Brevet Brigadier-General, U. S. V. 
 
THE STORY 
 
 OF 
 
 COMPANY A 
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, MASS. VOLS. 
 
 IN THE 
 
 WAR OF THE REBELLION. 
 
 BY SAMUEL H. PUTNAM. 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS.: 
 
 PUTNAM, DAVIS AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 
 1886. 
 
E 
 
 5 
 
 ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE COPIES PRINTED : 
 SIX COPIES ON LARGE PAPER WITH AUTOGRAPH SIGNATURES. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1886, 
 
 By S. H. Putnam. 
 
 WOBCE8TEB: PBIVATE PBE8S OK FBANKLIN P. RN'E. 
 
TO THE MEMORY 
 
 OF 
 
 29eatr of (ftompan 
 
 I DEDICATE 
 THIS SIMPLE STORY. 
 
 M198519 
 
Preface. 
 
 '""pHIS STORY is written from the standpoint of a private soldier, 
 for soldiers the surviving members of Company A. It is an 
 attempt to give, somewhat in detail, the everyday life of soldiers 
 in active service and under canvas walls, with incidents of camp, 
 march, and bivouac. The "Story" may possess but little merit, 
 yet it may please the "Boys" for whom it was written. 
 
 No march is described in which the writer did not participate, 
 no battle in which he did not take a hand, in his humble position ; 
 and it is claimed that the story is a true one. The language is 
 sometimes rough, but it should be remembered that it was a rough 
 life we were leading. If an occasional strong expression is found 
 in these pages I can only say that "our army swore terribly in 
 Flanders" ; and I have tried to describe the soldier as I saw him 
 as I knew him. 
 
 I am indebted to my friend, Franklin P. Rice, for the elegant 
 typographical appearance of the book. It is issued from his private 
 press, and is entirely the work of his own hands. Thanks are due 
 
Preface. 
 
 W. P. Derby, Esq., author of the History of the Twenty-seventh 
 (Mass.) Regiment, for the use of the maps contained in this vol- 
 ume. The fine portrait of our Captain is from a photograph by 
 Black of Boston, taken in 1863. 
 
 SAMUEL H. PUTNAM. 
 
 Worcester, Mass. 
 
 1 8th Annual Reunion of Co. A., 
 
 June 3d, 1886. 
 
Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER I. FORMATION. Pages 7 to 22. 
 
 CHAPPER II. AT CAMP LINCOLN. Pages 23 to 35. 
 
 CHAPTER III. CAMP HICKS. Pages 36 to 45. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. Pages 46 to 61. 
 CHAPTER V. THE BATTLE OF ROANOKE. Pages 62 to 96. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. THE CAPTURE OF NEW BERNE. Pages 97 to 1 1 1. 
 CHAPTER VII. NEW BERNE AND CAMP OLIVER. Pages 1 1 2 to 1 29. 
 CHAPTER VIII. EXPEDITIONS. Pages 130 to 158. 
 
 CHAFrER IX. EXPEDITIONS (continued}. Pages 159 to 195. 
 CHAPTER X. CAMP, MARCH, AND BIVOUAC. Pages 196 to 226. 
 CHAPTER XI. RE-ENLISTING. Pages 227 to 256. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. THE BATTLE SUMMER. Pages 257 to 324. 
 
Battles and Skirmishes 
 
 in which Company A took part. 
 
 ROANOKE ISLAND, 
 NEW BERNE, 
 KINSTON, 
 
 WHITEHALL, ,. 
 
 GOLDSBORO', . 
 
 Near KINSTON, . ' . 
 DEEP GULLY, 
 GUM SWAMP, 
 PORT WALTHAL, 
 CHESTERFIELD JUNCTION, 
 ARROWFIELD CHURCH, 
 PALMER'S CREEK, 
 DREWRY'S BLUFF, 
 COBB'S HILL, 
 
 COLD HARBOR, 
 
 ( < it 
 
 " " Charge, 
 
 PETERSBURG, Guns captured, 
 
 ( i 
 
 1 ' Charge, 
 
 < < 
 
 ' Crater, 
 
 February 8, 1862. 
 March 14, " 
 December 14, " 
 16, " 
 1 8, " 
 March 6, 1863. 
 
 " 13, " 
 May 22, " 
 " 6, 1864. 
 
 11 16, M 
 
 " 21, " 
 
 June i, " 
 
 " 16, " 
 
 " 18, " 
 
 " 30, " 
 
 July 30, ' 
 
THE STORY OF COMPANY A. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FORMATION. 
 
 DARK CLOUDS which had so long low 
 ered above the American horizon at last burst 
 over the fiery land of South Carolina ; and with the P enin s 
 
 of the 
 
 first gun fired by rebellious hands at Fort Sumter, 
 the country was plunged into a whirlwind of civil 
 war. 
 
 If, as Emerson says, the first shot fired at Con- 
 cord was heard round the world, so the first shot 
 at Sumter, April I2th, 1861, was not only heard 
 round the world, but its echoes will resound through 
 the ages ; and the state which has the credit of com- 
 mencing the fierce and bloody struggle of i86r, 
 that dastardly attempt to overthrow the freest and 
 best government the world has ever seen cannot 
 escape being damned to an infamy for which history 
 has no parallel. 
 
8 The Story of Company A. 
 
 The election of Abraham Lincoln as President of 
 
 the United States in 1860, was the signal for an 
 uprising of the whole Slave Power against the pre- 
 vailing free-labor sentiment of the Northern People. 
 The conflict was inevitable, and while the South 
 was organizing and arming, the North, depend- 
 ing upon the ability of the Government to protect 
 itself, was in a measure unprepared for the terrible 
 and bloody struggle that was soon to follow. 
 M Massachusetts, however, always watchful for the 
 
 chusetts cause of Union and Liberty, was ready to meet the 
 enemy when its uplifted hand should strike the 
 blow. Governor John A. Andrew, foreseeing the 
 approaching storm, wisely provided for the emer- 
 gency ; and by the promulgation of General Order 
 General No. 4, in January, 1861, the number of officers and 
 men of the volunteer militia, who would respond in- 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 stantly to any call which might be made upon them 
 by the President of the United States, was ascer- 
 tained with absolute accuracy. 
 
 The Worcester companies, City Guards and Light 
 Infantry, voted almost unanimously "ready," as did 
 most of the companies in the state. Subsequent 
 events proved the wisdom of this order, for almost 
 before the sound of the first hostile gun ceased its 
 
2$th Regt. Mass. Vols. . 9 
 
 reverberations, the militia of the Old Commonwealth 
 
 were marching to the relief of our defenseless Cap- 
 ital. 
 
 The men of Worcester, whose patriotism never 
 failed, were among the first to answer the call to 
 arms. The Sixth Regiment, with our Worcester 
 Light Infantry, encountering armed treason in the 
 streets of Baltimore, gallantly fought their way Tke 
 through to the city of Washington ; and the ring of Capital 
 their muskets on the marble floor of the Senate 
 Chamber gave assurance that the Capital was safe, 
 and that the conspirators were foiled. 
 
 The Third Battalion Rifles, with the Worcester 
 City Guards, Emmet Guards, and Holden Rifles,- Three 
 three full companies, proceeding to Annapolis, Md., Months 1 
 and from thence to Fort Me Henry, re-enforcing the en ' 
 handful of regulars there, saved that important po- 
 sition from capture by the secessionists of Baltimore. 
 The Fourth, Fifth and Eighth regiments did excel- 
 lent service at Fortress Monroe, the Relay House, 
 and in Virginia. 
 
 The State of Massachusetts had ever been noted 
 
 1 ne 
 
 for its excellent militia system, which in point of Militia. 
 numbers and efficiency, was superior to all others. 
 There were many people, however, who considered 
 
io The Story of Company A. 
 
 it useless and unprofitable. This sentiment was 
 
 changed quite rapidly when the danger signal was 
 sounded ; and its enemies became its most enthu- 
 siastic friends when they found that these "holiday 
 soldiers" were ready at a moment's notice to leave 
 home, friends, business, everything, going to scenes 
 of strife and unknown dangers, perhaps never to 
 return ; but resolved to perform their duty to the 
 country as soldiers and citizens, regardless of con- 
 sequences to themselves. The three months' men, 
 by their courage and- devotion to duty in the hour 
 of peril, checked the tide of treason, and proved the 
 sterling worth of our^volunteer militia. Their record 
 is one which will ever redound to the glory of Massa- 
 chusetts, and will be prized among her richest his- 
 toric treasures. 
 
 On the 3d day of May, the President issued a 
 
 Second proclamation calling for a force of volunteers to serve 
 
 can for three years. He appealed to all loyal people to aid 
 
 Troops. j n mam t am } n g the nation's honor and integrity. On 
 
 the 1 5th of June, the first three years' regiment left 
 
 the state, and others followed in rapid succession ; 
 
 the Fifteenth left Worcester on the 8th, and the 
 
 Twenty-first on the 22nd of August. 
 
Regi. Mass. Vols. 1 1 
 
 The return of the Sixth Regiment and Third Bat- 
 
 talion, August 2nd, after three months' service, was 
 
 . > .... , . Return 
 
 an occasion tor general rejoicing. 1 hey were given r the 
 a perfect ovation by the throngs of people that im- oidSixth. 
 peded their progress through the streets, with such 
 demonstrations of welcome as had never been seen 
 in Worcester before. The boys were glad enough 
 to get home, but soon became restless, and nearly 
 all of them re-entered the service, a large number 
 as officers in the three years' regiments. 
 
 The public excitement at this time was intense. 
 The people were thoroughly aroused. Thousands 
 of loyal, patriotic men, regardless of politics or na- 
 tionality, were seeking an opportunity to march to 
 their imperilled country's defense. They had re- 
 solved to maintain the honor of the flag and the 
 unity of the states at all hazards. They only desired 
 leaders of ability and courage in whom they could 
 place confidence. Officers of experience were in 
 demand, and among those whose services were ea- 
 gerly sought for was Lieut. Pickett of the Worcester Lieut. 
 City Guards. Previous to the war he had seen con- Pukett ' 
 siderable service in the militia, joining Company F, 
 Old .Sixth Massachusetts, as early as 1840, and the 
 Worcester City Guards in 1855. When the first call 
 
1 2 The Story of Company A. 
 
 came, in April, 1861, he held a commission as lieu- 
 
 tenant in this company. His ready and patriotic 
 response, while others were hesitating, had made him 
 conspicuous, and gave him a high reputation as a 
 soldier of unquestioned ability and courage. Since 
 his return from the three months' service, he had 
 been offered the command of the Webster company 
 in the Fifteenth, and the Barre company in the 
 Twenty-first, but declined, preferring to remain with 
 his old associates of the Third Battalion, who were 
 arranging for the formation of a new regiment. The 
 plan soon developed, and resulted in an order from 
 Gov. Andrew, issued Sept. loth, for the organization 
 of a Worcester County regiment to be designated 
 the Twenty-fifth ; and Captain Tosiah Pickett was 
 
 Regiment. 
 
 authorized to recruit COMPANY A for this regiment- 
 
 Company 
 
 A. Headquarters were immediately opened at Brinley 
 Hall, then the armory of the Guards, and business 
 became brisk at once. The best young men in the 
 city were eager to enlist in the new company under 
 its popular commander, and quite a number of his 
 old comrades in Company A, Third Rifles, were 
 among the first to enroll themselves. 
 
 In ten days' time the ranks of the Company were 
 filled with resolute, courageous young men, and 
 
25th Regt, Mass. Vols. 13 
 
 it was waiting orders. On September 26th, orders 
 
 1861. 
 were received to go into camp, and at 10 A. M. the 
 
 same day, the company assembled for the last time in 
 Brinley (now Grand Army) Hall, marched to the 
 Agricultural Grounds, and went into camp, which camp 
 was known as "Camp Lincoln." These grounds Lincoln - 
 had a half-mile race track in the center, and am- 
 ple sheds for cattle and horses on exhibition days, 
 with a large building containing halls for the display 
 of fruit, vegetables, and all farm products. The 
 whole was enclosed with a high board fence, inside 
 of which the soldiers were posted on guard duty, 
 and paced their rounds with all the precision of reg- 
 ulars. These grounds, which were considered the 
 largest in Massachusetts, were bounded on the east 
 by what is now Sever street, on the north by High- 
 land street, on the west by Agricultural street, and 
 extended southerly nearly to Cedar street. 
 
 The organization of the Company was here com- 
 
 > r j Company 
 
 pleted. Francis E. Goodwin, a young business man organized. 
 of high character and patriotic purpose, and an old 
 member of the City Guards, was appointed first 
 lieutenant. Merrit B. Bessey, who had served with 
 much credit in Company A, Third Rifles, in the three 
 months' service, received the appointment of second 
 
1 4 The Story of Company A. 
 
 lieutenant ; and the following is the full roster and 
 
 1861. 
 
 Roster. 
 
 roll of the Company : 
 
 Age. 
 
 Josiah Pickett, Captain, 38 
 
 Francis E. Goodwin, ist Lieut., 31 
 
 Merrit B. Bessey, 2d ' ' 22 
 
 George A. Johnson, ist Sergt., 42 
 
 George Burr, Sergt., 26 
 
 James M. Hervey, ' ' 
 
 James J. McLane, ' ' 
 
 Welcome W. Sprague, ' ' 
 
 Frank L. R. Coes, Corp., 
 
 Jaalam Gates, 
 
 Calvin A. Wesson, 
 
 Edwin A. Morse, 
 
 Henry M. Ide, 
 
 John A. Thompson, 
 
 John A. Chenery, 
 
 Samuel H. Putnam, 
 
 Jubal H. Haven, Musician, 
 
 Jesse L. Yeaw, 
 
 Sylvanus G. Bullock, Wagoner, 
 
 Nathaniel O. Adams, Private, 
 
 Samuel C. T. Aborn, 
 
 Charles S. Bartlett, 
 
 Residence. 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 23 
 
 
 24 
 
 < i 
 
 33 
 
 < i 
 
 23 
 
 ' * 
 
 38 
 
 1 ' 
 
 29 
 
 Grafton. 
 
 19 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 30 
 
 i < 
 
 22 
 
 t < 
 
 26 
 
 
 27 
 
 ' 
 
 54 
 
 ' ' 
 
 19 
 
 Northboro'. 
 
 27 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 23 
 
 Boston. 
 
 27 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 19 
 
 ' 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 
 
 Age. 
 
 George R. Brown, Private, 
 Moses P. Brown, ' ' 
 
 Moses L. Bolster, Jr., ' ' 
 Francis B. Brock, 
 Henry D. Brock, 
 Hamlin Butterfield, 
 Horace E. Brooks, ' ' 
 
 David B. Bigelow, 
 George W. Bigelow, ' ' 
 Albert N. Bonn, 
 Cyrus Brumley, 
 Hiram H. H. Billings, 
 George E. Curtis, ' ' 
 
 Samuel S. Dresser, ' ' 
 
 Reuben H. DeLuce, 
 Thomas Earle, ' ' 
 
 Lewis J. Elwell, ' ' 
 
 Joseph P. Eaton, ' ' 
 
 Daniel T. Eaton, 
 Elbridge B. Fairbanks, ' ' 
 Jerome H. Fuller, ' ' 
 
 Charles Forbes, ' ' 
 
 Francis Greenwood, ' ' 
 
 John L. Goodwin, ' ' 
 
 3 
 
 23 Grafton. l86x - 
 2 1 Worcester. Roil 
 
 20 ' ' ofthe 
 
 Company. 
 
 28 Athol. 
 19 
 
 2 1 Sterling. 
 26 Worcester. 
 29 
 
 18 
 
 24 - [Ct. 
 24 Jewett City, 
 2 5 Worcester. 
 
 21 ' ' 
 
 20 
 
 22 Boston. 
 38 Worcester. 
 18 
 
 2 1 Auburn. 
 
 3i 
 
 30 Worcester. 
 
 18 
 
 42 
 
 22 ' ' 
 20 
 
i6 
 
 The Story of Company A. 
 
 i86i. 
 
 Henry Goulding, 2d, Private, 
 
 30 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 Roll 
 
 James M. Green, ' ' 
 
 2 I 
 
 Boston. 
 
 of the 
 
 Andrew L. George, ' ' 
 
 21 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 Company. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Charles Henry, ' ' 
 
 44 
 
 t 
 
 
 Cyrus L. Hutchins, ' ' 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 Edward S. Hewitt, 
 
 21 
 
 Auburn. 
 
 
 John W. Hartshorn, 
 
 22 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 William E. Holman, 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 Cyrus W. Holman, ' ' 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 Edward P. Hall, 
 
 19 
 
 i < 
 
 
 William R. Keef, 
 
 2O 
 
 Auburn. 
 
 
 Charles H. Knowlton, ' ' 
 
 23 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 Benjamin C. Knowles, ' ' 
 
 42 
 
 Auburn. 
 
 
 Augustus Knowles, ' ' 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 Lucius F. Kingman, ' ' 
 
 19 
 
 Northboro'. 
 
 
 Henry F. Knox, ' ' 
 
 28 
 
 Holden. 
 
 
 Walter D. Knox, 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 William L. Lyon, 
 
 2O 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 Charles A. Mayers, 
 
 20 
 
 Auburn. 
 
 B 
 
 Charles H. Monroe, 
 
 2O 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 Lloyd G. Manning, 
 
 23 
 
 i < 
 
 
 George E. Merrill, 
 
 23 
 
 < t 
 
 
 Daniel M. G. Merrill, 
 
 26 
 
 ' 
 
 
 Charles Matherson, ' ' 
 
 25 
 
 Boston. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 
 
 Age. 
 
 Chauncey L. Metcalf, Private, 
 
 Eli Pike, 
 
 George F. Penniman, ' ' 
 
 Sidney W. Phillips, ' ' 
 
 Henry H. Pratt, 
 
 William W. Putnam, 
 
 Orrin Parsons, 
 
 Walter H. Richards, 
 
 George F. Robinson, 
 
 Henry W. Reed, 
 
 Amos E. Stearns, 
 
 George F. Stearns, 
 
 John B. Savage, 
 
 George L, Seagrave, ' ' 
 
 Hiram Staples, 
 
 Elijah Simonds, 
 
 Charles Smith, ' 4 
 
 Paris Smith, 
 
 Augustus Stone, 
 
 Julius M. Tucker, ' ' 
 
 Nelson Tiffany, ' ' 
 
 Chester O. Upham, ' ' 
 
 Alonzo D. Whitcomb, ' ' 
 
 Frederick A. White, 
 
 36 Worcester. l861 
 19 
 
 22 ' ' 
 
 Roll 
 
 of the 
 
 Company. 
 
 24 
 
 21 Grafton. 
 21 
 
 34 Worcester. 
 18 
 
 21 ' ' 
 
 18 
 28 
 
 22 Clinton. 
 25 Worcester. 
 24 Uxbridge. 
 20 Douglas. 
 39 Worcester. 
 39 
 
 A A ' < 
 
 44 
 
 20 ' ' 
 
 20 ' ' 
 
 1 8 Auburn. 
 
 35 Worcester. 
 26 
 
 20 ' ' 
 
i8 
 
 The Story of Company A. 
 
 i86i. 
 
 Hale Wesson, Private, 
 
 19 
 
 Grafton. 
 
 Roll 
 
 James Wesson, ' ' 
 
 18 
 
 < < 
 
 of the 
 
 Frank Wright, ' ' 
 
 20 
 
 Holden. 
 
 Company. 
 
 
 
 
 
 John Wright, ' ' 
 
 18 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 Edwin D. Waters, 
 
 25 
 
 Millbury. 
 
 
 Timothy M. Ward, 
 
 19 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 Cyrus K. Webber, 
 
 20 
 
 Brookfield. 
 
 
 Total : officers, 3 ; men, 
 
 98 = 
 
 IOI. 
 
 NAMES OF RECRUITS. 
 
 
 Name. Rank. 
 
 Age. 
 
 Residence. 
 
 
 Abel S. Angell, Private, 
 
 18 
 
 Boston. 
 
 Names of 
 recruits. 
 
 Sidney J. Atkinson, 
 
 42 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 Charles E. Benson, 
 
 20 
 
 Blackstone. 
 
 
 Walter S. Bugbee, 
 
 30 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 Daniel W. Burt, 
 
 24 
 
 i 
 
 
 John P. Coulter, 
 
 19 
 
 Clinton. 
 
 
 Charles A. Davis, 
 
 18 
 
 Upton. 
 
 
 Joseph L. Delaney, 
 
 33 
 
 Auburn. 
 
 
 Horace W. Dryden, 
 
 23 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 Charles Eaton, 
 
 22 
 
 Gardner. 
 
 
 Timothy Foley, 
 
 19 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 
 Benjamin C. Green, ^' 
 
 25 
 
 i < 
 
 
 Reuben Heywood, 
 
 21 
 
 ' * 
 
 
 Charles B. Kendall, ' ' 
 
 21 
 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 
 
 James Kerwin, 
 William R. Leseur, 
 Horace Lincoln, 
 Ira Lindsey, 
 John Madden, 
 Andrew J. McKinstry, 
 Bernard McSheny, 
 John Moore, 
 George H. Nottage, 
 Charles O'Neil, 
 George Packard, 
 Henry A. Pond, 
 Lyman J. Prentiss, 
 Charles D. Roby, 
 Edward J. Sargent, 
 George E. Sawyer, 
 Liberty W. Stone, 
 James D. Thompson, 
 Joseph H. Thompson, 
 Charles E, Wheeler, 
 James White, 
 George W. Wood, 
 William H. Wood, 
 
 Private, 
 
 Age. 
 
 44 
 19 
 26 
 
 38 
 44 
 44 
 36 
 18 
 18 
 18 
 24 
 18 
 
 21 
 
 19 
 21 
 
 23 
 38 
 21 
 
 19 
 
 39 
 45 
 18 
 18 
 
 Worcester. l861 - 
 
 Milford. Names of 
 
 Charlestown. recruits - 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 < 
 
 Southbridge. 
 Mendon. 
 Dudley. 
 Hopkinton. 
 
 Milford. 
 Fitchburg. 
 
 Milford. 
 Northbridge. 
 Worcester. 
 Oakham. 
 Clinton. 
 Milford. 
 Oxford. 
 Worcester. 
 Uxbridge. 
 Worcester. 
 LJpton. 
 
 Number of Recruits, 37. 
 
2O The Story of Company A. 
 
 The Twenty-fifth Regiment was a Worcester 
 
 County regiment, nearly all of the officers and men 
 
 belonging to that section. The commanding officer 
 
 was Colonel Edwin Upton, of Fitchburg, forty-five 
 
 Colonel years of age, firm and dignified in bearing, genial and 
 
 Upton. ' 
 
 courteous to every one. ror many years connected 
 with the Massachusetts Militia, he was a thorough 
 soldier and a brave officer. Resigning on account 
 of disability after more than a year's service, it is but 
 little to say that he was beloved by every soldier in 
 the Regiment. He still lives (April, 1886), a wreck 
 of his former self, having lost his sight by a terrible 
 accident while blasting rocks. Peace be with him. 
 May his end be like the going down of the sun in a 
 cloudless sky calm, serene, and beautiful. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Colonel was A. B. R. Sprague, 
 of slight build and gentlemanly appearance, thirty- 
 ' a ue four years of age, and a resident of Worcester. He, 
 also, was a militia officer of years of experience, 
 and served during the three months' campaign as 
 Captain of Company A (City Guards), in the Third 
 Battalion Rifles. He was thoroughly familiar with 
 military tactics, and a strict disciplinarian. He re- 
 signed after about a year's service in the Twenty- 
 fifth, and appeared again in the field as Colonel of 
 
2 5th Regt., Mass. Vols. 21 
 
 the Fifty-first, a nine months' regiment ; later he was - 
 Colonel of the Second Massachusetts Heavy Ar- 
 tillery, and was mustered out of the service in 1865 
 as Brevet Brigadier-General. He is, at present 
 writing, living in Worcester, and is still on duty as 
 Sheriff of the County. 
 
 Major Matthew J. McCafferty was thirty-two years 
 
 Major 
 
 old, and a resident of Worcester. He was one of 
 
 the (very) few lawyers of Worcester who, in 1861, f erf y- 
 locked their office doors, threw away the keys, and 
 fought under the starry folds of "Old Glory." He 
 was also a three months' man, serving as Lieutenant 
 in the Emmet Guards ; and remained with the 
 Twenty-fifth until after the battles of Roanoke and 
 New Berne, when he returned home and effectively 
 aided the cause by furthering enlistments, and de- 
 livering many patriotic addresses. At the time of 
 his death, in May, 1885, he was one of the justices 
 of the Boston Municipal Court. 
 
 Our Adjutant was Elijah A. Harkness, twenty- 
 three years old, and a man of very delicate build for Ad J utant 
 a soldier. He resided in Worcester, and had served 
 in the three months' campaign as Lieutenant in the 
 City Guards. He resigned to accept the position 
 
22 The Story of Company A. 
 
 of Major in the Fifty-first Regiment. After the war 
 
 he went to Chicago, where he died. 
 
 The Surgeon was J. Marcus Rice, a well known 
 
 burgeon 
 
 Rice, physician of Worcester, thirty-four years old. He 
 was wounded at Roanoke, was afterwards Medical 
 Director of the Eighteenth Army Corps, and still 
 later, Medical Inspector of the Army of the James, 
 serving through the war. He is still in practice in 
 Worcester, as genial and full of business as ever. 
 
 Our Chaplain was Rev. Horace James, Pastor of 
 , A , . the Old South Church in Worcester. After the 
 
 Lnaplain 
 
 James, battle of New Berne he had charge of the freedmen, 
 and was afterwards Captain and Assistant Quarter- 
 master, U. S. Vols. He died in 1875. 
 
 The Quartermaster, William O. Brown of Fitch- 
 burg, was forty-six years of age. He was a man 
 
 Quarter- 
 master everybody liked him always pleasant, and ever 
 
 Brown. re ady to do a good turn for the private soldier 
 no wonder everybody liked him. He served his 
 full time of three years, and is now living in Fitch- 
 burg, holding the office of County Commissioner. 
 Everybody likes him still. 
 
 Let us now glance at life in Camp Lincoln. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 AT CAMP LINCOLN. 
 
 MEMBERS of the Company, after selecting 
 
 tent-mates, quickly adapted themselves to the 
 routine of camp life. The work of drill and disci- Adapta- 
 pline now began in earnest. The nucleus of old 
 soldiers in the ranks of the Company was of great Life. 
 advantage ; as instructors to the new men they were 
 invaluable. This was soon manifested in the excel- 
 lent appearance of the Company on drill or parade. 
 Company A was assigned the post of honor on the 
 right of the regimental line. 
 
 It was interesting to witness the change from citi- 
 zens to soldiers. Camp life was new to the major- 
 ity of the Company, but after a few days of the regu- 
 lar company drill, and a few nights of sleeping in 
 tents, the novelty wore off ; and when the time came 
 to break camp, it was hard to distinguish the three 
 months men from those of less experience. 
 
 4 
 
24 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Company A, being the right flank company, was 
 drilled in the bayonet exercise, and also the skir- 
 mish drill. These evolutions always attracted a crowd 
 of spectators from the numbers which thronged the 
 grounds, and were performed with the greatest en- 
 thusiasm by the Company daily. As to amusements 
 while in Camp Lincoln, it must be confessed that 
 Amuse- ^g. crowds of visitors were so great that there was 
 little time to attend to any ; still athletic exercises 
 were indulged in to some extent. Boxing, gymnas- 
 tics, and running races around the half-mile track 
 were daily practiced. The weather was delightful 
 during the stay of the Twenty-fifth at Camp Lincoln ; 
 and although the nights were often cold and frosty, 
 the days were clear and bright. The recollection of 
 those crisp, sparkling October days of 1861 comes 
 back to us like the memory of a pleasant dream. 
 
 The tents used by the Company m Camp Lincoln 
 were A tents, and were intended to hold six men 
 
 Tents. 
 
 each, with all their equipments. This was rather 
 crowding things, and a good deal like packing sar- 
 dines in a box ; still it was taken as a matter of course, 
 and the inconvenience submitted to in perfect good 
 nature. These tents were, some time after, ex- 
 changed for Sibley tents, much more comfortable 
 
2 5th Regt., Mass. Vols. 25 
 later for shelter tents, and at last, while before 
 
 e 11 l86l. 
 
 Petersburg, for no tents at all. 
 
 The streets in Camp Lincoln were named. Our 
 company street was designated, as the signboard 
 read, "Pickett Avenue," in honor of our Captain. Camp 
 The tents bore names according to the whims of the " 
 occupants. One was known as "Rovers' Lodge," 
 another as "Whispering House," probably because 
 it was the noisiest tent on the street. There were 
 "Upton's Hotel," "Orphans' Home" and others. 
 These were amusing to visitors and created a deal 
 of merriment as they read the names. So with drill- 
 ing four or five hours daily, jjuard mounting, dress 
 parade, inspection, and crowds of visitors, the days 
 passed rapidly away. 
 
 On the i jth of October we were mustered into 
 the service of the United States by Captain I. M. 
 
 * J in. 
 
 Goodhue, and were citizens no longer. Clothing 
 was served out to us at this time, and bidding adieu 
 to citizens' attire for three years, we were arrayed 
 in the blue of Uncle Sam ; and with the ungainly 
 black regulation hat, and clumsy overcoat and bro- 
 gans, the transformation from citizens to soldiers was 
 complete. The brogans caused a deal of fun among 
 the boys, and some were loth to give up the nice*- 
 
26 The Story of Company A. 
 
 fitting- civilian's boot, and tried to fight it out on that 
 
 line ; but the brogan conquered, and it was found by 
 experience that the army shoe with its wide sole, 
 and its broad, low heel, was the best thing for march- 
 ing. Our rifles were soon after received, and we 
 now fancied ourselves soldiers indeed. 
 
 Each soldier was entitled to clothing as follows : 
 
 clothing Q ne dress /f r ock) coat of dark blue cloth, with brass 
 
 of the 
 
 Soldier, buttons ;. one fatigue jacket, dark blue, coarser cloth, 
 brass buttons ; pants and overcoat of light blue ; 
 woolen shirts and drawers, blue-mixed or gray ; solid 
 sewed brogans tied with leather strings ; and finally 
 the broad-brimmed black felt hat, turned up on the 
 left with a brass eagle to fasten it in that position ; 
 and the blue cap with a broad visor, with the number 
 of the regiment and the letter of the company on 
 the crown, which sloped towards the visor. Such 
 was the clothing of the soldier of 1861 at Camp Lin- 
 coln. He also drew a large, brown U. S. blanket 
 and a rubber blanket. 
 
 In his every-day or working dress while in Camp 
 Lincoln, our soldier wore his blue jacket with brass 
 buttons, his pants of light blue, and cap with broad 
 visor ; and with his woolen shirt, drawers, stockings 
 and brogans, he was, if not a handsome, at least a 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 27 
 
 comfortable looking- soldier. At dress parade, in- 
 
 , . , , 1861. 
 
 spections and reviews, he wore his blue dress coat, 
 
 and the ugly black felt hat turned up at the side, 
 instead of the blue jacket and fatigue cap. 
 
 This is, as we call him up from memory, the way 
 our Company A soldier was dressed at Camp Lin- 
 coln. As we stood in line in heavy marching order, / 
 we were dressed in our best, with equipments Q ^ t Marcktn 
 
 Order. 
 
 rifles to the shoulder, and knapsacks on our backs.* 
 The knapsack contained all we possessed in the way 
 of extra clothing, and the overcoat, while in a neat 
 roll on its top was the woolen blanket with the rub- 
 ber blanket outside. The haversack contained a .tin 
 plate, knife, fork, spoon, and a tin cup holding a 
 quart. The canteen filled with water was indispen- 
 sable. Now, for the moment, if we look at him Three 
 three years later, we shall find something of a later 
 change in his appearance. He is in the trenches 
 before Petersburg during that terrible summer of 
 1864. His knapsack is gone they were all stored 
 in Portsmouth during the Petersburg campaign. 
 The ugly black hat with its brass eagle has disap- 
 peared ; that vanished in Carolina long ago. Over- 
 
 *.The total weight of arms, equipments and extra clothing carried by each 
 soldier was about forty-five pounds. It is safe to say that the knapsacks were 
 never again loaded so heavily as at this time. 
 
28 The Story of Company A. 
 
 coats have nearly all departed, and very few have 
 
 woolen blankets. Thus we see the veteran stripped 
 to the very lightest possible fighting trim ; the clothes 
 which he has on, his equipments, his trusty old En- 
 field rifle, his haversack containing plate and other 
 utensils, canteen and rubber blanket, are all that he 
 carries with him. The last is rolled lengthwise and 
 thrown over the neck like a horse collar,' with the ends 
 tied together hanging down the left side. The wool- 
 en blanket, if he possessed one, was rolled within the 
 other. That is all that is left of our soldier now. 
 Tents there are none ; he sleeps on the ground in 
 the open air. His comrades are many of them dead, 
 in rebel prisons, sick, and scattered far away but I 
 anticipate. 
 
 On the 2 ist of October the regimental baggage 
 
 Prepara- 
 tions for wagons arrived, twelve in all, besides the hospital 
 
 Depart- teams, and the lonesome looking ambulances. On 
 
 UTC* 
 
 the 3Oth, the Regiment was reviewed by Governor 
 Andrew and staff, the grounds being crowded with 
 spectators. The Governor made a stirring address 
 to the soldiers, and complimented the Regiment on 
 its fine and soldierly appearance. 
 
 On the 3 ist of October orders were given to break 
 camp. Now all was excitement ; the packing of 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 29 
 
 knapsacks and they were never so solidly packed 
 
 again ; orders quickly given and as quickly obeyed ; 
 the hum of hurried conversation, and bursts of 
 laughter from the different tents all denoted that 
 we were to move. A collation provided by Wor- 
 cester ladies was served in the Hall, a good part of 
 the rations which were on the tables quietly finding' 
 
 * Rations 
 
 a place in the haversacks of the soldiers. Rations ? { 
 army rations ? nay, verily ; generous, kind, too Cam ? 
 kind, friends of the soldiers allowed us to eat very 
 little of army rations while at Camp Lincoln. In- 
 deed, it seemed as if we had everything but army 
 rations. It was a different story a few days after 
 nothing but army rations then. Pies, cakes, butter, 
 and all the various knicknacks of civilized cookery 
 vanished, and the substantial salt horse and hard 
 tack came to the front, and came to stay. After all, 
 the ordinary bill of fare of the private soldier, com- 
 pared with that of his civilized friends, was the 
 healthier of the two. 
 
 The men were now placed in position around their 
 respective tents ; at a given signal every tent fell as 
 if by magic, and Camp Lincoln was numbered among 
 the things that were. Regimental line was formed 
 about three o'clock, and as we stood there in heavy 
 
30 The Story of Company A. 
 
 marching order, it certainly appeared more like busi- 
 ness ; and it seemed hardly possible that these men, 
 tanned by a month's exposure to the open air, could 
 be the same pale-faced ones who first appeared in 
 citizens' dress at Camp Lincoln. 
 
 Passing out of the western gate, the principal 
 entrance to the grounds, we moved through Agricul- 
 March tural and Highland streets, and wheeling into Main 
 the aty. street, marched company front to the Common, 
 where the train was waiting for us on the Norwich 
 railroad. The most intense excitement prevailed 
 throughout the city. Such crowds of people filled 
 the streets as to impede the march of the Regiment ; 
 every window had its anxious interested faces ; roofs 
 of buildings were crowded with excited men ; cheers 
 from the crowds responded to with cheers from the 
 Regiment ; the waving of handkerchiefs and flags ; 
 and the stirring strains of the Regimental Band 
 all tended to make it one of the most exciting scenes 
 we had ever witnessed. 
 
 Oct. 31. At 4 P. M., the train was in motion, and amid deaf- 
 
 ure ening cheers and fluttering of handkerchiefs, moved 
 
 rapidly off. Fainter grew the cheering and soon 
 
 died away ; and the soldiers, excited as they were 
 
 when they entered the cars, soon quieted down, and 
 
Regt., Mass, Vols, 31 
 
 it was easy to see there were sober, earnest, thought- 
 
 ful faces among them. Where are we going ? How 
 many of us will return ? Shall we find them all at _ 
 
 J Thoughts. 
 
 home if we do return ? These thoughts undoubt- 
 edly filled the minds of many of the boys as the train 
 sped rapidly on, and the shades of night gathered 
 around ; and it is sad indeed to think after the lapse 
 of so many years, how many of that thousand men 
 did not return. 
 
 Allyn's Point was reached about 9, and soon after 
 midnight the Regiment embarked on board the 
 steamer Connecticut for New York. We had ample 
 accomodations on ti\efloors of the steamboat, and 
 with our woolen blankets and overcoats were very 
 comfortable. We had a quiet passage to New York, 
 which place we reached about nine o'clock on the ^^ y rk 
 morning of November i. Marching down Broad- Ci *y- 
 way, company front, sweeping the street from side- 
 walk to sidewalk, band playing, and the whole Regi- 
 ment singing "John Brown's body lies mouldering 
 in the grave," we had another exciting scene before 
 us. Broadway, always a crowded thoroughfare, was 
 literally packed with people, and the Regiment was 
 received with the greatest enthusiasm. Reaching 
 the City Hall Park, we were provided with breakfast 
 5 
 
32 The Story of Company A. 
 
 - in the dingy-looking buildings known as the Park 
 Barracks. These rough buildings, dirty on the out- 
 
 Park S J^ GI na d interiors repulsive, with anything but a 
 pleasant air about them ; and the breakfast was not 
 of the most inviting character. Perhaps Massachu- 
 setts soldiers were a little particular, but that break- 
 fast was untouched by many of Company A. 
 
 Late in the afternoon we left the Park Barracks, 
 and marching through crowded streets again to the 
 ferry, were soon in Jersey City, and entering the cars 
 went whirling away towards the Land of Brotherly 
 Love. Philadelphia was reached about midnight, 
 deiphia. and what a surprise awaited us here. We were 
 marched to the famous Cooper Shop, where thou- 
 sands of soldiers passing through Philadelphia were 
 fed weekly all through the war. What a contrast 
 to the Park Barracks of New York City. Here was 
 a large, brilliantly lighted hall, with long rows of 
 
 Cooper 
 
 Shop, tables loaded down with the greatest abundance of 
 well-cooked food : tea, coffee, cold meats, bread 
 and butter, pies, etc., that brought exclamations of 
 delight from the hungry lips of the tired soldiers ; 
 and not only were the soldiers themselves filled, but 
 many a haversack went from the Cooper Shop full 
 to bursting. Neatly dressed, pleasant-faced young 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 33 
 
 ladies and gentlemen were in attendance, and met 
 
 with a smile the hurried questions of a crowd of 
 rough soldiers. Wash basins with cool water and 
 clean towels were plenty ; and a thousand soldiers 
 marched through Philadelphia that night breathing 
 a thousand blessings on the Cooper Shop, its found- 
 er, and its genial, kind-hearted attendants. 
 
 In marching across the city to the Baltimore De- 
 pot, the regimental band-playing and the soldiers' 
 singing awoke the echoes of the Quaker City, and 
 many of its inhabitants. Windows were hastily 
 thrown up as the Regiment passed, and cheers from Marc/t 
 the houses were drowned by rousing cheers from 
 the soldiers. Handkerchiefs were waved, and often 
 articles of white much larger than handkerchiefs 
 were shaken from upper story windows. On the 
 whole, the midnight march through Philadelphia was 
 an enthusiastic one ; and the Massachusetts soldiers 
 felt like showering blessings on the inhabitants of 
 the city of William Penn. 
 
 In the early morning, about four o'clock, we were 
 once more in the cars, pushing on towards Baltimore. 
 It was nearly noon, November 2d, when the train 
 reached Havre de Grace, and we were taken across 
 the Susquehanna River on the huge ferry boat at 
 
34 The Story of Company A. 
 
 that place. This boat took at one trip the whole 
 
 train, with its passengers (one thousand soldiers) 
 and all their traps. At this time it was raining hard, 
 and the weather continued wet and unpleasant till 
 Baltimore was reached. *We found the railroad 
 guarded by soldiers (the first we had seen on duty) 
 Railroad f rom Havre de Grace to Baltimore, a picket guard 
 
 Guards. 
 
 being stationed at every bridge and crossing. Bal- 
 timore was reached about three in the afternoon, 
 and in a driving rain we marched to the steamboat 
 landing, and went on board the steamer Louisiana, 
 expecting to sail at once ; but for some reason we 
 did not move until the next day, Company A being 
 quartered on the steamer for the night. 
 
 Sunday morning at nine we sailed for Annapolis. 
 We could see little of Baltimore from the steamer, 
 save Federal Hill, which had been fortified, and was 
 held by Duryea's Zouaves. We steamed along past 
 Fort McHenry and Fort Carroll, where some of the 
 Company A boys had been posted during the three 
 nna P 1S mon ths' service, and reached Annapolis about noon, 
 
 reached. 
 
 marching directly to the Academy buildings near by. 
 Here we found many friends, for the Twenty-first 
 Massachusetts Regiment was on duty here, and we 
 of the Twenty-fifth fared well at their hands. 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 35 
 
 Our Chaplain, Rev. Horace James, with Chaplain 
 
 Ball of the Twenty-first, held religious services in 
 the afternoon. The grounds belonging to the Na- 
 val Academy, though in a sad state of neglect at 
 this time, were, when in order and properly cared 
 for, very neat and attractive ; but the Naval School 
 had been removed to Newport, R. I., and the build- 
 ings were now used as barracks for soldiers. 
 
 On Monday, November 4th, we marched through 
 the streets of Annapolis, about two miles from the 
 place of landing, to a large, pleasant field on the 
 farm of one Taylor, where our tents were pitched in Camp 
 regular form. This was our first camp since leaving 
 Camp Lincoln, and we will defer our account of the 
 incidents here to another chapter. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 CAMP HICKS. 
 
 CAMP at Annapolis was known as "Camp 
 1861. Hicks," from the loyal Governor of Maryland of 
 Camp tnat name - At this time the Fifty-first New York 
 Hicks, was the only regiment on the ground. Here we 
 began to find out what army rations were, and 
 everything was more like business. We drilled seven 
 or eight hours daily, and Company A was worked 
 hard as skirmishers, and in the bayonet exercise. 
 We occupied the same A tents as at Camp Lincoln. 
 Camp Hicks was very pleasantly situated, and for- 
 tunately we had good water a very important item 
 in camp life which was obtained from a sort of 
 ravine at the rear of the camp, through which flowed 
 a small sluggish stream. A hole was dug in the 
 ground, and a barrel with the ends knocked out 
 sunk down into it ; this furnished a supply for one 
 company. We rigged up a well-sweep a gentle 
 
2 5th Regt., Mass. Vols. 37 
 
 reminder of New England only in place of the 
 
 "Old Oaken Bucket" we had an old iron kettle, 
 which answered the same purpose. The first few 
 days in Camp Hicks were rather tough for us ; for 
 some reason no straw had been obtained to sleep 
 on, and although we spread our rubber blankets on 
 the ground, and had woolen blankets and overcoats, 
 still the rubber blanket, while it kept out the damp- 
 ness, would not keep out the chill from the ground, 
 which- is as bad. The consequence was, very many 
 of the boys caught severe colds and were coughing Colds and 
 continually for some time after. It is a curious fact 
 that, after these colds were gotten rid of, we seldom 
 heard of such a thing as a cough in the Company 
 during the whole time of service. 
 
 The first few days in Camp Hicks there appeared 
 to be some trouble about the rations ; and when, Trouble 
 one day, we had raw salt pork and hard tack for about 
 dinner, with water to drink, and another day no din- 
 ner at all, we could not help longing for the Phila- 
 delphia Cooper Shop and its pleasant attendants. 
 But all this was straightened out after a little time. 
 We soon had plenty of straw for our beds, hot cof- 
 fee, and soft bread for breakfast and supper, and 
 either salt beef or pork with beans, rice or potatoes 
 
38 The Story of Company A. 
 
 - for dinner, in abundance and nicely cooked. It was 
 1861. . . 
 
 army rations now (except an occasional box from 
 
 home), and henceforth to the end. Probably no 
 soldiers in the world were ever so well provided 
 for as were our men of the North during the Re- 
 bellion. 
 
 Speaking from experience as a private soldier in 
 the ranks of Company A, I must say that the rations 
 were excellent, and the clothing first-class. When- 
 we drew an y ar ticle of clothing not up to the 
 
 Supplies, 
 
 mark, or anything in the way of rations that was not 
 good, as wormy hard tack or poor salt beef, it was 
 the rare exception, and not the rule by any means. 
 Life at Camp Hicks glided quietly away. We 
 had enough to do, certainly, with six to eight hours 
 drill daily, inspections, reviews, target shooting, &c.; 
 Camp but we found time to write, and time for amusements 
 Li f e ' such as they were card-playing and smoking, crib- 
 bage, reading and writing, covering about the whole 
 ground ; and a stroll through the camp at any hour 
 of the day was sure to find more or less smoking, 
 and in the evening after supper, card-playing and 
 other indoor amusements were in order. It was a 
 pleasing sight to look into one of the small A tents 
 after nightfall, and see a bayonet stuck in the ground 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 39 
 
 in the center, with a lighted candle inserted in the - 
 
 1861. 
 end, to light up the not over roomy canvas ; and a 
 
 merry group of half a dozen card players busy with 
 their cards, and of course their pipes. What fun 
 for them ; hear them laugh and shout ; now a song 
 in which they all join, now a story. Thus they while 
 the hours away. 
 
 The weather during November and December 
 was very pleasant for the most part, much like the 
 October weather of New England ; but it grew cold- 
 er, and on the morning of December id we 
 
 % Weather. 
 
 the ground frozen quite hard, and water in pails out- 
 side the tents had frozen about half an inch. This 
 set the boys to contriving ways to warm the tents, 
 and after some experimenting they hit upon a plan 
 something like this. A pit was dug in the center of 
 the tent perhaps eighteen inches deep, and as large HOW the 
 as could be nicely covered with a flat stone. This Tents 
 pit was sometimes lined with stones somewhat after .. 
 
 Warmed. 
 
 the style of a well, to keep the earth from caving in. 
 From the bottom of the pit a hole was dug to the 
 outside of the tent, in front or to one side, for the 
 entrance of fresh air ; then from near the top of the 
 pit a hole was made to the outside of the tent in the 
 rear, as an outlet for the smoke ; over this hole out- 
 
 6 
 
4O The Story of Company A. 
 
 side a chimney was built of mud and sticks, or a 
 
 barrel which answered as well, and the thing was 
 complete. Now build a fire in the pit, cover the 
 top with the flat stone, and the Lord willing, and 
 the wind in the right direction, what smoke did not 
 find its way into the tent might possibly go out of 
 the chimney. This experiment was, perhaps, fairly 
 successful, and some tents were made quite warm 
 in this way. 
 
 The sergeants' tent was a regular officers' or wall 
 tent, with a fly or large sheet of canvas drawn over 
 the top, making a sort of double roof. This tent 
 was occupied by the five sergeants of Company A, 
 and the cook ; and a right merry crowd it was. The 
 Sergeant ^ rst or orderly sergeant was George A. Johnson, a 
 Johnson. man over forty years of age, of soldierly bearing, dark 
 complexion, black hair and full black beard streaked 
 with gray, eyes black as midnight, well read, full of 
 fun, and the best story-teller in the Twenty-fifth 
 Regiment. "Old Posey" was his pet name. Con- 
 nected with the militia many years, he was a thorough 
 soldier, and served in the three months' campaign. 
 He was promoted to a lieutenancy in the Twenty-fifth 
 Regiment, was wounded at Cold Harbor, and after 
 the war enlisted in the regular service, and was on 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 41 
 
 duty on the northern frontier at the time of the Fe- 
 
 nian raid in 1866. He died in 1881. We shall see 
 him again before the story is told. 
 
 The second sergeant was George Burr, "Birdie" 
 we called him. Burr was the pony* sergeant of e Burr 
 Company A. He was also a three months man, 
 twenty-six years old, of pleasant, cheerful disposi- 
 tion, and a perfect pink of neatness a gentleman 
 as well as a soldier. He was promoted to a second 
 lieutenancy, was wounded at Cold Harbor, and was 
 mustered out at the end of the three years as first 
 lieutenant in the Twenty-fifth. He is, at present 
 writing, engaged in a successful business in Wor- 
 cester, and is as cheerful and pleasant as ever. 
 
 The third sergeant was James J. McLane. Jimmy 
 or "Jemsy," as we called him, was of Irish extraction, Sergeant 
 twenty-four years old, tall, straight as a ramrod, a McLane - 
 splendid soldier and a genial, social comrade. He, 
 too, served with credit in the three months' service, 
 and was promoted to be lieutenant in a "Buffalo" 
 regiment (North Carolina Union troops), where he 
 achieved honor and a name ; and was mustered out 
 as captain in that regiment at the end of the war. 
 
 * ".Pony," i. e. short in stature. The men at the left of the Company were 
 of course the shortest, and hence "ponies." 
 
42 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Jemsy is now, and has been for years, on the Wor- 
 cester police force, and his tall form can be seen 
 "on duty" any day in the streets of Worcester as he 
 walks his beat. 
 
 The fourth sergeant was another three, months 
 
 Sergeant 
 
 sprague. man, Welcome W. Sprague. He was provost ser- 
 geant, and did not do duty with the Company. He 
 was of a social nature, and could ill be spared from 
 the merry ring of sergeants of Company A. He 
 died in New York City in 1884. 
 
 Sergeant Of the fifth sergeant at Camp Hicks it becometh 
 Putnam. me to sa y little. He was by name Samuel H. Put- 
 nam, by calling a clerk, with no knowledge whatever 
 of military affairs at time of enlistment, but possibly 
 an average soldier. It can be said of him that he 
 was reliable ; and he was with Company A in all its 
 wanderings, and one of the four out of the hundred 
 men who started with the Company that went 
 through all its marches and all its battles to the final 
 muster out. After the war he engaged in business 
 as bookseller, and has followed it in the same shop 
 to the present time, a period of twenty years. We 
 shall see him again. 
 
 The cook was Charles Henry "Uncle Henry" we 
 
 The Cook. 
 
 called him forty-four years old, too old for a sol- 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 43 
 
 dier. He was a heavy built man, dark and swarthy, 
 
 rough spoken, but good hearted, and much liked by 
 the men. 
 
 Lite in the sergeants' tent at Camp Hicks was 
 very pleasant. The tent was much larger than the Tgnt 
 A tent, and with the same number of men to occupy 
 it, gave ample room for a table and seats, and also 
 a stove, which as the weather grew colder, made 
 cheerful and comfortable quarters. A dainty set of 
 lads were the sergeants of Company A. They had 
 a coffee pot of their own, and ye gods ! what coffee 
 .came from that tin pot. Sergeant Sprague being 
 provost sergeant was relieved from company duty, 
 and it was for him to see that our breakfast was got 
 up properly, and well he performed the service. 
 Coffee always hot, bread toasted, good butter (not 
 an army ration) that we bought, and other luxuries, 
 "who wouldn't be a soger?" Our stove worked 
 admirably, and with plenty of blankets, table, stools, 
 &c., the sergeants' tent of Company A was as com- 
 plete and comfortable as the ingenuity of its occu- 
 pants could make it. 
 
 As time went on, Christmas, 1861, dawned on us 
 still at Camp Hicks. Inspection in the forenoon, r ""' 
 and a holiday in the afternoon. Cards and pipes 
 
44 The Story of Company A. 
 
 are in the ascendant to-day. It is plain to see that 
 
 coffee, cards and tobacco are the three great essen- 
 
 January. 
 
 tials to a soldier's life. 
 
 A few days before Christmas we had a pay-day, 
 Ftrst at which Greenbacks made their first appearance ; 
 
 Green- 
 backs. an d Gold made its last appearance to the soldier in 
 
 January, 1862. 
 
 January i, 1862, the New Year was ushered in 
 by a snow squall. January 2d, at brigade drill, we 
 had a sort of mimic battle, and Company A acted as 
 
 New 
 
 Year, skirmishers, using blank cartridges. The Company 
 received some praise for its good work. 
 
 On Saturday, January 4th, we received orders to 
 
 strike tents Monday morning, so at six o'clock A. M. 
 
 of that day, we turned out, and the tents were struck. 
 
 It had snowed during the night, and the snow was 
 
 still falling as the line was formed ; it seemed quite 
 
 like a New England winter morning. After firing 
 
 Goodbye 2L parting salute we marched away from Camp Hicks, 
 
 to amp W j 1 j c j 1 h ac [ Deen our home for two months. Reach - 
 
 Hicks. 
 
 ing Annapolis we went, after much delay, on board 
 the steamer New York. Company I, Capt. Park- 
 hurst, went on board the schooner Skirmisher ; 
 companies D and H on board the gunboat Zouave ; 
 and the New York took the other seven companies 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 45 
 
 of the Regiment. When all was ready on board the 
 
 New York, the steamer pushed out a mile or so into 
 the stream and came to anchor. We now had time 
 to look around us, and a busy scene it was to gaze 
 upon. The sleepy old town of Annapolis had not 
 ssen so much life in a century. Large numbers of 
 vessels of all descriptions, steamers, sailing craft, 
 tugboats, moving about in all directions ; others at 
 the various landings, loading or unloading, all com- 
 bined to make a busy picture such as the old town 
 will not see for another century. This was the 
 preparation for the famous Burnside Expedition. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 
 
 _ JT WAS NOT until about 8 A. M. of January gth, 
 1862. 1862, that the Burnside Expedition finally left the 
 Jan. 9. old town of Annapolis, and moved grandly out into 
 
 Sailing t j ie waters O f Chesapeake Bay, the steamer New 
 
 of the 
 
 Brunswick, with Gen. Foster and staff on board, 
 
 the lead ; the New York, with the Twenty- 
 fifth Massachusetts, being second in line. Gen. 
 Burnside modestly took the small steamer Picket 
 for his headquarters. There were over one hundred 
 vessels in the expedition, and a grander sight could 
 hardly be imagined than was presented as it sailed 
 away from Annapolis town. Numbers of the steam- 
 ers had sailing vessels in tow, and the New York 
 had an old canal boat towing astern, which bore the 
 ominous name of Bomb Shell. It was one of the 
 fairest of fair days, and with flags and streamers fly- 
 ing, bands playing, and soldiers cheering, it seemed 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 47 
 
 more like a monster holiday excursion than the start- 
 
 r . ., -,. . 1862. 
 
 mg of a hostile expedition. 
 
 There had been, of course, much surmising about 
 the destination of the expedition, and all sorts of 
 guesses were made, but nothing definite was known 
 in regard to it excepting that we were to rendezvous 
 at Fortress Monroe. On the steamer New York, 
 Company A occupied the upper cabin forward ; the 
 sergeants occupying a state room close by. The 
 morning was rainy, but in the afternoon it cleared 
 away and we had a good part of the fleet in sight, 
 sailing in a long line, each vessel in its proper place. 
 Evening came on clear and bright with a beautiful 
 moonlight, but a heavy fog afterwards arose, and we 
 came to anchor near the mouth of the Potomac and 
 remained there all night. 
 
 The morning of January loth opened heavy with 
 fog, but it cleared up about nine, and we proceeded 
 on our way. Soon Fortress Monroe was in sight, , 
 
 * Monroe. 
 
 with a crowd of vessels ; and as we came nearer we 
 passed several American men of war, the Minnesota, 
 Jamestown, Roanoke, and one Frenchman. The 
 jolly tars greeted us with rousing cheers from the 
 rigging of their vessels as we passed, to which we 
 responded most heartily. About noon we anchored 
 7 
 
48 The Story of Company A. 
 
 in Hampton Roads. This, then, was the grand ren- 
 dezvous for the Burnside Expedition. 
 
 From the decks of the steamboat could be seen 
 
 the ruins of Hampton Village burned by the 
 
 Evidences rebels, and near by, the old Fortress looking very 
 
 r ' quiet but showing some ugly teeth in the shape of 
 
 big guns, and a large number of them. Opposite 
 
 the Fort is Sewall's Point and the Rip-Raps, while 
 
 Norfolk is not far away. Some distance in the rear 
 
 of Fortress Monroe we saw tents and barracks, which 
 
 denoted large bodies of soldiers gathered here. 
 4 
 
 It was about noon of January i2th, 1862, that the 
 
 fleet of Burnside sailed from Fortress Monroe, 
 and passing between Capes Charles and Henry, 
 soon headed south ; and many were talking of the 
 Carolina coast as the destination of the expedition. 
 The wind blew quite fresh as we passed out of the 
 Coast bay into the Atlantic, and it was interesting to see 
 Voyage. j low some sailing vessels went past us, and in a very 
 short time. Keeping the coast in sight we pushed 
 on till dark when we came to anchor, and on the 
 morning of the I3th hastened on, with an angry sky 
 over us and a heavy sea tossing us about, and 
 causing many of the soldiers to pay the customary 
 tribute to old Neptune. Still keeping in sight of 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 49 
 
 land, we steamed on rounding Cape Hatteras, and in 
 
 the early afternoon reached Hatteras Inlet. A small 
 tug-boat, dancing on the waves like a cork, met us 
 near the entrance to the Inlet ; we followed close in 
 its wake, and were soon safely anchored in the waters 
 of Pamlico Sound, in close proximity to a rebel earth- 
 work known as Fort Clark, which had been captured 
 by Butler. Meantime the storm had burst upon us, 
 and was now raging turiously ; and we considered 
 ourselves fortunate in getting in as we did. The 
 vessels of the fleet came in rapidly like frightened 
 sea-birds before the tempest blast, and we began to 
 be crowded here at our anchorage ground. We saw 
 a large ocean steamer attempt to enter the Inlet, 
 strike on the bar outside, and sink. Tug-boats were 
 sent to her assistance but could render none, and 
 there she remained till next day when boats were 
 again sent out and succeeded in bringing off the 
 crew of the steamer, which proved to be the City of 
 New York. The vessel and cargo were a total loss. 
 It was certainly a wild picture to look upon. In 
 every direction the waves were running high, and Gloomy 
 tossing the vessels about in the wildest confusion ; 
 and, night settled down over the scene with an in- 
 creasing fury in the howling storm. Few turned 
 
50 The Story of Company A. 
 
 in that night without gloomy forebodings for the 
 
 1862. 
 
 morrow. 
 
 Tuesday, January i4th, found, as was anticipated, 
 an increasing tempest, and the vessels of the fleet 
 all too close together for safety. This morning a 
 Great steamer came crashing down upon us, running her 
 bows into the afterpart of the New York, and ripping 
 clean off one side of the after cabin in which our 
 band slept, making it lively for them for a few min- 
 utes. Soon after, another steamer came thumping 
 away at our bows, smashing things ; and between 
 the two the old New York was pretty badly used. 
 The night before, the gunboat Zouave, having on 
 board two companies of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, 
 got to thumping on her own anchor as report has 
 it jammed a hole in her bottom, and this morning; 
 
 Disasters. J 
 
 sunk. The men were taken off, but boat and cargo 
 were lost. Signals of distress were flying in all di- 
 rections, and it looked bad for Burnside's fleet. Be- 
 sides, it was reported that there was a bar inside 
 which had only seven and a half feet of water on it, 
 and our largest vessels, of which the New York was 
 one, drew over eight feet. Things looked dark 
 enough now, certainly. 
 
2$th Regt. , Mass. Vols. 5 1 
 
 January i5th the storm still continued, and we 
 
 had a gunboat alongside us grinding up the fancy 
 work on the old New York, but doing no great dam- 
 age. To-day we noticed several soldiers were buried 
 on the sandy shore, waves and winds making wild 
 funeral music. Jan. i6th the colonel and surgeon of 
 the Ninth New Jersey were drowned by the upsetting c tinued 
 of their boat. The storm continued to rage on the Disaster. 
 1 7th, and the steamer Suwanee got aground, and 
 one schooner sunk. January :8th, we counted 120 
 vessels in the inlet, all badly crowded in this dis- 
 mal, god-forsaken hole. Gen. Burnside came along 
 to-day, looking as cheerful as if all was going well. 
 A wonderful courage that man must have had. 
 
 The storm at last subsided, and it was very fort- 
 unate, for our rations were running- low. Hard 
 
 abates. 
 
 bread, the great staple, held out, and coffee, too, 
 though the daily allowance of each was short. 
 Worst of all the water gave out, and a heavy rain 
 was a godsend ; for all of the rain water that could 
 be caught was saved in barrels by the steamboat 
 officers, and stolen a great deal of it by the sol- 
 diers of the Twenty-fifth. We had a nice way of 
 filling our canteens from the water casks of the 
 steamboat. Before leaving Worcester our too kind 
 
5 2 The Story of Company A. 
 
 friends had provided many of the soldiers with 
 
 "drinking tubes," a new thing patented of course 
 possessing wonderful properties. It consisted of 
 a small flexible rubber tube, perhaps two and a half 
 feet long, with a mouth-piece at one end and a mar- 
 Patent velous patent strainer or filter at the other. Place 
 Drinking tne strainer in the muddiest of ditch water, insert 
 the mouth-piece between the lips of the thirsty sol- 
 dier, and by applying the science of suction, from 
 the most stagnant and slimy pool nothing but the 
 purest cool spring water would be drawn into the 
 soldier's stomach. Consequently no sickness would 
 arise from drinking any water found on the marches. 
 Consequently a great number of lives would be pre- 
 served, millions of money saved, the strength of the 
 Union armies increased, and the Rebellion crushed 
 a great deal quicker. Consequently every soldier 
 should have one in his knapsack, and all for the 
 trifling sum of twenty-five cents. It is difficult to 
 estimate how much sooner the Rebellion would have 
 been quelled if all the Union soldiers had been sup- 
 plied with drinking tubes. I never saw the tubes 
 used save on one march ; some half dozen soldiers 
 attempted to use them, but the effort was a failure ; 
 and they whirled the tubes into the bushes, with 
 
25th Regt-, Mass. Vols. 53 
 
 the remark : "Damn the things," an expression too 
 
 1862. 
 
 common among the soldiers. However, the drink- 
 ing tubes worked well in filling canteens from the 
 water casks of the steamboat ; by inserting one end in- ...^ 
 to the bunghole of the barrel, and getting the water water. 
 started we had a very good syphon, and the canteens 
 were filled quickly, and what was better, without 
 noise. As the water got low in the barrel, we added 
 another length of "drinking tube"; and in this way 
 we obtained fresh water until the discovery of the 
 trick put an end to that little scheme. 
 
 We had at last to resort to water distilled from 
 salt water. This was done on the gunboats. It was 
 warm and sickish when first obtained, though quite 
 palatable when cold. As the storm subsided boats 
 got along with rations, and we fared better during 
 our stay at Hatteras. 
 
 On the 2ist of January, private Tucker of Com- 
 pany B, died and was buried ashore. On the 28th 
 comrade George E. Curtis of Company A died. He 
 was sent to the Hospital Ship, and died there. This 
 was the first death in Company A. He was twenty- Death 
 one years old, of a quiet, retiring disposition, and in the 
 his loss was keenly felt by his tentmates. He was a> 
 buried in a little church yard about three miles from 
 us, and his grave marked with a wooden slab. 
 
54 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Life on the steamer New York was not, to draw 
 
 it mild, of the most enjoyable sort. Eight hundred 
 
 soldiers with all their traps, on one steamboat (al- 
 
 though ours was a large one) was crowding things ; 
 
 and add to that the terrible stormy weather, running 
 
 Monotony short of rations, water giving out, and other incon- 
 
 on the ven i ences> it was indeed a tedious life ; and all sorts 
 
 New York 
 
 of expedients were resorted to in the endeavor to 
 wear away the time. In the officers' quarters they 
 got up theatricals with songs, music, etc., while the 
 private soldiers amused themselves by writing letters 
 home, reading, smoking, playing cards, and stealing 
 from the sutler. Lieut. McConville came into the 
 quarters of the men occasionally, and with Private 
 Fairbanks of Company A, sung many songs which 
 gave great delight to the boys and were fully ap- 
 preciated by them. January 25th they began to get 
 Passage vessels over the bar, the lighter ones crossing with- 
 
 the Qut mucn trouble. This is a great place for wrecks. 
 
 Bar. 
 
 We counted thirteen between Cape Hatteras and the 
 Inlet as we passed along, and we added to the 
 number. The ill-fated steamer, City of New York, 
 went to pieces to-day, and a large number of casks 
 of powder came floating by us from her wreck, and 
 were picked up by the crew of our steamer. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 55 
 
 On the 22nd of January we steamed about a quar- 
 
 ter of a mile further into the bay to escape the crowd- 
 ing of the vessels, and to prepare to cross the bar. 
 In a dark night to look out on the fleet around us Night 
 was like looking at a factory village in the evening, 
 the large vessels appearing like cotton mills lighted 
 up. We were lying near the Northerner, with the 
 Twenty-first Massachusetts on board ; and a day or 
 two after she swung around and gave us a pretty 
 smart raking. Our rations run short again, and a 
 supper of hard-tack and brakish water is not, to say 
 the least, like the supper at the Philadelphia Cooper 
 Shop. But soldiers make merry over such things, 
 and Old Posey said grace over our dinner of a few 
 hard-tack : "We thank thee, Oh Quartermaster 
 Brown, for the bountiful supply of hard-tack thou 
 hast seen fit to bestow upon us, but for God's sake 
 sprinkle in a little soft bread with it, or there wont 
 be a tooth left in the Twenty-fifth Regiment." 
 
 Our Orderly was a man of varied talents. He 
 had been a great reader in his day, and was pos- 
 sessed of one of those frightful memories that retain 
 everything they once grasp. In his younger days 
 he came under the notice of Old Doctor John Green 
 of Worcester, who took an interest in him, and gave 
 
 8 
 
56 The Story of Company A. 
 
 him the run of his library. Johnson profited by this, 
 
 and would talk about and quote from books of which 
 probably nine-tenths of the regiment had never 
 heard. He would repeat whole chapters from the 
 Bible, and many poems. Old Posey had a great 
 talent with his pencil, and fairly reveled in carica- 
 ture ; and while at Annapolis made drawings of sev- 
 eral of the officers of the Regiment, very nicely exe- 
 cuted, but a slight touch of his pencil converted them 
 Old into broad burlesques. One day on the steamer 
 
 Posers 
 
 habits. New York, while at Hatteras Inlet, he got hold of 
 a sermon by Rev. Mr. Cutler of Worcester, entitled 
 "The Right of the Sword." He gave it a very 
 careful reading, pronounced it "a pretty damned 
 good thing," and went to playing the game of sol- 
 taire with his greasy old pack of cards, which kept 
 him quiet for hours. Old Posey was a mixture of 
 queer materials, rough outside, but a kind heart 
 within. He was greatly addicted to smoking, card 
 playing, Bible reading, and profanity. We shall see 
 him at Cold Harbor. 
 
 On the 26th of January we went on board the 
 small steamer Pilot Boy, and were taken to the ferry 
 boat Eagle, where we spent a few days 'of wretched- 
 ness, with little to eat, and crowded almost beyond 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 57 
 
 endurance. We could only anxiously wait for the 
 
 New York to be worked over the bar that we might 
 return to our old quarters. An incident occurred 
 on the Eagle at this time incidents are always oc- 
 curring in a soldier's life that was quite amusing. 
 
 Our sutler (H. O. Clark) had left a barrel of sugar A stray 
 on board the New York, and strange to say, there 
 seemed to be no one to look after it. Consequently 
 it was removed with the soldiers and their traps to 
 the Eagle a very bad place to put a barrel of sugar. 
 It was discovered at once by the boys, the barrel 
 head was knocked in, tin cups appeared as by magic, 
 and in a "short space of period" as the boys would 
 say, an empty sugar barrel was tossed into the sea ; 
 and every haversack on the boat was puffed out with 
 its sweet contents. Soldiers always know how to 
 take advantage of circumstances this was a circum- 
 stance. This barrel of sugar was quite a find for us. 
 We used \> find %. great many things just this way. 
 Stealing ? Oh no ; it was considered perfectly square 
 to find things from the sutler. He got it all back, 
 and more too, in his charges for what honest soldiers 
 bought of him. It was a common case of "Now you 
 see jt, and now you don't," this sugar business a 
 law, by the way, that always worked well in the 
 
58 The Story of Company A. 
 
 army. Solids or liquids, it made no difference all 
 
 went well. This find of sugar lasted us a few days. 
 It is a fact, however, that with all our watchfulness 
 and care, we never found another barrel of sugar. 
 
 Saturday, February ist, the New York was, after 
 
 a deal of trouble, dragged across the bar, and we 
 
 Return returned to our old quarters on board. The bunks 
 
 to in the center of the cabin had been taken down in 
 
 New York 
 
 our absence, and the men were now obliged to sleep 
 on the floor. 
 
 On the 3d of February the scene changed entirely 
 from a disheartening, to a decidedly encouraging 
 one. The wind had gone down, and the seas were 
 calm, vessels all across the bar, decks crowded with 
 soldiers, and everything ready for business. The 
 morning of February 5th broke calm and pleasant ; 
 the sun, rising clear and beautiful, shed a radiant 
 light over the fleet of Burnside, the dreary sands of 
 Hatteras, and the stormy seas on which we had 
 tossed so long. Far out at sea a solitary sail, a 
 mere speck in the distance, was working its way 
 northward, while nearer, but outside the Inlet, the 
 big waves were rolling in and breaking on the 
 sandy shore, leaving long lines and patches of white 
 foam. Meanwhile all was excitement in the Inlet. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 59 
 
 At 8 o'clock, A. M., the fleet was getting under way 
 
 1862. 
 with bands playing and flags flying. The gunboats 
 
 took the lead, followed first by the New Brunswick 
 with the Tenth Connecticut on board, and second 
 by the New York with the Twenty-fifth Massachu- 
 setts, having three schooners in tow. The fleet con- e 
 
 moves. 
 
 sisted of some thirty gunboats, nine or ten steamers 
 with troops on board, and numerous sailing vessels, 
 perhaps sixty to seventy-five all told. Each vessel 
 had its counterpart or image in the water below, and 
 the whole scene, bathed in the rosy light of morning, 
 formed a singularly beautiful picture, never before 
 witnessed by any of those present, and unlikely to 
 be again during a lifetime. It was in striking con- 
 trast to the days of wretchedness we had so lately 
 passed in this same spot. Thus, after a tedious de- 
 lay of twenty-three days, the Burnside Expedition 
 was once more on the move and about to take the 
 aggressive. 
 
 The fleet sailed slowly along, and certainly a more 
 magnificent sight was never before seen on this side 
 of the Atlantic. The waves as though tired out with 
 the struggle of the past three weeks, had quieted 
 down, and we were gliding along as peacefully over 
 the waters of this inland sea as if its surface had 
 
60 The Story of Company A. 
 never been disturbed by other than the gentlest of 
 
 QC/* 
 
 breezes. Thus the hours passed till about two in 
 the afternoon, when the fleet came to anchor half 
 way to Roanoke Island, the transports together, with 
 the gunboats outside as protection for the fleet. We 
 had orders to land in light marching order, that is, 
 without knapsacks ; and at night the lights were put 
 out or concealed. The night was beautiful, clear 
 and quiet ; and from the other steamers we heard 
 the low strains of music, and voices singing 
 
 "On the other side of Jordan," 
 and 
 
 "There is rest for the weary." 
 
 "It may be the last night's rest for some of us, no 
 doubt we may be on the other side of Jordan ; but 
 what is the use ? We will pass this night in quiet if 
 possible, and let what follows take care of itself." 
 This was a soldier's reasoning. 
 
 About 8 A. M. of February 6th the fleet started 
 again in the same order as before, the gunboats 
 taking the lead. It clouded up just after sunrise, 
 and rained quite steadily till noon, when we anchored 
 again with Roanoke Island in sight ahead. In the 
 
 Roanoke o 
 
 . afternoon a tugboat came alongside and reported 
 
25th Regt.< Mass. I'ols. 61 
 
 that the gunboat Ranger was ordered into action, 
 
 and that we must make room for fifty men of the 
 Twenty-seventh Regiment who were on board. Our 
 gunboats had discovered the Rebel fleet, so that 
 there was to be work upon the water as well as on 
 the land. Soon after the Ranger came alongside 
 and left two hundred men instead of fifty, all belong- 
 ing to the Twenty-seventh. This made over nine 
 hundred men on our good old steamer. We re- 
 mained here all night. 
 
 February yth opened with a fog, but it cleared 
 away about nine. Gen. Foster came up in the little G 
 steamer Picket, and addressing Col. Upton, said : Foster's 
 "Be ready to start at any moment. We shall move 
 up to the Island and give you all a chance to witness 
 the bombardment. Then we shall land and clean 
 out those fellows at once." This was received with 
 the wildest cheering, and soon after we moved on 
 towards Roanoke Island. 
 
CHAPTER V, 
 
 THE BATTLE OF ROANOKE. 
 
 DEFENSES of the Island, it was reported, 
 1862. consisted of Fort Huger, Fort Blanchard and 
 Fort Bartow, all on the western shore of Roanoke. 
 The first, with twelve guns, was near the northern 
 end of the Island ; and next in order Fort Blanchard 
 Defenses w i tn three guns. Still farther to the south, and per- 
 hiand na P s nearly midway of the Island, was Fort Bartow 
 with ten guns. From near this point to the main 
 land of North Carolina a line of piles or sunken ships 
 extended, and behind or north of these defenses 
 was the rebel fleet consisting of eight small vessels 
 with ten or twelve guns all told. The water between 
 Roanoke Island and the main land is known as 
 Croatan Sound. About midway, and running length- 
 wise of the Island, was the regular road ; and near 
 the center of the Island was a three-gun battery 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 63 
 
 which was flanked on either side by swamps sup- 
 
 posed to be impassable. The guns of this battery 
 perfectly commanded the road, which was the only 
 way, apparently, to the northern end of the Island, 
 where were the camps of the Rebels. Here, then, 
 was the work to be done : the fleet to silence the 
 forts and destroy the Rebel vessels ; the army to 
 land and clean out the Island.* 
 
 The transports came to anchor just off the place 
 known as Ashby's Landing, and we had a splendid 
 chance to witness the whole affair. We watched 
 with eager interest our gunboats as they took their 
 positions apparently in easy range of the Rebel 
 forts, and not a gun fired, when suddenly there was Attack 
 a puff of smoke from one of our gunboats, a report 
 showing a heavy gun had been fired, and the bom- 
 bardment of Roanoke Island was begun. This was 
 about half-past eleven on the morning of February 
 7th. The first shot struck the Rebel earthwork 
 squarely, and an explosion quickly followed throw- 
 ing up smoke and dirt, showing that the shot had 
 done its work. The fort promptly replied, and as 
 
 * Roanoke Island, from this distance, fiad the appearance for the most 
 part of being well wooded, with but one house in sight, or rather one house 
 with a small out-building in the rear. These were near what was called 
 Ashby's landing, which was the point where we expected to land. 
 
 9 
 
64 The Story of Company A. 
 
 the gunboats, one after another, came into action, 
 
 we had passing before our eyes a scene such as we 
 all had undoubtedly read of, but probably what few 
 of us had ever witnessed a bombardment. 
 
 The movements of a little sloop were watched by 
 
 The bom- * 
 
 bardmen!.d\\ with great interest. It had one gun only, said 
 to be a hundred pounder. It sailed in a circle and 
 put a shot into the Rebel fort every time on its 
 nearest approach to it. It was an exciting scene ; 
 the gunboats firing so slowly and yet so surely, 
 every shot seeming to tell on the fort, while the 
 enemy's fire, much more rapid, appeared to have no 
 effect whatever on the fleet. May be the range was 
 too great, or perhaps bad gunnery was the reason ; 
 but, so far as we could see, little damage was done 
 to the Union gunboats. Thus the battle went on. 
 We moved up nearer to the scene of conflict and 
 had a still better view of the engagement. The 
 gunboats were now firing much more rapidly than 
 at the commencement, and the fort was apparently 
 about silenced, when suddenly great clouds of smoke 
 rolled up from it, showing that the interior was on 
 fire. At this cheers went up from every vessel of 
 the Union fleet, and the gunboats kept firing with 
 the greatest rapidity. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 65 
 
 The Rebel fleet meantime we had heard nothing 
 
 1862. 
 of; a weak demonstration attempted towards the 
 
 last of the bombardment was quickly repulsed by a 
 few shots from the Union gunboats. 
 
 About 3 P. M. we were ordered to land, and the 
 Twenty-fifth Regiment went from the New York on Orders 
 
 * to land. 
 
 board the Pilot Boy, and towing a long line of boats 
 filled with men, moved slowly towards the land. 
 We had seen the glitter of Rebel bayonets as we 
 left the New York, and all expected a volley as we 
 approached the land, but a few shells from our gun- 
 boat, Delaware, sent the Rebels "kiting," and we 
 received not a single shot from them while landing. 
 When the Pilot Boy approached the land as near as 
 was possible, the boys were transferred to boats 
 alongside, which were quickly filled. The desire to 
 go in the first boats was so great, it was only by 
 repeated orders from Capt. Pickett himself that those 
 who were to stay behind could be kept quiet ; and 
 all were promised, "you shall go in the next boats." 
 Capt. Pickett, Orderly George A. Johnson and the 
 right of the Company were in the first boats. At 
 the same time the long line of boats astern sep- 
 arated, and all made for the shore. It was an ex- 
 citing time, and we watched anxiously to see who 
 
66 The Story of Company A. 
 would reach land first. The boats containing the 
 
 QC_ 
 
 Company A boys had the advantage and touched 
 ground first, but it was the muddy bottom, not dry 
 land ; but no sooner had the boats struck ground 
 than the men were in the water wading for the shore. 
 Capt. Pickett was the first man in the water. We 
 could see from the Pilot Boy the men holding up 
 their rifles and cartridge boxes to keep them from 
 Landing g ettm g wet - Capt. Pickett and George A. Johnson, 
 on the our Orderly Sergeant, were the first to stand on dry 
 land ;* and we who were left behind on the old Pilot 
 Boy made the air ring with cheers for the pony 
 Captain of Company A. Thus, February 7th, 1862, 
 we scored one for the old Company, as Captain 
 Josiah Pickett and Orderly Sergeant George A. 
 Johnson were the first men of the Burnside Expedi- 
 tion to stand on Roanoke Island. 
 
 The boats returning (the distance was but a few 
 rods), a sort of bridge was made of them, and the 
 
 * It has been claimed that Lieut. Andrew of the Ninth New York, in 
 reconnoitring for a landing place for the troops, took soundings to the shore 
 of Roanoke, and actually stood on the Island. Of the correctness of this 
 report I cannot judge. It is also said that the Lieut, was fired on and sev- 
 eral of his boat's crew (5th R. I.) wounded. All of this may be true so far 
 as I know; but I simply claim what we all saw that at the landing Q{ troops 
 on the yth of February, Capt. Pickett and Orderly Sergeant Johnson of Co. 
 A, Twenty-fifth Mass, werey?/ to land on the Island. 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 67 
 
 soldiers eot ashore much faster and with dry clothes. 
 
 1862. 
 The Company was quickly formed and deployed as 
 
 skirmishers. The house we had seen from the 
 steamer was surrounded and the door burst open. . 
 The occupants had fled, but a fire was blazing upon 
 the hearth, the table stood loaded with dishes, and 
 everything denoted a hasty departure. Behind the 
 house was a smaller one, evidently the servants' 
 quarters. This was much in the same condition "as 
 the first, not a human being to be found. In a small 
 out-building we found fresh bread and a pan of milk; 
 this was a prize, and in a few minutes both bread 
 and milk had vanished, and we left the place think- 
 ing how nicely everything works in for a soldier. 
 
 It was now growing dark, and we prepared to 
 bivouac. It began to rain later, but our fires burnt Soldiers 
 cheerily, and the boys brought along rails to replen- 
 ish them, and all sorts of things to eat. How nicely 
 rails work in for fires just the right size and so dry ! 
 And then the fact is, soldiers are always hungry, 
 and it is part of a soldier's duty to bring in to his 
 squad round the bivouac fire something in the way 
 of rations, and nothing comes amiss that can be 
 eaten or drank, or in any way used for the comfort 
 of the squad. One brought a chunk of salt pork 
 
68 The Story of Company A. 
 
 good ; another, onions good again ; another cab- 
 bages ; another, an old iron kettle. Corporal Jaalam 
 Gates brought a back-load of sweet potatoes. It 
 seems the Corporal had found a lot of potatoes, and 
 
 Timely 
 
 supplies, no way to "tote" them along. He quickly took off 
 his drawers, tied up the legs, filled them with the 
 coveted potatoes, and brought them on his back to 
 our bivouac amid the shouts of the boys as he made 
 his- appearance. So with roasting potatoes in the 
 ashes, boiling them with pork and cabbage in our 
 kettle, and making our coffee in our tin cups over 
 the rail fire, we managed to get up quite a supper ; 
 and we were feeling very comfortable in spite of 
 the rain, when, about nine P. M., we were startled 
 by the hoarse cry of the Orderly, "Fall in, Company 
 A; fall in." We are quickly in line, and file off 
 directly into the forest which surrounds the little 
 
 Midnight c i earm cr where we landed. We steal along rapidly 
 
 Recon- 
 naissance, and silently, not a word spoken ; and leave a guard 
 
 of two or three men at every path that crosses the 
 road. We come to a small stream and have to pass 
 through it ; it is waist deep and we are thoroughly 
 soaked, but on we go. A light is seen a short dis- 
 tance from the road, and Sergeant J. J. McLane is 
 sent to look after it ; he approaches it cautiously 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 69 
 
 and reports on his return that it is evidently a 
 
 1862. 
 
 bivouac fire of the enemy. We are soon after or- 
 dered back, and pass through the stream of water 
 again, and after a short halt once more ordered for- 
 ward through the water for the third time. Sergeant 
 George Burr is left at one cross road with three men, 
 and thus we move on till at last we have orders to 
 return to our bivouac which we reach about mid- 
 night, having crossed that wretched stream of water 
 four times ; and return to our starting point wet, 
 cold and tired. 
 
 Stirring up our fire we cooked some coffee which 
 revived us somewhat, and in the driving rain we 
 curled up on the wet ground and passed a wretched 
 night in the vain endeavor to sleep, and eagerly 
 wishing for the morrow. 
 
 "I was quite fortunate in having a dry pair of 
 stockings to put on after we got back from our Dr y 
 scouting expedition. Taking off the soaked bro- 
 gans and wet socks, I proceeded to put on a clean 
 dry pair, when 'Where in thunder did you get 
 dry stockings ?' 'Ain't you slatting on considerable 
 style for a soldier ? ' 'Look here, fellows, Sergeant's 
 got .clean, dry stockings,' and other exclamations. 
 'You ain't putting on any airs ; oh no/ said a dis- 
 
70 The Story of Company A. 
 
 - consolate looking soldier who had been casting 
 longing eyes during the transfer. 'Home made, 
 hey, boy?' 'Well, boys, these are home made. 
 My old mother knit them God bless her and 
 I've carried them right up here in the lining of 
 stockings, my vest, one on each side, heels front and toes to 
 
 the shoulder, don't you see. Now if you fellows 
 want to know just how uncomfortable you are, feel 
 of that warm, dry stocking;' and from hand to hand 
 went the stocking, stroked like a cat by one, rubbed 
 on the cheek of another, with all sorts of comments 
 on the mysterious appearance of dry stockings in 
 such wet weather. So after washing as well as I 
 could the socks just taken off, and sticking them up 
 by the fire to dry if possible, I found them dry 
 enough in the morning to take their place in the 
 vest as the others had done. This plan of carrying 
 an extra pair of stockings worked well, and many 
 made use of it when a long march was anticipated." 
 February 8th we were early astir, and hard-tack, 
 sweet potatoes baked in the ashes, and a cup (hold- 
 ing a quart) of coffee, made a breakfast fit for a 
 soldier. About seven we again heard the hoarse 
 voice of our Orderly ("Old Posey"), with "Fall in, 
 Company A"; again we were quickly in line, and 
 
Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 71 
 
 again we marched directly into the forest in the 
 
 same road we took the night before. Again we 
 crossed that miserable stream of water and again Battle of 
 were soaked through to our waists. But we were 
 soon deployed as skirmishers on both sides of the 
 road, and we advanced slowly on account of the 
 dense tangled undergrowth, the country being one 
 great swamp. This was no picnic, no fancy skirmish 
 we were on ; it meant business this time. After . 
 
 Struggle 
 
 perhaps an hour of this work it seemed much in the 
 longer than that we heard the sharp crack of a Swamf - 
 rifle on our left, and immediately the cry ran along 
 the line, "Here they are here they are." We had 
 run on to the Rebel pickets, and with* a cheer we 
 struggled through the almost impassable swamp. 
 Capt. Pickett, who had all this time been encour- 
 aging us, now shouted his orders, and his voice 
 rang out loud and clear like a bugle-tone. "Give 
 it to 'em, lads ; drive 'em out ! Drive the devils out 
 of that ! " We responded with a cheer, but it was 
 terrible work. How the sweat rolled off our faces. 
 How the brambles and briars clung to us, tearing 
 our clothes, and flesh even. It was exciting though, 
 for all that. We were exchanging shots with the 
 enemy every rod, and were driving them right along. 
 
 10 
 
72 The Story of Company A. 
 
 We came at last to a large clearing extending on 
 
 Feb s both sides of the road ; the trees had been felled 
 Battle of and lay on the ground, and our unpractised eyes 
 Roanoke. ^y ug t ^ ai ^ & j^ Driven ^g R e b e j pickets to their 
 
 stronghold. On closer inspection we could see the 
 outline of an earthwork mounting three guns in 
 embrasures, at perhaps two hundred yards distance. 
 Here, then, was the work to be done. The guns 
 in the earthwork commanded the road and the open 
 space. But we had got to clean out those fellows 
 that's what Gen. Foster said we should do. We 
 came to a halt, and as skirmishers took advantage 
 of the situation all we could. Every hollow in the 
 'ground had a soldier in it ; every tree had a soldier 
 behind it. We covered ourselves as best we could, 
 which as skirmishers we had a right to do ; and 
 obeying the order of our Captain, "Don't waste 
 your powder, boys," we fired carefully, and took 
 great pains that we fired at something, and we never 
 aimed at trees. We fired lying down, and rolled 
 over on our backs to load. In skirmishing, the 
 men are kept five yards apart ; we had followed 
 this rule to a nicety, so that Company A, nearly 
 one hundred men, stretched out a long distance at 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 73 
 
 this time, and the firing was of course very irregu- 
 
 lar, each shooting as he found a proper mark. Feb g " 
 
 The enemy fired much as we did, slowly ; and had Batile f 
 
 . Roanoke. 
 
 got our range to a dot. Suddenly we noticed one 
 of the Company crawling to the rear dragging his 
 rifle along with him. " Hallo, Dave, what's the 
 trouble?" "Hit, fellers," was his short reply, and 
 he crawled along a short distance, and then cooly 
 got up and walked limping to the rear. This was pi rstman 
 David B. Bigelow, the first man of Company A wounded. 
 wounded in action in the service of the United 
 States. He was hit in the left leg, in the fleshy 
 part above the knee a bloody and painful, but not 
 a serious wound. 
 
 The bullets came uncomfortably near, and so 
 spiteful. "Those fellows mean to hit us, Captain," 
 said Dan Eaton. "Don't you mean to hit them ?" 
 said the Captain. "Of course I do, but you see " 
 He did not finish the sentence but pulled out a plug 
 of tobacco and bit off a generous allowance, and 
 running his cold gray eye along his rifle barrel, we 
 heard in a few seconds its sharp, spiteful ring, which 
 showed that he meant to hit something not a tree. 
 
 Another man went to the rear Horace Brooks, 
 hit in the foot, and he limped away out of sight. 
 
74 The Story of Company A. 
 
 It is singular that a wounded man will walk away 
 
 Feb s fr m t ^ le s P ot where he receives his wound as though 
 
 Battle of he could not be hit again. This wound of Brooks 
 
 * crippled him for life. He never served with the 
 
 Company again, but remained his three years as 
 
 a detailed man at New Berne. 
 
 We expected the Regiment would soon make its 
 appearance with the Brigade, when we would be 
 withdrawn as skirmishers, and take our places with 
 them in line of battle. It should be remembered 
 that this was our first experience under fire, and it 
 must be confessed that the boys showed a deal of 
 pluck and endurance in skirmishing up to this point, 
 under fire^^ g reat coolness in action. This, undoubtedly, 
 was in a great measure owing to the thorough drill 
 we had received from the first ; also to the cool be- 
 havior of the officers. The orders of Capt. Pickett 
 were clearly and promptly given, and we felt from 
 one end of the skirmish line to the other that he 
 was with us, and that he was in command. Lieut. 
 Goodwin showed great ability and coolness through 
 the whole affair, and these officers could not feel 
 otherwise than pleased with the behavior of the men 
 in this their first trial. Lieut. Bessey had been de- 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 75 
 
 tailed on the signal corps and was not with the 
 
 1862. 
 Company in the Battle of Roanoke. Feb g 
 
 As we expected, the Regiment soon made its Battle of 
 
 Roanoke. 
 
 appearance with the rest of the Brigade, and we 
 took our place in its ranks ; but Samuel S. Dresser 
 went down with a wound in his leg, Charley Bartlett 
 with a hit in the arm, and Henry F. Knox with a 
 wound in the neck five of Company A wounded 
 in the first engagement. 
 
 Line of battle was formed as soon as possible, 
 and the Rebels opened on us with the big guns. 
 We replied with a volley of musketry, and the bat- 
 tle was fairly opened. Our artillery (small howit- 
 zers) was soon placed in position, and for some 
 three hours the firing was incessant. The ammu- 
 nition of the Twenty-fifth being exhausted, the 
 Regiment was withdrawn to the rear a short dis- 
 tance, and we rested on the ground. While in this 
 position Hawkin's Zouaves (9th N. Y. Vols.) came 
 up the road at double-quick, and we supposed were 
 going to charge the enemy at once ; but they halted 
 near and in front of us, and by some mistake or Mistake 
 other, fired a volley into the Tenth Connecticut. f the 
 Some said they were deceived by the gray over- 
 
76 The Story of Company A. 
 
 coats of the Connecticut troops, that being the color 
 
 Feb s worn by the Rebels. Be it as it may, the Tenth 
 
 Battle of turned on the Zouaves to see from whence the firing 
 
 oano e ' came, and the latter faced about and made tracks 
 
 for the rear, nearly running over us (the 25th). 
 
 This was prevented by the boys springing to their 
 
 A Panic ^ eet an( ^ bringing their rifles to "Charge bayonets," 
 
 averted, the officers cooly drawing their swords and giving 
 
 the orders. This stopped the backward movement 
 
 and prevented much trouble. 
 
 We had an opportunity while lying here of seeing 
 the effect of the enemy's firing, in the bringing out 
 of the wounded. One man was carried by with his 
 head nearly all torn away by a cannon shot ; another 
 had an arm shot off, but he walked by cheering on 
 the soldiers as they fired. Another, shot in the 
 Deadand breast, was moaning terribly and leaning on the 
 
 wounded. 
 
 shoulders of two of his comrades. Many were 
 brought out on stretchers, and many dead were 
 carried hurriedly 'by. Thus the grim and ghastly 
 procession passed on. 
 
 Meantime the Twenty-first Massachusetts and 
 Fifty-first New York had pushed deep into the 
 swamp on the left, with the intention of flanking 
 the Rebel right ; the Twenty-third Massachusetts 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 77 
 
 and Ninth New York (Hawkins Zouaves) tried the 
 
 same on the Rebel left. After a hard struggle with Feb g " 
 the mud and briars of this miserable swamp, the Battle of 
 brave regiments on the left succeeded in flanking 
 the Rebel right, and with a sudden dash and rousing 
 cheers, entered the Rebel battery. The colors of 
 the Twenty-first Massachusetts were the first to 
 float over the Rebel works, quickly followed by 
 those of the Fifty-first New York. History has it 
 
 J Battery 
 
 (notably Abbott's History of the Rebellion) that taken. 
 Hawkins' Zouaves stormed the battery and took it. 
 This is simply untrue. The Hawkins Zouaves, with 
 the Twenty-third Massachusetts "swarmed over the 
 earthworks," possibly ; but the battery was taken 
 already. The Zouaves no doubt had a good writer 
 among them, and he wrote a very creditable story ; 
 but what is the use ? The Twenty-first Massachu- 
 setts, that splendid fighting regiment, first entered 
 and its colors first floated over the Rebel battery. 
 
 We had orders now to move on, and we advanced 
 quickly up the road and were soon inside the bat- 
 tery. We counted fifteen dead Rebels lying around 
 in the earthworks, most of them. The first was a 
 gunner, struck in the head by a bullet. His cap 
 was on his head, strap under his chin, just gasping 
 
78 The Story of Company A. 
 
 his last as we passed. The ground was covered 
 
 T Rf^O 
 
 with his blood. All of the Rebels killed were poorly 
 
 Feb. 8. J 
 
 Battle of c\&d with one exception. That was a young man, 
 a captain, said to be Captain Cole and to belong to 
 Philadelphia. He wore a fine uniform, had rings 
 
 Rebgl on his fingers and gold studs in his white shirt front. 
 
 dead. He was killed by a shot through the heart. The 
 bullet made a small, clean round hole, which had 
 bled scarcely a drop. 
 
 We continued our march through the woods, 
 passing very few houses, and taking a few prisoners 
 who seemed willing enough to be captured. These 
 also were poorly clad, but were quite talkative. We 
 soon met one of Burnside's aids, who said the 
 Rebels had surrendered over two thousand men, 
 and more than twenty pieces of artillery. So ended 
 the Battle of Roanoke Island, after a struggle of 
 three hours or more, and a total loss to the Union 
 troops of forty killed and over two hundred wounded. 
 As we pushed along rapidly we found the road 
 thickly strewn with guns and equipments, knap- 
 sacks and clothing, thrown hastily away by the 
 Rebels in their flight. We passed one house near 
 the road filled with wounded Rebels, among them 
 
2 $th Regt., Mass. Vols. 79 
 
 O. Jennings Wise, son of Henry A. Wise, of Vir- 
 ginia. He was badly wounded and died soon after. 
 
 Our road*lay through woods the greater part of 
 the way. We passed on our right several small 
 hills which appeared to be composed entirely of 
 clean sand, with no vegetation on them save an 
 occasional stunted pine ; but nothing green what- 
 ever, and presenting a curious sight. It was dark 
 when we reached the Rebel encampment, and we Rebel 
 were quite ready to halt when the order was given, encamp- 
 We found here very extensive barracks, and an 
 immense amount of army material in the shape of 
 rations, ammunition, guns, swords and other small 
 arms. The barracks were very well built of logs, 
 and could shelter eight or ten thousand men. We 
 found room in the building after considerable search, 
 and we were glad to get under cover. 
 
 It was interesting to see how freely our boys and 
 the Rebels talked over the events of the day to- 
 gether. Many of the Rebels did not seem to care 
 much about getting beaten, and many said they 
 were forced into the service. 
 
 The next day (Feb. 9th) was the Sabbath. It 
 did riot seem much like a Sunday at home, and 
 there was so much stir and excitement that it was a 
 
8o The Story of Company A. 
 
 great contrast to our quiet Sundays at Annapolis. 
 
 Our camp here was known as Camp Foster. The 
 Rebels were everywhere about, apparently under 
 no restraint whatever. They were all as poorly 
 clothed as the first we had seen, save the officers 
 who in general were very well clad ; but in no case 
 did they compare with the boys in blue. 
 
 In the afternoon a few of us got passes and started 
 on an expedition to the northern shore of the Island, 
 Tramp extending our tramp to the two upper forts captured 
 over the the day before. The first one and the largest, Fort 
 Huger, mounted twelve guns, mostly thirty-two 
 pounders. The other, Fort Blanchard, was a much 
 smaller earthwork, containing but three guns. These 
 forts were but just finished, and were not used in 
 the battle of the 8th. The guns had been spiked, 
 but only with nails which could be easily removed. 
 The small fort was about two miles from the larger, 
 and both were regular earthworks and really quite 
 strong. We found the road we travelled thickly 
 strewn with knapsacks and other accoutrements. 
 
 Returning to camp we found our squad had a 
 good dinner nearly prepared. Good dinners are 
 obstacles easily overcome by hungry soldiers. Ser- 
 geant "Jemsy" (McLane) had been skirmishing 
 
25th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 81 
 
 around for something to eat soldiers always do 
 
 when off duty and had brought in a nice fat turkey; 
 another had confiscated a chicken, both boiled to- 
 gether with a good bit of pork and plenty of sweet 
 potatoes. Who would n't go for a soger ? * 
 
 Just after dinner we were startled by a volley of 
 musketry and bullets flying over our heads. "Fall 
 in, fall in," was the order ; and in a very few min- 
 utes we were in line and ready for action. Eating Alarm 
 dinner a few minutes ago ; now ready to be shot ! 
 The Rebel prisoners bustled around considerable, 
 their officers appearing at the doors of the barracks, 
 looking anxiously around, expecting as we were 
 that trouble was brewing ; but the firing proved to 
 be by some of the Union troops, who had discharged 
 their rifles preparatory to a good cleaning, and had 
 aimed a little too close to our heads to be agreeable. 
 But we had no more of this, so we broke ranks and 
 the camp settled down into quietude again. 
 
 The results of the victory of February 8th may be 
 briefly stated. Two thousand five hundred pris- Fruits of 
 oners, three forts containing twenty-five guns, one Vlctor y- 
 small earthwork where the fight took place having 
 three, guns, and another not used in the action also 
 
 *A common expression in the army. 
 
82 The Story of Company A. 
 
 having three guns, small arms by thousands, tons 
 
 1862. r ... r ,, 
 
 ot ammunition, and a great quantity of nour, bacon, 
 
 etc., while the Rebel fleet was wholly destroyed. 
 Truly, a first-class victory. 
 
 Burdened as we were with so many prisoners, 
 
 it required a regiment daily for guard duty ; but this 
 
 officers did not last many days, for on February nth the 
 
 depart. R eDe ] officers were sent away to be exchanged. 
 
 They marched from the barracks to the place of 
 
 embarkation between two lines of Union soldiers, 
 
 and went on board the S. R. Spaulding. This was 
 
 some relief; and other prisoners went off later, 
 
 lightening up the guard and making an easier life 
 
 of it. 
 
 The prisoners and Union boys would often get 
 together evenings, and talk of the events of the last 
 few days in perfect good feeling ; and sometimes 
 the Rebel prisoners held prayer meetings in which 
 Inter _ our boys would join. Singular circumstance, 
 course, killing one another a few hours before, now praying 
 that each others' lives might be spared. Our boys 
 swapped jack knives with the Rebels, and traded all 
 sorts of things for tobacco ; and when we saw the 
 boys in blue and the boys in gray exchanging the 
 very buttons on their jackets (those who had them) 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 83 
 
 and pleased as children, it did seem as if the habit 
 
 of swapping could hardly be carried further. 
 
 The prisoners were for the most part extremely 
 ignorant, and many expressed a wish to get back 
 home and to stay there. The officers seemed to 
 think they had made a great mistake in allowing 
 us to land as they did without hindrance. No doubt 
 about that. Ten thousand armed men real live 
 Yankees once on Roanoke Island, were going to 
 travel from one end to the other, and no earthly 
 power could stop them. It was a mistake ; but the 
 landing would have been made and the Rebels 
 cleaned out anyway didn't Gen. Foster say so ? 
 
 We learned from the darky servants of the Rebel 
 officers that their masters had buried ''lots of things 
 out in de woods dar." That was enough ; our boys 
 gave the woods "out dar" a thorough search, digging 
 up the ground with their bayonets and knives, and for 
 finding many small arms, some very nice revolvers, Treasure - 
 several fancy rifles, and many other things of no 
 great value. One squad did not get very well paid 
 for their trouble, for they found after some patient 
 digging that they had opened the grave of a dead 
 Rebel. There was not so much digging after that. 
 
84 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Among the prisoners taken were men from the 
 Wise Legion of Virginia, Richmond Blues, Ben 
 McCulloch Rangers, and the Eighth North Caro- 
 lina Regiment. These were considered among the 
 best troops, and best clothed and equipped. 
 
 On the morning of February i6th a lot of pris- 
 oners under guard of Company A, were marched to 
 Work /?r the shore near the upper fort, where each prisoner 
 the p ris - t 00 k his backload of boards and brought them to 
 
 oners, 
 
 the barracks. This was not fancied much by the 
 Rebels, although there was not a great deal of 
 growling ; but I think the movement rather pleased 
 Company A. The boards were to be used in build- 
 ing, so the movement was to some purpose. 
 
 A squad of us tried the experiment of taking a 
 swim at a sandy beach we found at the northern 
 end of the Island, but the coldness of the water 
 drove us out as quickly as we went in, and the swim 
 Bath ended in a very short bath ; and we made up our 
 minds that bathing at Roanoke Island in February 
 was not as agreeable as bathing in Massachusetts 
 ki July. The changes in the weather we found 
 about as sudden and as great as those in New Eng- 
 land. 
 
2 5th Regt., Mass. Vols. 85 
 
 On the i yth a large number of prisoners left 
 
 under guard of the Twenty-third Massachusetts ; 
 and on the i8th all that remained of the prisoners 
 were marched under guard of the Twenty-fifth Reg- 
 iment to the shore near Fort Huger, where they 
 were put on board the Pilot Boy and the "Old 
 Wheelbarrow,"* as the stern-wheel steamer was T 
 
 Removal 
 
 called. On going on board the vessels the prison- of the 
 ers had to march directly under the old flag that^ rz 
 they had so dishonored a few days before by firing 
 upon it. I think the sight did us all good, and it 
 certainly did the prisoners no harm, for they saw 
 floating above them the starry flag that had pro- 
 tected them in former years, and which was to pro- 
 tect them in years to come. These prisoners were 
 like all the rest, a tough-looking set, ragged and 
 dirty, and very illiterate. Some of our Company 
 
 Their 
 
 had found a muster roll of one of the Rebel com- icr noranfe 
 
 o 
 
 panics, and fully two-thirds of the names had their 
 X mark. Some said they were fighting for their 
 
 * The stern-wheel steamer or -'Wheelbarrow" was a rusty old thing, much 
 like the steamers on the western rivers. It was two stories high with a large 
 wheel astern. It was painted black, and looked like an old tumble-down 
 cotton mill afloat. Of very light draft, it was of great service in the shallow 
 water, and was constantly on the go. It is a wonder how she ever got around 
 Cape Hatteras if she was brought that way. 
 
86 The Story of Company A. 
 
 x 
 
 homes ; others that they were fighting for secession ; 
 
 others frankly owned that they did not know what 
 they were fighting for. Some had considerable 
 pluck, and said they would be at us again when ex- 
 changed ; and some of these same men were taken 
 again at New Berne. Others had got enough of it 
 and longed for home. These prisoners, most of 
 Removal tnem > were taken to the steamer New York, and 
 of the Company A went on board as guard. We moved 
 s ' about two miles from the Island, near a light house, 
 and came to anchor to wait for the other boats with 
 the rest of the prisoners. It was said that we should 
 sail for Elizabeth City where the prisoners would be 
 exchanged. 
 
 We lay here all day of the igth, and not until 
 about 2 p. M. on the 2Oth did we receive orders to 
 follow the S. R. Spaulding, which with the other 
 steamers had just arrived. The vessels carrying 
 the prisoners were the .51 R. Spaulding, New York, 
 Cossack, Admiral and Peabody. To Elizabeth City 
 where we were going was some forty miles, and on 
 starting, the other steamers were all in advance of 
 the New York ; but we passed them one after an- 
 other, the Spa^tlding included, and then to obey 
 orders took our place second in line. It was a pretty 
 
25th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 87 
 
 sight to see the New York pass the other steamers - 
 so nicely, and the prisoners as well as our boys were 
 greatly excited over it, and called it a race, but it 
 was simply obeying orders. 
 
 About twenty miles from Roanoke we passed 
 another light house, and soon began to see signs of 
 life. Villages, wind mills, cultivated fields, etc., 
 appeared ; and the land in many places seemed to 
 be covered with trees, pines mostly, with the dark 
 green cypress on the low lands. About 6 p. M. we 
 anchored off Elizabeth City, a high-sounding name 
 for so small a village (ten or twelve hundred inhabi- 
 tants), but quite a pretty place for all that. We 
 here saw what our gunboats had been doing since 
 the fight. It seems they drove the Rebel boats 
 from Roanoke, and followed them to this place 
 where they found six Rebel gunboats under the 
 
 protection of a battery on shore. The Union fleet, destroyed. 
 as the story goes, paid no attention to the battery, 
 but went heavily for the boats, boarding and cap- 
 turing two and sinking four (the wrecks of which 
 we saw sticking out of the water), clearing out the 
 whole lot ; and then paid their regards to the battery, 
 which was quickly silenced. The troops and in- 
 habitants fled ; but the place being of no importance 
 
88 The Story of Company A. 
 
 in a military way, it was not occupied by our men, 
 
 and the inhabitants returned. 
 
 At 1 1 o'clock of February 2ist, we steamed up to 
 
 the little wharf, and began to "discharge cargo" 
 
 that is, to land the prisoners. They were gathered 
 
 Prisoners * nto com P ames by their sergeants, and were put 
 
 landed ashore as fast as possible. It was a motley crowd 
 
 and SQ wre j; C h ec [iy clad. Their blankets were made 
 
 paroled. 
 
 of bits of carpet that had evidently had hard usage 
 before serving this purpose. There was no uni- 
 formity in their dress it could not be called a 
 uniform, save in color, nearly all being the same 
 dirty gray. They had no arms of course ; these 
 were all left at Roanoke. Knapsacks and haver- 
 sacks were entirely home made, with canteens made 
 of wood. A more wretched-looking set of men I 
 certainly never saw. Some said to us in a quiet 
 way that they would never be caught in the army 
 again ; others were stupidly indifferent ; others were 
 somewhat excited, and a few had some bluster left ; 
 ' but it was a sorry sight. And yet, these men fought 
 well in the battle of the 8th. Some of these poor 
 fellows were sick on the boat, and we got medicine 
 for them, took good care of them, and made them as 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 89 
 
 comfortable as we could indeed they were treated 
 
 1862. 
 like men. 
 
 On shore we noticed some Rebel soldiers with 
 our blue uniforms on. These they got from the 
 gunboat Fanny, which was taken by the Rebels, 
 and which our fleet recaptured and sunk a few days 
 before. We were not allowed to stray from the 
 New York, but we could see several church spires, Elizabeth 
 and that the streets were wide, with many trees Cit y- 
 scattered along through them. We could also see 
 the ruins of several houses burned by their own 
 soldiers, who would have destroyed the whole town 
 if the inhabitants had not rallied in time to save 
 their property, so they told us. We stopped only 
 long enough to land the prisoners, and then moved 
 about half a mile from the town and dropped anchor 
 to give the other steamers a chance to land their 
 prisoners. It is an unimportant fact to note here ; 
 but how the frogs- did peep that night ! It seemed 
 as if they kept up the chorus till morning. Said Fro 
 one of our boys : "You bet the little cusses ain't 
 piping like that up home about this time." 
 
 February 22nd, at 8 A. M. we got under way, and 
 after a very pleasant sail anchored off Roanoke 
 Island once more, and listened to a salute in honor 
 
90 The Story of Company A. 
 
 of Washington's birth-day from the guns spiked by 
 
 the Rebels on the day of the fight. 
 
 Sunday the 23d a boat went ashore and our knap- 
 sacks were sent to us a soldier feels lost without 
 his knapsack and we soon after moved up to the 
 first light house we saw when going to Elizabeth 
 City ; and after, a stay of twenty-four hours, were 
 ordered back to join the fleet at Roanoke. 
 
 In one of the state rooms occupied by the Rebel 
 prisoners, we found the following lines written in 
 pencil on the wall : 
 
 We, the non-commissioned officers of Co. K, North Carolina 8th 
 
 of the 
 
 . . Regiment, do give our thanks to Co. A, of the Massachusetts 2Sth, 
 
 prisoners. 
 
 for the many acts of kindness shown by that Co. to us, and if it 
 is ever in our power will return the same. 
 
 Sergt. J. IDE, for the Company 
 
 Many months after, it was in their power, and 
 they redeemed their promise. 
 
 February 26th, we went ashore in small boats, 
 landing near the spot we first touched February 8th ; 
 and from there marched to the barracks we left one 
 week ago. We noticed lots of robins on the way 
 up, singing as sweetly as they ever did at home in 
 warmer weather. 
 
2 5th Regt., Mass. Vols. 91 
 
 Our mail had just arrived. Mail day was a great 
 
 day for soldiers. The postmaster, a soldier detailed 
 for that purpose, brought the mail to the Company, 
 and called out the names of the lucky ones, handing Mail day. 
 over the precious letters. The Twenty-fifth is no- 
 tably a writing regiment. The mail bag always 
 leaves well filled and returns in like condition. 
 
 It seems almost laughable to tell now of the ru- 
 mors of peace that were afloat in camp at this early Rumor3 
 
 J of peace. 
 
 stage of the war. We were all to be home in sixty 
 days, etc. But all through the war these rumors 
 would start up, no one knew how ; but would die 
 out as quickly as they had risen. The particular 
 rumor at this time was that Burnside had said that 
 he would have his troops home by the first of July. 
 Some tried to believe it, but the majority did not 
 take stock in this or any other report of like import. 
 Our camp here was known as Camp Foster (our 
 second camp since we left Worcester) ; and by order camp 
 of Gen. Burnside we are to have inscribed on our Foster - 
 banner: "Roanoke Island, February 8th, 1862." 
 Burnside gave his troops great praise for their con- 
 duct in this their first engagement ; and they cer- 
 tainly did well, and really deserved the commen- 
 dation he bestowed on them. 
 
92 The Story of Company A. 
 
 While here our minds naturally went back to the 
 discovery and first settlement of Roanoke Island in 
 the days of Elizabeth of England, nearly three cen- 
 turies before. Sir Walter Raleigh visited the Island 
 and attempted the foundation of a colony which 
 proved a failure. After so long a time its romantic 
 history was now supplemented by the remarkable 
 events of the last few days. 
 
 "One morning I obtained a pass, and started about 
 9 o'clock for a long stroll, intending to hunt up the 
 wounded of Company A. Making my way at once 
 z/ " 'to Fort Huger, and following along the coast of the 
 Island to Fort Blanchard, I noticed a boat-load of 
 Zouaves bound in the same direction as myself; and 
 presently a hail came: 'Hallo, there; what regi- 
 ment?' 'Twenty-fifth Massachusetts,' I replied. 
 This answer brought the boat to me with the wel- 
 come, 'Come aboard' ; and we were soon at their 
 quarters, which proved to be on one of the old canal 
 boats we had towed around Cape Hatteras. It was 
 Company K, Hawkins Zouaves, into whose hands I 
 
 TT 7 ' * * 
 
 naivkins 
 
 Zouaves, had fallen, and a bright, jolly set of fellows they 
 were. In vain I pleaded a long tramp before me ; 
 I must stop to dinner, and I did. These men were 
 all quite young, and were completely bound up in 
 
2$th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 93 
 
 their regiment. Its singular dress they claimed was 
 
 the most comfortable^ for a soldier the red cap, 
 loose jacket and baggy trousers. Their orderly was 
 of Scotch descent, named Donaldson, and he was 
 quite enthusiastic over Massachusetts soldiers. He 
 said the Zouave uniform seemed whimsical, and it 
 was so regarded ; but men will do a great deal for a 
 whim. These men with their showy uniforms ap- 
 peared well pleased with their officers, and seemed 
 very intelligent and contented. 
 
 " I left the Zou-zous with regret, and hurried on to 
 the house we surrounded when we first landed. 
 This was used now as a hospital, and on going up 
 stairs I found only one of Company A Charley 
 
 * J Charley 
 
 Bartlett. He was feeling badly ; his right arm the 
 wounded one was bandaged, and he was suffer- 
 ing a great deal from. it. I cheered him up, told 
 him all the news, and he said if he could only have 
 his knapsack and be with the other wounded A boys 
 he would be all right. I promised him this, and 
 bade him goodbye. 
 
 "I learned that most of the wounded had been 
 placed on steamers and nearly all would be sent 
 home. I found no more A boys. Near the house 
 were many graves of the Union dead, each having 
 
94 The Story of Company A. 
 
 a board at the head. Some were marked with 
 
 name, regiment, etc.; others "supposed to be" such 
 a one ; and several were marked "unknown." This, 
 then, was the end an unknown grave. This is the 
 
 The dead. 
 
 dark side of a soldier's life wounds, suffering, death 
 and a nameless grave. 
 
 " From the hospital my next point was the battery 
 where the fight took place. A few soldiers were on 
 duty there ; and men from various regiments were 
 pointing out places occupied by them during the 
 action. Squads of soldiers were eagerly hunting 
 for (of course) something to eat, making special 
 efforts to capture North Carolina hogs, which to a 
 Hunting ra ther limited extent were found on the Island. An 
 
 hogs. 
 
 occasional squeal in the distance denoted a capture ; 
 and the indications were that within a short time 
 very little "pork" would be found running around 
 loose on Roanoke Island. I reached the barracks 
 about dark, hungry, to be sure, and quite ready to 
 partake of a meal of North Carolina hog and sweet 
 potatoes." 
 
 March 4th we had company drill for the first time 
 since leaving Annapolis, save one or two attempts to 
 drill on the New York. While drilling we noticed 
 robins, bluebirds and sparrows in abundance. These 
 
2$th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 95 
 
 birds stay in this locality all winter, which proves 
 
 that the season cannot be very severe. 
 
 The soldiers got the idea of making briar wood 
 pipes while we were at Roanoke, and some were Briar 
 very curious affairs. The roots grew in all sorts of W00(i - 
 fantastic shapes, and with a deal of skill and patience 
 the boys made very handsome pipes for friends at 
 home. 
 
 Orders came at last for all the wounded to be 
 sent on board the steamers for home, so they were 
 all transferred accordingly, and we wished them 
 good luck on their departure. 
 
 "I went one day to the hospital, a rough build- 
 ing erected for that purpose, to see Corporal Horace 
 Brooks of our company. He was wounded in the 
 foot, and lay on his cot looking quite comfortable, 
 and talked very cheerfully. He said there were 
 three men near him in the hospital who had but two 
 legs among them. One had none, and two had lost 
 one each ; and a singular fact was that the one who 
 lost both legs was doing well, while another who 
 lost only a finger had brain fever set in and died. 
 So it goes." 
 
 March 6th we went on board the "Old Wheel- 
 barrow" or stern-wheel steamer (Union), and were 
 
g6 The Story of Company A. 
 
 taken to the New York, where we occupied our old 
 
 1862. . , 
 
 quarters again, the sergeants taking the same little 
 
 state room as before, which was quite by itself and 
 was reached from the outside. It seemed like get- 
 ting home to be in our old bunks again. 
 
 On the 7th we had a regular old Hatteras gale, 
 a gentle reminder of what had been and might be 
 again. On the 9th it cleared away and we had a 
 most delightful day of it. Through the winter at 
 Hatteras it is safe to calculate on two storms a week, 
 and not of the gentle sort, but regular tearers. 
 
 " It is strange how things are mixed in this soldier 
 life of ours. Now everything seems like peace 
 waters quiet, boats gliding about in all directions, 
 and shouts of laughter from all the vessels in our 
 vicinity. Rumor has it that we are on the eve of 
 another battle." 
 
 NOTE. The Captain Cole mentioned on page 78, is said to 
 have been an officer in the famous Richmond Blues, one of the 
 most aristocratic companies in Virginia, 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF NEW BERNE. 
 
 X/TARCH nth we were ordered to move, but had 
 
 some trouble on account of the four or five 
 
 schooners we were to tow. When we got fairly 
 
 under way we run aground, and the soldiers were 
 
 } On the 
 
 obliged to go on board small steamers to lighten up move , 
 the New York, and the tugs had a hard time to pull 
 her off. All this detained us five hours. Meantime 
 one of the sailors fell overboard, which caused a 
 ripple of excitement, but the man swam like a fish 
 and was picked up all right by a small boat. 
 
 The morning of March I2th found us at Hatteras 
 near our old anchoring ground, but we started again, 
 supposed to be bound for New Berne, ninety miles 
 from Hatteras Inlet ; and had a delightful day's sail, 
 reaching the mouth of the Neuse River about 4 P. M., 
 and found the rest of the fleet ready and waiting. 
 
98 The Story of Company A. 
 
 We steamed slowly but boldly up the river, passing 
 
 but few houses scattered along on either side ; and 
 noticed that the country was well wooded, and ap- 
 
 Up the 
 
 River, parently more uneven than the section we had left. 
 We anchored about 8 in the evening at a place 
 called Slocum's Creek. We had seen during the 
 day tall columns of dark smoke in different direc- 
 tions, thought by some to be signals of our approach. 
 We did not pass a single strange sail, nothing in 
 fact save a small sail boat containing two men, which 
 was brought up rather suddenly by a solid shot 
 from one of our gunboats. 
 
 We had orders to land in light marching order 
 as at Roanoke. It was evident that we had a bio^er 
 
 Fore- 
 bodings, job on our hands than the affair on the Island ; and 
 
 "Old Posey" consoled us with the prediction that 
 some of us would lose the number of our mess 
 before many hours. 
 
 The Neuse River is a noble stream, between 
 two and three miles wide at its mouth, and navi- 
 gable for large vessels and steamers to New Berne. 
 Slocum's Creek is sixteen or eighteen miles below 
 New Berne, and about the same distance from the 
 mouth of the Neuse. 
 
2$th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 99 
 
 The night passed quietly away. Going on deck 
 
 1 ...... . . 1862. 
 
 about midnight the scene was an impressive one. 
 
 A silence almost oppressive rested over Burnside's 
 fleet ; no lights were visible anywhere, but the forms Midnight 
 of the vessels were plainly to be seen, and the shore scene - 
 on either side of the river, bordered with forest 
 trees, lay dark and silent under the dim starlight. 
 On the morning of March i3th, after the woods 
 had been shelled by the gunboats, the troops landed 
 in much the same way as at Roanoke. Lines of 
 boats were drawn as near the shore as possible by 
 light-draft steamers ; the boats were then separated 
 and made for the shore. It was a singularly beautiful 
 sight; the boats were crowded with men "Wearing 
 the Blue," and their bayonets glistened as if tipped 
 with sparks of sunshine. There was the same strife 
 
 of the 
 
 as at Roanoke as to who should land first ; but here troops. 
 parts of several companies were landing at the same 
 time, Company A among the first ; and many jumped 
 out of the boats and waded ashore. If it was a 
 mistake on the Rebels' part in allowing us to land 
 on Roanoke Island, here was another one. We all 
 landed, and not an opposing shot was fired. Com- 
 pany A was formed quickly in the woods under live 
 oak trees from whose branches hung long festoons 
 
ioo The Story of Company A. 
 
 of gray moss which waved in the slightest breeze, 
 
 l862. i -1 1 i r 
 
 while vines had crept from tree to tree covering 
 their tops completely. Birds were twittering in the 
 branches, and we marched away from this delightful 
 spot with scarce a thought of the terrible scenes we 
 might pass through in the next few hours. 
 
 The Company was sent on ahead ; passing some 
 log huts and seeing no people, we halted after 
 tramping about two miles. Soon a part of Reno's 
 brigade passed us, with the Twenty-first in advance. 
 In a short time the Twenty-fifth came up, and we 
 fell in and pushed on towards New Berne through 
 pine forests. We passed large, rough buildings 
 .. ,, . that had been used as barracks by the Rebels. An 
 
 Flight of J 
 
 .old darky here told us the Rebels "run like jingo 
 when dey knowed de Yanks was comin." It had 
 been a cavalry station, and their scouts had seen us 
 land, and had given the alarm, when the whole 
 crowd left for New Berne, and in such a hurry that 
 their saddles, bridles and other equipments lay scat- 
 tered around in great confusion. They left their 
 tables standing with breakfast scarcely touched. 
 We stopped but a few minutes, but long enough 
 for some of us to pretty nearly finish that breakfast. 
 Of course we were hungry it was certainly over 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 101 
 an hour since we had eaten our breakfast and sol- 
 
 diers are always hungry. It was here that McLane l8 " 2 ' 
 played a practical joke on some of us oh Jemsy, 
 how could you ! If I remember rightly the Captain 
 was in the scrape. McLane came out of the barracks 
 bringing a large tin dish filled with a dark brown 
 substance, and cried out, "Sugar, boys, Sugar!" 
 "Here, Jemsy, here," "This way, Jemsy"; and a 
 
 Salt for 
 
 score of hands made a grab at the dish, a score of 
 
 mouths were filled with the sugar ? No ! It was 
 salt, and villainous, dirty salt at that. What a spitting, 
 sputtering, cursing was there ! We marched on 
 amid the shouts of those who had not tasted the 
 sugar, and the curses not loud but deep of those 
 who had. 
 
 And now it came on to rain, and shortly the roads 
 were heavy with mud. The marching became 
 harder every hour, still there was no grumbling; 
 and when Gen. Foster rode along- and announced 
 
 Hard 
 
 (false rumor by the way) that the Army of the marc hing. 
 Potomac had advanced, and that Manassas was 
 taken, the air rung with the shouts of the soldiers. 
 Soon we hacj a report from the advance that a large 
 earthwork directly across the road we were travel- 
 ing had been evacuated by the enemy. This bit of 
 
IO2 The Story of Company A. 
 
 news was also received with the greatest enthusiasm, 
 
 and served to keep our spirits up for the remainder 
 of the day. We soon came in sight of the deserted 
 battery, and were struck with its appearance. It 
 was built at the point where the road we were 
 traveling crossed the railroad to New Berne, and 
 commanded both railroad and turnpike, It was in- 
 tended for three heavy guns when completed. The 
 earthworks extended from this point to the Neuse 
 
 defenses. 
 
 River on our right, and a good distance beyond 
 the railroad on our left ; and if these works had 
 been properly defended we should have had a deal 
 of trouble in getting through them. 
 
 We pushed forward through mud and rain, with 
 frequent halts for a few minutes rest ; and at dark 
 turned into the woods on the right of the road for a 
 cheerless bivouac in the wet. It is not a pleasant 
 thing to contemplate a bivouac in a heavy rain on 
 ground already soaked with water for it had rained 
 Bivouac steadily for hours and there was now no cessation ; 
 but here was the place for us to stop, so there was 
 nothing to be said about it. In spite of the rain we 
 soon had fires started, and our coffee cooking. 
 Haversacks were opened, and the everlasting "salt 
 horse" and hard-tack brought forth ; and these with 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 103 
 
 our tin (quart) cups full of piping hot coffee sweet- 
 
 ened just right, made us, considering all things, a 
 good supper. 
 
 Now we looked around for some place to turn in. 
 It was amusing to see the different ways the boys 
 took to provide sleeping places. One man who 
 had found two rough logs, rolled them close to- 
 gether and went to sleep on top of them, with his 
 rubber blanket over him. Three or four were sitting 
 upright together with their backs against a large 
 tree, and their rubber blankets drawn over their 
 heads. Others cut brush and small limbs of trees inthev)et 
 to sleep on anything to keep them out of the wet. 
 Some, by fastening two rubber blankets together 
 and stretching them between trees with slant or 
 pitch enough to shed the water, obtained a good 
 shelter, large enough for four or more to lie under, 
 while two more rubber blankets kept them from the 
 wet ground. These blankets measured eight feet 
 by four, and had eyelet holes all round the edge, 
 being easily fastened together by strings ; and it 
 was by using them somewhat as described that the 
 boys got the greatest benefit from them. 
 
 Soldiers choose their tent-mates, and chum to- 
 gether at every bivouac while on a march ; for 
 14 
 
IO4 The Story of Company A. 
 
 instance, the officers messed together in camp and 
 
 bivouac, the sergeants usually did the same, and 
 the company was divided into squads of four or 
 more, who were always found together in little 
 families, so to speak. On this night the Sergeants 
 had made a shelter, a sort of tent of rubber blan- 
 kets. Having started with three days' rations we 
 had enough to eat ; and when "Jemsy" produced 
 a candle and placed it in the end of a bayonet which 
 he stuck in the ground inside, we felt more com- 
 fortable, for we could see just how wretched and 
 miserable we were. 
 
 Scouting parties were sent out in different direc- 
 tions during the night, and guards posted ; but those 
 of us off duty managed to get some sleep, wet 
 through as we were, overcoats and all. 
 
 We will look now at the defenses of New Berne. 
 We had passed without hindrance through the first 
 line of works, and a strong one it was too ; and we 
 had reason to suppose we were near the second 
 defenses. n ' ne > as indeed we were (within half a mile). This 
 second line was perhaps ten miles or more from the 
 place of landing, and perhaps six miles from New 
 Berne. It consisted of earthworks regular intrench- 
 ments extending from the River Neuse to the 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 105 
 
 railroad, a distance of a mile ; and beyond the rail- 
 
 road a long line of rifle pits extended half a mile 
 further, ending with a two-gun battery on the edge 
 of a large swamp. The works as far as the railroad 
 were protected with a deep ditch in front, about ten 
 feet wide and six feet deep. At the river on the 
 enemy's left, was Fort Thompson mounting thirteen 
 guns, some pivot that could be fired in any direction. 
 This fort had a bomb proof, was very strong, and 
 certainly a bad thing to approach. Three guns 
 could sweep the field in front of the intrenchments, The Rebel 
 
 defenses. 
 
 and ten guns commanded the river. The Neuse 
 was blockaded by twenty or more sunken ships, a 
 row of piles, and any number of torpedoes. Above 
 Fort Thompson, on the river towards New Berne, 
 was a battery of eight guns, and beyond this another 
 of four guns, besides one or two smaller works not 
 completed. The county road we tramped to this 
 place passed through these fortifications about mid- 
 way between the river and the railroad ; and at this 
 point was a sort of lunette mounting three guns 
 that commanded the road and every approach 
 thereto. The entire line of works was thoroughly 
 built, in perfect order, and the position was an ex- 
 ceedingly strong one. To defend these works the 
 
io6 The Story of Company A. 
 
 enemy had some nine thousand men, including five 
 
 hundred cavalry, with over thirty pieces of artillery. 
 To attack and capture this position Burnside had 
 about nine thousand men, and at the most, eight 
 or ten small howitzers. But he had the gunboats 
 also, which, as we shall see, did their part in the 
 battle. The Rebels had prepared a large raft loaded 
 with cotton, tar, turpentine and other combustibles, 
 which was to be set on fire and floated down the 
 river, and of course would destroy the Yankee gun- 
 boats only it didn't. The wind blew the wrong 
 way and it floated up against the wharf and set it on 
 fire, and did no harm whatever to the fleet. 
 
 It was a long night, that night before the Battle 
 of New Berne, but like all other things it had an 
 end. The earliest daylight of the i4th found us 
 astir, crawling around like so many half-drowned 
 flies, cold, wet, stiff, sore and hungry ; but by 
 moving quickly, many of us managed to get some- 
 thing to eat and the "cup of coffee," before the ex- 
 pected order "Fall in" was heard. The order was 
 not long delayed, and we were once more on the 
 opening road. We had marched but a short distance, per- 
 
 * haps a quarter of a mile, when firing- was heard 
 
 Battle. 
 
 ahead, which told us that the battle had opened. 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 107 
 
 The Twenty-fifth filed into the woods on the right 
 
 of the road, and with the rest of the brigade formed x 2 * 
 
 March 14 
 
 in line of battle, and pressed forward slowly, Com- 
 pany A having the right of the regiment, which had 
 the right of the brigade, We very soon found our- 
 selves at the edge of a clearing beyond which, at 
 about three hundred yards distance, were the Rebel 
 earthworks extending as far as we could see, right 
 and left. While here Sergeant Putnam was sent 
 out with one man (Corporal Jaalam Gates, after- 
 wards a captain in U. S. colored troops) to recon- Battle O j 
 noiter, with orders not to fire, but as quietly as New 
 possible see what could be made out of the situation. 
 They plunged at once into the woods and made 
 their way towards the river. They observed the 
 Rebel earthworks, and at last came in sight of Fort 
 Thompson, with its guns in position to sweep the 
 whole clearing in front of the fortifications. Making 
 what observations they could, they were about to 
 return when a Rebel was discovered standing on a 
 stump, hand over his face to shade his eyes, and his 
 rifle in the other hand. He had evidently seen our 
 troops, for his eyes were riveted upon the spot they 
 occupied. "I say, Sergeant," said the Corporal, 
 "that's about a hundred yards ; I can pop that fellow 
 
io8 The Story of Company A. 
 
 as I would a turkey," and he raised his rifle to do 
 
 it ; but the orders were not to fire, so they returned 
 
 March 14 
 
 to the regiment and reported. 
 
 Meantime line of battle had been formed in the 
 
 edge of the woods, with the enemy's intrenchments 
 
 close at hand and in plain sight, the Twenty-fifth 
 
 Regiment on the extreme right. We now heard 
 
 loud cheering on the left, and knew the Twenty-first 
 
 was engaged. We here received the enemy's fire 
 
 from the front and from Fort Thompson on the right, 
 
 several of the regiment being wounded at the first 
 
 Battle of fi re from the fort. Our gunboats, too, having as- 
 
 New cended the river thus far, were throwing shells over 
 
 jyf*jf 
 
 our heads, which fell short of the Rebel earthworks 
 and burst directly in our front, fairly shaking the 
 earth, throwing up columns of dirt, and tearing 
 great holes in the ground at every explosion. The 
 position was a bad one, and we were soon with- 
 drawn and placed further to the left. 
 
 The fight was now raging furiously all along the 
 line. We passed our howitzer battery of four guns ; 
 here the fight had been severe, and in all directions 
 lay the dead and wounded of the battery. Bullets 
 were flying around thick, and solid shot came crash- 
 ing through the trees. The excitement at this time 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 109 
 
 was very great, firing along the whole line, and 
 
 loud cheering away down the left where the gallant 
 
 March 14 
 
 Twenty-first had made a charge, entered the enemy's 
 works and were driven out, but had re-formed, 
 charged and entered the works again, this time to 
 stay. We, also, were ordered to charge, and with a 
 wild hurrah we started at double-quick, and in about 
 as short a time as it takes to write it, our boys were 
 swarming over the Rebel works like bees ; and the Battle of 
 colors of the Twenty-fifth were planted in the bat- New 
 tery. It was claimed that our state colors were 
 the first that floated over the enemy's intrench- 
 ments. The distance where the charge was made 
 between the woods and the earthworks was about 
 two hundred yards ; and we had but just started 
 when a solid shot evidently from Fort Thompson 
 came tearing along, struck a tree on our right, 
 glanced, and going through the ranks of Company 
 A, killed comrade Eli Pike. The shot struck him 
 in the side and mangled him shockingly. We could 
 not stop; one glance, as we passed over him a. 
 quivering, bleeding mass of humanity was the last 
 we saw of Eli Pike, \hefirst of Company A to die 
 on the battle field. 
 
1 10 The Story of Company A. 
 
 It was a horrible sight as we entered the enemy's 
 
 Mar h* wor ^ s dead and dying men, dead and dying horses, 
 in every conceivable position, some alone, others in 
 little heaps of two or three, all smeared with blood 
 Battle of and begrimed with powder and dirt. Many, per- 
 B haps most, of the Rebels, were shot in the head. We 
 noticed a dead Rebel soldier, seated on a log, his 
 rifle beside him, and his back supported against a 
 tree. He had been shot in the act of eating a piece 
 of bread ; the mouthful bitten off remained between 
 his teeth, while the right hand still holding the loaf 
 was raised to his lips. Death had come like a flash, 
 and his limbs were rigid in an instant. This was a 
 very singular case. 
 
 The enemy were now in full retreat towards New 
 Berne, a portion of one regiment marching off in 
 
 etreatof Q( j or( j er with colors flying ; but the road, as was 
 
 the enemy. s ' & ' 
 
 the case at Roanoke, was strewn with guns and 
 equipments thrown away in the hasty flight. Our 
 regiment formed soon after, and Company A was 
 sent to skirmish through the woods towards the 
 railroad, which we did, capturing many prisoners, 
 then following the railroad towards New Berne, 
 where were crowds of Rebels flying to the city. 
 

 . .._ ^.. - 
 
W V x 2 
 
 v p* f , - 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 V V 
 
 \ 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. in 
 On either side were seen many of the enemy making 
 
 T Rfio 
 
 signs which indicated their desire to surrender. 
 
 Gen. Foster on horseback rode along with Com- 
 pany A as we pushed on towards the town. We 
 soon noticed a huge column of black smoke rising 
 high over New Berne, and saw at once that the 
 Rebels had set the city on fire a Moscow on a 
 small scale ! We soon reached the Trent River, 
 and found the railroad bridge, some fifteen hundred 
 feet long, in flames and rapidly going to destruction. 
 We stopped but a short time on the banks of the 
 Trent, and then crossed over in small steamers and 
 
 New 
 
 took possession of the town. The gunboats all this Berne. 
 time had been fighting their way up the river, reach- 
 ing the town before the troops, and were assisting 
 in putting out the fires. 
 
 So ended the Battle of New Berne, with a loss to 
 the Twenty-fifth Regiment of twenty-six killed and 
 wounded. Our Company had one man killed. The 
 total Union loss was one hundred killed and about 
 five hundred wounded. We captured several hun- 
 dred prisoners, thousands of muskets, thirty pieces 
 of artillery, and a large quantity of ammunition. The 
 Rebel loss in killed and wounded is not known, but 
 probably it was less than ours. 
 15 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NEW BERNE AND CAMP OLIVER. 
 
 HPHE BUILDING in New Berne occupied by 
 Company A was known as the Merchants' Bank, 
 and was located on Craven street. The door was 
 locked, but the axes of the pioneers had opened it, 
 and we were at once in comfortable quarters. The 
 building had been cleaned out, but we had a nice 
 
 Our 
 
 quarters, shelter, and it was a striking contrast to the last few 
 days, one night we bivouac in the woods in mud 
 and rain, the next we are in a brick house in town, 
 sleeping on mattresses borrowed from the neighbors. 
 This is the ebb and flow of a soldier's life famine 
 one day, feast the next. 
 
 Tired out as we were with the work of the last 
 few days, we were glad of a chance to rest. This 
 battle of New Berne was fought on Friday. We 
 also landed at Roanoke on a Friday unlucky days 
 for somebody, but not for us. 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 113 
 
 "Saturday morning found us all right, and after 
 
 breakfast there was a general scouting around for " 2 * 
 of course something to eat ; and the result of 
 this still hunting was a dinner shall I describe it ? 
 Turkeys, two kinds, boiled and stewed ; hot biscuit 
 and butter ; and tell it not syrup, preserved 
 peaches and honey. How did we do it ? The boys 
 of Company A were always in luck. We found one 
 room in the bank building which was locked ; we ,. r 
 
 dinner. 
 
 opened it, and found it was the store-room of the 
 family that had resided in the building. Here were 
 all sorts of preserved fruit in goodly quantities, 
 peaches, tamarinds, berries, etc. ; and the "scouts" 
 brought in butter, flour, turkeys, and a solitary 
 chicken." 
 
 We enjoyed now, for a short time, the poetry of 
 soldiering, comfortable quarters and duty light. 
 It seemed strange to wander about the streets of 
 the captured city ; all was new to northern eyes. 
 Most of the houses were abandoned, but some were 
 left with the oldest slaves, while the younger and 
 most valuable ones had been taken away. Streets 
 deserted and silent, save when the stillness was 
 broken by the tramp of the soldier, the citizens 
 those who remained keeping inside their houses. 
 
H4 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Black faces peered at us from all quarters, and pieces 
 
 of white cloth waved from every corner and Negro 
 shanty. The slaves did not appear to be afraid of 
 the soldiers, although they had been taught to fear 
 us. 
 
 The soldiers and sailors had free run in New 
 Berne for the first twenty-four hours, and then the 
 place settled down in peace and quiet under military 
 rule. Of course there was more or less pillaging, 
 but little harm was done ; indeed the Union soldiers 
 saved the place from destruction by fire at the hands 
 of its citizens and the Rebel soldiery. The people 
 left New Berne in a perfect panic, and the streets . 
 ic an< ^ roa ds were covered with all sorts of property 
 household goods, clothing, wagons, and such like. 
 A beautiful piano was found in one street, and soon 
 after it might have been seen in the soldiers' quar- 
 ters, the music taken out, and horses feeding from 
 the case. 
 
 " I noticed a pleasant-looking house one day when 
 on guard, and found it no exception to the general 
 rule it was deserted, and nearly everything of value 
 had been carried away. There were several horses 
 in the stable and cows in the field. A few slaves 
 stood around looking in stupid wonder at the strange 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 115 
 
 visitors. 'Massa's goned away,' they said. I went 
 
 over the house ; a piano with a pile of sheet music, x 
 a poodle dog, a cage of canaries, and a large cat, 
 indicated refinement and taste ; but now desolation 
 had swept over everything. On the opposite side 
 of the road was a large vineyard ; a few weeks later 
 Fort Totten had sprung up there and the vineyard 
 had disappeared. It would have been wiser for the 
 owners to have stayed on the premises and taken 
 the oath of allegiance, for then they would have 
 been protected ; but this shows how great was their 
 fright." 
 
 Negroes began to come in from the country 
 around, some from Goldsboro,' who reported no for- Negroes - 
 tifications between that place and New Berne ; but 
 "dey is makin some." It would seem that then was 
 the time to have cleaned out the enemy as far as 
 Goldsboro.' 
 
 The Rebels were very thoughtful in one way cer- 
 tainly, for they had a train of cars all ready in case 
 of disaster to their army, and it worked very nicely 
 for them, for the train went through New Berne 
 in a hurry, crowded with soldiers skedaddling from 
 the Boys in Blue. 
 
1 1 6 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Guard duty was about all there was for us to do 
 
 for awhile ; orders were very strict, and after a cer- 
 tain hour at night all persons found without passes 
 were to be arrested, so it made a deal of work. One 
 night three or four sailors were brought into the 
 guard-house drunk, one nearly insensible. This one 
 died before morning in consequence of his debauch. 
 We saw here for the first time women and chil- 
 dren practicing the disgusting habit of snuff dipping. 
 A small stick was dipped into a snuff box and the 
 
 C -ff 
 
 dippers. en d is then rubbed over the teeth and gums, talking 
 while the operation is going on, the stick protruding 
 from the mouth. 
 
 "A visit to the battle ground gave us a better 
 idea of the strength of the fortifications, and of the 
 work performed in the late battle. There were over 
 twenty vessels in the blockade, mostly schooners 
 and brigs, and some appeared to be new. Mount- 
 ing the breastwork we walked from Fort Thompson 
 
 The battle 
 
 ground. on "* e Ncuse River to the railroad, a distance of 
 one and a half miles without a break, save where 
 the county road passed through. The position was 
 a very strong one, and ^pon first thought it seems 
 as if it could have been held ; but the gunboats 
 settled the matter by breaking the blockade, and 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 117 
 flanking the enemy's works, furnishing material aid 
 
 T Rfio 
 
 in the capture of New Berne." 
 
 March 25th, our building being wanted for a hos- 
 pital, our officers selected for company quarters 
 another brick house on Johnston street, furnished 
 with marble chimney pieces, mirrors, and a clock, 
 and surrounded with a large garden, with flowers 
 and peach trees in bloom. It was in a fine neighbor- 
 hood, quiet and retired who wouldn't be a soger ! 
 We found an old cooking stove in the cellar, and 
 set it up. Warm biscuit, baked beans, etc. followed. 
 Company A was always in luck. 
 
 Sunday, March 3Oth, the whole regiment turned 
 out and marched to church. It was a curious sight 
 pews filled with Blue Coats and glittering bay- 
 onets, six soldiers and six rifles to a pew, darkies 
 peering in at doors and windows,^ the star spangled 
 banner in one corner, while Chaplain James in the 
 pulpit completed the picture. 
 
 At this time troops were coming into New Berne 
 in large numbers, and camps were forming all about. 
 The Twenty-fifth Regiment had been the first to 
 enter the city, headed by Company A. 
 
 The city of New Berne is situated at the junction 
 of the Neuse and Trent rivers, and is prettily laid 
 
1 1 8 The Story of Company A. 
 
 out, with streets straight and wide and completely 
 
 shaded with large trees. The gardens of New Berne, 
 when properly cared for, must have made the place 
 an earthly paradise. An endless variety of flowers 
 could be found here, and the floral procession con- 
 tinued, seemingly, all through the year. Beautiful 
 
 _ - . +. <j * <j J 
 
 Natural . . . . . . 1-11 
 
 beauties, birds made music among the trees, and at night the 
 mocking bird tuned his varied lays. Nature had 
 scattered here her benefits in lavish profusion, and 
 grim war with all its terrors could not neutralize her 
 power. The city contained about twelve hundred 
 white inhabitants at the time of its capture. 
 
 In the latter part of March, Major McCafferty 
 resigned, and our Captain was promoted to be 
 Major of the Regiment, First Lieutenant Frank E. 
 Goodwin being advanced to the command of the 
 
 Changes (^ ortl p an y ^ j n consequence of this change Com- 
 pany A became the eighth in line, instead of hold- 
 ing the right of the Regiment, a position we had 
 been proud of. It was rather disheartening. Offi- 
 cers go up, companies go down in rank. We 
 talked the matter over in our quarters. Had not he 
 led us in two victories ? Had not we achieved honor 
 and a name under his command ? So we concluded 
 to promote him our pony Captain to be Major ; 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 119 
 
 but the trouble did not end here, for in October - 
 following Lieutenant-Colonel Sprague resigned, and I " 2> 
 soon after Colonel Upton did likewise, which left 
 Major Pickett in command of the Twenty-fifth Reg- 
 iment as Colonel. So we promoted him again, and 
 
 we thought the eagles looked better on his shoulders 
 than the captain's bars. Nor was this all ; at his 
 muster-out, in January, 1865, he was breveted Brig- 
 adier-General ; and although Company A was mus- 
 tered out the preceding October, still we rejoiced 
 at his promotion. 
 
 On the 9th of May the Regiment left New Berne 
 and went on picket duty at the Red House, a place 
 we became very familiar with, as well as with Old 
 Bogey, the owner, before we left New Berne. This 
 place was about nine miles from New Berne, and 
 half-way between the Neuse and Trent rivers. 
 
 By noon the Regiment was on the ground, and 
 Camp Bullock was formed, named in honor of Hon. 
 Alexander H. Bullock, of Worcester, Mass. Here c am p 
 Sibley tents took the place of our old A tents. On Bullock - 
 the 1 3th, a scouting party under Col. Upton, visited 
 the place called Tuscarora, four or five miles distant. 
 The enemy had an outpost here, and they fled on 
 16 
 
1 20 The Story of Company A. 
 
 our approach, setting fire to a mill before they de- 
 
 1862. , ,-p,. ,. . ., 
 
 parted. Ihe expedition was of no great account, 
 
 except in giving us experience in the sort of work 
 tions. we should have to do in North Carolina. 
 
 On the 1 5th of May the Regiment left Camp 
 Bullock, and marched towards Trenton. We had 
 with us the Seventeenth Massachusetts, some of the 
 Third New York Cavalry (seven companies), and 
 the Third Rhode Island Artillery. The cavalry had 
 all the fighting, losing two men and killing eight or 
 ten of the enemy, while the infantry marched there 
 and back, twenty-five miles, without firing a shot. 
 
 Denny, in his "Wearing the Blue," relates the 
 comical story of Bogey's old white mare alarming 
 the pickets. The plantation of Mr. Bogey was sur- 
 rounded by woods, and contained perhaps twenty 
 acres. It was situated at the cross roads, one lead- 
 ing to New Berne, one to Tuscarora, and one to 
 Bachellor's Creek. 
 
 On the 25th of May the Regiment left the Red 
 
 House and marched back to New Berne, where 
 
 Camp c am p Oliver was formed, supposed to be named in 
 
 Oliver. 
 
 honor of Gen. H. K. Oliver, Adjutant-General of 
 Massachusetts. 
 
2 5th Regt., Mass. Vols. 121 
 
 The extensive pine forests which cover a great 
 
 part of eastern North Carolina, furnished the prin- I 2t 
 cipal supply of the tar, turpentine and rosin of com- 
 merce. The forests are almost entirely destitute of 
 birds, and in their depths the stillness is actually 
 oppressive ; and so dense is their growth that the 
 rays of the sun, even at noonday, can scarcely pen- s(s 
 etrate the sombre shade. A pine forest is a lonely 
 world at its best ; it lacks entirely the characteristics 
 of other forests, the variety of leaves, the fragrant 
 undergrowth of bush and shrub, the different forms 
 of the trees all these are wanting. It is monoto- 
 nous and the eye tires of it. It has not the cheer- 
 ful look of other forests ; and while the wind rustles 
 merrily among other trees, it moans and sighs 
 through the pines. It affected the spirits of the 
 men in marching through them ; lively and gay 
 as the boys usually were, they soon became sober 
 and quieted down very much while passing through 
 these dismal shades. 
 
 The weather through the month of June was very 
 warm, but the 4th of July was cool and comfortable. 
 We had an eloquent oration delivered in a church 
 
 July 4th. 
 
 by Chaplain Horace James. He compared the 
 Rebellion of '76 with that of '61. At night we had 
 
122 The Story of Company A. 
 
 a big bonfire iff our camp, and all the regimental 
 
 bands united gave us music. The usual salutes were 
 fired morning and evening. So passed our 4th of 
 
 July- 
 
 July 25th an expedition was made to Trenton 
 again, the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Massa- 
 tions. chusetts with Belger's Rhode Island Battery com- 
 posing the detachment. We returned to New Berne 
 the next day. August 6th, another expedition went 
 out from New Berne on a scout, and returned on 
 the ;th. 
 
 The latter part of August our Regimental Band 
 was discharged. This was regretted by all. We had 
 the best band in the department, and the loss was 
 
 Band dis- 
 charged, felt by the whole body of troops in New Berne. 
 
 From this time the Regiment had drums and fifes 
 only. 
 
 Thus life in New Berne glided away, and the 
 summer of 1862 passed quickly and pleasantly. 
 So far the health of the Company had been good, 
 though many of the boys had been troubled with 
 chills and fever ; but no malady of a serious nature 
 had appeared. Recruits had been coming in to the 
 Regiment, and Company A had received its share 
 of first rate men, and we were glad to see them. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 123 
 
 We had fruit in abundance at New Berne figs, 
 
 persimmons, grapes, melons, etc. all good ; apples, 
 too, but none like those of New England. Sweet 
 potatoes were abundant. 
 
 At the rear of Camp Oliver was a large swamp in 
 which was a considerable body of water. There 
 were a few trees growing there. It was a pleasant 
 sight to see wild ducks swimming about in this 
 
 . Novel 
 
 swamp so near us. One morning we saw eleven sighis> 
 white cranes on one tree, presenting a very curious 
 sight. No one was allowed to fire at them, and 
 they appeared as unconcerned as if they were in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 David Bigelow and Charley Bartlett, wounded at 
 Roanoke, had returned to the Company, and were 
 now on duty as usual. 
 
 August 2oth found Company A on picket at the 
 so called Harrison House, some four or five miles 
 from New Berne. We were accompanied by Com- 
 pany C. The camp here was known as Camp Inge. 
 Life on picket was vastly more pleasant than the Picket 
 ordinary round of camp duty there was more free- 
 dom and less irksome (though necessary) drill, with 
 just danger enough to give a sort of fascination to 
 it, and keep the boys wide awake. The picket camp 
 
1 24 The Story of Company A. 
 
 was about half a mile in the rear of the picket lines, 
 and was fixed up as comfortable as could be. The 
 boys made tables, stools, and bough houses, and 
 built ovens ; washed their clothes and did their 
 mending; read, wrote, smoked, played cards, etc.; 
 but were ready for a "Fall in, A" at any moment. 
 The picket guard was relieved every morning from 
 the camp. Unless there was danger in so doing, 
 the boys on picket duty built fire enough to cook 
 their coffee and make themselves comfortable, a con- 
 stant vigilance of course being kept up. Generally 
 there were three men on each post, and one con- 
 stantly on guard. As night comes on no fires are 
 allowed, and when darkness covers the scene the 
 
 Picket 
 
 duty, objects so familiar by daylight assume a different 
 look as one of the boys expressed it : "The stumps 
 begin to walk, and everything moves." The soldier 
 on his lonely post will be startled by sounds he 
 would not notice by daylight the snapping of a 
 twig near him, or the tread of some wild animal, 
 will keep him wide awake ; and often, when no wind 
 is stirring, a tree will fall with a tremendous crash 
 that will awaken the echoes of the forest. Again, 
 the wind rises, and the woods so still before are 
 now filled with new and strange sounds ; or perhaps 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 125 
 
 a storm comes on, and with getting chilled and 
 
 drenched with rain, the night drags slowly away ; 
 but morning comes at last, and with it the ever wel- 
 come relief. 
 
 The picket line extended from the Neuse to the 
 Trent rivers, and all were anxious to be "out on 
 picket." It was when on such duty that Charley 
 Knowlton caught the deer. Charley had heard the 
 darkies say they had "seen deer run in dese ere 
 woods"; and at once visions of venison steak flitted 
 
 i . , i . , Knowlton 
 
 across his imagination, and he soon, with some as- d his 
 sistance, slyly dug a pit in the path in which the deer pit. 
 deer were supposed to run, and carefully covered it. 
 For several days nothing disturbed the pit, but one 
 morning early he found the game was caught, but 
 it was a poor, sick cavalry horse. There he was, 
 sticking his nose out of the pit. What was to be 
 done ? they could not get him out, and it would 
 not do to let him remain where he was. So Charley 
 full of expedients shot the poor old horse, and 
 buried him in the pit he had dug for the deer. There 
 is more than one way even out of a pit. 
 
 One day while at Camp Inge a severe thunder 
 storm came up ; the boys off duty were lying list- 
 lessly in their tents, their rifles in a circle around 
 
126 The Story of Company A. 
 
 each center pole. A sharp flash of lightning 
 
 came with a loud clap of thunder, and struck in the 
 
 An camp, killing a horse. Part of the bolt went down 
 
 incident, one of the tent poles, scattered the rifles in every 
 
 direction, but did no harm to the boys in the tent. 
 
 This was only an incident in a soldier's life. 
 
 Noon of September 23rd found Company A again 
 at Camp Oliver. At night fires were built in the 
 company streets a sanitary measure and we 
 turned in at "taps," tired, but a merry lot of soldiers. 
 On the 24th of September Comrade Lucius F. 
 Kingman died of diptheria after a few days' illness. 
 He was a noble fellow kind hearted, pleasant, and 
 a true soldier. He was buried at New Berne. 
 
 Some months before, just after the Battle of 
 Roanoke, Comrade Thomas Earle, somewhat to the 
 surprise of the other members, left the Company 
 A on a furlough, and went back to Massachusetts ; and 
 promotion g rea t was the astonishment when, after the Battle 
 of New Berne, he returned a lieutenant in the same 
 company he had left thirty days before as a private 
 soldier. It was rather galling to the rest, but queer 
 things happen in the army frequently. It would 
 seem almost as a rule that commissions were not 
 won in the field, but obtained through influence 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 127 
 
 at home. September i, Lieutenant Earle resigned 
 a privilege officers have ; privates, if I remember 
 rightly, do not have that privilege and this brought 
 about other changes in the Company. "Old Posey" 
 became Second Lieutenant, and Burr, or "Birdie" 
 was made Orderly Sergeant, the vacancies in the 
 Sergeants' ranks being filled by others. 
 
 It may be well, in this place to give a list of the 
 boys of "Old Company A" who received commis- 
 sions. It will be seen that some were commissioned 
 in other regiments ; but, while we did not like to 
 part with old faces, we rejoiced at the good fortune 
 of those who obtained promotion, and we regarded 
 it as additional honor to the Company. 
 
 LIST OF PROMOTIONS OF CO. A MEN. 
 
 Captain Josiah Pickett, to Maj. and Col. 25th ; 
 
 Bv. Brig.-Gen. 
 
 First Lieut. F. E. Goodwin, to Capt. 
 Second Lieut. M. B. Bessey, to ist Lt. & Capt. 
 Orderly Sergeant G. A. Johnson, to Second 
 
 Lieut. 
 
 Sergeant Geo. Burr, to First Lieut. 
 Sergeant J. J. McLane, to Second Lieut, "ist 
 
 N. C. Union Vols. 
 
128 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Corporal Jaalam Gates, to Capt. U. S. Colored 
 
 1862. r~ 
 
 1 roops. 
 Corporal John A. Chenery, to First Lieut and 
 
 Adjutant, ist N. C. Union Vols. 
 Corporal Lewis J. Elwell, to Sergeant Major. 
 Private Thomas Earle, to Second Lieut. 
 Private James M. Hervey, to First Lieut. N. C. 
 
 Union Vols. 
 
 motions Private John L. Goodwin, to ist Lt., 57th Mass. 
 Private C. L. Hutchins, to Lieut. LT. S. Vols. 
 Private S. W. Phillips, to First Lieut. U. S. 
 
 Colored Troops. 
 
 Private Henry W. Reed, to Signal Corps. 
 Private Geo. L. Seagrave, to First Lieut. U. S. 
 
 Colored Troops. 
 
 Private Hiram Staples, to Signal Corps. 
 Private Augustus Stone, to Second Lieut., 4th 
 
 Mass. Heavy Artillery. 
 Private Julius M. Tucker, to First Lieut., 57th 
 
 Mass. 
 
 Private Hale Wesson, to Signal Corps. 
 Private C. B. Kendall, to Lieut., Adj. & Capt. 
 Private Sylvanus Bullock, to Lieut. U. S. Vols. 
 Private T. M. Ward, to ist Lieut, and Capt. 
 Private Edwin A. Morse, to Lieut. 36th Mass. 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 129 
 
 September i5th the Regiment left New Berne 
 
 . . . r 1862. 
 
 with other troops on transport steamers, and alter a 
 
 delightful day's sail through Pamlico and Albemarle 
 Sounds, passing Roanoke Island on the way, reached 
 Plymouth, at the mouth of the Roanoke River. The 
 object intended was an invasion of the interior 
 of the State, but that being abandoned, we returned 
 to New Berne, having enjoyed a fine excursion of 
 over four hundred miles. 
 
 Colonel Upton left for home October 28. Ill 
 health and other considerations compelled him to tion * 
 sever his connection with the Regiment, to the re- c l - 
 gret both of himself and his command. An elegant 
 sword, which cost one thousand dollars, was pre- 
 sented to him by the private soldiers of the Regi- 
 ment, as a token of their esteem. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 EXPEDITIONS. 
 
 (~)N THE 3Oth of October six companies of the 
 
 1862. Regiment left New Berne in light marching order, 
 and going on bqard transports, sailed for Washing- 
 ton, N. C., one hundred miles distant. During 
 our brief stay at this place Company A was quar- 
 tered in a large tobacco warehouse ; and for amuse- 
 ment, squads were sent out to pick up negroes and 
 bring them to the quarters, where they were made 
 to show their agility in dancing. One old darky 
 Fun with was brought i> a r i n g formed around him, and he 
 the was told to dance. "But I'se got de rheumatiz," he 
 said. "Never mind, you must dance," and the boys 
 struck up a low, monotonous tune, keeping time by 
 patting their hands on their knees. The old fellow 
 began to dance slowly and clumsily at first, but as 
 he warmed up he threw off his jacket and shook his 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 131 
 
 heels as lively as a boy, the soldiers shouting, "Go 
 it, rheumatiz," "Sail in, old rheumatics," "Go it 
 while you're young," and the like. The old man 
 appeared to enjoy it as well as the boys, and when 
 he became tired he put on his old ragged coat, and 
 walked away laughing heartily. Another negro was 
 brought in a young fellow. "I can't dance for you, 
 sogers," "Suppose you try," said one of the boys. 
 "I can't, I'se religious." "The h 1 you are," said 
 one. "Does it hurt you much ?" said another. "What 
 church do you belong to?" asked the third. "I'se 
 a Methodis," he responded. "Let him go, boys," 
 said the Sergeant, and he walked quietly away. 
 Another was brought in, struggling violently with 
 the soldiers, who were trying to pacify him by telling 
 him no harm was intended. Once in the ring, he 
 looked wildly around, then making a sudden spring 
 he broke through the crowd and ran like a deer, 
 amid the shouts of the boys. 
 
 When we reached Washington the artillery and 
 cavalry coming overland from New Berne had not 
 arrived, and we were obliged to wait for them. Col. tn s ton - 
 Pickett said he did not wish to confine the men to 
 quarters while in Washington, but would give them 
 the run of the town. There was to be no rioting or 
 
132 The Story of Company A. 
 
 pillaging ; he expected they would behave like men, 
 
 and that, at the sound of the drum, every one would 
 be in his place. Guns were stacked, sentinels posted, 
 and the boys scattered to seek such amusement as 
 they thought best. We have seen how Company 
 A boys amused themselves. It was some three 
 hours or more before the other troops arrived, but 
 at the first sound of the drum the men came troop- 
 ing from all directions, and before it ceased beating 
 every one was in place, and every gun taken when 
 the order "take arms" was given. The Colonel was 
 much pleased, and complimented the boys on their 
 promptness. 
 
 We left Sunday morning, November 2nd, march- 
 ing through a thinly settled country, the Twenty- 
 TarborJ ^\h having the tedious duty of guarding the baggage 
 march, train. About the middle of the afternoon the ad- 
 vance (Forty-fourth Mass., nine months' men) met 
 the enemy and had a skirmish, with a small loss to 
 the Union troops, the cavalry and artillery doing 
 most of the fighting. This skirmish took place at 
 an extensive swamp through which flowed a con- 
 siderable stream of water that crossed the road we 
 were traveling ; at this point was the fighting, and 
 we passed several dead Rebels, one rolled in his 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 133 
 
 blanket, with his head bound up. Broken cannon 
 
 also lay here. We soon after bivouacked for the 
 night. This place was called Rawl's Mill. 
 
 Early morning saw us again on the road, and 
 marching through a much better country. Williams- 
 ton, on the Roanoke River, was reached about 
 noon. This was a pretty village of ten or twelve 
 hundred inhabitants. We halted here until 4 p. M., 
 and in the meantime set about getting something 
 
 On the 
 
 to eat as usual. Our foragers were very successful, 
 and brought in a variety of food. For instance, we 
 had beef, hog, sheep, chickens all just killed, and 
 salt horse. Soldiers say, "Live to-day if you die to- 
 morrow." We were marching through a good 
 country and lived accordingly. 
 
 The march was resumed, the route turning for a 
 few miles towards Hamilton, and by 10 P. M. we 
 again went into bivouac. Sunrise next morning 
 found us once more on the road, and our march was 
 through woods at times on fire both sides of the 
 way. At noon we came to a more open country, 
 near what is known as Rainbow Bluff. It was un- 
 derstood we might have trouble here, but we found 
 no opposition. This bluff, forty or fifty feet above 
 the water, had been strongly fortified, and com- 
 
134 The Story of Company A. 
 
 manded the river, but the enemy had disappeared. 
 
 We found our gunboats at this point ; they were to 
 ascend the river while we continued our march 
 towards Hamilton. This place, another pretty vil- 
 lage of a few hundred people, was reached about 3 
 p. M., and we had a rest, with a "good square meal," 
 until 6 o'clock, when we heard the order "Fall in." 
 Thus far the country was much better than around 
 New Berne. 
 
 During our halt near Williamston we found with 
 other plunder, a number of square wooden bee hives. 
 Quicker than it could be spoken the hives were 
 burst open and the contents distributed among the 
 boys. Ludicrous sight a score of soldiers eating 
 honey in the comb like so much bread and butter. 
 Comrade Goulding found here in a house a small 
 - cas k partly filled with wine. The darkies said it was 
 "fe church wine for de communion." "The d 1," 
 said Goulding, "you bet it belongs to Company A 
 now, the best way you can cook it"; and I think it 
 did, for Company A disposed of it. In bringing it 
 to the bivouac fire he had shaken it up so much that 
 it was roiled and did not look clear and inviting. 
 He offered some to Captain Goodwin, who looked 
 at it, smelled of it, and finally tasted it. "Goulding, 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 135 
 
 it will kill you to drink that stuff." "Happy death!" 
 
 1862. 
 
 said Goulding, as he swallowed a generous allow- 
 ance of the stuff. He survived. 
 
 At about 10 P. M. we left Hamilton in flames, 
 supposed to have been set by the sailors. Some 
 thought our own boys were responsible for it. Be Burning 
 that as it may, we marched from the town by the of 
 light of its burning houses. It was a wild sight 
 crowds of sailors and soldiers marching through the 
 burning streets ; bayonets glistening, flames roaring, 
 and timbers crashing. This was war. 
 
 The next day's march was a long and tedious one. 
 We started at early dawn, and, with only occasional 
 halts, marched till midnight, when we bivouacked 
 in a cornfield within a short distance of the railroad 
 leading to Tarboro'. We were thoroughly exhausted, 
 and, pulling up the dry corn stalks and laying them 
 thickly between the rows, made quite comfortable 
 beds. A cold northeast storm set in during- the 
 
 o comfort. 
 
 night, but we slept soundly in spite of it. " I re- 
 member being awakened by rain dashing in my face, 
 and feeling about for my cap, which had fallen from 
 my head, found it half full of water." It was a cold 
 and cheerless time. 
 
 18 
 
136 The Story of Company A, 
 
 Trains were heard running very often during the 
 night, and scouts reported that soldiers by thousands 
 were pouring into Tarboro'. In consequence of this 
 information it was decided that an attack upon the 
 place would be bad policy, and, after a halt of some 
 hours, we commenced a retreat. On this march 
 Negroes by hundreds followed us into Plymouth. 
 treat ^ e P asse< ^ through Hamilton again, this time in a 
 heavy snow storm, and we now regretted the burn- 
 ing of the town. A few Negro cabins were all that 
 remained of that pretty village. We stayed here all 
 night, and then pushed on to Williamston ; the roads 
 were in horrible condition, with snow and mud 
 several inches deep, and many of the boys' shoes 
 were in bad shape. Walter Richards ("Shucks," 
 as we called him) actually marched miles barefooted, 
 until we found a pair of shoes for him. We ap- 
 proached Plymouth, on the Roanoke river, but found 
 the bridge destroyed, so we bivouacked for the 
 night while the pioneers reconstructed it. 
 
 The march for the last few days had been very 
 severe, but the boys boiled their coffee, ate their 
 supper, smoked their pipes, talked over the events 
 of the day, rolled themselves in their blankets, and 
 soon save the sentries' tread as they paced their 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 137 
 
 beats all was quiet around the bivouac fires. "I 
 
 1862. 
 was about to roll myself in my blanket when Jimmy 
 
 Wesson touched me on the arm and said : ' Come 
 out here, I can give you a better room than this'; 
 and following him a short distance I found, to my 
 surprise, a bed made up, with a fire close by 
 
 Wesson's 
 
 feather bed, sheets, blankets, white pillows, and bed. 
 everything in nice order. 'Turn in here with me ; I 
 reckon it's all right.' It was quite an inducement, 
 but I preferred to sleep by the fire." Soldiers make 
 the best of the situation, and why should they not? 
 Where did the bed come from ? Borrowed, of course, 
 from some house on the road. On these expeditions 
 soldiers took what they wanted wherever it was to 
 be found, except from houses occupied, where the 
 soldiers were treated civilly. Probably nine-tenths 
 of the Southern people would have been better off 
 if they had stayed at home and tried to take care of 
 their property, taking the oath of allegiance. 
 
 In the morning (Nov. 10) we crossed the bridge 
 and entered Plymouth. The Twenty-fifth and the 
 Twenty-seventh, with some cavalry, remained here, 
 but most of the troops left at once for New Berne. 
 We had comfortable quarters in a house, but as we 
 had.no extra clothing and the nights were cold, we 
 
138 The Story of Company A. 
 
 suffered some until our blankets were sent on from 
 
 New Berne. Plymouth was a very pretty town of 
 some twelve hundred inhabitants, with two churches, 
 a hotel, court house, jail, pillory, and whipping post. 
 The latter the boys of Company A tipped over and 
 smashed. The streets were shaded with large elm 
 'trees, as those of many Southern villages were. 
 Many trees were covered with English ivy hanging 
 in long festoons from their branches. We feasted 
 on persimmons while here. This fruit was new to 
 most of us ; it is a sort of date plum, and is not 
 palatable until touched or mellowed by frost ; it then 
 becomes soft and agreeable to the taste. They were 
 much sought for by the boys during our stay in 
 Plymouth. Grapes, sweet potatoes, and corn we 
 also had in abundance. 
 
 There was a miller in Plymouth, and the soldiers 
 would forage for provisions and bring in, with other 
 stuff, lots of corn, and the miller would grind it for 
 
 Deceiving 
 
 the miller, them. This was very good. But the miller had a 
 large lot of corn stored in his mill, and, as the grain 
 became scarce outside, some of the soldiers managed 
 slyly to get at the miller's store, and would steal 
 corn from one end of the mill and carry it around to 
 the other, and have the miller grind it, he taking 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 139 
 
 meal for pay. This trick worked nicely for a short 
 
 1862. 
 time, but it was discovered by the miller at last, and 
 
 I am quite sure he did not pray for us, although he 
 was a very good man. Thus, by this simple process, 
 we kept the miller busy, and had fresh ground meal 
 for ourselves. Soldiers are full of expedients, and 
 this was one. 
 
 The Union men in Plymouth had formed a com- 
 pany of soldiers. We called them "Buffaloes," and 
 
 Buffaloes. 
 
 they did some good service. Some of our boys 
 received commissions in these "Buffalo" companies ; 
 and all agree that they made good soldiers, and 
 were Union-loving men. 
 
 On this Tarboro' march, the Forty-fourth Massa- 
 chusetts Regiment nine months' men who had 
 received quite large bounties was the best clothed 
 regiment in the expedition. The march proved 
 severe for its men, and many of them threw away/?^,.^ 
 their overcoats, which were very nice ones. Our overcoats. 
 boys "gobbled" them at once, and when we reached 
 our old camp at New Berne we were much better 
 off in the way of overcoats than when we left. 
 
 On the return march from Hamilton, Jimmy 
 Wesson picked up an old two-wheeled mule cart 
 with- mule attached. Jimmy was always very dis- 
 
140 The Story of Company A, 
 
 interested ; and this cart would be such a nice thing- 
 
 for the boys, to carry the overcoats and blankets of 
 those who had them, and to help the tired ones by 
 giving them a ride. He soon had a load, and it 
 worked well. Just then three or four of the Forty- 
 
 Wesson's r , , , ., 
 
 mlecart. uri " ^oys came along pretty well used up, and in 
 spite of all protests, mounted the cart. Jimmy 
 quietly got down to "fix the harness a bit," and he 
 did fix it. Suddenly up went the thills and over 
 went the cart backwards, tipping out blankets and 
 overcoats, and laying the Forty-fourth men sprawl- 
 ing in the dust. They picked themselves up and 
 beat a retreat amid roars of laughter. Willing hands 
 helped to reload the cart, and Jimmy rode on in 
 triumph. Now when we reached Plymouth, and 
 the boys thankfully received their overcoats from 
 the cart, the vehicle was found to be more than half 
 filled with the private plunder of this same disin- 
 terested Jimmy. 
 
 While in Plymouth we heard of the death of Com- 
 ra ^ G Edwin D. Waters, of Company A. He was a 
 fine soldier and a noble-hearted fellow. He hailed 
 from Millbury, and was about twenty-six years old. 
 Some thought he actually died from getting low- 
 spirited and discouraged about the war. No doubt 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 141 
 
 many soldiers did die from this cause alone. Waters 
 
 was in the hospital at New Berne at the time of his 
 death. 
 
 While occupying Plymouth, Captain Parkhurst 
 was acting Provost Marshal, Colonel Pickett being 
 in command. On this march we had no clothes 
 aside from those on our backs, and as weeks went 
 by, we got into a pretty bad condition. We were 
 ragged, dirty and the word must be said lousy, become 
 So we concluded to have a washing day, every man lomy " 
 to be his own washerwoman. Fires were built in the 
 rear of the house we occupied, kettles procured, 
 and at it we went. We took off all the clothes we 
 could possibly spare, and thrust them into the kettles 
 of boiling water to kill the graybacks (vermin) , and 
 after some time boiling, gave them a thorough wash- 
 ing. Meantime a comical sight presented itself 
 soldiers moving about trying to keep warm, wearing 
 an airy costume for the season army cap, overcoat, 
 and brogans, "Only these and nothing more"; but 
 we came out victorious, for we beat the graybacks. 
 
 Many people came into Plymouth from the coun- 
 try while we were there, coming often many miles 
 down the river in dugouts a kind of canoe made 
 from. a single log. These people were both whites 
 
142 The Story of Company A. 
 
 and blacks, and were seeking protection under the 
 
 1862. 
 
 starry nag. 
 
 Thanksgiving day found 'us still at Plymouth, 
 Company A on guard. Some were posted on board 
 the schooner Skirmisher to guard prisoners. We 
 
 Thanks- 
 
 up the time-honored custom as best we could 
 
 New 
 
 in old North Carolina, and so had a chicken dinner. 
 When we reached Plymouth our wagon train had 
 increased much in length, and was over four miles 
 long. 
 
 We left Plymouth on December 8th, passing down 
 the Roanoke River, which is a narrow but deep 
 stream, into the Sound past Roanoke Island, and 
 reached New Berne about 3 P. M. of the loth ; and 
 were ordered off again at 7 A. M. of the i ith. This 
 
 Berne. fe ' 
 
 was soldiering. We had been absent from New 
 Berne nearly six weeks, had traveled a distance of 
 over four hundred miles, and actually marched one 
 hundred and twenty-five miles. 
 
 Immediately on our reaching camp the cooks 
 were set to work to cook rations for the expedition 
 of the following day. This is always the first step 
 in preparing for a march to get the rations ready. 
 Little time was there for the ordinary camp gossip 
 and fun, but what time we had was used to the best 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 143 
 
 advantage in putting our shoes and clothing in good 
 
 order, overhauling our rifles and equipments, look- 
 ing into knapsacks, and making everything ship- 
 shape. A soldier's rifle is supposed to be always 
 ready. For the first time in six weeks we had an 
 opportunity to change our shirts. 
 
 Large numbers of -troops had been gathered in 
 New Berne during our absence, so that when the 
 expedition started, on the morning of December 
 nth, it comprised four brigades commanded by 
 General Wessels, and Colonels Amory, Stevenson 
 and Lee. These brigades were made up of twenty Goidsbor 
 regiments, of which twelve were Massachusetts men. ^" 
 The Ninth New Jersey accompanied us as an inde- 
 pendent organization. Belger's Rhode Island Bat- 
 tery and portions of other batteries were with the 
 column, making all told probably twenty thousand 
 men, and thirty or more pieces of artillery.* The 
 expedition was commanded by General Foster. 
 
 When we started at early daylight of the nth 
 there was a heavy fog, but it cleared away in an 
 hour or two. We took the old road to Deep Gully, 
 beyond which we found the way badly blockaded. 
 
 *The column on this Goidsboro' Expedition, including all the troops, with 
 the wagons necessary for ammunition and supplies, ambulances, etc., could 
 not have been less than six miles in length. 
 
 19 
 
144 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Heavy trees had been felled across the road for a 
 
 long distance, showing that the enemy had been 
 busy. The pioneers had a hard job cutting a road 
 through this blockade, and after a march of a dozen 
 miles from New Berne we bivouacked for the night. 
 We had now frosty nights, and in spite of the many 
 camp fires, we suffered from the cold. 
 
 The march of the following day (Dec. 12) was 
 slow and tedious in the extreme roads much ob- 
 structed and bridges destroyed so we made even 
 less progress than the day before. As we passed 
 in the early evening the bright fires of the regiments 
 already in bivouac, we thought our day's march was 
 near its end, but not so, for we pushed on, and not 
 till after midnight did we come to a halt. Saturday, 
 the 1 3th, the march was resumed, and at a place 
 called Southwest Creek the enemy made a stand, 
 but were driven after a smart engagement, in which 
 Wessels's Brigade, the Ninth New Jersey and the 
 Twenty-third Massachusetts took part. This was 
 within five or six miles of Kinston. Our bivouac 
 this night was wretched and uncomfortable enough, 
 the ground cold and wet, and no fires allowed. 
 
 Sunday, the i4th, after a short march, it appeared 
 
 4k 
 
 that the enemy was determined to make a decided 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 145 
 
 stand. The brigade of Wessels was again engaged, 
 
 together with the Seventeenth, Twenty-third, Twen- 
 ty-fifth and Forty-fifth Massachusetts, and the Ninth 
 New Jersey. The cannonading was very heavy, as 
 was also the musketry firing ; and we knew, as we 
 lay on the ground waiting for our turn to go in, that 
 
 Dec. 14. 
 
 the struggle was a fierce one. Soon the wounded Batt i e O f 
 began to be brought to the rear, and we had full 
 benefit of the sight as the grim procession passed 
 close by us, still the boys chatted gaily as they talked 
 over the situation. "How does it go?" asked one 
 of our men of a soldier who was assisting in bring- 
 ing out the wounded. "We are driving them" was 
 the reply ; and we all sprung to our feet as we heard 
 the order, "Fall in Twenty-fifth." We moved rapidly 
 into the woods, and noticed on either side of the 
 way the ground thickly dotted with the bodies of 
 the Blue and the Gray. 
 
 At this time the enemy had again fallen back, and 
 on getting through the woods we halted near an old 
 weather-beaten, dismal-looking building, said to be 
 a church. Parties were detailed to bury the dead ; 
 Lieutenant Tew appeared to have command. He 
 approached near where we were, with two men 
 bearing a stretcher, and stopped to pick up a dead 
 
146 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Johnny (Rebel). The body was placed on the 
 
 stretcher, one arm projecting over the side. The 
 Lieutenant bent the arm over the body, when it 
 immediately returned to its^ first position. Again 
 he replaced it and again it moved back as before. 
 stubborn ^ e Lieutenant looked a bit provoked, but tried it 
 
 Rebel, the third time with jhe same result. He straightened 
 up, and with a look that meant business, exclaimed, 
 "By G d, Johnny, I can fix you," and thrust the 
 offending hand into the jacket of the dead Rebel. 
 This time it stayed, and the stretcher moved on. 
 
 Shallow trenches, not much over two feet deep, 
 were dug, and side by side the dead were placed 
 therein, their faces covered, and as carefully as 
 possible the earth was hastily thrown over them, 
 
 Has *y and the order given to fall in. This may seem 
 hard as one of our boys expressed it : "It's kind o' 
 rough, ain't it fellers?" But there was no other way 
 nothing else could be done under the circum- 
 stances ; so we marched on and left them in their 
 is the next word GLORY ? 
 
 We reached the Neuse River, fairly overlooking 
 the town of Kinston. A bridge was here, and it 
 was said that General Foster sent a flag of truce 
 demanding a surrender. Rebel General Evans did 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 147 
 
 not see it in that light and politely declined the 
 
 honor. Foster ordered up a battery and threw 
 shells clear over the town ; the enemy departed, and 
 we crossed the bridge and occupied the place. The 
 Twenty-fifth bivouacked near the river in an open 
 field. Fires were built, but first we had to get the 
 
 We 
 
 fence rails. "As a cold kitten makes for a warm occupy 
 brick, so does a cold and hungry soldier go for dry Kinston - 
 fence rails." (A soldier's proverb, and a very true 
 one.) We took fences and tore down buildings 
 for firewood, cooked our coffee, ate our supper of 
 hard-tack, salt horse and sweet potatoes roasted in 
 the ashes, and then went visiting to look over the 
 property and see what we could find. Until a late 
 hour that night the boys were returning to the 
 bivouac fire bringing all sorts of stuff to eat and 
 drink. This seemed to be a great wine country, 
 and we got hold of some very good wine, and apple 
 jack or apple brandy, a more plebeian drink but quite 
 passable. We found sweet potatoes in any quantity, 
 and one goose mighty tough it was too, after hours 
 of boiling. We also found much tobacco. 
 
 There was a fire in Kinston that night, and no 
 one seemed to know how it came about. Did 
 Goulding know ? 
 
148 The Story of Company A. 
 
 As we would have to march early in the morning 
 there was no way to carry the eatables, so they were 
 cooked at once, and we ate the eatables and drank 
 the drinkables, and so settled that little matter in 
 the quickest way. Now there was, strictly speaking, 
 no pillaging no houses were interfered with that 
 were inhabited but there is no doubt about it, 
 chickens, pigs and "such like" did suffer some ; and 
 all this on Sunday, December i4th, 1862. 
 
 On the 1 5th the column was moving again. We 
 recrossed the bridge over the Neuse, which we then 
 destroyed, and pushed on towards Whitehall, making 
 a long march of from sixteen to eighteen miles, and 
 coming to a halt late in the evening about* three 
 miles from the town. Here, on the morning of the 
 *' 1 6th, a lively skirmish took place, the enemy being 
 posted on the opposite side of the river. For hours 
 the artillery firing was very heavy, and the Rebel 
 sharpshooters annoyed our troops very much. So 
 one hundred sharpshooters were called for from 
 the Twenty-fifth ; ten or twelve went from Company 
 A, and all these men did excellent service. After 
 three or four hours of this fighting, in which the 
 artillery played a conspicuous part, the enemy with- 
 drew, and our troops moved on, coming to a halt 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 149 
 
 a few miles from Goldsboro'. Our troops destroyed 
 
 a ram that was building at Kinston. The loss to 
 the Union side in this affair was seventy to eighty 
 killed and wounded. 
 
 At night, as we sat around the bivouac fire talk- 
 ing over the events of the day, our sharpshooters 
 began to come in. We had been talking about 
 them ; some had been wounded, and one Moses 
 P. Brown was reported killed. This Brown was a 
 happy-go-lucky sort of chap, good-natured, great 
 for foraging ; and every one seemed sorry that he 
 was killed. "He was not so bad a fellow after all," 
 said one. "That's so," said another, "good-hearted Brown 
 boy," and so on. Just at that moment who should 
 
 J J Brown 
 
 appear but Brown himself, loaded as usual with living. 
 plunder, which he threw down at our feet with his 
 cheery "Hello, fellers." We were astonished. "Well, 
 I'll be blowed," said one, "if here ain't that cussed 
 Brown." How soldier-like praising him when we 
 thought him dead, cursing him when we found he 
 was alive. 
 
 Brown was indeed well loaded down with (of 
 course) eatables. A ham stuck on his bayonet, a 
 pair of chickens, and a bag of sweet potatoes, were 
 the principal things. 
 
150 The Story of Company A. 
 
 On the morning of the lyth our brigade (Col. 
 
 Lee) had the advance, and after a short march 
 through pine forests, we heard the sharp reports of 
 rifles ahead, and knew that the enemy had made 
 another stand. At this time a battery came tearing 
 down the road, passed rapidly through the column 
 on its way to the front, and turning into the fields 
 on the right, crossed a small stream, and took a 
 position on a slight elevation that commanded the 
 Dec. 17. meac j ow m f rO nt and the railroad beyond. Behind 
 
 Battle of 
 
 railroad stood the Rebel brigades, said to be 
 
 commanded by Evans and Clingman, with Pettigrew 
 as a support. Our regiment crossed the stream, 
 which was small and shallow, and took a position to 
 the left of the battery, which opened on the enemy 
 and made quick work with them. They were thrown 
 into disorder, and soon were in full retreat. They 
 fell back across the river and again formed, when 
 the battery took another position and we followed, 
 and coming to a halt, laid down on the ground close 
 to and in front of the guns, which opened again on 
 the enemy, sending shell directly over our heads. 
 "Lay low, Twenty-fifth," sung out the battery boys ; 
 and I think we did. "Down your colors." The 
 flag held upright, was brought down to the ground 
 
2 $th Regt., Mass. Vols. 151 
 
 as directed. The battery boys behaved splendidly ; 
 
 we could hear the orders given to them, and see how 
 quickly they were obeyed. ' It was like the working 
 of a machine. Meantime regiments had been sent 
 to destroy the railroad ; this was a remarkable sight. 
 A regiment formed beside the track, and at the word 
 
 Battle of 
 
 all lifted at once and rolled the track right over and 
 down the bank. Some built fires of sleepers, and 
 laying rails across piled others on them, thus bend- 
 ing the iron out of shape. A Lieutenant Graham, 
 of the Twenty-third New York Battery, volunteered 
 to burn the railroad bridge, which he did successfully, 
 performing a most perilous feat. 
 
 The enemy had again been forced to retire, and 
 we were ordered to fall back, which we did, crossing 
 the little stream again. As we were to be the rear 
 guard we waited for the column to pass. It was 
 quite late in the afternoon, and we were resting 
 quietly, feeling that our day's work was about done, 
 when we noticed a commotion among the battery 
 boys. The cavalry, too, we could see were uneasy, 
 and appeared to be looking intently to the front. 
 Soon we heard the Rebel yell, apparently in the 
 same meadow from which they had been driven, 
 and knew there was trouble ahead. We saw the 
 
 20 
 
152 The Story of Company A. 
 
 battery men move the guns forward. Then a call 
 
 was made for support, and we were ordered back to 
 the field. The enemy charged on our guns, and 
 the batteries began to speak. It was a sight to see 
 how rapidly they were fired. We crossed the little 
 
 Battle of i i i i i i 
 
 Goldsbord , stream once more, reached the desired position, and 
 laid down in close column by division, almost under 
 the guns of Belger's Battery, which we were to sup- 
 port. In the meantime the Rebels formed in three 
 lines and were making for our guns, but these were 
 taking care of themselves. We could hear the boys 
 at the battery talk coolly with each other. "Here is 
 a shot for the old flag! " they shouted as a gun was 
 fired, and a shell went screaming through the air on 
 its deadly mission, making a great lane through the 
 ranks of the Gray. "Here is one for Uncle Abe !" 
 "Here's one for the Twenty-fifth ! " and "Here is 
 one for the devil ! " as the guns were fired in rapid 
 succession. No machine could have worked more 
 steadily than did Belger's Battery in the fight at 
 Goldsboro' Bridge. 
 
 And now the Twenty-fifth boys began to go 
 wounded to the rear. We were in a bad place ; 
 shots from both sides passed over our heads, and 
 we could not fire a gun. Our time had not come 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 153 
 
 it did not come in that battle. Our cavalry had 
 
 , . . 1862. 
 
 meantime charged over and over again, and against 
 
 that terrible fire from Belger's and Morrison's bat- 
 teries no human power could stand, so the Rebels 
 fell back across the meadow and beyond the rail- 
 road out of sight, leaving the ground thickly strewn 
 with their dead and wounded. 
 
 "We were all lying on the ground, shots flying 
 thickly around us, orders to lay low. Col. Pickett, 
 expecting an order to advance his regiment, had 
 mounted a stump, and was carefully looking the Pi^ifs 
 ground over in his front to get his bearings. 'Lay 
 low, boys,' he repeated, when a soldier looked up 
 at him with the very pat question, 'Why don't you 
 lay low yourself, Colonel?' We heard no answer 
 to the question, but did hear sundry expressions, as 
 'Good hit,' 'Pretty well put,' and the like." 
 
 Again we fell back, but the little stream we had 
 crossed so many times was now swollen to a broad, 
 deep, swift-running torrent, still rising ; but we 
 jumped in and struggled through as best we could, 
 holding rifles and cartridge boxes high to keep them 
 dry. The cavalry and artillery had no trouble in 
 crossing, but many of the infantry boys were washed 
 down stream ; some got out and some were lost. 
 
154 The. Story of Company A. 
 
 It was now dark and grew cold very fast ; we were 
 
 1862. . 
 
 in a sad plight for our clothes froze on us as we 
 
 marched. We soon reached the woods ; these had 
 been set on fire by the troops ahead of us, but this 
 served a good purpose, for it helped to make us 
 
 Burning _ . 
 
 forest warm - It was a thrilling sight ; the names were 
 roaring on both sides of the road, and ahead it was 
 one mass of fire a glimpse of hell ! The sudden rise 
 of the stream was accounted for by the breaking of 
 a dam, some said by the enemy, others by cannon 
 shot. 
 
 We bivouacked long after midnight in a corn field. 
 On the 1 8th we marched all day with only a halt 
 long enough to cook our coffee. Forest on fire as 
 before. "At night, being unable to sleep, I took a 
 stroll through the silent camp. It was midnight, 
 and the fires were burning low, but still bright 
 enough to throw a faint light over the whole camp 
 and its sleeping soldiers. The long line of guns 
 stacked were plainly to be seen. Around and under 
 their guns were the forms of the battery boys, sleep- 
 ing quietly as kittens ; their horses closely guarded 
 and carefully cared for, were near by. In the dis- 
 tance could be seen the gleam of moving bayonets 
 as sentries paced their beats. Here was a soldier, 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 155 
 
 unable to sleep, having a solitary smoke ; another 
 
 making a cup of coffee. In another place two were 
 smoking, talking over in a low tone the incidents of 
 the march. 'Hallo,' said one, 'what regiment?' 
 'Twenty-fifth Massachusetts,' I replied. 'Have a sit- midnight. 
 down, Sergeant,' and he pulled his blanket along 
 for a seat. S.oon we were gossiping away as cosy 
 as could be, talking over the events of the expedi- 
 tion, and anticipating the morrow. 'I say, Bill, haul 
 out those potatoes, done ain't they?' 'Guess so/ 
 and with his bayonet he poked half a dozen sweet 
 potatoes out of the hot embers. Salt was pro- 
 duced, and with a cup of piping hot coffee and the 
 omnipresent hard-tack, we had a good soldiers' 
 supper, eaten with soldiers' appetite. A half-hour 
 spent thus, and extending them an invitation to 
 return the visit, I bade them good night, and made 
 my way back. It was a calm, still night, and above 
 the quiet stars looked down upon this bivouac of 
 twenty thousand men. It was a scene never to be 
 forgotten." 
 
 One night we bivouacked near Wise's Forks, 
 filed into a field on the left of the road, stacked 
 arms, and went for rails for our fires. It was a hard 
 effort to get them, but we succeeded at last, and a 
 
156 The Story of Company A. 
 
 cheery rail fire covered with tin cups full of coffee 
 
 was a pleasant sight for cold and tired soldiers. 
 While gathering leaves and hunting for rails a com- 
 rade discovered a dead Johnny partly covered with 
 leaves. Soon others were found, and Comrade 
 Rebels Bayers I think it was reported finding "some 
 Johnnies out in the woods all dead." . "What are 
 you fretting about then ? All dead you say?" 
 "Yes." "Then they won't trouble us before morning, 
 will they?" They did though, for a detail was made 
 to bury them, and the order had to be obeyed. 
 Thirteen dead Confederates were found at this place ; 
 the Third New York Cavalry had been through here, 
 and this was the result in part. 
 
 This march back to New Berne, which we reached 
 Sunday the 2ist, was severe. The weather was 
 
 Severe 
 
 weather, very cold, and one night the water froze in the can- 
 teens under our heads, as we laid with our feet to 
 the rail fire. We were absent from New Berne 
 thirteen days, and the Union loss in killed, wounded 
 and missing was five hundred and seventy-five men. 
 "On the return from Goldsboro' rations of whiskey 
 were served out to the men. Corporal Elwell had 
 on this occasion taken a large ration, and was making 
 considerable noise, strutting about and calling him- 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 157 
 
 self Provost Marshal of Plymouth. This was a hit 
 
 at Captain Parkhurst, who was Provost Marshal of 
 Plymouth while we were there. It made some dis- 
 turbance. Colonel Pickett, who was on horseback, 
 rode up and seeing the state of things, could hardly 
 keep down a laugh ; but calling Lieutenant Bessey, 
 said : 'Take the Corporal away, or I shall have to see 
 him.' Pickett possessed that happy faculty of not 
 seeing too much." 
 
 The new year of 1863 found us at New Berne in 
 old Camp Oliver, and for some weeks we had a quiet New Year 
 time of it. February 8th, one hundred guns were 
 fired from Fort Totten, it being the anniversary of 
 the taking of Roanoke Island. 
 
 The weather was very changeable ; warm days 
 and cold, often freezing, nights. This caused much 
 sickness. It is but justice to say that the Twenty- 
 fifth was the crack regiment of the Department, and 
 great crowds came every day to witness the dress 
 parade. 
 
 "One Sunday, after inspection, all the sergeants 
 being in their tent, Sergeant McLane said he was 
 going to get a pass to go down town. 'What for, 
 Jemsy ? Nothing going on in town to-day,' said Burr. 
 'Well, fellers, we have been out here a year and a 
 
158 The Story of Company A. 
 
 half, and I have not been to church ; I feel as though 
 
 I ought to go.' 'Good, Jemsy, that's just the way 
 I feel,' said Sergeant Putnam. Jemsy got his pass 
 and departed. The day went by as Sundays always 
 did ; the boys amused themselves with reading, 
 writing, slicking up, etc., and profound quiet reigned 
 in Camp Oliver. After dress parade, when all the 
 sergeants were in their tent, Jemsy returned, his 
 appearance, to say the least, not indicating that he 
 had been to church. 'Well, Jemsy, had a good time?' 
 
 Forgotten 
 
 prayers. 'Y-o-u b-e-t I have.' 'Go to church?' asked Burr. 
 'Y-e-s, I did, and would you believe it, I got down 
 on my knees and I'll be G d d d to h 1 if I could 
 think of a single prayer ! ' ' 
 
h > / f T/iW^u j-^J^ 
 
D E PT. 
 
 of 
 
 N ORTH CAROL I NA, 
 
 Co Bosttyx 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 EXPEDITIONS (Continued). 
 
 ON THE 4th of March Companies A and C went 
 
 on picket on the Trent road near Deep Gully, 
 joining the companies already there under Captain Cam . 
 Denny. The camp was known as Camp Pickett. 
 On the 6th we heard the order while on duty, "Fall 
 in A, fall in. The Twenty-fifth comes." Soon the 
 Regiment made its appearance, and we took our 
 place in line, and started off on another expedition. 
 After a march of a dozen miles towards Kinston, 
 passing the blockade again, we bivouacked in a 
 beautiful spot completely shut in by pine woods 
 and perfectly concealed. This was near the forks 
 of the Trenton and Kinston roads. Companies A, G 
 and K were ordered to be in readiness at midnight 
 to go on a scout, the object being to "gobble up" 
 a body of Rebel infantry on picket five or six miles 
 
 21 
 
1 60 The Story of Company A. 
 
 from our bivouac, and to destroy their camp. At 
 1863. 
 
 the appointed time we left our camp with a company 
 
 of the Third New York Cavalry in advance. The 
 night was very dark at the start, but we pushed on 
 Midnight through woods, swamps and mud towards Kinston 
 for three or four miles, then advancing with more 
 caution as we drew near the picket post of the 
 enemy. Suddenly, crack went a rifle in advance, 
 the cavalry made a dash and the infantry followed 
 at double-quick. This was all very exciting. But 
 that rifle shot would alarm the next post, and we 
 must move on. Soon there was another shot and 
 another dash of the cavalry, in which they succeeded 
 in capturing one of the Rebel pickets ; and on we 
 went. A horseman was now heard approaching ; 
 the cavalry dismounted and quietly awaited his ad- 
 vance. They challenged and grappled with him ; 
 the struggle was fierce but short. No shots fired 
 this time. The horseman is captured and sent to 
 the rear under guard. 
 
 As we still pressed on those ahead received the 
 fire of some half-dozen rifles probably a reserve 
 guard, or the main picket camp. The cavalry had 
 two wounded this time ; we had none. An open 
 field was on our left, woods on our right, and open 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 161 
 
 fields beyond. Ahead perhaps a quarter of a mile 
 
 1863. 
 was a dark line of woods, in which was supposed 
 
 to be the enemy's camp. Skirmishers Company 
 G, Lieutenant Daly were thrown out on the right ; 
 on the left a portion of Company A, Sergeant Put- 
 nam, while the rest of Company A under Lieutenant 
 Bessey, and Company K, Lieutenant Forbes, held 
 the center in the road. The skirmishers of Com- 
 pany A took their place in line in the field as quickly 
 as if it had been broad daylight, and we went for- 
 ward. A wide, deep ditch was encountered, but 
 with a sort of flying jump the boys managed to cross, Attack on 
 and we advanced again. Soon the moon came out cam * > ' 
 from behind the clouds and we could view the whole 
 country in our vicinity. A volley was fired on our 
 right Company G was catching it. We came to a 
 barn, and geese hissed at us as we passed, but not 
 a gun was fired. It was comical withal, the hissing 
 of those geese, and a low laugh ran down the skir- 
 mish line. We approached the woods and still not 
 a shot was fired. A light was seen through the 
 trees, and the forms of tents dimly appeared. We 
 had struck the Rebel camp. We entered the woods, 
 the left of the skirmish line swung around to the 
 right, and we had the camp a dozen tents sur- 
 rounded. 
 
1 62 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Meantime the troops, with the cavalry in advance, 
 1863. 
 
 had charged down the road, received a volley from 
 
 the Rebels, and then driven them. Corporal Jimmy 
 Green ("Spud" we called him) was sent to Captain 
 
 The camp Denny, who was in command, to report that we had 
 captured the camp, and he ordered it burned. But 
 first we went through it. We found boxes unopened, 
 - evidently just received ; we opened them with our 
 bayonets and found them filled with good things 
 from home apples, cake, eggs, etc. We, of course, 
 ate the solids, and certainly, why not? drank the 
 fluids, and then proceeded to obey orders. We 
 stirred up the fire, piled on everything that would 
 burn, and soon all was in a blaze. 
 
 Corporal Bugbee heard chickens cackle. "Kill 
 
 D , , 'em, boys," he shouted, "Damn 'em, we can eat 'em ! 
 
 Bugbee s * 
 
 chickens. Wring their necks ! " Very soon there was no more 
 cackling of chickens. But they proved rather ex- 
 pensive to the Corporal, for in his haste to catch 
 them he kicked aside a little roll of paper which was 
 picked up by Comrade White, who found he had 
 sixty dollars in Confederate bills. These, of course, 
 were not passable within our lines, but White ex- 
 changed them with North Carolina people for their 
 money, which was current in New Berne, and this 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 163 
 
 he loaned about to the boys, and they, on next pay 
 day, returned it to him in greenbacks ! Bugbee got 
 the chickens but lost the money. 
 
 After the camp had been destroyed we made a 
 hasty march back to our bivouac in the woods, 
 reaching there about six o'clock on the -morning of 
 the yth, having marched about a dozen miles since 
 leaving our camp at midnight. We remained here 
 until the next day and then returned to Camp 
 Pickett. 
 
 Our boys brought away some things from the 
 Rebel camp, rifles, knapsacks, and several "Yan- " Yankee 
 kee Slayers"* but nothing of value. Some letters 
 found in the knapsacks which our boys went through, 
 .showed a pitiful state of things in the South at that 
 early stage of the war. The following are extracts 
 from a letter which was taken from a knapsack in 
 this camp, and is now in the possession of the 
 writer. It was written by a mother to her sons in 
 the Confederate army. 
 
 * These "Yankee Slayers" were huge, rough blades, one and a half feet 
 long, and quite heavy. They were hammered out by hand, had rude scab- 
 bards, and were intended to be hung on the waist-belt. One of these, taken 
 from the Rebel camp, is now in the museum of The Worcester Society of 
 Antiquity. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that these terrible-looking 
 weapons were perfectly harmless. I never knew of one of them being used, 
 nor did I ever hear of any person who was injured by one. 
 
1 64 The Story of Company A. 
 
 febaray the 2 d 1863 
 
 1 3' Deer Sons i seet myselfe to Drope you uns a few lins 
 
 to let you no that i reseved your kind and Welkim leter to nite 
 and i war Mour then gladde to her from you both these few lins 
 leves us all well at this time . . . i war glade to her from you 
 uns and sorry to her that you War on picket and had nothing to 
 eat i want to no Whether you got What litel i sent . . if you 
 
 Southern 
 
 , stay thar and if you Dont get kill ner takin prisner i will try and 
 git some boddy to fetch you somthing to eat time is hard her 
 . i have bin tring to git Wheat and corn ever sins and i 
 cant gite a bite at no prise corn is Worth from 2 to 3 Dolers and 
 cant git hit at that they War a Man at town the outher Day and 
 he oferd A hunderd Dolers A barle and cold not git hit at that 
 Meet they is ofern A Doler and fifty cents A pond and i Dont no 
 What the pepel Will Dow her let lone the pour Solger and hit is 
 harde on both sids . . . 
 
 fer What i can under stand you boys is giting [illegible] Wicked 
 takin up the pour yankes and taken tha clothing of and pull ther 
 eys opin an ther Moth and standin them up and cusen them and 
 i Want to no Whether hit is so or not i Dont no Whether hit is 
 so [or] not i hope hit aint so and i never Want to her of the 
 like beeing Don in ther compny A gane When i hirde hite hit 
 Made the hare rise one My hed how Wod i fel to her of your A 
 beeing kill and the yankeys servin you so ... 
 
 the young girls is Wating fer you solgers to come they say to 
 the olde Men When they come A bout them goe Way you is no 
 solges goe to the War . . . 
 
 This expedition was a bold thing to undertake, 
 and was well planned and well carried out. It was 
 only partially successful, however, for the purpose 
 was to capture the entire detachment, whereas we 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 165 
 
 secured only half a dozen prisoners ; but we broke 
 
 up the post and destroyed the camp. 
 
 The troops left for New Berne, Company A re- 
 maining at Camp Pickett. On the i3th of March 
 the enemy made a bold attempt to capture New 
 Berne. They approached the town from every 
 available point, driving in our pickets at Deep Gully, 
 and four companies, A, C, G and K, were ordered 
 there. This Deep Gully was a ravine extending 
 from the Trent river some miles towards the Neuse, 
 and having a deep stream of water running through 
 it, not easily crossed except at one place where was Attack at 
 a bridge and one or two fords. At the Gully was 
 an earth-work which protected the bridge, and one 
 old Quaker gun made it look quite formidable. As 
 the enemy approached near, Company A under 
 Lieutenant Bessey ; Company C, Lieutenant Davis ; 
 and Company G, Captain Wagely, formed in the 
 rear of the earthwork, Company A at the left. Soon 
 the enemy opened on us with grape shot, which 
 passed harmlessly over our heads as we lay on the 
 ground and crashed into the woods at our rear. 
 Sergeant Wesson ("Old Rats" the boys called him) 
 seeing a large stump directly in his Jront, ten or 
 twelve feet distant, crawled to it, and feeling quite 
 
1 66 The Story of Company A. 
 
 secure behind it, looked back to us, and with a 
 1863. 
 
 motion of his fingers to his nose said, "Don't you 
 
 wish you were here?" In less than a minute a 
 solid shot struck the stump, which proved to be 
 rotten, and the pieces flew in every direction. Wes- 
 son was not injured, and a hearty laugh greeted 
 him as he wriggled back to his place in line. 
 
 The place got too warm for us, and we were or- 
 dered to fall back, which we did without harm. The 
 cavalry had one man killed. We formed in line of 
 battle with the cavalry on our left, and waited for 
 an attack ; hours passed with little firing and no 
 harm done. At the first appearance of the enemy 
 a messenger had been sent to New Berne for help, 
 
 A id from 
 
 New and about 6 P. M., the balance of the old Twenty - 
 
 w ith the Fifth and Forty-sixth Massachusetts 
 regiments, and part of Belger's Battery, reached us. 
 Our regiment was the first to arrive, and we were 
 glad to see our comrades, and now felt as if we 
 could drive the enemy, although it was reported 
 that they had over a dozen pieces of artillery, some 
 cavalry, and eight or ten regiments. 
 
 The enemy were delayed in crossing at the Gully 
 a little while, as our people had destroyed the bridge. 
 Trees had also been felled across the road which 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 167 
 
 added to the delay, but after a time they got into 
 
 position, and there was considerable firing until 
 dark. That night was freezing cold, and as no 
 fires were allowed we were in a wretched plight. 
 It did seem as though the cold would penetrate to 
 our very bones. 
 
 The next day, the i4th, we were relieved by the 
 Forty-third Massachusetts, and we returned to 
 Camp Oliver, passing on the way our picket camp, 
 and taking our knapsacks with us. 
 
 It seems that the attack on New Berne was a 
 failure in every quarter. The gunboats took a hand 
 in it on the Neuse river, and altogether there was The 
 quite a lively time. The Rebs at the Gully were 
 
 * J a failure 
 
 under command of General B. B. Hill, while Petti- 
 grew commanded across the Neuse river, opposite 
 New Berne.* 
 
 There were probably at this time in New Berne, 
 twenty-five thousand men, and an imposing sight Grand 
 was the grand review by General Foster. It was, I review. 
 think, the largest body of soldiers we ever had in 
 North Carolina. 
 
 As one hundred guns were fired on February 8th 
 
 * For a full description of this attack on New Berne, see Denny's Wearing 
 the BlUe. 
 
1 68 The Story of Company A. 
 
 in honor of the Battle of Roanoke, so we were to 
 
 have a holiday on March i4th, in honor of the cap- 
 ture of New Berne ; but to accomodate the Rebels 
 in their desire to attack the place on that day, our 
 celebration was put off until the lyth. On the 
 morning of that day crowds gathered on the parade 
 ground to witness the sports. General Foster and 
 staff, also General Palmer, were present, and ap- 
 peared to enjoy the fun as sensible men should. A 
 boxing match between Captain Tom O'Neil and his 
 brother Jim, was one of the exercises of the day. 
 Sack races followed, in which Company A was repre- 
 sent ed by Comrade Sawyer, who carried away the 
 prize. Climbing the greased pole caused a deal of 
 merriment. Half a dozen men blindfolded, wheel- 
 ing wheelbarrows at a mark, were a comical feature 
 in the programme, and chasing greased pigs made 
 much commotion all over the camp, while other 
 sports occupied the time until the middle of the 
 afternoon, when the affair broke up, and the crowds 
 dispersed. 
 
 Two days after, on the iQth, tents were struck, 
 and the Regiment was on its way to Plymouth on 
 board the steamer Escort. As there was not room 
 for the whole regiment on the vessel Companies A, 
 
2$th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 169 
 
 E and H marched to the barracks used by the Forty- 
 
 fourth, and remained until the 23d, when the same 
 steamer took the three companies and landed them 
 at Plymouth on the 25th. One night, during our 
 stay at the barracks, we thought it would be as 
 Comrade Bolster expressed it conducive, if we could 
 have a dance. Leave was obtained to remain up 
 after taps, two fiddles were found in a neighboring 
 regiment, candles procured and the old barracks Our 
 lighted up, and at it the boys went. But to dance 
 without ladies was a difficulty not reckoned on, and 
 it was, I think, the genius of Private Bolster that 
 overcame it. "Take your caps, fellers ; visors to 
 the front, men ; visors to the rear, women." Tis 
 done, and funny enough, all visors are to the rear! 
 All want to be women. This was soon arranged 
 and the fun began. Mr. (Capt.) Thomas O'Neil 
 and Miss (Lieut.) Daly were the stars of the eve- 
 ning, keeping the crowd in a roar of laughter. For 
 two hours the frolic went on, when orders came 
 "Lights out," and the day ended. This is a trifling 
 incident to note, but there are many such trifling 
 incidents in the every-day life of the soldier. Even 
 in war time, soldiers are not always fighting, nor 
 always on the march ; but soldiers are always busy, 
 
1 70 The Story of Company A. 
 
 and if duty does not call them, fun comes to the 
 
 863 ' front. 
 
 A transport ship with six or eight hundred men 
 
 on board is not the most comfortable place in the 
 
 Shipdis- world, one great trouble being the lack, of facilities 
 
 comforts. f Qf coo kj n g f or tne multitude. Any soldier will 
 
 appreciate the situation. The ordinary ship cooking 
 
 apparatus is at best limited in its capacity, and of no 
 
 great account with such a crowd. Now the steamer 
 
 Escort was provided with huge boilers in which 
 
 could be cooked a barrel of beef and a barrel of 
 
 coffee at the same time ; this to us was a g-odsend 
 
 o 
 
 and of the greatest benefit to the soldiers. 
 
 Since our last visit to Plymouth the town had 
 changed for the worse. It had been occupied by 
 Effects both Union and Confederate troops, and a few weeks 
 before was set on fire by the enemy, and the business 
 portion in the center of the town entirely destroyed. 
 Several large private houses, with elm trees in front, 
 from whose branches hung in long festoons the "Ivy 
 green," were also consumed. But this is war. Our 
 camp was pitched in the burnt district, and in honor 
 of the commander of the gunboat Commodore Perry, 
 was named Camp Flusser, Colonel Pickett taking 
 command of the post, and Lieutenant - Colonel 
 Moulton, of the Twenty-fifth Regiment. 
 
2 $th Regt., Mass. Vols. 171 
 
 On our arrival at Plymouth Companies A, G and 
 
 O 
 
 K were highly complimented for their conduct at 
 the Gully on the i3th, and they deserved it. The pi ymou th 
 troops went to work at once on the fortifications a s ain - 
 just laid out for the defence of the town. A heavy Fortifi- 
 detail was made from each company to work on the 
 fort, besides the regular camp and picket duty ; and 
 the pioneers went out daily to clear away the forest 
 and get a good range for the guns. The pioneers 
 often cut down trees four feet through, straight as 
 arrows, and more than one hundred feet high. 
 
 Refugees kept coming down the river, some from 
 a distance of fifty miles, in their dugouts. Some of 
 
 Refugees. 
 
 these boats were quite large ; one, 1 remember, con- 
 tained three men, three women and six children, 
 with all their household effects. Most of these 
 people were going to New Berne, having been 
 driven from their homes on account of their Union 
 sentiments. 
 
 As early as the middle of February we had found Wi i d 
 wild flowers in bloom in New Berne violets, myrtle, fl wers - 
 trailing arbutus and others ; and here, at Plymouth, 
 they were very abundant. 
 
 We had now been over five months without pay, 
 and there was considerable growling; but unless to 
 
172 TJie Story of Company A. 
 
 send it home, which many of us did, it was not of 
 
 much account, really, for a soldier actually needs 
 little money for himself; still it was "convenient to 
 have in the house," and we were paid shortly after, 
 which made the boys happy for a while. 
 
 Our Camp Flusser was neatly laid out, and the 
 Camp company tents were very comfortable. From the 
 r ' burnt district we got boards for floors, raised our 
 Sibley tents about three feet, putting a sort of cur- 
 tain of canvas around at the bottom ; this made the 
 tents more roomy and very pleasant. But this was 
 not all. We stole, or rather, found, doors, which 
 with a little rough carpenter work we put in place 
 in our tents. These doors had knobs, and the whole 
 thing worked admirably. We did not get any door- 
 NO door- b e li s f or our tents, as it was thought we could get 
 
 bells. 
 
 along without them ; but think of it soldiers with- 
 out door-bells to their tents ! 
 
 We picked up while at Plymouth, as soldiers will, 
 Pets, many pets a curious lot squirrels, owls, raccoons, 
 birds, and little darkies, the latter quite useful in 
 blacking shoes and such odd jobs. The habit of 
 dipping snuff in the South has been spoken of. 
 One day a little white girl passed by the camp, and 
 a soldier, observing a stick protruding from her 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 173 
 
 mouth, asked, "What have you in your mouth little 
 
 1863. 
 girl?" "My snuff stick," was the reply. "What, A 
 
 do you chew tobacco P'^ "Oh, no; I dont chew, I youthful 
 
 T " . TT 11 -> ..T> " ^.U "dipper." 
 
 dip. "How old are you r 1 m seven, was the 
 reply. What a sight was that. 
 
 An effort was made while at Plymouth to get up 
 another dance, and in looking about for a place a 
 little brick church was selected. In the first place 
 it was quite central, and then it was large enough ; 
 so the church door was opened whether with or 
 without a key I do not remember space was cleared 
 of seats on the floor, candles obtained, fiddlers found, 
 and all promised well. Meantime a little incident 
 was transpiring not calculated on by the getters-up 
 of the scheme. A squad of soldiers had discovered 
 at no great distance from our camp, a small house, 
 in which was found that cheerful-looking carriage, 
 the village hearse. This was run out of the build- with the 
 ing ; it had a covered top and open sides, and a 
 singular idea popped into the head of one of our 
 boys. "I say fellers, suppose we run this team 
 around town and pick up the boys and take them 
 to the dance." There were no horses, so two or 
 three soldiers got hold of each thill, and "she is all 
 right," One mounts to the driver's seat, and one 
 
1 74 The Story of Company A. 
 
 crawls inside, smoking his pipe, saying, "I'll be the 
 
 first passenger." It was comical enough a soldier 
 stretched at full length, and smoke rolling out in 
 puffs from the inside of that dismal-looking vehicle, 
 all ready for a start. But suddenly a soldier puts 
 in an appearance with "Look out boys, Colonel 
 Pickett has ordered the arrest of every man en- 
 gaged in this church dance business. Take care 
 of yourselves" ; and he took care of himself by dis- 
 appearing around the corner. What a change was 
 there. The driver got down from his seat, and the 
 passenger slid out, making, as one expressed it, 
 quicker time than was usual with passengers in that 
 after carr i a g e > ^e hearse was taken back into the house, 
 
 the boys, doors shut with a hurried slam, and the boys dis- 
 appeared to take care of themselves. It proved as 
 was said, that Pickett had ordered the arrest of all 
 concerned. The lights were put out and the church 
 closed ; quite a number of the men were arrested, 
 and Plymouth was saved. The upshot of the 
 matter was a severe reprimand to those in custody 
 and that was enough. The affair made some 
 talk for a day or two, and Comrade Bolster pro- 
 posed that, as there had been so much fuss about 
 it, we should pick up the little d d church, and 
 
25th Reg t., Mass. Vols. 175 
 
 send it home as a momentum of the occasion. This 
 
 expression brought down the house Bolster gen- 
 erally did. when he spoke. 
 
 We found in Plymouth hand cards made at Leices- 
 ter, Massachusetts, by Whittemore ; and it is a little 
 singular that they were found by Leicester boys. 
 
 While we were at Plymouth, Washington, North 
 Carolina, was surrounded by the Rebels, who laid 
 siege to the place with twelve thousand men. Gen- 
 eral Foster was there with only twelve hundred men, Slege f 
 
 Wash- 
 
 but he held the place. A steamer with ammunition i ng t on . 
 and a few troops run the blockade, and relieved the 
 hard-worked garrison ; and General Foster run the 
 gauntlet one night on the steamer Escort, with the 
 loss of one or two men, and reached New Berne in 
 safety, intending to return at once and relieve the 
 place. This was not necessary, however, for the 
 enemy had got enough of it, and one night raised 
 the siege and vanished, leaving Washington and 
 the Tar river free. This defence of Washington, 
 though little talked about and little known, was 
 a brilliant affair, and reflected great credit upon 
 General Foster, and spoke well for the pluck and 
 endurance of the men under his command. 
 
1 76 r fke Story of Company A. 
 
 On the 3d of May we were relieved by Wessel's 
 1863. 
 
 Brigade, and at seven p. M., left Plymouth on the 
 
 steamer Thomas Collyer, Commander Flusser and 
 his sailors giving us a display of fireworks with 
 hearty cheers as we left the old town. We reached 
 New Berne on the afternoon of the 4th, after a de- 
 lightful sail ; and on the 5th of May had our tents 
 pitched once more in old Camp Oliver. 
 
 As at Roanoke Island the boys had the fever for 
 making briar wood pipes, so at New Berne the rage 
 for bone-work prevailed to an alarming extent during 
 the remainder of our stay at Camp Oliver. Comrade 
 
 Bone 
 
 carving. Henry Goulding was the most expert at this busi- 
 ness, and turned out some really very fine work in 
 the shape of rings, crosses, scarf-pins, etc., all beauti- 
 fully carved. This fever for bone cutting pervaded 
 the whole Regiment, and it served to while away 
 many an hour of dull camp life. 
 
 We had now been in the service of Uncle Sam 
 , over a year and a half, and in accordance with orders 
 
 Furloughs J 
 
 received, we were having furloughs of thirty days 
 granted us, a certain number from each company of 
 the Regiment going, and on their return another 
 lot departing, and so on. This was very pleasant, 
 and was encouraging to the soldiers. Every man 
 
2 5th Regt., Mass. Vols. 177 
 
 who returned from furlough would be surrounded 
 
 by a crowd of soldiers eager to catch every word he 
 uttered as he told the story of what he had seen at 
 home. 
 
 At midnight of May 2ist we were on the march Another 
 again, this time in the direction of Bachellor's Creek. march - 
 We had been on the road about two hours, and the 
 men were plodding along tired and sleepy, when an 
 unusual noise was heard at the head of the column, 
 and the men of the companies before us dropped 
 out to the right and left of the road as though a 
 squad of cavalry was charging down the line. Com- 
 pany A did the same and those in our rear followed 
 suit ; and in a moment, as it were, the road was 
 clear of soldiers ; scarcely one man could be seen 
 standing in it. In their precipitation the men fell 
 helter-skelter over one another, and as they picked 
 themselves up and got back to their places in the 
 road again, the question was asked by every one: what 
 "What was that?" and the answer, "What was it ?" was it? 
 Some declared they saw the form of a horse pass 
 like a flash down the center of the road ; others 
 thought it was a deer that had got frightened and 
 dashed into the line ; and others saw nothing, but 
 all gpt out of the way. The question "What was 
 
178 The Story of Company A. 
 
 it?" has never been satisfactorily answered. After 
 
 the march was resumed, the men talked the affair 
 over, and all declared they would not get out of the 
 way again if the devil himself should come. 
 
 We had not been half an hour on the road, and the 
 men were getting drowsy again, when a noise simi- 
 lar to the first reached our ears from somewhere in 
 advance, and a few soldiers were dropping out of 
 
 Another the road again from the companies ahead, and about 
 scare. as quickly as before. But Company A must have 
 the credit of remaining in line this time. "We 
 brought our rifles to the 'Charge bayonets' and 
 waited for nothing." It was really nothing this 
 time, and the affair created a great deal of mirth as 
 we proceeded on our way. 
 
 At early daylight we came to a halt near the rail- 
 road leading to Goldsboro'. In the middle of the 
 afternoon we got on board a train of cars and moved 
 some five or six miles towards Goldsboro', and 
 joining the Fifth and Twenty-seventh Massachusetts 
 Regiments, marched to Core Creek and bivouacked 
 till midnight. The march was then resumed, the 
 Twenty-fifth having the advance after crossing Core 
 Creek. Company K, Captain Denny, was thrown 
 out as advance guard, and we moved on quickly 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols, 179 
 
 but quietly, with no signs of an enemy until about 
 
 4 A. M., when the advance run on to the Rebel 
 pickets and drove them in. The Regiment now 
 filed into a field on the right, and formed in line of 
 battle. Companies K (Captain Denny) and E 
 (Captain O'Neil) were sent out as skirmishers, and 
 soon discovered a long line of earthworks, and both 
 parties commenced firing. This continued two hours 
 
 or more, when we heard loud cheering and volleys ^ n s a g f - 
 
 . mentwith 
 
 ot musketry in the enemy s rear, and we knew our fAeenem 
 boys, under Colonel Jones, of the Fifty-eighth Penn- 
 sylvania, were charging. Company A, Captain 
 Goodwin, was now sent to join the skirmish line, 
 which was advancing at double-quick ; the line of 
 defence was soon reached, and Company A swarmed Co. A 
 over the earthworks like bees ; and being" attacked ^ rst in 
 
 the earth- 
 
 both in front and in the rear, the Johnnies were at works. 
 a disadvantage. They scattered in every direction ; 
 we took one hundred and sixty-five prisoners, and 
 proceeded to destroy the works as best we could. 
 We held the position, which was a strong one, until 
 
 5 P. M., when the object of the expedition being 
 accomplished, and as the enemy, having been 
 strongly re-enforced, were coming down the rail- 
 road, we commenced a retreat to Core Creek. 
 
1 80 The Story of Company A. 
 
 The Twenty-fifth Regiment, with a company of 
 cavalry, and one piece of artillery, acted as rear 
 guard, the enemy following close on our heels, shell- 
 ing us but doing no harm. We reached Core Creek 
 
 The 
 
 retreat, about io P. M., and bivouacked for the night. On 
 the 23d we moved early in the direction of the rail- 
 road, intending to take the train at Bachellor's Creek ; 
 but a heavy force of the enemy was found posted 
 on the railroad in our front, at the point where the 
 road we were traveling crossed it, and we were fired 
 upon from our right, and in our rear they were close 
 upon us. We were getting into a bad place, but 
 our artillery with some trouble dispersed our op- 
 posers, and we passed on. The enemy were, no 
 doubt, trying to cut us off; to avoid this we made 
 quite a detour through what is, properly speaking, 
 Dover Swamp, but was then called "Gum Swamp"; 
 and by this name it will be always known to the 
 members of the Twenty-fifth Regiment. On leaving 
 the road we plunged at once into this swamp. It 
 '" was more than knee-deep with mud and water, its 
 
 Swamp. 
 
 bushes and brambles were interlaced with vines, 
 and it was with the greatest difficulty that we could 
 cut our way along. As hour after hour passed it 
 seemed as if there was no end to it. Not a breath 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 181 
 
 of air was stirring- and the sun poured down an 
 
 1863. 
 intense heat upon us. The boys began to give out. 
 
 The great cry was : "Water, water." We tried to 
 strain the swamp water through our handkerchiefs, 
 but it was horrible and we could not drink it. Faint- 
 ing, panting for breath, struggling along, men 
 dropped down where they stood, and it seemed 
 impossible to get them any further. And yet, there 
 was a sort of grim humor through it all ; the old 
 jokes would occasionally come to the surface : "Why in Gum 
 did we go for sogers," said one. "Give it up," was Swam t- 
 the reply. "Because we were foolish cusses," said 
 another. But no song enlivened this dreadful march 
 through Gum Swamp ; it took all the strength, all 
 the pluck the men possessed to stagger along and 
 keep their failing spirits up. Comrade Forbes, who 
 had been detailed for hospital service, and had done 
 little or no duty with the Company, was with us in 
 the swamp, with a large box of medicines, etc., on 
 his back. Doctor Rice, the Regimental Surgeon, 
 was also here ; and, of course, all were on foot, and 
 one man was as good as another. "I say, Forbes, 
 you don't carry a rifle, but you have to carry the 
 Doctor's pill box." "Yes, and I'd tote it to hell if 
 only Old Rice had to go 'long afoot ! " "Billy," said 
 
1 82 The Story of Company A, 
 
 another (to Billy Lyon), "don't you wish you was 
 
 home?" "Bah! home is a fool to this place." 
 
 But all this ceased after a while, and no sound 
 was heard save the splashing of the mud and water 
 as we pushed slowly on. After some four hours of 
 this dreadful marching, the cry ran along the line : 
 "The railroad ! the railroad ! " This was good news, 
 indeed, and with desperate efforts we struggled on, 
 Through and were soon at the railroad, where we scrambled 
 the swamp Qn to ^ e freight cars awaiting us, and like starving 
 men ate the rations that were soon brought. We 
 reached New Berne at 5 P. M., Saturday, May 23d, 
 and were at home in Camp Oliver. 
 
 We marched thirty miles on this expedition. 
 Several men had to be brought out of the swamp 
 on stretchers, and it was said that two or three died 
 before they could be got out. At dark of this day 
 the Rebs, who had followed us, attacked our force 
 at Bachellor's Creek. This post was gallantly de- 
 fended, but Colonel Jones he who was in command 
 on this expedition was shot dead. 
 
 In June of 1863 the troops were employed in 
 building fortifications, and as the thermometer would 
 often show over one hundred in the shade, work 
 ceased during the hottest part of the day. This labor 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 183 
 
 in such extremely hot weather was very trying to 
 
 the men, and the sick list was soon doubled. The 
 daily drills were kept up, and the Twenty-fifth was 
 never allowed to play second fiddle in that respect. 
 
 On the 4th of July the Company was ordered to 
 the breastworks near Fort Totten. A cavalry ex- 
 pedition had started from New Berne, and the 
 infantry were to stay in the fortifications until it 
 returned, which it did on the /th, and the Company 
 marched back to Camp Oliver. On the i/th of 
 July the Company went on another expedition. On the 
 Crossing the Neuse river and landing at Fort An- 
 derson, we marched at once into the country. The 
 weather was intensely hot and the roads heavy with 
 sand, making the marching very hard. We halted 
 at an old, weather-beaten church, and from its pul- 
 pit Comrade Daniel T. Eaton gave us a spicy tem- 
 perance lecture. Meantime the cavalry passed us 
 on a raid towards Tarboro'. They had with them 
 very inoffensive looking machines with which to 
 destroy railroads. They could with ease, they said, 
 turn a red-hot rail into a cork-screw with them. 
 
 Beyond some sharp skirmishing with the enemy 
 nothing was done by the infantry. On our return 
 
 . 2 4 
 
184 The Story of Company A. 
 
 march water gave out. Our canteens were squeezed 
 
 dry, and with parched lips and swollen tongues, 
 we dragged along to Fort Anderson ; but before 
 we reached it many fell down into the hot sand 
 from sheer exhaustion as we marched, and with 
 difficulty were made to move on. As we approached 
 A hard tne fort the boys there saw us and took in the sit- 
 march. ua tion at a glance. They had pails of water ready 
 for us, into which we thrust our faces as dogs do 
 into a running stream. The Nectar of the Gods 
 was cold water ! After a short rest at the fort we 
 recrossed the Neuse and were home again, July 20. 
 Distance marched, thirty miles. 
 
 After a few days' rest (camp duties performed 
 and drill kept up), on July 25th we were once more 
 away, four companies, A, E, G and H going on 
 board the steamer Rucker, and landing Sunday, P. M., 
 at Winton, on the Chowan river. We bivouacked 
 on the banks of the stream, and shortly after the 
 cavalry arrived and started off on an expedition to 
 Scouting. \Veldon. The next day Companies A and E under 
 Captain Tom O'Neil, started off on a scout to Cole- 
 raine, and succeeded in capturing forty horses, ten 
 bales of cotton, six hundred pounds of tobacco, and 
 any number of mules and carriages, while negroes 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 185 
 
 by hundreds followed us on our return march to 
 
 1863. 
 Winton, with little bundles tied up and swung on 
 
 sticks over their shoulders, shouting "We's gwine 
 to liberty, hi-yah, gwine to liberty ! " The negroes 
 would stop work in the fields, gaze at the Yankee 
 column a few minutes, drop hoe or axe, and fling 
 up their old hats and shout "Gwine to liberty!" 
 
 " Gwine 
 
 Their day had come at last. At some plantations to liberty" 
 the mistress of the house would try to stop the slaves 
 from leaving, but it was of no use. "Missis, we's 
 agwine to liberty." On all the plantations no white 
 men were visible the darkies said "all in de Rebel 
 army." A motley procession it was as we reached 
 our bivouac at Winton. We had been thirty-five 
 hours absent, and had marched thirty miles in twenty- 
 four hours, actual marching time. 
 
 The next day, Companies G and H, under Captain 
 Harrington, started on a similar scout. They were 
 gone twenty-four hours, and brought in twelve bales 
 of cotton, twenty horses and mules with harnesses, 
 etc., and a large quantity of tobacco. July 3ist we 
 went on board transports again, and reached New 
 Berne on the ist of August. 
 
 The month of August proved a sickly one for the 
 Company. At times over twenty men would as- 
 
1 86 The Story of Company A. 
 
 semble at surgeon's call, and on one occasion at 
 
 roll call, only sixteen men answered to their names 
 for duty. At one time Companies A and E were 
 in Camp Oliver alone, part of the Regiment being in 
 Washington, N. C., some on picket, some in hos- 
 pitals and some on furlough. Early in September the 
 Company was put on picket again at the Red House. 
 This old place looked like many a New England 
 Red farm-house. Surrounded by woods, and with white 
 House, tents on each side, it formed a pretty picture. We 
 had for neighbors the One-hundred-and-thirty-first 
 New York. This regiment had one company of 
 (said to be) half-breed Indians ; they proved to be 
 good scouts but poor soldiers. Among the pets at 
 this camp was a huge brown bear. 
 
 One Sunday it was announced that our Parson 
 
 would pay us a visit with his lady Sunday school 
 
 teachers ; and it was expected that we would be in 
 
 The condition to receive them. Everything was put in 
 
 ar j" order, quarters nicely cleaned up, and the men 
 
 teachers, looked very neat and trim. Corporal Bugbee, acting 
 
 as provost, whose duty it was to keep the grounds 
 
 clean, was attending to this as the wagon containing 
 
 the delegation hove in sight, and he drew off his 
 
 men, intending to complete the job later, while the 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 187 
 
 vehicle came up, and its precious freight entered 
 
 1863. 
 the Red House. Hours passed ; the soldiers waited 
 
 patiently in their quarters, but no visitors appeared. 
 Meanwhile a merry time they had in the house 
 judging from the peals of laughter frequently heard. 
 "Guess they're praying, ain't they?" said one. "I 
 reckon," said another. Corporal Bugbee in the 
 afternoon started again to finish his work of clean- 
 ing up the grounds, and was busy with three or four 
 men when the wagon was brought up to take the 
 party back to New Berne. As the ladies stepped into incident 
 the wagon one exclaimed, "Why, we have forgotten "/ the 
 the tracts !" "So we have," said another; and a 
 bundle of tracts was thrown out on the ground 
 "without note or comment." Corporal Bugbee 
 quietly called one of his men, and said, pointing to 
 the bundle, "Remove that to the rubbish heap ! " 
 The soldier with his shovel scooped up the sanctified 
 package, and "without note or comment," tossed it 
 on to the dirt heap. The ladies looked at one an- 
 other with astonishment depicted upon their fine 
 faces, and drove off amid such exclamations as 
 "Did you ever," etc. We never saw our Parson or 
 his teachers at any of our picket camps again. The 
 men who witnessed this little incident enjoyed it 
 
1 88 The Story of Company A. 
 
 much ; and by the twinkle of his eye it was plain to 
 
 see that the Corporal appreciated the humor of the 
 act. 
 
 While on duty at the Red House we had abund- 
 ance of fruit, especially grapes. Just outside or 
 beyond our outpost, at what was called the Shute 
 place, was a grape-vine, on which hung so the 
 boys reported bushels of excellent grapes ; and 
 judging from the grapes brought to camp from this 
 vine, they were correct. So one morning the new 
 picket guard going to relieve those on duty, took 
 for each man two extra haversacks, and on reaching 
 
 Fine 
 
 fruit, the outpost a squad was made up to visit the Shute 
 place. The plantation was deserted and the house 
 had been destroyed, but the grape-vine was there ; 
 and we saw at once that the stories told by the boys 
 had not been exaggerated. The vine was of enor- 
 mous size, growing over a trellis six or eight feet 
 from the ground, and covered a space to guess at 
 it of ten to fifteen feet wide and fifty or sixty feet 
 long. It was loaded down with the finest Scupper- 
 nongs. We posted our guard, and in a very short 
 time had every haversack full besides our jackets, 
 and jogged back towards our camp at the Red 
 House. It was said that over forty bushels of grapes 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 189 
 
 had been picked from this vine in one season. The 
 
 1863. 
 darkies told us : " Better not eat dose grapes. Gib 
 
 you de chills." " Bah ! " said a soldier, "we'll eat the 
 grapes and d n the chills!" We did eat them, 
 and we thought them healthy. The grapes actually 
 seemed to cure those who had the chills. 
 
 The people in New Berne said they tried to avoid 
 the early morning air on account of the chills ; also Chilh 
 the heat of the day and the night air, for the same 
 reason. It may be that they were right, but we 
 soldiers had to take it all in. Morning or night air 
 or heat of the day it was all the same to us ; and 
 though nearly all of us had chills, yet we surely did 
 not have them worse or more frequently than the 
 residents of New Berne. 
 
 On one of the plantations in this neighborhood 
 we found a girl fifteen years old, who said she had 
 never been to New Berne, only eleven miles distant, 
 and was hardly ever off the old plantation, yet was 
 never lonesome. Talk about a quiet life ! 
 
 Life on picket at the Red House passed rapidly 
 away. We were not often disturbed while there, Dr Kice 
 though on October 22d, Dr. Rice and his orderly, captured. 
 Private Savage of Company A, were captured while 
 riding from Red House to another picket camp in 
 
1 90 The Story of Company A. 
 
 broad daylight. Dr. Rice was exchanged the next' 
 
 1863. 
 
 month, but Savage died a prisoner at Richmond. 
 
 One night we were turned out twice by shots fired 
 in the woods near by, but we had no serious trouble 
 while here. We had now been two years in the 
 service of the United States. 
 
 The month previous (September) Colonel Pickett 
 assumed command of the sub-district of the Pamlico, 
 from which he was relieved the following December. 
 
 On the night of the 24th of October, about 9 
 o'clock, we left the Red House in heavy marching 
 order, and proceeded to New Berne, about eleven 
 
 Night ... 
 
 march, miles. By some mistake, it was said, wagons went 
 to New Berne nearly empty, while the soldiers 
 marched heavily loaded over the same road. We 
 reached New Berne at 3 A. M. of the 25th, and se- 
 cured a couple of hours' sleep in and around our old 
 cook house, the only building on the ground besides 
 the guard house. The old camp ground looked 
 deserted and dreary enough, not a tent standing 
 where so many had stood in months past ; and the 
 place that had been our home so long was desolate 
 indeed, At 5 P. M. of the same day we got on board 
 a train of freight cars, and started for Beaufort, 
 bidding good-bye forever to old Camp Oliver. 
 
2 '$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 191 
 
 Camp Oliver had been in existence about sixteen 
 
 months, and during a great portion of this time it 
 had been occupied by some part of the Twenty-fifth 
 Regiment ; and the boys had come to speak of it as 
 
 home. 
 
 It commenced to rain soon after leaving New 
 Berne, and the train sped on through the mist and 
 darkness, the boys feeling sober and wondering 
 what would come next. Reaching Beaufort (or 
 rather, Morehead City) we went on board our old 
 steamboat, the S. R. Spaulding, which was crowded 
 to its utmost. We made an attempt to put to sea, 
 but were unable to get around Cape Lookout on 
 account of heavy weather ; so we anchored under 
 the lee of the Cape, close to the lighthouse, for the 
 night. Next morning (October 2;th) we succeeded 
 in doubling the Cape, and pushed on around Cape 
 Hatteras (the fourth time for many of us) with fort- 
 unately a comparatively calm sea ; and still on be- 
 tween Capes Charles and Henry, entering Chesa- 
 peake Bay. We went past Fortress Monroe where 
 our fleet had its rendezvous when we started on the 
 Burnside expedition, nearly two years before ; and at 
 length reached Newport News at the mouth of the 
 James river ; and on the 2d of November Camp 
 25 
 
1 92 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Upton was formed, named after our old Colonel. 
 At this camp Dr. Rice returned to the Regiment, 
 having been exchanged. 
 
 When we first landed at Newport News we had 
 shelter tents given out to us. These were strips of 
 light canvas five or six feet square, with buttons and 
 button-holes around the edges. Two of these but- 
 toned, together and drawn over a support something 
 like an A tent, formed a shelter under which two 
 men could crawl like dogs, their rubber blankets 
 keeping them from the ground. A tents were given 
 Camp us later, and the place began to look more like a 
 
 Upton. 
 
 camp. As in New Berne we had raised the Sibley 
 tents and added a curtain of canvas, so here we 
 built a kind of stockade of pine slats a narrow, 
 rough sort of clapboard, six to eight inches wide 
 and four feet long and mounted the A tent on top. 
 This made a roomy place, but we had to stop the 
 cracks with mud "to keep the wind away." These slats 
 were cut from pine logs by the darkies, who charged 
 us one dollar per hundred for those four feet long and 
 a dollar and a quarter for the six feet lengths. We 
 had boys detailed to cut these slats, and after a little 
 practice some cut them as readily as the darkies. 
 In the early part of December Colonel Pickett 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 193 
 
 returned to the Regiment and assumed command. 
 
 1863. 
 
 While here at Newport News we had stoves in- 
 troduced into some of the tents. They were tunnel- 
 shaped, made of sheet iron, and had no bottom ; and 
 were placed on the ground, the pipe going up 
 through the top of the tent. They worked very 
 well. In the Sergeants' tent we had a little coal 
 stove that had followed us from North Carolina ; and 
 Sergeant Wesson ("Rats") had found some hard 
 coal in an old cellar-hole where a building had been 
 burnt close by, 'so with a coal fire we were kept very 
 comfortable. At first it would smoke in spite of all 
 we could do. Wesson tried everything he could 
 think of to stop it, but to no purpose. We cut off A smoky 
 an old boot leg and fitted it on to the top of the stove - 
 pipe ; that worked well for a while, but the heat 
 destroyed it. It was evident our pipe was not long 
 enough "That's what's the matter." We went 
 outside to reconnoiter. Our neighbors' (next com- 
 pany's) tent backed up to ours. Their stove did not 
 smoke and their pipe was one section higher than 
 ours. Rats put his fore finger to his nose and looked 
 very wise, got a cracker box, placed it close to our 
 neighbors' tent, mounted it, and with leather gloves 
 quietly and quickly removed the upper section from 
 
194 The Story of Company A. 
 
 their pipe and placed it on our own. We retired to 
 
 our tent and seated ourselves on our bunks to "wait 
 
 the turn of events." Presently from our neighbors' 
 
 tent: "Hallo, Company A Sergeants; how does 
 
 your stove work ?" "First-rate, real comfortable; 
 
 how does yours go ?" "It smokes like thunder!" 
 
 They went out of their tent and we heard them 
 
 Rats' discussing the state of affairs ; we slipped out and 
 
 practical }j stenec j to their story, and when it was told Rats 
 
 joke. 
 
 quietly remarked, "Your pipe ain't long enough, 
 that's what's the matter." "I vow, I thought our 
 pipe was longer than that." "It looks short com- 
 pared with ours," said Wesson, "you get another 
 length of pipe and you'll be all right." We retired 
 to our tent again, and soon we hear from the other : 
 "Well, I don't understand this." "I do," said Rats 
 in a low tone ; and he evidently did. Our stove 
 did not smoke any more but Rats did. 
 
 One day a comrade reported : "Sergeant, I've 
 found a lot of bricks out here in the weeds (which 
 were quite high all around the camp); detail a 
 squad of men to go and get 'em, and we'll have 
 Our oven. an oven an d baked beans tomorrow morning." The 
 detail was made ; and soon eight or ten Company A 
 boys were seen coming through the weeds, each 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 195 
 loaded down with bricks ; and in a short time an 
 
 T Rfio 
 
 oven was built, and we did have baked beans for 
 breakfast the next morning, to the astonishment of 
 our neighbors, who said, "That's it ; Company A 
 always has the best of everything." Very true ; we 
 did, but we got it ourselves. 
 
 In plain sight at low tide, and but a few rods from 
 shore, were the wrecks of the frigates Congress Wrecks. 
 and Cumberland sunk by the Rebel ram Merrimack; 
 also the two-turreted monitor Roanoke, and later 
 the captured Rebel ironclad Atlanta. 
 
 At a review early in December General Foster 
 bade his old soldiers farewell, in consequence of his 
 transfer to another department ; and Maior-General 
 
 Gen. B.F. 
 
 Benjamin F. Butler assumed command. General Butler. 
 Heckman, formerly Colonel of the Ninth New Jer- 
 sey, took command of our brigade, which was known 
 as "Heckman's Flying Brigade," sometimes spoken 
 of as the "Red Star Brigade," from the flag at head- 
 quarters. It was a severe blow to the old North 
 Carolina soldiers to lose General Foster, but he had 
 the good wishes of every man of his old command. 
 While at this camp sickness thinned our ranks to a 
 great extent, and Company A on occasions turned 
 out but twenty-three men for duty. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 CAMP, MARCH, AND BIVOUAC. 
 
 HAVE now followed Company A from the 
 muster-in at Camp Lincoln to Camp Upton in 
 Virginia. We have seen the Company in camp, 
 in battle, on the march, and in bivouac ; we have 
 seen how the men behaved under the most trying 
 circumstances. Let us now leave them for a while 
 in comfortable quarters at Camp Upton, and look a 
 little closer into the daily life of the soldier in active 
 
 Ignorance . 111 r 
 
 of soldier service - Lvery veteran has had, scores ot times, 
 life- questions asked him which show little knowledge 
 of soldier life on the part of the inquirer, and which 
 seem to one familiar with it hardly worth answering; 
 but comrades must remember that our children, as 
 well as the great mass of the people, know as little 
 of these things as we ourselves did at the start ; and 
 it may be well to satisfy their inquiries, often ex- 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 197 
 
 pressed, as, How do soldiers prepare for an expedi- 
 
 tion ? How do they march, sleep and eat, build 
 fires in stormy weather? etc. In attempting to an- 
 swer, the simplest way, perhaps, will be to describe 
 soldier life in camp and bivouac, and on a march. 
 
 f 
 
 When we speak of a camp, the idea suggests 
 itself at once of a soldier's home, to a certain extent 
 permanent ; while bivouac is at the most but a tem- 
 porary halt or rest. In camp we expect to find 
 comfortable tents pitched in regular order, company 
 streets formed, good quarters for cook houses, 
 grounds in perfect order for parades and the like ; 
 
 Camp vs. 
 
 while in bivouac no tents are pitched, and none are bivouac. 
 carried on marches in war time. In active service 
 on a march there is no time to fool away pitching 
 tents, and we expect, at most, only a few hours' 
 rest. It may be and usually is for the night, but 
 all are ready to move at a minute's notice. In camp 
 the soldier gradually gathers all sorts of conven- 
 iences around him ; in his tent we often find board 
 floors, stools and benches made of cracker boxes, 
 and very comfortable bunks to sleep in. In bivouac 
 all these are done away with ; the soldier sleeps on 
 the ground rolled in his blanket, as best he can. 
 He cooks his coffee in bivouac every man for him- 
 
1 98 The Story of Company A. 
 
 self while in camp the company cooks attend to 
 
 all that. 
 
 In a wet, swampy country bivouacking is wretched 
 business ; but on any dry ground it is certainly su- 
 perior to tenting, and is the healthier of the two. 
 The A tents, which held six men with all their 
 equipments, were close, stifling things at best ; the 
 Sibley tents were much superior, being higher and 
 more airy. 
 
 In starting from camp on a march say at 4 A. M. 
 the company cooks are ordered in advance to have 
 
 Prepara- , -11 
 
 tionsfor rations ready at the proper time ; and they are ready, 
 a march, even if it takes all night to do it. The men are 
 roused, and go to the cook house to draw their 
 rations of cooked meat, hard bread, ground coffee, 
 and sugar perhaps three days' allowance ; and (a 
 very important item) the canteen is filled with cold 
 water. The soldiers don their equipments, form in 
 the company street in two ranks, and count off so 
 that each man will know his place in marching by 
 the flank in fours. The company is then marched 
 to the parade ground, where the regimental line is 
 formed. In leaving the camp it is by the flank in 
 fours. No music accompanies the soldiers on these 
 marches, so no attempt is made at keeping step ; 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 199 
 
 but the order "Route step" is given, and the men 
 
 "go as you please," the fours simply keeping to- 
 gether and marching abreast. The order "Arms at 
 will" follows, and the men carry their rifles in the Thewa 
 most comfortable way, at "right shoulder shift" gen- they 
 erally ; and go jogging along, talking, laughing, 
 telling stories, etc. At the proper time the order 
 "Halt" is heard, and every man is in his place with 
 rifle to the shoulder ; "Front," and like a machine 
 the men face to the front, and the regimental line is 
 formed, every man in the same position he was 
 when he started. At a halt every soldier looks out 
 for his own rifle and never loses sight of it ; it must 
 be within reach at any time and all the time ; but at 
 a bivouac for the night, when safe to do so, guards 
 are posted and the guns are stacked. The men go 
 for water and wood rails, usually ; fires are quickly 
 built, and as quickly covered with tin cups filled 
 with water from the "old canteen" if it contains any, 
 if not, a search is made for some. 
 
 The boys are about making coffee. Shall we see 
 how they do it ? Fire of fence rails to start with 
 fence rails make the best possible fire for cooking 
 coffee at a bivouac. Now the tin cup, holding a 
 quart, filled with water, is placed on the fire. Now 
 26 
 
2OO The Story of Company A. 
 
 two or more heaping table-spoonfuls of ground 
 
 coffee is added (Uncle Sam used to give his boys 
 excellent coffee in the army). Stir gently and watch 
 carefully. See the rich golden color as you keep 
 stirring. Watch the bubbles as they appear and 
 disappear on the surface of this amber-colored sea. 
 Now gently put in sugar as you may desire. Still 
 stirring it begins to boil. Saints and Ministers of 
 Grace ! What an aroma is that which greets our 
 expectant nostrils. Odors from Araby the blest 
 incense to the gods ! Steady now it must not boil 
 
 C off 
 
 making to l on g- Insert your bayonet into the hole in the 
 handle of your cup a hole you punched there for 
 this very purpose and lift it with its fragrant, 
 steaming contents from the fire. Now from the 
 old canteen throw in a dash of cold water to settle 
 it, and it is done. Now for the haversack. Salt 
 horse and hard-tack usually with something bet- 
 ter;* it depends somewhat on the country we have 
 been traveling through and with a soldier's staving 
 appetite, what a supper is that ! Is it the coffee, or 
 appetite, or both? 
 
 * Sometimes a few onions or a bit of cabbage have been carried for miles 
 in the haversack, and now they work in first-rate. There is a place to eat 
 onions and cabbage around the bivouac fire. 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 201 
 
 Sometimes a soldier will accidentally hit a rail 
 
 with his foot, shaking the contents of all the tin 
 cups. What a rumpus follows. "Get out of that" A , pus 
 says one. "Can't you pick up your cracker boxes 
 (brogans) easier than that ? " says the second. 
 "Look at the cuss, trying to run his gunboats (bro- 
 gans again) around the camp fire." A shower of 
 such talk greets the ears of the unlucky offender, 
 who for a while keeps quiet, to say the least. 
 
 Now it is time to turn in and get some sleep if 
 possible. Let us step out from the glare of the fire- 
 light into the darkness, and look at the scene before 
 us. How strongly the features of the men are 
 brought out by the light of the blazing fire. What 
 healthy brown faces they are. In paintings we A look 
 have such scenes as this, but this is the living pic- at thl 
 ture. The fires are burning low, but here and there 
 the smoke is still curling gracefully up in the cool 
 night air ; and now, as some one stirs up the smolder- 
 ing embers and puts on fresh rails, a shower of 
 sparks, like golden bees, floats quietly away as the 
 spray of a fountain in the sunlight. Here is a sol- 
 dier by himself smoking his pipe, and no doubt 
 thinking of home ; there are two fellows chums 
 curled up together spoon- fashion, with their feet to 
 
202 The Story of Company A. 
 
 the fire, capes of their overcoats drawn over their 
 
 heads, sleeping as quietly as kittens ; others are 
 talking in a low tone of a face they miss to-night 
 a face they will never see more around the bivouac 
 fire. They gradually become silent, and roll them- 
 selves in their blankets and overcoats, and sleep. 
 Thus the men disappear, the fires are left to burn 
 themselves out, and silence reigns over the sleeping 
 bivouac. 
 
 Some sleep on their backs ; others sleep on their 
 sides, using cartridge box for pillow ; others roll up, 
 sl three or four together, the last man in tucks up the 
 rest and then wriggles his way into the middle ; and 
 all have their rubber blankets to lay on the ground. 
 The old soldier, if left to himself, selects at once 
 the best place to spread his blanket, his first point 
 being protection from rain and wind ; and a rubber 
 blanket is admirably adapted for the purpose all 
 sorts of shelters can be made with it. I do not see 
 how the soldiers could have got along without their 
 "gum blankets," as the Johnnies called them. 
 
 In seeking shelter from the wind your old soldier 
 would not select a place under a tree. It is a, mis- 
 take often made by the inexperienced soldier to 
 choose a spot to spread his blanket under some 
 
Shelter at 
 
 25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 
 
 large tree, with dense foliage above but no pro- 
 tection from the wind below ; and this protection 
 from the wind that blows is what he wants. The 
 veteran finds some thick low bushes through which 
 the wind cannot easily penetrate, or rigs up his 
 rubber blanket in some sheltered spot, so that 
 it will serve as a screen or shield. The tree 
 would give him a sort of roof, which is not needed 
 in a clear, windy night. A man sleeping on the 
 ground lies pretty flat and takes up little room, so 
 that any thick shelter that is knee-high is shield 
 enough from any wind that blows, provided the wind 
 cannot blow through it. I have made a good shel- 
 ter by cutting down bushes and sticking them in 
 the ground thickly together. We used to think 
 when lying on the ground with the enemy's shot 
 and shell flying over us, that we could lie as thin as 
 a plank ; some thought as thin as a board ; while 
 Comrade Bolster declared that he could lay as thin 
 as a shingle ; but when the bullets pierced the very 
 caps on our heads, taking a lock of hair by which to 
 be remembered, we wished we could lie flatter than 
 that. 
 
 If it be a rainy night it is the roof over his head 
 the. soldier wants ; and here, again, the rubber 
 
204 The Story of Company A. 
 
 blanket comes in play. We have seen how, at New 
 
 Berne, the soldiers made shelters from the rubber 
 blankets to the best advantage, and it need not be 
 repeated here. The rubber blanket in those days 
 was two yards long, a yard and a quarter wide, and 
 weighed three pounds. It was indeed the soldier's 
 
 soldier's friend. The woolen blanket weighed about five 
 
 fnend. p Ounc } S) anc j measured two and a quarter by one 
 and three quarters yards. 
 
 There are more ways than one to prepare a place 
 to sleep on the ground. It is true an old soldier 
 can sleep anywhere on a plank, or on a rock even ; 
 but he will not if he can do any better he will take 
 
 HOW to t ^ e k est; O f w h a t there is every time. There is a 
 
 sleep. 
 
 way to sleep comfortably on dry ground. "I was 
 once spreading my rubber blanket on the ground 
 preparing to turn in, when an old soldier from 
 another regiment, who was passing by, said : 'If you 
 want to sleep well, dig a place for your hips, man.' 
 I looked up, and he continued : 'Scoop out a place 
 for your hips three or four inches deep, and another 
 about 'half as deep for your shoulders, then spread 
 your rubber and lie in the hollows, and you'll sleep 
 like a top, sir.' I thanked him and followed his 
 advice, and certainly never slept so well on a march 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 205 
 
 before." The point seems to be "Make the bed 
 
 fit your body," not your body fit the bed, as it would 
 have to on any hard surface like a board or hard 
 ground. But this cannot always be done, so the 
 soldier must try other ways. If a fellow is lucky 
 enough to find two logs, he can have a capital place 
 for his blanket between them, and they will keep 
 the wind off. 
 
 There are pleasures in bivouac that are entirely 
 lost in camp or tent life. There is no mistake about 
 it, a man breathes better ; and it is a pleasure to lie 
 half asleep and listen to the sounds of life around 
 
 . , , , . ,- , , Pleasures 
 
 on every side; watch the motions of the men, and of thg 
 hear them talk, joke or sing as they move about the bivouac. 
 fires, smoking as they always do at such times ; and 
 later, to awake when the fires are low, and all sounds 
 of man are hushed, to hear the wind go murmuring 
 by, and watch the stars in a beautiful, clear night ; 
 or to catch the lonely cry of some swift-winged 
 night bird as it flies quietly past, or, may be, hear 
 the voice of a wild animal from afar off ; and then 
 the sleeper's eyes close dreamily to open no more 
 till the bugle sounds reveille. All this is impossible 
 in tent life. 
 
 But there is a reverse side to this : say a freezing 
 
206 The Story of Company A. 
 
 cold night, as on our return march from Goldsboro', 
 
 when the water froze in the canteens under our 
 heads as we lay on the ground with our feet to the 
 fire ; or at other times when we had to walk about 
 all night to keep from being chilled through ; or 
 again, cold, stormy nights, with the ground soaked 
 with water, and the rain falling doggedly all night 
 
 The 
 
 reverse long. These are certainly not pleasant pictures 
 side. to contemplate ; but still, the soldier with a good 
 rubber blanket, a thick, warm woolen one, and a 
 stout overcoat, is pretty well prepared for any sort 
 of weather ; and then, there are more pleasant, com- 
 fortable nights than stormy ones, more warm ones 
 than cold ; and, given, tents crowded to suffocation, 
 or a chance in the open air, I think most soldiers 
 would prefer the latter. 
 
 After all, it is coming pretty near nature, this 
 bivouac life ; and men get thoroughly saturated with 
 that spirit of wild freedom that possessed the old 
 freebooters. It is easy to see how soldiers long 
 absent from home, under a beloved and victorious 
 commander, could be led almost anywhere no ex- 
 pedition would be too hazardous. Witness the 
 legions of Alexander and Hannibal, and the armies 
 of Napoleon. 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 207 
 
 On marches orders are sometimes issued against 
 
 foraging. This is very good. "Private property to 
 be respected," etc. Quite right. Such orders are Forag i ng , 
 always obeyed in a general way ; but suppose a 
 soldier does pick up a pair of chickens, what then ? 
 An instance of this. On a certain march in North 
 Carolina orders had been given that there must be 
 no foraging. We all understood it. One day at a halt 
 late in the afternoon, a soldier came slowly up to 
 the fire, rifle on his shoulder with a ham stuck on 
 his bayonet, and a pair of chickens in one hand. 
 At this moment who should appear but the Colonel 
 himself, riding slowly along the line ; and meeting 
 the forager face to face. We expected there would 
 
 Caught in 
 
 be a scene and there was. "What did you pay the act. 
 for chickens to-day, my lad ?" asked Colonel Pickett. 
 "I didn't pay nothin' for 'em, sir." It was easy to 
 see that the Colonel was anything but angry\ but it 
 would not do to show it ; so, severely : "You heard 
 the orders against foraging?" "Why yes sir, I did," 
 said the man, standing erect in the position of a 
 soldier, with the chickens still hanging by his side, 
 and the ham sticking on his bayonet ; and he ex- 
 pecting to have his head taken off right there. It 
 was too comical a sight ; the Colonel could not stand 
 27 
 
208 The Story of Company A. 
 
 it, but again speaking as severely as he could while 
 
 trying to suppress laughter, said : "Well, I'd bear it 
 in mind after this," and he rode away ; but gave a 
 parting shot at the forager as he disappeared : "I 
 hope you'll have a good supper to-night." "Thank 
 you, sir." and he dropped the chickens and saluted 
 the Colonel in true military style. 
 
 Now the Colonel could have had the chickens 
 taken away from the soldier, placed him under ar- 
 rest, and on our return to camp made an example 
 of him for "disobeying orders." The effect would 
 have been that the soldier would have borne if with 
 a dogged indifference, and ever after would have 
 Efficient foraged every chance he got ; as it was, the soldier 
 reproof. was p um ' s h e d enough. He had been reprimanded 
 by the Colonel before his comrades ; there was no 
 chance for him to be defiant about it ; and perhaps 
 worst of all, he was expected to have a good supper 
 off the chickens the Colonel knew he had disobeyed 
 orders to get. "Got off easy this time, didn't you ?" 
 said one. "Should think I did. Wish to God he'd 
 taken the chickens though," was the reply. No 
 more foraging by that soldier, on that tramp to say 
 the least. This was another instance of "not seeing 
 too much" on the part of the commander. That 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 209 
 
 soldier no doubt had a good chicken stew that night ; 
 
 and quite likely he sent a dishful to the Colonel's 
 fire, and probably the dish was returned empty, with 
 thanks ; and yet the army was perfectly safe. 
 
 What troubles soldiers the most on a march is the 
 want of water, and this is often hard to be borne. 
 Then, again, water obtained on marches is generally 
 vile stuff to drink. We had fo get it where we could 
 from ditches by the wayside, swamps, and sluggish 
 streams ; and we had a variety of colors and tastes. Water. 
 To offset this we often resorted to the trick of 
 putting a couple of spoonfuls of ground coffee into 
 our canteen of water, and in a short time we had a 
 canteen of cold coffee at least the coffee taste 
 proved stronger than that of the bad water ; and we 
 flattered ourselves that it was better for us. 
 
 To go without one meal was passed over as a 
 joke, and we pulled the old waist-belt tighter ; but 
 to be without water on a march under a burning- 
 sun in Carolina was terrible. When a column is 
 marching it is not so easy to get water as a novice 
 would think. A man will take a dozen canteens, 
 and, leaving his rifle to be carried by a comrade, 
 will start for water. Now if he succeeds in finding 
 water readily, and enough of it, he is very lucky ; 
 
2io The Story of Company A. 
 
 but even then he has a tedious job to get it, for can- 
 teens fill slowly, and when he has them full he has 
 a heavy weight to carry, and does not feel like taking 
 a "double-quick" back to his company. He places 
 the canteens, some over his shoulders to hang on 
 each side, and carries some in each hand ; and when 
 he regains the road he finds that the column has 
 been moving all the time, and his regiment may be 
 one, or even two miles away, and he must move 
 faster than his comrades in order to overtake them ; 
 so that when he reaches his own company he is 
 certainly more tired than those who stayed in the 
 column. It is this hard work to "catch up'' that 
 keeps many from dropping out who really need a 
 rest. 
 
 Another thing that troubles soldiers on a march, 
 
 especially if it is a forced march or one of any great 
 
 Foot length, is sore, chafed feet. One might think old 
 
 troubles, soldiers would never be troubled that way, but they 
 are some more than others, to be sure but with 
 getting the feet wet in crossing streams and again 
 marching on roads heavy with sand, "which works 
 into the brogans and finds plenty of room," the feet 
 will get sore in spite of the best of care. As a cav- 
 alry soldier looks after his horse, so an infantry 
 
2$th Regf., Mass. Vols. 211 
 
 soldier looks out for his feet ; and to obviate this 
 
 trouble various expedients were tried, such as rub- 
 bing the inside of the stocking with soap or tallow, 
 which helped the matter some ; but it had to be 
 borne as best it could. The simple changing of the 
 stockings from one foot to the other while on a 
 march, was often a relief to the hot and blistered 
 feet. 
 
 As may be supposed, it is not the easiest thing in 
 the world to build a fire while on a march, and in Building 
 stormy weather ; and not every soldier is a good 
 fire-builder, but there were some who could build a 
 fire anywhere and at any time. Nobody seemed to 
 have matches, but they were always forthcoming 
 when wanted, from some place unknown. But it 
 requires a deal of skill and patience to coax the 
 flame of a lucifer into a camp fire. -Very few can 
 do it not more than half a dozen men in a company 
 are good at building fires ; and there is most always 
 
 one who is the boss hand at it. He will build a fire 
 
 * 
 
 with everything "wet as thunder," and no fuss about 
 it either. He will always find dry twigs somewhere, 
 and his fire is always going first and burns the best. 
 He must have a gift that way. 
 
 The same with foraging. Some are "born so." 
 
2 1 2 The Story of Company A. 
 
 These fellows would make a bee-line for anything 
 
 in the way of eatables, from any bivouac, in the dark- 
 est night that ever "blew." People in the South 
 had a way of burying sweet potatoes in the ground 
 for winter use. These chaps would go direct to 
 these places in the dark, as though they had buried 
 
 Peculiar . J 
 
 faculty, the potatoes there themselves. So with water. 
 I have seen a fellow start as soon as we had come 
 to a halt, take a tin cup and a few canteens, and 
 strike right out into the blackest night, and in 
 twenty or thirty minutes return with plenty of water. 
 He took no thought about it, made no inquiry, but 
 went straight for it, and always was successful. I 
 did not understand it I do not now ; it was, and is 
 to-day to me a mystery. These men were invalu- 
 able to a company they might be called company 
 bummers. Notable among those belonging to 
 Company A were Jimmy Wesson and Moses P. 
 Brown. 
 
 Goulding was the story-teller. Our orderly, Jack 
 
 story- Johnson, was also prominent in this line. My stars ! 
 
 How he would tell stories brino" down the house 
 
 singers, 
 
 every time. Alas ! Poor Jack has gone where 
 well, I don't think they tell any stories there ! Then, 
 of course, there were singers. E. B. Fairbanks, 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 213 
 
 T. M. Ward ("Artemas" we called him) and Charles 
 
 B. Kendall stood here alone. Of course all hands 
 could sing when occasion required, but the three 
 mentioned were real singers, with fine voices. And 
 what did soldiers sing ? We had old Negro melo- 
 dies, college songs, and well-known patriotic airs, 
 as well as gems from the operas. But many of the 
 very popular songs we did not have until brought 
 to us by recruits. The last years of the rebellion 
 were much more prolific of war songs than the early 
 period. 
 
 Perhaps the most popular were those in which we 
 all could join. "John Brown" was a famous one, Army 
 and everybody could sing that as all army songs 
 were sung after a fashion. Then there was that 
 very affecting one, in which all could join if they 
 chose : 
 
 Oh, ain't I glad to git out o' de wilderness, 
 Out o' de wilderness, out o' de wilderness ; 
 Oh, ain't I glad to git out o' de wilderness, 
 Bleating like a lamb. 
 
 / 
 ( Chorus} B-a-a-a-a-a-h ! O-o-o-o-o-o-h ! 
 
 Bleating like a lamb, bleating like a lamb ; 
 Oh, ain't I glad to git out o' de wilderness, 
 Bleating like a lamb. 
 
214 The Story of Company A. 
 
 I went down town in a three ox wagon, 
 A three ox wagon, a three ox wagon ; 
 I went down town in a three ox wagon, 
 Bleating like a lamb. 
 B-a-a-a-a-a-h ! etc. 
 
 There was no end to this song ; verses were often 
 made up as they went along. 
 Another song was : 
 
 Three black crows sat on a tree, 
 
 And they were black as black could be. 
 
 Army These lines were repeated by one comrade, and then 
 
 songs. .... , . 
 
 all joined in 
 
 One black crow said unto his mate, 
 What shall we do for food to ate ? 
 
 And so on until some one started another. This 
 "round" for as many as chose to join was a popular 
 one, and was usually started by Comrade Goulding. 
 Thus : 
 
 Uncle Abraham, Uncle Abraham, 
 Sleepest thou ? sleepest thou ? 
 While the girls are eating, 
 While the girls are eating 
 Pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie. 
 
 And so on, repeating, till all were tired out. 
 
 Annie Laurie was a great favorite. Others were 
 Old Hundred, Star Spangled Banner, and Red, 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 215 
 
 White and Blue, as a matter of course. Comrade 
 
 Bolster, with his rough, comic songs, always created 
 much fun around the bivouac fire. Comrade Henry 
 Goulding had a way of singing a few snatches of 
 old songs, which always brought a laugh when the 
 men were tired and cross, and good humor followed. 
 Here is one : 
 
 Oh, I'd pay ten dollars down, 
 
 And give it mighty free 
 
 If I could only find out Arm y 
 
 Who chucked that shell at me. son * s - 
 
 This is another : 
 
 The corporal stole a chicken, 
 And the captain thought it wrong ; 
 So to punish him he made him 
 Pick it all night long. 
 
 The quaint humor of Comrade Goulding was 
 really a boon to Company A. 
 
 It is amusing to think now how ignorant we all 
 were of soldier life at the start. We had somehow 
 an idea that a soldier must be all the time on the 
 move, marching or fighting ; and to be weeks or 
 perhaps months without one or the other was not 
 thought of. 
 
 It is interesting to note the difference in the arms 
 we used and those of to-day. Our old Enfield 
 28 
 
2 1 6 The Story of Company A. 
 
 rifles were muzzle-loaders, about five feet long and 
 
 weighed nine and a half pounds, including a ramrod 
 
 three feet three inches long, which weighed ten' 
 
 ounces. The whole thing was clumsy and awkward 
 
 Enfieid in the extreme. The cartridge was of paper and 
 
 rifles, contained a conical leaden ball weighing an ounce. 
 These cartridges we tore open with our teeth, pour- 
 ing the powder down the rifle barrel, and sending 
 home the bullet with the paper for wadding, going 
 through the tedious process of drawing and re- 
 turning ramrod. How different the modern breech- 
 loader with its metallic cartridge, and so light, no 
 clumsy ramrod, no percussion caps, and so easily 
 managed. 
 
 Experience taught us that big knives and re- 
 Useiess vo ^ vers were useless lumber for a private soldier, 
 lumber, and we soon learned what a quantity of stuff was 
 absolutely worthless for a soldier's use. We will 
 suppose him to be on a march. The clothes he 
 stands in, rifle and equipments, canteen, haversack 
 containing plate, knife, fork and spoon, and his 
 rubber blanket (sometimes a woolen one also), are 
 all the old soldier will carry, and these are often 
 reduced in quantity, for a pound at the start may 
 seem ten pounds before he reaches the bivouac at 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 217 
 
 night. In summer time the scorching sun, and 
 
 roads heavy with dust or sand made it very tedious 
 marching, while in winter, wind, rain and cold are 
 equally disagreeable. 
 
 The distance marched in a day by foot soldiers is 
 often commented upon on account of the few miles 
 traveled. A man, it is said, can walk forty miles in 
 a day. True, a good walker might do it, but he is 
 one man, goes as he pleases, and has no heavy load , 
 
 ' Distance 
 
 of rifle, etc., to carry. To march a brigade in a day marched. 
 as far as one man can walk is simply impossible. 
 The more men, the less number of miles traversed. 
 It is good marching for a regiment to travel two 
 miles an hour for the day, and twenty miles in ten 
 or twelve hours is more than the average. A col- 
 umn of cavalry would hardly move over four miles 
 per hour. If the moving column is a large one the 
 regiments in advance may be miles on the road be- 
 fore those in the rear are in motion ; and the fre- 
 quent halts caused by crossing streams, accidents, or 
 for the purpose of rest, are very harrassing to the 
 soldiers in the center or at the rear of the column. 
 The head of the column is the best place to march. 
 The road is clear for one thing, and there are none 
 to stir up the dust; and when the order "Halt" 
 
2i8 The Story of Company A. 
 
 comes, those in advance have full benefit, for they 
 
 drop at once to the ground and are getting the rest 
 they all need while the order is running down the 
 line ; and by the time those in the rear receive the 
 order the head of the column is moving again. 
 
 The best Then those in advance would be more likely to 
 reach their bivouac first, and have their fires built 
 and coffee made before the others, which is a good 
 point ; but the regiment or brigade in advance to- 
 day may be in the rear tomorrow, so they even the 
 thing up in a way. 
 
 Perhaps a good idea of a column on a march may 
 be had by fancying a dozen miles of road in our own 
 section filled with an almost solid mass of moving 
 men, with batteries intermingled in the line, and 
 ambulances, ammunition and baggage wagons in 
 the rear, while a cloud of cavalry rides on in ad- 
 vance. It is easy to see that the advance would 
 have the best position and the least annoyance on a 
 march. 
 
 As the hours go by and the soldiers grow tired, 
 the men so jolly at the start, sober down ; and as 
 darkness comes on there is little talking except to 
 growl, and wonder "why in thunder don't they 
 give us a rest?" and nothing is heard besides but 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 219 
 
 the rattling of tin cups and canteens, and the tramp, 
 
 tramp of the weary thousands. At these times 
 there is a deal of thinking done sober thinking 
 about home, its comforts, friends, and the like ; and Tired 
 the monotony is broken after a while by such ex- soldiers. 
 pressions as "Wish I was h-o-m-e." "Me, too." 
 "Same here." "I'm another," etc. Soon some one 
 tells a story, or gets off a stale joke, or strikes up a 
 song, and the spirits of the men lighten up again. 
 Soon comes the welcome order "Halt." 
 
 Although we were always provided with cooked 
 rations on a march, still it would happen sometimes 
 that we run short, and then we tried our hands at 
 cooking a bit. Now hard-tack, unless a fellow is 
 pretty hungry, is mighty poor fodder ; but we on Uses of 
 occasions would improve it in cooking. Various 
 dishes can be made from the omnipresent hard-tack. 
 Soaked in cold water it becomes soft and puffy ; now 
 drop it into a pan of hot bacon fat and fry a few 
 minutes, and tell me, if you have been a soldier, is 
 it not a dish fit for a king if he is a hungry one ? 
 Soaking hard-tack in hot water would spoil it make 
 it leathery and tough. Then we made a sort of 
 pudding of it, and also the "slapjack sublime." 
 Sometimes the hard-tack was wormy (rare ex- 
 
220 The Story of Company A. 
 
 ception), but that was no detriment, for then we had 
 
 meat puddings. The inhabitants of the hard-tack 
 were curious creatures some had legs, some wings, 
 and some had both ; and it was very funny to see 
 one try to crawl one way with its legs and fly the 
 other way with its wings. Hard-tack pounded up 
 fine and boiled with bits of bacon, potato, or any- 
 thing the soldier happened to have, and salted a bit, 
 gave us a sort of skouse "slosh" we sometimes 
 called it. Skouse, like the mysterious hash of civil- 
 
 Skouse. ..... . , . T , 
 
 ized life, was, at times, rather uncertain. 1 have 
 heard of bits of pumpkin, the wristband of a 
 soldier's woolen shirt, and the heel of a brogan being 
 found in a dish of "slosh," 'twas not a good season 
 for slosh, either. 
 
 A man who has not been a soldier and seen active 
 
 campaigning does not know what it is to be either 
 
 comfortable or uncomfortable. What comfort after 
 
 a hard day's march to come to an early halt in a 
 
 Soldiers' clear field, fires soon built, coffee quickly made, and 
 
 comfort. a || ^ anc j s to SU pp er . How soon the ground dries 
 
 off around the bivouac fire. What chatting, joking, 
 laughing is going on tired of course; but now 
 the pipes are brought to the front how the boys 
 did stick to their pipes, sorry looking ones, some of 
 
2$tk Regt., Mass. Vols. 221 
 
 them and what enjoyment they get out of the old 
 briar-woods. Now as the genial warmth spreads 
 around and over the whole circle, tell me, Old 
 Comrade, is it not solid comfort ? Or again, in 
 camp, what though it is cold and rainy outside ? 
 We have a good, stout canvas over our heads, and 
 a comfortable bunk to crawl into by and by ; so let 
 it rain. We are off duty to-night. Poor fellows, 
 walking your beats in the wet, we pity you ! We 
 may be there tomorrow, but not now. Light the ^ r ^t 
 candles. How cheerful it looks ! Around the side - 
 center-pole stand the rifles ; how their bright barrels 
 glisten in the mellow light. The little stove works 
 admirably. Now the pipes, of course. Pass the 
 Killy-kanick ; or Billy Bow-legs, is it ? How the 
 smoke circles around the pole, filling the top of the 
 old Sibley tent. Here is a comrade writing a letter 
 home ; another reading a paper, smoking the while ; 
 another is doing a bit of mending ; and others are 
 having a game Old Sledge, may be with the 
 same old greasy cards that have done duty for so 
 many months. Old Comrade, tell me, is not this 
 real comfort ? 
 
 The boxes and bundles from home were always a 
 source of great pleasure and comfort to the soldiers. 
 
222 The Story of Company A. 
 
 What lots of things those boxes held clothing, 
 
 eatables, writing materials, thread, needles and such 
 little knicknacks. When a comrade received a box 
 from home it was surely a festal day in that tent. 
 All these were comforts indeed. 
 
 But there was another side from all this. What 
 could be more uncomfortable than a cold, cheerless 
 bivouac on the frozen ground, no fires allowed too 
 near the enemy consequently no coffee. We 
 munch the ever-present hard-tack in shivering' 
 
 Discom- 
 fort, silence, and quench our thirst with cold water from 
 
 the old canteen. Sleep is impossible, and we move 
 about all through the long, gloomy night to keep 
 from becoming immovable before morning. Again, 
 Old Comrade, is not this in the extreme uncomfort- 
 able ? 
 
 It is at first thought singular, perhaps, but it is, 
 nevertheless, true, that a private soldier sees and 
 knows little of what is going on around him in bat- 
 tle. If the line is formed and firing has commenced ; 
 if he is in his place in the ranks where it \s give and 
 take, he can see or know only what is going on in 
 his immediate vicinity. He is obeying orders ; the 
 enemy are before him ; he is loading and firing his 
 rifle as he is ordered to do. He hears the roar of 
 
2$th RegL, Mass. Vols. 223 
 
 artillery, the solid shot whistle by, and the shells go 
 
 screeching past, crashing through the trees if any 
 stand in the way. Yes, he actually sees these come. 
 He hears bullets zip, zip through the air so spite- 
 ful ; and he also hears the sickly thud of the ball as 
 it pierces the breast of his near comrade. He sees 
 his companions as they fall around him, and are 
 carried to the rear, or lying at his feet, dying. He 
 sees the gaps made in the lines by the fallen ones 
 closed up again. The noise and confusion at such 
 times are simply infernal. Wild hurrahs break upon Limited 
 the air as some part of the line is ordered to charge ; 
 but unless close by he hardly knows what brigade military 
 it may be. He hears at last, perhaps, that the mtme ~ 
 
 ments. 
 
 enemy are falling back beaten, and that a victory is 
 won ; and that is about all there is of it to a private 
 soldier in the ranks. The soldier marches and 
 counter-marches, why, except from hearsay, he 
 does not understand. Regiments and brigades are 
 pushed about by the commanding general like so 
 many pieces on a chess board, and the soldiers 
 know as little as the pawns of the reasons therefor. 
 Truly, the private soldier's means of knowing about 
 these things are rather limited, at best. 
 29 
 
224 Th e Story of Company A. 
 
 We learned from prisoners what brigades were 
 opposed to us, the names of their commanders, etc. 
 Thus, at Arrowfield Church, we heard from pris- 
 oners that Massachusetts and South Carolina had 
 jnet in a fair combat ; that the Twenty-fifth Massa- 
 
 Sources of 
 
 informa- chusetts and the Twenty-fifth South Carolina had 
 on ' come together on the bloody field ; and we knew, 
 for we had seen it, that the sons of South Carolina 
 had been beaten scattered like withered leaves. 
 So in all engagements, information is gained from 
 prisoners. 
 
 Commanding generals do not usually consult 
 with privates in regard to "what is to be done and 
 how to do it." Still, it is true, a soldier with eyes 
 and ears open, and tongue in his mouth, will pick 
 up a great deal of hearsay information from those 
 about him. But of great military movements, or of 
 the movements of any brigade save his own, he can 
 know but little till the thing is done. It doubtless 
 happens, sometimes, that commanding officers drop 
 a few words of information in the presence of some 
 soldier, but of what account is it ? It is also fre- 
 quently the case that regimental officers themselves 
 do not know what is to be done ; they are simply 
 obeying orders. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 225 
 
 We often hear of men who had rather go into a 
 
 battle than "eat a good dinner." These men are 
 not found in the ranks as a rule ; and wherever 
 found, there is no doubt about it, if the truth is told, 
 they had rather "eat their dinner," and take their 
 chance in a fight later on. "The whistling of bullets 
 was music to his ears" is an expression often used. 
 Quite likely, this ; but a deal depends on the dis- 
 tance of the bullet from the ears. If, in passing, it 
 chips off a piece of the ear, somehow the music is 
 not so pleasant as though the bullet was a few rods 
 further off, and it was a piece of some other soldier's 
 ear that was taken. Such talk should be taken for 
 what it is worth, which is very little. 
 
 All men were not equally good at marching. It 
 was not the largest and strongest men that marched Endur _ 
 the best. Those of lighter build, wiry, kinky fel- ance. 
 lows, were, as a rule, the toughest, and showed the 
 most endurance in campaigning. 
 
 Of the use of whiskey in the army, I must say 
 that in three years' experience of soldier life, I do 
 not remember a single instance (except in hospitals 
 and cases of sickness) in \yhich it was of the slight- 
 est use or benefit to the soldier, or where hot coffee 
 did not serve much better. I have often had the 
 
226 The Story of Company A. 
 
 boys say to me, "Sergeant, I wish I hadn't touched 
 
 that whiskey." Coffee was the soldier's friend ; 
 whiskey was his foe. 
 
 It is true that the soldier may forget until recalled 
 to his mind the hardships of campaigning the 
 weary night's march, the terrible thirst, the blister- 
 ing feet. He may forget days of suffering which 
 at the time seemed almost beyond endurance ; but 
 the pleasant yes, happy hours spent around the 
 camp fire, and at the cheerful bivouac, he never can 
 forget. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 RE-ENLISTING. 
 
 A FTER getting comfortably settled in our new 
 
 quarters at Camp Upton, the boys entered into a 
 
 Camp 
 Upton. 
 
 new industry for "off duty" hours. They made fre- 
 
 quent visits to the wrecks of the frigates Congress 
 and Cumberland, and obtained bits of copper and 
 wood from which they made rings, pins, crosses and 
 the like. Busy they must be, and this sort of busi- 
 ness occupied their leisure time for days. 
 
 The month of December passed quietly away. 
 There was enough to do, surely, with guard and 
 fatigue duty, and the regular daily drills. During 
 this month we were reviewed by General Butler. General 
 This was his first appearance to us, and we looked Butler - 
 at him with curious eyes as the man of whom we 
 had heard so much. 
 
228 The Story of Company A. 
 
 The camp here was a comfortable one, close on 
 the banks of the James river, and our stay was very 
 pleasant for soldier life. January, 1864, opened 
 cold and disagreeable enough, but it mattered not. 
 We were in good quarters, and enjoyed ourselves 
 here. 
 
 Early in December there had been some talk of 
 re-enlisting. Government was offering large boun- 
 ties for old soldiers to re-enlist, with a furlough of 
 
 Re-enlist- 
 ing, thirty days, they to be known as "veterans," etc. 
 
 All this was quite tempting, but the idea did not 
 seem very popular among us. Colonel Pickett had 
 explained to the Regiment in his usual short, but 
 clear and expressive way, the whole scheme ; and 
 without the slightest attempt to influence the men 
 in any way, told them to think the matter over 
 carefully and decide for themselves. This was frank, 
 Colonel's open, square and above-board, and what might be 
 attitude. ex p ectec j f rom Colonel Pickett. The absence of the 
 Colonel during the re-enlistment complications was 
 extremely unfortunate. His application for leave of 
 absence, however, was based upon the belief that 
 the Regiment, being in winter quarters, would re- 
 main inactive until early spring ; and the re-enlist- 
 ment scheme, to all appearances, having subsided, 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 229 
 
 he availed himself of the opportunity offered by the 
 
 1864. 
 
 Commander of the Department, at Fortress Mon- 
 roe, of accompanying what was then supposed to be 
 the last detachment of re-enlisted men, to Massa- 
 chusetts for thirty days. He was utterly astonished, 
 after reaching Worcester, to learn that the re-enlist- 
 ing fever had broken out again, and that the Regi- 
 ment was to come home on Veteran furlough. 
 
 Recruits were around among us now who had 
 received sums which seemed to the old soldiers, with 
 their hundred dollars bounty and their thirteen dol- Large 
 lars a month, almost fabulous ; and when one man 
 proved to us that he had received over twelve hun- 
 dred dollars down, and would receive his regular 
 soldier's pay too, it set us to figuring up the thing. 
 (These large sums were paid by individuals who 
 were drafted, for substitutes. The draft was being 
 enforced at this time.) 
 
 We were receiving the large sum of thirteen 
 dollars a month. This for three years would be 
 $468., or adding the regular $100. always paid by 
 Government, $568. for three years work, while this 
 fellow received more than double that amount in 
 bounties for the time he might be wanted, one year 
 or two, as the war might last. This was very dis- 
 
230 The Story of Company A. 
 
 - couraging to the old soldiers, and many, no doubt, 
 thought more strongly of re-enlisting to get the 
 bounty the Government was offering. 
 
 At different times in December, 1863, some one 
 hundred and fifty men of the Regiment had re-en- 
 listed, and early in January, 1864, sixty more. On 
 
 Depar- ^g j-^h o f this month the first party of re-enlisted 
 
 ture of re- 
 
 enlisted men l e ft on their thirty days' furlough. These men 
 men. W ere accompanied by Captain Foster and Lieuten- 
 ants Daly and Upton. A few days later over one 
 hundred more left, accompanied by Colonel Pickett, 
 Captain Tucker, and Lieutenants Bessey, McCarter 
 and Woodworth. Lieutenant Woodworth had been 
 appointed a recruiting officer, and had had charge 
 thus far of the recruits in the regiment. 
 
 With the departure of Colonel Pickett it was sup- 
 
 posed by at least the private soldiers, that this re- 
 
 enlisting business had "played out." Not so, how- 
 
 ever ; the vessel on which the Colonel sailed was 
 
 Renewed hardly out of sight before the talk of re-enlisting 
 
 efforts. De g an to increase, and the officers openly expressed 
 
 their wish to take home the Twenty-fifth as a vet- 
 
 eran regiment for a thirty days' furlough. To do 
 
 this, three-fourths of the duty men must re-enlist. 
 
 One day a printed order was brought to the 
 
2 $th Regt., Mass. Vols. 231 
 
 Orderly's tent by Sergeant-Major Charles B. Kendall, 
 
 with the request that it be read to Company A. 
 Accordingly the men were ordered to "fall in," 
 and the Orderly Sergeant, Samuel H. Putnam, 
 read, as required, the order; and "that no misunder- 
 standing might occur," read it carefully the second 
 time. The substance of it was that all men re-en- 
 listing would receive the large bounty offered by 
 the Government (amount specified in the order), 
 a thirty days' furlough, and be known as "veteran 
 soldiers." Those not re-enlisting would be "per- An as- 
 manently transferred to other organizations to serve toundtn s 
 
 order. 
 
 out their time of enlistment ; non-commissioned officers 
 to be reduced to the ranks" This was plain English, 
 and fell like a clap of thunder on the ears of the 
 men. "Drive us into it like dogs, will they?" "Con- 
 temptible." "Tell 'em to go to h 1, Sergeant ! " 
 Such were the exclamations heard after the reading 
 of the order. It is unnecessary to say that the 
 Orderly Sergeant made use of some forcible lan- 
 guage when he returned the order to Sergeant- 
 Major Kendall. 
 
 It has been doubted by some that such an out- 
 rageous order ever could have been issued to Union 
 soldiers, though there are plenty of men of "Old 
 30 
 
232 The Story of Company A, 
 
 Company A," now living, who heard it read and 
 
 will take oath to it ; but to satisfy others, the writer 
 addressed a note of inquiry concerning- this order to 
 General Butler, as follows : 
 
 WORCESTER, August , 1879. 
 Gen 1 Ben. F. Butler, 
 
 Lowell, Mass. 
 
 Sir : I was a member of Co. A, 25th 
 
 Reg., Mass. Vols. ; and while at Newport News, Virginia, an order 
 was issued concerning the re-enlistment of soldiers, in such terms 
 as these : Those re- enlisting should have the large bounties 
 offered, 30 days' furlough, and be known as veteran soldiers. 
 Those not re-enlisting should be permanently transferred to other 
 organizations to serve out the balance of their term of enlistment ; 
 non-com, officers to be reduced to the ranks. It was my duty as 
 orderly-sergeant to read this order to my company. My state- 
 ment to this effect, however, has been questioned ; and accordingly 
 I wish to know from you if such an order w^as issued, and by whose 
 authority. This inquiry is made for my own personal satisfaction. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 SAMUEL H. PUTNAM. 
 
 General Butler's reply is here given : 
 
 General 
 Butler's 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 4, 1879. 
 
 letter. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I cannot positively state of my own knowledge 
 by whose authority the order you speak of as to the re-enlistment 
 of veterans was made ; but I can say that I knew that such an 
 order was made, and that it was issued with due authority. If it 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 233 
 
 was issued from my headquarters it was only issued by authority 
 
 of the War Department, and was returned and never objected to 1864. 
 by that Department. Yours truly, 
 
 (Signed} BENJ. F. BUTLER. 
 S. H. Putnam, Esq., 
 389 Main St., 
 Worcester, Mass. 
 
 This letter is now in possession of the writer. 
 
 This, it would seem, must settle the question. But 
 the order, wherever it may have originated, whether 
 with the War Department or in the fertile brain of 
 Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, was mean, cow- 
 ardly and contemptible ; and after the departure of ature 
 
 the trans- 
 
 Colonel Pickett, Lieutenant Bessey, and those who action. 
 went home on furlough, the manner in which the 
 re-enlisting was conducted in the Twenty-fifth Reg- 
 iment, was, if possible, still more mean, cowardly 
 and contemptible.* It did seem as though all in 
 authority had lost their heads. They could hardly 
 praise enough those who would re-enlist, neither 
 could they say enough in censure of those who 
 would not. Officers could be seen almost any time 
 in the tents of the men urging them to put their 
 names down ; men were gathered in little groups 
 all over the camp discussing the subject ; still not 
 
 * I? this strong language? I am responsible. S. H. P. 
 
234 The Story of Company A. 
 
 enough re-enlisted to allow the Regiment to go 
 
 home on furlough. 
 
 Promises implying promotion were freely made, 
 and every inducement that could be thought of was 
 used. Other subtile agencies were at work, and 
 under their influence some acts were committed 
 that have been a source of regret ever since. The 
 climax was reached when the Regiment was drawn 
 up in line and harangued by the officers, the Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel leading off. He spoke of the very 
 liberal bounties offered by the Government for re- 
 speeches enlisted men ; of the great benefits to be gained, 
 f the with no great risk ; of the thirty days' furlough ; and 
 
 officers. 
 
 said doubtless the war would soon be ended, and if 
 a man should happen to lose an arm, he could say 
 he was a veteran soldier and lost it in the service of 
 his country ! On the other hand, he consoled those 
 who would not re-enlist by saying they would be 
 sent to Yorktown, which was a very sickly place 
 a perfect cemetery and their bones would bleach 
 there with those of McClellan's old mules ! He had 
 rather go into battle than go to Yorktown, and he 
 closed by saying, "All the best men are re-enlisting, 
 and there will be nothing left but the chaff of the 
 Twenty-fifth Regiment ! " a very unfortunate ex- 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 235 
 
 pression, and one that is remembered to this day. 
 
 1864. 
 The Major followed in very few words, advising 
 
 them .all to re-enlist. Captain Tom O'Neil and 
 others also spoke, and the men were dismissed to 
 their quarters to think the matter over. All this 
 twaddle of speech-making could be brought out if 
 necessary, for there was "a child among 'em taking 
 notes" at the time ; but it reads very flat now to 
 anyone who was there. 
 
 The effect of this order in Company A was that 
 not as many re-enlisted as would have done so 
 without it. Some who had thought seriously of E / ect f 
 
 . . 111 i the order. 
 
 doing so now swore they would not under any cir- 
 cumstances. The truth is, the men of Company A 
 were a hard lot to drive or frighten into a measure 
 like this. Prompt to obey, they were just as prompt 
 to defend their own rights (very few in the army), 
 and to express their opinions and stand by them. 
 It is but justice to say that in Company A not the 
 slightest effort was made by its officers to influence 
 the men to re-enlist. Captain Goodwin was at this 
 time on detached service in Massachusetts, Lieu- 
 tenant Bessey was absent on furlough, and Lieu- 
 tenant Burr was in command of the Company. 
 
236 The Story of Company A. 
 
 "Good God ! " said one of Company A, "if Pickett 
 was here he'd stop this wretched tomfoolery," and 
 he would have done so ; but Pickett was not there, 
 and the tomfoolery went on. This was all very 
 amusing, but in the eagerness of those in command 
 to carry out their scheme of taking home the Twen- 
 ty-fifth as a veteran regiment, they overstepped the 
 bounds of justice and right. 
 
 Considerable talk there was of patriotism during 
 
 the re-enlisting excitement. Great inducements 
 
 Was it offered men re-enlist. With no large bounties, 
 
 how many would have re-enlisted at this time ? Pa- 
 
 ism f 
 
 triotism was it ? 
 
 On the iQth of January fifty men, and on the 2Oth, 
 two hundred men were re-enlisted ; and as the time 
 appointed for this business had expired, those who 
 had not re-enlisted were ordered to start for York- 
 town on the morrow. 
 
 The result of air this was that the Regiment was 
 now divided into two factions "Vets" (veterans) 
 and "Used-to-bes."* Not that there was anything 
 like animosity among us, but there was a sort of 
 feeling; and it was plain to be seen ever after, 
 
 * "We want to go home and be citizens as we used to be" hence the name. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 237 
 
 though orders were obeyed as before, that the en- 
 
 thusiasm of the earlier days of the Regiment had 
 departed, never to return. 
 
 On the 2ist of January Companies A, G and I, 
 as companies, and other members of the Regiment, 
 to the number of two hundred and twenty-five men, 
 left Camp Upton in heavy marching order for that 
 cemetery, Yorktown, under command of Captain 
 Parkhurst and Lieutenants Saul and Johnson, the 
 latter formerly Orderly Sergeant of Company A 
 ("Old Posey"). Doctor Hoyt also accompanied us. 
 As they stood ready to march "I went up and down ,. , 
 
 * Yorktown 
 
 the line looking into the faces of the men. Firm and 
 resolute they were. Here one in the ranks says : 
 'Good-bye, Bill,' to one in the camp ; 'Good luck, 
 Sam,' from one in the camp to one in the ranks. 
 Shaking hands here and there, tearful eyes on 
 both sides. It was a sorry sight." 
 
 They were thinking men. They had taken in the 
 situation at a glance, had quietly thought over the 
 matter, and had decided they would not re-enlist. 
 Many had families at home, and three years' ab- 
 sence was enough for them. Were they not right? 
 They had fulfilled their contract with the Govern- 
 
238 The Story, of Company A. 
 
 ment thus far to the very letter, and would to the 
 
 end. Why should they do more ? 
 
 They could not be bought or bribed with large 
 bounties and a thirty days' furlough. They could 
 not be cajoled by honeyed words in promise of 
 promotion or preferment. Nor were they fright- 
 ened by the harsh words of that contemptible order 
 with its "permanently transferred" and "reduced to 
 the ranks" threats. Neither did visions of that 
 dread cemetery, Yorktown, disturb their slumbers 
 in the least. 
 
 Here were men by scores who had been in every 
 fight and on every march in which the Twenty-fifth 
 had participated ; never known to shirk a day's duty 
 or shun a day's work ; always ready now kicked 
 out the chaff of the Twenty-fifth Regiment. 
 
 To their credit be it said, they always spoke well 
 of their old comrades, and did their best to uphold 
 the honor and name of the Regiment. Under the 
 blue jacket of the private soldier there stood a man. 
 
 This matter of re-enlisting was simply disgrace- 
 ful, and is the one foul blot on the otherwise fair 
 escutcheon of the Twenty-fifth Regiment. A man 
 can be a man though but a private soldier ; he can 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 239 
 
 be less than a man though he wears the badge of 
 
 office in the United States service. 
 
 It may be said, Why call up these things to-day ? 
 "The story of Company A" cannot be told without it. 
 "We should forgive and forget" how pretty! For- 
 give is one thing, forget another ; the first is easy, 
 the latter impossible. 
 
 The order to march was given, and we left Camp 
 Upton about 1 1 A. M. of January 2ist, supposing we Onour 
 had seen the last of it and our old comrades. We cemetery. 
 had expected, or rather, hoped, that some officer of 
 our own regiment would, man-fashion, volunteer to 
 go with us, see what became of us, and stay with us 
 to the end. Here was an opportunity he would 
 have been one of the most popular officers in the 
 Regiment ; but he did not come. We hear much of 
 the love officers have for their men. Was this a 
 specimen of it ? 
 
 The day's march was a pleasant one of ten or 
 twelve miles, and we bivouacked in the early even- 
 ing- near an old church at Little Bethel. This old Little 
 
 ... Bethel. 
 
 church a mere shell with nothing left inside but 
 the floor we cleaned out as well as we could, and 
 after supper candles were lighted, a violin found, 
 and, a dance started. And such a dance ! From 
 3* 
 
240 The Story of Company A, 
 
 the outside it was a curious sight light streaming- 
 out of the sashless windows and wide open doors, 
 while rude bursts of laughter were heajd from the 
 dancers and lookers-on. It was a weird scene, and 
 rivalled the witch dance in Tarn O'Shanter. As the 
 fun waxed furious it was amusing to see the guard, 
 posted by the Captain some time before, come 
 quietly into the building, cooly take off equipments, 
 set their rifles up in a corner, and join in the "all 
 hands round." This was really not according to 
 "army regulations," and might be "conduct preju- 
 dicial to good order and military discipline"; but 
 then, what of it? Who were we, anyhow? We 
 were not supposed to belong to the Twenty-fifth 
 Regiment we had been kicked out of that ; and we 
 knew nothing of any other. We were a sort of 
 independent battalion, and we did feel independent. 
 So the fun went on until the candles burnt low, 
 when the dancing ceased, and the guard donned 
 their equipments, shouldered their rifles, and strode 
 out into the darkness to their posts. 
 
 The next day the march was continued to York- 
 town over miles of McClellan's corduroy roads. We 
 reached Yorktown, a distance of about twelve miles, 
 a little before noon, and here we halted till nearly 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 241 
 
 6 P. M., when orders were received to push on to 
 
 _QC . 
 
 Williamsburg, some fifteen miles further. We saw 
 no reason for this ; we could have made the distance 
 instead of resting at Yorktown ; now it would be an 
 all night's job. But we supposed this to be a part Severe 
 of the great re-enlisting scheme to break us down 
 twenty-seven miles in one day in heavy marching 
 order; and the cry was raised: "Now will you re- 
 enlist?" "Oh, why did you go for a soger?" 
 
 This march to Williamsburg was quite a severe 
 one, still there was very little straggling, and about 
 T o'clock on the morning of January 23d we reached 
 our journey's end. We bivouacked on the ground, 
 cold and frosty as it was, and slept till broad day- 
 light. 
 
 We pitched our tents here, for Companies A, G 
 and I had left Camp Upton as companies, and had 
 tents and all company property with them. Our camp 
 camp was known as Camp Hancock, in honor Q{ Hancock - 
 General Hancock, who had fought over this ground. 
 This was near the junction of Queen's creek and 
 York river. 
 
 Lieutenant Burr arrived shortly after, and took 
 command of Company A, acting as adjutant. We 
 soon commenced doing picket duty just outside of 
 
242 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Williamsburg. One day about sixty men of the 
 
 Eleventh Connecticut arrived here, and were located 
 near us in shelter tents. They had not re-enlisted, 
 what a bad lot of fellows they must have been ! 
 We wondered if they were the chaff of the Eleventh 
 Connecticut. 
 
 Camp Hancock was about two miles from Wil- 
 liamsburg, and nearly the same from Fort Magruder, 
 which mounted twenty guns with a ditch around it. 
 The face of the country in this vicinity was dotted 
 with rifle pits, ditches, breastworks, and the like, 
 and was thickly strewn with fragments of arms and 
 equipments, clothing, etc.; and the long lines of 
 Effects trenches near Fort Magruder, now sunken, where 
 of war. men ky h un d rec i s were buried, showed the terrible 
 struggle the Union soldiers had in taking Williams- 
 burg. It is said they charged three times before 
 the fort was taken, and then it was flanked. At one 
 point in this vicinity ten fortifications, forts, batteries, 
 etc. were in sight. 
 
 The country here was fairly wooded with cedar, 
 walnut, chincapin, elm and chestnut. From the 
 river we had oysters, very abundant and large, and 
 we went for them strong. This country is pro- 
 nounced very healthy. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 243 
 
 Our second day at Camp Hancock we had visitors 
 
 1864. 
 from Camp Upton. It appeared they had not yet 
 
 got the three-fourths necessary of the duty men to 
 re-enlist, and Adjutant McConville and Lieutenant 
 Drennan made their appearance. McConville had 
 not been present during the re-enlisting excitement, 
 and we were surprised to see him here. They tried Re-eniist- 
 
 11 i i ing agents 
 
 to talk more re-enlisting to us, but it was no use ; 
 and when (in accordance with their orders it was 
 said) they desired Surgeon Hoyt to put as many of 
 us on the sick list as possible, thereby increasing 
 the proportion of duty men at Camp Upton, he 
 laughed in their faces, and said that men who could 
 stand the journey to Williamsburg in heavy march- 
 ing order, were not very sick he guessed. All this 
 was very queer it made Captain Parkhurst laugh. 
 He told the visitors they had got into the wrong 
 pew ; so they went back to Camp Upton, taking one 
 or two men to re-enlist. 
 
 On January 2Qth Major Mulcahy, of the One- 
 hundred-and-thirty-ninth New York, assumed com- 
 
 3 Officers 
 
 mand. Our own officers left a day or two later ; leave. 
 and we were then in a singular situation : two hun- 
 dred and twenty-five men of one of the best Massa- 
 chusetts regiments without an officer of their own 
 
244 The Story of Company A. 
 
 ' 
 
 - to command them, wringing words of praise from 
 the lips of the strange officers who were placed over 
 them, and loud in their praise of the Commander of 
 their old regiment, and of the men who composed 
 it. It was a singular state of affairs. 
 
 February 4th we broke camp and marched to the 
 camp of the One-hundred-and-thirty-ninth New 
 York, and being drawn up in line, were counted off 
 in lots and assigned to the different companies of 
 Assigned, ^^ re gi ment - Some went to their camp, and two 
 lots went into Fort Magruder with Companies F and 
 G of that regiment. This, we thought, was the last 
 act in that contemptible farce of re-enlisting. 
 
 The next day at dress parade, Colonel Roberts 
 made a short speech. Addressing himself to the 
 members of the Twenty-fifth, he complimented them 
 on their soldierly appearance, and said he under- 
 stood the Yankee boys thought they were perma- 
 nently transferred to his regiment, and that the non- 
 commissioned officers were to be reduced to the 
 
 /erred, ranks ; this was a mistake, as they were only tem- 
 porarily assigned to his regiment, and would remain 
 only until the re-enlisted men returned from their 
 furlough, when they were to go back to their own 
 regiment. As for non-commissioned officers, he 
 
2$th Regt., Mass, Vols. 245 
 
 had no authority to reduce them to the ranks their 
 
 own regimental officers must do that. He would 
 simply request them to do duty with his men in 
 their respective ranks until they did return to the 
 Twenty- fifth. 
 
 This little speech explained the whole matter. 
 We found in Colonel Roberts a man. It is fair to Colonel 
 
 Roberts' 
 
 presume that the officers of the Twenty-fifth must s p eec h. 
 have known as much about the re-enlisting as* did 
 Colonel Roberts, but concealed it from the men, 
 and set up a scarecrow in the re-enlisting farce. 
 The speech of Colonel Roberts was received with a 
 round of cheers by the men of the Twenty-fifth, in 
 which the New York regiment joined, and for some 
 minutes the Colonel could not be heard. He then 
 stated that a raid was to be undertaken on the 
 morrow in which his regiment was to join, and all 
 must expect a severe march. To the Twenty-fifth 
 Regiment he had nothing to say ; they knew their 
 duty and would do it he was assured, though with- 
 out a single officer of their own. Parade was then 
 dismissed. 
 
 Early morning of February 6th found us in line, 
 and we marched into Williamsburg. When the 
 column was formed it comprised the One-hundred- 
 
246 The Story of Company A. 
 
 and-thirty-ninth and One-hundred-and-eighteenth 
 
 New York, two regiments of colored troops, and I 
 believe but a single battery, all under command of 
 General Wistar. We heard that a regiment of cav- 
 alry was to follow us. As we marched through the 
 town it was plain to be seen that it had suffered 
 from the effects of the war ; few inhabitants were 
 left ; many houses deserted and many burned. 
 
 Williams J J 
 
 burg. William and Mary College, one of the oldest in 
 America, had also been destroyed by Union soldiers 
 in revenge, it was said, for having been fired on 
 from its windows. Though the walls were mostly 
 standing, it was completely ruined. Williamsburg 
 was a still, sunny old place, with one principal street, 
 and our boys, when we left this section, had learned 
 to love the old town for the air of peace and quiet- 
 ness that seemed to hang over it. 
 
 About a mile beyond the town we entered the 
 forest, when skirmishers, or rather, flankers, were 
 thrown out, and the column moved on at a good, 
 smart pace till noon, when a halt was made to let 
 the cavalry pass, of which there must have been a 
 regiment, say twelve or fifteen hundred men. From 
 this time the march was quite severe, and began to 
 tell on the New Yorkers. We of the Twenty-fifth 
 
2 $th Regt., Mass. Vols. 247 
 
 however, were used to this sort of business, and 
 
 -~ : > 1864. 
 
 worried but little over it. At every halt our boys 
 
 would drop to the ground and get all the rest there 
 was to be had, and move on at the word of command. 
 Major Mulcahy hardly knew how to take us ; he 
 endeavored to keep us on our feet, but it was no go. 
 He talked loud and scolded some. Colonel Roberts, 
 riding up, asked him the cause of the trouble : 
 "Why, you see, Colonel, at every halt these men Major 
 simultaneously sit down." This expression brought ucay - 
 out a roar of laughter from the Twenty-fifth boys, 
 in which Colonel Roberts joined. The Major dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 Fcr miles after this the soldiers tramped on in 
 perfect good humor. Most of the A boys instead 
 of loading down with rations for three days, figured 
 it thus: four hard-tack for breakfast (with coffee), Rations. 
 six hard-tack for dinner (with salt horse), four hard- 
 tack for supper (with coffee again) forty-two hard- 
 tack, all told, for three days, which with coffee and 
 meat, was ample, and gave us a light load to carry. 
 We marched rapidly, reaching New Kent, about 
 thirty miles, near midnight ; and after coffee, and a 
 rest of three hours, were on the road again. About 
 noon we reached Baltimore Cross Roads ; here 
 3 2 
 
248 The Story of Company A. 
 
 several roads intersect, one going direct to Rich- 
 mond, crossing the Chickahominy at Bottom's 
 bridge, only two or three miles distant ; others to 
 White House and Charles City. 
 
 We struck the Chickahominy river at Bottom's 
 
 bridge, but the enemy were found there in force, 
 
 Bottoms an d the bridge had been destroyed ; so excepting a 
 
 bridge, little desultory firing, with six or eight killed and 
 
 wounded, nothing was done, and we returned to 
 
 Williamsburg, bivouacking one night near what was 
 
 called the "Twelve Mile Ordinary," where once 
 
 was a tavern. 
 
 After near three days' absence, not a man of the 
 Twenty-fifth was found straggling ; but the New 
 Yorkers kept coming in for twenty-four hours after. 
 We had marched from fifty to sixty miles. Be- 
 
 No 
 
 stragglers ^ ore we Dr ke ranks Colonel Roberts again spoke 
 to his soldiers. He called attention to the fact that 
 while his men were picked up straggling in such 
 numbers, not one of the Twenty-fifth was so found. 
 He also called the attention of officers as well as 
 men to the discipline and behavior of those who, 
 without an officer of their own, could go on a severe 
 march without a straggler, and return in better con- 
 dition than his own regiment. The truth is, the 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 249 
 
 Twenty-fifth boys were right on their "proud," and 
 
 1864* 
 kept up their dignity and self-respect, and after all 
 
 had at heart the honor and good name of their old 
 regiment. 
 
 The object of the expedition seems to have been 
 to make a stand at Bottom's bridge while the cav- 
 alry made a dash at Richmond, liberating prisoners, 
 and burning the city if possible ; but, as we have 
 seen, it was a failure. 
 
 Our picket line extended from the York to the 
 James rivers, about four miles ; and with gunboats 
 on either flank, was a strong one. After our raid, 
 prisoners escaped from Richmond came in often, in 
 squads of from four to six men ; and on the 23d 
 of February, five officers came in and reported no 
 enemy between us and Bottom's bridge. A squad 
 from Longstreet's corps came in and surrendered 
 themselves at another time. 
 
 One of the picket posts in Williamsburg was at 
 the old brick house once occupied by Governor 
 Page of Virginia. It was built of brick imported 
 from England. The library in this mansion was a 
 room about eighteen by twenty feet, and the walls 
 had been covered with books from floor to ceiling ; 
 but now the shelving had been torn down, and the 
 
250 The Story of Company A. 
 
 floor was piled with books in wretched disorder 
 
 1864. 
 
 trampled on most pitiful to see. In the attic 
 
 of this old house the boys found trunks and 
 boxes of papers of a century past documents, 
 letters, etc. Among the latter were those bearing 
 the signatures of such men as Jefferson, Madison, 
 Richard Henry Lee ; and one or more signed by 
 Washington. 
 
 Early on the morning of February igth orders 
 came for the One-hundred-and-thirty-ninth to pre- 
 pare for a march at 7 A. M., with three days' rations. 
 They were sent to Newport News, and we were now 
 more alone. The Twenty-fifth boys in Fort Magruder 
 alone. were re li eve( J by a company of heavy artillery, and 
 marched to the old camp of the New York regiment, 
 and we were all together once more. Two lieuten- 
 ants from the One-hundred-and-forty-eighth New 
 York, whose names I have forgotten, assumed com- 
 mand of the Twenty-fifth men here at this camp, 
 which was known as Camp West ; and we were 
 divided into three companies, thus : Company A, 
 Sergeant Putnam ; Company G, Sergeant Lee ; 
 Company I, Sergeant Moulton ; and with the two 
 lieutenants in command we were in good shape. 
 Camp West (named for Colonel West who was in 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 251 
 
 command here) was very comfortable. The men 
 
 1864. 
 had wooden shanties, while the officers' quarters 
 
 were very pretty cottages made of upright Jogs, one 
 story high, most of them, and very neatly fashioned. 
 
 We had not drawn clothing for some time, and 
 when we left Camp Upton many of the men wanted 
 jackets, shoes, and other articles ; and the hard ser- 
 vice since leaving that camp had put us in bad shape. 
 In some cases men going on duty would have to siate of 
 take the shoes and jackets of those who came off', anefarmSm 
 and thus keep things moving. The New York offi- 
 cers were, naturally, unwilling to be responsible for 
 clothing issued to our men ; and non-commissioned 
 officers being of no account, or rather, in a military 
 sense, not responsible parties, of course we could 
 not get clothing, and had to resort to such means 
 as have been mentioned. 
 
 "I one day found some old shoes in a refuse heap, 
 and gave them to one of Company A (Gus Stone, 
 I think) who seemed glad enough to get them." 
 Our arms were beginning to need repairs, but 
 nothing could be done in that respect ; still they 
 were always clean and bright, and at the drills we 
 had we received the highest praise from the New 
 York officers. 
 
252 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Towards the close of February an officer from 
 1864. 
 
 General Butler's headquarters came, as he said, to 
 
 inspect the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment ; 
 and when the men were drawn up in companies, 
 and for his benefit put through the manual, he ex- 
 pressed great surprise, and pronounced them the 
 best drilled regiment in the Department. When 
 told that these men were simply the "chaff" of the 
 Twenty-fifth Regiment, and had been kicked out of 
 it because they would not re-enlist, his anger knew 
 no bounds. "What is all this? No officers of your 
 own? and on that raid to Bottom's bridge? Why 
 
 Comment 
 
 O f the this is outrageous contemptible. I'll report this 
 inspector.^ headquarters." Such was his language (I regret 
 I have not this officer's name); and when each com- 
 pany, as inspected, was marched away at his desire 
 under command of a "non-com," who put the men 
 through the evolutions, as wheeling, etc., he de- 
 clared he never inspected a better drilled lot of men. 
 Very good for the chaff what must the better part 
 of the Regiment have been ? 
 
 The inspector also said that officers who would 
 use men this way deserved to be cashiered, while 
 every non-commissioned officer on the ground was 
 worthy a commission. This is not exaggerated a 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 253 
 
 particle. It was written down at the time, and is 
 
 still legible, though in pencil. It was a strange 
 spectacle men so well drilled yet so ragged ; still 
 there was no complaint, and the men went to their 
 duty cheerfully, and began to look at the whole 
 affair as a huge joke. 
 
 While at Camp West the Twenty-fifth went on 
 several short raids, bringing in families, horses, etc. 
 One morning more men were found in line ready 
 for the march than were reported fit for duty the 
 day before ; and the New York officers on inquiry Pluck. 
 were told that the Twenty-fifth had no sick ones at 
 such times. They said : "Well, we don't under- 
 stand you Yankee soldiers." 
 
 March 2d we were relieved by the Eleventh 
 Connecticut, and on the 3d left Camp West and 
 started for Newport News, reaching- Yorktown in 
 
 Newport 
 
 the afternoon, and finally halting some distance News. 
 beyond. The next day we reached Newport News 
 in the afternoon. 
 
 While at Camp West we of course made the best 
 of the situation, and an incident I remember as very 
 amusing at the time, was this : Sergeant Wesson 
 ("Rats") with Corporal George R. Brown occupied 
 a small house together. Now when we first arrived 
 
254 The Story of Company A. 
 
 at Camp West, "Rats" noticed a number of fowls 
 
 running around here, probably left by the New 
 York regiment ; and after a deal of pains, managed 
 to catch them all three or four. "One day I was 
 surprised with an invitation to dine with Wesson. 
 The word sounded strangely, but at the proper 
 hour I made my appearance at Sergeant Wesson's 
 cabin, and was met with his 'Hallo, Sergeant, have 
 a seat.' A small table was in the center of the 
 floor, on which were tin plates, cups, knives, forks 
 
 A dinner. 
 
 and spoons, with soft bread and a covered dish. 
 The cabin was filled with an odor extremely pleas- 
 ant to a hungry man. What could it be ? Hog I 
 knew, salt horse I knew, and stewed beans in the 
 old black camp kettle I knew ; but what was this 
 savory smell that took me back to the days when 
 we lived in 'God's country,'* and occasionally dined? 
 Can it be ? It was chicken Jricasseed ; and we 
 dined. Soldiers sometimes do get a sort of civilized 
 meal." 
 
 The country around Williamsburg is cut up by 
 many ravines, and on one running from the York 
 
 * A common expression in the army for home. Also called "The land of 
 biled shirts." 
 
2 '5tk Regt., Mass. Vols. 255 
 
 to the James river, Fort Magruder was built, named 
 
 1864* 
 for the Rebel general who erected it. 
 
 We were received with much surprise by those of 
 the Twenty-fifth who had returned from furlough, 
 and though they seemed glad to see us, they had 
 hardly expected it. Colonel Pickett returned with Return 
 the re-enlisted men, and the Regiment was again to the 
 reunited under his command. During his absence egim 
 he had been kept in profound ignorance of the un- 
 fair and reprehensible methods resorted to for the 
 purpose of reopening the re-enlistment question. 
 But when all the facts came to his knowledge, he 
 expressed in the strongest terms his condemnation, 
 not only of the unjustifiable measures used by the 
 officers left in charge of the Regiment to induce the 
 men to re-enlist, but of the outrageous usage of 
 those who for their own good reasons declined to 
 do so. 
 
 March 22d a severe storm set in, and snow lay 
 six inches deep in camp rather rough for canvas 
 walls. On the 26th, about 9 A. M., we left Newport 
 News for Portsmouth, and in the afternoon a steamer 
 arrived bringing all the re-enlisted men. So Com- 
 pany A was all together once more, and again there 
 was a Twenty-fifth Regiment. 
 33 
 
256 The Story of Company A. 
 
 There were many recruits brought out at this 
 time, and the Regiment must have numbered eight 
 hundred men. We had been absent from the Regi- 
 ment about two months. On the 2yth of March 
 we went into camp at Getty's Station, which was 
 known as Camp Wellington, in honor of T. W. 
 Wellington, one of Worcester's most patriotic citi- 
 zens. 
 
 While in the neighborhood of Getty's Station we 
 once passed a large tent on which was painted in 
 Bodies ^ a n letters, "Bodies Embalmed," suggesting 
 embalmed pleasant thoughts to the soldier. "W T hat do you 
 think of that, fellows?" said one. "How would you 
 like to be embalmed and go home on a furlough?" 
 asked another. "What do you suppose 'tis?" 
 "Well, I reckon it's some kind of a pickle" said an- 
 other careless talk of thoughtless soldiers. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE BATTLE SUMMER. 
 
 pAMP WELLINGTON was on the railroad lead 
 
 gg 
 
 ing to Suffolk, and but a few miles from Ports- 
 mouth. The tents were nicely pitched when one 
 day a heavy rain came on, and most of those be- 
 longing to Company A were completely flooded 
 out. 
 
 April 1 2th, at midnight, Companies A and D had 
 orders to fall in, light marching order, and twenty 
 extra rounds. In a few minutes Company A was 
 in line. The Colonel riding up, it being quite dark, 
 asked, "What company is that?" ''Company A, 
 sir" said the Orderly. "Just what I thought" was 
 the response. "He knows Old Company A, don't 
 he?" whispered one in the ranks. Company D 
 soon joined us, and we marched to the station and 
 took the cars. We reached a place called Magnolia 
 
258 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Station, where we bivouacked. The next morning 
 
 we marched to Suffolk and halted for the rest of the 
 day and again bivouacked. On the i4th, after 
 marching six or eight miles beyond Suffolk and 
 finding bridges destroyed, without even a skirmish 
 we returned to Camp Wellington, reaching there on 
 A raid. ^ e mormn ' of the 1 5th. The whole affair was, it 
 seems, a hunt for guerrillas, in which the other wing 
 of the Regiment took part, going by boat to Smith- 
 field ; but the expedition was no great success. 
 
 Camp Wellington was not on the best ground 
 that could be chosen, and Company A moved to 
 the rear where the land was higher. "One night 
 'twas long after taps we heard water running in 
 our tent, and on getting up to see what the trouble 
 was, found ourselves ankle-deep in cold water. 
 Here was a go. Striking a light, we found the 
 water running through the tent. What could we 
 do? One Sergeant sat on his bunk wringing the 
 A shower. wa ^ er ou ^ o f n } s jacket ; another on a cracker box 
 was fishing up shoes and stockings from the deep ; 
 while 'Rats' Wesson sat on a three-legged stool and 
 sung 'I feel like one forsaken.' It was an uncom- 
 fortable 'incident,' but comical. For two hours the 
 rain poured, and then suddenly ceased. 'Rats' 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 259 
 
 procured a shovel, dug a deep hole in the center of 
 
 1864* 
 the tent into which the water ran, and then bailed 
 
 out the hole ! " 
 
 The weather during our stay at Camp Welling- 
 ton was, much of it, wet and disagreeable ; but the 
 boys took advantage of the pleasant days to cut 
 slats in the woods for stockades on which to raise 
 our tents. Dave Bigelow and one man cut two 
 hundred and fifty in one day. 
 
 . We had heard that Plymouth, N. C., was sur- 
 rounded by the Rebels, and that General Wessells 
 was besieged there. We were ordered to his as- 
 sistance, and on the 22d of April embarked for 
 North Carolina on board a steamer a double- 
 ender and soon entered the Dismal Swamp canal. 
 This was in part a natural stream and partly artifi- Great 
 
 Dismal 
 
 cial, and did not admit of very large craft; was swamp. 
 narrow, of no great depth, and very crooked. It 
 afforded a short cut from the James river to Albe- 
 marle sound, saving an outside passage around 
 Cape Hatteras. The steamer was provided with 
 iron plates that could be put into position on the 
 sides, affording quite a protection from rifle shots. 
 The Dismal Swamp had been infested by Rebels 
 who had kept up a sort of guerrilla warfare, firing 
 
260 The Story of Company A. 
 
 into boats, and indeed capturing one, so they went 
 
 1864. 
 
 armored. . 
 
 It was bright moonlight as we entered the canal, 
 and we were at once in the forest, for this swamp 
 covers an immense tract of country and is one vast 
 wilderness, having in its center a large sheet of 
 water called Lake Drummond. In many places the 
 stream was so narrow that the trees swept both 
 sides of the boat, and the turns were so short that 
 we were constantly getting aground. The scene as 
 
 Great we movec ^ on was one f singular wildness and 
 Dismal beauty. Many of the trees were draped with long 
 xm ^' streamers of gray moss which waved gently in the 
 night air ; and the boat moving now in shadow, now 
 in bright moonlight, gave a weird effect to the whole 
 scene, making it very fascinating. We passed a 
 landing where our old friends, the One-hundred- 
 and-thirty-ninth New York, were stationed, and 
 right glad were we to see them a pleasant surprise 
 for both parties. It was not until the morning of 
 the 24th that we entered Currituck sound, reach- 
 ing Roanoke Island about noon of the same day. 
 
 We here heard of the capture of Plymouth by the 
 Rebels, so our services were not needed, and the 
 Regiment was ordered back to Getty's Station, 
 
25th Regt., Mass, Vols. 261 
 
 Company A being left on the Island. We found 
 
 Roanoke as we had left it, except that there were 
 more darky settlers. 
 
 After a stay of three days the Company was or- 
 dered back to Getty's Station the same way we came ; 
 and leaving the Island on the morning of the 27th 
 of April, reached our old camp at midnight of 
 that day, finding it deserted, the Regiment having 
 been ordered to that cemetery, Yorktown. We 
 occupied the abandoned camp that night, and next 
 day went to Portsmouth where all company prop- 
 erty was stored. We left here our knapsacks and 
 woolen blankets, leaving us with only our rubber 
 blankets and the clothes we had on no more. 
 From Portsmouth we went to Norfolk and took a 
 steamer for Yorktown, arriving at evening of the 
 same day, and the Regiment was again all together. 
 
 Our temporary camp of shelter tents was on the 
 York river, some forty or fifty feet above the water. 
 It would seem to be a classic neighborhood for classic 
 Americans here. We, the "Used-to-bes," had grt 
 tramped over the fields where the British laid down 
 their arms in the Revolution ; we had traced out the 
 lines of earthworks of the contending armies of that 
 day ; but of Yorktown little can be said : a very few 
 
262 TJie Story of Company A. 
 
 old buildings and it is doubtful if a house has been 
 
 built there in the last hundred years. The building 
 occupied by Cornwallis was pointed out, but private 
 soldiers did not have much time to attend to such 
 matters. 
 
 Heckman here assumed command of his brigade. 
 
 o 
 
 It consisted of the Twenty-third, Twenty-fifth and 
 Twenty-seventh Massachusetts, and the Ninth New 
 Jersey. Here the whole corps was reviewed by 
 General Butler. 
 
 We were in the First Brigade, Second Division 
 of the Eighteenth Army Corps, General W. F. 
 ("Baldy") Smith. The Tenth and Eighteenth 
 Corps formed the Army of the James, commanded 
 by General Butler. 
 
 Our brigade, early one warm May morning, was 
 marched towards Williamsburg a few miles, the 
 To Twenty-seventh in advance. The roads were heavy 
 dust, and we "Used-to-bes" chuckled some to 
 think the whole Regiment had been ordered to 
 visit that cemetery, Yorktown, and was now march- 
 ing over the same old dusty road we had tramped 
 a few weeks before. We came to a halt about mid- 
 day, and at 2 p. M. commenced our return march, 
 the Ninth New Jersey leading off; and we reached 
 

V 
 
 
 \ 
 
 MAP 
 
 OF 
 
 BERMUDA HUNDREDS 
 
 AND VICINITY. 
 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 N 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 Varina \ 
 Aiken's Landm 
 

 
2 5th Regt., Mass. Vols. 263 
 
 our camp pretty well tired out. It seems that all 
 
 1864. 
 this marching was but a feint, for on the 4th of May 
 
 we went on board transports with three days' rations, 
 and steaming down the York river, at 5 p. M. an- 
 chored at Fortress Monroe. 
 
 Sunrise of May 5th we were on the move again, 
 gunboats in advance, headed up the James river. 
 The day was clear and bright, and the long line of 
 steamers crowded with men, stretching for miles on 
 this beautiful river, reminded us forcibly of our ad- 
 vance on Roanoke Island, and of our departure from 
 Annapolis. 
 
 We noticed squads of Negroes running along the 
 banks of the river, with little bundles in their hands, 
 
 Up the 
 
 making all sorts of gestures to us as if they would river _ 
 like to be taken aboard slaves evidently seeking a 
 chance to escape. We passed the ruins of James- 
 town and Harrison's landing on our right, Fort 
 Powhatan on our left, and at 5 p. M. reached City 
 Point, at the mouth of the Appomatox river. We 
 here found our old friend, the steamer New York, 
 now a flag of truce boat, making trips to Richmond 
 occasionally. We moved still further up the river 
 and arrived at Bermuda Hundred. The troops 
 landed in a very short time, and our brigade was 
 
 34 
 
264 The Story of Company A. 
 
 soon in line, and climbing the steep banks marched 
 
 through cultivated lands, and finally bivouacked in 
 a field of clover. The night passed quietly away, 
 not a shot being fired. 
 
 On the morning of the 6th we were again in line, 
 the Twenty-seventh men in advance, the Twenty- 
 fifth following. We marched through woods of oak 
 Cob i? s and pine, crossed several small creeks, and reached 
 HilL a considerable hill, up which we moved slowly and 
 cautiously, and on reaching its summit about noon, 
 took possession of "Cobb's Hill" without the firing 
 of a gun. 
 
 The view from Cobb's Hill was a fine one, and 
 very extensive. Looking to the southwest the 
 Appomatox came flowing towards us, and on its 
 banks stood the Rebel fort, Clifton ; beyond, and 
 perhaps eight or ten miles distant, were the spires 
 of Petersburg. The whole country around lay 
 spread out like a carpet at our feet, and the scene 
 would have been anything but warlike had it not 
 been for the tramp of soldiers and the rumble of 
 artillery, which continued for hours as the troops 
 hurried by pur bivouac. These were the Tenth and 
 Eighteenth Corps which composed the Army of the 
 James. 
 
noissance. 
 
 25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 265 
 
 Cobb's Hill is about eighteen miles from Rich- 
 
 - 1864. 
 mond. It was said that Petersburg could have been 
 
 taken at this time if our troops had been pushed 
 ahead at once, as there were few Rebel troops in 
 the town. It is easy to tell what "might have been"; 
 but it was not known then how many troops were 
 there and if an error was made it was on the safe 
 side, and the capture "was not to be." 
 
 About 4 P. M. we were ordered to fall in, and our 
 brigade, General Heckman in command, with two 
 pieces of artillery, started out on a reconnoissance. A 
 We marched down the hill and through woody 
 swamps and fields, a distance of three or four miles, 
 when we heard shots fired in advance which denoted 
 that we had found the enemy. We soon entered a 
 large field and formed in close column by division ; 
 some distance ahead was a rail fence, and beyond a 
 railroad, behind the banks of which was the enemy 
 we sought. Company A was sent to the right to 
 act as flankers, and entering a wood on rising 
 ground and coming to a halt, we witnessed with 
 intense interest the movements going on so near. 
 
 We saw our boys advance with skirmish line 
 thrown out. The Rebels also sent out their line of 
 skirmishers, and both advanced until it seemed, from 
 
266 The Story of Company A. 
 
 our position, that the two lines were not more than 
 
 1864. 
 
 five rods apart, and not a shot was fired by either. 
 
 Meantime our artillery had opened on the enemy, 
 and we could see every shot strike the embankment, 
 see the dirt fly, rails scatter, and the forms of men 
 moving about. Soon the skirmishers were with- 
 drawn, and the Rebels fired a volley into our boys, 
 wounding some as we saw. The Twenty-seventh 
 opened fire, the Twenty-fifth being held in reserve. 
 The Ninth New Jersey changed their position on 
 Port the field, receiving a hot fire from the enemy which 
 Waithai ^ S oon returned. We saw General Heckman's 
 
 Junction. 
 
 horse throw up his head and sink down to the 
 ground, dismounting his rider, but the General took 
 the horse of one of his aides, and quietly mounted 
 again. We heard his orders given, and also those 
 of the Rebel commander. 
 
 We expected to see our boys charge and drive 
 the enemy from their position, but they began slowly 
 to retire ; and about 7 p. M. we received orders to 
 rejoin the Regiment. It seems instructions were, 
 not to bring on an engagement, but to find the 
 enemy ; this we accomplished, and we reached our 
 bivouac on Cobb's Hill at 10 p. M. The loss to the 
 Twenty-fifth was four killed and fifteen wounded. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 267 
 
 This, our first fight in Virginia, is known as Port 
 
 1864. 
 Walthal Junction. 
 
 May /th, at 8 A. M., we were again in motion, 
 marching over nearly the same route as before, and 
 found ourselves near the place of yesterday's en- 
 gagement. On the ground lay our dead, which for Unburud 
 
 dead. 
 
 some reason I know not why had been left on 
 the field where they fell. The bodies had been 
 stripped of their clothing ; the enemy could rob the 
 dead, but could not give time to bury them. A party 
 was now detailed to perform that service. Prisoners 
 taken here said the robbery was the niggers' work 
 possible, but not very probable. 
 
 We found the enemy strongly posted, and our 
 artillery got into position at once, with the infantry 
 at supporting distance laying on the ground in a 
 ploughed field. It was a terribly hot day, and as fidd 
 the hours went by many men were sun-struck. In Junction. 
 Company A eight men suffered from the intense 
 heat, three of whom were carried from the field and 
 did not return to the Company for several days. 
 
 Meanwhile an artillery duel was going on, shot 
 and shell flying over our heads as we lay here. It 
 was exciting to watch the enemy's shot as they ap- 
 proached us they could be plainly seen. At one 
 
268 The Story of Company A. 
 
 time the Rebels fired chunks of iron rails at us, and 
 
 1864. 
 
 these came wabbling along through the air causing 
 
 a deal of mirth among our boys. We were startled 
 
 by a flash of light, and a loud explosion : a well 
 
 directed shell from our battery had penetrated a 
 
 Rebel caisson, causing the explosion. It was said that 
 
 when General Heckman saw this he declared that 
 
 it paid him for the loss of his horse the day before. 
 
 On our right we could see General Brooks's di- 
 
 Ma vision hotly engaged ; with loud cheers they dashed 
 
 Chester- forward to fall slowly back. Again they made a 
 
 charge, and from the artillery we heard the heaviest 
 
 Junction. & * 
 
 firing of the day. This time it was a success ; Brooks's 
 men drove the enemy, and they withdrew their ar- 
 tillery from our front, and all was quiet in our vi- 
 'cinity. Brooks had destroyed the railroad, taken 
 many prisoners, and a victory had been won. About 
 5 P. M. we started for our camp on Cobb's Hill. 
 This engagement was known as "Chesterfield 
 Junction." 
 
 May 8th we began to fortify Cobb's Hill, and on 
 the Qth, at about 5 p. M., we left our camp, and suc- 
 ceeded in getting as far as the railroad between 
 Petersburg and Richmond without opposition. We 
 destroyed the railroad, broke the telegraph wires, 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 269 
 
 and pushed on towards Petersburg. We encoun- - 
 tered a small body of the enemy, and drove them 
 across Swift Creek. Our skirmishers were now 
 firing- rapidly, and the enemy opened on us with 
 their big guns ; but we pushed forward through 
 woods, and formed in line of battle near Arrowfield Ma y 9- 
 Church. The right of the Twenty-fifth rested on 
 
 the Petersburg turnpike, and at this point was a Church. 
 section of our artillery. We commenced firing at 
 once, as is customary in battle that is, "at will." 
 The boys were working like beavers, evidently 
 firing to some purpose ; but it was seen that the 
 enemy were about to charge. Colonel Pickett took 
 in the situation, and while we were doing our level 
 best we received the order, "Cease firing," which 
 was promptly obeyed. The men finished reloading 
 their rifles, and stood waiting. We did not under- 
 stand the "why" of this order, but we soon found 
 out. The enemy were ready, had set up an infernal 
 yell, and were coming at double-quick ; but no fur- 
 ther order came to us. The Rebels were fast short- 
 ening the distance between their line and ours, and 
 we were getting anxious, but finally hear the cau- 
 tionary command, "Steady, men, wait for the word"; 
 and the Twenty-fifth Regiment stood as steady and 
 
2 70 The Story of Company A. 
 
 silent as if on dress parade. On came the yelling- 
 
 1864. , .. . ,. 
 
 horde until within it seemed to us not over 
 
 twenty-five yards. It was an anxious and critical 
 moment, and it afforded Colonel Pickett an oppor- 
 tunity to see of what stuff his regiment was made. 
 
 May 9. Suddenly came the order: "Twenty-fifth, ready"; 
 r ld and like clockwork every rifle was in position ; 
 
 Church. "Aim," and every eye was glancing along a rifle 
 barrel ; " Fire," and that volley, almost like a single 
 shot, sent death and dismay into that Rebel 
 host. 
 
 The effect was like an electric shock. The long 
 line of gray was thrown into the wildest disorder 
 shattered broken into fragments. Their men fell 
 by scores, and the ground was literally covered with 
 the dead and wounded of that Rebel regiment. So 
 fierce was their charge that several of their men 
 were actually forced clear into our line and were 
 made prisoners. It was a most gallant charge, and 
 it met with a terrible and bloody repulse. 
 
 It was in vain the enemy tried to form for another 
 charge ; we kept up such a deadly fire that it was 
 impossible. They fell back out of range, and 
 troubled us no more. Meantime how fared it 
 with our boys ? Nobly they stood the shock, but 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 271 
 
 they, too, had fallen by scores. Company A had 
 
 1864. 
 only twenty-seven men in line at this fight, and of 
 
 this number nine were wounded just one third. 
 Many of Company A were on detached service, 
 others sick in hospital, and the Company was smaller 
 than most of the others at this time. 
 
 While the fight was going on the smoke from the 
 guns settled thick around us, and the noise was 
 absolutely deafening. As the boys fell out wounded 
 they were taken to the rear and the line closed up, 
 and the firing went on as steadily as ever. How Bravery 
 bravely the boys stood up to it ! How the sweat ur 
 
 boys. 
 
 rolled off their faces ! Lieutenant Bessey was struck 
 in the breast, but fortunately the wound was a slight 
 one. He called for a pipe, and seating himself on a 
 stump, cheered on the boys as -if nothing had hap- 
 pened, no white feather about that man. 
 
 Amidst all the horrors of the situation dead and 
 dying all around us an "incident" occurred which 
 shows how the ludicrous and sad are sometimes 
 strangely blended. There was in the Company a 
 new recruit named James Kerwin, a short, good- 
 natured Irishman, who, while the fight was raging, 
 was struck by the fragments of a shell and both legs 
 wounded. Jimmy fell to the ground making the 
 35 
 
272 The Story of Company A. 
 
 queerest noises, and rolling about so strangely that 
 
 it was absolutely comical. Sergeant Burr stepped 
 
 up to him and said: "Is that you, Jimmy? Are 
 
 jimmy you hit?" "Oh," said Jimmy, "oh Sergeant dear, 
 
 Kerwin. j t ' s me that's hit, and both ov me legs is shpilt in- 
 
 tirely." This was too much, and the boys laughed 
 
 heartily ; and the firing went on, ceasing only when 
 
 the Rebels were out of reach, and all was quiet in our 
 
 front. 
 
 "The fight was over, and with Comrade Arthur 
 
 White of Company H (a Leicester boy and a brave 
 
 one), I strolled over the field, and in our immediate 
 
 vicinity that is, directly in front of our regimental 
 
 line we counted over seventy dead and wounded, 
 
 Rebel scattered about, and in little heaps of three or four 
 
 dead and together. From the wounded ones we learned what 
 
 ' troops we had been fighting ; a/id it certainly is a 
 
 remarkable fact that the Twenty-fifth South Carolina 
 
 and the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts had met in a 
 
 fair fight." The result we have seen. 
 
 It might be thought that with so much firing more 
 men would have been killed and wounded in our 
 front ; but it should be remembered that the Twen- 
 ty-fifth Regiment of 1864 was not the Twenty-fifth 
 Regiment of 1861. It left Massachusetts one 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 273 
 
 thousand strong-, but at this time there was not 
 
 1864. 
 over half that number in the ranks. The regimental 
 
 line was hardly three hundred and fifty feet long, 
 and it was in front of this line that so many Rebel 
 dead and wounded were found. 
 
 The following is a correct list of the wounded of 
 Company A at this battle : 
 
 Lieutenant M. B. Bessey, breast. 
 
 Sergeant T. M. Ward, leg. 
 
 Private L. J. Prentiss, groin (very severe. He 
 
 died from the effects). 
 
 Private Augustus Stone, right arm (amputated). Names 
 Private Charles H. Knowlton, hand (three fin- -wounded. 
 
 gers lost) . 
 
 Private Charles A. Mayers, leg. 
 Private James White, leg. 
 Private James Kerwin, both legs. 
 Private Nelson Tiffany, groin (severe). 
 Entire loss to the Twenty-fifth Regiment, sixty 
 men. 
 
 After the fight parties were detailed to bury the 
 dead as usual. Pits were dug say six or eight feet 
 square, and four or five feet deep, in which the dead 
 were placed as quickly as possible, one row on 
 
2 74 The Story of Company A. 
 
 another, and hurriedly covered with earth a sicken- 
 ing sight. Yet this is "Glorious War." 
 
 Night coming on cold,, we prepared for a cheerless 
 bivouac the best we could. We lay on our arms 
 that night that is, with rifles by our sides ready to 
 jump into line at a minute's notice. In the morning 
 we were relieved, and fell back to our camp on 
 Cobb's Hill. This battle took place near the old 
 weather-beaten building known as Arrowfield 
 Church, from which the battle takes its name. 
 
 On the 1 2th of May we were ordered off again in 
 Again in light marching order. Many boys left their rubber 
 
 motion. 
 
 blankets behind ; this proved a mistake, for we were 
 gone five days, every one of them cold and wet. 
 The rubber blanket should always go with the sol- 
 dier, and the woolen one too, if possible. During 
 these cold, wet nights we suffered a great deal. We 
 had more or less fighting every day. 
 
 The first day we discovered the enemy about 
 
 noon, and drove them across Proctor's Creek, and 
 
 halted for the night in the edge of a wood. On 
 
 this day, while lying on the ground in line, Comrade 
 
 Death of William Holman was struck by a bullet intended, no 
 
 ' doubt, for a mounted officer riding in our front. 
 
 This was the only bullet that reached us at this time ; 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 275 
 
 and if \ve had been standing in -the same place 
 
 1864. 
 probably Holman would not have been hit. He 
 
 moaned pitifully, was taken to the rear, where he 
 soon died, and we saw him no more. 
 
 The next day (May i3th) we were ordered for- 
 ward, and entering a thick wood, the Regiment 
 marched through in line, the skirmishers encoun- 
 tering the enemy's pickets and driving them to their 
 works at Drewry's Bluff. On reaching the edge of 
 the woods we were in sight of the enemy's en- 
 trenchments, and received their fire at once. 
 
 We were ordered to lay down, and for hours we 
 had shot and shell flying over us. Many of the 
 boys went to sleep in this situation, undisturbed by 
 the noise of the firing. Once a shell burst directly 
 over our line, and inquiry was made if anyone was 
 hit. Some raised their heads and looked about, but 
 hearing no reply, curled down again ; and it was not 
 known until some time after certainly more than 
 an hour that Comrade Henry Goulding was killed. eat * 
 
 3 Goulding. 
 
 A portion of the shell had struck him on the back 
 between the shoulders, killing him instantly. He 
 died without a groan. 
 
 Skirmishers were thrown out, and succeeded in 
 keeping the enemy's guns pretty quiet for two days 
 
276 The Story of Company A. 
 
 (oh fatal delay), though more or less firing was 
 
 going on all the time. We had changed our posi- 
 tion, and were now nearer the enemy's works than 
 
 at first, behind a weak line of breastworks made of 
 
 
 
 logs, rails, and earth thrown up with bayonets and 
 tin cups, for we had no intrenching tools. 
 
 On the 1 5th our brigade held the right of the 
 army, and the regiments were in line in this order : 
 extreme right, Ninth New Jersey ; then followed the 
 Twenty-third, Twenty-seventh, and Twenty-fifth 
 Massachusetts. The space between the Ninth New 
 Jersey and the James river was .occupied by a few 
 colored cavalrymen. During the night of the I5th 
 there were several attempts to break through our 
 line, which were repulsed every time with severe 
 loss to the enemy. Later a heavy fog settled down 
 over the whole country around, so dense that at a 
 distance of two or three rods nothing could be seen. 
 May 16. Under cover of this fog, about 4 o'clock on the 
 j morning- of the i6th, the Rebels made an attack on 
 
 Dreivry s 
 
 Bluff, our right, and, after heavy fighting, succeeded in 
 crushing the Ninth New Jersey, and turning our 
 right ; and before we were aware of it, had gained 
 our rear. At the same time we were engaged in 
 front, an assault being made along our whole line. 
 
2^th Regt., Mass, Vols. 277 
 
 In this horrid gloom, the yells of the advancing 
 
 enemy, the musketry firing, and the roar of the ar- Ma ^ 
 tillery, were sounds terrible to hear, and madly ex- Battle of 
 citing. Soon the regiments on our right came ^"7 
 rolling down upon us, crushed and broken. The 
 Twenty-fifth gallantly repulsed the impetuous 
 charges of the Rebels in front, and unflinchingly 
 held their position alone after the whole line, right 
 and left, had been broken and swept away by the 
 overwhelming force of the enemy. Lieutenant 
 Daly, in command of the right flank, Company K, 
 reported the perilous condition of affairs on the In P ertl - 
 right, but the Colonel replied that he had no orders 
 to retire, and that he proposed to hold on at all 
 hazards. He directed Daly to deploy his company 
 to the rear at right angles with our line, and check 
 the flanking force. The Rebels advancing in large 
 numbers, immediately overpowered and captured 
 most of his company. 
 
 Company A, under command of Lieutenant Burr, 
 was now ordered to the rear as skirmishers, to check, 
 if possible, the tide which seemed about to over- 
 whelm us. We soon saw dimly through the fog 
 forms of men moving about, and, approaching 
 nearer, noticed that some had on blue coats ; and 
 
2 78 The Story of Company A. 
 
 supposing they must be our own men, one of Com- 
 
 Ma x g pany A sung out : "What regiment are you ?" "We 
 
 Battle of are Rebels, damn you ; take that ! " was the reply ; 
 
 ry ' s and the whistling- of bullets told us what they meant. 
 
 tilujf. 
 
 "Good for you, Johnny ; take it back again," was 
 the retort of the A boys, with the same accompani- 
 ment. But of what use was it ? We were a thin line 
 of skirmishers, and it was plain to be seen that there 
 was at least a regiment in front of us. We soon, 
 obeying orders received, quickly moved off by the 
 right flank, narrowly escaping capture. 
 
 The enemy advanced and opened fire on the 
 Regiment at not over twenty yards distance. This 
 was indeed a most critical moment. Hotly engaged 
 with the enemy in front, and now receiving a heavy 
 fire in the rear, the Regiment was simply sur- 
 rounded. There was a single chance left. Instantly 
 we were faced to the rear and ordered to charge ; 
 and with a cheer the Regiment rushed upon the 
 A charge Rebel line, pouring a deadly volley into their ranks, 
 7r and throwing them into such disorder that before 
 they could be rallied by their officers our Colonel 
 had given the order: "By the right flank; and we 
 had marched around the enemy's left to the rear, 
 ready for them again upon anything like equal terms. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 279 
 
 The conduct of the Twenty-fifth at the Battle of 
 
 1864. 
 Drewry's Bluff was magnificent and beyond all words 
 
 of praise. The perilous position they were placed 
 in was a trying test of their courage and soldierly 
 qualities ; and nothing but their excellent discipline 
 and prompt obedience to orders saved the entire 
 Regiment from capture. Cool and undaunted they 
 waited for orders, and they received them. They 
 had unqualified* confidence in their commander, 
 and to his prompt and decisive action they owe their 
 marvelous and brilliant escape. 
 
 But Company A did not all escape, as the follow- 
 ing list will show : Loss in 
 
 Corporal Walter H. Richards, killed. 
 
 Private John A. Coulter, wounded. 
 
 Private Francis Greenwood, wounded. 
 
 Corporal Jerome H. Fuller, captured. 
 
 Private Amos E. Stearns, captured. 
 
 Private Charles E. Benson, captured. 
 
 Private B. C. Green, captured. 
 
 Comrades Goulding and Holman had been killed 
 two days before, so, all told, Company A lost nine 
 men in the fight at Drewry's Bluff. 
 
 In this fight we lost our brigade commander, 
 36 
 
280 The Story of Company A. 
 
 General Heckman, who was taken prisoner. Captain 
 
 Belger, with a portion of his battery, was also 
 captured. Our brigade (ist) had lost, since we 
 Heavy loss landed at Bermuda Hundred twelve days before, 
 almost eleven hundred men. The Twenty-fifth 
 Regiment in the same time lost over three hundred 
 men, while Company A lost eighteen. 
 
 General Heckman, and Colonel Lee of the Twen- 
 ty-seventh, both being captured, the command of 
 the brigade devolved upon Colonel Pickett, leaving 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Moulton in command of the 
 Twenty-fifth. Colonel Pickett rallied the brigade, 
 forming line of battle half a mile to the rear of the 
 original line in the morning. During the day dif- 
 ferent positions were occupied, holding the enemy 
 in check. About 5 P. M. we fell back towards our 
 camp at Cobb's Hill, which we reached at 10 o'clock. 
 General Stannard, a few days later, assumed com- 
 mand of the brigade, and Colonel Pickett again took 
 charge of his own regiment. 
 
 An "incident" occurred during the fight at Drewry's 
 
 An Bluff that was highly amusing. Private Sidney 
 
 incident. Atkinson, a tall Yankee recruit, during the struggle 
 
 in the fog was taken prisoner by a squad of Rebels. 
 
 . He had been in the habit of carrying, attached to 
 
Battle-field of Orewry's Bluff 
 
 MAY r . 
 

 
 
 
 ' 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 281 
 
 his belt, a small hatchet ; and when taken prisoner 
 
 almost the first words said to him by his captors 
 were : "Well, Yank, I reckon we'll take that hatchet." 
 Atkinson replied : " I suppose you will, Johnny," 
 and gave it up at once. He noticed as they marched 
 along that his captors had lost their way in the fog 
 and were trying to find their men. Atkinson cooly 
 said : " Look here, Johnnies, I was over this ground 
 this very morning. I know where we are and where 
 your men are. I'll show you ; come on." He quietly 
 led off, his captors as quietly following; and in less The tables 
 than two minutes he led them into the presence of turned - 
 our own men. The Rebels saw the joke at once, 
 and cursed their "damned stupidity." "Now, 
 Johnny," said Atkinson, "I guess I'll take that 
 hatchet"; and he did. 
 
 The following extract from a letter of Captain 
 Emerson Stone of Spencer to the writer, shows that 
 the promise made by the prisoners captured by us 
 at Roanoke Island in 1862, to make return for our 
 kindness to them while in our hands, if it was ever 
 in their power, was not forgotten : 
 
The Story of Company A. 
 
 I was captured May i6th, 1864, by "Wise's Brigade" of Vir- 
 
 1864. ginians, the same men who surrendered to us at Roanoke Island 
 in '62. My captor was a tall, fine-looking man, who on learning 
 what regiment I belonged to, at once declared his intention of 
 standing by me, and doing for me all that was in his power to alle- 
 viate my sufferings, this in pursuance of a resolve formed, as he said, 
 by their entire brigade after their exchange at Roanoke, to treat there- 
 after every Yankee that the fortunes of war might throw into their 
 hands with the greatest possible kindness, in repayment of the 
 courteous treatment which they received at our hands as prisoners 
 of war. Right royally did he fulfill his vow, for no one could have 
 Kindness showed greater kindness than he showed to me. He bound up 
 repaid, and stanched my wounds at first, then brought water to refresh 
 me, placing at the same time the contents of his haversack at my 
 disposal ; protected me from the covetous desires of his needy 
 comrades, who sought to replenish their long neglected wardrobes 
 at my expense ; and in every way seemed anxious to show his 
 sympathy and willingness to help me. 
 
 Reaching the hospital he asked the surgeon in charge to look 
 at my wounds, and secured his early services, as well as a special 
 guard detailed to care for me and look after all my wants until the 
 surgeon called for me. Then taking from his shoulders his own 
 blanket, he carefully placed it under me, and after arranging me 
 as comfortably as possible, said he was obliged to report to his 
 command, and bade me a feeling good-bye. I have often re- 
 gretted that I did not learn the name of this whole-souled man 
 whose large heart was filled with humanity, although covered with 
 the Rebel "gray" ; and I would to-day, after the lapse of so many 
 years, give the best hundred dollars I ever saw for the privilege of 
 grasping him by the hand. 
 
 I will add that I subsequently received the same kind treatment 
 from the surgeon who amputated my arm, who was also a kind- 
 hearted man ; but I have always surmised that his interest in me 
 was stimulated by the words or efforts of my kind captor, who so 
 
Regt., Mass. Vols. 283 
 
 faithfully stood by me an enemy in my hour of sore distress. - 
 Do not wonder that I have a kindly feeling for Wise's Brigade of 1864. 
 Virginians, and especially for my unknown generous captor, and 
 that I often breathe for him a prayer for heaven's richest blessings. 
 
 General Heckman has claimed, in a letter pub- 
 lished in a Northern paper, that the Rebel loss in 
 our front at Drewry's Bluff was estimated at over 
 
 . 
 four thousand, which was many more than OUT He 
 
 brigade numbered. He also stated that the mus- 
 ketry firing was the severest he ever experienced. 
 Our prisoners all reported the slaughter in our front 
 as something terrible and unparalleled. 
 
 For some days the troops were engaged day and 
 night in strengthening our fortifications at Cobb's 
 Hill. Almost daily the Rebels made an attack on 
 
 On the 
 
 some part of our line, but were easily repulsed. All defensiv 
 this time we lay on our arms at night, and were 
 turned out at two or three o'clock in the morning, 
 ready for an attack. In one direction from our 
 camp was a beautiful grove, but it was in the way 
 of our guns. Pioneers were sent into this grove, 
 and in forty-eight hours it had disappeared. In 
 forty-eight hours more a heavy line of earthworks 
 extended over the spot, and cannon looked down 
 into the valley below. These works reached from 
 
284 The Story of Company A. 
 
 the James river to the Appomatox, below Port 
 l64 ' Walthal. 
 
 This work continued until the 2;th of May, when 
 orders were received to move again, so we marched 
 a few miles and bivouacked for the night. The next 
 day we moved to City Point, crossing the Ap- 
 pomatox over a pontoon bridge ; and once more 
 going on board transport steamers, were soon sail- 
 ing down the James. We reached the York river, 
 and passing up that and the Pamunky, arrived at 
 White House Landing May 3Oth. 
 
 The weather was fine as we sailed down that 
 
 t 
 
 A delight- beautiful stream, the James; and the entire trip to 
 White House Landing was in striking contrast to 
 what we had been through of late. The York river 
 is much smaller than the James, but still a noble 
 stream, while the Pamunky is so crooked that a 
 vessel will sail towards all points of the compass in 
 making the ascent. 
 
 On the 3ist of May we marched all day, and 
 
 about midnight, while passing through an extensive 
 
 forest, we ran on to the pickets of Grant's army. 
 
 Army He had been fighting his way through the Wilder- 
 
 *' ness, and we had, at last, joined the ARMY OF THE 
 
 Potomac. 
 
 POTOMAC. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 285 
 
 Our march from the White House was through 
 
 1864. 
 a good country, reminding us of New England. By 
 
 the roadside we passed grape yines, cedar, shrubbery 
 of oak, and blackberry bushes much like the coun- 
 try roads in Massachusetts. 
 
 June ist opened as fine as could be desired, but 
 by the middle of the day the heat was intense, and 
 many soldiers were completely exhausted by the 
 march. For many miles the road, which was heavy Severe 
 
 march. 
 
 with dust, had been strewn with dead horses and 
 mules, and the stench from them was horrible. 
 About 4 o'clock in the afternoon we found our- 
 selves before the enemy's intrenchments at Cold 
 Harbor. 
 
 June 2nd our brigade was under fire nearly all 
 day, and at night the enemy charged our lines, but 
 were repulsed with a heavy loss. Our army was in 
 line at this time in the following order : Ninth Corps Battle of 
 (Burnside) on the right, then came the Fifth Corps Cold 
 (Warren), Eighteenth Corps (Smith), Sixth Corps 
 (W T right), and on the extreme left the Second 
 Corps (Hancock). Sheridan with his cavalry 
 covered our left at the Chickahominy river, while 
 Wright's cavalry guarded our right. The line of 
 battle at Cold Harbor was six miles long. 
 
286 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Rations and ammunition were given out, and we 
 laid on the ground that night to get what sleep we* 
 could, for "there was to be terrible work o.n the 
 morrow." June 3d was a black day in the calendar 
 of the Twenty-fifth Regiment. 
 
 We left our bivouac in the early morning, moved 
 a short distance, and laid down again under cover 
 of thin woods. We had caught glimpses of the 
 enemy's earthworks, and saw their immense strength. 
 We felt that it would be almost an impossibility to 
 take the works in our front. We knew that be- 
 hind those works were thousands of brave men with 
 Be f orethe rifles, awaiting our approach; and we knew those 
 intrenchments were lined with batteries. We knew 
 it meant slaughter for us to make the attempt ; and 
 gloomy forebodings settled down over the whole 
 regiment. The Twenty-fifth at this time had only 
 three hundred men in the ranks, and the whole 
 brigade of four regiments numbered scarcely fifteen 
 hundred men. 
 
 All these things we talked over as we laid on the 
 ground under the trees. A little ravine was near, 
 through which flowed a small rivulet a mere 
 thread of water ; and we were partially protected by 
 a slight elevation on our right. We calculated the 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 287 
 
 chances, and we felt that they were terribly against 
 us ; but to "obey orders" is a soldier's duty. "Wait _ 
 
 ' f June 3. 
 
 for a time to die ! " Battle of 
 
 Cold 
 
 We were in close column by division at this time Harbor 
 that is, a front of two companies in a division 
 five divisions. We heard loud cheering on our left, 
 and artillery firing rapidly. We knew our boys 
 were making an assault on the enemy's line. We 
 could only guess at the result. An officer passed 
 by and reported Hancock successful. 
 
 "Forward!" The hour had come. We moved 
 slowly up the slight elevation, beyond which a 
 thousand deaths awaited us. No man faltered, 
 and only the wounded ones fell out ; for we were 
 under fire all the time while lying under the trees. 
 We gained the front and were obliged to oblique to 
 the right somewhat, to place us in proper position. 
 We were at once under a murderous fire. The 
 enemy's works were directly in front. Colonel 
 Pickett was marching at the head of the Regiment, 
 and at this moment waved his sword over his head, 
 and shouted his orders: "Come on, boys; forward, The 
 double-quick. CHARGE ! " We dashed forward with charge - 
 a cheer. The enemy's earthworks in our front, 
 perhaps twenty rods distant, were enveloped in 
 37 
 
288 The Story of Company A. 
 
 smoke and flame, and volley after volley of mus- 
 ketry sent bullets through our ranks like hail. At 
 
 June 3. * 
 
 Battle of fae. same moment we received an enfilading- fire of 
 artillery on both right and left flanks. 
 
 Harbor. } 
 
 The slaughter was fearful. Colonel Pickett went 
 down with a bad wound in the hip, and the ground 
 was thickly covered with the dead and wounded 
 The and so quickly done. The enemy kept up such an 
 result. j ncessant fi re that t o stand up against it and live was 
 impossible. So to escape utter annihilation we 
 dropped to the ground and stubbornly held the 
 position we were in, and an actual fact with 
 tin cups, knives, bayonets, and our hands, threw up, 
 painfully and slowly, a low bank of earth, which in 
 a measure protected us from the enemy's fire ; and 
 the hours dragged slowly along until dark, when 
 intrenching tools were brought, and regular earth- 
 works were made and rifle pits dug. 
 
 Brigadier-General P. D. Bowles of the Confed- 
 erate Army, in a letter printed in the Philadelphia 
 Weekly Times of January 3 1 , 1885, describes this 
 charge of the Twenty-fifth as he saw it from the 
 Rebel intrenchments. His account is as follows: 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 289 
 
 On looking over the works I discovered what I supposed to be 
 
 one regiment, with a single flag, and an officer in front with sword 1864. 
 raised high in the air, calling on his men to charge. I ordered 
 my command to place their guns on the works and wait for orders. 
 When the advancing line reached within seventy yards I ordered 
 my line to fire, when the whole of the Federal regiment fell to the 
 ground save one man, who ran back to the edge of the woods and Confed- 
 attempted to hide behind a white oak tree, but was completely erate 
 riddled by fifty balls in less time than it takes to write it. testimony. 
 
 The heroic regiment that made this gallant charge was the 
 Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, which was the only regiment that 
 obeyed orders to advance. This we learned from the twenty odd 
 officers and men who fell down among the dead and wounded at 
 the first fire. The balance of the brigade had refused to. go for- 
 ward, and not since the charge of the three hundred at Balaklava 
 has a more heroic act been performed. 
 
 In this charge of the 36 of June the Twenty-fifth 
 Regiment lost, in killed, wounded and missing, two 
 hundred and twenty men out of three hundred and 
 thirteen, leaving for duty, June 4th, less than one 
 hundred men, Company A losing fifteen out of 
 thirty. All this happened within a few minutes of 
 time, for nearly all fell during the charge. 
 
 The following is a list of the killed, wounded and 
 missing of Company A : 
 
 Killed : Private F. B. Brock. 
 ' ' Ira Lindsey. 
 
 Sidney J. Atkinson (he of the 
 hatchet) . 
 
290 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Wounded : First Lieut. M. B. Bessey, shoulder. 
 1864. 
 
 Second Lieut. Geo. Burr, head. 
 
 First Sergt. S. H. Putnam, slight. 
 LOSS at Sergt. Frank Wright, side. 
 
 Corporal G. F. Stearns, hip. 
 
 Harbor. 
 
 L. J. Elwell, shoulder. 
 Private L. W. Stone, severe. 
 " A. D. Whitcomb, head. 
 
 J. Madden, groin. 
 
 Missing : Corporal Walter S. Bugbee. 
 Private H. W. Dryden. 
 Charles O'Neil. 
 
 The wound of Colonel Pickett was a very se- 
 vere one, and he was absent from his command 
 Colonel ^ or severa l months. He rejoined the Regiment at 
 Pickett. New Berne in November, 1864. He was then suf- 
 fering severely from his wound, and being disabled 
 from further duty "Our Captain" left the service in 
 January, 1865, with the rank of Brevet Brigadier- 
 General, this honor having been conferred upon 
 him for gallant and meritorious services during the 
 war. 
 
 The 4th of June was passed quietly behind the 
 works, but on the 5th there was righting all day 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 291 
 
 long-. At this time the stench from the dead bodies 
 
 1864. 
 between the opposing lines was dreadful. Parties 
 
 were sent out at night, and in the darkness and 
 silence tried to bring in the wounded. A flag 
 of truce had been sent to the enemy before this, 
 to make arrangements to bury the dead, but with 
 no success. 
 
 On the yth cannonading was kept up, all day, and 
 men were killed at times, half a mile in the rear of 
 our works. A second time a flag of truce was sent, 
 which was successful, and fatigue parties went out 
 from both sides, and the dead were buried. While 
 this was going on there was no firing along fog, Burial of 
 
 lines, and the stillness that ensued seemed very 
 strange to us. The truce was only for two hours, 
 and it was a hurried job, this burial of the dead. It 
 was a singular spectacle as we mounted on top of 
 our earthworks and looked over the ground. The 
 Rebels did the same while the burial of the dead 
 went on. When the time was up a signal gun was 
 fired, and the detailed parties made haste back to 
 their respective places ; and then it would have been 
 death to show a head above either line of works. 
 
 The 8th of June was a beautiful day, but very hot 
 and severe for the boys in the rifle pits. At night 
 
292 The Story of Company A. 
 
 the military bands of both armies played. The 
 
 1864. 
 
 Union bands played The Star Spangled Banner, 
 
 Red, White and Blue, and Yankee Doodle, while 
 the Rebel bands gave us Dixie and The Bonnie 
 Blue Flag. 
 
 The Qth, loth and nth of June passed away 
 without actual fighting, but a constant firing was 
 kept up. 
 
 The Twenty-fifth had landed at Bermuda Hun- 
 dred on the 5th of May with seven hundred splen- 
 did veterans. One month's fighting in the rear of 
 Richmond reduced this number to a trifle over three 
 hundred ; and the morning after the Battle of Cold 
 ear/u j-jg^Qj. (J une Ath) there were only one hundred 
 
 sacrifice. w ' 
 
 men fit for duty. "The gallant six hundred," where 
 were they? Killed, wounded, in hospital, and down 
 in Southern prisons. This was war and its deplor- 
 able results. It was a terrible sacrifice, but it was 
 for the Union and the flag, and our country was 
 saved by the blood of its heroes. 
 
 It was now ebb tide with the Twenty-fifth Regi- 
 ment. Six officers and less than one hundred men 
 were all that remained for duty. This shows the 
 wear and tear of regiments and brigades in active 
 
2$tk Regt., Mass. Vols. 293 
 
 service that terrible drain of men going on con- ~~ 
 
 1864. 
 stantly , and which all the recruits could not replace. 
 
 One day, at Cold Harbor, Lieutenant George A. 
 Johnson of Company G, formerly Orderly Sergeant 
 of Company A (Old Posey), was wounded in the 
 rear, and a stretcher was called to take him away. Another 
 He was carried slowly' a short distance, and as the lncldent - 
 bullets were flying thickly around, he became un- 
 easy, and finally jumped off and made a straight 
 line for the rear, saying : "I can't wait for no 
 damned stretcher." As he passed along on his way 
 to the hospital tent, with blood streaming from his 
 wound, he met the commanding general, who said : 
 " Lieutenant, don't you want a stretcher?" "I've 
 got one coming," was the reply. "Are you badly 
 wounded?" " Nothing but a shot in the rear!" 
 said Johnson ; "Guess it won't amount to much ! " 
 
 It would hardly be fair to pass by the "Dog of 
 the Regiment" without some notice. When the 
 Regiment left Worcester Company A had two pup- 
 pies as pets. They were christened Whiskey and Our dog 
 Brandy, and were well cared for. Brandy was a Wfliske y- 
 good dog and died young, but Whiskey, on the 
 contrary, continued to thrive, going out with the 
 pioneers at New Berne, going on marches with the 
 
294 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Regiment, and participating in nearly all the battles 
 1864. 
 
 to Cold Harbor. At this battle the dog was wounded 
 
 by a rifle ball, and found his way to the hospital, 
 where the ball was taken out and given to the 
 Orderly Sergeant of Company A. Whiskey was 
 well cared for at the hospital, but in the movement 
 of troops after the fight the poor dog was lost, and 
 we never saw him again. 
 
 The Company A boys taken prisoners at Cold 
 Harbor fell into the hands of North Carolina troops, 
 some of whom were among those captured by us at 
 Roanoke. On learning what regiment our boys 
 belonged to these men treated them with all possible 
 kindness, and nobly redeemed the promise made 
 while our prisoners, to make return for our kindness 
 to them if they ever had the opportunity.* 
 
 Sunday, June I2th, passed very quietly, with no 
 more firing than usual. Captain Goodwin, who 
 had returned a few days before, was now in com- 
 works mand of Company A. After dark the boys were 
 called in from the rifle pits, and we quietly evacuated 
 our works ; and marching all night, reached White 
 House Landing about 5 o'clock on the morning of 
 the 1 3th. This night march was a very hard one, 
 
 * See page 90. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 295 
 
 and on reaching the Landing, guns were stacked, 
 
 1864. 
 the boys dropped to the ground, and many were 
 
 instantly asleep. Some crawled on their hands and 
 knees to the river's brink, two or three rods away, 
 and drank like so many animals. They were com- 
 pletely exhausted. 
 
 We went on board transports again and steamed Active 
 down the crooked Pamunky and the York, up the cam- 
 James, landing at 9 p. M. of June i4th near our Q\(\P a *s mng - 
 camp. Four days' rations were cooked, and on 
 the morning of the i5th, at 4 o'clock, we started off 
 on a march. This was surely active campaigning. 
 
 On the 1 5th we encountered the enemy, and our 
 regiment having the right of the brigade, had an 
 open corn field in our front. We marched in line Enco1tn _ 
 of battle to within perhaps three hundred yards of ter with 
 a Rebel battery situated on a hill to our left, and' 
 came to a halt. The enemy opened on us at 
 once with both musketry and artillery. They had 
 our exact range, and we had one man killed and 
 eighteen wounded in a few minutes. Captain 
 Goodwin was wounded by a shell which exploded Captain 
 very near his head, hitting him in the shoulder and Goodwin. 
 in the face, from the effects of which he lost an eye. 
 This shot came from the right, and not from the 
 38 
 
296 The Story of Company A. 
 
 battery on the hill at the left. This was the last we 
 
 1864. 
 
 saw of Captain Goodwin in Company A. He was 
 
 mustered out the following October as Brevet Major. 
 Captain Parkhurst moved us forward at double- 
 quick about one hundred yards. This movement 
 took us out of range of the enemy's guns, and 
 though men were still wounded here, it doubtless 
 saved many lives. Lieutenant Bessey was hit once 
 
 Bessey s 
 
 wounds, more, this time in the foot, making three hits for him 
 within a few days. Though Dame Fortune scatters 
 her gifts with a lavish hand, in battle she distributes 
 them very unequally. Some are never wounded, 
 others always are. Lieutenant Bessey was hit four 
 times yea, a fifth time was he touched (which, by 
 the way, was scarcely mentioned in the dispatches); 
 yet with all this, and added to it the old army saying : 
 "Three times and out" (death), Bessey served 
 through the war, and preserved that good nature 
 for which he was noted. Bessey was irrepressible. 
 He was mustered out as Brevet Major in March, 
 1865. 
 
 We were ordered to lie down, and all day long 
 we were in this corn field under a scorching sun, 
 with no protection save what we obtained by pulling 
 up the corn, which was about two feet high, and 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 297 
 
 covering our heads with it. It was provoking to 
 lay there as we did, hour after hour, and hardly fire 
 a shot in reply to the Rebels, who were blazing 
 away at us all the time. They would give us a few 
 shells, then a solid shot would come roaring along 
 and plough up the dust near us, then the rascals 
 would get outside their works and fire at us with 
 their rifles. We kept the enemy busy in this way 
 while our troops got their guns into position. 
 
 About sundown we heard a heavy gun fired on 
 our left, and looking at the Rebel battery saw a 
 shell burst directly over it. Another shot was fired, 
 then many in quick succession, and shells exploded Battle 
 thick and fast in that battery. The whole Regiment near 
 
 ' Peters- 
 
 got up and watched with intense interest the move- burg. 
 ment now going on. Soon a long line of Boys in 
 Blue was seen moving towards the battery. The 
 line was somewhat broken as the boys made their 
 way through the trees, which had been cut down 
 and left to obstruct the way ; but they passed 
 through them, and with wild cheers swarmed up the 
 hill like bees. Shells from the Union guns were 
 dropping into the battery every moment ; the Rebels 
 attempted to reply, but it was of no use ; the place 
 was too hot for them. Soon the Boys in Blue 
 
298 The Story of Company A. 
 
 reached the enemy's works, and over they went on 
 
 1864. . 
 
 one side while the Rebels departed over the other. 
 
 Our Regiment cheered enough to split their throats. 
 
 Then the guns of the battery were turned on the 
 
 Battery ^y m g enemy, and the fort was taken. Down went 
 
 taken. t ne Rebel rag and up went Old Glory. Nine guns 
 
 and two hundred prisoners were reported as the 
 
 result of this gallant movement. 
 
 A little later, just at dark, an advance was made, 
 
 and Company A was thrown out to join the skirmish 
 
 line already moving on our left, under command of 
 
 We the Orderly Sergeant, S. H. Putnam, all three of 
 
 advance, the officers having been wounded. While advancing 
 
 at double-quick, solid shot from some Rebel guns 
 
 directly in front came over the line, but did no harm. 
 
 A battery in this direction had made some trouble 
 
 during the day probably Captain Goodwin was hit 
 
 by a shot from it. 
 
 Still advancing, an earthwork was seen directly in 
 front ; but the order was u Forward ! " and away the 
 boys went over the breastwork, all together, fortu- 
 nately finding the battery deserted. It had evidently 
 been vacated but a few minutes, and in a great 
 hurry, for blankets, clothing and equipments were 
 scattered around, and a supper already prepared 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 299 
 
 was left untouched. We found here two brass - 
 
 Napoleon guns, and caissons complete. Word was 
 
 sent by Corporal Jimmy Green to Captain Parkhurst, Ca P ture 
 
 of the 
 
 commanding the Regiment, who ordered Captain 
 
 Harrington with his company to draw the guns to the 
 rear, which was done. This capture was represented 
 in the papers of the day New York Tribune and 
 others =as having been achieved by Captain Har- 
 rington and his company, when really the guns were 
 taken by Company A under command of a non- 
 commissioned officer. The Worcester Spy printed 
 a letter giving a statement as above, signed by one 
 of the members of Company A. When this paper 
 reached the camp Captain Harrington accused our 
 Orderly Sergeant of writing the letter, and claimed 
 the great honor of having captured the guns, he, as 
 he said, being a commissioned officer, and the 
 skirmishers being under command of a non-com. 
 The officer claimed it because he was an officer ; 
 we claimed it because we did it. The affair was of 
 no great importance anyway ; but if there was honor 
 enough for an officer to claim, there was certainly O f it. 
 enough for a few privates ; for the achievement was 
 theirs, and theirs only. So much for the taking of 
 these' guns ; and simple justice requires that to 
 
300 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Company A should be given the credit which is, 
 
 1864. i i 
 
 most certainly, its due. 
 
 Before June 1 6th Company A numbered one sergeant, 
 one corporal, and eight privates fit for duty. From 
 this time the Regiment performed duty in the forti- 
 fications then being constructed before Petersburg. 
 On the 1 6th of June, strange to say, the Regi- 
 ment was quiet all day, but at night fell into line 
 and marched several hours under fire, getting back 
 to our bivouac at midnight. The i yth was another 
 quiet day ; we moved about two miles, still under 
 fire. On the i8th the Regiment was posted on the 
 banks of the Appomatox river, directly in front of 
 the Rebel intrenchments. Their line extended for a 
 long distance at nearly right angles with the river. 
 The position of the Regiment was a peculiar one. 
 The bank of the river was forty or fifty feet above 
 the water, and quite steep ; and we were on this 
 bank, entirely hidden from the Rebel works. The 
 level ground above could be entirely swept by the 
 Another enemy's guns. A charge was ordered, and in at- 
 tem p tm g to obey, the Regiment was obliged to get 
 upon this ground, and the left was forced to swing 
 around to the right to bring the whole line par- 
 allel to the enemy's works. When the order was 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 301 
 
 given this was attempted, but hardly had the men 
 
 1864. 
 reached the level ground above when a line of men 
 
 arose from behind the enemy's breastworks and Dlsasier - 
 poured in such a volley, that in an instant our line 
 was cut down like grass, and the ground was covered 
 with wounded men. 
 
 The enemy's fire was incessant, and nothing hu- 
 man could stand against it, so we fell back to our 
 first position on the river bank. This attempt to 
 charge the enemy's works resulted in a loss to the 
 Regiment of six killed, and one officer (Captain 
 Tucker) and twelve men wounded. Private Delany 
 of Company A was killed, and E. B. Fairbanks and 
 one other wounded. 
 
 On the i Qth we were relieved by the Sixth Corps 
 and started for Bermuda Hundred, bivouacked one 
 nipfht, and reached our destination at 10 A. M. of the 
 
 Useless 
 
 2oth. We rested one day and one night, and then march. 
 marched back to our old intrenchments. We were 
 now in the trenches before Petersburg, being alter- 
 nately two days on duty and two days in the camp 
 at the rear. The Regiment had but one hundred 
 and twenty-five men, including five officers. Com- 
 panies A, C and K were now consolidated. 
 
302 The Story of Company A. 
 
 The camp spoken of was situated in a ravine 
 1864. 
 
 about half a mile from the works, and although at 
 
 this distance, it was commanded by the enemy's 
 guns. A small stream of water ran through this 
 ravine, which afforded the boys the luxury of a bath. 
 At this time Company A numbered twenty-six 
 men and no officers. Soldiers were returning to 
 the Company from time to time, so the number 
 varied daily. 
 
 This kind of life was wearing to the men, firing 
 going on constantly, night and day. On the 3Oth 
 of June, in the afternoon, we, commenced shelling 
 the enemy, and about 5 p. M. they replied. For an 
 hour we had the heaviest cannonading we had ever 
 experienced, and yet the Regiment, being behind the 
 earthworks, had only five men wounded, and, sin- 
 gular as it may seem, all these by a single shot. 
 These men were grouped together, and the shot 
 Effect of struc k right in the midst of them ; one man had his 
 one shot, foot taken off, another had a leg broken, a third 
 was hit in the head, a fourth had both legs mangled, 
 and the fifth received a slight contusion on his side. 
 The ball could not be found. The men were taken 
 to the hospital, and in amputating the leg of one of 
 them Private Thayer of Company D the ball was 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 303 
 
 actually discovered in his thigh, and proved to be 
 a three pound shell. 
 
 July 4th, Lieutenant John W. Davis of Company 
 C, wishing to have a moment's conversation with 
 the Orderly Sergeant of Company A, advanced for 
 that purpose in a stooping position to avoid the 
 observation of the enemy. After having passed a 
 few words of greeting, he unconsciously raised him- 
 self. It was but for a moment, yet on the instant a Davis 
 bullet struck him in the left shoulder, passing clean wounded - 
 through his body, and lodged in the ground some 
 rods to the rear. He placed his hand to his shoulder 
 and exclaimed : "Sergeant, I'm a dead man," and 
 fell to the ground. A stretcher was called and he 
 was taken to the hospital tent. Lieutenant Davis 
 survived this wound two years. He was a citizen 
 of Worcester, and was for some time connected with 
 the police force. He died August 2d, 1866, much 
 regretted by those whose good fortune it was to be 
 acquainted with him. 
 
 While in another portion of the trenches nearer 
 the enemy's line, a soldier was one day fatally shot 
 in the head, and for a while our men were puzzled 
 to know where the shot came from. Finally a sol- 
 dier seated himself in the exact spot the wounded 
 39 
 
304 The Story of Company A. 
 
 man occupied when he was struck, and he noticed 
 
 1864. 
 
 a large pine tree in the enemy's works. Watching 
 
 he saw a puff of smoke come from the top of the 
 tree, followed by the report of a rifle, so he con- 
 cluded that a Rebel sharpshooter was concealed 
 there. Several of our sharpshooters were called, 
 and at a given signal all fired into the tree ; a man 
 was seen to fall from its branches, and we were 
 troubled no more by shots from that quarter. 
 
 Some talk there was of "Explosive Bullets," but 
 
 Explosive^- do not remember seeing one while in the service. 
 
 bullets. A member of Company A found near Williamsburg 
 
 (I think) a bullet about three inches long, having 
 
 three blades which were intended to spread open as 
 
 the bullet left the gun. It was a barbarous-looking 
 
 affair, but this was the only one we ever saw. 
 
 Bullet-proof vests were talked about to some ex- 
 tent. These consisted of two thin pieces of steel 
 made to fit the body, which were to be worn one on 
 either side and the cloth vest buttoned over them, 
 Bullet- as we were told. I never knew of any being used 
 P r f j n t his wav and I never saw but one. In this in- 
 
 vests. 
 
 stance a soldier was cooking his "sublime flapjacks" 
 in one of the sections. Truly, everything is of 
 some use. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 305 
 
 It has been estimated the entire length of the 
 
 1864. 
 line of earthworks around Petersburg was over one 
 
 hundred miles. These works included thirty-six 
 forts (some with bastions), and over fifty batteries. 
 The main line consisted chiefly of solid banks of 
 earth, high enough to shield the men as they stood 
 behind them, and too thick to be easily battered 
 down with cannon. Forts and batteries were built 
 along the line at convenient distances, and on rising 
 ground when possible. Some of the forts before 
 Petersburg were very large, and were furnished 
 with bomb proofs. These were usually constructed 
 
 J around 
 
 of logs, six or eight feet high, and both top and Peters- 
 sides were so covered with earth as to be impene- burg ' 
 trable by shot or shell. The bomb proof at Fort 
 Wadsworth was one hundred and fifty feet long and 
 twelve feet wide. Some of these forts were fine 
 specimens of military workmanship ; for instance, 
 Forts Fisher, Wadsworth and Sedgwick. Men with 
 bold, brave hearts were required to attack and 
 defend such places, but it was continually being 
 done before Petersburg. 
 
 At Fort Stedman the distance between the Union 
 and Rebel lines was scarcely six hundred feet. 
 Between these were two picket lines Union and 
 
306 The Story of Company A, 
 
 Rebel two hundred feet apart. The men in these 
 
 1864. 
 
 picket lines were in rifle pits, each of which con- 
 tained two or three men ; and night and day, in sun 
 and rain, heat and cold, the men passed the weary 
 hours in never- tiring vigilance, knowing that upon 
 them might depend the fate of an army. The only 
 protection for the men in the rifle pits was the 
 small mound of loose earth thrown up in front of 
 each, behind which they must keep entirely con- 
 cealed. 
 
 siege of From the Appomatox river to Fort Sedgwick, a 
 
 Peters- d^ance of perhaps four miles, firing was kept up, 
 
 burg. 
 
 day and night, for months ; and it was here that the 
 Twenty-fifth Regiment was posted all the time it 
 was in the trenches. Forts Sedgwick and Stedman 
 were known among the soldiers as particularly "hot 
 places." The former received the name of "Fort 
 Hell"; and its opposite in the Rebel works Fort 
 Mahone was called " Fort Damnation." 
 
 Probably there was more firing at the above 
 mentioned forts than at any other place in the whole 
 line. The battles around Petersburg may well be 
 called the Waterloo of America, compared with 
 which the Belgian Waterloo sinks into insignificance. 
 The assault on Petersburg, June i5th, resulted in 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 307 
 
 a loss to the Union troops of over ten thousand 
 
 1864. 
 men. The actual siege of Petersburg began June 
 
 1 9th, 1864, and the place was not captured until 
 April 3d, 1865 a period of nearly ten months. 
 
 The summer of 1864 was very dry, and there was 
 much sickness among the troops, dysentery being 
 the prevailing disease. We suffered more from Disease 
 heat this summer than ever before. There was no 
 great variety in our rations while in the trenches ; 
 for instance, we had coffee and hard-tack for break- ^ ations - 
 fast, boiled pork and hard-tack for dinner, coffee 
 and hard-tack for supper. This diet month after 
 month, together with the extremely hot weather, 
 probably caused most of the sickness. We received 
 
 . . r 10- Sanitary 
 
 at one time provisions from the Sanitary Com- Com , 
 mission, consisting of vegetables, pickles, canned mission. 
 fruit, condensed milk, etc. These things were a 
 perfect godsend to the soldiers ; and although the 
 quantity, when divided among a regiment, was a 
 small allowance to each man, still it did a great deal 
 of good, and was thankfully received. 
 
 A short distance from our camp, on a slight ele- 
 vation, our people had planted a big gun, which 
 was fired every fifteen minutes, night and day, and 
 sent a shell weighing one hundred pounds into 
 
308 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Petersburg every time. This gun was called the 
 
 " Petersburg Express," and for some time was fired 
 with great regularity. 
 
 While in the trenches the practice of exchanging 
 newspapers with the enemy was started.* This was 
 usually done in the morning, and in the following 
 manner. One of our men would make known to 
 the enemy that he wanted to exchange a paper by 
 shouting: "Hello, Johnny." "Hello, Yank," was 
 the reply. "Got any tobacco?" "Yes; got any 
 Exchange papers ?" " Yes ; all right, Johnny, let's change." 
 of papers. Q ur man would then wave a paper upon a ramrod 
 until it was seen by the enemy, and they would wave 
 one over their works in the same manner. Word 
 was sent along the lines at the same time that no 
 shots were to be fired. Our man would boldly 
 raise himself head and shoulders above the works, 
 and the enemy would do the same ; both would then 
 jump over the works and advance until they met half 
 way between the lines. Here they would shake 
 hands, exchange papers or coffee and tobacco, say 
 
 * In this exchange business the Johnnies usually wanted papers, coffee, and 
 gum blankets, while the Yankees wanted papers and tobacco. We often got 
 through this source news of battles fought before we heard of them from 
 home. Frequently pieces that would give important information were cut 
 out by both parties before the papers were exchanged. 
 
2$tk Regt., Mass. Vols. 309 
 
 a few friendly words, and then return to their re- 
 
 1864. 
 spective lines. I never knew a shot fired from either 
 
 side while this was going on. An instant after it 
 would have been death if either had showed his 
 head above the works. 
 
 July 22d Company A was reduced to its lowest 
 number, and at this time might be said to have The 
 ceased to exist as an organization. One sergeant, Company 
 one corporal, and three privates five men all told, 
 and not an officer left. For a time roll calls were 
 dispensed with, as there were none to answer. 
 Poor old Company A ! 
 
 Up to this time there had been little or no rain, 
 but we now had a heavy storm, and we got the full A storm ' 
 benefit of it, as the pits and trenches were filled with 
 mud and water. The boys were obliged to stay 
 there night and day, and sleep as best they could. 
 
 The Regiment at this time was under command 
 of Captain Parkhurst, and had dwindled down to 
 four small companies, with five officers and less than 
 one hundred guns. 
 
 During July the firing on each side was much less 
 than when we first occupied the fortifications. It 
 seemed as if both parties had become tired of the 
 co-nstant shooting at one another, and sometimes 
 
3 io The Story of Company A. 
 
 days would pass with scarcely any firing. The time 
 dragged slowly away, and the monotony of the 
 thing was hardly endurable. 
 
 At dark on the 2Qth of July we were relieved 
 from the trenches, and at midnight, with sixty 
 rounds of ammunition and three days' rations, we 
 marched to the left a couple of miles, and reached 
 the position occupied by the Ninth Corps. Here 
 we lay on the ground until about 5 A. M., when a 
 dull, heavy report startled us ; this was accompanied 
 July 30. by a shaking of the ground, and at the same instant 
 ar tiH e ry all along the line began to play upon 
 
 explosion. 
 
 the enemy's works. The first report was the blow- 
 ing up of a Rebel fort which had been undermined 
 by our troops. This fort contained, as was reported, 
 a regiment of Rebel infantry and sixteen guns. 
 The Forty-eighth Pennsylvania regiment, under 
 command of Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants, origina- 
 ted and executed the plan of mining and blowing up 
 the Rebel battery. The work was commenced June 
 25th, and completed in about a month. The dis- 
 tance was over five hundred feet. On the 27th of 
 July the powder was placed in the mine, the whole 
 charge consisting of three hundred and twenty kegs 
 of twenty-five pounds each in all, eight thousand 
 
2$th Regt. , Mass. Vols. 3 1 i 
 
 pounds. The train was fired on the 3Oth of July, 
 
 1864. 
 about 5 A. M. It was a terrible success. The crater 
 
 made by the explosion was about two hundred and 
 fifty feet long, fifty feet wide, and twenty-five feet 
 deep. 
 
 Although we stood ready for action we were not 
 in position to see the full effect of the explosion, but 
 those who' did, say it was a terrible sight men, 
 guns, timbers and earth going heavenward together. 
 After a tedious delay the Ninth Corps charged, and 
 
 After the 
 
 carried a portion of the enemy's works, penetrating ex piosion. 
 beyond the second line of intrenchments ; but owing 
 to some unaccountable misunderstanding, troops 
 were not ordered to their support. The Rebels 
 rallied, our boys were driven back, and it ended in 
 the enemy regaining all the ground they had lost, 
 including the blown-up fort. 
 
 We left the scene of the explosion about noon of 
 the 3oth, and went again into the trenches, but not 
 where we were previously. In our new situation 
 the lines were very near together, and a sap had 
 been run from our works and a short line established 
 to within fifty or sixty feet of the Rebel lines. On 
 looking through our loop holes we frequently saw 
 the Rebels looking at us through theirs ; and a rifle 
 40 
 
312 The Story of Company A. 
 
 barrel would often be introduced into these aper- 
 
 1864. . . 
 
 tures m the endeavor to obtain a shot. 
 
 August ist an arrangement was made under flag 
 of truce, and parties were sent out to bury the dead 
 Truce for from both colored and white regiments; the black 
 buying tne black, the white burying the white. 
 This truce lasted from 6 to 1 1 A. M. 
 
 In our immediate front the enemy displayed a 
 white flag, and a truce took place between our regi- 
 ment and the troops of the enemy directly opposed 
 to us. This was done because the lines were so 
 near together that both parties feared to show them- 
 selves under the general truce. Each party in the 
 meanwhile mounted their respective breastworks, 
 and cooly sat gazing upon the other and talking 
 like old friends. The distance was so short that 
 small shells with fuse lighted had been thrown from 
 one line to the other, after the manner of hand 
 grenades. 
 
 A good deal of fun passed between us and the 
 Johnnies, and some twitting upon facts. One Union 
 boy asked a Rebel : " How did you like that style 
 of going to heaven, Johnny?" referring to the ex- 
 plosion. "We rather gave you hell that time, didn't 
 we?" said another. But the talk for the most part 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 313 
 
 was good natured ; and the burial of the dead went 
 
 on. This was dreadful business ; the bodies had 
 lain upon the ground since the day of the explosion, 
 and had been exposed to the hot sun during the 
 day and to the dampness at night, so that their con- 
 dition was horrible. Pits were dug and the bodies 
 thrown in any way. When the work was completed 
 a signal gun was fired, and the troops hurried back 
 to their respective intrenchments. 
 
 The Twenty-fifth Regiment was relieved by the 
 Twenty-third Massachusetts on the fifth of August, 
 and we had fallen back to our old camp, when, about 
 6 P. M., we were startled by a sudden explosion 
 followed by volleys of musketry, while our batteries 
 opened fire. We quickly fell into line and marched 
 to the scene of the trouble, and found that the 
 enemy had attempted to mine that portion of the 
 works we had just left. We had expected this, for 
 we had heard the Rebels at work digging for some 
 time previously. They must have miscalculated 
 the distance, for the explosion took place just 
 outside of our line, and consequently did no harm, 
 with the exception of overthrowing a few gabions 
 and burying for a few minutes some half a dozen of 
 our men. The plucky Twenty-third held the line. 
 
3 1 4 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Several men were wounded by the Rebel earns 
 1864. 
 
 which commenced firing as soon as the explosion 
 
 occurred, and Colonel Stedman, who commanded 
 our brigade, was killed. At this time troops had 
 been taken from our line and sent elsewhere, and 
 the duty was now more severe than ever, as we 
 were in the trenches four successive days, with only 
 two of relief. 
 
 A few days after this explosion we occupied an- 
 other position in the intrenchments where the lines 
 were about two hundred feet apart, and between 
 them for a long distance was a great field of corn. 
 When the fortifications were built this corn was some 
 two feet high, while at this time it was six feet in 
 r height, and fairly concealed the Rebel works from 
 
 Green & J 
 
 corn, our view. One dark night, after the moon had gone 
 down, men were sent over the breastworks to cut 
 down this corn, which was quickly and quietly ac- 
 complished as far as could be done, and the next 
 day the boys were feasting on the green ears. 
 
 One night a big fire was seen in Petersburg. We 
 could hear the bells ring and the engines whistle, 
 while our big gun, "The Petersburg Express," sent 
 its regular messages into that afflicted city. 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 315 
 
 While lying- in the trenches in the vicinity of Fort 
 
 1864. 
 Stedman, a large gun in the enemy's line had caused 
 
 us a great deal of trouble. One day a large mortar 
 was put in position and trained upon this gun. The 
 soldiers crowded around to witness the effect of the 
 first shell. In a few minutes it was fired, and its 
 course was watched with a great deal of interest ; it 
 was seen to strike outside the enemy's works and 
 harmlessly explode. A second shell was fired. 
 Higher and higher it ascended and soon began 
 falling in a graceful curve in the exact range of the 
 
 i- T r 11 i i * A Rebel 
 
 big gun. it was seen to tall inside the enemy s 
 works, and an instant later exploded ; a cloud of silenced. 
 dust was thrown high in the air, v in which could be 
 seen the form of a man, pieces of timber, etc. This 
 shell had done its work, and the Rebel gun was 
 dismounted. 
 
 One day we had an exceedingly heavy rain, and 
 the little stream which ran through the ravine where 
 we camped suddenly overflowed its banks, and 
 
 A torrent. 
 
 rushed along, a perfect torrent, filling the whole 
 ravine with water. So suddenly did this take place 
 that some sick soldiers lying in their tents were 
 near being drowned. Large army wagons were 
 carried down the stream for some distance, which 
 
3 1 6 The Story of Company A. 
 
 shows the strength of the torrent. The waters sub- 
 
 1864. . . 
 
 sided as quickly as they had risen ; no lives were 
 
 lost and little damage was done. 
 
 At this time the Regiment was receiving recruits 
 from Massachusetts, and such god-forsaken speci- 
 mens as some of them were, it would be hard to 
 match. It seemed as if the good, patriotic people 
 of Worcester had robbed hospitals to find substitutes 
 to fill their quota. There were old, broken-down 
 men, very young boys ; and one or more were idiotic 
 Tough and one was afflicted with epilepsy. Several were 
 recruits. SQ ] ame ^^ t ^ e y had to carr y canes, and taken 
 
 altogether they were the toughest lot of recruits the 
 Regiment had received. These men had taken 
 their bounties, and one of them actually received 
 more money ($1200) than any individual of the 
 original members did for three years' service. The 
 majority of these recruits were returned as being 
 unfit for duty, but the persons for whom they were 
 enrolled as substitutes, and by whom they were 
 paid for this non-service, effectually escaped thereby 
 their liability to the draft. 
 
 August 27th found the Regiment in camp near 
 Cobb's Hill, where it had been sent for a much 
 needed, often promised, and well earned rest. If 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 317 
 
 we reckon the time from April 26th, when the 
 
 1864. 
 
 Regiment was assigned to Heckman's Brigade, un- 
 til this date, August 2/th, we have four months, 
 during which we were constantly on duty and 
 actually under fire. This camp was a comfortable 
 
 ' A rest. 
 
 one, and it was a treat to be able to walk about 
 without fear of being shot. The lines at this point 
 were a quarter of a mile apart, and the Union and 
 Rebel pickets were on very friendly terms, ex- 
 changing papers and conversing with each other 
 daily. The Rebel pickets even saluted our officers 
 when they chanced to see them. 
 
 About September ist orders were received for 
 the Regiment to start for North Carolina, so we 
 sailed down the James again, to Portsmouth, where ^ 
 we obtained our knapsacks left there four months Carolina. 
 before. On September 6th we went on board the 
 steamer Wenonak, and proceeded on our way, but 
 a thick fog came on, and we anchored for the night 
 near the village of Hampton. A heavy gale blow- 
 ing outside detained us for a time, but at length we 
 sailed from Hampton Roads, and after a fair pas- 
 sage around Cape Hatteras, arrived at New Berne 
 on the loth. 
 
3 ! 8 The Story of Company A. 
 
 Our camp was pitched on the bank of the Trent 
 1864. 
 
 river, opposite the town and near the railroad bridge 
 
 which was destroyed when New Berne was cap- 
 New tured. Most of the companies were sent out on 
 Beme picket duty. It was amusing to observe the boys 
 
 again. 
 
 as they wandered around the camp, careless and 
 happy, no firing here, no being shot at ; and the 
 time of service was drawing to a close for the 
 "Used-to-bes." 
 
 At this time a strange disease broke out in New 
 Berne which proved generally fatal. This was at 
 last pronounced to be yellow fever, and it continued 
 
 Yellow 
 
 fever, to increase in virulence until it became epidemic. 
 The people died in such numbers that it was almost 
 impossible to bury them. Thirteen hundred died 
 in six weeks. Comrade George F. Penniman died 
 September i8th, and Comrade Reuben H. DeLuce 
 on the 2Oth, both of yellow fever. These men had 
 been detailed from our company, and had remained 
 on duty in New Berne ever since its capture, es- 
 caping all the hardships of the campaign to die as 
 time drew near for them to be discharged from ser- 
 vice. During the prevalence of this disease in New 
 Berne many sad cases came to our knowledge ; in 
 one instance a house was broken open by the police 
 
25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 319 
 
 and a whole family found dead ; yet many of the 
 
 1864. 
 sick recovered. The disease was accounted for by 
 
 the filthy condition of the town. 
 
 We visited our old home. Camp Oliver, and found 
 the ground covered with negro shanties. One or 
 two old cook houses were the only signs remaining 
 of the occupation of the place by the Twenty-fifth. 
 
 On the 5th of October those of the Regiment who 
 had not re-enlisted fifteen officers and two hundred 
 and forty-eight men bade their comrades "Good- 
 bye," and, under command of Captain Denny, took 
 
 the cars for Morehead City. We were bound for 
 
 Home- 
 home now, and not for the battle field. At More- ward 
 
 head City we went on board the steamer, Dudley bound - 
 Buck, and putting out to sea, doubled Cape Hat- 
 teras once more (the sixth time for some of us), 
 reaching Fortress Monroe at 10 A. M. of October yth. 
 On account of coming from a port infected with 
 yellow fever we anchored at the quarantine ground. 
 After some delay here, we were allowed to proceed 
 to New York, where we arrived on Sunday, the Qth. 
 While on the passage from North Carolina two 
 men (not of the 25th) had died of yellow fever, an/1 
 were buried at sea. We were held in quarantine until 
 Wednesday, the i2th, when we passed up to the 
 41 
 
320 The Story of Company A. 
 
 city and disembarked. That afternoon the Regiment 
 
 1864. 
 
 took passage on one of the Norwich line of boats 
 
 for New London, reaching that place sometime after 
 midnight. Here a delay was proposed, as our 
 Worcester friends wished to give us a public re- 
 ception on our arrival ; but the boys were impatient 
 to see home, and, taking the regular train, we 
 reached our journey's end at 4 A. M. of October i3th. 
 What a contrast to that October day of three 
 years before. Then it was a bright and beautiful 
 day, with thousands to bid us good-bye ; now it was 
 *' a cold and cheerless morning, and (not being ex- 
 pected at that early hour) none to give us welcome. 
 But it was soon noised abroad, and the City Hall 
 was filled with people eager to get a sight of the 
 soldiers. Among the first to greet us was "Our 
 Old Captain," Colonel Pickett, still suffering from 
 his wound of June 3d at Cold Harbor ; and lame as 
 he was, he had walked to the City Hall to bid his 
 old comrades welcome and what a greeting was 
 that ! After a collation provided by the City, we 
 were addressed by the Mayor, Hon. D. Waldo 
 . Lincoln, Colonel William S. Lincoln (of the 34th), 
 and Colonel Pickett. We were then dismissed to 
 meet again October 2oth for final muster-out. 
 
2$th Regt., Mass. Vols. 321 
 
 On our departure from New Berne those of the 
 
 1864. 
 Regiment who had re-enlisted three hundred and 
 
 sixty men were consolidated into four companies, 
 with ten officers. They did picket and guard duty 
 around New Berne, and participated in an expedi- 
 tion to Kinston and a brilliant engagement near 
 Wise's Forks, N. C. This portion of the Regiment 
 was mustered out July 2ist, 1865 after the close 
 of the war. 
 
 On the 2oth of October, 1864, the Company met 
 again in Worcester, and, in front of the Old City 
 Hall, were mustered out of the service of the 
 
 Oct. 20. 
 
 United States. The original Company A, Twenty- Muster . 
 fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers was no out - 
 more. Our full term of service three years had 
 expired long years they had been to us ; and with 
 the proud satisfaction that duty to our country had 
 been "well done," we found ourselves again private 
 citizens. 
 
 With hand-shaking, tearful eyes, and every ex- 
 pression of good will and farewell toward each other, 
 the members of the Company separated, never to 
 meet again ; never again to rally under the starry 
 splendors of " Old Glory" ; never again to participate 
 in the wild excitement of the charge, or with quick 
 
322 The Story of Company A. 
 
 eye and elastic step find place in the skirmish line ; 
 
 but henceforth to the end to lead the quiet life of 
 peaceful citizens. 
 
 Company A Association was formed some years 
 later, and annual reunions have been regularly held ; 
 but the men who were mustered out on that 2oth of 
 October, 1864, never all met again, for 
 
 "Some are dead, and some are gone, 
 And some are scattered and alone." 
 
 One by one they disappear drifting away like 
 withered leaves, on the uncertain tide of later years. 
 
 At present writing about thirty members of the 
 Company Association come together at the annual 
 meetings. 
 
 And now, kind, indulgent comrades, farewell. 
 The story is ended. Would it were better told, but 
 "what is written, is written." 
 
 If any shall find pleasure in following through 
 these pages the wanderings of this band of men, 
 this company of soldiers ; shall glory with them in 
 their victories, and sympathize with them in their 
 
2 5th Regt., Mass. Vols. 323 
 
 losses and reverses ; if any comrade shall call up 
 
 pleasant memories of his soldier life by the perusal 
 of this simple narrative then, possibly, this story 
 has not been told in vain. 
 
 Again, farewell, 
 
 SAMUEL H. PUTNAM, 
 
 Late Orderly Sergeant, Company A, and Sergeant Major, 25th 
 Regiment, Mass. Vols. 
 
 Worcester, Mass., April 30, 1886. 
 
 THE DEAD OF COMPANY A. 
 
 %* Names of those who died in the Service. 
 
 GEORGE E. CURTIS, died at Hatteras Inlet, N. C., Jan. 21, 1862. 
 ELI PIKE, killed at New Berne, March 15, 1862. 
 Lucius F. KINGMAN, died at New Berne, Sept. 24, 1862. 
 EDWIN D. WATERS, died at New Berne, Nov. 5, 1862. 
 JOHN B. SAVAGE, died a prisoner at Richmond, March i, 1864. 
 WILLIAM E. HOLMAN, killed at Proctor's Creek, May 12, 1864. 
 HENRY GOULDING, killed at Drewry's Bluff, May 14, 1864. 
 LYMAN J. PRENTISS, died of wounds at Hampton Hospital, May 
 
 16, 1864. 
 
 WALTER H. RICHARDS, died of wounds at Richmond, May 18, '64. 
 FRANCIS B. BROCK, killed at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. 
 
324 The Story of Company A. 
 
 IRA LINDSEY, killed at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. 
 
 SIDNEY J. ATKINSON, killed at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. 
 
 LIBERTY W. STONE, died of wounds at Milford, Mass., July 5, '64. 
 
 JOSEPH L. DELANEY, killed at Petersburg, June 8, 1864. 
 
 JAMES WHITE, died of wounds in New York harbor, June 23, 1864. 
 
 ABEL S. ANGELL, died June 28, 1864. 
 
 BENJAMIN C. GREENE, shot by Rebel guard while sitting on a win- 
 dow sill at Libby Prison ; died of the wound, Sept. 1 1, '64. 
 
 GEORGE F. PENNIMAN, died of yellow fever at New Berne, Sept. 
 18, 1864. 
 
 REUBEN H. DfiLucE, died of yellow fever at New Berne, Sept. 20, 
 1864. 
 
 JEROME H. FULLER, died a prisoner at Florence, S. C., Oct. 26, '64. 
 
 JOHN A. THOMPSON, died at New Berne, 1864. 
 
 JAMES M. HERVEY, died in New Berne, 1864. 
 
25*^ 
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M198519 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY*