the way to 
 Wilmington, N. C., where the exchange took place. At 
 the dawn of each day the officer in charge of the train 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 361 
 
 would come to each car with the question, * Any dead men 
 in this car ? and in nearly every car one, and in some two, 
 would be found to have given up the fight showing that 
 not even going home could overcome the effects of the 
 past weary months struggle with hunger, cold and disease. 
 
 " Near Wilmington we were taken out into a wood, where 
 in a log cabin we signed the parole papers. Poor Pratt 
 was too weak to sit up, so we fixed our blankets upon 
 poles for a stretcher and took him along with us ; every 
 movement hurt him, and he begged us to leave him. From 
 the wood we were taken to an open lot, where we squatted 
 in groups, weary and hungry. As the day wore on, the 
 sound of firing at no great distance caused a glow of ex 
 citement among us, and soon we were put upon the cars 
 again and started away from the city. What could it 
 mean, we queried, are we doomed to disappointment 
 again ? We were taken back to a wood near by, where 
 we were told to make ourselves comfortable. While 
 waiting for the train to move we tore open a bale of cotton 
 lying near the track, and soon had a downy bed in one 
 corner of the car, upon which we placed Pratt ; a smile of 
 peace passed over his face as we laid him down upon it. 
 
 " We had been in the woods but a little while, when, to 
 our surprise, a squad of reb cavalry straggled by followed 
 by some reb infantry, who were evidently in a hurry. An 
 occasional stray shot over our heads told us the cause of 
 their haste, and soon came the news that General Terry 
 had captured Wilmington ! We felt like cheering, but for 
 more than one reason did not. Soon after we were again 
 on the move, and landed in the outskirts of the city. 
 
 " On the morning of March 3d we were cheered by 
 the sight of a train of United States ambulances, into 
 which we crowded, scarce waiting for them to halt. 
 We laid Pratt upon the bottom of one of them, with 
 
362 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 a pillow ; he seemed to be in a sort of stupor. Pen 
 cannot describe our emotions as we caught sight of 
 the old flag near Wilmington ; our cheers mingled with 
 tears of joy ; the thoughts rising in all our hearts of 
 * something to eat, something to wear, and home again ! 
 Pratt was roused by the commotion, and when told its 
 cause he cried Let me see it, and we lifted him up; 
 joy shone upon his face as he gazed with us upon the 
 stars and stripes waving in the morning sun. 
 
 " Much might be said of our stay in Wilmington until 
 the next day ; memory recalls most vividly our first recep 
 tion of rations boiled fresh meat and soft bread ; almost 
 at the point of the bayonet did some have to be kept from 
 rushing to grasp the coveted food. In the afternoon we 
 were taken into the city and quartered in churches, school- 
 houses, etc., having to wait till next day for the steamer to 
 take us to Annapolis. 
 
 " Our mess clung together, taking Pratt with us, who 
 was in a raging fever. We were quartered in a small 
 chapel, where we passed a dreary night. Our hunger had 
 been somewhat appeased, but we were cold, we were 
 ragged, and scores of vermin, which had followed us from 
 our prison, so persistently reminded us of their friendship 
 that sleep was almost impossible. In the morning (March 
 4th) we were inspected by a surgeon, and those too weak 
 to stand the journey were taken to the hospitals. We 
 bade good-bye to Pratt, hardly daring to hope ever to 
 see him again. At noon we were upon the steamer for 
 Annapolis. Most of us soon became sea-sick, and as a 
 result were weak and trembling as, upon arrival there, we 
 were landed just at dark at the dock of the Naval Academy 
 grounds. 
 
 " With wise forethought for us the United States San 
 itary Commission was on board with a barrel of hot milk 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 363 
 
 punch, a mug of which was given to each of us as we filed 
 from the steamer. We were taken to a large bath-room, 
 treated to a warm bath, aided with soap and scrub brush, 
 our hair cropped, and given a suit of clothes. I felt like 
 holding on to my prison uniform, as a war relic, but 
 knew it would be useless to ask the privilege, for it con 
 tained too much life to admit, under the circumstances, 
 of being suitably prepared for preservation. From the 
 bath-room we were put into comfortable cots, where, with 
 varying emotions, we felt that our prison days were over. 
 On the morrow came the word Thirty days furlough as 
 soon as you are able to go home ! 
 
 Lieutenant Blanchard s narrative is as follows : 
 
 "I was captured on the thirtieth of September, 1864. 
 
 " That day will be remembered as cloudy and dull, and 
 an altogether unpromising one for military operations ; 
 but, in compliance with orders, an early start was made, 
 and we began feeling for the enemy, little dreaming that 
 before nightfall the enemy would be feeling of some of us 
 in a manner entirely regardless of any preference we might 
 have as to the method of disposing of us or our effects. 
 
 " The day had been spent in skirmishing and in working 
 our way to the left in the direction of the South Side 
 Railroad, the only remaining line of rail communication 
 between Petersburg and the South. 
 
 " We were a comparatively short distance from this road 
 when our regiment passed out of a belt of woods across an 
 open field, in sight of the rebel earthworks forming a part 
 of the Petersburg line of defences. Under a light rifle 
 fire from the enemy we took refuge behind a rail fence, 
 and had exchanged a few shots, when, noticing an extra 
 ordinary commotion along the line to my right, I looked 
 in that direction and saw close upon us a body of rebel 
 
364 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 cavalry galloping towards us and apparently meeting with 
 no opposition. Turning to the left I saw our men ( legging 
 it for the woods in the rear, and was about to follow them 
 myself, when I saw it was too late the Johnnies were 
 upon us, and had made prisoners of a dozen or more of 
 our German recruits and myself. Being a diffident sort of 
 person, and the only one of our men who could speak the 
 English language, I left it for the leader of the rebel host 
 to make such introductory remarks as might, to him, seem 
 best suited to the occasion. He was not long in taking in 
 the situation, and notably relieved my embarrassment by 
 alluding to us as a parcel of condemned Yankees (the 
 word condemned is a substitution), and inviting us in 
 words more emphatic than refined to get over to the other 
 side of the fence. We got over, and started towards the 
 enemy s lines, accompanied by a guard ; we had gone but 
 a short distance when we were met by a rebel line of skir 
 mishers a sorry-looking set and evidently as much 
 scared as we were. 
 
 " They were not long in making our acquaintance and 
 making the most of it. One cadaverous looking individual, 
 fully six feet and ten inches tall, addressed me with, 
 * Hello, Yank, got any coffee? I was about to ask him 
 if he took me for a green-grocer, when he deliberately 
 took hold of the strap to my haversack and, lifting bag and 
 all over my head, coolly threw it over his own shoulder 
 and marched off as complacently as though he had done 
 me an indescribable kindness. My reflections were soon 
 turned from the subject of groceries to that of dry goods, 
 by a genial-faced Southron, who thoughtfully suggested 
 that, as I would soon be going into warmer latitudes, the 
 heavy blanket I was carrying would be an encumbrance 
 that would make my journey truly miserable, and so, de 
 siring to add to my comfort, he generously relieved me of 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 365 
 
 the aforesaid burden, and passed on with a smile upon his 
 face that, under any other circumstances, would have been 
 a positive benediction upon the one who beheld it. Another 
 kindly-disposed fellow had similar convictions regarding 
 the inconvenience I might suffer from lugging about the 
 overcoat that was strapped to my knapsack, and he, like 
 wise, in a truly self-sacrificing spirit, proceeded to assume 
 that part of my burden for me. I shall never forgive, 
 however, the chap who, on that occasion, borrowed my 
 jack-knife and other pocket fixings, such as go to make up 
 an important part of a soldier s outfit. Neither can I 
 forget the possibly well-meant kindness that prompted one 
 of my new-found acquaintances to remove my hat from 
 my head, and, placing it upon his chivalric brow, con 
 siderately replace it with his own a nasty, greasy old 
 tile that completely overshadowed me, and, I might add, 
 nearly suffocated me with its foul odor. 
 
 " After we had been thus put in light marching order, 
 our guards were instructed to conduct us into Petersburg 
 and turn us over to the provost marshal. 
 
 " Resuming our journey, we passed down a narrow 
 ravine that brought us to the foot of the hill, upon which 
 were thrown up several lines of earthworks, constructed in 
 terraces and in such a convenient rise as to render them 
 almost impregnable, even though defended by a mere 
 handful of men. We passed directly through these 
 terraces and found them occupied by a comparatively 
 small body of troops. As we passed through the rebel 
 lines we were the subject of much good-natured chaffing, 
 and fell into a friendly chat with our guards, from whom 
 we learned that the rank and file of the Confederate army 
 had practically given up their cause as hopeless, and had 
 lost faith in their leaders. 
 
 " Reaching the crest of the hill we obtained our first view 
 
366 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 of the town of Petersburg, which lay some two or three 
 miles to the north. It was nearly dark, but we could 
 discern small squads of men travelling in the same direc 
 tion as ourselves, and, as we reached the main road, we 
 found them to be prisoners like ourselves. As we jour 
 neyed toward the town our ranks were continually aug 
 mented by these squads, until we began to think that the 
 1 rebs had * gobbled up the whole of Grant s left wing. 
 " It was nearly nine o clock before we entered the out 
 skirts of the town, but the news of our capture had preceded 
 us, and the people were out in force to get a peep at the 
 Yankees, of whom they had never seen so many. It 
 seemed as though we would never reach our destination, 
 and many of us verily believed that we were being marched 
 through the highways and byways of the town on exhibition. 
 As a rule there were no demonstrations, except occasion 
 ally a suggestive remark about our nativity or some 
 comment upon our personal appearance. One old crone 
 stepped up to us, and, shaking her unwashed forefinger, 
 exclaimed, Well, you uns has got into Petersburg, hain t 
 yer? No one stopped to dispute the point with her, there 
 being no uncertainty in our minds regarding the fact of 
 our being in the town, though we might have confessed to 
 some forebodings as to the probabilities of our getting out 
 of it. At length we were brought to a halt, and, after a 
 long delay, were turned into an open lot which had 
 evidently been used for a cattle yard. Here we were 
 ordered to make ourselves comfortable for the night. At 
 this moment it dawned upon my mind that my impromptu 
 friends of the afternoon had rather overdone the matter of 
 solicitation for my welfare, and I, uncharitably, perhaps, 
 began to feel that their benevolent acts might, after all, 
 have been born of mercenary motives ; for I realized, at 
 this juncture, that a blanket or an overcoat and well- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 367 
 
 filled haversack would be among the most acceptable and 
 useful things in the world. 
 
 " The night was dark and the sky was filled with heavy 
 clouds that poured an occasional shower of rain upon us. 
 I was tired, hungry and sleepy, yet it was past midnight 
 before I ventured to follow the lead of some of my more 
 reconciled companions and seek repose as best I might. 
 I wandered about, vainly hoping to stumble over a board 
 or some article that would protect me from the mud (into 
 which I knew I must lie unless I was equal to the emer 
 gency of sleeping horse fashion, standing upon my legs) ; 
 the latter seemed resolutely opposed to such an innovation, 
 and, as if by way of compromise, led me to a spot where 
 a man was snoring at the rate, I should judge, of a mile a 
 minute. I was not long in discovering that he was lying 
 upon a rubber blanket. Now I never knew of a rubber 
 blanket that was not big enough to accommodate two 
 persons, so without any apology to the proprietor of this 
 particular blanket, I laid my knapsack (the only remaining 
 memento by which I could identify myself as a * boy in 
 blue ) upon the ground for a pillow, stretched myself 
 by the side of my companion (by appropriation), and, cov 
 ering my head with the villainous old tile that adorned 
 me during the day, I was soon asleep and entirely un 
 mindful of houseless head and unfed sides. 
 
 " October ist. When I awoke this morning it was long 
 after daylight, and I found my head in the mud and my 
 knapsack and the " old tile " gone. My companion of the 
 night was sitting on the blanket by my side contentedly 
 pulling away at his pipe, apparently as unconcerned as 
 though he were waiting the morning call for breakfast. I 
 naturally expected a demand from him for a settlement 
 for my night s lodging, but, instead, he politely touched his 
 hat and saluted me as " Mr. Sergeant," when I recognized 
 
368 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 him as one of the German recruits belonging to the Thirty- 
 Fifth Regiment. He had evidently been taking notes of 
 my condition, and though he could not express his sympathy 
 in words he manifested a noble and generous nature by 
 sharing with me some of his outfit that he had been for 
 tunate enough to preserve when he fell into rebel hands. 
 Finding that I was coatless and hatless he gave me the 
 cape to his overcoat and the glazed cover to his military 
 cap, and these articles were the only covering of this kind 
 that I had during my six months sojourn in rebeldom 
 these were my blanket and head-dress. Many times 
 during the cold winter nights, when I pulled the cape 
 about me, making it cover every possible inch of my body, 
 did my thoughts go out in gratitude to the kind-hearted 
 Teuton, who, at a time when most men think only of self- 
 preservation, found occasion for the exercise of that virtue 
 possessed by those who act under the injunction of the 
 Master : " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This 
 man was afterwards sent to Salisbury prison-pen, and, to 
 escape its horrors, is said to have enlisted in the rebel 
 army. Whether he did or not I have for him only the 
 kindest sentiments and the warmest impulses of a grateful 
 heart. During the forenoon of this day large numbers 
 were added to our ranks, and the report circulated that 
 three thousand of our men had been taken by the rebels 
 as a result of yesterday s movements. A few hours before 
 my capture I received notification that I had been com 
 missioned a 2d lieutenant, and when to-day I came to be 
 registered I determined to report myself as such, notwith 
 standing the fact that I had not yet been mustered. This 
 proved a most fortunate decision for me, as by so doing I 
 was placed among the commissioned officers and received 
 better treatment than most of the enlisted men who were 
 captured with me. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 369 
 
 " Among the large number of our men, I have to-day, 
 October ist, found but few familiar faces, namely : Sergeant 
 Ireland and Corporal Taylor Dodge of Company B, and John 
 Jeffers of Company K. We were this afternoon removed 
 to a building where we were under cover, and which proved 
 quite comfortable in comparison with last night s quarters. 
 To-day we went through the " searching " ordeal. Being 
 called off in small squads, we were conducted into a room 
 where we were detained until one at a time we were called 
 into a separate apartment, stripped to the skin and searched, 
 under the comforting assurance that our effects would be 
 held until we might be exchanged, then to be returned to 
 us. It is due the intelligence of our men to say that none 
 of them " hoisted in " the lt return upon being exchanged " 
 part of this proceeding. I was sent into the first of the 
 above-mentioned rooms with about a dozen others, one of 
 whom had been ordered into the room of the " Inquisition," 
 when another, who remained behind, began to sob and 
 manifested signs of deep emotion. Upon being questioned, 
 he stated that he had upon his person nearly eleven hundred 
 dollars, and the prospect of losing this sum had completely 
 broken him down. The money was in hundred dollar bills, 
 with the exception of about seventy dollars in notes of 
 smaller denominations. One of our number suggested 
 that he leave the small bills in his pocket and entrust the 
 remainder to the rest of the party, each one of whom 
 should fold a hundred dollar bill and place it in his mouth 
 while being searched. This plan was adopted and the 
 officer recovered every one of his bills after he returned to 
 his quarters. 
 
 " When I was ordered into the small room for exami 
 nation, the " committee " evidently thought it had not 
 struck much of a " bonanza " in me, for I was indeed a 
 sorry-looking object as I entered, wearing the overcoat 
 
37 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 cape and glazed cap cover which fitted close to my head ; 
 my face and hands had been unwashed for nearly three 
 days, my clothing was bespattered with mud, my jaws 
 wagging vigorously as I chewed away at the hundred 
 dollar bill in my mouth. I could see that the call of " next " 
 would not be long delayed. Upon giving the presiding 
 " searcher" my name and rank, he ventured the flattering 
 suggestion that "I was a h-11 of a looking lieutenant," 
 and wanted to know where my shoulder straps were. 
 To this I replied that I had distributed the most of 
 my clothing among men on the Confederate skirmish 
 line in front of Petersburg, and he could "reckon" 
 as well as I as to the probable whereabouts of my 
 straps. My dilapidated appearance proved fortunate 
 for me, as I received only a slight examination (not being 
 favored with the distinction of being stripped), by which I 
 preserved my watch, which I afterwards sold at a time 
 when I was nearly famished. Upon rejoining my com 
 rades I found myself possessed of the following inven 
 tory of this world s goods : one pair of boots (good ones), 
 one pair of socks (that would be greatly improved by darn 
 ing), one pair of pants (very thin and much worn), one 
 pair of drawers, one shirt, one blouse, an overcoat cape, 
 a glazed cap cover and my watch. 
 
 " * Sunday, October 2d. Drew rations of pork and hard 
 bread. In the afternoon we were marched to the railroad 
 station, where, after a delay of several hours, we were 
 packed into cattle cars and started for Richmond. 
 
 11 Monday, October 3d. Arrived in Richmond at day 
 light, and, with the commissioned officers, was incarcerated 
 in Libby prison. The enlisted men were sent to Belle 
 Isle. As we entered the room in which we were to be 
 confined we were greeted with cries of " fresh ! " " fresh ! " 
 from the dozen or more officers who had occupied the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 371 
 
 place as prisoners for some weeks. Among these were 
 General Hayes of New York and Colonel Hooper of 
 the Twenty-Fourth Massachusetts Volunteers. We were 
 served with a ration of corn bread (so called) and meat 
 (the lungs and heads of beef cattle). We were drawn up 
 in line this morning and " reviewed " by the notorious 
 Dick Turner and his servile satellite, Lieutenant Ross, 
 together forming a brace of the most cowardly bullies that 
 ever went unhung. 
 
 " Tuesday, October 4th. Early this morning a squad 
 of Union officers arrived from Charleston, en route to be 
 exchanged. They tell hard stories of their treatment in 
 Southern prisons. The walls of this place are literally 
 covered with the names of men who have been prisoners. 
 After being counted to-day, Turner informed us that we 
 might write letters home (as a flag of truce boat was going 
 down the James River), and our communications would be 
 forwarded by her. We were cautioned to make our letters 
 short and strictly confined to personal matters. I took 
 advantage of the opportunity to pen the following epistle, 
 for the second clause of which I hope to be forgiven : 
 
 U i It 
 
 " "LiBBY PRISON, RICHMOND, VA., Oct. 4, 1864. 
 Dear father: I was taken prisoner in front of 
 Petersburg, Sept. 3oth. Am comfortably situated and well 
 treated. I find the names of Frank Sweeney and Robert 
 Steele of Company C written on the walls of the room in 
 which I am confined. Please inform their friends. Hoping 
 soon to be with you, I am," etc. 
 
 " Wednesday, October 5th. Where all the lice in this 
 place came from is more than I can comprehend. Every 
 morning each inmate of the prison strips himself and pro 
 ceeds to dispatch the small army of vermin that has over 
 run him during the night; but each day one finds about 
 
372 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 the same number of full-grown, rapacious creepers fat, 
 sleek and agile. The guard imparts to us the comforting 
 intelligence that we are soon to be sent South. 
 
 " Thursday, October 6th. Find that lying upon a floor 
 with neither mattress nor covering is not conducive to 
 refreshing sleep. Think I would prefer to take my chances 
 with the boys in front of Petersburg. Copies of Richmond 
 papers were brought in to-day. It is drawing it mildly to 
 say that the news they contain evidently lacks confirmation. 
 By them it appears that the Union cause is on its " last 
 legs." Thirteen hundred of our men started South this 
 afternoon. Notwithstanding the thorough searching to 
 which we were subjected at Petersburg, many of the officers 
 seem to have retained a portion of their greenbacks, and 
 succeed in purchasing bread and vegetables of the guards. 
 
 " ( Friday, October yth. Several officers went in the 
 truce boat and were exchanged. Can hear shells from our 
 artillery bursting near the city. 
 
 " * Saturday, October 8th. Last night it was very cold, 
 and to-day we are obliged to keep in motion in order to be 
 at all comfortable. No food until three P. M., when we 
 were served with three days rations of corn bread and 
 tainted meat, and started for the South via Danville, Va. 
 
 " Sunday, October gth. Weather still cold. Had a 
 hard night on the cars. About noon arrived at Greens 
 boro, N. C., where we left the cars and are waiting the 
 arrival of another train, not due until to-morrow. 
 
 " Monday, October loth. Passed the night upon the 
 ground without shelter, and at eight o clock A. M. resumed 
 our journey. As soon as the train had started we pro 
 ceeded to introduce light and ventilation by tearing off 
 the boards from the frame of the cars. Notwithstanding 
 great hunger I find it difficult to eat my rations, for the 
 bread is not bread and the meat is too vile for a human 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 373 
 
 being to use as food; yet my conscience will not allow 
 me to throw it away. As we stopped at a station this 
 afternoon we heard a noise as of some one climbing up 
 the side of the car, and presently a basket was passed 
 through an opening that had been made by the removal 
 of a board, and a voice (evidently that of a colored 
 woman) called out " Here, you uns, take dese, an God 
 bless yer!" at the same time the long black arm that held 
 the basket turned it upside down and scattered half a 
 peck or more of well-ripened apples among us. Cheers 
 were given for our unseen friend, whose generous act 
 told of the promptings of a grateful soul, and solaced us 
 with the thought that if we could but get beyond the 
 range of rebel rifles there were friends at command whose 
 loyal hearts and willing hands would be ready to speed us 
 on our way to " God s country ; " that, to the prisoner s 
 mind, lay north of Mason and Dixon s line. Arrived at 
 Salisbury at about dark. There was a notable absence of 
 gas lamps and lanterns. We were conducted to a building 
 said to be used as a hospital for the prisoners, and were 
 placed in an upper room, which we found in a most filthy 
 condition. A number of prisoners were already in the 
 room, and by them we were warned to look out for the 
 "raiders," a band of thieves and cut-throats who made it 
 their business to " go through " every newly-arrived con 
 signment of prisoners. These fiends had access to the 
 building from below, and would steal up at night, under 
 cover of the darkness, seize a prisoner and rob him of all 
 he possessed, resorting to murder if necessary to accom 
 plish these ends. These rascals made but one attempt 
 upon our company, which numbered nearly four hundred 
 men, who kept a vigil ant watch, and all attempts at plunder 
 were frustrated. 
 
 " Tuesday, October nth. Vermin and hunger brought 
 26 
 
374 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 me to my feet early this morning, when I took a survey of 
 the place that for a time was to be my prison home. The 
 pen (for Salisbury was nothing else) was a triangular- 
 shaped parcel of ground about one-fifth as large as Boston 
 Common, and surrounded by a stockade about fifteen feet 
 high. On the outside of this, about four feet from the top, 
 was a raised walk upon which rebel guards patrolled, 
 breaking the monotony of their weary beat by occasionally 
 shooting, under one pretence or another, some helpless 
 " Yank." The brick building of which we were occupants 
 was situated in the south-west corner of the enclosure, and 
 at the opposite corner was a row of log cabins, usually 
 occupied by Union officers held as prisoners and separated 
 from the enlisted men by a " dead line " a narrow trench 
 about twelve inches wide and six inches deep, extending 
 entirely across the yard. Another dead line ran entirely 
 around the enclosure within about five feet of the stockade. 
 Among the prisoners confined in the brick building, we 
 met Albert D. Richardson, the far-famed correspondent of 
 the New York Tribune, who had been a long time in cap 
 tivity and who had been of late placed in charge of the 
 sick Union prisoners. Our rations for this day consisted 
 of half a loaf of bread. We were this afternoon transferred 
 to the log cabins, where we enjoyed the luxury of breath 
 ing fresh, pure air. 
 
 "Wednesday, October i2th. A glance across the dead 
 line presents a most heart-rending sight. Fully ten thousand 
 men are swarming the small plot of ground, all of them 
 suffering with hunger, and many of them bare-headed and 
 shoeless. Pneumonia is said to be very prevalent among 
 them, and that it is doing its fatal work is attested by the 
 presence of the dead cart, which every morning carries 
 away a load of uncoffined dead. As I was sitting near the 
 dead line this forenoon, "skirmishing" (hunting my 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 375 
 
 clothes for vermin a search, by the way, always attended 
 with the most abundant results), I saw Corporal Preston 
 Holbrook, of Company C, who was captured the same day 
 as myself. He informed me that Corporal Wm. P. Stone, 
 also of Company C, was somewhere in the pen. 
 
 "Thursday, October i3th. Had a ration of soup to 
 day. It was made by boiling the trimmings of beef cattle, 
 such as the head and pluck, in water, and adding a few 
 black or " hog " beans, as they were called. These beans 
 would not swell and thicken the liquor in which they were 
 boiled (as do the common white beans), but would become 
 soft inside, and the shell or hull not breaking they would 
 sink to the bottom of the kettle, leaving a watery broth 
 that took on the color of the bean and looked as much like 
 blue water, such as our mothers prepare for washing, as it 
 did like soup, and was just about as nutritious. 
 
 "Friday, October i4th. Saw Corporal Stone to-day. 
 He was captured August igth, in front of Petersburg, and, 
 with several others taken that day, was reported " missing " 
 on the company rolls. He had been a prisoner about two 
 months, and already showed signs of emaciation. It was 
 evident that the rigors of prison life were telling severely 
 upon him. He was barefooted. He bargained to sell his 
 shoes for bread, but in the negotiation only his part of the 
 trade was carried out ; the rebel guard getting possession 
 of the shoes failed to deliver the bread. 
 
 " Saturday, October i5th. Sold my watch to-day for 
 seventy dollars in Confederate money and a pair of second 
 hand shoes. Gave the latter to Corporal Stone, sending 
 them to him by one of our men who had been detailed 
 among others to bring a supply of water across the line to 
 the officers. The water we get is of fair quality, but the 
 supply is very scant. 
 
 " Sunday, October i6th. While I was "skirmishing" 
 
376 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 this morning Captain Davis of the One Hundred and Fifty- 
 Fifth New York came out of the log hut of which we were 
 both occupants, and, addressing me with a cordial morning 
 salutation, passed to my right and stood against a tree 
 about fifteen feet from the stockade. I was suddenly 
 startled by the crack of a rifle, and turning saw Captain 
 Davis fall dead. Murdered by a half-grown boy, who was 
 performing the duty of sentinel. Davis had committed no 
 offence, and no possible apology could be offered for 
 the deed. 
 
 " Monday, October lyth. Had a ration of sorghum to 
 day, which we were told was in lieu of meat. Our men 
 are suffering much from cold, the most of them being with 
 out blankets or shelter. The hope for a speedy exchange 
 is all that sustains many of them. 
 
 " Tuesday, October i8th. Exciting rumors are current 
 to-day regarding Grant s operations in front of Petersburg. 
 It is also reported that a Union force is within forty miles 
 of this place, aiming at our release. 
 
 " Wednesday, October iQth. More prisoners arrived 
 to-day. At about four o clock all the commissioned officers 
 were ordered to prepare for removal to Danville. No 
 rations were served us. Believing that almost any change 
 would be preferable to the condition I was in, I said 
 "good-bye" to the men of the Thirty-Fifth Regiment, 
 though with a heavy heart, for I felt that I was leaving 
 them to a miserable fate, that for many of them must 
 certainly terminate in death. Took cars at about four 
 o clock and started for Danville. 
 
 " Thursday, October 2oth. We were so closely packed 
 in the cars last night that what sleep we got was obtained 
 in a sitting posture, and was far from refreshing. During 
 the night several officers made their escape from the train, 
 and others were shot in the attempt. We arrived at Dan- 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 377 
 
 ville at about ten o clock and were placed in military prison 
 No. 3, formerly a tobacco warehouse. Had rations of corn 
 bread and black bean soup, such as was served us at 
 Salisbury. The bread was composed of meal that was 
 made by grinding the whole ear of corn (including the cob). 
 This was mixed with water and "baked" in sheet-iron 
 pans about twenty inches square and three inches deep. 
 The material was such that it would not cook as does 
 ordinary meal, but came to us burned black on the top and 
 bottom, the inside being a mass of clammy, unpalatable 
 stuff, unfit to eat. We disposed of these rations by soak 
 ing or boiling (when we could) the crust in water, making 
 a kind of coffee, drinking the liquor and eating the 
 grounds. The inside portion of the bread was then ex 
 posed to the sun and dried ; afterwards it was grated over 
 a piece of perforated tin and eaten when hunger drove 
 us to it. 
 
 " Friday, October 2ist. One of the officers who escaped 
 from the train on the night of the nineteenth was returned 
 to prison to-day, having been recaptured. Several of our 
 number were sent to the hospital. 
 
 " Saturday, October 22d. Very cold day. No fuel in 
 the prison, though the country about us is densely wooded, 
 and an abundant supply could be had by permitting a 
 detail of prisoners to procure it. Had a ration of cabbage 
 soup to-day. Bought " two cents worth " of molasses for 
 five dollars in Confederate money. 
 
 " Sunday, October 23d. Had preaching by the chaplain 
 of a New Hampshire regiment, who is a fellow prisoner. 
 A wet, cold and very uncomfortable day. 
 
 " Monday, October 24th. Rumors are current that 
 Sheridan is making it lively for the rebels in the Shenan- 
 doah valley. Some of the officers are selling their clothing, 
 boots, etc., to the guards, for money with which to purchase 
 
378 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 food. Salt is a great scarcity, none being put into the 
 food that is served to us. 
 
 " Tuesday, October 25th. One of the officers obtained 
 a copy of the Richmond Sentinel, which contained a 
 confirmation of the good news regarding Sheridan. The 
 " Star of Hope " rises high with us to-day, and enables us 
 to partially forget our misery. Very scanty rations of 
 bread and soup. 
 
 " Wednesday, October 26th. Had rations of sorghum 
 served out this morning. No meat has been given us for 
 several days. Had hoped that the advent of cold weather 
 would diminish the quantity of vermin with which we are 
 infested, but find it necessary to be eternally vigilant in 
 order to keep them under control. They hug close this 
 weather. 
 
 " Thursday, October 27th. Had rations of bread to 
 day made of half corn meal and half wheat flour ; found it 
 very good, but greatly lacking in quantity. Am obliged to 
 sleep on the bare floor, with no covering. For a pillow I 
 wrap my glazed cap cover around a brick. We are so 
 crowded we have to lie "spoon fashion," and when one 
 desires to turn he must wait for others to do so, as there 
 is not space for us to lie as we prefer. 
 
 " Friday, October 28th. Bought more molasses to-day 
 and managed to get a little salt ; the latter I sprinkled 
 upon the crust of my bread after soaking it, thus making 
 it more palatable. Begin to feel the effects of idleness. 
 Time drags heavily with nothing to occupy our thoughts 
 or hands. The one absorbing theme of conversation is 
 " exchange." 
 
 " Saturday, October 29th. Fifteen more officers were 
 added to our number to-day. They, with three hundred 
 of their men, having been held as hostages since August 
 last. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 379 
 
 " Sunday, October 3Oth. Preaching services were held 
 and nearly every one attended. No excuses can be framed 
 here for staying " at home " from church. 
 
 " Monday, October 3151. Had rations of wheat bread. 
 Have been in prison one month, and can see no prospect 
 of being paroled or exchanged. 
 
 " Tuesday, November ist. Rainy. We are thankful 
 to have a tight roof over our heads. Our boys in Salisbury 
 are without this boon. It is reported that hostages are to 
 be selected from our number to be held against two rebel 
 spies, held by the government and under sentence to be 
 executed. 
 
 " * Tuesday, November 8th. Election day at home. 
 We took a vote for president. Whole number of votes 
 cast, three hundred and ninety-seven ; Lincoln had a 
 majority of two hundred. This was my first vote. Have 
 had no meat for several days. Heavy frost last night ; 
 ice formed. 
 
 " Thursday, November loth. More rumors are current 
 that an exchange of prisoners will soon be made. My 
 money is getting low. Tried to borrow some from the 
 officer for whom I saved a hundred dollar bill at Peters 
 burg, but he refused my request, though I offered to pay 
 two dollars for one when we might be released. 
 
 " Sunday, November i3th. Last night was Very cold. 
 Preaching to-day by the chaplain. Our rations for the 
 past week have been more scanty than ever. 
 
 " Monday, November i4th. A dull day. No news or 
 rumors of any kind. Are entirely out of fuel, and our 
 rations of bread have again been reduced. Quite an ex 
 citement was created by the discovery that some one had 
 been stealing. It will be a sorry day for him who may be 
 caught at it. 
 
 " Tuesday, November i5th. News from the North 
 
380 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 brings the report of Lincoln s election. Cheering. Good 
 humor pervades our ranks. My chum, Lieutenant Sims, 
 of the Fifty-First New York, borrowed ten dollars in 
 Confederate money, and we have spent the afternoon in 
 considering the most advisable method of using it. Finally 
 decided to invest it in salt and tobacco. 
 
 " * Saturday, November iQth. A protest was forwarded 
 to the commander of this post, complaining of the lack of 
 food and fuel. Hunger is telling severely on some of the 
 prisoners. Strong talk is indulged, on the part of many, 
 of an attempt to break jail. The project is not favored by 
 all, as it is regarded by the more cautious of our number 
 as almost impossible to get through to our lines during 
 this season of the year. Travelling could only be done at 
 night, and the cold weather would make sleeping in barns 
 and out of doors attended with such exposure as to be 
 unendurable. We are poorly clad, and, withal, the chances 
 are decidedly against success. 
 
 " Thursday, November 24th. A very cold day. No 
 fuel in the prison. Thanksgiving at home. How we 
 would like to clean out the plates that will be set aside, 
 half emptied, in Northern homes this noon. Our chaplain 
 started for Richmond to be exchanged. 
 
 "Friday, November 25th. News reached us of an 
 attempted outbreak by our men at Salisbury. This gives 
 impetus to the feeling in favor of a similar undertaking here. 
 
 " Monday, November 28th. Wrote a letter to an 
 acquaintance in the South, asking assistance, but doubt if 
 my appeal gets much further than the prison door. Had 
 a ration of wheat bread. Begged some turnip peelings 
 and a piece of an onion. Hunger makes one bold in his 
 attempts to satisfy it. 
 
 " Thursday, December ist. One of the guards fired at 
 an officer who was in the first story of the building, but 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 381 
 
 missed his mark, and the bullet passed through the floor 
 of the second story, striking another officer who was sitting 
 upon the floor playing cards. It is unsafe for one to 
 approach a window, as many of the guards shoot whenever 
 they can see a head. 
 
 " Friday, December 2d. The guards who have been 
 on detail here have been ordered to the front. Sold my 
 boots to one of them for forty dollars in Confederate 
 money and a second-hand pair of shoes. Sims and I are 
 happy in the possession of so much money, as it will keep 
 us in salt and tobacco for some time to come. 
 
 " Tuesday, December 6th. The old guards left last 
 night. It is reported that many of them have deserted 
 since it became known that they were going to the front. 
 The sentinels who now watch over us are conscripts. While 
 the reliefs were being changed to-day one of our officers 
 discovered his uncle as a rebel soldier. The meeting was 
 a surprise to both. The " reb " said he was sorry to see 
 his nephew defending such a cause and hoped his im 
 prisonment would afford him opportunity to repent the 
 error of his way. 
 
 " Wednesday, December yth. The barracks in which 
 our guards are quartered took fire last night ; our only 
 regret is that every soul of them had not been cremated. 
 Salt has advanced in price thirty cents per pound. One 
 of the prisoners received a box of clothing and food from 
 a friend in Richmond. 
 
 " Friday, December 9th. Storm of hail and snow. On 
 hearing that the guard had been removed and that the 
 citizens of the place were doing duty in their stead, some 
 of the prisoners attempted to break jail. The attempt was 
 led. by Colonel Rallston, of the Twenty-Fourth New York, 
 who, with others, seized the sentinels in the lower part of 
 the building and disarmed them ; but a shot from some 
 
382 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 one outside brought reinforcements and caused a stampede 
 of our men up stairs. Finding himself unsupported, 
 Rallston attempted to reach the stairs, but received a 
 mortal wound before he could gain a place of safety. 
 
 <" Sunday, December nth. Fifty more prisoners 
 arrived ; thirty from Richmond and twenty from the 
 Cumberland Mountains, having been recaptured after 
 escaping from Columbia, S. C. The latter were in a 
 pitiable condition. 
 
 " Monday, December i2th. The recent addition to our 
 number makes the place so crowded that it is almost im 
 possible to find sleeping room. I am in the second story, 
 and when I lie down at night I suffer much with cold, as 
 the wind blows through the cracks in the floor and chills 
 me to the very bones. It is impossible to keep warm. 
 There is but one stove in the room, and when there is any 
 fire in it one finds it very difficult to get near it. Men 
 crowd about it early in the morning and hold their posi 
 tions until they get "wedged" out. 
 
 " Wednesday, December i4th. Boys are now guarding 
 us. One of them attempted to make a target of me as I 
 was trying to repair a crack in a window that admitted a 
 current of cold air. 
 
 " Thursday, December i5th. Colonel Rallston, who 
 was shot in the Attempted outbreak, died to-day. Rumors 
 are afloat that our troops have obtained possession of the 
 Weldon Railroad. There was great commotion in the 
 town during the night. We hear of General Sherman s 
 operations in the South, and are told that we shall have 
 him and his army for company before long. Another 
 prisoner was shot. It is reported that the poor people in 
 Danville are in a starving condition. 
 
 " Thursday, December 22d. The shortest day in the 
 year ; but long enough for us to get up an appetite for the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 383 
 
 miserable rations of bread that were served us late in 
 the afternoon. 
 
 " Saturday, December 24th. Have been quite unwell 
 to-day. Had an attack of fever and ague. It is a week 
 since any meat was served us. Had rations of unsavory 
 potatoes ; they had evidently been frost-bitten. This is 
 Christmas Eve, but not a very merry one for us. It is re 
 ported that there is clothing for us in Richmond, sent 
 through by the government. 
 
 " January 9th, 1865. Had rations of wheat bread and 
 a small piece of meat the first of the latter we have had 
 for nearly three weeks. How we long to be free ! 
 
 " January i8th. Rebel papers make mention of the 
 meeting of the commissioners of exchange, and our hopes 
 run high. Lieutenant Whitbeck, of the Fifty-First New 
 York, died last night. Received news of the capture of 
 Fort Fisher by our forces. The traders in Danville are 
 closing their stores and refusing to sell goods for Confed 
 erate money ; a good omen to us. 
 
 " January igth. We can buy no more flour, as there is 
 none to be had. Those of our number who have money 
 cannot make use of it to any great extent. 
 
 " A silver dollar is reported to have been sold at auction 
 in Richmond for sixty-five dollars paper money. Rumor 
 has it that the white flag is flying over Richmond. 
 
 " January 2ist. Rainy day. Reports regarding a 
 speedy exchange are very encouraging. I was appointed 
 commissary of our mess (fourteen) ; my duties being to 
 draw the rations and distribute them among the members 
 of the mess. 
 
 " January 25th. General Hayes and Lieutenant Lucas 
 left for Richmond on parole, and are to have charge of 
 the distribution of supplies for the prisoners furnished by 
 the government. It is nearly four months since I was 
 
384 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 taken prisoner, and during that time I have not been per 
 mitted to wash my clothes, though the river Dan flows 
 within sight of the prison. 
 
 " February ist. Colonel Hooper, of the Twenty-Fourth 
 Massachusetts, left for Richmond to assist General Hayes, 
 Lieutenant Lucas having been exchanged. The prospect 
 of receiving clothing and favorable reports concerning 
 exchange give buoyancy to our spirits, and we indulge in 
 speculations as to what we shall do and what we shall eat 
 when we get into a Christian land. I frequently dream of 
 feasting. Our rations to-day consisted of a pint of gruel 
 nothing else. 
 
 " February 3d. Lieutenant Quimby, of the One Hundred 
 and Fifty-Fifth New York, escaped last night. The rebels 
 do not know it yet. It is fifteen days since we tasted meat. 
 
 " February 5th. Have suffered much of late with pains 
 in my limbs. Find it difficult at times to walk. Two more 
 officers escaped last night. It is stated that between three 
 and five thousand of our men have died in Salisbury since 
 we left there. 
 
 " February i2th. During the past week have been so 
 sick with inflammatory rheumatism that I have been 
 unable to write. Am now in the hospital. I received, 
 yesterday, a letter from home with a bill of exchange on 
 London. Clothing has arrived from Washington and is 
 being distributed. The patients in the " hospital " get 
 only corn bread to eat ; not a delicacy of any kind is 
 provided. The rebels are evidently hard pushed to feed 
 themselves. Papers from Richmond say that an exchange 
 of prisoners will begin in a few days, and those patients 
 who are able are going back to the prison in order to 
 stand a chance of getting away among the first , it being 
 reported that one thousand men leave here to-morrow for 
 Richmond. This news acts as a tonic upon every inmate 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 385 
 
 of the hospital, and we entertain inspiring thoughts of 
 " Home, sweet home." 
 
 " February lyth. One thousand of our men, including 
 all the officers, left for Richmond to be exchanged. Lieu 
 tenant Willard, of the Ninth New York, died last night. 
 
 " February igih. This morning the announcement was 
 made that those who were able to walk to the station 
 might prepare themselves to start for Richmond. I had 
 hardly been able to stand upon my feet for a week, but I 
 needed no second invitation to make ready for my de 
 parture. Others made the attempt who were less able 
 than myself, some of them being sick with fever ; but the 
 desire for home and the meeting with loved ones far away 
 impelled them to undertake seeming impossibilities. A 
 dozen or more of us were soon ready, and, locking arms 
 in threes (the weakest in the centre), we started on our 
 way to the station. Our path, fortunately, lay mostly down 
 hill. We were obliged to pass over a piece of ploughed 
 ground, which rendered walking very slow and painful, 
 especially to one suffering with rheumatism. After reach 
 ing the main road, which led to the station, we were joined 
 by a number of our men, who assisted us to the depot, carry 
 ing some of the feebler ones in their arms. We left Dan 
 ville at about ten o clock in the morning in freight cars, the 
 sick having no special provision made for them. Five died 
 on the train before we reached Richmond. Late at night 
 we arrived at our destination and were placed in Libby 
 Prison, the invalids being sent to the "hospital" (so called). 
 
 " February 2oth. Had a good rest last night. Rumors 
 are current that the rebels have evacuated Charleston. 
 Received a box from home. Many a stout-hearted fellow 
 shed tears of joy as he unpacked his parcel, prepared by 
 loving hands, that had now reached him, over the ranks 
 of a rebellious foe and through prison walls. 
 
386 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 " February 22d. Washington s Birthday. A more 
 charming one could not have been desired. We left Libby 
 Prison this morning, the sick being placed on board a canal 
 boat, and the others walking across the city to the flag of 
 truce steamer. The streets of Richmond never rang to 
 the tread of more joyous or more sympathy-deserving men 
 than these who were about to pass out of this land of 
 bondage into one "flowing with milk and honey." 
 
 " The scene on board the canal boat was calculated to 
 touch the heart of one who could be moved to compassion at 
 the sight of suffering. The most of the men had exhausted 
 nearly all their nervous power in their effort to get to 
 the point they had now reached, and seemed unable to 
 participate in the joy they had long looked for and which 
 was now so close at hand. Progress down the river was 
 slow, as the channel was obstructed with sunken torpedoes, 
 among which we were piloted with great caution. The 
 knowledge of our danger from this source kept us in a 
 state of apprehension until we were again on terra firma. 
 A sharp turn in the river brought us in sight of the landing 
 at which we were to be exchanged. The able-bodied of 
 our number had preceded us and we found an ambulance 
 train in waiting to transport us to the Union lines. On 
 the banks of the stream were a number of rebel prisoners, 
 who were to return to Richmond. Their appearance was 
 in great contrast with our own. Each of them was com 
 fortably clad and provided with a blanket and well-filled 
 haversack, while we were a horde of hungry, emaciated, 
 half-naked, half-starved beings, victims of the most bar 
 barous system that could be devised by perfidious and 
 abandoned men, and for the continuance of which high 
 officials in the national government were not without 
 blame. Once in the ambulances we began to realize some 
 of the blessings that pertain to civilization. The wagons 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 387 
 
 were models of neatness; every provision that could be 
 furnished "on wheels" for our comfort was there; even 
 the horses and drivers were good to look upon, and 
 the hitherto ugly appearing " U. S." that found its place 
 on every article we used in the army, seemed a thing 
 of beauty. Without any "long, lingering look behind," 
 we were soon en route across the peninsula of disputed 
 territory that lay between the opposing forces. It was a 
 gala day. A suspension of hostilities had been agreed 
 upon, and for the first time in many months there was not 
 heard by either army the booming of cannon or the crack 
 of rifle. The air was calm and spring-like. We journeyed 
 along in silence until a rise in the land brought us suddenly 
 in sight of the Union lines on the opposite side of the 
 river, and there we saw, floating over the ramparts, the 
 glorious old flag. A shout of joy went up, as wagon after 
 wagon came in sight of the treasured emblem. " Lift 
 me up, lift me up and let me see it," said a fever-stricken 
 comrade at my side and big tears started down his- 
 cheeks as he gazed in silence upon its waving folds. 
 Simultaneously with the sight of the flag there reached 
 our ears the strains of martial music, and our hearts beat 
 quick as we listened to the air of 
 
 " " The Union forever ! Hurrah boys ! ! Hurrah ! ! " 
 
 " * Reaching Aiken s landing, we found the transport 
 City of New York in waiting for us, and being placed 
 on board, were soon steaming away for Annapolis, Md., 
 where we arrived on the following morning, a happy throng 
 of men, rejoicing that we were once again denizens of 
 " THE LAND OF THE FREE." " 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE END OF THE WAR, 1865. 
 
 TOWARDS the end of March, good news was re 
 ceived from General Sherman in the Carolinas, and 
 now victorious Sheridan, with his heavy columns of cav 
 alry, having arrived across country from the Shenandoah 
 Valley, lay for a day or two in rear of Fort Sedgwick, rest 
 ing and refitting. Our forces seemed to be closing in for 
 the last struggle. Every one was upon the alert. Our men 
 were ordered to sleep with shoes on, and the cannoneers 
 were required to sleep by their guns and keep them double- 
 shotted for the next three days. Lee s first move at Fort 
 Steadman had been checkmated; who would dare the next 
 move upon the chess-board of Fate ? 
 
 During the flurry of a spring shower one afternoon, a 
 man was seen to start from the Confederate side, and 
 clearing the interval at a run, get safely into our picket line. 
 He was dressed in gray, but was oddly decorated with 
 patches of blue and red flannel, in imitation of small 
 Confederate flags, etc., marking his intense rebel feeling; 
 his eyes had the anxious, watchful glance of a haunted 
 man, and he was at once seen to be something out of the 
 common run of deserters. When questioned, he answered, 
 to our surprise, that he was one of Sheridan s scouts, and 
 had come through the Confederate lines from the valley; 
 then lifting his boot he unscrewed the heel and exhibited 
 his papers. He was sent to the cavalry in rear with his 
 
389 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 information. Such was the daring of the agents whom 
 Sheridan employed to obtain the knowledge indispensable 
 to his brilliant achievements ! One of his cavalrymen, 
 however, was not so fortunate, he came up to Lieutenant 
 Loomis s mortar-battery to visit a friend and staid during 
 the afternoon shelling ; being a stranger, the bombs did 
 not know him, and he was torn in pieces by one of those 
 ugly fellows, which did frightful execution when they 
 caught the unwary. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth of March, General Sheridan started, 
 and, at three o clock next morning, we were routed out 
 and formed to meet an assault from the Confederates, 
 looked for as a counter to Sheridan s attack far to the left ; 
 the troops in rear were brought up a brigade under 
 Colonel Carruth being under arms from eleven p. M. to 
 one A. M. between us and Fort Rice and, everything 
 being in readiness, of course the enemy did not show them 
 selves. In the evening long and detailed orders in writing 
 were received for an assault by our whole division upon 
 the enemy s lines at daylight of the thirty-first. Colonel 
 Carruth was to command the brigade, and Captain Pope 
 the regiment. We were in line of battle at the appointed 
 time, with minds made up for the charge into the deadly 
 breach, but, owing to the muddy condition of the ground 
 and heavy rains, together with the, as yet, uncertain success 
 of Sheridan s operations, the attack was deferred. Ser 
 geant Conant, of Company C, hardly back from hospital, 
 where he had been since his severe wound at the Mine, 
 was again badly hurt by a ball in the arm, while moving 
 about in the fort. 
 
 The first day of April was pleasant, with a brisk wind, 
 drying the ground considerably. About ten o clock in the 
 evening our Third Division, Hartranft s Pennsylvanians, 
 and part of the First Division, came up to the front and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 390 
 
 were massed on the right of our fort ; and the abattis and 
 obstructions in front were quietly removed in the darkness. 
 Several of the generals were in the fort examining local 
 ities. Our division, General Potter s, was massed on the 
 left ; but the garrisons of the forts were not placed in the 
 columns of attack. The pioneers, including those of 
 the Thirty-Fifth, were posted at the head of columns, to 
 break up the Confederate abattis, etc. ; one of ours, 
 McCarty, of Company K, was wounded in this duty. 
 During the evening the Confederate picket line had been 
 captured on our left opposite Fort Hays, and strong feints 
 were made around to our right near the Appomattox, to 
 keep the enemy occupied there, and, if possible, draw more 
 of them in that direction. The movements had the effect 
 to thoroughly waken up the whole line, and both sides 
 joined in an infernal combat, with all the guns and mortars 
 that could be brought to bear; the thunder of artillery 
 was continuous and the darkness of night lurid with ex 
 ploding shells. The regiment stood to arms during most 
 of the night upon the banquette of the fort. The mortar 
 practice upon Fort Sedgwick was especially severe ; but 
 most of the " old dinner pots," as the boys called them, 
 passed over into the interior of the works and tore up our 
 quarters, sparing the quondam occupants ; several, how 
 ever, struck among our men, one of these horribly mangling 
 two men of Company E. 
 
 It was four o clock in the morning, and still very dark, 
 when the columns of assault moved forward with the 
 trampling of many feet and orders passed in a low tone, 
 sounding like the rush of autumn winds among the leaves. 
 The Confederate pickets gave the alarm and their artillery 
 opened with canister and spherical case, depressing the 
 guns, but, to us, seemingly firing over the heads of the 
 charging troops. An eight-inch Columbiad and some 
 
391 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH RE.GIMENT, 
 
 howitzers mounted in the enemy s interior line threw grape, 
 much of which passed over the right of the fort, and was 
 noticed by the marked difference in sound from the other 
 missiles to which our ears were accustomed. Very soon 
 after, loud cheering from the front announced the success 
 of the assault it was too dark to see anything but the 
 flashes of the guns. The Confederate main line, to the 
 right and left of the Jerusalem plank road, was seized ; 
 General Hartranft s division capturing about a dozen 
 cannon, with flags, and over six hundred prisoners. On 
 the left the work was more difficult, the point of attack 
 being Fort Mahone and the more heavily built earthworks ; 
 the gallant old Sixth New Hampshire took four guns and 
 a lodgment was effected at this point also. The Fifty- 
 Sixth Massachusetts and Fifth Massachusetts battery 
 distinguished themselves by heroic conduct. The guns 
 captured were, as far as possible, turned upon the enemy, 
 who had retired to a shorter interior line and cannoneers 
 were sent from the forts to handle them, which they did 
 with the most intrepid daring and persistence during the 
 following day. 
 
 At daylight we could see our blue-coats occupying the 
 earthworks they had taken, but unable to drive the Con 
 federates from their interior works, which had been pre 
 pared by them in anticipation of the loss of their outer 
 line. Not only were our men unable to proceed further, 
 but it soon began to be a question whether they could 
 retain the advantage they had gained. General Lee, present 
 in person near the great Columbiad, overlooking the whole 
 scene, now exerted every endeavor to recapture his works; 
 his men charging upon ours again and again, during the 
 day, but unsuccessfully, except that they reoccupied part 
 of the interior of Fort Mahone. 
 
 Our regiment, nominally in Fort Sedgwick, was really 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 392 
 
 scattered all over the field, carrying ammunition, each 
 man taking a couple of case shot for the artillery or a 
 quantity of cartridges, and crossing the bullet-swept space 
 between the lines, time after time, creeping into the most 
 exposed places to deliver their loads into the hands of the 
 gunners. In this work they were so useful and displayed 
 so much coolness and bravery as to draw marked attention 
 the German recruits entered into it zealously, and proved 
 themselves good soldiers that day beyond all question. 
 Spencer repeating rifles were used by some of our regi 
 ments in this action, for the first time in our experience, 
 and we delivered a large, supply of the ammunition to the 
 troops thus armed. 
 
 About two in the afternoon the pressure upon our troops 
 had become so heavy, reinforcements were sent up from 
 City Point and elsewhere ; among them the Sixty- First 
 Massachusetts regiment, under Colonel C. F. Walcott, 
 formerly of the Twenty-First Massachusetts, with whom 
 was Lieutenant Edw. H. Morrill, one of the original mem 
 bers of Company G of our regiment ; with them also was 
 a regiment of zouaves,, in a flaming red uniform, which was 
 soon spattered with the mud from the ditches in front of 
 Fort " Damnation." They made a successful assault and 
 occupied the parapet of Fort Mahone, holding it per 
 manently. 
 
 In the meantime the rest of the army was not idle. 
 Sheridan and the Fifth Corps were busy at Five Forks, 
 and the Sixth and Second Corps and parts of the Twenty- 
 Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Corps, nearer to us, had swept 
 around with splendid success, over the Boydton pike and 
 the Southside Railroad, to the Appomattox ; completing 
 the envelopment of Petersburg and cutting the Confeder 
 ate army in halves. General A. P. Hill was killed. General 
 Lee saw that his lines were broken irreparably and no 
 
393 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 longer tenable, and informed President Davis that Rich 
 mond and Petersburg must be evacuated that night. 
 
 The hours of the night of April 2d were busily employed 
 by both sides, and little sleep was obtained by any one ; 
 the Confederates were silently withdrawing from the lines 
 they had held so long and so bravely, while our men were 
 turning the captured earthworks and reversing the abattis, 
 as yet uncertain of the morrow. Towards morning heavy 
 explosions echoed along the hills from the direction of 
 Richmond the blowing up of the Confederate gunboats 
 on James River and the red glow of fires shone through 
 the darkness. We remembered the night before Jackson, 
 Mississippi, and easily predicted that the enemy would be 
 gone in the morning. The skirmishers advanced before 
 daylight on the third, and occupied the now abandoned 
 interior line without resistance. Loud cheering announced 
 the fact to the lines of battle in rear, and the joyful news 
 was passed from mouth to mouth with hearty congratula 
 tions. The sun rose bright and clear and added to the 
 happiness of the moment. 
 
 A hurried examination of the captured fortifications was 
 permitted to most of the men, and the severity of the 
 action of the day before was apparent to the most cursory 
 view. The dead Union and Confederate soldiers lay as 
 they had fallen. There was something extremely pitiable 
 in the fate of these poor fellows who had lost their lives 
 in this our last battle ; they had so nearly survived to the 
 happiness in which we were now so secure. 
 
 In the assault General Potter had been severely wounded, 
 and General Griffin succeeded to the command of our 
 division. Assistant Adjutant-General Peckham was mor 
 tally wounded, Colonel Gowan of the Forty-Eighth Penn 
 sylvania was killed, and many of our old acquaintances 
 were in the list of wounded. The Thirty-Fifth had three 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 394 
 
 men killed and nine wounded. The dead were Max Riese 
 and Charles Schultz of Company E, and Oscar Becker of 
 Company K. The total loss in killed and wounded of the 
 Ninth Corps, from March 2Qth to April Qth, was 1,548, as 
 reckoned by General Humphreys ; of the army, 8,268. 
 
 During the affair an elongated shell swept across the 
 officers mess table and struck Dr. Carr s medicine chest, 
 knocking the phials, bottles and boxes into " smithereens," 
 and mixing compounds not laid down in the prescription 
 book; intended evidently as a hint that such stuff would 
 be of little use hereafter, and the best medicine, a discharge 
 paper, would soon be forthcoming. 
 
 After a hurried breakfast, the division was assembled 
 for the first time since the previous December, and, quitting 
 the now useless bomb-proofs and burrows of Fort Hell, we 
 marched through the Confederate works upon the Jeru 
 salem plank road. Half way between these intrenchments 
 and the city, while at a halt, we were surprised by the 
 appearance of our beloved President Lincoln, Secretary 
 Seward and Admiral Porter, who came up on horseback 
 from City Point. They rode swiftly through the column 
 amid the enthusiastic cheering of the troops. It was a day 
 of compensations for the long-tried, much-enduring Lincoln, 
 and the last time our eyes rested upon his rugged face. 
 
 After this battle an innovation was introduced which we, 
 at first, thought must be a joke. A requisition was re 
 ceived from the higher authorities for the name of one 
 officer of the regiment who had distinguished himself in 
 the late action. The notion that meritorious conduct in 
 battle was to receive immediate recognition from head 
 quarters struck us as a new rule in the management of our 
 army. Nevertheless it was seriously answered, and the 
 name of Lieutenant Geo. F. Worcester was forwarded, as 
 by general consent conspicuously brave and useful in the 
 
395 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 fight. Somebody was in earnest, for Worcester in due 
 time received honorary promotion to the brevet rank of 
 captain. The name of Colonel Carruth was sent in from 
 corps headquarters at the same time for promotion to 
 brevet brigadier-general, which was also conferred, to date 
 April 2d, 1865. Subsequently Captain Pope received the 
 brevets of major and lieutenant-colonel, to date March 13, 
 1865, for meritorious conduct before Petersburg. Captain 
 Tobey received the brevet of major ; Captain Gottlieb was 
 also brevetted major. 
 
 The announcement of the fall of Richmond added, if 
 possible, to the enthusiasm. In close column, with colors 
 displayed and drums beating, the Ninth Corps moved 
 down the hill and into the city of Petersburg, passing the 
 ruins, still smoking, of the warehouses burned by the 
 Confederates, and turned to the left and southwest; our 
 position upon the extreme right bringing us in rear of the 
 army now in pursuit of Lee in the direction of Lynchburg. 
 We marched out about ten miles and went into bivouac 
 near Sutherland Station on the Southside Railroad. 
 
 Thenceforward, distant cannonade could be heard from 
 day to day as we followed along the railroad, guarding the 
 track and the army trains ; but all signs of opposition to 
 the government had vanished with the retreating enemy. 
 On the fourth we marched about ten miles and reached the 
 railroad near Ford s Station. On the fifth, seventeen 
 miles were traversed, bringing our bivouac near Blacks 
 and Whites Station Jones House and on the sixth 
 passing Nottaway Court House, we reached by a march of 
 eighteen miles, prolonged until late in the evening, to near 
 Burkville, the junction of the railroad we were upon- with 
 the Richmond and Danville Railroad, and at that time the 
 headquarters of the army. 
 
 On the same sixth of April was fought the battle of 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 396 
 
 Sailor s Creek, between the Confederate rear and the pur 
 suing cavalry of Sheridan and the Second and Sixth Corps, 
 with the grand success of the capture of General Ewell 
 and seven other generals, with one hundred officers and 
 over five thousand men, Ewell s Division. On the seventh, 
 at noon, these prisoners arrived at Burkville and passed 
 our regiment, which had moved during the morning from 
 the east to the west side of the junction. One of the most 
 mirth-provoking scenes during the war was the appearance 
 of a train of artillery, six of the best steel guns, which, 
 with harness of russet leather mounted with silver, had 
 been presented to the Confederacy by sympathizers in 
 England. These were now dragged through the mire by 
 diminutive mules bestridden by the longest and lankest of 
 "Johnnies," their felt hats flapping over the sternest of 
 faces, their feet almost dragging in the mud, the splendid 
 harness now tarnished and dirty, the whole presenting a 
 contrast so striking as to make it difficult to restrain a 
 burst of laughter in the faces of the gaunt artillerists, who 
 seemed to be in any other mood than the mirthful one. 
 Naval officers and generals trudged through the execrable 
 roads in a companionship of misery quite abject. Our 
 boys shared their rations with the half-starved prisoners. 
 At night, we again moved back to the east side of the 
 station, to form part of the cordon surrounding the captured 
 division. Lieutenant-Colonel Hudson joined from fur 
 lough, in the happiest mood over the events that had 
 occurred during his absence. 
 
 In the morning we had an opportunity to talk with the 
 prisoners, and found most of them hopeless of success and 
 content that the end was near. Some, however, were 
 either really or pretendedly still full of fight, vowing they 
 would never give up, but would continue the contest as 
 guerillas in the mountains if not capable of other warfare. 
 
397 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Many of them were fine appearing, well built men, fit to 
 be the flower of any army. 
 
 At noon, on the eighth, the prisoners were sent to the 
 rear, towards Petersburg, under guard of the Forty-Eighth 
 Pennsylvania and Thirty-Ninth New Jersey, and, on the 
 ninth, the regiment, with the rest of the brigade, resumed 
 the march westward, passing the scene of the battle at 
 Sailor s Creek the earthworks, newly-made graves and 
 torn up field. At night, the rail fences burning along the 
 road illuminated the march, which was difficult, owing to 
 the depth of the mud, and was continued to weariness 
 until late in the evening, past Rice s Station to the heights 
 overlooking the valley spanned by the famous High Bridge. 
 As we moved along during the day occassional cannon 
 could be heard far in advance, but it did not then occur to 
 us that these were the expiring throbs of the Confederacy; 
 we anticipated a long hunt in the mountains before the end 
 of all ; but the dilatory ways of the early days of the war 
 were no longer in fashion. Sheridan and Ord and the sev 
 eral corps of the army were well to the front and had Lee 
 surrounded before he was aware of it. On the tenth we 
 reached Farmville, the largest town we had seen since 
 Petersburg, with handsome brick houses, churches and 
 schools, situated in a rich tobacco country. Here rumors 
 of a surrender were whispered, and during the day con 
 firmed. General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia 
 had capitulated at four o clock in the afternoon of April 
 9th, at Appomattox Court House ! The regiment was 
 formed in a hollow square and Colonel Carruth read the 
 official announcement of the, to us, glorious event. The 
 boys were wild with joy, cheers followed cheers, and there 
 was a general hand-shaking and embracing, impromptu 
 dances, summersaults, caps thrown up, and every demon 
 stration of delight. It was difficult to take in at once the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 398 
 
 momentous results : that this was quite certain to end the 
 war; that guards and pickets would henceforth be but 
 mere police regulations ; that the musket and sword might 
 rust among the useless lumber of the past ; and we soon 
 return to our homes free citizens again. To the soldiers 
 of the Army of the Potomac, who had faced the Confederate 
 Army of Northern Virginia so long, language could hardly 
 express more than was compressed in the three words : 
 " Lee has surrendered ! " 
 
 Our brigade remained at Farmville from the tenth to 
 the twentieth of April, our regimental camp being pitched 
 in regular form on the ridge west of the town. Company 
 H was detailed for picket at the fork of the roads about a 
 mile out, and remained there, from choice, during the stay 
 at this place. The paroled men of Lee s army were 
 making their way to their homes, by road or rail, on foot 
 or horseback, as they had means ; and the amusement of 
 our leisure was to chat with them about the events of the 
 war and their feelings and expectations ; they were glad 
 that peace was now assured. General s Grant and Ord 
 passed through Farmville ; also General Lee quietly re 
 turned from the scene of his misfortunes. 
 
 On the sixteenth there was a report of the assassination 
 of President Lincoln, which seemed too incredible for 
 belief ; but it was confirmed on the seventeenth, and the 
 indignation and horror of the army at such treachery were 
 unspeakable. There were fears that, in the first excite 
 ment, the soldiers would wreak their desire for vengeance 
 upon the unoffending citizens of the country about us, and 
 strict orders were issued to keep the regiments of the 
 brigade in camp, and under arms, to prevent any disorder 
 on the part of detachments returning from Appomattox ; 
 Colonel Carruth was notified that his regiment would be 
 called upon in case of disturbance. The people of the 
 
399 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 vicinity showed feelings of deep regret, and, in the course 
 of a service held in one of the churches of the town, the 
 minister expressed the abhorrence of the people of the late 
 Confederacy towards such acts, and spoke in praise of 
 President Lincoln, declaring that the South had lost a 
 friend. At this time the people thereabouts, in conver 
 sation, said that they supposed there would be a general 
 confiscation of their property by the United States Gov 
 ernment, and they would not be convinced to the contrary 
 that the people of the North were so leniently disposed 
 that the authorities could not possibly have such intention, 
 at least in regard to the common people. On the nine 
 teenth, minute guns were fired in honor of the martyr 
 President at the hour of his funeral ; the bands played 
 solemn dirges, crape was draped upon the colors of the 
 regiments and worn upon the swords of the officers, and 
 grief was generally expressed among the troops. 
 
 While we were at Farmville several promotions were 
 announced : First Lieutenants Patch and Bent to be cap 
 tains ; Second Lieutenants Calder, Ellis, Chamberlin and 
 Alfred Blanchard, junior, and Sergeant-Major Hagan, 
 became first lieutenants ; and Sergeants Monk, Tirrell, 
 Kimball and Sherman were made second lieutenants. 
 Lieutenant Blanchard joined, having passed the winter in 
 prison at Salisbury and Danville. The vacancy made 
 by the promotion of Hagan was filled after he was mus 
 tered to his new rank by the appointment of First Sergeant 
 Bagley to be sergeant-major. 
 
 The return march was begun on the twentieth, and was 
 pushed rapidly, over good roads and with light hearts, 
 making eighteen miles the first day between Farmville and 
 Burkville Junction, and passing on the road several of our 
 late enemies, now fellow-citizens, at work ploughing their 
 fields, their families happy at the prospect of peace, and 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 400 
 
 hopeful of the future. On the twenty-first, eighteen miles 
 more to beyond Blacks and Whites Station, and on the 
 twenty-second, twenty-one miles to near Church Road. 
 On the twenty-third, we reached Petersburg early, and 
 went into camp for the rest of the day, Sunday, on Cemetery 
 Ridge, overlooking the city and the miles of siege-works 
 which had so long been our abiding place. Many spent 
 the afternoon examining the Confederate lines from Fort 
 Steadman around through the Crater to Fort Sedgwick. 
 Between the fortifications was lying the debris of the past 
 year s work, a collection of old iron and lead, in the shape 
 of shells and shot of all forms and sizes. At the Crater 
 the difficulties of the place for an assault were commented 
 upon. Lieutenant Berry s grave was pointed out, between 
 lines, and a head-board erected to mark the spot. The 
 Confederates had cut a new intrenchment through the 
 Crater, and fortified it with great art ; in doing so they had 
 necessarily thrown out the bones of the men buried in the 
 earth raised by the explosion, and these were now bleach 
 ing in the sun, with old caps, shoes and accoutrements, 
 relics of the battle. Away to the left, opposite Fort Sedg 
 wick, the complex structure of the defences was inspected 
 about Fort Mahone ; and in one bomb-proof was discovered 
 the body of a Confederate soldier still unburied, except 
 that cover, reposing as if asleep, where he had crawled 
 away to die on that eventful second of April he had 
 found the peace which hath no ending. 
 
 Next day, the twenty-fourth, the regiment passed through 
 Fort Steadman and proceeded to City Point, remaining 
 there two days waiting for transportation. A number of 
 released prisoners met the regiment at this place ; several 
 of them Germans, who, dressed in butternut clothing and 
 with long hair, could not be distinguished from the simon- 
 pure Johnnies until they opened their mouths to speak ; 
 
401 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 they were eager to get on blue suits again. While thus 
 returning to salt water we had some expectations of visit 
 ing North Carolina and seeing Sherman again, but our desti 
 nation was now disclosed ; General Parke had been assigned 
 to the command of the District of Washington, as senior 
 corps commander, and we were to accompany him for a little 
 garrison duty the long promised "soft thing" at last! 
 
 On the twenty-sixth, at five in the afternoon, we em 
 barked on the steamer Nereus with the Seventh Rhode 
 Island, Thirty-Ninth New Jersey and Fifty-First New York, 
 crowding the boat most uncomfortably, and on the follow 
 ing day voyaged down the James, passing our old camp at 
 Newport News and Fortress Monroe about noon, and 
 lying at anchor all night off Point Lookout. Early on the 
 twenty-eighth we were on the way up the Potomac, landing 
 at noon at Alexandria, and marching through King Street 
 to camp outside of old Fort Ellsworth, in a green valley. 
 We moved on the twenty-ninth to the Mount Vernon road 
 beyond Forts Lyon and Farnsworth, and laid out a regular 
 camp, which we occupied for the remaining weeks of our 
 service. During the passage from City Point, one man, Con 
 rad Eggas, of Company F, was lost overboard and drowned ; 
 he was supposed to have fallen in the night through the 
 opening in the side railing left for the lowering of boats. 
 
 General Johnston had surrendered to General Sherman, 
 April 26th, near Raleigh, North Carolina, instead of at 
 Jackson, Mississippi, as we had hoped in 1863. The Con 
 federate forces made no further resistance, the war was 
 ended, and it only remained to keep the peace for awhile 
 until the country became settled, then to disband the 
 armies. Meanwhile, to keep the men out of mischief, 
 drills were resumed, and the old routine, but the exercises 
 had lost interest; the labor seemed too purposeless to be 
 gone through with much of the old " snap " and desire for 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 402 
 
 excellence. Colonel Carruth was in command of the 
 brigade during most of the time, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Hudson commanded the regiment. Wall tents and A tents 
 were isssued, and the camps presented a neat and attract 
 ive appearance to the throngs of visitors who came over 
 from Washington to have a look at the veterans. Brigade 
 dress-parades, with field officers mounted, were held daily, 
 and frequent division and brigade reviews. Detailed officers 
 and men came back, swelling the ranks quite noticeably. 
 On the twelfth of May, there was an impromptu torchlight 
 procession, started by some of the men of the Seventh 
 Rhode Island, but spreading from regiment to regiment. 
 The following account appeared in a Washington paper : 
 
 " A MAGNIFICENT SIGHT. Between eight and nine 
 o clock last night we witnessed one of the grandest and 
 most imposing spectacles it has ever been our good fortune 
 to look upon a dress-parade of two divisions of the Ninth 
 Corps by lamp light. This splendid corps is encamped on 
 the high ground in the vicinity of Fort Lyon, where it is 
 being daily joined by members of other corps belonging 
 to the old Army of the Potomac. 
 
 " Each soldier had a lamp or candle fastened in the 
 socket of his musket a good substitute for a candlestick. 
 The line formed was something over a mile in length, and, 
 as it performed the different evolutions incidental to 
 reviews, presented, at a distance, more the appearance of 
 a great sea of moving fire than anything else. The moving 
 and constantly shifting lights, the thousands of camp fires, 
 which dotted the hills for miles in every direction, and the 
 sweet music of several splendid bands, formed a scene 
 which is not often witnessed." 
 
 On the twentieth of May, Major Mirick returned from 
 detached service, also Captain Creasey from the Parole 
 
403 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Camp at Annapolis, and our old comrade, Quartermaster 
 Upton, made a visit of a few days. 
 
 On the twenty-first of May news was received that all 
 regiments whose term of enlistment would expire before 
 October ist, 1865, were to be mustered out at once; this 
 included the Thirty-Fifth, and was heard with joy by the 
 boys, who were already weary of the monotony of camp 
 life ; the recruits were to be transferred to regiments not 
 included within the terms of the order. 
 
 Preparations were made, the same day, for participating 
 in the grand review of all the armies at Washington. On 
 the twenty-second the brigade marched by way of Alex 
 andria and the Long Bridge to the city of Washington, and 
 went into bivouac in the streets or open lots in the front, 
 or east side, of the capitol, with the rest of the Ninth 
 Corps ; the whole Army of the Potomac being at hand, 
 assembled to take part in the review. 
 
 The number of muskets in the ranks, next morning, was 
 three hundred and eighteen. Colonel Carruth commanded 
 the brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel Hudson the regiment. 
 Column was formed before ten o clock in the morning of 
 the twenty-third, and, at noon, with orders to keep closed 
 up very compactly which while it gave the appearance of 
 great solidity forfeited all freedom of motion the march in 
 review was commenced : by the imposing capito] where, 
 upon the east portico, the school children were gathered 
 and sang patriotic songs ; down the broad Pennsylvania 
 Avenue our thoughts wandering back the while to that 
 sunny afternoon in August, 1862, when, with full ranks 
 and unbounded enthusiasm, we took the first steps in the 
 rough march of years which was to end here ; on by the 
 Treasury Building, the throngs of happy faces and plaudits 
 of the people ; by the White House, where the President 
 and all the government officers, civil and military, were 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 404 
 
 looking on, and were saluted with cheers and shouldered 
 arms ; and so to Georgetown and across the Potomac by a 
 specially laid pontoon-bridge to the Virginia side again. 
 We returned to camp by way of Arlington, Freedmen s 
 Village, near our old Camp Whipple, and the Seminary. 
 
 The day following, those who were lucky enough to 
 obtain passes visited Washington and witnessed the review 
 of General Sherman s veterans, who had been marched all 
 the way from Chattanooga, by way of Atlanta, and the 
 " March to the Sea." All day they poured down the 
 avenue, a flood of blue surmounted by waves of glittering 
 steel. A finer host of men was never seen together; and 
 they were, probably, more purely American than the troops 
 which had passed in review the day before. The review 
 was the grandest military triumph which ever took place, 
 or will be likely to occur for years let us hope for ages 
 upon this continent; and it was a fitting termination of 
 the long strife just ended. 
 
 On the fifth of June we had a review of the First Brigade, 
 complimentary to our brigadier-general, John I. Curtin, 
 formerly Colonel of the Forty-Fifth Pennsylvania. For 
 days we were busy upon the muster-out rolls, of which 
 seven copies had to be made, and the transfer rolls of the 
 recruits, who were to go to the historic Twenty-Ninth 
 Massachusetts Regiment, There were for transfer about 
 two hundred and fifty men present, with whom went eleven 
 officers : Captains Tobey, Gottlieb, Mason, Bent and Patch, 
 Assistant Surgeon Carr, First Lieutenants Lloyd, Ellis and 
 Hagan, and Second Lieutenants Tirrell and Sherman. It 
 is pleasant to be able to add, as evidence that our German 
 recruits had been well treated by us, that they expressed 
 the wish to be transferred to the regiment to which their 
 officers could go with them. The officers who remained 
 to be mustered out with the Thirty-Fifth were Colonel 
 28 
 
405 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 Carruth, Lieutenant-Colonel Hudson, Major Mirick, 
 Surgeon Snow, Assistant Surgeon Roche, Captains Pope, 
 Nason and Wright. First Lieutenants Cutter (quarter 
 master), Cobb (acting adjutant), Worcester, Hardy and 
 Calder, Second Lieutenants Riggs, Blanchard, White, 
 Kimball and Monk ; of these, the three first named, 
 Carruth, Hudson and Mirick, were all that remained of 
 officers who were with the regiment at Lynnfield. The 
 number of enlisted men, original members, to be mustered 
 out, was about three hundred, counting both the present 
 and absent. Several members of the regiment received 
 honorary commissions to rank in which they were never 
 mustered ; First Lieutenant Cobb to be captain, Second 
 Lieutenants Monk, Tirrell and Kimball to be first lieuten 
 ants, Commissary Sergeant Plummer, Sergeant W. S. 
 Conant, First Sergeants S. D. Grimes, W. J. Fitts, John L. 
 Smith and John A. Reynolds to be second lieutenants.* 
 
 On the ninth of June, about five o clock in the morning, 
 Lieutenant Rose, the mustering officer, mustered the 
 Thirty-Fifth Regiment out of the United States service. 
 At six o clock the transferred officers and men took up the 
 line of march for their new command, after much hand 
 shaking and many good wishes. Spending one more night 
 in the open air, we broke camp on the tenth for the last 
 time, for the journey home ; the Seventh Rhode Island 
 going with us. Colonel Pleasants, of the Forty-Eighth 
 Pennsylvania, addressed the men in words of which the 
 copy is now lost ; but they were to the effect that now the 
 old Army of the Potomac was being dissolved, we should 
 
 * Sergeant Marcus M. Haskell, of Company C, and Sergeant Henry W. Tisdale, 
 of Company I, were recommended to the Secretary of War by General Parke, in 
 1865, for Medals of Honor for distinguished bravery in action, as appears by the 
 records of the war department, but the medals were never received by them. The 
 medal conferred upon Sergeant F. M. Whitman, of Company G. has been referred to 
 in the account of the battle of Antietam. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 406 
 
 strive to prove that good soldiers in war make the best of 
 citizens in peace, to remember the old corps, and our 
 comrades from other states. The Fifty-Eighth Massa 
 chusetts, Lieutenant Colonel Whiton, with the brigade 
 band, acted as escort as far as the wharf at Alexandria, 
 and with hearty cheers, reiterated again and again, we 
 parted from the brigade. 
 
 Conveyed to Washington by the Keyport, we waited 
 near the capitol all day for transportation, which was 
 difficult to obtain, so many troops were departing for the 
 North. We got off towards evening, marched across 
 Baltimore at midnight, and arrived in Philadelphia next 
 day at noon. Again we were entertained at the Cooper s 
 Shop Saloon, as kindly now our work was done as in years 
 before when it yet lay before us. A special order of thanks 
 was entered upon the books of the saloon by the colonel s 
 direction. Will any soldier ever forget the kindness mani 
 fested in that noble institution of the City of Brotherly Love ! 
 
 Thence, by ferry and rail, we pursued our way to New 
 York. At all the large towns and cities, on the route 
 through New Jersey, the stations and streets were filled 
 with people, waving hats, handkerchiefs and bunting ; even 
 in the country the people ran out to wave a welcome to 
 the returning soldiers. The men of the regiments covered 
 the tops of the cars, displaying their flags and returning 
 the greetings with never-ending enthusiasm. That beautiful 
 June Sunday was a grand ovation all the way into New York. 
 
 The regiments marched down Broadway to the barracks 
 on the Battery and were provided for by Colonel Howe, 
 our gentlemanly State Agent in New York. There the 
 Seventh Rhode Island, mindful of Jackson, Miss., and our 
 common quarters in Fort Sedgwick, announced that they 
 were to receive a formal reception by the people of Provi 
 dence, and invited the Thirty-Fifth to participate ; the 
 
407 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, 
 
 invitation was repeated by the state authorities in Provi 
 dence and, it need hardly be said, was gladly accepted. The 
 steamboat Oceanus transported the regiments to Providence 
 by Tuesday morning, June 13, a bright day; but let Lieu 
 tenant-Colonel Hudson tell how magnificently the two regi 
 ments were greeted and treated there ; he wrote as follows : 
 " Disembarking from the steamer, we were escorted by 
 a regiment of militia through the principal streets, which 
 were beautified by throngs of the fairest ladies, and having 
 marched past the home of General Burnside (where our 
 beloved leader sat on the porch to welcome us), halted at 
 a commodious hall. Here we were welcomed in a brief 
 speech by Hon. Mr. Paine, in the presence of Governor 
 Smith and other officials of the state, and invited to an 
 abundant and elegant repast. A little more than half of 
 Mr. Paine s speech was addressed to the Seventh. He 
 then said, Soldiers of Massachusetts, we tender to you 
 the same kind welcome which we have prepared for our 
 own returning heroes. We cannot forget that while, in the 
 struggle for national existence, your gallant state has been 
 behind none other in the clash of arms, she has been con 
 fessedly the foremost in all those moral achievements 
 which convert the victory you have won over the enemy 
 in the field into a triumph of humanity everywhere over 
 cruelty and wrong. The Morris Brothers happening to 
 be the lessees of the hall at the time, drew the curtain and 
 sang a patriotic song as we feasted, and we left our old 
 commander and our entertainers with full hearts. The 
 demonstration in Providence was in all respects beautiful. 
 We should have appreciated it no less had it been within 
 the territorial limits of our own loved commonwealth. It 
 was the last time our drums ever beat together." 
 
 After this warm reception we took the cars upon the Bos 
 ton and Providence Railroad, Company G being left behind 
 
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS. 408 
 
 by an unexpected starting of the train, and after a quick 
 passage, got off at Readville, where A tents were issued 
 and pitched until the regiment could be paid off. This 
 stop at Readville disappointed the members of the regi 
 ment sorely, for they had expected to greet their friends, 
 as a regiment, in Boston ; but the old saying, " We will 
 make this all right when we get on to Boston Common," 
 was not fulfilled the regiment never marched into that 
 sacred enclosure. It would have been a much pleasanter 
 ending of our career if the regiment could have marched 
 to the State House and surrendered their colors, even in 
 the most informal manner, into the hands of the state 
 authorities, upon the spot where they received them when 
 starting for the war. The various cities and towns gave 
 receptions to all their returned soldiers upon days 
 appointed for the purpose, in a hearty and generous man 
 ner, but accounts of these ceremonies belong rather to 
 company histories than to this narrative. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh of June the men were paid off 
 and received their certificates of discharge at Readville, 
 and the term of service of the Thirty-Fifth Regiment was 
 ended. With joyous alacrity we threw off the grinding 
 shackles of military discipline, and turned away from 
 scenes where the life so dear to every man was constantly 
 endangered ; yet not without a fond regret, for no one 
 can make a change from any course of life, however 
 humble, much less from one where great deeds, great 
 thoughts and noble friendships were constantly encoun 
 tered, without a softening of the heart towards the incidents 
 of those years of perilous duty. 
 
 " O, now, forever 
 
 Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars, 
 That make ambition virtue ! O, farewell ! 
 Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, 
 
409 HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGT., MASS. VOLS. 
 
 The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, 
 The royal banner, and all quality, 
 Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war ! 
 And, O you mortal engines, whose rude throats 
 The immortal Jove s dread clamours counterfeit 
 Farewell ! " 
 
 After a few days of holiday we commenced anew the 
 peaceful labors of the life of a citizen, and cares of business 
 and family have gradually dimmed the memory of the 
 scenes we have endeavored to record, until they seem like 
 impossible dreams, save, perhaps, to those whose broken 
 frames or impaired health connect the present with the past. 
 To the surviving members of the old regiment, wherever 
 scattered and to whatever fortune called, we send our greet 
 ing and benediction : summoned to face the hazards of war 
 at a time of deep discouragement and peril to the nation r 
 they have lived to see that country, already the wonder of 
 the world, stepping forward unitedly toward a future which 
 we fondly hope will prove the brightest examplar yet seen 
 of the goodness of God and the nobility of man. 
 
 And for our country, for which so many sacrifices were 
 made, what more fitting words can we find than.these : 
 
 " O Beautiful ! My Country ! ours once more ! 
 Smoothing thy gold of war-dishevelled hair 
 O er such sweet brows as never other wore 
 And letting thy set lips 
 Freed from wrath s pale eclipse, 
 The rosy edges of their smile lay bare, 
 What words divine of lover or of poet 
 Could tell our love and make thee know it, 
 Among the Nations bright beyond compare ? 
 What were our lives without thee ? 
 What all our lives to save thee ? 
 We reck not what we gave thee ; 
 We will not dare to doubt thee, 
 But ask whatever else, and we will dare ! * 
 
ROSTER. 
 
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 TERMINATION OF SERVICE, REMARKS, ETC. 
 
 In every engagement the regiment participated in; C 
 63; Sergt. Oct., 63; Color Sergt. and First Sergt. 
 ex. of serv., June 9, 1865. 
 So. Mountain, Antietam, and injured by shell; dis. Nov 
 62, for disability. 
 So. Mountain, Antietam, and wounded in thigh ; dis. 
 17, 63, for wounds. 
 So. Mountain, Antietam; detailed in Ambulance Corps; 
 May 22, 63, for disability. 
 Fredericksburg, Knoxville, Cold Harbor and Petersbt 
 
 Corp. June, 64; bergt. Aug., 64; taken prisoner 
 confined in Castle Thunder; ex. of serv., June 9, 65. 
 So. Mountain, Antietam; drowned at Falmouth, Va., 
 23, 63; buried at Nat l Cemetery, Fredericksburg, div 
 sect. 3, grave 140. 
 So. Mountain, Antietam, and wounded in hand; su 
 quently served in 4oth N. Y. l1Ht. 
 So. Mountain, Antietam ; dis. June 29, 65, at Washing 
 D. C. ; died Dec., 77; buried in Newburyport. 
 So. Mountain, Antietam; Corp. 63; died at Camp Nel 
 Ky., Dec. n, 63 ; buried at Newburyport. 
 So. Mountain, Antietam, and wounded; dis. Nov. 20, 62 
 So. Mountain, Antietam, Tennessee and Mississippi c 
 paigns ; Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg ; 
 of serv., June 9, 65. 
 So. Mountain ; Corp. 62 ; Fredericksburg, and wounc 
 transf. to Co. K, igth V. R. C.; dis. Aug. n, 65. 
 So. Mountain, Antietam; dis. Oct. 28, 63, for disability. 
 Clerk at Div Hd. Qtrs. Sept.. 62; taken prisoner Jan., 
 exchanged May, 64; ex. of serv., June 9, 65. 
 Left at Arlington; dis. Dec. 21, 62, for disability. 
 Left at Arlington 62 ; dis. Nov. 15, 62, for disability. 
 
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