Norwalk After Two Hundred & Fifty Years

James Charlton, U. S. N. Edward Nelson, Co. E, 5th C. V. Robert S. Hubble, Record Unknown. James W. Crozier, 12th U S. I. Andrew Smith, 17th Vermont Inf. Augustus Burton, Co. B, 29th C. V. Cornelius Nash, Co. B. 29th C. V. Peter Cronk, Co. H, 128th N. Y. Vols. Edwaid Moffit, Co. D, 7th C. V. Charles Annin, New York Vols. 192 NORWALK MEN IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN, 1898. Lieut. Col. Frederick A. Hill, Judge Advocate. Capt. Reuben M. Rose, Co. L, 3rd Conn. Vol. Inf. First Lieut. William W. Bloom, Co. L, 3rd Conn. Vol. Inf. Second Lieut. William I. Comstock, Co. L, 3rd Conn. Vol. Inf. Second Lieut. Howard J. Bloomer, Co. F, 3rd Conn. Vol. Inf. CO. L, 3rd CONN. VOL. INF. 1st Sergt. John H. Smith. " Wm. Rauch. Albert H. Buttery. Q. M. Sergt. George C. Meekan. Sergt. Cyrus J. Crabbe. Henry H. Payne. John H. Chase. Corp. Milo C. Brown. Arthur E. Godfrey. " Coles M. Flewellin. " Ira C. Lockwood. Frank H. Webber. " Frank Neugebauer. " Edward Brotherton. " Albert R. Scofield. " William G. Abendroth. " John H. Beagan. Emil Durbeck. " William H. Guthrie. '' Henrv W. Hopson. " Peter F. O'Brien. " James A. Rilev. Albert Tetzner. William J. Troy. Musician Harvey S. Richmond. Frank Eigner. Private Edward Burkedal. Fred Brown. Ulysses G. Buttery,. Matthew Britt. David Brennan. 193 Private George C. Castle. John J. Cahill. James Crawford. Robert Cullen. Ernest B. Cornell. Charles A. Davis. William Donnelly. Michael J. Dougherty. Roval A. Ellis. John E. Fell. George F. Flinn. John Gorman. Frederick W. Godfrey. George W. Hopkins. Beekman F. Hall. Joseph F. Henry. Wm. H. Hadley. John Kincella. >Joe Keller. John J. Keogh. Philip J. Landrigan. Arthur G. Lovejoy. Thomas J. McGarry. Wallace W. Morris. Arthur S. Norman. John W. Oakes. Charles H. Osborn. Charles E. Parker. Warden B. Phillips. John Peterson. Frank P. Rooney. Joseph Sargent. Joseph F. Sturm. Valentine Sturm. George L. Sullivan. Wm. Sheehan. Peter Storey. John P. Weyerhauser. Hospital Steward Hubert F. Pierce (N. C. S.). Corp. George Brotherton, Co. H, 3rd Conn. Vol. Inf. Sergt. Howard N. Godfrey, Battery B, 1st Conn. Heavy Artillery. Private Willis L. Cavenagh, Battery B, 1st Conn. Heavy Artillery. m Private Richard Fitzgerald, Battery B, ist Conn. Heavy Artillery. Private Charles F. Guarnieri, Battery B, ist Conn. Heavy Artillery. Private Anthony B. Ghiotto, Battery B, ist Conn. Heavy Artillery. Private William Gilmore, Battery B, ist Conn. Heavy Artillery. Private Charles Leppert, Battery B, ist Conn. Heavy Artillery. Private Anthony Stenger, Battery B, ist Conn. Heavy Artillery. First Sergt. Win. T. Ainley, U. S. A., Signal Corps. Sergt. Major John D. Milne, ist Conn. Vol. Inf. Private Geo. W. Hvatt, Co. M, 41st U. S. Vol. Inf. 105 INDIAN TROUBLES SOON AFTER GRANTING OF THE CHARTER CREATING THE TOWN OF NORWALK, SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH SIXTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE E FIND our Military History begins in 1660, and Sergeant Richard Olm- stead is the first name of which we have anv record as a soldier. He, with Thomas Fitch, was appointed by the Colony to look after the Indians, who began to be very trouble- some. These two men had under their command eighteen horsemen, four of them from Norwalk, so we here begin our Military History on a small scale, but these eighteen horsemen had a very quieting effect on the Indians, and they did not cause our people much trouble until 1675, when again they began to make trouble, and Norwalk was called upon to furnish its quota, which it did. These men served under Capt. Seeley, of Stratford, and they took part in a severe swamp fight Dec. 19th, 1675, in which fight brave Capt. Seelev was killed. The soldiers who were from Norwalk were: John Roach, Daniel Benedict, Samuel Keeler and Jonathan Stevenson. Following this fight the Indians kept our people constantly on the alert and had several severe fights. The number of soldiers from Norwalk was increased by the enlistment of Thomas Gregory, Thomas Hyatt, Joseph Piatt, Jonathan Abbott, John Crampton, James Tupp and John Belding. These men all did heroic service and the town at that time showed that their services were appreciated by calling a town meeting held in 1676. It was voted, in considera- tion of the good service rendered the town by the above- named soldiers, to give them each twelve acres of land. After this the early settlers got along very well until 1744 to 1763, when again Norwalk was called upon to furnish its quota of soldiers to fight the Indians and French in the year 1757. There were 350 men of the regular army stationed in Norwalk. They erected win- ter quarters and remained here all winter, and the town 198 provided for them, at no small cost, for the town at that time was small. But the people knew they had to make sacrifices, so did all they could cheerfully. A little later we rind soldiers from Norwalk in an expedition to Cape Breton, who were present at the capture of Louisburg. Again they fought at Montmorency, Quebec, at Crown Point and Ticonderoga. The War of the Revolution was now upon our people and from 1775 to 1783 Nor- walk was well represented, for the Colonial Army in the spring of 1775, the Fifth Regiment, was mainly recruited from Fairfield County, and Norwalk sent a company. The officers of this company were Capt. Matthew Mead, First Lieut. Levi Taylor, Second Lieut. Wm. Seymour. There were a large number of the citizens of Nor- walk, but we are unable from the records to obtain the names of all those who enlisted from Norwalk. This company saw very severe service during its seven months' campaign. Again in 1777 we were called upon to furnish another regiment from Fairfield county. This regiment was called the Fifth Regiment, Conn. Line, and in it Norwalk was again represented by nearly a whole company, who were to serve three years or dur- ing the war. This regiment saw severe service, was en- gaged at the battle of Germantown, October, 1777; win- tered with Washington at Valley Forge, winter of 1777 and 1778; was at battle of Monmouth, June 1778; win- tered at Redding. Conn., winter of 1778 and 1779, in what is now Putnam Park. Our men in this regiment were kept constantly on the move from this time until the expiration of their term of service. We find it im- possible to obtain from the records the names and the number of men from Norwalk who participated in the War of the Revolution. But enough is found to war- rant us in saying that whatever of patriotism we may have in our blood to-day we came honestly by it from the example of the heroes of the Revolution. Tn the War of 1812 we were again called upon to furnish our quota for this short war. We find that the militia only were called upon, and they did not suffer any loss. We find that we have a record of 108 of our citizens who at that time were members of the militia. They were in the service but few days, but were ready when called upon for any service required of them. We next come to 1845- 1848, the Mexican War, in which we were not called upon to furnish any men, but there were quite a number of enlisted men from Nor- 197 walk in the regular army, as this state had no organiza- tion in which they could enlist. We have no record of any losses from Norwalk in this war. CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865. Fort Sumpter was tired upon by the Confederate forces in Charleston Harbor, and so had the blood of the nation been fired by their so doing. It was on Monday, April 15th, 1861, that the President issued his first call for troops. It was for 75,000 men to serve for the period of ninety days. The news in some way reached here Sunday night that the President had called for troops and early Monday morning the excitement began. We had among us at that time, as now, men who loved their country and though too aged or infirm or through their business associations could not take their rifle in hand, but could help in many ways, especially with their money. The first of our leading citizens that we remem- ber that entered into the spirit of the day was Mr. Eben Hill. Upon his hearing that the President had called for troops, on Monday morning early, he had his horse hitched to his carriage and taking his son, Eben, Jr., (now the successful manager of the Norwalk Iron Works) who was then quite a lad, started down the street and went to the old pottery, then situated south of the railroad, where now stands a portion of the Norwalk Iron Works, to see General Guyer who, at that time, was the Commander of the Connecticut militia, to see what could be done to immediately begin the raising of a company of volunteers. The General was waiting for orders from the Governor, but Mr. Hill wanted to be ready as soon as call should come. He found a drum- mer and fifer and had them parade the streets of South Norwalk. He also saw some of the clergymen and one of them made the first war speech in Norwalk. I think it was the Rev. T. I. Wooley, at that time pastor of the First M. E. Church. South Norwalk men began to en- list at once and a full company was recruited under Capt. Douglas Fowler, and was attached to the Third Connecticut Regiment. Mr. Hill was a friend of the soldiers all through the war and did not forget them even when the war was over. We had among us at that time a number of our leading citizens who pledged them- selves to care for the families of the men who enlisted in the first companies that went from Norwalk. The ex- it*