The Color-Bearer Speaks.

     At the dedication of the 13th Mass Monument at Gettysburg, in Sept., 1885, Lieutenant A. N. Samson, Chariman of the monument committee called upon Charles E. Davis, Jr., of Company B, to read the poem written expressly for the occasion by Rev. M. J. Savage.

THE COLOR-BEARER SPEAKS.

"I stand here now, as once before,

All Granite to the battle's shock,

As on some billow-beaten shore

Fronts every storm the seaward rock.

"Is this the field that on that day

Hissed hot with shot, and heard the yell

How! northward through the smoky fray,

Where men were fiends, and earth was hell?

"And now the sun smiles, and the tread

Of marching years has left no trace

Of that day, save - where sleep the dead -

These mounds that love would not efface.

"But yet I see it all again -

The frenzied battle's formless form,

The reeling field alive with men,

The thunderous flashes through the storm!

"The rifles' crack, the hiss, the thud;

The sizz of the on-hurtling shell;

The dying cry; the trickling blood -

The sights, the sounds we know too well -

"They all come back!  I hear!  I see!

O God!  What is it that can make

Men mad with such fierce revelry?

We faced it for our country's sake.

"See, boys!  "Twas here our twin corps stood -

The Eleventh and the First - that day,

And what such brave men only could,

Held half the rebel force at bay.

"For six dread hours, with bated breath, 

Ten thousand forty thousand face!

And each had paid the price of death

To save a safe defeat's disgrace.

"Tis easy in the battle's wrath

To lead the charge when foemen run;

But, in the rifle's deadly path

With empty cartidge-box and gun,

"To stand a firm unyielding wall

Of bodies brave enough to bleed,

And close the gaps where dead men fall, -

This, this is heroes' work indeed!

"And such a deed our heroes wrought!

Theirs not a fleeting courage, born

Of battle-anger:  our boys fought

As they who life and love can scorn.

"How grandly fighting Reynolds fell!

How bravely Paul stood through the fight!

Which loss was greater, who can tell?

Paul lives, but walks the earth in night.*

"But grandest end of all find I!

My hand the shot-torn flag still holds!

'Tis easy, while it flies, to die!

'Tis my proud blood that stains its folds!

"And when our boys fall back at last,

Of all our regiment remain

To tell the story of the past

Scarce one brave hundred from the slain!

"Such is the price with which we bought

A country.   And our sons here see

How faithfully the fathers wrought

For manhood, peace, and liberty.

"And you, ye sons, as here you tread,

And on our graves your tributes lay,
That ye be worthy of such dead

Forget not till the latest day!"

         Last summer, a descendant of a 13th Mass soldier shared with me over 70 high resolution scans of photographs that had been labeled and saved in his ancestor's scrapbook.  Among them was a portrait of Roland B. Morris, the color bearer, killed July 1st 1863, on the spot of the regiment's monument at the Battle of Gettysburg.  The sculpture was done in his likeness - BF

*Brigade Commander Gabriel R. Paul was shot through both eyes but lived.

Fitzhugh House

     John Hennessy recently posted about the Fitzhugh House near Fredericksburg on his blog Mysteries and Conundrums.   Sadly the house and grounds are in jeopardy.

      If there is a focal point for the 13th Mass in VA, this is it.       This house was a field hospital (with Dr. Whitney in charge) in the spring of 1863.      Whitney's tent was pitched  right in front of the house.      John S. Fay was operated on by Dr Whitney in the house, and every man and officer of the regiment visited Fay while he was recuperating.

      A shell struck Fay April 30, 1863.       The same shell that shattered his right knee and hand  struck and killed Captain George Bush of Co F, in the side and decapitated Lt. William Cordwell at Fitzhugh Crossing (or Pollocks Mill Crossing) down by the river.  Fay was bundled up and carried to the house on top of the hill by Sgt. Andrew J. Mann and Sgt. Enoch C. Pierce.     I wrote about the incident here.

Fay wrote:

     "Acting hospital Steward S. E. Fuller of my Co took care of me that night.    in the night Col. Leonard came in to see me.       The next day our regiment lay in line of battle in front of the house and nearly all the officers and men came in to see me."

     Also that day, May 1st,  young Sam Webster, the feisty drummer for the regiment, who was assigned to the ambulance train & hospitals  wrote in his diary,

      "Reported at Fitzhugh House, now used as First Corps Hospital.       Went out to the barn and husked corn to get filling for ticks. The boys have contributed about $250.00 to Fay."

   There are several fascinating characters and incidents associated with this event, and this house.

Dr. Allston Whitney, the surgeon of the 13th began service with a dubious reputation, at least in the opinion of some officers and men in the regt.    In slow times he drank, but after the battle of Cedar Mtn, Whitney went to work.

"The steadiness of his hand, the dexterity and precision and decisiveness of his cut and thrusts in the surgical line was the wonder and admiration of all the Doctors in Banks & McDowell's Divisions.       Surgeons turn from their cases to look at him while operating.       From morning until night and from night until morning in his shirt sleeves he worked in blood, volunteering his services, the hardest cases being given to him."      -(letter of priv. John B. Noyes to his father, Aug 25, 1862)
   

     Sgt. Andrew J. Mann, one of the men who helped save Fay,  was the nephew of Horace Mann, an early prominent advocate of free public education in the United States.   After the war, Andrew got into some serious trouble, (circumstances unknown) and was forced to go west and live under an assumed name.    He is buried at the veterans cemetery in San Fransisco.

   In addition to Dr. Whitney's attentive care, Fay wrote that he was greatly indebted to acting hospital steward S. E. Fuller of Co F, and Chandler Robbins of Co. K.       --   Robbins, (about age 42 at this time) was from Westboro.      He had been a California 49er in the gold rush.  His 1880 obituary in the Westboro Transcript states:

     "He was one of the "forty-niners," going out to California via the Straits of Magellan, on the first ship fitted at Boston for the then new gold regions.      He was connected with the Fremont surveying party there, which was led by the famous path-finder himself and guided by Kit Carson.      In the two years of his absence he had a varied experience, which included surveying, mining and exploring, and few hours captivity among the Indians.    On his return trip, via the Isthmus, the train which carried the proceeds of his labors was robbed, leaving Mr Robbins little but his experience.    His descriptions of what he saw in South America and California furnished many interesting stories for friends at home."

     Mrs. Rebecca Large, of Philadelphia is another memorable character who figures in this story.     Her son, (90th PA) was badly wounded the same day as Fay, and shared a room with him on the lower floor in the front of the house.     When the boy was told the night of May 1st his leg had to be amputated to save his life, he begged the surgeons to await his mother's arrival.

     "The surgeon told him his mother could not come to him, for the War Department had issued strict orders to allow no one not connected with the army to go south of Washington.     The boy replied, "Doctor, you don't know my mother.    She has telegraphed me that she was coming, and she will come."

     Fay continued:

  "In the morning soon after daylight I noticed an ambulance coming up the road.    It drove up to the house and stopped, and to my surprise a woman alighted from it.      She was met at the door by the assistant surgeon, who was on duty at that hour."

     It was Mrs. Large, come to nurse her son.    Dr. Whitney told Fay it was her skilful nursing that saved the boy.

     When the Union army moved north, abandoning Fredericksburg, the Fitzhugh house still had about 35 wounded.     These were men who had not been well enough to be evacuated to Washington.

     The army moved north from Fredericksburg June 14th.  Fay wrote,

    "When the first corps left their camp near our hospital an officer with an ambulance train was sent down to remove us.    There was a heavy thunder-storm that night.  In the darkness and rain he got lost.    When daylight appeared he could see, from the bluffs where he was, the rebel army crossing the river down in front of our hospital about a mile distant.

     The officer became frightened.      He turned his train of empty ambulances northward and started to catch up with the Union army, leaving us to be captured without making any attempt remove us."

     When the staff and patients of the captured hospital were sent to Richmond, Mrs. Large staid with them.      She convinced  Confederate guards to allow her to be interned  at the Libby Prison hospital  with her son, rather than at Castle Thunder, the civilian prison in Richmond.    She continued to care for him and others while she was prisoner.

      John S. Fay and the other patients who survived captivity (several died) were paroled from Libby in mid- July.      Dr. Whitney was not paroled until November.  Fay parted company with the Mrs. Large and her son at Annapolis, Md. July 19.

     Fay recovered from his wounds and was appointed post master of Marlboro, Mass., his home town, by President Andrew Johnson in June, 1865.     He was reappointed by every sitting President from Johnson to Teddy Roosevelt in 1903.      He served as postmaster of Marlboro until his death 1914.     His family has a slip of paper with all the Presidents signatures renewing  the appointment through the years.       Pictured is the Marlboro Post Office at the turn of the last century, a new building then.      I believe the man in front with two canes is Post Master John S. Fay.

      I find it intriguing to attach so many stories to this one place, all documented, in such a brief period of its long history.        I hope the Fitzhugh property is preserved but it seems unlikely at present.  Considering these stories, and its long significant Virginia history, you would think there would be enough interest  from people in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, for someone, or some group of interested parties, to step forward to help save it.

Papers of Major Elliot Clark Pierce

The Massachusetts Historical Society has in its collections the personal papers of Major Elliot Clark Pierce of the 13th Mass  The finding aid for the collection (Thayer Family Papers) states the papers include correspondence, commissions, journals and military papers relating to his service in the 13th M.V.M. 1861-1864.  Also, muster rolls, special orders, ordinance and equipment returns, officers' reports, vouchers, passes, discharge papers and post-war correspondence.

      In 2006 I visited the library and transcribed his diary entries for May - July 1864.  In December of last year I received copies of some of his personal war time letters, most of these, from the first year of service.  Pierce was an especial friend of Col. Leonard.  Both Leonard & Pierce were in the express business in Massachusetts.

     As Leonard's friend, it would seem Sergeant-Major Pierce joined the regiment with the promise that he would quickly receive an officer's commission as soon as an opening became available.  Probably all the officers were elected at the time Pierce decided to join the organization. (He states he enlisted July 1st, 1861).

   

     Favoritism was suspected when Pierce  received his 1st Lieutenant commission in January, 1862.  2nd Lt. Charles B. Fox wrote home to his father in June, 1862 that "two sergeants good men, but no better than others, were jumped over the whole line of 2nd Lieuts.and made 1st Lieutenants."  To his credit, Pierce would prove a brave and capable officer.

    The early letters home to his fiance Mary Ellen Baker, and his sister Fanny, are written in the style of an 'illustrated paper' like Frank Leslie's or Harper's Weekly, popular at that time.   Artist Henry Bacon, (a corporal in Co. D) sketched Pierce a couple of times, and so did Capt. Eben Fiske of Co. G.  Pierce would send the drawings home with a description of the scene.  Pierce has a pleasant writing style. Here is an excerpt from the first letter:

My Dear Patriotic Sister                       

        I am sitting in my own tent, in blue fatigue suit, white shirt, and my hair brushed nicely, whiskers growing and Moustache curling, waiting anxiously the arrival of Genl Geo. B. McClellan who report says visits us to day he is visiting his whole Army they say, and if he finds any such Camp as the 13^th I am greatly Mistaken. I wish you could see it. Hamilton + Banks call it a model in point of order and cleanliness. We have been here nearly a fortnight (wonderfull) and really begin to feel at home We are encamped upon a hill From which we have a fine view of the country dotted with white tents for Miles with now and then a brass battery gleaming in the sun “truly guns” ready to be put in position no stove pipes The “boys” have cut down fir trees from the grove just back of us put them in the ground, two in front of each tent, that makes a nice street between each row of tents.

  From what I've deduced from other soldiers' letters, Col. Leonard had an unflappable, good-natured personality. As Leonard's particular friend Pierce's writings give us a glimpse of the Colonel's humor.  Here's another very early letter of Sept. 22, 1861:

       "Thursday morning we were routed out of bed at 2, and ordered to make hot coffee, and  and be in readiness to March in light order.  That is without any baggage but blanket + overcoat, at the earliest moment, in ten min't” hot fires were snapping in ten mins more hot coffee was ready, and we drank and waited  Watching the signals for the one which was to start us.  I gave up and turned in with Arms and boots on, by 3 and slept untill six
I told the Col next morning I wished he would not wake me next time unless he saw the white in the enemys eyes, he smiles and says, we can’t get along without the Sergt-Major."

     I also learned in this early letter that:

Capt Kurtz of Co C. stationed at Frederick is the one that broke up the Maryland Legislature taking 18 prisoners you see the 13^th is at work

 

Here's another account I like from taken from a letter dated March 13, 1862.  It tells of the advance of the army to Winchester, with more personality insights into Col. Leonard and Chaplain Noah Gaylord. (pictured)

      "Our course led us at one time for some distance upon the Ohio + Baltimore  R. R. and we had culverts and cow-catchers any quantity to leap our horses

Being lame – I was not oblidged to do duty with my Co. (H). but rode with the Col. Our Chaplain who makes any amount of fun rode along with us some time – but could not get his horse Billy over the fences and ditches – so had to go round kept us in good spirits – the Col would ride at the worst looking Culvert on purpose to trouble the Chaplin – there there Billy, wont leap that I’m saving him to leap into the enemys ranks. &c. Within two miles of Winchester we found their breast works fortifications & Rifle Pits some of them were left in great hurry. Pick axes shovels and such things were left just as the workers dropped them"

      Unfortunately only a few of these entertaining letters exist in the collection. As the summer campaigns progressed the work got harder.   By July 25, 1862, Pierce was Captain of Co. H.  This was no easy assignment.  Co. H was raised in Natick.  But at Fort Independence, when the regt. was organized, Boston officers were put in command of most all the companies.  There was a good deal of friction between the 'country companies' and the 'Boston' companies at the time.    Pierce experienced this first-hand when he was commissioned 1st Lieutenant and assigned to Company H in January.  Pierce writes his sister, Aug. 3rd, 1862 in another of my favorite letters:

     "You have no idea what a feeling exists in the country companies toward the four City Co^s. All the country Cos are jealous, and do not like it if an Officer from the City Company is assigned to their Co. Consequently, Capt Clark had a deal of trouble when he took command of Co H. Supposing me to be a City snob, they were very indignant when I was assigned to the Co. and even wrote to influential friends at home about it. they spoke to Gov. Andrew who wrote to Col Le. Who showed me the letter. This last week Gov. Andrew writes again to Col L. “Can’t you Make some promotions from Co. H ? The people of Natick are clamorous. The Co. want Lt. Pierce now in command for Capt. and a Lt. appointed to the Co. The Col. read this also to me and seemed pleased that the Co. should alter their minds so quick."

  Captain Pierce was wounded "just above the left hip bone", Aug. 30th 1862 at 2nd Bull Run.  The wound was left untreated until the 31st.  Surgeon Clymer of the regiment operated on him.  His friend, William Clark, former Captain of Co. H. (now a civilian), took the train from Boston to Washington, D.C. to check up on Elliot and report to the family.  Clark found Elliot in good spirits, but the end of his note was foreboding.

     "I arrived here this morning (Sept 4)  at 8 o’clock. Eliot is quite comfortable, being without fever since last evening – and having good quarters and attendance. His wound is in an uncomfortable place on the left side where every motion of his body hurts him. ...He is in excellent spirits and I shall use my best efforts to obtain a pass from the Provost Marshall to enable him to get home. I learn with much regret that among the missing is the name of your brother, he is not wounded or killed, as all of both are accounted for. He will probably come in either as a straggler or paroled prisoner"

Clark (pictured) was writing to Mary Ellen Baker, of Weymouth, Elliot's fiancee.  Mary Ellen's brother William Henry Baker, recently turned down acceptance into Harvard University to enroll in the 13th Mass. as a recruit.  He joined Company H, Elliot's company.  Baker arrived with about 90 others August 18, 1862 near Mitchell's Station, Virginia.  He was killed a at Manassas a couple of weeks later.

    Elliot got a furlough from the hospital, (something that was easier for officers to do) returned home to Weymouth, & married Mary Ellen on October 29.

   He was back with the regiment by the time of the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862.  A copy of Col. Leonard's report on the battle was among the papers in the Pierce collection.  Only a few short notes home are among his papers from this time forward.  There is a humorous letter regarding the 'Mud March" in January, 1863, which shows he kept his sense of humor, and a very short note after Gettysburg.  On January 31, 1863, Surgeon John Theodore Heard, (former 13th Mass. Assistant-Surgeon), appointed Pierce Captain with the ambulance corps.  Heard was Medical Director at 1st Corps Head-quarters at this time.  A long note from his friend Clark congratulates him on his good fortune and comments on the military careers of some of the other officers and men in the regiment.

     In  early 1864, his wife, Mary Ellen, visited Elliot at Culpeper,  headquarters of the Ambulance Corps.  She kept a detailed record of her visit in a journal. Pierce noted in his diary,  March 14, she had just left after a visit of 7 weeks.  I have not accessed her journal, but it is supposed to contain descriptions of Army personalities and social events.

     Capt. Pierce was re-called to the regiment, May 1, 1864,  in preparation for Grant's Overland Campaign.  When Major Jacob Parker Gould of the 13th, received his  commission as Colonel of the 59th Mass., Pierce was promoted Major.  His diary of the campaign is all business.  Advancing, fighting, moving, digging, fighting, etc. with out a break until June, when the regiment was before Petersburg. In the interval, Pierce got sick, Col. Leonard got sick, Lt.-Col. Charles Hovey, got sick, each taking turns in command of the regiment. 

     When finally, after 3 years of hard service, it was time for the regiment to go home, its term of enlistment being ended, Pierce was assigned the duty of Division Field Officer in command of the Division Picket line.   He had to stay at the front one day more, making him the last soldier of the 13th Mass. to leave the extreme front lines of the war, (then at Petersburg, Va.).


     Major Pierce took an active part in the 13th Mass veterans post war activities.   He authored two entertaining reminiscences for the 13th Mass. Association Circulars.  One of them, A MIDNIGHT RIDE, can be read at my website.  The other details his time as a Wide Awake in the town of Weymouth, before the start of the war, and his run ins with a boisterous Irishman of a different political persuasion.  When the two accidentally met up during Grant's Va. Campaign, the Irishman, now serving with the 9th Mass.,  quipped,

"Arrah, there, major, I've great rispict for yer and that's the holy trute, for yee's the furst and only damned 'Wide Awake' I've seen since I left Weymouth."

     Although there are few personal letters, there are other valuable snippets of information to be mined from the papers in the collection at the Mass. Historical Society.  These include lists of men detailed for special duty, monthly  lists of officers in command of various companies, obituaries of comrades, and lots of post-war correspondence.  The more knowledgeable you are about the 13th Mass.,  the more useful the papers.

     Pierce died May 21, 1915, and was noted in the 13th Regiment Association Circulars.  His death was keenly felt by his surviving comrades.

       The papers were donated to the Historical Society in 1971.

      They are a valuable resource with interesting bits of colorful and useful insights about the 13th Mass., from one of the organizations leading personalities, a brave, likable and capable leader.

Letters of Albert Liscom - Part 2

I finished transcribing the letters of Albert Liscom, Company C, 13th Mass Vols.  I took digital pictures of the original letters held in the collection of the Carlisle PA Army Archive, when I visited there in July 2012.

I've numbered 73 letters.  (Albert's son claimed there were 91 letters in the collection, so some appear to be missing).  There are about 3 or 4  more letters in the collection that are not written by Albert. Two are written by his Aunt Eliza, one by an Uncle William, one by a soldier named Frank, also in Co. C, (which describes the battle of Bolivar Heights) and an unknown note to 'father' dated 1857, signed Jacob.

One or two of the letters are incomplete, letters and a couple of letter scraps still need to be placed.

I have learned a great deal more about Albert and his family since my previous post about the letters.

His father, Levi was a piano maker who had years of experience making quality instruments with a New Hampshire firm called Dearborn Bros.  Mr Liscom was considering going on his own during the early war period, and Albert occasionally comments on his prospects.  The firm of Dearborn and Liscom was eventually formed.  I found a few items relating to the company along with a picture of one piano bearing the company name.  Albert's father was successful in his business venture and continued making fine pianos for many years.

Surprisingly, the letters with the most important information were the most difficult to transcribe. 

Consider this one.  He wrote over the top of the first page, but once I got to know Albert's hand, and his writing style, I was able to transcribe the faded words underneath, although it took persistence (& photoshop to adjust the contrast).  Of course it turns out to be one of the better letters in the collection.  He is writing from Front Royal about the failed Union  attempt to corner Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley in 1862.  Here's what it says underneath the cross writing:

Front Royal
Dear Parents & Sister
          I now take the first opportunity since we left Manassas to write to you for I suppose you are  beginning/starting  to wonder why you did not hear from me.  We left Manassas the next day after I wrote you from there and since that time we have been on the march continually not stopping more than one night [?] in  a place, we have been on[?] some[?] of the roughest  roads I ever saw.  part of the time we marched on the rail road (Saturday) [?] and part of the time on the dirt road and on what
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might perhaps be called roads if the bottoms of them in some places had not fallen through.  When we left Manassas, we started on an expedition to try and cut-off Jacksons force and we have been pulled and hauled round among these mountains ever since but as yet our division have not had a chance at him yet...

This letter continues to describe some of the hardships of the campaign and to express contempt for the leadership of General McDowell the division commander.

I have also learned that Albert, had some serious health conditions. I stated in the first post on his letters that he was trying to get an honorable discharge from the service in the fall and winter of 1862, and that he would have done anything short of desert to get it.  I have since discovered a long letter to his father, written from Waterloo, VA, July 19, in which he describes some of his ailments:

" For a long time my teeth have troubled me a great deal.  I find it impossible to live on army rations.  I have to live on such light stuff as I can buy or cobble up myself and it is rather surprising to me how I live on what little I eat, about all we have for rations is hard bread & coffeee for breakfast & supper, for dinner we have salt junk boiled fresh beef or fried beef and once in a great while baked or stewed beans, very often there is no dinner at all, this is the way we live day after day.  I have long ago given up trying to eat salt junk, boiled beef I cannot
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eat, and the beef steak I do the best I can with to get the juice and You may ask what I live on, well I hardly know myself.  Corn starch, rice molasses cakes, crackers & cheese, stuff that does not amount to much except to take away the money very fast without warranting good health to follow.  I have got about discouraged trying to live in such a way, my teeth are so far gone that I can hardly bite off a piece of soft bread.  There is not two teeth in my head that I can use, that come square together.  the only tooth that is of any service to me in biting, I expect every day will break off, it is more than half gone now, it is the one next to the eye tooth on the right side.  I cannot chew at all on the left side, my teeth are all broken off even with my
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gums from the left side including the eye tooth and following round to the one next the eye tooth - (which has a large cavity in it) on the right side, there is nothing but the hollow stump)  The two teeth running back from the eye tooth on my left side are more than half decayed in fact I have not a whole tooth on my upper jaw.  I have not had any drawn out, all that I have lost - have broken off.  Do you wonder at my feeling hungry?"

In spite of all this, at the time Albert was insisting he wished to do his part honorably in the army.  His big complaint was that his division was kept out of the fighting.

"Last Spring when we crossed the river we expected ...that we were soon to meet the enemy and take our part in the struggle.  But how has it been ?  If that old sesesh Gen Abercrombie had not disobeyed orders, we should have been in that battle at Winchester. And then again if we had been with Gen Banks, where we belong, when he retreated from Winchester, we should have met the enemy there, for Gen Banks said in his speech the other evening that if our brigade had been with him, he would have stood Jackson until reinforcements had arrived.  But for all this we should have met Jackson at Front Royal if McDowell had not avoided it.  And thus it has been, marching from place to place, with nothing but the monotony of camp life."

(The reference to Abercrombie and Banks refer to March, 1862 when several regiments were remomved from Gen. N. P. Banks army, and placed  under command of Gen. John Abercrombie.  Gen. Hartsuff took command of the brigade in May)

These excerpts describe his health condition and discouraged morale. He seems to have had some kind of malnutrition or immune problems.   A few weeks later getting water for the company, he banged a canteen on his knee.  The knee bothered him so much he went lame.  He couldn't keep up during the hard marches of Gen. Pope's retreat..  He eventually fell out of the ranks in mid - August and went to a hospital in Washington.  His teeth continued to deteriorate, and his 'rheumatism' never healed completely.  Knowing he couldn't stand the harsh conditions of a winter campaign or camp he pressed for a discharge.  He eventually got it in mid 1863.

I'll post a bit more on the letters again.

April 30th 1863, 150 Years Ago

     April 30th 1863 was a memorable day, not in a good way, for the 13th Mass.   General Joseph Hooker's army made a flanking march around the Confederate Army entrenched at Fredericksburg.  With 3 Corps, Hooker went north, west, then south, crossing the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers to get a good position to strike at the Confederate line.

     The 1st Corps and 6th Corps were left behind, opposite Fredericksburg, to divert the enemy's attention while the flank march was underway.  The 13th were in the 1st Corps.  John S. Fay recorded in his memoirs:


    

"The Rebels had artillery in position on the hills about a mile and a quarter back from the river, from which they was trying to shell us but they did not succeed in getting range of us.  It commenced raining in the afternoon and continued to rain at intervals during the night and most of the next day.  The rebels would try to shell us every hour or two, but without effect until about three o’clock in the afternoon, when they succeeded in getting range upon us with a battery of twenty pound guns. About two o’clock a dispatch was read to us from Gen. Hooker stating that he had succeeded in crossing the river at United States Ford…We now knew that our movement was only a feign to draw the rebels down the river from the fords above us.  Gen. Hooker’s dispatch was received with great cheering which so provoked the rebels that they opened a vigorous artillery fire upon us, and advanced their infantry and commenced to skirmish with the first division [across the river]. Our division was en mass, so if a shell fell among us it must hit somebody."

Then it happened, at about 15 minutes past 5 p.m.  George Henry Hill of Company B, recorded it in a letter  to his parents:
 

"My last letter was written opposite Fredericksburg.  About an hour after it was written the Rebels opened upon us with shell and after firing about a dozen which went over our heads one burst in our regiment killing Capt. Bush & Lieut Cordwell and wounding Corpl Fay of Co F.  They were all sitting just in front of [me] when two of us were playing chess and the brains of Lieut Cordwell scattered all over us.  his head was taken off.   A hairs bredth more elevation and we would have received the benefit of it"

Captain George Bush, Company F, pictured right, had just returned to the regiment from Boston and was giving the men some news when he was struck by the shell in the side.  He died a few moments later.

   Sgt. Enoch C. Pierce who was standing nearby used handkerchiefs to tie a tight tourniquet around Fay's arm using a stick from the shattered rifle to twist it tight until the bleeding stopped.  He did the same for Fay's leg.  Then Pierce and private Andrew J. Mann, carried Fay up a hill behind their lines to the division field hospital.   (Enoch C. Pierce, Pictured).

Fay wrote:

 "When they was carrying me to the hospital, I was satisfied that my leg and arm would have to be amputated, after they got me there and the doctors told me so I requested that Dr. A.W. Whitney of my Regiment should perform the operation. After waiting a few minutes for him to get through with another patient that he was at work upon when they carried me in.  They gave me chloroform and that was the last  that I knew until about half past  eight when I came out of the effects of it and found my right hand and right leg amputated."

Pictured is the Fitzhugh House, formerly Sherwood Forest, the estate of a prominent local resident used as a Field Hospital opposite Fredericksburg in 1863.  Surgeon Allston Whitney of the 13th Mass. had charge of the hospital.  It was here that Fay's two limbs were amputated in one of the front rooms.  Pictured below is the center hall of the mansion.  Photo was copied from the .Spotsylvania Civil War Blog

Fay would survive the trauma, with the dubious distinction of being the most seriously maimed man from the regiment, but his ordeal was not over.  The hospital was captured when the Union Army moved north during the Gettysburg Campaign.  Those that could be evacuated to safety in Washington were moved, but those still recovering  from serious wounds were not.   While still recovering from 2 amputations, Fay would have to endure several weeks captivity at infamous Libby Prison in Richmond.  Dr. Whitney would not abandon his patients and was also incarcerated at Libby - for 4 months.

 The 13th Mass. were again lucky, during the week that followed the shelling.  They were not heavily engaged in the Chancellorsville battles, which were even bloodier than Fredericksburg.  Samuel S. Carleton was killed May 4, and 6 others were wounded during an afternoon reconaissance.

The men  suffered from the usual exposure and had a fatiguing 22 mile march to the front, but in this way it was not unlike some of their other experiences in other campaigns.  One might wonder if April 30th was not the most  memorable event of the campaign for the veterans of the 13th Mass.  Especially since Fay lived a long life and was active in post war regimental activities.

Winter Camp, 1863

     The lack of posts here at the blog is due to the relentless effort to finish the latest page of my website.  I'm proud to say that new page is up; an undertaking that took 4 months of continuous work.  There are 113 images, including 28 pictures of '13th Mass' guys on the new page.  Hopefully most readers don't have 'dial up.'   This page breaks new ground.

     It is the first 'detail' page of the website for the year 1863.   There are significantly fewer primary sources left to tell the soldiers' story in their own words. Fortunately with the help of descendants, collectors, national park archives, museums, & historical societies I've pulled together an impressive number of un-published materials to continue with descriptions of the soldiers' life in camp around Belle Plain Landing, Virginia, in the harsh winter months of January, February & March. 

     Morale was at a low ebb.    Mud swallowed up what was left of it, along with the rest of the army, during General Burnside's disastrous 'Mud March' campaign.  Desertions became frequent.   Harsh winds & snow made picket duty even more unpleasant than usual.  Still the soldiers endured, as the letters attest.

     I'm pleased to have permission from the Pearce Museum, Navarro College, Texas to post transcriptions of of two letters from their collections.  The museum relies in part on income it gets providing copies of these transcriptions to researchers. It is very generous of them to allow me to share Charles Leland's letters.  Nineteen year old Charles writes his father about morale and desertions in the Army under Burnside's leadership.  The Pearce Museum has other holdings related to the '13th Mass' including the 1863 diary of John Boudwin, Co. A, some letters of John Fox, 2nd Mass. Vols, brother of Lt. Charles B. Fox, and 11 letters of Oliver H. Walker, who transferred to the 24th Mass., from the 13th, in Dec. 1861.  Check out their site here:  Pearce Museum.

     In December I received several materials from the collections in the Massachusetts Historical Society.  Some of these are on the new page, including a few witty letters of Charles Adams, Company  A, of Dorchester, who gained fame in the post war years with a series of German-Dialect poems and verses published under the pseudonym 'Little Yawcob Strauss.'  Adam's fondness for word play shows up in letters to his various siblings. 

     In one of his letters, Charles mentions a sea-shanty song, popular in the states in the 1860's.  A little research revealed the title of the 'Bow Wow Wow' song to be "Boston Harbor."  A link to a version of the song performed on YouTube adds a musical dimension to the history of the regiment.

     The letters of Dennis G. Walker, and George Henry Hill are not to be missed, both provided by family descendants.  Those of you with problems spelling, will appreciate Walker's unique disregard to the discipline.      George Hill gets a box from home and carefully describes all its contents in a letter of acknowledgement to his favorite aunt.

     A very rare photo of Dennis G. Walker is provided by another descendant, whose ancestor kept a large scrapbook of photos of his 13th Mass comrades. A few other impossible to find images from the same source are included on the new page.

     As usual private John B. Noyes describes everything he sees around him when he returns to the camp of the 13th, in February, 1863, the first to get back after recovering from wounds at Antietam.  Noyes takes us along on picket duty during a snow storm, outlining his responsibilities and that of the squad commander.  Then he takes us on a long trek through the muddy camps of the Army of the Potomac, scattered about Belle Plain Landing and Falmouth, VA, to the Headquarters of new commander General Joe Hooker.  Noyes accepted a position as clerk at Provost Marshall General Marsena Patrick's Headquarters in March.  The position gives him a broader perspective with which to comment on the condition of the Army of the Potomac as it prepares for the coming Spring Campaigns, and he does.

     I always try to sprinkle every page with some humor if possible.  In this case two stand alone articles do the job.  "Grins," by Clarence Bell recalls incidents of camp life which caused the soldiers to smile, pay-day and mail call being the most prominent.  Regimental Historian Charles E. Davis, Jr. uses his customary satire to caricature some of the less soldierly fellows found within the ranks of the 13th Mass, in the article 'Shirks.'

     Letters and commentary by the usual gang, Austin Stearns, Sam Webster, & Warren Freeman fill out the narrative.

     Here is the link, Winter Camp.

     Enjoy the new page.

Letters of Albert Liscom, Co. C

"Boston, Mass., September 1, 1921

To the Members of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment Association:

...The last meeting was held at Young's Hotel, September 17th, 1920, with twenty-three members of the regiment and eighteen sons and others present,...

...Charles S. Liscom, of the sons, gave us an interesting talk, and then read a number of letters written by his father, Albert M. Liscom of Company C, during the years 1861-2.

      A copy of the son's letter to me under date of September 12, 1920, which appears in this circular, refers to these letters and their contents.  Limited space forbids printing the letters, even though Comrade Liscom kindly offered to curtail the stories somewhat.

[excerpt]

Dedham, Mass., Sept. 12, '20
Comrade Swan:     I am reminded of a former offer of mine to prepare something relative to the part taken by the 13th at Bolivar Heights and Dam No. 5, and the rather lively engagements there in October and December, 1861.  The history of the 13th does not give any details of these scraps, but in a way I think they were of some importance, for those engaged got probably their earliest training and experience in real battle conditions during these fights and gave the enemy something to chew over.

...My father seems to have been quite a letter writer and sent frequent and newsy letters home, with much attention to detail.  He sent home some 91 letters in all, from Aug. 6, 1861 to Jan. 25, 1863, although the latter part of the time he was confined in hospitals, due to breakdown in health in 1862, just before 2nd Bull Run Battle."  Charles S. Liscom.

It was from the above correspondence printed in the 13th Regiment Association Circulars, that I first learned of the existence of the Albert Liscom Letters.  Today these letters are part of the military archives collection at the Army Heritage Education Center in Carlisle, PA.  I discovered the letters around 2001.  It was not until last summer, that I finally got the chance to visit Carlisle, and make digital photos of the "13th Mass" materials in the archive.

 I started transcribing the Liscom letters in October.  They are a bit tricky.
Albert's cursive is very fine, and most of the letters are written in pencil almost too light to see.  Digital technology gives me the benefit of darkening the letters in photoshop for better copies, but its still a chore.  I was very excited to get this material, because in the early part of the war, Company C, had a different itinerary from the other 9 companies in the regiment, and this is the only source of information I have at the soldiers' level. I recently learned from another source, (the letters of Elliot C. Pierce, from the Mass. Historical Society,) that,

 "Capt Kurtz of Co C. stationed at Frederick is the one that broke up the Maryland Legislature taking 18 prisoners you see the 13^th is at work"  [Captain John Kurtz, pictured.  He soon left the 13th for a Lt. Col.'s commission in the 23rd Mass. Vols.]

Unfortunately, most of the letters I transcribed so far, are from the latter part of Albert's service, and as his son Charles wrote, "the  latter part of the time he was confined in hospitals."

Albert left the regiment two weeks before the battle of 2nd Bull Run.  The hard campaigning had left him lame.  He checked into a hospital, and it seems his health never improved.  He could get around okay, and made frequent forays to the city of Washington  (disguised in civilian clothes so he could escape the dreary hospital)  but his endurance was gone, and he really was unfit for duty.  October 29, 1862, he wrote home:

"I went down town yesterday morning with Mrs Brown we got back about two O’ck. And had dinner.  After which I was anxious to go down town again it was so pleasant...

...I wanted To go to some place of amusement.   I went to the Avenue House and found Mrs Goff and a young lady with her a Miss Thomas from Dedham Mass a very agreeable young lady.   They said they would be pleased to go.    So we four went together to Graves Theatre To see Miss Lucille Weston play Lucretia Borgia – the after piece was the loan of a lover.  We had a fine time.   Got back to the Hotel between eleven & twelve."

He spent most of this time actively trying to get a discharge from the army, which did not arrive until late June, 1863.  By January of that year, his long absence induced his officers to report him a deserter:

"Learn by your letters – that I have been mistrusted as a deserter – as soon as I read your letter I sat down and wrote to Lt. Livermore – giving an account of myself – and this morning I got the Dr to add a line certifying that I was regularly admitted here as a patient.   I requested an answer to know if my explanation was satisfactory.   - but I suppose my long silence has given rise to suspicions that I had sloped – but I think my letter with the Drs signature will quiet all suspicion."

 It is apparent from his letters however, he did not wish to go back to the regiment, and would do anything short of desert to get out of the army.

I've been transcribing the letters in reverse order, as that is how they were photographed.  I've completed the letters from May '62 to Jan '63, but there is little new information for me in these. I finally jumped ahead (or backwards if you please) and found some  of the earlier letters to transcribe, but only got to 3 of them before setting this project aside.  I was pleased to find a few references to the popular Color Sergeant Roland Morris, (KIA at Gettysburg) within these letters, but I was getting little else in return for the effort it took to do each letter transcription. (I've transcribed over 100 pages and have at least as many to go).

Oddly enough there is an interesting account about the Oct. 1861 "Battle of Bolivar Heights," in the collection, but it seems to be written by someone other than Albert !

I will return to Albert's letters one day, but I'm currently concentrating on the period of Jan - April 1863, for the website.  I ordered a series of letters from the Massachusetts Historical Society which arrived around Christmas, and I gave them priority.  These include several  letters of Charles F. Adams, Company A, (about 14 letters, Aug. '62 - July '64) and materials that belonged to  Major Elliot C. Pierce, of the field & staff, (Sept '61 - Sept. '63) I will post about these next.

Here is the Bolivar Heights letter, which was probably not written by Albert:

Harpers Ferry Va Oct 18^th

                                                My own dear faithful Maria,

                                                                        Since I last

Wrote you Marie I have been through a fight of 7 hours & escaped unharmed.  Early Wednesday morning before we had eat our? breakfast news came that our outposts had been driven in by a large force of the enemy.

 I swallowed my breakfast as speedily as possible I started with about 600 men in the field but only 200 or 300 were in the thickest of the fight & our comp’y were exposed all the tjme so their bullets from their rifles & their shells & cannon balls from their batteries & they had 2 batteries  1 on Loudon Heights across

P2

Shenandoah & 1 right front of us of 2 or 3 guns 1 of which we captured.    When we first advanced they opened their fire upon us with their rifles & it was terrific & not being supported we had to fall back under cover of the houses   We had orders to advance again the bullets fell around us like hailstones over us beside of us at our feet & the way they whistled through the air was astonishing  & our boys kept advancing under cover of everything they could find & at last we got into a brick house & determined to hold it at all hazards befor we all got into the house 1 of the Wisconsin boys got hit in the heart & died instantly   I was very near him when he fell

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    He died instantly & the expression on his face was so mild that one that did not know couldint tell whether he was dead or asleep   he had 3 other brothers in the field.  The Wisconsins lost 4 killed, & 5 wounded & 1 taken prisoner  (he was wounded)  Co C had 2 wounded  1 shot through the arm & 1 slightly in the foot it is the greatest miricle that a great many of our Com were not Killed as we were in the thickest of the fight all the time & the many, many narrow escapes that our boys had makes us all think that it was the hand of Providence who preserved our lives   1had a bullet go through his cap  1 through anothers pants 1 struck an others rifle & 1 passed through our Lieut (Jackson’s) [pictured right, Lt. William Jackson, CO. C.  Because of his gallant actions at Bolivar Heights the regiment named their camp at Williamsport, Md. "Camp Jackson" in his honor.]

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Revolver case   Your Frank had them strike all around him but was not hit at all   Oh Marie you cannot form even an idea of the feelings when in battle  I did have the least fear but seemed as if I wanted to fly right at them & pay them for Killing & wounding our men   But thanks to our Commander Lieut Jackson (who I am happy to say proved him self a man of good judgement & bravery & who thought a great deal of the lives of his men) we did’t?  be come rash or wild but kept cool & maintained our position  Why the Wisconsin boys had so many Killed was they were ordered to advance to near their batteries  by their Capt & then had to advance & were cut off by their cavalry & 2

P5

 of their men were not only Killed but their bodies were stripped of almost all their clothing & their dead bodies mutilated.    Well Maria to go on with my account of the battle when we got into the brick house we thought we would be able to hold it but Maria we found our mistake for they began to fire their shells at it.  We then fell back amid a shower of bullets to the town &  our Col  (Col Geary of the Penn 28^th ) told us not to advance again but to hold our position until we could get a cannon across the river so there we staid exposed to the fire of their shot & shell from their rifle cannon for about 2 hours we?

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when they were shelling us But dearest Maria none of us were killed & we all were surprised when we heard that such was the fact how thankful we felt & we all say that it was miraculous none of our company were killed.  (The Paymaster is here now & paid us off this morning)  Well we held our hard fought fort until about 11 O’K at night when Col Geary gave orders to retreat as he had heard that Gen Johnston was advancing with a large army    we crossed the river & you may believe that when we got here we were about tired enough to sleep all of our troops did not get across until about morning.  We achieved a glorious victory Maria & although the

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enemy had about 2000 or 3000 men we drove them off & besides they had 2 batteries.  Col Geary said he never saw a harder fought battle & he has been in some 12 or 15 battles.  We expect the enemy will try & drive us away from across  the river   they may be able but I doubt it.  Thankful for our preservation & hoping for a letter from you soon darling I remain your own true soldier boy.

Franklin????