History Of The Forty-Second Regiment Infantry - free ebook by Charles P. (Charles Palfray) Bosson

HISTORY OF THE FORTY-SECOND REGIMENT INFANTRY, Massachusetts Volunteers, 1862, 1863, 1864. BY SERGEANT-MAJOR CHARLES P. BOSSON.

BOSTON: MILLS, KNIGHT &amp; CO., PRINTERS, 115 CONGRESS STREET. 1886. Copyrighted by CHARLES P. BOSSON. 1886....

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PREFACE.

This history of the regiment was undertaken by me at the special request of several officers who knew I had written, soon after the term of service expired, considerable matter relating thereto, for my own amusement and instruction. Without this foundation to work on, written when memory was fresh, it is doubtful if a history of the regiment could be written, for references to many soldiers’ diaries disclosed the fact that nearly all did not contain detailed accounts of events occurring at the t

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CHAPTER I. Organization of Regiment—Camp at Readville—Departure for New York.

At the time (August 4th, 1862) a draft was ordered by President Lincoln for three hundred thousand militia to serve for a period of nine months, Colonel Isaac S. Burrell was in command of the Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia—an old militia organization of the State. General Orders No. 25, issued July 1st, 1862, by the Commander-in-Chief of the State troops, Governor John A. Andrew, notified the militia to prepare for a call to service. General Orders No. 34, issued August 13th, 1

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CHAPTER II. En Route—Camp at East New York—On Transports.

On arrival at Groton, the men were immediately marched aboard the steamer Commodore , owned by Commodore Vanderbilt, exclusively used for transport service since the war commenced. Owing to a dense fog which prevailed and stormy character of the weather, it was near two o’clock Saturday morning before the boat left her pier. At this place the regiment came near losing the sergeant-major. After the men had filed aboard and been assigned positions upon the boat, he went ashore to take a look aroun

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CHAPTER III. On Board Transports—The Saxon—Quincy—Charles Osgood—Shetucket—Quinnebaug.

“Headquarters” transport Saxon , so called because the colonel with a majority of his staff were on board, was commanded by Captain Lavender, and remained in the harbor until the morning of Friday, December 5th, the men subsisting on crackers and cold water. At eight o’clock she proceeded to sea, the boys giving a round of cheers to a lady upon the ramparts of Fort Columbus, who waved a United States flag as they passed. All arrangements were promptly made for the voyage: cooks detailed to cook

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The following officers and men of Company D:

The total force amounting to 15 officers, 249 enlisted men, 1 white citizen, and 2 colored boys. The instructions Colonel Holabird could not find were handed to Lieutenant-Colonel Stedman as the steamer Che-Kiang was about to leave New Orleans for Galveston. They never reached Colonel Burrell. They were as follows:—...

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“Headquarters Dept. of the Gulf, “New Orleans, La., January 3d, 1863.

“ Lieut.-Col. Stedman , 42d Reg’t Mass. Vols.: “ Colonel ,—I am directed by the Commanding General to enclose you instructions, which he requests you to hand Colonel Isaac S. Burrell. “Very respectfully, your obedient servant, “W. L. G. GREEN, “ Aid-de-Camp .”...

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“Headquarters Dept. of the Gulf, “New Orleans, La., January 3d, 1863.

“ Colonel : “Your regiment having been ordered to Galveston, you are hereby placed in command of that post. You will execute such orders as you may receive from these headquarters. My instructions from the Department of War forbid me at present to make any extended military movements in Texas. The situation of the people of Galveston makes it expedient to send a small force there for the purpose of their protection, and also to afford such facilities as may be possible for recruiting soldiers fo

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“Headquarters Dept. of the Gulf, “New Orleans, La., January 3d, 1863.

“ Colonel : “You will immediately cause to be constructed a tete-du-pont , to command the bridge which connects Galveston Island with the main-land. “I directed an engineer officer to go there some time since, and I suppose he is there. If so, he will give suitable directions for the work. “Very respectfully yours, “N. P. BANKS, “ Major-General commanding . “ Colonel Isaac S. Burrell , “commanding U. S. Forces at Galveston.” The trip to Galveston was devoid of interest. The weather was fine and

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LETTER CARRIED TO GENERAL BANKS, BY QUARTERMASTER BURRELL.

“ Headquarters , “ Galveston, Texas , December 29th, 1862. “ Sir : In obedience to orders, upon arriving at this place on the evening of the twenty-fourth instant, after consulting with the commander of the blockading fleet, I landed the three companies of my command, which were with me upon the transport Saxon , on the end of Kuhn’s Wharf, and quartered them in the warehouse there. I have taken possession of the city as boldly as I could with the small force at my command, and have thoroughly r

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STATEMENT OF SERGEANT NICHOLS.

“The Cambria , Captain Sumner, arrived off Galveston Bar at three o’clock P.M. January 2d. On board were three hundred men First Texas Cavalry, Colonel Davis, recruited in New Orleans from Texas refugees, and equipments for a full cavalry regiment; a detachment First Vermont Battery with guns; Sergeants Nichols, Vialle, Attwell, and Private Greene, all of Company G, Forty-Second Regiment, en route to join their company. A small brass cannon on deck was fired several times to signal a pilot and n

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STATEMENT OF PURSER BACH.

“ On Board Steamer Cambria , “January 7th, 1863. “ Major-General Banks , “Commanding Department of the Gulf: “The steamer Cambria , with two companies First Texas Cavalry, horses of the Second Vermont Battery, and a great number of men, women and children (refugees), left New Orleans for Galveston December 31st, 1862, at 9 P.M. Arrived outside the island January 2d, at 7 P.M. Strong wind and high sea running. No sign of pilot, consequently came to anchor. “Next morning, third instant, weather ve

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“Headquarters Dept. of the Gulf, “New Orleans, La., January 7th, 1863. (Extract.)

“ Sir : The detachment of troops was sent to Galveston upon the suggestion of Admiral Farragut, and upon the statement of General Butler, that he had contemplated ordering a small force there to assist in recruiting Texas refugees. It was supposed that the fleet made the occupation of the part of the island adjacent to the gunboats perfectly secure. It would not, however, have been sent forward so soon after my arrival had it not been for the impatience of General Hamilton. When it became known

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“Houston, Texas, January 20th, 1863. “Colonel I. S. Burrell, “42d Regt. Mass. Vols.:

“ Sir ,—The following is a correct list of the wounded of said Forty-Second Regiment at the battle of Galveston, January 1st, 1863: “These are all the casualties in our regiment in the late severe battle, in which the only wonder is that one of us lived to tell the story. It seems indeed providential that so few are wounded and none killed on the spot. We have to mourn the loss of one noble fellow, Nott of Company G, a brave soldier and an excellent man, and to regret the loss of a leg of Compan

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“Headquarters Dept. of the Gulf, “New Orleans, August 5th, 1864.

“ To His Excellency Governor Andrew , “Of Massachusetts: “ Sir ,—Colonel Isaac S. Burrell, of the Forty-Second Massachusetts Volunteers, left New York with the troops under my command at the time I entered service in this Department. Two days after I assumed command here he was sent with his regiment to protect the island of Galveston, which had been for three months in the possession of the naval authorities of the United States. Two companies of his regiment, under his own command, arrived the

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CHARGE.

“Conduct to the prejudice of Good Order and Military Discipline.” Specification —In this: that he, Corporal Denny, was author of, did write and cause to be published in the Worcester Daily Spy , on the morning of December 29th, 1862, an article containing sentiments false and calculated to mislead the public with reference to the acts of Captain George P. Davis, then commanding troops on board the Charles Osgood , and reflecting censure on his (Corporal Denny’s) superior officer, which article w

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FINDING OF THE COURT.

The Court, after mature deliberation on the evidence adduced, finds the accused, Corporal Everett A. Denny of Company E, Forty-Second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, as follows:...

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SENTENCE.

And the Court does therefore sentence him, Corporal Everett A. Denny, Company E, Forty-Second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, to be reduced to the ranks, to forfeit ten dollars of his pay, and to be publicly reprimanded by the commanding officer of his regiment. The sentence was approved in General Orders No. 16, Defences New Orleans, March 7th, 1863, and Corporal Denny released from arrest and returned to duty with his company March 17th. Whether the offence was worth the trouble and expense

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“Headquarters Dept. of the Gulf, “New Orleans, January 13th, 1863.

“Notice is hereby given by the commanding general of this Department that offensive personal demonstrations, by language or conduct of any character, by persons of any class whatever, with the intention of giving personal offence, or tending to disturb the public peace, are forbidden, and will be punished with relentless severity. Parents will be held responsible for the respectful conduct of their children, and prompt measures will be taken to fasten upon the proper parties any act of this char

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“Headquarters, 42nd Mass. Vols., “Camp Farr, Bayou Gentilly, La., March 6th, 1863.

“ Sir ,—I have the honor to state that your communication of the third inst., enclosing a copy of letter of instructions from headquarters, Department of the Gulf, and inquiring whether special orders from these headquarters, No. 73, current series, February 26th, have been fully carried out, is just received. “In reply, I would respectively state, that the two hundred and forty men of this regiment, paroled prisoners, were reported to me by Lieutenant Farnsworth, as ordered; and that I have pla

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“CIRCULAR. “Headquarters Defences New Orleans, “New Orleans, March 7th, 1863.

“Upon the following report of the medical director of this command of February 21st, ult., the brigadier-general commanding has made this indorsement: “’It is believed that a publication of Surgeon Sanger’s report, to the troops of this command, fully approved as it is by me, will be sufficient to awaken a greater spirit of pride and vigor in attention to duty. “’There is no doubt but that a want of attention to personal cleanliness, of proper police, and of vigorous, hearty, and interested atte

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“Headquarters Forty-Second Regt., Mass. Vols., “Camp Farr, Bayou Gentilly, La., April 6th, 1863.

“ Sir ,—I have the honor to report that I proceeded yesterday, according to Special Orders No. 54, and moved Company F of this regiment to Lakeport, and there relieved the Ninth Connecticut, Captain Wright, who turned over the public property in his possession to Captain J. D. Cogswell, commanding Company F. The pickets were taken from Company F for Lakeport and all stations below that point. “At the Lake-end of Bayou St. John I placed thirty men and four non-commissioned officers from Company A

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“To Lieutenant George E. Davis, A. A. A. General, “Second Brigade, Second Division, New Orleans.”

The boat of the Hortense was found May 2d at Hickok’s Landing in the possession of a coffee house proprietor. There was some correspondence with the brigade commander about this affair, but it was allowed to blow over, and no steps were taken to punish the ringleaders. The Connecticut men were very angry, because taken from a post where they enjoyed themselves to the neglect of duty. Captain Cogswell soon found there was business to occupy his attention. Within two hours after his arrival a man

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“Headquarters Forty-Second Regt., Mass. Vols., “Camp Farr, Gentilly Station, La., April 14th, 1863.

“ Sir ,—I would respectfully report that the enclosed is a copy of an order sent to Camp Parapet yesterday, by my orderly, and that Captain Leonard complied with the order at once. Captain D. W. Bailey, of Company H, absolutely refused to send his descriptive book, saying that ‘the colonel or no other man should have his company books.’ If he was under my immediate command here at the camp, it would be clear to my mind how I should act in this case. In the present instance I am not sufficiently

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“Headquarters Forty-Second Regt., Mass. Vols., “Camp Farr, Bayou Gentilly, La., April 17th, 1863.

“ Captain ,—You having been reported at these headquarters in arrest by orders of Brigadier-General Sherman, you are hereby assigned quarters in the large tent to the left of these headquarters, and you will hold yourself within the following limits, viz.: On the right, on a line with the guard line and the right flank of this camp. In front, on a line with the woods in front of the camp. On the left, on a line with the tents on the left flank of the camp of paroled prisoners. In the rear, on a

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CHARGE FIRST.

“Disobedience of Orders.” Specification —“In this: that he, Captain Davis W. Bailey, Company H, Forty-Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, when ordered by Lieutenant-Colonel J. Stedman, in the execution of his office, and through Captain O. W. Leonard, senior captain of Companies C and H, Forty-Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and to whom the order was addressed, to send to the regimental headquarters his company Descriptive Book, did absolutely refuse and fail so to do. All this

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CHARGE SECOND.

“Conduct unbecoming an Officer and Gentleman.” Specification First —“In this: that he, Captain Davis W. Bailey, Forty-Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, when notified by Captain O. W. Leonard, senior captain of Companies C and H, Forty-Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, that he (Captain Leonard) had received an order from Lieutenant-Colonel Stedman (commanding Forty-Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers), to send to the regimental headquarters the Descriptive Books of said Co

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CHARGE THIRD.

“Conduct to the prejudice of Good Order and Military Discipline.” Specification —“In this: that he, Captain Davis W. Bailey, Company H, Forty-Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, when informed by Captain Leonard, senior captain of Companies C and H, Forty-Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, that the lieutenant-colonel had sent an order for the Descriptive Books of said companies, did, then and there, at or near his quarters at Camp Parapet, Louisiana, and in the presence of Captain

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“Headquarters 42d Regiment, Mass. Vols., “Camp Farr, Bayou Gentilly, La., May 5th, 1863.

“ Sir ,—I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of your communication of the fourth instant. I would respectfully report the following facts concerning the guard duties at the mouth of Bayou St. John. Captain H. S. Coburn, of Company A, has under his command at that place: one sergeant, four corporals and thirty privates. He furnishes three sentinel-posts: one, a picket of three men at the extreme end of the bayou, who are relieved every twenty-four hours, one man being on duty all the tim

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“To Captain Wickham Hoffman, A. A. General, “Second Division, 19th Army Corps, New Orleans.”

From the main camp at the bayou various details of men were made for all sorts of duty: On the seventeenth—Company E proceeded to New Orleans and acted as a funeral escort to the remains of Captain Albert Coan, Company A, Twelfth Maine, who was buried from the St. James Hospital. On the nineteenth—Sergeant Turner, Corporals Lowey and Turner, and seven privates of Company B, Corporal Lovly and five privates of Company E, in heavy marching order, relieved a guard of the One Hundred and Sixty-Fifth

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“Headquarters Forty-Second Mass. Vols., “Camp Farr, Bayou Gentilly, La., May 12th, 1863.

“ Sir ,—I would respectfully bring to your notice and attention the manner in which one of the members of the provost-guard treated several enlisted men of this command after having demanded their passes, seen them, and pronounced them correct. The circumstances are as follows: “Orderly-Sergeant Waterman, Sergeants Hewins and Sawyer, Corporal Merrill, and two privates of this regiment, paroled but unexchanged prisoners of war, were in New Orleans on Saturday, the ninth inst., for the purpose of

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“To Major Von Herman, “commanding Provost-Guard, New Orleans.”

The provost-marshal promised to look into the affair and report what was done about it. Nothing further was heard about the matter. With warm weather rapidly setting in, the unacclimated officers and men of the Forty-Second began to swell the sick list. Assistant-Surgeon Hitchcock, in charge of the regimental hospital, had been ordered to Berwick Bay on special duty April 19th, where a large number of sick and convalescent men from the army operating in the Teche district were in hospitals. On h

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CHAPTER X. Bayou Gentilly—June—Farewell to Gentilly Camp—In New Orleans.

The month of May passed rapidly without the occurrence of any event of importance to the regiment. With the commencement of June affairs in the Department began to assume such a shape as to lead officers of the Forty-Second to think the regiment was to get some service. Affairs at Port Hudson reached a stage when reënforcements were needed to maintain the effective strength of the army, and to continue the siege. Troops from Brashear City and Ship Island were ordered to Port Hudson, and from Key

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CHAPTER XI. BRASHEAR CITY. On Active Service—Action of June Twenty-third—Captured—Paroled and Returned to Algiers.

Colonel Cahill, Ninth Connecticut Infantry, commanding Second Brigade, Second Division, Nineteenth Army Corps, issued, June 9th, 1863, Special Orders No. 97, for Lieutenant-Colonel Stedman to have Company B, with details from other companies sufficient to make the full strength three officers and one hundred men, with one day’s cooked rations in the haversacks and at least forty rounds of ammunition to each man, proceed at once to Algiers and report to Captain Schenck, ordnance officer at the Ne

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CHAPTER XII. Action at La-Fourche Crossing.

About six o’clock Saturday morning, twentieth June, 1863, the train which left Brashear City for La-Fourche a few hours before, arrived at the railroad bridge crossing Bayou La-Fourche, twenty-eight miles from Brashear, fifty-two miles from Algiers, then a suburb of New Orleans, upon the west bank of the Mississippi River. Lieutenant-Colonel Stickney had under his command on the train: one hundred and fifteen men One Hundred and Seventy-Sixth New York Infantry, Major Morgans in command; seventy-

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“Headquarters 42d Regiment, Mass. Vols., “Custom House, New Orleans, La., July 5th, 1863.

“ Sir ,—I would respectfully present the following facts to the attention of the commanding general of the Defences of New Orleans: “January 1st, 1863, three companies of the Forty-Second Massachusetts Volunteers, viz., D, G and I, under Colonel I. S. Burrell, were taken prisoners at Galveston, Texas. These men were taken to Houston and kept several weeks, when they were sent to our lines at Baton Rouge and paroled. February 25th they arrived in New Orleans and were ordered by General Sherman to

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“Headquarters Forty-Second Regt., Mass. Vols., “Lafayette Square, New Orleans, June 21st, 1863.

“ Sir ,—I have the honor to report that your communication of the eighteenth instant, relative to the muster into service of this regiment, is received. “I would respectfully state that no formal muster was ever made of this regiment, and the field and staff were mustered on the eleventh November, 1862. But the War Department have decided that in the case of the nine months’ troops their time was to expire nine months from the date of muster of the last company, which in this regiment was the fo

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“Headquarters Forty-Second Regt., Mass., Vols. “Camp at Algiers, La., July 27th, 1863.

“ Sir ,—The time of service of the Forty-Second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers having expired the fourteenth instant, I would respectfully request that transportation be furnished the regiment for their return to Massachusetts. I would state for the information of the commanding general that the aggregate strength of the regiment at this time is as follows: on duty with the regiment and on detached service, including sick, five hundred and eighty; paroled enlisted men, two hundred and seventy

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“To Lieut.-Col. R. B. Irwin, A. A. General, “19th Army Corps.”

A letter from Brigadier-General McMillan, dated July 28th, stated that the major-general commanding the Department would send all nine months men home in such order as he would select, and as fast as transportation could be obtained; that he would send all at once if he could, and that all petitions and representations would fail to expedite the sending. July 17th—Paroled men of Companies D, G, I, A, B, E and H arrived at Algiers from Gentilly Camp and were assigned quarters in the warehouse. Ju

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CHAPTER XIV. Companies C and H on Detached Service at Camp Parapet.

Special Orders No. 16, issued from headquarters Defences of New Orleans, January 15th, 1863, detailed Companies C and H for duty in the Department engineer service. The two companies made a skeleton battalion, under command of Senior-Captain Leonard, who, after reporting to Major D. C. Houston, chief-engineer Nineteenth Army Corps, for instructions, on the seventeenth marched them to Camp Parapet, three miles up river, with their camp equipage, and pitched tents upon a level piece of low, muddy

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“Headquarters 19th Army Corps, “Before Port Hudson, June 15th, 1863.

“ General Orders No. 49. ( Extract. ) “For the last duty that victory imposes, the commanding general summons the bold men of the Corps to the organization of a storming column of a thousand men to vindicate the Flag of the Union and the memory of its defenders who have fallen; let them come forward. “Officers who lead the column of victory in this last assault may be assured of the just recognition of their services by promotion, and every officer and soldier, who shares its perils and its glor

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CHAPTER XVI. August—At Algiers—Bound North—On Board “Continental”—Arrival Home.

Major-General Banks having decided to send the regiment home in a few days, July 29th was devoted to cleaning guns and equipments, and turning over material to the regimental quartermaster. Orders came on the thirtieth to embark August 1st on the steamer Continental for New York, thence proceed to Readville, Massachusetts, and report to the United States mustering officer in Boston. The thirtieth and thirty-first July were busy days for the quartermaster, who turned over to proper Department off

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STATEMENT OF PRIVATE HERSEY.

“The last two days of the year 1863 will long be remembered by those members of our regiment who, with some three hundred other Federal prisoners, were wending their toilsome way over the rough, frozen roads leading from Marshall, Texas, to the Louisiana border, in expectation, when arriving there, of being exchanged or paroled. December 29th a fierce ‘Norther’ set in, which was soon accompanied by a severe storm of rain, hail, snow and sleet. Through this terrible storm we plodded on over a dre

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“BRIGADIER-GENERAL LIDDEL, “Per ——, A. A. A. G.”

A verbal provision was attached to the pass, that they must not attempt to reach the Federal lines on Red River, but return by way of Harrisonburg, thence to the Federal forces on the Mississippi River. This pass, Captain Micot informed them, would be respected by all regular Confederate soldiers, but probably not by the guerrillas, as they were not subject to the discipline of the army. Thus was Williams’ oft-repeated prediction, “Our journey is only a round-about road to Texas again, it would

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CHAPTER XVIII. Officers in Confederate Prisons—Houston—State Prison—Camp Groce—Camp Ford—En-Route Home—At Home.

Soon after the enlisted men (Galveston prisoners of war) were paroled and left for the Federal lines, the officers retained at Houston were joined (January 25th) by one hundred and nine prisoners taken at Sabine Pass, officers and crews of the U. S. sailing vessels Morning Light and Velocity . Among them were Acting Masters Dillingham, Fowler and Washburn, Masters-Mates Chambers and Rice, Acting Assistant-Surgeon J. W. Shrify, and Captain Hammond of the Velocity . These two successful ventures (

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“Headquarters Company B, 42d Mass. Vols., “Great Falls, Md., October 19th, 1864.

“ Colonel ,—I received your dispatch of the eighteenth, for which I am very grateful. My company is small, and what men I have are getting sick very fast, so that I have not men enough to carry out your advice. However, I will do the best I can, and shall not leave here until I know what I leave for. There are several of my company still in Alexandria, whom I wish could be sent to me. Would like to have General Slough informed of my situation. “Very respectfully yours, “B. C. TINKHAM, “ Captain

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“Headquarters Military Governor, “Alexandria, Va., October 15th, 1864.

“ General Orders No. 84. “1—The general court-martial convened by paragraph 2, General Orders No. 57, headquarters Military Governor, Alexandria, Va., dated September 20th, 1864, of which Major Frederick G. Stiles, Forty-Second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, is president, is hereby dissolved. “2—This court has since its first organization (August 8th, 1864), disposed of over six hundred cases, and the general commanding desires to compliment the members composing it for the energetic, faithf

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