Chapter I: Part 1

Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the original illustrations.
See 51250-h.htm or 51250-h.zip:
(https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/51250/pg51250-images.html)
or
(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51250/51250-h.zip)

Images of the original pages are available through
Internet Archive. See
https://archive.org/details/cu31924030906915

Transcriber's note:

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

Text in the Index enclosed by equal signs is in bold
face (=bold=).

THE THIRTY-NINTH REGIMENT MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS 1862-1865

by

ALFRED S. ROE

A Veteran of the Civil War

Regimental Committee on History John H. Dusseault, Chairman J. Fred. Leslie, Secretary Geo. F. Moses, Treasurer John F. Locke Wm. P. Brown[A] Milton F. Roberts Channing Whittaker[A]

Published by the Regimental Veteran Association Worcester, Massachusetts 1914

Copyright, 1914, by Thirty-Ninth Regiment Veteran Association

The Commonwealth Press Worcester, Mass.

CONTENTS

PREFACE 1
BATTLES IN WHICH THE THIRTY-NINTH BORE A PART 6
IN THE BEGINNING 7
LYNNFIELD 11
COMPANY A 12
COMPANY B. 13
COMPANY C. 14
COMPANY D. 15
COMPANY E. 16
COMPANY G. 17
COMPANY H. 19
COMPANY I. 20
COMPANY K. 22
BOXFORD 24
BOXFORD TO WASHINGTON. 26
POTOMAC CROSSED. 31
ON THE MARCH. 34
PICKET DUTY. 38
STUART'S RAID. 40
MOVING AGAIN 43
OFFUTT'S CROSS ROADS 47
POOLESVILLE 52
1863 56
A RAINY MARCH 65
WASHINGTON. 68
JOINING THE POTOMAC ARMY 80
AT THE FRONT 83
IN VIRGINIA 89
FIRST ARMY CORPS. 94
FIRST ANNIVERSARY. 102
THE RAPIDAN. 106
A BACKWARD MOVE 110
CAMPAIGN OF MANEUVERS. 113
BRANDY STATION 124
MINE RUN 126
TOWARDS WINTER QUARTERS 133
MITCHELL'S STATION 136
1864 137
MASONIC LODGE 145
MITCHELL'S STATION AND THE SCHOOL IN CAMP 146
STILL IN CAMP. 150
THE WILDERNESS 161
THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS By Channing Whittaker 172
SPOTTSYLVANIA 178
NORTH ANNA RIVER 204
COLD HARBOR 209
TOWARDS THE JAMES RIVER 215
PETERSBURG 219
1865. 269
IN REBEL PRISONS. 296
CORPORAL F. A. GLINES' DIARY. 299
CORPORAL JOHN E. HORTON'S DIARY. 303
FROM DIARY OF CORPORAL EDWARD H. LEWIS, CO. B. 306
JOHN F. LOCKE'S RECOLLECTIONS. 308
SERGT. MAJOR C. K. CONN 317
J. F. LESLIE'S RUSE 318
CORPORAL CHARLES H. BARNES' STORY. 319
REGIMENTAL VETERAN ASSOCIATION 322
REGIMENTAL ROSTER 330
FIELD AND STAFF COLONELS 333
LIEUTENANT COLONELS 335
MAJORS 336
ADJUTANTS 337
QUARTERMASTER 337
SURGEONS 338
ASSISTANT SURGEONS 338
CHAPLAIN 338
NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF 339
COMPANY A 340
COMPANY B 353
COMPANY C 365
COMPANY D. 378
COMPANY E 389
COMPANY F 401
COMPANY G 414
COMPANY H 425
COMPANY I 436
COMPANY K 449
TABLE OF AGGREGATES. 466
INDEX 467

PREFACE

More than fifty years after the organization of the Thirty-ninth Regiment and its departure for the seat of war, its printed history makes its appearance. The long delay has not arisen from any lack of desire for its preparation, nor on account of want of material. For many long years it was supposed that the recital was in preparation, but the comrade to whom the task was intrusted went away into the other world before its completion, and survivors of the Regiment began to wonder if their story of long marches, fierce fighting and unspeakable suffering in Rebel prisons ever would be told. At the annual reunion of the Veteran Association in 1911 it was voted to proceed with the long cherished proposition, and a committee was appointed to carry out the proposal; after two years and a half the survivors of that committee present this volume to the patient waiters among the living veterans and to the families and descendants of those who have made the final crossing.

Readers of the book should bear in mind that it is very far from being a history of the war, nor does it discuss campaigns and battles in their entirety; on the contrary every effort has been made to describe the part borne by the Regiment in said campaigns and engagements. Long shelves in the large libraries of the country are already laden with great volumes descriptive of the War of the Rebellion as a whole and of detached portions thereof; as many more have been written of eminent individual experience, like the recollections of Grant, Sherman, Sheridan on the Union side and of Beauregard, Johnston and Longstreet among the Confederates, but the story of the great struggle will not be fully told until that of every regiment finds its way into print. Regimental histories occupy a golden mean between the comprehensiveness of the general history and the minuteness of individual records.

Massachusetts veterans can not be too grateful that the Commonwealth in its wisdom, a number of years ago, offered to assist in the preparation and publication of regimental histories by the purchase of five hundred copies of the same, under certain conditions of size and contents. In this manner and otherwise, more than one-half of the organizations of the Bay State which participated in the effort to maintain the Union have been written and it is hoped that the generosity of the Commonwealth and the courage of the veterans will continue until every regiment, battery and battalion will have been adequately described. While those who made the history are rapidly passing over the divide 'twixt life and death, and personal recollections are more difficult to obtain, yet their stories are not written so much, at this late date, from word of mouth as from letters, diaries and jottings made at the time and now are carefully preserved either by the writers or those to whom they have passed as precious legacies.

A history like this of the Thirty-ninth represents many letters written to veterans or to their surviving families in the effort to secure for transcription whatever note the soldier may have made in camp, field or prison-pen, bearing on the period in which the writer wore the blue. In several cases, through fear of losing the precious documents, friends of deceased soldiers have declined to lend them for use; of course it is too late to secure them for utility in this instance but, for the sake of other efforts in this direction, let us hope that those people possessing any written observations on the trying times of 1861-'65 will freely proffer their employment by those interested in their permanent preservation. It is a lamentable fact that many papers prepared under the fire of the enemy or, at least, in that indefinite region known as the "Front," have disappeared through the extra diligence of careful housekeepers and the general dislike of "old things lying 'round."

While many months in the earlier portions of the service of the Thirty-ninth were devoted to drill and thorough preparation, including a prolonged stay in the city of Washington, yet the call to the field, soon after Gettysburg, was so obeyed that before the seal of Appomattox was set upon the fate of the Confederacy, Colonel Davis' men had proved beyond any chance for cavil that they were of the same stuff that had rallied so readily at Concord and Lexington; had bled in the streets of Baltimore and, on the decks of the Constitution and the Monitor, had shown the world what was meant by resistance to tyranny. Its first officer was killed at the front; the third mortally wounded, and the second so severely injured that his life was long despaired of and seemingly was saved as by a miracle. At the Weldon R. R., on the 19th of August, 1864, so completely was the Regiment swept off the field, through no fault of its own, its organization was nearly lost, and the deaths in the prisons of the South of these victims exceeded those of all other Massachusetts Infantry Regiments with a single exception.

In seeking printed data for condensation in this narrative the committee was rewarded in finding in the Fourth Volume of the Printed Papers of the Massachusetts Military Historical Society a very clear and interesting description of the "Operations of the Army of the Potomac, May 7-11, 1864" by Brevet Brigadier-General Charles Lawrence Peirson, the universally loved and respected Colonel of the Thirty-ninth, and from his observations liberal abstracts have been made for the edification of readers of this history. In the same volume also are found papers by Captain Charles H. Porter, Companies D and A of the Regiment, and always so active in the councils of the Veteran Association, who discusses the "Opening of the Campaign of 1864" and the "Battle of Cold Harbor," valuable in considering the parts taken in those incidents by the Regiment in which he served. Access also has been had to typewritten papers on the part borne by the Fifth Corps in the last three days of March, '65, and "The Fifth Corps at Five Forks" also prepared by Captain Porter and which have proved of great utility in this compilation.

Naturally, the papers of General Peirson and Captain Porter are of a general character, somewhat removed from the individual, but quite the reverse is found in the well preserved accounts of company experience as presented in contributions to the Woburn Journal by Albert P. Barrett of Co. K, to the Medford Mercury by John S. Beck of "C" and in the monograph of Lieut. John H. Dusseault of Company E. Unfortunately, the spirited story, as told by the Woburn scribe, goes no further than the Mine Run campaign, leaving the reader longing for a continuation of his glowing recital; Diarist Beck returns his comrades, those who survived, to their home-town, while the Somerville chronicler, whose observations are clear and instructive up to the date of his wound and consequent invalidism is compelled to end his direct comments on that direful August day of '64 at the Weldon R. R. However, whether general or specific, extended or condensed, the readers of the history owe much to the careful annalist of those trying days of the early sixties.

Thanks are due the survivors who by their answers to circular letters rendered possible the exceedingly full roster, wherein are found the individual records whence must be drawn in coming years the facts for those seeking admission to patriotic organizations on the strength of ancestral service in preserving the Union. It is a source of regret that data could not be obtained for extending the descriptive list of every name in the Regiment. Especially are thanks due to General Peirson for his unflagging interest in the work of preparation and for his generosity in helping on the undertaking. The committee representing the Veteran Association is entitled to the thanks of all concerned for its careful attention to details, for the time given to rehearsals of the story as it progressed and for its unfailing willingness and promptness in assisting in every possible manner. At the same time it is impossible to suppress the regrets that inevitably rise over the seemingly untimely deaths of comrades Brown and Whittaker. Possibly no one had been more prominent than the first named in laying out the work and securing data for the story, but he was called away in the very midst of the preparation; Comrade Whittaker entered into the scheme with all the zeal and ardor so characteristic of his intense nature, and died, as it were, pen in hand, inditing the story of the terrible opening of The Battle Summer as he remembered it.

Thanks also should be rendered to the Brothers Mentzer and Mitchell of "A" for anecdotes and incidents; to Geo. V. Shedd and Edward H. Lewis of "B" for the use of their diaries; to the family of the late John S. Beck of "C" for the loan of his well preserved diary, and to M. F. Roberts for other Company C facts; to the widow of Captain C. H. Porter, "D" and "A," for the use of his scrapbook, manuscripts and other data; to Lieut. J. H. Dusseault, "E," for his accurate and interesting account of the Somerville Company; to the family of John E. Horton for his painstaking diary; and to Ex-mayor Edward Glines, Somerville, for the use of the carefully kept diary of his brother Frederick A.; to Lieut. Jas. E. Seaver, secretary of the Old Colony Historical Society, Taunton, for valuable data concerning Company F, its officers and men; to Lieut. Chas. H. Chapman and Sergt. J. H. Prouty, "G," for facts concerning that company; to George Monk, "H," for his brother Robert's diary; to Lieut. H. F. Felch, W. H. Garfield and the Hon. H. C. Mulligan, son of Lieut. Simon Mulligan, for facts pertaining to Company I; and to the family of A. P. Barrett, "K," for the scrapbook having his letters to the Woburn Journal; George E. Fowle, Abijah Thompson and Capt. E. F. Wyer (Fifth M. V. M.) for Company K data and incidents; to all those whose journals and recollections rendered possible the unexcelled accounts of prison experiences. Finally, all concerned unite in thanks to the ever efficient and courteous corps of officers and assistants in the office of the adjutant-general at the State House for favors there extended.

Worcester, December, 1913 ALFRED S. ROE.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] DECEASED

BATTLES IN WHICH THE THIRTY-NINTH BORE A PART

1863

MINE RUN, November 28

1864

WILDERNESS, May 5-7
SPOTTSYLVANIA (Alsop's Farm and Laurel Hill), May 8-18
NORTH ANNA RIVER, May 23
COLD HARBOR, June 1-11
PETERSBURG, June 17-August 17
WELDON R. R., August 18-19

1865

HATCHER'S RUN or DABNEY'S MILLS, February 6
GRAVELLY RUN or WHITE OAK ROAD, March 31
FIVE FORKS, April 1

SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX,
April 9

IN THE BEGINNING

While patriotism never flagged for a moment, and the determination to maintain the Union at all hazards was still as strong as ever, it must be confessed that the midsummer military outlook in 1862 was not altogether inspiring for the Nation. Whatever hopes had been raised by the success of Burnside in North Carolina, by Grant's campaign in Tennessee, and through the occupation of New Orleans by the combined forces of Butler and Farragut, they had been more than offset by the failure of McClellan's efforts on the peninsula and the unfruitful outcome of Halleck's movement against Corinth. An army that had displayed prodigies of valor from Fair Oaks to Malvern Hill, now catching its breath on the banks of the James River, and an enemy leisurely departing from the depot which Halleck had thought thoroughly invested, were bitter morsels for Northern people who had been led to expect the capture of Richmond and a like fate for the rebel forces which had fallen back from Shiloh.

The slopes of Malvern were still red with the blood of fallen heroes when President Lincoln, on the 4th of July, 1862, startled the nation with a call for three hundred thousand additional troops. The land was rapidly becoming one vast armed camp; Massachusetts already had sent nearly or quite fifty thousand men into the army and navy, out of her population of less than one and a half million people, but before the year was done, the aggregate was swollen to more than eighty thousand. Out of the great number called for, the assignment to Massachusetts was fifteen thousand and, on the seventh of the month, Governor Andrew formally presented the demand to the people of the Commonwealth. Hitherto, there had been no regular apportionment, each division of the state having been ready and anxious to aid in filling whatever quota might be required. In this case there was a clear statement of what each city and town, from Abington to Yarmouth would be expected to do.

Concerning the number called for, the president in a private telegram to Governor Morgan of New York said, "It was thought safest to mark high enough. I should not want the half of 300,000 new troops if I could have them now. If I had 50,000 additional troops here now, I believe I could substantially close the war in two weeks. But time is everything; and if I get 50,000 new men in a month I shall have lost 20,000 old ones during the same month, having gained only 30,000 with the difference between old and new troops still against me. The quicker you send, the less you will have to send. Time is everything, please act in view of this." All this time, it must be remembered, Governor Andrew, in a mild way, was criticising the National Administration for its failure to liberate the slaves and for not imposing upon them many of the hardships borne by the regularly enlisted men.

Nor were the needs of the Government satisfied with the demand of July 4th, however large it may have seemed, for, while the entire loyal North was putting forth every possible effort to secure the required enlistments there came from Washington, on the 4th of August, another call for troops, this time also demanding three hundred thousand men, just as though there were a never-ending source of supply. This call was accompanied by the possibility of a draft, that most dreaded of all methods for securing reinforcements, provided the volunteers did not appear within a certain limited period; the apportionment, 19,080 men, it will be observed was more than a fourth larger than that in the preceding call, an excess explained on the basis that the total number, 34,080, bore the same proportion to the 600,000, the sum of the two calls, that the free population of Massachusetts did to the free population in the states that had shown themselves loyal to the Union, and were supporting the Government in the struggle.

A very prominent question in the emergency was just how should the newly enlisted men be placed; should they be added to regiments already in the field or should new organizations be made for their reception? Excellent arguments were offered on both sides; the question had been discussed from the very moment that battles or disease had begun making gaps in the ranks. When Mayor Isaac Davis, after the disastrous engagement of Ball's Bluff, telegraphed to Colonel Charles Devens, of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Infantry, asking what Worcester could do for the regiment, the subsequently distinguished officer replied, "Send us three hundred and ten men to fill our gaps; also a blanket and a pair of mittens for each of us; that will do for the present." The good mayor found it much easier to supply the woolen requirements than the men, who, for certain reasons, were unwilling to enter an old regiment where promotion would inevitably go to those who had been in the ranks longest, and soldiering without the possibilities of promotion is dull business.

Those who have considered carefully the subject of war, its progress and development, have, in many cases, taken occasion to censure some of the Northern States, and especially Massachusetts, forgetful of the fact that local feelings and a confidence in leaders whom the men know go a long way in imparting confidence to the citizen soldier. Governor John A. Andrew would have filled the old regiments, rather than form new ones, and to the newly formed organizations he would have given experienced officers instead of those elected by the men, but the latter would not have it so. In this connection that great man is said to have exclaimed, "Julius Caesar himself couldn't raise a company for an old regiment as long as there is a shoemaker left to make a captain of." The town system, so prominent a feature in New England life, had much to do with the fellow-feeling in companies and when these different companies, representing as many townships, all belonged to the same county, seemingly little was left to be desired in the background of the organization.

The numbering of Massachusetts Infantry organizations had already mounted to thirty before the call of the President in July, 1862. Recruiting was very active, notwithstanding the horrors of war, so graphically set forth in the daily press. Meetings to stimulate enlistments were held throughout the Commonwealth, becoming a daily occurrence in the City of Boston, where her historic buildings and public places resounded with eloquence in behalf of the Union and its preservation. Points of rendezvous were provided at Pittsfield, Worcester, Lynnfield, Readville, and other places for regiments, while Camp Cameron at North Cambridge was reserved for recruits to the older organizations. Within two months from the issuing of Governor Andrew's Order Number 26[B], dated July 7th, more than four thousand men had been enlisted and sent forward to old regiments, nine new ones had been raised and equipped, and eight of them had been sent forward to strengthen the hands of the Government. So diligently had the governor and his assistants labored, the dreaded draft was averted and, long before the first snowfall, the last of the great demand upon Massachusetts for the sons whom she had reared for other purposes, had gone southward, gun in hand, following the flag.

Sometimes regiments were raised by officers commissioned for this purpose; in other cases companies were raised in cities or large towns which, when full, were sent forward to the nearest rendezvous and, when a sufficient number had been thus assembled, the regimental organization followed. Many towns could not furnish men enough for a company, so the men went forward in squads or individually and these recruits either pieced out some company, not quite filled, or were thrown together to constitute a new company, this being the case with Company G of the Thirty-ninth, which had no central source like those of the others. Lynnfield had been designated as the point to which should be sent all Eastern Massachusetts volunteers for new regiments, while to North Cambridge, Camp Cameron, were forwarded the men who had enlisted in old organizations. These two points were to receive the three years' soldiers from the counties of Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk. Already in Camp Edwin M. Stanton, Lynnfield, usually called Camp Stanton, were the Thirty-fifth and the Thirty-eighth Regiments in process of formation and along with the Thirty-ninth in reporting there was the Fortieth; later came the Forty-first, the last of the three years' regiments under the July call.

FOOTNOTES:

[B] The order wherein were given the quotas of all the towns in the Commonwealth and the several conditions of enlistment.

LYNNFIELD

Several of the companies constituting the Thirty-ninth, had left their respective towns under the belief that they were to join the Thirty-fifth, but that organization and also the Thirty-eighth were so far completed, that the numerals "39" became the designation of the regiment, whose story is progressing here. Lynnfield had been a rendezvous, already, for the Seventeenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-second and Twenty-third regiments and, however satisfactory it may have proved for those bodies, it was clearly inadequate to the demands of the several thousand men to congregate here during July and August. Placed on a branch railroad, it was difficult of access and did not have space for the formation of a regimental line; so rapidly did the volunteers report, they found only scant comforts in their rendezvous. While only thirteen miles from Boston and being nearer still to Lynn, the rush of recruits to the rendezvous sadly tried the resources of the commissary, and made many a boy wish he were elsewhere. Says one observer, "No preparation had been made for our reception; finally however, tents were found for a portion of the company and we passed the first night in camp in anything but a peaceful frame of mind or body. Quite a number of the men left camp for home, or found quarters elsewhere. Rations, too, were conspicuously absent and for a time we depended on outside sources for our supply." Time, and patience however, relieved many of these distresses. The companies as they reached camp were known only by the name of the town whence they came, or that of the officer who was in command. Their designation by letters of the alphabet came later. Herewith follows a brief account of the several companies, their respective beginnings, their organization and time of reporting at Camp Stanton.

COMPANY A

SOUTH DANVERS, since 1868 PEABODY.

The allotment of this town on account of the call for troops was seventy-five. An enthusiastic meeting was held July 11, in the Town Hall, over which B. C. Perkins presided and at which the Rev. Mr. Barber and others spoke. A committee on resolutions was appointed consisting of Messrs. F. Poole, Lewis Allen, John D. Poore, Alfred McKenzie and Dr. George Osborne. A committee of nine members was also appointed who were to assist or supervise enlistments. On the 21st, the anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run, a special town meeting was held at which it was voted to pay one hundred and fifty dollars' bounty to each volunteer. Speeches were numerous and a committee of forty citizens was appointed, five for each school district, to co-operate with that of nine men already in existence. One-fourth of the quota had been raised in two days. It was voted to borrow twelve thousand dollars, and a committee was appointed to secure the money on time at six per cent.; on the 25th, Friday, a great open air meeting was held in the town square, a platform having been erected in front of the Warren Bank Building. Isaac Hardy presided and spoke as did others. On the next day, Saturday, the recruits, accompanied by about one hundred citizens, under the direction of Roberts S. Daniels, Jr., and having a brass band, marched from the recruiting station to Lynnfield, distant several miles away, an exacting experience for raw recruits on a hot July day. Among those witnessing the departure was one who, fifty years before, had been a prisoner in Dartmoor. All of these newly enlisted men supposed that they were going into the Thirty-fifth Regiment. July 31st, an adjourned town-meeting was held in which it was announced that Eben Sutton, a public spirited citizen, had volunteered to take the entire loan at five and one half per cent., an act that was greeted with great applause by all present. Captain, George S. Nelson; first Lieutenant, Henry W. Moulton; second lieutenant, George H. Wiley; all of South Danvers.

COMPANY B.

ROXBURY.

Recruiting began early in Roxbury and on the 10th, there was a special meeting of both branches of the City Government, at which it was voted to give seventy-five dollars to each recruit in addition to whatever the General Government might offer. It was also voted to appropriate thirty thousand dollars for expenses, and the treasurer was directed to borrow. Roxbury's quota was three hundred and eighty-nine; Saturday night, to inspirit enlistments, a public meeting was held in Institute Hall at which Mayor William Gaston (subsequently governor) presided and numerous and eloquent speeches were made, and the previous action of the City Government was publicly endorsed. July 17th, the bounty was raised to one hundred dollars, and on the 19th a brass band concert was given in front of Institute Hall, with an address by the Hon. John C. Park. August 7, the Company, numbering sixty-nine men, under the command of Captain Graham, escorted by the militia of the city, paraded and all were entertained by Colonel Hodges of the Horse Guards in Bacon's Hall, where Judge Russell spoke. Sunday, the 10th, the Company attended service in the first Universalist Church; on the 11th, again escorted by the Horse Guards, the Company paraded through the principal streets to Bacon's Hall where speeches were made by several persons, including Private George F. Moses, of the Company, the latter being filled to its maximum. It was on the 15th of August that the Company assembled and through lines of friends and relatives, at a little before noon, started for Boston, whence it took train for Lynnfield, arriving at about three o'clock, p. m. Captain, William W. Graham; first lieutenant, William T. Spear; second lieutenant, Julius M. Swain.

COMPANY C.

MEDFORD.

Medford's popular company, the Lawrence Light Guard, had already distinguished itself in the Fifth M. V. M., under the first call for troops, and was enjoying something akin to dignified ease when the president's call for three hundred thousand men placed new responsibilities upon all the cities and towns, Medford having to raise eighty-eight men as her quota. Though the selectmen, acting under the governor's orders, did their best as recruiting officers, and though there was an offer of seventy-five dollars' bounty, voted by the town, and though on the 21st of July the offer was increased to one hundred dollars, the eligible men did not seem disposed to enlist until, on the 29th of the month, the selectmen addressed a letter to the Light Guard, asking its members to step to the front and assist in filling the requisition. The request was complied with at once and, on the 14th of August, the company was complete with its complement of one hundred and one men, including many who had served under the earlier demand. Mustered in on the 14th, it left Medford for Lynnfield on the 25th of August under most auspicious circumstances, these including religious exercises, speeches and the presence of thousands of sympathetic people. The commissioned officers, all of whom had been out with Colonel Lawrence, were captain, John Hutchins; first lieutenant, Perry Coleman; second lieutenant, Isaac F. R. Hosea.

COMPANY D.

QUINCY.

The quota of Quincy was one hundred and five men; and to secure this number of new soldiers the first meeting was held in the Town Hall, July 12th; a special one, called by the selectmen, and the crowd was so great that the hall would not hold it. Chief Justice Bigelow, presided and spoke, being followed by Josiah Quincy, Jr., John Quincy Adams and others; it was voted to offer a bounty of seventy-five dollars, and patriotic resolutions were adopted. At a meeting held July 21st, it was voted to raise the bounty to one hundred and twenty-five dollars. The third meeting was held July 29th, with William S. Morton presiding; addresses were made by Lieut. Colonel Henry Walker of Quincy, Lieut. Colonel Guiney of the Ninth Regiment, and by one of the recruits, Charles H. Porter, son of Whitcomb Porter, whose remarks were of a very enthusiastic character, Captain Spear receiving numerous compliments. By the 2nd of August, ninety-six men had been secured, the recruiting being done by a town committee. Monday, the 4th of August, "Good-bye" was said to the Company; line was formed at the Town Hall under escort of Niagara Hose Company, Captain Newcomb; an address was given by Lieut. Colonel Walker, and a collation was served in Lyceum Hall. Thence by horse cars, accompanied by the firemen and a band, the soldiers went to and through Boston, and so on by steam to Lynnfield, reaching that place at about two p. m. There had been one hundred and twelve enlistments in the company, but some had been rejected. On the 22nd, the town generously voted to pay the recruits one dollar per day for the time spent in drilling. This same day the company came home on a furlough, and on the next night, that of Saturday, the men assembled in the Town Hall and presented Captain Spear with a sword, costing fifty dollars, and to First Sergeant John Nichols, a sash and belt. It was a noisily enthusiastic meeting, so much so that very little of the speaking could be heard. Sunday, the 24th, beheld a part of the Company at service in the Universalist Church in the morning and, in the afternoon, Lieutenant McLaughlin, U. S. A., came out from Boston and mustered the Company into the United States service. Monday, the 25th, the men returned to camp, all save three, who were apprehended as deserters and sent after their fellows, everyone proving himself a good soldier afterwards; they were just a trifle dilatory in keeping up. Captain, Edward A. Spear; first lieutenant, William G. Sheen; second lieutenant, Charles H. Porter.

COMPANY E.

SOMERVILLE.

For the apportionment of fifteen thousand men to the Commonwealth, Somerville had to raise ninety-two men and this she succeeded in doing within the months of July and August. The aggregate bounty paid each enlisted man was one hundred and twenty-five dollars, one hundred dollars coming from the town, the remainder from private subscription.

The selectmen, acting as agents, had recommended three men as commissioned officers of the projected company, and these, all of whom had seen service in the Somerville Company of the Fifth Regiment, M. V. M., in its three months' tour of duty, applied themselves diligently to their task. Camp was pitched on Prospect Hill and the flagstaff, erected there and then, remained until the digging down of the hill some fifteen years later; this occupation if possible added to the fame of the spot on which Israel Putnam had intrenched himself after falling back from Bunker Hill. The stay on elevated and breezy Prospect was far from tedious, the nearness of home supplies more than compensating for any hardships incident to camp duties. Mustered into the U. S. service, August 12, the Company remained here until September 2nd, when it proceeded to Boxford, there to join the other companies which were to constitute the Thirty-ninth Regiment, having had no taste of the stay in Lynnfield, the rendezvous of the other companies. The Commissioned officers were captain, Fred R. Kinsley; first lieutenant, Joseph J. Giles; second lieutenant, Willard C. Kinsley. All of the officers had been commissioned in the Thirty-eighth Regiment, Captain Kinsley and Lieutenant Giles, August 14th, and Lieutenant Kinsley, August 8th, but the assignment of the company to the Thirty-ninth Regiment compelled the transferal of the officers.

B'v't Major and Colonel]

COMPANY F.

TAUNTON.

Work for the formation of what was to be Company F did not begin until the 5th day of August, when a meeting of the sub-committee of the military committee was held to consider the raising of a new company, Captain Presbry, one of the selectmen, presiding, with T. Gordon, secretary. Joseph J. Cooper was authorized to raise a company under the conditions as stated in a letter of the Adjutant General, dated July 29, '64, and the general order of the War Department, Number Seventy-five. The _Taunton Gazette_ comments that the lieutenancies will be offered to Isaac D. Paul and John D. Reed, both men of integrity, and "it is believed that the company will be speedily filled and that it will be one of the most creditable of those provided by Taunton." The record for the 6th of August was that Captain Cooper had opened a recruiting office in Templar Hall Building, and had secured about a dozen names. By the 7th, the total had risen to twenty-four men; the 8th saw thirty-six names enrolled and, on the 11th, the tide had risen to forty-seven good and true patriots. The 13th beheld the citizens assembled in town meeting, wherein it was voted to increase the bounty to two hundred dollars, thus adding a stimulus which resulted in filling the company to the maximum. The 18th was a day of memories for the good old town, since on this date the new company departed for the rendezvous at Lynnfield. The largest assemblage of people that the town had seen since the leaving of the Seventh Regiment, early in the war, was out at seven o'clock in the morning to witness the going of the new soldiers. They formed on the green, whence they were escorted by the Light Guard, with music by the Bridgewater Brass Band, to the railroad station. Followed by the enthusiastic cheering of the populace, the men were borne away to new scenes and experiences. Five days later or on the 23rd, the men had a furlough home for twenty-four hours, returning to camp on the 24th. Of course, Company F moved with the other companies in the transfer to Boxford, where on the 3rd of September, a noteworthy incident took place. The men of Taunton's company were drawn up in front of their tents when George Childs, Esq., in behalf of Taunton citizens, presented Captain Cooper and Lieutenants Paul and Reed with elegantly mounted revolvers, each officer responding in a very happy manner. Captain, Joseph J. Cooper; first lieutenant, Isaac D. Paul; second lieutenant, John D. Reed.

COMPANY G.

BOSTON, HINGHAM, SCITUATE AND THE SOUTH SHORE.

From information furnished chiefly by Lieut. J. H. Prouty it seems that Hingham was about as liberal a contributor to Company G as any single place, having thirty-seven men in the ranks of "G" and another in "D." It was the only company in the regiment that started without some local head or centre. When the call came, Hingham took action at once, and on the 5th held a town meeting at four o'clock p. m., with Captain John Stephenson presiding; it was voted to raise five thousand dollars to aid the families of volunteers as state aid, and a thousand more to be distributed under the direction of the selectmen. July 11th brought the people together again, in the evening of Friday, to take action towards filling the town's quota of fifty-one men; Luther Stephenson presided and several patriotic addresses were given; it was voted to pay seventy-five dollars bounty to every man enlisting, a committee of twelve was appointed to co-operate with the selectmen in securing enlistments. This committee met on the 15th, organized, heard a deal of eloquent speaking and voted to recommend to the townspeople that a bounty of one hundred dollars be paid to every volunteer. The Town accepted, July 19th, the recommendation of the citizens' committee. On the same evening, a number of volunteers put down their names. An adjourned war meeting was held on the 22nd, and a large committee of ladies was chosen to help forward the filling of the quota. The next meeting, August 6th, was on the call of the ladies and was largely attended; August 15th, the town voted to make the bounty for each volunteer two hundred dollars. The thirty-seven Hingham men who went into Company G were not all new to service, for two, at least, had gone out with the Lincoln Light Infantry in the Fourth Regiment in 1861, on the first call for troops. The volunteers expected to go with the Thirty third Massachusetts; next with the Thirty-fifth, but finally fetched up with the Thirty-ninth. They had no officers. The governor commissioned, as captain, Ezra J. Trull, better known as "Jack" Trull, who had been a corporal in the Thirteenth Massachusetts, and he was assigned to the command of "G." Though only nineteen years old, he was one of the best drilled officers in the regiment and his active, stirring nature kept his company in excellent shape. He was a Boston man, as was the first lieutenant, C. W. Thompson; the second lieutenant, C. Henry Chapman, was from Cambridge. First and last, more than thirty cities and towns contributed to the roll of the company.

COMPANY H.

DORCHESTER.

Early action was taken in Dorchester towards raising the town's quota of one hundred and thirty-seven men. On the 15th of July, the citizens convened at the town hall with James H. Upham, moderator, and they started proceedings by the singing of patriotic songs. It was voted to pay all recruits one hundred dollars, and to borrow fourteen thousand dollars for such purpose. The selectmen were empowered to carry out the expressed will of the meeting and the same board was directed to see to the securing of enlistments, by the appointment of a "suitable person" to raise a military company as a part of the town's quota. The Hall had been plentifully bedecked with flags, some one hundred in number, among them there being one that had been borne in the Revolution. Besides, there were curios and relics to excite the curiosity and patriotism of all beholders, the display being the work of Frederick F. Hassam, who received the enthusiastic thanks of the meeting for his thoughtfulness and action. On the 19th there was a great meeting on Meeting House Hill, with artillery company firing sixty-eight guns and the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder presiding; of the event the _Boston Journal_ says: "Shoulder Arms! Forward, March!" The Company left Dorchester Wednesday, August 13, receiving a parting salute from Captain Harris' Battery; in Boston there was a short parade with refreshments, 1.30 p. m., at John Preston's chocolate establishment on State Street. A hearty escort was given by the selectmen, many citizens, and Fire Engine Company Number 5, and all kept step to music afforded by a brass band. From Boston, cars on the Boston and Maine Railroad bore the men, one hundred and thirty-seven in number, to Lynnfield. Captain, Charles N. Hunt; first lieutenant, Robert Rhodes; second lieutenant, Robert Williams.

COMPANY I.

NATICK.

Natick was expected to provide one hundred and three men, or just a company, and this she set about doing through a meeting in the evening of July 17th, in School House Hall, over which the Hon. J. W. Bacon presided. To report a plan of action, the following committee was appointed: Leonard Winch, John J. Perry and E. P. Fay. Another meeting on the 25th voted to pay volunteers one hundred and fifty dollars each, and a committee of fifteen was appointed to assist the recruiting officers. Monday, July 28th, brought out a great meeting which was addressed by United States Senator Henry Wilson, Capt. Ephraim H. Brigham and others. By August 1st, matters had reached ignition pitch with a great meeting in the Town Hall, Captain Brigham presiding; there were eloquent speeches, but the one which excited the most admiration was that of Benning Hall, Jr., the village expressman, who on this occasion made his first public address, chiefly to his comrades, of whom twenty-two had put down their names. The fourth public meeting was held August 4th, in School House Hall, Lieut. Simon Mulligan in the chair, and it was voted to act at once, and to talk afterwards. Then followed "a scene such as few people ever witness" when forty-seven men marched up and signed the roll amid waving hats and handkerchiefs, the very best men in the grand old town. The Hon. Henry Wilson was present and spoke, as did Edward Choate, G. L. Sawin, H. B. Moore, C. B. Phillips and B. Hill, Jr. In one week Natick had raised one hundred and twenty-seven men for her company, twenty-four more than necessary. It was Saturday, August 9, that, escorted by the Victor and Union Fire Company, and crowds of citizens, the Natick newly enlisted men set forth for their rendezvous. After a brief parade in Boston, Lynnfield was sought in the afternoon, where the reception was not just what the would-be soldiers expected. So many recruits had reported there was no room for the Natick people, who had to hire a building outside for use until the departure of a regiment gave them access to the regular quarters. Captain, Ephraim H. Brigham; first lieutenant, Simon Mulligan; second lieutenant, William H. Brown.

COMPANY K.

WOBURN.

[Sidenote: AUG., '62]

Woburn's assignment was ninety-eight men and it came at a time when recruiting was dull. Still the selectmen, in obedience to State House orders, called a meeting of Union loving citizens in the Town Hall, on the evening of Saturday, the 12th of July. The response was large and enthusiastic; it was voted to give every volunteer a bounty of one hundred dollars and a committee of fifteen was appointed to forward enlistments. It was further voted to call a town meeting on the 24th of the month for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this popular gathering. Thirty-three men had enlisted or put down their names before the excitement began or the offer of bounty was made, and these men became "the immortal thirty-three" in company annals. Recruiting began on the 15th, and was very slow, though the office was open day and evening. At the town meeting, it was voted to give a bounty of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and enlistments thereupon increased. Under the encouragement of a grand rally and a banquet in upper Lyceum Hall in the evening of the 24th, followed by a march through the streets accompanied by a brass band and speeches by prominent citizens, the roll of enlistments reached fifty names. Subsequent rallies and parades resulted in the securing of considerably more than the required number by the 1st of August. On the 5th of the month, after a collation in Lyceum Hall, escorted by the Fire Department, the company departed for the rendezvous, Camp Stanton, in Lynnfield, having the following commissioned officers: captain, John I. Richardson; first lieutenant, Luke R. Tidd; second lieutenant, Luther F. Wyman.

* * * * *

Life at a rendezvous camp is much the same, wherever found. The change from the untrammeled habits of home to the restrained conditions of military life is seldom made without friction on the part of the newly enlisted men, and if there were a lack of quarters, an insufficiency of food, and if the latter were of indifferent quality, they were only features to be expected wherever and whenever inexperienced citizens undertake the transforming act of becoming soldiers. However disagreeable some of the conditions at Camp Stanton may have been, nothing was encountered there that would not have been laughed at, when two years later the men were passing through the exactions of the "Battle Summer" or later still, when they realized the horrors of Salisbury and Andersonville. Nor were the days of Lynnfield altogether disagreeable to the recruits, for were there not the visits of home friends who always came laden with the best of goodies for the "boys," and passes for brief trips to the homes themselves? Besides every day had its round of duties, such as guard, the policing of the camp and the early induction to drill, even before the giving out of uniform and arms.

Col. Edward F. Jones, who had won distinction in the earlier months of the war as commander of the Sixth Regiment, and later had been assigned to the colonelcy of the Twenty-sixth Infantry, was in command of the camp and occasionally the newly made soldiers repined at the rigor of his commands, quite uncalled for to their undisciplined minds. Nothing, however, better exhibited the adaptability of the American soldier than the speed with which the material from school, shop and farm, caught the step, learned the manual and responded to the command of superior officers. In the case of the companies that were to constitute the Thirty-ninth Regiment, they arrived after the most of the desirable quarters had been taken by the men of the Thirty-fifth and the Thirty-eighth Regiments. The first named departed for the front on the 22nd of August; on the 24th, the Thirty-eighth took train for the South and as colonel went Timothy Ingraham who originally had been commissioned as the leader of the Thirty-ninth; a Captain in the Third Infantry during the three months' service, he had been lieutenant colonel in the Eighteenth Infantry and there were feelings of regret when the New Bedford officer was transferred to the earlier numbered organization.

BOXFORD

[Sidenote: SEPT. 1, '62]

The limitations of Lynnfield finally became so apparent that the authorities determined to seek a new location and officers were directed to investigate, the result being that Boxford, still further away from Boston (twenty-eight miles) was selected. Here were the grounds that had been used as a musterfield by the Second Brigade, Second Division of the State Militia and, on this extended plain by the side of a beautiful pond of water, it was determined to pitch the new camp. Orders were given for the cooking of three days' rations and on the 28th, by special trains the troops were transferred from Lynnfield to Boxford. It is possible that had the nearness of the day of starting for the front been known the trouble of removal had been avoided. Colonel Jones still commanded the camp which continued to be called "Stanton" and the commandant's rules were quite as rigid as ever. On the 29th, some of the soldiers were gladdened by the receipt from the State of twenty-five dollars' bounty and they soon found ways enough for disposing of it, though many of them had signed allotment papers, agreeing to have a portion of their pay reserved for friends at home.

Camp life during the week's stay in Boxford had its share of variation such as came from short trips away, the visits of friends, the receiving of uniforms, arms and equipments and the presentation of gifts to officers and men. Sept. 1st brought Col. P. Stearns Davis, the new commander of the Thirty-ninth Regiment. A brigadier general in the militia, he had been one of the most efficient of those assisting Governor Andrew in organizing and forwarding regiments, and the governor parted from the officer with regret; he succeeded Colonel Jones in the command of the Camp. Company officers were remembered by their friends, both those in the ranks and outside; on the 29th of August, his company gave to Captain Richardson of "K" a set of equipments and on the 1st of September, when on leave of absence in Woburn, Lieutenants Tidd and Wyman were presented by citizens with swords and sashes. Sept. 2nd, Company E, from Somerville, appeared in camp, the very last to report. On the 3rd, the commissioned officers of Company F, Taunton, were given revolvers by their fellow townsmen, of whom there was a goodly number present, their representative being George Childs, Esq. On this day also Springfield rifles were placed in the men's hands, accoutrements following on the 4th, so that they began to feel like real soldiers. On the 3rd also appeared Lieutenant Ladd, U. S. A., who began paying out one month's pay in advance. During these days the ladies of Woburn made and presented to the Woburn Company (K) a National flag, Miss Henrietta M. Young making the address of presentation and Lieutenant Tidd receiving, though the acceptance speech, in the absence of the captain, was made by Lieutenant Wyman. The flag was returned to Woburn to be retained there until the return of the company from its three years' term of service.

BOXFORD TO WASHINGTON.

On Friday, the 5th, came the regimental colors and orders to prepare three days' rations against the expected departure of the Thirty-ninth on the following day, and the same day saw the first dress-parade of the regiment under the command of Colonel Davis, also the efforts of embryo soldiers as they tried to pack into a knapsack two or three times as much as it would hold. When the active campaigning began, they were to learn some of the wisdom of Socrates when he exclaimed, "How many things there are that I do not need." Breaking camp on the morning of the 6th was a spirited affair and, after an early breakfast, line was formed and the men marched to the station not far from 8 o'clock a. m. Here came a lesson in delay that was to be repeated many times as the years moved on. Boston was sighted between 1 and 2 p. m. and, speedily disembarking, the regiment took its way through the city to the Boston and Worcester station. The day was extremely hot, the men had overloaded their knapsacks, hence many suffered badly, some having to fall out, though all reached the station in time for the train. Company E, Somerville, held the right of the line and "C" Medford, the left, so that double-quick, with the Medford men, was the order occasionally which, considering the heat, was a trying test. Of the march through Washington Street, the _Boston Journal_ has this comment, "The men appeared hardy, robust and of excellent fighting material and were evidently superior in drill to many of the new regiments."

[Sidenote: SEPT. 6, '62]

Though the crowds were great and friends by the hundred, not to say thousands, were there to say "Good-bye," the greetings and partings were had in passing, as the quickstep was kept through the city. At the station, the regiment was soon entrained for Worcester, as its next step on its southern way. There was no lack of interest in the departure by people all along the route to Worcester, and there the good citizens were not slow in supplying food, somewhat more appetizing than the rations borne in the haversacks; said rations in many cases became useless through the taste imparted by the recently painted receptacles, the traces of turpentine working through. One veteran relates, at this late day, his anguish over the spoiling of a quantity of fresh mother's made doughnuts. Thence, via the Norwich route, the way was southward, the first train reaching Groton, Connecticut, the summer terminus, about 10.30 in the evening. As the soldier-laden train was in two sections, there was a somewhat prolonged wait here for the arrival of the second part. However, sometime between 10.30 and midnight the steamer "City of New York" proceeded on its way to the great city, along the Sound, over which had passed so many New England men and boys on their Union-preserving mission. Though there was ample space on the soft side of the respective decks for the soldiers to lie down, there was altogether too much novelty for them to encamp at once. While the majority secured some sleep during the passage, there were those who watched the night through and were ready to greet the dawn and to experience the sensations of an early approach to the mightiest city of the Western Continent. Those who saw that sunrise and the course through East River and the final round-up at the Jersey City landing never forgot it; besides, the morning sights included a view of the "Great Eastern", the famous British steamship, then the greatest in the world and the wonder of all beholders.