History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

"In the spring of 1864 the regiment went to Vir- ginia, and suffered the loss of all the garrison and camp equipage and regimental and company records by the sinking at Norfolk of the transport on which they were stored. Its first fight in the Virginia campaign was at Whitehall Junction, May 7th, and from this time the history of the organization shows battle after battle clear through to the surrender of Appomattox, the Tenth being ' in at the death' " (Battle Flag Bay). A total of 2124 was credited to the organization during its existence, embracing the original !H*6 ; re- cruits, 848; re-enlisted veterans, 280. Casualties: Killed in action, 57 ; died of wounds, 51); died of dis- ease, 1.52. The regiment sustained a verj' heavy loss of officers by death and otherwise. It had four colonels during its first eighteen months of service. The Tenth jjarticipatcil in the following engage- ments: Roanoke Island, siege of Charleston and St. Augustine, Walthall Junction, Drury's Bluff, Ber- muda Hundred, Strawbeiry Plain.s, Deep Bottom, Deep Run, siege of Petersburg, Laurel Hill Church, New Market Road, Darbytown Road, Johnson's Plan- tation, Hatche's Run, Fort Gregg, and .Vppomattox Court-House. TUE TWELFTH REGIMENT was organized and mustered into the service in the winter of 1861-62, with Henry C. Deming as colonel and Ledyard Colburn as lieutenant-colonel. One company was from this county, raised ]irincipally in Norwalk, Brookfield, New Canaan, Westport, Ridge- port, Danbury, Weston, and Newtown. Stephen D. Byxbee was captain, Gilbert Bogart first lieutenant, and E. H. Nearing second lieutenant. The regiment .saw severe service, and in conse- quence of its heavy losses, which had nearly deci- mated the regiment, it was reorganized in October, 1863, as the Twelfth Battalion, under command of Lieut.-Col. Lewis. Casualties: Killed, 50; die<l of wounds, 16; of disease, 188. It was in the fidlowing battles: Georgia Landing, Pattcrsonville, Berwick, Port Hudsun, Winchester, MILITARY HISTORY. 47 J'islier's Hill, and Cedar Creek. JIustered out Aug. 12, 1805. THE THIRTEEXTII REtilMENT was organized in November, 18()1, and mustered into the service with Henry W. Birge as colonel, and Al- exander Warner as lieutenant-colonel. One com])any was enlisted from this county, of which Apollos Comstock was captain, William E. Bra<lley first lieutenant, and Williuiu C. Beecher second lieutenant. The regiment enjoys the distinction of having been in the service longer than any other Connecticut or- ganization. In January, 1864, the Thirteenth almost to a man re-enlisted. In the following Dcccndjor it was consolidated into five companies, called "The Veteran Battalion Thirteenth Connecticut Volun- teers." During the regiment's long service it participated in numerous hard-fought battles, a few of which are here enumerated : Georgia Landing, Irish Bend, siege of Port Hudson, Cane River, Mansura, Ope- quan, Winchester, and Fisher's Hill. It was mus- tered out April 2'), l,SG(i, and paid otl'May Tith follow- ing, having been in the service four years and six months. THE FOURTEENTH REGIMENT.* The Fourteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, the first response of the State to President Lincoln's call for three hundred thousand more troo])s, was mustered into the service of the United (states at Camp Foote, Hartford, Aug. 23, 18G2, and two days later, with ranks one thousand and fifteen strong, under command of Col. Dwight Morris, marched through the streets of Hartford and embarked for the scat of war. All the way out its journey was a kind of triumphal jirogrcss. At each landing upon the river flags fluttered from every house, and the regi- iment was greeted as it passed with waving handker- chiefs, cheers, and booming of guns; upon the Sound each passing steamer or tug-boat screamed a saluta- tion, responded to by the cheers of the troops, and in passing through New Jersey and Pennsylvania every farmer wouhl wave his hat and hurrah as the train shot by, while the houses were gay with bunting, and at the depots men and women crowded up to shake hands with the Union volunteers. In marching across the city at Baltimore the regi- ment was reviewed by Gen. Wool, of the regular army, who spoke in high terms of the soldierly bear- ing of the coinnuind, and sent it forward at once to the front, instead of retaining it for drill and instruc- tion, as had been originally intended. After remaining for a few days near Washington the Fourteenth joined the Army of the Potomac, then under command of Gen. McClellan, near Rock- ville, Md., Sept. 10, 18(J2. It marched up through * Contributed by Maj. William B. Hincks. Maryland, arriving uiion the battle-field at South Mountain just too late to participate in the engage- ment, and on Sept. 17, 1862, took i)art in the bloody battle of Antietam, in which the rebel forces were driven from the State. The loss of the regiment in this the first of its long series of engagements was one hundred and twenty-seven killed and wounded, and its behavior under trying circumstances was very creditable. Three months of campaigning ensue<l, and then came the sanguinary battle of Fredericksburg, — a criminal waste of life upon the i>art of the com- mander of the Union army, — in which one hun<lred and twenty-one members of the Fourteenth were rendered hors rlii combat. The next great battle in which the regiment participated was at Chancellors- ville, in May, 1863, and this was followed by the forced march through Virginia, Maryland, and Penn- sylvania, and in July, 1863, by the gloriou< victory at Gettysburg. Ou the morning of the third day of this battle the Fourteenth, by a s])irited charge, cap- tured a house and barn in the enemy's front, driving out a number of rebel shar]ishooters, and after setting the building on fire returned to its original line. Later in the day, in common with the rest of the Second Corps, it endured a tremendous cannonade from over a hundred rebel guns, after which followed that wonderful charge of the enemy which is thus dcscriljed by a member of the regiment who was an eye-witness : " We rose from the ground, where we had been lying, stretched our cramped limbs, and at first thought that the battle was (jvcr. But Maj. Ellis was wiser than we. ' Now,' said he, 'they mean to charge with all their infantry. Fall in. Fourteenth !' and with a little delay the men took their ])hices in line. ' Forward, guide right !' and in another moment we were in the place left vacant by the withdrawal of the battery. Exclusive of the men deployed as skirmishers in our front, we ha<l only about a hundred muskets; so that we were obliged, in onler to fill the vacant space, to extend the line until it consisted of but a single rank. Belts were now loosened, pack- ages of cartridges taken out and laid upon the low stone wall in front of us, so that no time might be lost in reloading, when suddenly there was a hush I'or a moment, and every eye was turned to the front, where we could see the rebel infantry emerging from the woods about a mile away. It took good eyesight to discover them at first, but presently they are jilainly visible advancing towards us. They come nearer and nearer, and we can see their three splendid lines of battle stretching away as fsir as the eye can reach and advancing in unbroken order across the open plain. Skirmishers are in their front and a few officers ride in the rear, though most have dismounted, knowing that there is hot work before them. Away down upon the left a solitary battery plays upon their advancing column, and an occasional gun is fired from our ex- 4S HISTORY OF FAIKFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. treine right, but, with tliis exception, our batteries are silent, and their march is unopposed. "Presently the crack of rifles is heard, and little puffs of smoke rising from the grassy field in our front show that tlicir advance has come within range of our I skirmishers. Their skirmish-line noisily replies, and still their lines of battle move steadily forward, the men carrying their guns at right shoulder shift, and the red battle-flags floating above their heads. There is no haste, no aj)pearance of disorder, no swaying of the lines, and they give the spectator the sense of wonderful jiower kept in check by discipline : their advance seems a.s resistless as tlie incoming of the i tide. In a few minutes our skirmishers clamber over \ the wall and join us. Townsend, the captain in com- I niand, had wislied to collect his detachment and march 1 it back in a compact body, but this the men did not see fit to do, so they came singly in open order, firing as they fell back. " I thought of Hunker Hill and how our fathers re- pulsed the British, and wondered what would be our fortune this day. I felt no terror at all (a touch of which I had previously experienced when lying down exposed to the fire of all that artillery), only a kind of serious expectation and an anxiety for the enemy to move faster, so as to come within range of our weai)ons. None of our ofllcers were at all wanting in their duty, but we were all officers this day, and piissed low words of encouragement from one. to another down the line. I remember telling those near me to reserve their fire, so as not to waste a shot, and to aim low, and asking them to pass the message along.