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THE STORY OF THE Thirty-Second Regiment MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY. WHENCE IT CAME; WHERE IT WENT; WHAT IT SAW; AND WHAT IT DID. By FRANCIS J. PARKER, Colonel. BOSTON: C. W. CALKINS & CO., PUBLISHERS. 1880.
THE STORY OF THE Thirty-Second Regiment MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY. WHENCE IT CAME; WHERE IT WENT; WHAT IT SAW; AND WHAT IT DID. By FRANCIS J. PARKER, Colonel. BOSTON: C. W. CALKINS & CO., PUBLISHERS. 1880.
C. W. CALKINS & CO., Printers , 286 Washington St., Boston. TO THE OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE THIRTY-SECOND MASSACHUSETTS, IN MEMORY OF THE DEAD AND IN HONOR OF THE LIVING....
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ERRATUM.
ERRATUM.
On page 3, twelfth line, for “Brevet Brigadier-General,” read “Colonel.” Colonel Prescott was never breveted....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
THIS book is not a history of the civil war, nor even of the Army of the Potomac; but merely the story of one of the regiments which composed that Army. It does not relate the biography of the many distinguished generals under whose command the battalion served, and the endeavor has been made to exclude from it not only discussions as to the merits of individuals, but even favorable or unfavorable opinions, save when the facts related implied or seemed to require such reflections. The book is in
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I. IN GARRISON.
I. IN GARRISON.
THE story of the 32d Massachusetts Infantry was, of course, in most respects like that of others, but not in all. The immortal Topsy thought she was not made, but “‘spect she growed.” So our regiment was not made a regiment at the start, but it grew to be one. Other battalions from New England gathered into camps and acquired their preliminary education among neighbors, and cheered by the presence of visitors, who looked on and admired their guard-mountings at morning, and their dress-parades at
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II. ON OUR OWN HOOK.
II. ON OUR OWN HOOK.
SUNDAY, May 25th, 1862, the sun went down on a people rejoicing in the confident expectation of coming victory and an early peace. That sun next rose on a population deeply agitated with news of military disaster, but more warlike and more determined than ever. The appeals of the War Office at Washington, and the summons of our own Governor, met with an enthusiastic response; the militia flocked to the rendezvous in Boston, and the city scenes were almost a repetition of the Lexington Day of the
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III. ON THE PENINSULA.
III. ON THE PENINSULA.
IT was yet early morning when we steamed over Harrison Bar, and saw evidences of the vicinity of the Army of the Potomac. We had previously met quite a number of steamboats bound down the river, apparently heavily loaded with passengers; and now, as the river widened out into a lake or bay, we came upon a large fleet of various kinds of crafts, freighted with ordnance, quartermaster’s and commissary stores, some at anchor in the river, and some hauled up to the left bank unloading their freight.
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IV. CAMPAIGNING UNDER POPE.
IV. CAMPAIGNING UNDER POPE.
AT Newport News the Regiment immediately embarked on the transport steamer Belvidere for Acquia Creek, thence by railroad it was forwarded to Stafford Court House, near Fredericksburg, and on the 22d of August encamped in a pleasant grove not far from Barnett’s Ford, on the upper Rappahannock, in which agreeable and comparatively salubrious locality we enjoyed a welcome rest of several days, but we were very hungry. Our position was at too great distance to receive regular supplies from Burnside
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V. OUR THIRD BATTALION.
V. OUR THIRD BATTALION.
WHEN the 32d Regiment left Massachusetts in May, the war fever was raging, and it was supposed that it would be the work but of a few days to recruit the four companies required to complete the Regiment, and it was clearly understood that the first recruits were to be assigned to us. But being out of sight we were indeed out of mind, and the pressure of officers interested in constructing new regiments constantly delayed our claims to consideration. In two months over three thousand volunteers h
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VI. THE ANTIETAM CAMPAIGN.
VI. THE ANTIETAM CAMPAIGN.
UNTIL September 12th, our Division remained at Upton’s Hill, while the rest of the Army of the Potomac drew off into Maryland in observation of General Lee, concerning whose movements no definite information could for a time be obtained. It was a favorite theory among the authorities in Washington that General Lee would lead McClellan off into Western Maryland, and then slip round into his rear and capture the aforesaid authorities. Of course 80,000 men do not slip about such a country very easi
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VII. AFTER ANTIETAM.
VII. AFTER ANTIETAM.
THE life of a soldier in war-time is made up of alternating seasons of severe toil and of almost absolute idleness. For a few weeks he will be marched to the utmost limit of endurance—will be set to felling forests—building bridges or roads—constructing defences—and then may follow other weeks when his heaviest occupations are made up of drills, parades, and drawing or eating rations. Such a time of repose was that which we passed on the banks of the Potomac, near Sharpsburg, guarding the line o
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VIII. TO FREDERICKSBURG.
VIII. TO FREDERICKSBURG.
GENERAL BURNSIDE assumed the command and we remained quiet for a week, then moved slowly away toward Falmouth and Fredericksburg, where we arrived on the 22d of November, and encamped near Potomac Creek, at a place afterwards known as “Stoneman’s Switch.” This camp was destined to be our home for nearly six months, but the popular prejudice against winter quarters was so great that we were never allowed to feel that it was more than a temporary camp. On several occasions we had suffered for want
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IX. BETWEEN CAMPAIGNS.
IX. BETWEEN CAMPAIGNS.
WITH the close of the year 1862, Colonel Parker resigned the command, Lieutenant-Colonel Prescott was promoted to the Colonelcy; Major Stephenson was made Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain Edmunds, Major. A vacancy occurred also in the medical staff, by the resignation of Assistant Surgeon Bigelow, and an elderly, but very respectable M. D. was gazetted in his place. It happened that the new doctor reported for duty on the eve of a movement of the corps. He had no horse; said he had left his trunk
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X. CHANCELLORSVILLE.
X. CHANCELLORSVILLE.
THE commencement of the year 1863 brought the not unwelcome announcement to the Army of the Potomac that General Burnside had been relieved from the command, and General Hooker appointed in his stead. The disastrous failure at Fredericksburg, and the rather absurd attempt which will be known in history as the “mud march,” had not increased the confidence of the army in Burnside’s ability, and it was with feelings of satisfaction that the soldiers heard the order promulgated which relieved him an
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XI. FREDERICKSBURG TO GETTYSBURG.
XI. FREDERICKSBURG TO GETTYSBURG.
AFTER the battle of Chancellorsville the whole army retired to its old position about Stafford Court House and Falmouth, on the Rappahannock, opposite the City of Fredericksburg. The 32d Massachusetts was detailed to guard duty along the railroad from Acquia Creek; half of the command under Lieutenant-Colonel Stephenson being posted at or near the redoubts on Potomac Creek, guarding the bridge; the remainder, or right wing, under Colonel Prescott, posted south of Stoneman’s Switch. On Thursday a
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XII. AFTER GETTYSBURG.
XII. AFTER GETTYSBURG.
THE day succeeding the battle, we left Gettysburg in pursuit of the defeated enemy, followed closely by the 6th Corps, by way of Emmetsburg, Adamsville, and Middletown to Williamsport. Much of this time it rained heavily and the roads were bad, but we had the good spirits which attend success, and were cheery, as became victors. Near Williamsport we encountered the enemy, and on the 11th and 12th of July pressed him back toward the river, but he succeeded in crossing the Potomac without further
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XIII. A LADY AT WINTER QUARTERS.
XIII. A LADY AT WINTER QUARTERS.
EARLY in the winter of 1864, the 32d was in winter cantonments at Liberty, near Bealton Station, on the Orange & Alexandria railroad. Of course somebody must have commanded the army, but whoever he was, he never called upon me, and is of no consequence to my story. My orders to join came from an officer much more important in my eyes—the surgeon of the 32d, who, queerly enough, was also my husband. After all manner of experiences I arrived at Bealton Station, a locality which by daylight
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XIV. AT LIBERTY.
XIV. AT LIBERTY.
DURING the winter of 1863-4, the portion of the Army of the Potomac which included our Regiment was encamped in a position to defend the railroad between Bealton and Warrenton, from attacks by guerillas, and the camp of the 32d was in close proximity to the village of Liberty, a very small place whose name meant, before the war, liberty to the white man only, and but for the “little unpleasantness” and its results, the name would have had no significance to men of color. Liberty proved to be an
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XV. OUT ON PICKET.
XV. OUT ON PICKET.
PICKET duty may be the most agreeable or it may be the most disagreeable of all the duties of a soldier, but it is always an important, and is often a dangerous one. Picket-guards are formed by details on orders from headquarters. Sometimes the guard will include the entire regiment, or details from several regiments, but if the orders are from the battalion headquarters, it is usually composed of detachments from several companies. The officers are detailed from the adjutant’s roster and the de
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XVI. ON FURLOUGH.
XVI. ON FURLOUGH.
IN the winter of 1863-4, the great majority of the men of the 32d reënlisted for a term of three years, under an order which in such cases gave the entire reënlisting body a furlough of thirty days. It was only after much struggling with bumbledom that everything was smoothed out and the furlough granted, so that the Regiment could return as one body. Leaving the camp and the remainder of the men under command of Captain Fuller of Company C, the Regiment left for Massachusetts to enjoy its vacat
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XVII. THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN.
XVII. THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN.
WHEN one of the many interviewers of President Lincoln introduced the subject of the election of his successor, the President is reported to have declared, with his wonted quaintness of expression, that “it wasn’t a good plan to swap horses while crossing a stream,” by which he was understood to argue in favor of his own reëlection. Unfortunately he limited in practice the force of this pithy saying to his own office and his own continuance therein. He showed little hesitation in “swapping” one
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XVIII. THE BOMB PROOFS.
XVIII. THE BOMB PROOFS.
AFTER the long marches of the spring campaign of 1864, through the Wilderness to Spottsylvania Court House, across the North Anna, through the Tolopotomy Swamp to Bethesda Church, thence via the Chickahominy, White Oak Swamp, and Charles City Court House to the James River, the 32d Regiment crossed the James and marched to a point on the Norfolk Railroad, about three miles from Petersburg, where, on the 18th of June, they took part in the charge which drove the enemy into their last line of intr
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XIX. OUR CORPS HOSPITAL.
XIX. OUR CORPS HOSPITAL.
IT was a bright, warm, September afternoon in 1864, when the hospital transport, on which I was a passenger, loosed from the Seventh street landing in Washington and steamed away down the Potomac and out into Chesapeake Bay. So long as daylight lasted there were many objects of interest to occupy my eyes and thoughts, and when night closed in, finding that sleep would be an impossibility in the stifling heat of a state-room, I willingly resigned myself to the idea of passing the night on deck, f
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XX. ABOUT PETERSBURG.
XX. ABOUT PETERSBURG.
SUCH portions of the army as were not stationed in the trenches were called upon frequently to repel attacks, and occasionally were sent out on expeditions to destroy railroads, or otherwise to interfere with the enemy’s supplies, and to weaken his lines. One of these was the action on the Weldon railroad, August 18th, in which we lost thirteen men. Another led to the battle of Peeble’s Farm, September 30th, 1864. The expeditionary force was composed of the 5th and 9th Corps, and the movement wa
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XXI. THE LAST CAMPAIGN.
XXI. THE LAST CAMPAIGN.
THE month of March is really a spring month in the latitude of southern Virginia, and out of the attending frosts and thaws, storms, mists, and bright days which make up the winter there, we had come to the time when the buds were breaking out into greenness, and when even within sound of the great guns, the venturesome birds would sing the lays of spring. The whole army was inspired with the feeling that the last campaign was about to open, and that the triumph of the Union cause must be at han
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