History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

" lis first commander, Henr>- B. Stone, was promotc<l to be Uoutcnont- colonel. He was wounde4l at the battle of Cedar Mountain, and died un the 2yth of January, lnr.2, frxtni the effects of that wound. His bra*cr>' was without a flaw. Kiret Lieut. lk*lts was also promoted to U* lieutenanl- colonid. Second Lieut. Daniels was nmito first lieutenant, and uas mut- tered out of the service l<ecHuse of disability. First Sergt. Tbei-dore Dibble woamiulo a captain, Second Sergt. Lewis K. C'urley, who recently died, became the quartermaster of tho regiment, and made a model officer In that dtnicult and very important department. Thinl Sergt. George N. lUiymund was nuido a first lieutenant. Fuuith Sergt. James Stewart reached a cni t_uucy. Cori>. Edgar A. Stratton was praoiotcd to be flist DANBURY. 251 lieutenant, and Corp. A. M. Whitlock, to be second lieutenant. Two privates, W. H. Biitsford and E. A. Sage, were iMoinotcd to be firet lieu- tenants. The firet assistant surgeon of the ref^iniout was Pr. W. <_\ Bennett, wliu be* inne a bri^^ade surgeon. The conipiiny largely re-en- listed at the close of the three years' term, ami sj aened until the close of the war. It received fifty-nine recruits, making its total strength one hundred and sixty-five men. " After the departure of the Zouaves from Banbury there came a lull in n)!litary operations here. There was no pressing demand for tnn»p8, and no organization was forming. "We had done our share of the work, and were now wailing to see how things were going to turn out. Per- haps what we had done would bo sufiicient. At any rate, there was nothing more to do but to wait and look and speculate. An army had gathered in Virginia, the coming battle-ground, and the hosts of friends and foes were on the eve of what the greater imrtinn of us believed would be the decisive battle of the war. Tliose were days of eager watch- ing, but the feeling was of that intense nature that found little outward expression. " At la>^t it cinie. There was an awful crash, and then a siun-k, — such a dreadful shock ! The battle of Bull Run was fouglit, and — bist. Our spU-nilid army wsis shamefully beaten and driven back in defeat and dismay. "The waiting was over, the watching at an end, and the strong, faith- ful heart of our sturdy town smothered its giief an<l went bravely to Work to build anew. " Military Hall again blazed with light and sonmleii with tlie tramp of ■volunteer feet, anil the drum and fifi^r awakened the echoes of our streets. Benjamin F. Skinner and Williiim MopgUiig, fresh fnun the disastrous battle-tield, received authority front Governor Buckingham to recruit a company for the then forming Sixth Uegjment, and fell to work at once to execute tlie commission. "On the night of August I9th a large, enthusiastic public meeting wiis held in Concert Hall with a vit^w to stimulating enlistments in the new company. Thirty names had already been enrolleil, and foift-teen more were added that night. Wiiliiu a week the cmupany wus completed, and on the astli of August it departed for New Haven. Although recruited for the Sixth, it w;is assignetl to the Seventh Kegiment, and became Company D in that organi/.ati,)n. B. F. Skinner wius chosen captain, Joseph Donning first lienteuant, and Thomas Ilnotcji second lieutenant. These three were memlters of the first cnnipauy of tliree nmnths' men. Three weeks later, September l.sth, the regiment left the State for the front. " Tlie Seventh served the greater part of its time in tlie far South. It was the first to land on the soil of Snitli Carolina, and its tlag wiis the first national color unfniled in that State since tlie beginning of the war. Governor Buckingham promulgated tlie fact in a special order, and it Was read to every Connecticut regiment in the field. This alone was glory enough, but tiie Seventh did grand service Iliruughoiit the war. It saw more fighting than any other regiment in which Danbury had a company, taking part in nineteen engagements, chief among which weie the battles of Morris Island and Fort Wagner, and those about Bermuda Hundred. The Seventh was a ' fighting regiment' in the fullest sense of the term. The Datdmry company Ixirc itd full share of the work, as the casualties shi'W, its loss in killed and wounded being greater than the average of the companies. The com[iany had none of its commissioned officers on its retnrn, and yet there were but twi> promotions from the ranks. Capt. Skinner resigned in February, lJ^f4, l'"irsl Lieut. I'luuiiiig left the service in tlie first year, and Second Lieut. Hooteu lost his biave life in battle an the 14tli of June, 1S02. First Sergt. Theodore C. Wiid- iiian was pn-moted to be first lieutenant, and Private William W. New- man reached the same office. In view of the service of the cuu- pany, the changes in position were rennirkably few. Most of the company re-enlisted im the expiration of its three yeai-s' term, and served until the close of the war. Its losses exccedeil those vf any company Danbury sent to the war. Eleven of its members were kilb-d outright, twenty-seven were wounded, of whom ^ix lUed from the effects of wounds and twenty-one died with disease, of which number six died in the Ari- ders-uiville prison. The company entered the army with one hundred and five men and received sixty-three recruits, " On the 24th of August an itlier comiiany was r»rmed. There lias always been much that was mysterious surruumling this organization. It has no record, and not even its officers are fully known. No trace of the company is in the pjtssessiou of the State authorities. It participated in but one battle, but suffered severely. Like a gourd it grew up and went down in one day. It disbanded with considerable ostentation. In fact, the disbandment covered moie ground than all itsser\i;e. But (uiedaik spot dims its glory. Thesjarsof the wounds receive J in that battle are deli- cately concealed fromsiyht, and are only visibb- to the pulili'^ when tlie survivors are discnveied in s« imniing. The battle of ('liarcojil Unn tiudi place on ttie 24th of August, IKGI. " Immediately following this tragedy came the inception of the fifth company in Danbury's cmitrilnitiiin to the army. In spite of the rather inauspicious fact that the organizer was an enterprising undertaker, the formation of the company went rapidly forward, and undi-r almost as great a strain of excitement as signalized tiie former enrollment. "On the 2nth of Septendtcr thq cuiipauy left Danbury for Haitlord, where it remained until the Hith of December following, when it went to the front as C<unpany A of the Eleventh Kegiment. It was com- manded by Capt. George A. Southmayd. His fii-st lieutenant was Samuel G. Bailey, and the seciyiid lieutenant Cliarles H.White. The company was called the Aveiill Ritles. the name being adopted in htuior of Hon. Roger Averill. It left I)anbury to goto Haitford on anati uial fast- dny, September 2bth, and returned heie on Thanksgiving Day, Novem- ber 2Kth, for the purp.)se of receiving a stand of colors, a gift from Gov- ernor Averill. The exercises took place in Concei t Hall, where the mon- ument now stands, and there are tliose here this evening who vividly renumber all its details and will look back uimui iluit November evening with peculiar sensations. " As a part of the Eleventh Regiment the Averill Rifles partieipafed in ten serious engagements, (.'hief among these were Antietani, Freder- icksburg, Drury's Bltitf, an<l before Petersburg. Its losses were ten killed or died from wounds and twenty-two wounded. Sixteen of tlie mcmbei-s died with disease, three of tliem while prisoners I'f war at Andersonville. The company was the largest from Danbury in the service. It was orginally one hundred and one strong, and during its term it received one hundred and six recruits, making the total two hundred and seven. It re-enlisted in 1SG4, and was mustere.l out in De<ember, isn5. It met with many changes, Capt. Southmayd resigned m the summer of 1S(J2. First Lieut. Bailey \v;vn promoted to the vacancy, and light after re- signed. Second Lieut. While was promoted to his place, and resigned. The company lost these three officers within the space of two weeks. First Sergt, Henry J. McDonald 1 oca me major, Second Sergt. D. B. Jlaiis- field was made a second lieutenant, Fourth Sergt, Nathan Cornwall and Voi-\t. George Csissidy fii>t lieutenants. Fmm the ranks David A. Hoag rose to be captain,. Itdui II. SnilHn t() be first lieutenant, Peter W, Ambler, Christian (Juieii, and Sylvester C. Piatt serond lieutenants. Cbaihs i'ar- ker, a recruit, w;i.s appuinted a quartermaster. " A c<mipany of German citizens in this regiment was commanded by Cajst. William Moegling, who w;is promoted to be lieutenant-colonel, and was twice wiuinded. From the effects o( these wtninds lie was obliged to return home, and here he «lied on the 2(;)th of October, ISfH, one of the bravest of Danbury's volunteers. There were seven Danbury citizens in Capt. Moegling's company. "The Eleventh was one of the crack regiments of Connecticut. It was always to be dein-nded up m, and won the hearty approbation of its brigade ccunmamlers. When it appealed in \ew York city on its way to t!ie front it had 'piite a leception, and its soldierly bearing won the praiso of the city press. " The five companies whose histories I have briefly sketche 1 comprise the number of organizaii ms that Danbury furnished to maintain the nation's life in that first year of the war. " In the regiment of cavalry raised that summer there were a score of Danbury men. In fact, our town was represented in every company in the t'-oop. There were also recruits from herein every regiment but tbo Second that went out of the St^ite that year.