History of the 13th Massachusetts Volunteers
1861 |
1862 |
1863 |
1864
| After
1864
Summary
of service; 1864.
In March 1864 General Grant took command of the
army. The First corps, so depleted in numbers, (long the home
of
the 13th Mass) was consolidated into the 5th corps led by General G. K.
Warren. The men were unhappy about this, but as a consolation
they were allowed to keep their 1st Corps badges. When
General
Grant opened his overland campaign the 13th Mass had just 2 ½ months
left to serve of their 3 year enlistment. The army crossed
the
Rapidan River for the last time May 5th. This campaign was
different from the others. There was fighting every day for a month
with only 3 days rest. In spite of the hard work the soldiers
were fond of General Grant. The marches were in general
short,
rations were issued frequently, they had earthworks to retreat to, they
were well supported with other troops, & they frequently
changed
position in battle. The May 8th fight at Laurel Hill was one
of
the harder days for the regiment in this campaign as they were one of
the brigades leading the charge that morning. Twelve men died from
wounds received that day. It was also on May 8th that the
flag
staff of the National colors was shattered by a rebel shell.
Remarkably color bearer Dennis G. Walker was un-harmed, though the
shell caught the upper part of his knapsack & sent it hurling
several rods. They were incredibly lucky in many of the other
bloody engagements of this campaign. On Thursday July 7th,
Lt.
John B. Noyes of the 28th Mass, 2nd Corps, formerly a private in Co. B,
visited with his old comrades of the 13th. The 28th had taken
horrible casualties carefully chronicled by Noyes in letters home. He
remarked that the 13th had suffered scarcely any in the campaign losing
only about 50 men killed & wounded compared with three times
that
amount for every other regiment in their brigade. He credited
this to the intelligence of the men and their experience as veteran
soldiers. Still luck had much to do with it. They were
counting
the days as they watched their old brigade comrades the “9th NY”
Militia (83rd NY Vols) leave for home June 7th, and then the 12th Mass
on June 23rd.
The last three weeks of their service were spent
in the
trenches on the front lines at Petersburg. Men continued to
get
wounded and killed. Finally on July 14th the 80 men on the
front
lines were ordered to the rear to prepare to go home. They were joined
by members of the regiment who had been on detached duty.
Some of
the recruits of ’62; promised they would return home with the regiment,
were made to stay, and with others whose enlistments were not
yet
up, were turned over to the 39th Mass. The 13th Mass returned
home to Boston on July 21st with 280 men and 17
officers.
They were enthusiastically greeted by comrades &
friends.
They re-assembled on Boston Common, August 1st when they were mustered
out of Federal Service.
On duty
guarding the Orange & Alexandria Railroad
until April 26,1864.
January
1st - Winter Camp near
Cedar Mtn.
Feb. 26th - One of the
substitutes sets
fire to the building
that houses the picket reserve. The
fire
helps guide some recently escaped prisoners from Richmond's Libby Prison
to the lines of the 13th.
One
man was so overjoyed to be back within Union lines he broke down. A
special train escorted him to
headquarters.
March 12th. – They play a game
of baseball with the 104th N.Y. The
score is 104th N.Y., - 20; 13th
Mass.
, - 62. They
praise the 104th NY for
scoring 20 & point out professional teams will play all day
long without
scoring a run.
An officer gathers up some Indian
Artifacts he finds on the
Yeager Farm and sends them to the Sanitary Commission to raise money
for the
troops at the big Sanitary Commission Faire in Philadelphia.
The items bring in a good sum of money.
March 24th – The old First Corps
is moved into the Fifth Corps
under command of Gen'l. G. K. Warren.
March 29th - A celebration in the camp of
the 16th Maine
in honor of the return of their Col.
who escaped from Libby. Also
26 of the substitutes
(conscripts of August 1863) go off and join the navy.
April 8th – General
Grant reviews the troops. His
review inspires confidence.
Grant's Overland Campaign, May
4th - June 14th, 1864.
Battle of the Wilderness May 5th -7th.
They cross the Rapidan for the last time
at 4 A.M.
on May 5th, with 2 ½ months
left to serve.
Heavy skirmishing in the thick woods all day. They
cross the Orange
& Fredericksburg Turnpike dodging canon fire (grape &
canister) down
the road. Several
in the brigade are
killed or wounded. 1
officer and 8 men
wounded.
May
6th - Report shows 169 men on duty. The skirmishers of Co. D,
lost in the woods returned to the brigade this morning. Lt.
Col.
Hovey is commanding the regiment, Col. Leonard is exhausted.
In
the afternoon they march 3 miles to the left & build earthworks.
May 7th – At 9 P.M.
they start for Spotsylvania Court House.
Battle of Spotsylvania, Virginia May 8th - 12th.
May 8th - The 13th
are among the first infantry
troops to clash with Anderson's Confederate Corps at Spotsylvania. After a
tiring night march they make three
separate ½ mile long charges around 8:30 A.M. on the Alsop and Spindle
Farms. They are
outflanked. An
artillery shell shatters their National
Flagstaff during one of the charges.
Later,
Gen. Warren seizes the shattered flag staff and uses the colors of the
13th
Mass.
to rally a Maryland
Brigade. Artist
Alfred Waud makes a
sketch of this for the illustrated papers.
Twelve of their men die from wounds received this
day, many of them have
been with the regiment since the start.
Twelve more are captured.
Gen.
Robinson, the Division Commander, loses a leg.
May 10th – Their brigade suffers
greatly during an assault
this day, but only commissioned and non commissioned officers
participate. All the 13th enlisted men
are out on
detail running
ammunition to the front line for a battery of artillery.
Casualties are
light. 107 men left
on duty.
May 12th – Assault
on
the Salient; they participate in an unsuccessful charge with
other
troops. The boys
are tired from the
constant rain and mud and fighting.
May 13th - At night they march 10 miles to
Fredericksburg Pike & Burnside's Corps. They arrive
in the morning.
They have three days of relative
quiet, the
14th , 15th, and 16th.
May 21st - 23rd - They march to
the North Anna River and cross
at Jericho Ford on May 23rd.
May 23rd; Battle of Jericho Ford
General
Warren's 5th corps crosses the North Anna river at Jericho Ford.
The 1st division fords the river, the 13th's division (4th)
waits
for a pontoon bridge to be built before crossing late in the afternoon.
Soon after reaching the other side A. P. Hill's
Confederate corps launches a vicious attack,but is soon repulsed.
The 1st Division bears the brunt of the attack.
Five men
of the 13th
are wounded. A
confused
rebel wanders into their lines during the quiet night.
When challenged with ‘Halt who comes there?’
he replies, "2nd South
Carolina
by gawd, and what regiment are you?"
He is
stunned to learn he is
with ‘the 13th Massachusetts
by gawd.’ When
asked "How did you like the fight Johnny?" he replies, ‘Well you
‘uns, fire shell a darned sight werse than we ‘uns do."
May 24th –The 12 men captured
May 8th are freed by Gen. Custer's Cavalry.
Operations on the Pamunkey River, Virginia, May 26th - 28th, 1864.
May 28th – During the march Gen. Grant
rides by and takes a
drink from the battered tin cup
of a man
from Co. D. They
have a favorable
impression of Grant due to the steady onward movement of the army. They have short marches,
plenty of support in
battle, earthworks to retreat to, and their position in battle changed
frequently. They affectionately call Grant the ‘Old Man..’ There is heavy cavalry
skirmishing up ahead
of them this day. It is the first two days since crossing the Rapidan
that they
have not fired a shot.
Battle of Cold Harbor,
Va.
June 1st - 12th, 1864.
In early June after a week of changing
position and heavy
skirmishing (engagement at Bethesda Church, June 3rd) they are in reserve on a hill
to the rear of Cold Harbor
earthworks. The
week’s
casualties were 6 men wounded and 2 killed.
The books of the regt. arrived at this time to be
updated. The last
entries were May 3rd.
On June 7th their long time companions the
9th N.Y.
militia, (83rd N.Y. Vols.) go home.
They take back only 150 men.
The
13th start counting the days ‘till they go home.
June 11th - July 1st.
Warren’s
5th Corps is involved in a feint on Richmond
while the rest of the army crosses the James River
and
moves toward Petersburg.
June
15th - They are genuinely surprised today as they find at
headquarters 24 wagons labeled '13th Massachusetts Regiment.'
Twenty five wagons were furnished to haul their baggage at
the
beginning of the war, all gradually taken away until they were left
with just one.
June
13th - Engagement at White
Oak Swamp.
They cross the Chickahominy
River
and march to the support of a
cavalry engagement. The
skirmishers
become hotly engaged. The
division
suffers severely but the lucky Thirteenth had only 1 man wounded. They fight until
dark; then make a
long round-about march near St.
Mary’s Church until 3
A.M. when they
finally rest.
June 15th - On June 15 they pass the wagon
camp and spy many of their
original wagons from the days of ’61 clearly labeled 13th
Mass.
now engaged in hauling the baggage of some general instead of the rank
and file
of the 13th Mass.
It is swampy on
the way to the James River. At one pond where they stopped to fill
canteens there
were more frogs than water. The
frogs
started to fight back as they saw what little water they had disappear. Some claim they had to
beat them back with
sticks. At another
spot they spy the
biggest snake they ever saw swallowing another almost as big.
June 16th - They cross the river James on
the steamer ‘Thomas
Powell.’ They have
a swim on the
opposite shore before continuing the 15 mile march to Petersburg.
Siege of Petersburg June 16th - July
14th, 1864.
Gen. Warren has been leading them
personally since Gen.
Robinson was wounded May 8th. On
June 18th
they advance to the very front. The brigade has to make a dash across
an open field
to a railroad cut. The
enemy infantry and
artillery are firing at them from a hill directly beyond the field. The 13th
Regt. was the second regiment. to make the run. They
dashed forward and scrambled
over the cut without losing a man.
Those
in the rear tumbled over the men in front before they could get up, all
the way
to the bottom of the cut. The
next
regiment to run let out a yell before starting and suffered a volley
from the
enemy that killed or wounded 12.
They were now at the front lines of the
area that would be
known as the crater and spent their time building a fort. There was skirmishing
every day, and every day men were
wounded.
June 20th -24th.
They move
to fill a gap in the line and again set to work building a fort with
sunken
roads leading to the rear where they can procure ammunition and
supplies.
On June 22nd
with 3
weeks left to serve, Sgt. Mann, Co. H, was killed early in the morning. He had been with the
regiment from the start
and was counting the days ‘till they would go home. He left behind a wife and
child. Thomas Casey
one of the substitutes of Aug. '63 who actually performed his duty, was
also
killed this day while making coffee.
Both men were taken to the rear and buried.
June 23rd - Everyone is being a bit more
careful. Their
friends the 12th Mass.
leave for home. The
two regiments had been together for more than two years. About this
time the pickets mutually agreed to stop firing at each other.
July 4th – The bands celebrated
by playing all the National
airs. The
'Johnnies' in turn played 'Dixie'
and 'Bonnie Blue Flag' and all their favorite airs.
The day is hot.
July 11th - The enemy artillery opens up
and makes things
lively for a while. Col. Davis of the 39th Mass.
is struck and killed by a piece of shell while sitting in his tent
visiting
with 13th Mass.
surgeon Dr. Lloyd Hixon.
The last few days are spent building Ft.
Warren.
It takes 8 men to pass one
shovel full of earth from the bottom of the works to the top. The walls are 10 feet
thick and 8 feet high.
July 14th – Time is up, Finally! 80
men leave the trenches in the front lines and move to the rear. The officers had been busy
all night updating
the regimental books. All
day the men
are joined by old comrades who have been away on detached duty. At 6:00 P.M.
they start stepping lightly to City Point 5 miles away, singing the old
songs
with a joy they hadn’t felt in months.
They reach the river at 1 A.M.
The
Journey Home July 15th - July 21st.
July 15th -
They board
the steamer ‘City of Bath’
at 4 P.M.
and take it up the Potomac River. At sunset they
anchor at Jamestown,
Va.
July 16th - Three years ago this
day they were mustered into
the service at Ft.
Independence
in Boston. They continue their sail
to the mouth of the Potomac River. Their
ship anchors at 8
P.M. They
stay over night at the ‘Soldier’s Rest’ on Pennsylvania
Avenue.
July 17th - They take a tour of Washington,
D.C.,
and visit the Senate Chamber. One of their wounded comrades dies,
William F. Brigham, Co. F, who had been with the regiment 3 years. The train for Baltimore
leaves at 8
P.M. and arrives at 2 A.M.
In
Baltimore. They
eat at a soldiers'
rest and sleep on the sidewalk.
July 19th - They leave Baltimore
at 10 P.M.
and take a very slow train
to Philadelphia
arriving 8 hours
later at 6 A.M.
July 20th - They march to the ‘Cooper
Shop’ in Philadelphia
for breakfast. They
had stopped at this
place three years earlier on the way to the front.
They notice many changes.
At 8
A.M.
they take a train for New York
which arrives at 3
o’clock. They
march up Broadway to the Park barracks
and are fed by the proprietors of the Astor House.
They have a ‘Bully’ time until 8 P.M. when 265
men and 17 officers catch a
train for Boston
via the Boston
& Albany Railroad.
July 21st - Large crowds of friends from
the various towns
greeted them in Worcester
as the
train pulled in at 6
A.M. After
which they proceeded on to Boston. Clarence Bell wrote “The
day when the sun
shed its brightest rays; when the faces lengthened sideways; was when
we caught
sight of the familiar dome of the State House, and we knew that we were
within
the boundaries of the good old town of Boston. How we stretched our necks
as we caught the
first glimpse of civilization. How
we
shouted for joy or, silent , absorbed the view, almost delirious with
realization! At last at the depot, we rushed forth to feel the warm
grasp of hands;
to see kindly beaming eyes, and hear the pleasant voices of kindred and
friends.”
The train arrived about 8 A.M.
A large crowd with a band greeted them, many old comrades were there. The band played “Corporal
of the Guard Post
8’ one of their favorite songs from the Fort
Independence
days of ‘61. They
were escorted to Boylston Hall to clean
up, when in walked their old brigade commander Gen. George
Lucas Hartsuff. He
shook hands with all the men and they gave
him three cheers. He had heard they were in
town and came by to see them quite unexpectedly.
They
went to the
U.S.
hotel for
breakfast. After
eating a parade was
formed, and with a large military escort, and band, they marched to
Faneuil Hall
for a reception. Flags
and bunting
decorated the streets along the way.
A
large banner ‘WELCOME HOME THIRTEENTH’ hung on the front gallery. Ladies crowded the hall. Chaplain Noah Gaylord gave
a prayer followed by
speeches from Mayor Lincoln of Boston
and representatives of the governor.
Col. Leonard spoke, thanking everyone for the
reception and then relating
events in the history of the regiment.
Gen. Hartsuff gave a brief speech and
Chaplain Gaylord gave the
final remarks. They
were furloughed
until Aug. 1st, when they re-assembled on Boston Common and were
mustered out of
service.
Copyright ©
2008 by Brad Forbush. All rights reserved.
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