On The Rappahannock

 Introduction

The story of the conscripts is mostly a humorous one, from a certain outside perspective.  But for the soldiers of the “13th Mass” it was a rather hard thing.  The ranks of the regiment were suddenly filled with a dangerous criminal element that out-numbered the veterans 2 to 1.  Fortunately most of these men didn’t stick around very long.

This page mixes news-clippings with soldiers’ entertaining personal remembrances, to chronicle the results of the poorly implemented military draft commenced by the Government.

The Evening Transcript reports on the progress of the draft in Boston, and the subsequent bloody riot that occurred, July 14, at the Cooper street armory.  

The practical progress of the draft is then depicted in the news-clips that follow the riot. 

Drafted men were collected at a conscript camp established on Long Island, in Boston Harbor, under the command of Brigadier-General Charles Devens.  The 186  recruits allocated to the “13th Mass” set sail for Alexandria, Virginia on the steamer DeMolay on August 9.  Major Jacob Parker Gould, on Special Duty at the Conscript Camp, turned the detachment of 186 “reckless” men over to Lt-Col. N. Walter Batchelder.  That must have been an interesting exchange as the two men did not like each other.

Once they arrived at camp the new men were distributed among the 10 depleted companies of the regiment. 

Four specific discussions of the conscripts are presented on this page.  From the regimental history, author Charles E. Davis, jr. gives an overview.  From his memoirs, Sergeant Austin Stearns describes the uneasiness in camp created by their presence.  Melvin Walker singles out one Recruit, John Parra with a truly remarkable story printed in the 13th Mass Circulars.  A bit of follow up research on Parra’s story lends credence to the tale.  Finally, Lieutenant Edward Fay Rollins demonstrates how he gained control over an unruly conscript who sought to undermine  his authority when out on drill.

I think readers will be surprised at the variety of many little details this page reveals, about society, the military, and the war.

PICTURE CREDITS:  All Images are from the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DIGITAL COLLECTIONS with the following exceptions:   The banner picture titled "An Early Lesson in Marching" is by Thomas Rowlandson from Wikimedia Creative Commons [CC0] original in the Drawings and Prints collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art;   Illustration, "The Draft Resumes in New York," from Harpers Weekly, September 5, 1863, accessed at sonofthesouth.net; In the Boston Draft Riot Section, the illustration of the canon in the armory & the illustration of City Hall, Police Headquarters, are from oldcityhall.com; The graphic of fleeing rioters is from, The Annals of the Great Strikes in the United States by J. A. Daca, p. 208, accessed at the digital archives:  https://archive.org/details/annalsofgreatstr00dacu; The CROPPED photograph of the 1st Regiment of Militia, Company C, Claflin Guards is from the Boston Public Library Digital Commonwealth collection; The arial photograph of Long Island Boston Harbor, is from Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Doc Searles, 2008;  The illustration of a military examination room, accompanying the July 22nd Boston Transcript article, is from Horse, Foot, and Dragoons, p. 33, by R. F. Zogbaum, illustrated by the author, Harper Bros., New York, 1888, accessed digitally at Internet Archive;   Brig.-Gen. Charles Devins is from the, U.S. Army Heritage Education Center, Carlilsle, PA, MASS MOLLUS Collection;  The Steamer Winnepeg is from, Navy Source Online: "Old Navy" shiop Photo Archives, the original is a watercolor painting by Eik Heyl from Merchant Steam Vessels of the U.S. 1807-1868;  Charles Reed Sketch, "Sick Call" is from the New York Public Library Digital Collections;   In the section titled "New Men," the CROPPED illustration of 3 men is titled "Captain, Mate & Clerk" by E. A. Kimble, from the Library of Congress digital collections; The illustration of the Brawling men, [Miners in Camp] is from the New York Public Library, accessed via "Story of the Great American West" p. 194,  Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1977, Pleasantville, NY;  The illustration "Punishment in the Army" is from Frank Leslie's Illustrated History of the Civil War; accessed digitally on the Internet Archive at [https://archive.org/details/importantevents00franrich];   In the section "A Personal Experience,"  Melvin Walker from "Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Mass.," vol. IV, by Ellery Bicknell Crane, Lewis Publishing Co., 1907; (found on google books);   Gilbert Gaul's illustration, "Holding the Line" & the illustration of Confederates running through town [modified] by Frederic Ray, are from Civil War Times Illustrated;   The image of Christ Church [modified] is from1882 Gettysburg College Alumni Book, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA;  Enhanced Graphic of the Strait of Gibraltar is accessed at Wikimedia Commons, original file from:  NASA/JPL/NIMA, 2003-10-24; Narciso Lopez is from "Narciso Lopez Expedition to Cuba" by Anderson Chenault Quisenberry, 1906, accessed at Hathi Trust Digital Library, https://www.hathitrust.org;  And, alas! I have collected SO MANY images, I cannot recall where the b&w illustration of an officer training raw recruits hails from, apologies.  ALL IMAGES HAVE BEEN EDITED IN PHOTOSHOP.

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The Draft

The following newspaper excerpts from the Boston Transcript chronicle the progress of the draft, the establishment of a camp to hold them, and the eventual transport of 186 men, nearly all substitutes, to the camp of the “13th Mass” at Rappahannock Station.  Many of the humorous observations of Charles Davis' article, “Drafting For Recruits” in Boston's 3rd District  play out in these newspaper clips.  Pay attention to the reporting from the 3rd district, where there are instances of  8 recruits out of 100 being accepted, with  3 others paying commutation fees to get out of the draft.

Harper's Weekly illustraton, “The Draft Resumes in New York,”  published September 5, 1863.

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THE BOSTON DRAFT RIOT

The draft fueled riots in several cities, New York being the most infamous, where thugs took advantage of most of the militia being called away from the state during the Gettysburg campaign.  For 4 days a reign of terror gripped the city.  The mob was violent, and ruthless, preying in particular on defenseless members of the colored community.  It took the return of the militia and extreme force to restore peace in New York City.

In Boston, things went a little differenly.  A quick and deadly canon blast  put an end to any serious disturbances.

“Charge of the Police at the Tribune Office” New York, Monday Evening, July 13, 1863;  Published in Harper's Weekly, August 1, 1863.

BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT
WEDNESDAY,  JULY 15, 1863.

THE DISTURBANCES IN THE CITY.

The riotous manifestations of yesterday culminated in deeds which required the strong arm of the military to repress.  We copy from the Advertiser the following account of the scenes of last night.

At nightfall everybody but the police and military authorities thought the disgraceful scenes were ended, and even the authorities justly indulged in such a hope.  Yet every possible precaution had been taken to check any further outbreak and secure the peace of the city.  The 44th Regiment was ordered to report at once to the armory at Boylston Hall, for orders.  Orders were also issued to the Lancers, Dragoons and Jones’s Battery, to report at their respective armories forthwith for duty, and a requisition for 30 horses for the Battery was made on the Metropolitan Railroad Company and immediately filled.  Orders were also sent to Fort Warren and Readville for troops.  By dark, at least a thousand men were under arms to keep the peace.  Shortly after seven o’clock, the low grumbling of an approaching storm were heard in various localities in the North End.  Knots of men began to collect on Endicot, Hanover, and Prince streets, and well-disposed citizens took good care to keep out of their way, but instead of retiring to their homes like good citizens, collected on the outskirts of the disaffected portions of the city, to witness the course of events, and thus increased the crowd and the labors of the police.

At 8 1/2 o’clock a preconcerted signal brought every an under arms to his feet, ready for duty.  His Honor the Mayor was at the Second Station, with Chief of Police Kurtz, advising operations.  Deputy Savage looked to it that the men were ready for the word of command.  At the various armories the men only waited the word to start.  Meanwhile the rioters were enacting their fiercest scenes at the North End.

A large and boisterous crowd had assembled in front of the Light Artillery Armory in Cooper street, wherein waited Capt. Jones with a loaded piece.  At the same instant showers of bricks and other missiles fell upon the armory, hurled by the mob below and from the roof of the neighboring houses. The windows were smashed, and the missiles fell thick and fast about the men within.  It was at this time that Lieut. Sawin of the Battery was knocked down senseless, by a brick.  It is stated that he was thrown in the gutter and actually trampled upon by women, a large number of whom were in the crowd, and added to its fury by their demoniac yells.  The fierceness of the assault drove nearly all the men from their positions in the armory.

Now was the critical time.  The mob seemed to be gaining the upper hand and with the gun once in their possession the direful results could not be predicted.  Capt. Jones’s gallant little band were sore pressed indeed.  A man yet stood at the gun. Capt. Jones ordered him to fire and — not a blank cartridge, — but a good round of canister burst into the close ranks of the rioters.  Several fell;  some were at once borne away dead and some wounded, whose names we shall probably never learn.  Other casualties are mentioned below.  This timely and soldierlike order of Capt. Jones further the tide against the rioters.  The men now used their small arms freely and the rabble was now glad to disperse, having received additional losses. And here occurred one of the saddest events of this sad scene.  Mr. William Currier, a venerable and widely respected citizen of the honored age of 72 years, and father of officer William W. Currier of the First Station, residing at 23 Cooper street, was shot dead by a shot from the rioters while he was entering his house.  Some promiscuous firing followed, but the terrible scene at this point was now about ended.  In addition to the casualties already mentioned, are the following among the rioters.

By the firing of the battery piece, an unknown man was instantly killed.  He appears to have been a laboring man, 30 years of age perhaps, and about five feet eight inches tall.  His body was pierced by the canister in eleven different places and frightfully shattered.

John Norten, a boy about ten years of of age, residing at No 166 Endicott street, was shot in the heart, dead.

Michael Gaffy, 14 or 15 years of age, residing at 21 Cross street, was shot in the abdomen, causing a protusion of the bowels.  He was sinking rapidly at midnight, and in the physician’s opinion could not live until morning

P. Reynolds. about 12 years of  age, residing at 12 Bolton place, (off Hanover street) was shot in the hip, making an ugly wound. He was taken to the hospital and may recover, although if inflammation should set in amputation must follow and its effect would probably be fatal.  Dr. Walsh attended the wounded boys.

Another fearful scene was enacted in Dock square. Thither the mob next turned its steps with the view of attacking some of the many hardware and arm stores in that vicinity.  The new and well-stocked store of William Read & Son, 13 Faneuil Hall Square, was first visited.  Apprehensive of some such movement, the proprietors had a guard inside, with loaded arms, but the mob for some reason, did not make an attack. Many of the rioters were already armed, and one was seen brandishing a musket in a most frantic manner.  After a fierce struggle he was captured by Sergt Dunn of the Police and others, but not until he had been shot by a police officer.  He was taken away before the mob could interfere, the police having obtained access to the spot in a hack driven rapidly through the square.  The injured man’s head made a ghastly appearance, but Dr. Palmer pronounced his wound not dangerous.  He was taken to the Second Station and cared for.  His name is James Campbell, and he is in the employ of Michael Doherty, who keeps liquor stores at 73 Endicott and 319 North sts.  An attempt was made to bail him out, but it was unsuccessful.

The rioters next turn their attention to the hardware and arms store of Thomas P. Barnes, 28 Dock Square, and having broken in the door and window entered and helped themselves to rifles, pistols and knives.  They took about 100 guns, 76 pistols, three or four dozen bowie knives and all the fine cutlery in the show cases.  And what is singular, and perhaps an index of the preparations of this affair, is that the rioters appeared to know where best arms were and to seek them out, although in many cases in almost inaccessible places.  During all these latter movement the squads of police at hand wisely turned their attention to repressing the crowed which began to flow in from the by streets, until military aid should come.

The police had kept the little hill from Cornhill to Dock square clear, and placed a guard of regulars before the door of  J. Hapgood’s sporting apparatus store at 26 Washington street.  And now the time of the rioters had come.  Down Washington street, at a fair pace, came first Major Gordon’s hundred regulars from Fort Independence, with guns  loaded and cocked; then the Lancers and Dragoons, whose soldierly and resolute bearing and spirited style told well in the eyes of the hundreds in the square.

The orders were given low and quick, and down through Dock Square and under the side of Faneuill Hall they marched and took position.  For nearly an hour they remained there, while the police completely cleaned Dock Square and stationed strong guards along the streets.  Shortly after ten o’clock the first (Capt. Chamberlain; and second Capt. Conwill)  Companies of the 2d Massachusetts Heavy Artillery from Readville  arrived at the scene of acton with two pieces of cannon. The mob had now been driven from the squares, and guards were set and the two cannon well supported, placed so as to sweep the squares.  Detachments were then ordered from the Dragoons and squads patrolled the streets at the North End during the remainder of the night.  The guard was very materially strengthen by the addition of Independent Companies, B, C and D from Fort Warren.

This city is under the military control of Brigadier-General Pierce, Second Brigade, First Division, who was ordered by the Governor to report to the Mayor to take charge of the troops ordered to support the city police in keeping order.  General Pierce’s head-quarters are at the City Hall, where all companies will report.

City Hall, Police Headquarters, pictured.

At midnight all was as quiet as could be expected.  During the afternoon a slight attempt at a riot in Kneeland  street amounted to nothing.  The drizzling rain somewhat dampened the ardor of the rioters.  Soon after midnight an alarm was sounded from Box 3, District 3, corner Belmont and High streets, and the steamers hastened to the spot. It proved to be a false alarm, somebody having maliciously pried open the box.  Almost at the same time an alarm was sounded from Box 7, District 1 corner Cooper and Endicot streets.

An alarm was sounded in the same locality at three o’clock this morning, but it proved to have been false.

[These false alarms were intended to foster a disturbance after the mobocratic spirit had been mostly quelled. The Cooper street Armory was discovered to be on fire, about midnight, under the stairway, and the box in Purchase street was broken open to set the firemen on the wrong scent.  The fire was soon extinguished.  It was probably set by some person making his way into the building during the early part of the night, when there was a large crowd in the street.]

As we go to press the military are at their posts and all is quiet.  Little knots of people, however, still linger about Cooper and the adjacent streets, but threaten nothing serious.

It is gratifying, and especially so in the present general aspect of affairs, to record the complete triumph of law and order in the fearful scenes of yesterday, and the unhesitating and stern display of military power to accomplish that end. To Captain Jones’s battery be all honor. To the Boston police, whose efficiency as a body and whose individual bravery contributed so materially to the restoration of peace and order, let our citizens give ample credit.  Surely we have good cause to be proud of them, and to have renewed assurances of safety so long as they shall retain the reputation which yesterday’s services won for them.

The Journal of this morning has the following additional particulars:

The hardware stores in the square had been closed, at the request of the city authorities, since 5 o’clock.  One part of the mob headed for the store of Mr. Thomas P. Barnes, Jr., No. 28 Dock square, and in less time than it takes to write this they pulled down the shutters on both door and window smashed the window out and entered en masse.  The work of pillage at once commenced.  A show case filled with knives and the most costly cutlery was broken into ten thousand pieces, and its contents appropriated without delay.  Packages of fine cutlery on the shelves by the dozen were taken and carried away.  In the case where many pistols, and they of course were what the rioters especially wanted.  At the back of the store was a rack filled with guns and muskets of various descriptions. Nearly all of these were taken — not more than a dozen being left.  Many of the pillagers were mere boys.  After they left the store presented a most desolate appearance.  Mr. Barnes could not closely estimate his loss last night, but thinks it will not be less than $3500 or $4000.  Luckily the rioters did not get at the powder magazine, which escaped their notice.

A woman whose name was not ascertained, received a shot in her throat, and was carried away on a litter.  She was supposed to be fatally injured.

Mr. Wm. Locke, provision dealer, 127 Salem street, received a ball which passed through his thigh without injuring the bone, but inflicting a wound which, in the opinion of Dr. Hall, who attended him, will confine him to his house for several days.  Mr. Locke took the matter quite coolly, remarking, “Well, it served me right, I’d no business to have been there.”  Sensible to the last, and “pity ’tis” that others had not the same forethought and govern themselves by it.  It’s an old and true maxim — “If you don’t put your fingers into the fire, you won’t get burnt.”

A young woman named Henniman, residing on Cross street, was seriously wounded by a bullet and shot, evidently discharged from among the mob.  She was attended by Dr. Moore, who probed the wound inflicted by the ball, which took effect under her chin, and passing upward, followed the jaw until it was lost.  Several shot, some of which were found and extracted by Dr. Moore, lodged in her breast.

Another young woman, whose name was not ascertained, was severely wounded by a bullet striking her in the shoulder. She was attended by Dr. Moore.

Three or four boys (whose parents should have kept them at home), were wounded by shots from those whose duty called them to preserve the public peace.  One little fellow is likely to lose one of his thumbs, and the others have probably learned a good lesson.  The boys were attended by Drs. Hall and Moore.

The Independent Cadets, Col. Holmes, were summoned to their armory last evening and marched to the State House about half past eight o’clock, where they remained all night.  They are armed with the Spencer repeating rifle, and will do good execution if called into service.

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The Conscript Camp At Long Island

Drafted men were assembled in a camp for conscripts established at Long Island in Boston Harbor.  It was from here that the surly recruits assigned to the 13th Mass, left Boston for Virginia.

Long Island, Boston Harbor.  Wikimedia Commons, Lic [CC0] attributed to Doc Searles, 2008;

The drafted men were a rowdy bunch, and many tried to escape before reaching the conscript camp, or after they got there.

On August 9th, 1863, the drafted men assigned to the “13th Mass” departed Boston on the steamship DeMolay and began their journey to Rappahannock Station, Virginia.

STEAMER WINNIPEG by Erik Heyl

Notes on a Transport Ship

The DE MOLAY was a new vessel when it brought the 'recruits' from Boston, MA to Alexandria, VA, in August 1862.  Harrison Loring, a prosperous Boston ship builder, owned the 1,295 ton steamer De Molay, built in Medford, Massachusetts.   Its first commissioned voyage for the U.S. Quartermaster Department, was to transport the newly minted 54th Mass. Vols., a colored regiment, to South Carolina in May, 1863, for which its owner received $700 per day.  From June 24, through November 1, the Quartermaster department chartered the vessel at a cost of $640 per day.  The price went down to $575 after that.  In May, 1865, the U.S. Quartermaster Dept. bought the steamer from Loring for $200,000.  They sold it to Benner, Brown & Company in August, for $85,000.  That  company renamed it CORTES or CORTEZ after refitting it for passenger service.  The ship was reported lost in 1883; cause not given.   Pictured here, is a similar vessel, the 1,030 ton steel hulled steamer WINNIPEG, built by the same company in 1864.  Both ships were side-wheel steamers, but DE MOLAY had a wooden hull.  The navy kept the WINNIPEG until 1869, when it was sold, refitted for passenger service, and renamed SOUTH CAROLINA.  The ship went through a few transformations before it was scrapped in January 1891.

Artist Erik Heyl made careful studies of American Steamers and documented them with his watercolors in Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States, 1807-1868.  The DE MOLAY and CORTES were not represented.

NOTES:  Erik Heyl's notes on the DEMOLAY are from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, Center for Archival Collections:  Erik Heyl Papers.  This image of Heyl's watercolor of the WINNIPEG is from the website Navy Source Online, Photographic History of the U.S. Navy. http://navsource.org/

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THE CONSCRIPTS

On July 26, 1863, via 1st Corps Special Order #16, Major  Jacob Parker Gould, and others, left the regiment for Boston, to take charge of the allotment of conscripts assigned to the 13th Massachusetts.  Major Gould would remain on special duty, at the conscript camp in Long Island, into September, when he was selected by Governor Andrew to comand one of the new veteran regiments then organizing.  A newspaper account mentions Lieut. James Gibson, Company G, by name, as another member of the party at Long Island.

The following interesting report is found in:  SUPLEMENT to the OFFICIAL RECORDS of the UNION and CONFEDERATE ARMIES.*  It is an interesting account of the transfer of the conscripts at Alexandria, from Major Gould's charge, to Lt.-Col. Batchelder, commanding the 13th.  The two men were not fond of each other.  Considering the follwing report it might be amusing to speculate on the dialogue exchanged between the two commanders during the transfer of the 'reckless' conscripts

*NOTE:  Edited by Janet B. Hewett, Noah Andre Trudeau, Bryce A. Suderow.  Part 1 Reports, Vol. 2, Serial No. 2.  Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC 1994.

The following is from “Three Years in the Army, The story of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Volunteers from July 16, 1861 to August 1, 1864.” by Charles E. Davis Jr.,  Boston: Estes & Lauriat, 1894.

Friday August 14.  We were still at Rappahannock Station, with eleven months of service ahead of us.

One hundred and eighty-six recruits arrived in camp to-day.  Heretofore the men who came to us reflected credit on themselves, the regiment, and the State. This lot consisted of substitures, bounty-jumpers, and one unfortunate conscript.  Most of this number were thieves and roughs who were engaged in the draft riots, and were obliged to leave New York and Boston in self-defence.  They were assigned as follows:

 Strong men, particularly soldiers, are not easily moved to tears, yet the cheeks of a good many men were wet as they gazed on these ruffians drawn up in line for assignment to companies.  The pride which we felt in the membership of the Thirteenth turned to bitterness at the sight of these fellows.

As the roll was called we speculated as to which company they might be assigned, though there was little choice.  More than half of them were under assumed names, and it frequently happened at subsequent roll-calls that some of them were unable to remember the names under which they enlisted.  Among the nationalities represented there were Frenchmen, Italians, Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese, Costa Ricans, Greeks, Maltese, and Canadians;  a deserter from the “Louisian Tigers,” one from a Georgia regiment, and one from an Alabama regiment.  The Louisiana Tiger had previously enlisted in Boston, was discharged, reenlisted in the Rhode Island Cavalry, next in the Fifty-first Massachusetts, and was now in the Thirteenth as a substitute.  His subsequent enlistments we are not informed about.  Two of the number had previously served in the Thirteenth, from which they had been discharged, and having reĕnlisted as substitutes were unexpectedly assigned to their old regiment.

In the last batch that were told off there were six whom it was deemed unsafe to keep together, and they were separated by placing them in different companies.  Three of the number assigned to Company K disappeared at once.  During the first night after their arrival forty deserted.

Of the one hundred and eighty-six, one hundred and fifteen deserted.

Of those remaining, six were discharged for disability, twenty-six were transferred to the navy, and one was killed in battle.

Saturday, August 15.  A number of the men taken prisoners at Gettysburg, and subsequently paroled, returned to the regiment today, their parole having been declared null and void by government agents, and they consequently resumed their duties in the regiment.

We remained in camp at Rappahannock Station until September 16, attending to the usual camp duties, such as drilling, inspections, picket, etc.

During our stay here the temperature changed so markedly as to require overcoats at night, while many complained of sleeping uncomfortably under their blanket.  Orders were received to raise the beds one foot from the ground, while the “Surgeon’s call” presented a daily symposium of sick men.  The spot where we were encamped was very unhealthy.

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“New Men”

Sergeant Austin Stearns devoted an entire chapter to the conscripts in his memoirs.  Stories about them continued to appear throughout his narrative from this point forward.

From “Three Years With Company K”  by Sergeant Austin C. Stearns [deceased] Edited by Arthur Kent.

We moved up the river a short distance and pitched a regular camp.  The weather was exceedingly warm and during the day we did nothing but lay around in the shade until we received our first installment of substitutes.  I wish I could pass over in silence these men; yes, they were men in form but possessed but few of the traits that govern men.  To think that men and town of the loyal north should send down such to be companions and associates of in many instances their sons and brothers and then say the army was corrupting the morals of the young men.  Life in the army was very different from life at home.  In the one place we could choose our companions and those we wished to associate with, but in the army how different.  Here we were of necessity thrown together; there was no choseing. When we took our place in the ranks perhaps it was between two of those desperate characters.  We also had to draw rations with each other, and although we need not lay under the same blanket, yet we could not lay very far apart, and is it a thing to be wondered at that the boys should to a certain extent inhale into their system some of this poisonous element when the atmosphere all around was filled with it.  And to-day as I look upon the good citizens who were soldiers and went through that trying ordeal, I say they are men who have been tried as few have been and are worth the best wishes if nothing more of the community in which they live.

How well I remember that morning of getting up and going with Warner out to the vacant space between our tents and headquarters to see the subs who had come in, in the night, and how sadly we went back after looking at them, for of all the worst specimens of humanity, here they were.  I don't know as there were any outright murderers, still there were those who had been engaged in riots in New York and had hung Negros to lamp posts, but all other classes of vilians were represented, picked up from the slums of the cities.  There was almost all nationalities, from the cockney of “Old Hingland” to the “Creole of Cuba.”  There was two hundred of them when they started from Boston to join us, but about a dozen had been shot or drowned on the voyage out in trying to escape.  After breakfast we went up to hear the roll call and see them as they answered their names.  Many had forgotten the name they gave when they enlisted, and others would try to make them believe that was their name when one was called and there was no answer.

There was less than a hundred men in our regiment and the prospect of having this crowd turned loose upon us was not pleaseing.  They were divided into clans, or clicks, and they would steal, fight, and do almost everything to each other clan; a great many had their pants slit open either up or across in the vicinity where a man is supposed to have his pocket book.  Our regiment was excused from all other duty but to look after the subs, eighteen [of whom] were assigned to K Company.  Their conversation was foul, with almost every other word an oath.  Gambling was a favorite amusement with them; some would gamble all day, and then all night.

They were a little afraid of the old boys, and if we did not leave our things lying too loosely around, they did not trouble them.  There was an old Portuguese amongst them and one day he got fearfully mad with one of the subs, and slipping his long sheath knife up his sleeve and shaking all over with rage, he cried in his broken English,  “Go with me to the bush; go with me to the bush,” but the sub[s], who were not all brave men, did not dare to go, and the matter was dropped for the time being, perhaps to be taken up at some other time.

Gambling was now a common thing.  I remember of lying in my tent one day with the end open and Co G’s tents now pitched along side, so I could lay in my tent and look directly into theirs.  Soon three men came, one appeared to be pretty drunk and the others were helping him.  The drunken man belonged there, but the other two belonged to the 12th Mass.  From their conversation I learned that they had been gambling and that the 13th man had won a good share of their money, and they were waiting for him to get sober enough so they could play a few more games and give them a chance to win back some of their money, but the longer they waited the drunker he grew, till at last it was with the greatest difficulty they could make him speak.  Finding all their labors in vain with him, and with a promise to see him the next day, they left.  The sleeper, after they had been gone a few moments, jumped up as sober as I was, and turning to me with a hearty laugh said, “I wonder how much they made this time.”  He said he had been out playing with them and having won all their money had lent them five dollars apiece and had won that, [then] concluded not to play any more and took this way to get rid of them.

The guard house was immediately filled by the most desperate.  Some were ironed together and orders were to shoot any that should attempt to escape. We tried to drill them and make soldiers of them, but it was a rather difficult task.  I took about half of the subs of K Company down before a board of surgeons to have them examined, [and] they pronounced them old, diseased men and unfit for the service.  I was in and saw the examination and I never saw such men before.

They did not stay a great while with us, but deserted as fast as opportunity offered.  Those of our command who had been taken prisoners at Gettysburg and paroled there now rejoined us. The government not recognizing their parole, they had been at York, Pa. having a good time.  Heath, the recruit that fell out on our march to Thoroughfare Gap over a year ago, was now sent to us as a deserter and was confined in the guard house.

The last of September we moved over the river down towards the Rapidan.  Guns were given the Subs and they were put to doing duty;  when on the march if they got tired they would throw them away and at night go to the camp of some other regiment and steal them some.  Haversacks were continually lost in the night and great precaution was taken to keep them.  I used to pull off my boots and place them under my head for pillow, with the strap of my haversack and canteen around my neck.

The 16th Maine was a great sufferer in this respect, so much so that complaint was made and the Subs were searched  and questioned to find if they possessed anything that did not belong to them.  Nothing was found, but orders were issued to arrest all found outside their camp.  This order applied more especially to the subs.  After marching and halting, we found ourselves down again by the Rapidan.

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“A Personal Experience”

The first part of this reminiscence, has already been posted on the Gettysburg pages of this website.  But after Melvin Walker tells of his wounding and hospital time, he turns to the subject of  “13th Mass” recruit John Parra.  Parra was distinct from the rest of the conscripts and his fascinating story deserved the special attention Walker gives it.  Rather than skip the part already published, I post it in its entirety here.  I've added some supplemental research on Parra's story in the section that follows Walker's article.

From 13th Regiment Association Circular #24, December, 1911.

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.       
BY MELVIN H. WALKER.

On the evening of June 30^th [1863] the 1st Corps of the Army of the Potomac bivouacked on Marsh Creek near the Pennsylvania line.  Early the next morning we marched up the Emmitsburg pike, reaching the Lutheran Seminary before noon, and found the battle already on and our 1^st Division hotly engaged.

Just as we arrived we met the body of our beloved commander, General Reynolds, being borne to the rear. [Major-General John Fulton Reynolds, Commanding 1st Corps, KIA July 1, 1863].

In his leadership the battle had opened with brilliant success and his action had determined that the great decisive contest of the war should be fought around the quiet town of Gettysburg.

Of all the general officers under whom we served no one was held in so high esteem and so warm affection.

Our division, Robinson's, [Brig-Gen. John C. Robinson] was soon put into the fight, our regiment holding the extreme right of the corps.

About eight thousand men of the 1st Corps, reinforced later by six thousand of the 11th, contended through the long summer afternoon with more than half of  Lee's Veteran Army in the effort to hold the enemy in check until the remaining Union Corps should arrive.

No more desperate fighting occurred during the war, and the losses on the Union side, in proportion to the numbers engaged, were never equaled.

The Confederate General, Imboden, says there was great curiosity felt whether the Federals would still fight, after the disastrous defeats of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and, in answer to the question how did the Yanks fight, was told they fought like hell.

General Alexander Longstreet's chief of artillery also says:  “I have heard survivors of the war say that some of the Federal fighting that day equaled or surpassed any they ever saw from first to last.”

My position in the ranks was on the right of my Company K, which was on the left of the regiment.  Of the first eight men four were mortally and three severely wounded.  I was so fortunate as to be carried off the field by two comrades of the Twelfth Massachusetts, which regiment had just been relieved and was moving to the rear.

Wounded men in streams from all parts of the line were making their way to the town, beside many officers and others carried by comrades.

The fields were swept by the fire of the enemy from the ridges above, and many were struck down.

I was taken to a large church on Carlisle [Chambersburg] street, where our division hospital had been established on the ground floor.  The large vestry was fast filling and before night was packed with men covering the floor.  An operating table was placed in an anteroom opening off the main hall and here our surgeons worked with knife and saw without rest or sleep, almost without food, for thirty-six hours before the first round had been made.

About five o'clock the town was occupied by the enemy, the sentry was shot down.  A chaplain of a Pennsylvania regiment was killed on the steps leading to the room above, and one of our own surgeons was wounded.  A Confederate guard was placed over the hospital, but otherwise we were left to ourselves.

After the surgeons' work was done we had no care save such as the few less seriously wounded comrades could give.  The weather was very hot; we were wholly without food;  the floor was drenched with blood and water and men were dying on every side.  The First night twenty-three dead were carried from our room and laid beside the church awaiting burial.  While the suffering from inflamed wounds and burning fever was intense there was no loud outcry, only sighs and groans and calls for water.

Here for three nights and days we watched and waited, listening with almost breathless interest to the tumult of the fighting of the second and third days.  We heard the crash of guns, the long roll of musketry, the cheers and yells of the opposing lines as they swayed back and forth through the changing fortunes of the day.  Frequently Confederate stragglers dropped in to jibe and boast of certain victory on the morrow and the speedy success of the southern cause.

Finally, when Picketts' famous charge ended in dire disaster, we heard the resounding cheers of our gallant comrades and we joined the swelling chorus with all our hearts.

General Ewell had his headquarters across the street and from the going and coming of aids and orderlies far into the night we were sure the enemy's lines were being withdrawn and that after suffering overwhelming losses in the three days' fighting Lee was about to retreat.

Early next morning hearing scattering shots nearby I got into the seat of a window opening on the street.  Soon a squad of the enemy's skirmishers ran past the church stopping to fire and then hurrying on.  A moment later I saw a few of our boys in hot pursuit firing as they ran, and close behind a regiment in column of fours bearing aloft the flag we loved.  Turning to my wounded comrades I shouted,  “Boys, here they come, here is the old flag.”

Hunger and distress and even the agonies of death were forgotten and with tears of joy and shouts of rejoicing we cheered the dear old flag, emblem of all we held most dear, some indeed with dying breath.

So was ushered in that glorious morning anniversary of our nation's birth and assurance of a purified and reunited people to be indeed a beacon light of liberty to the downtrodden and oppressed of every land.

After a few days I was, with hundreds of others, transferred to York, Pa., where a large hospital had been opened.  After some eleven weeks spent here and at another hospital in Baltimore, my wound healed and I was permitted to return to my regiment, then in Virginia.  I found the old regiment in camp near Rappahannock Station. The numbers had been greatly reduced by losses at Gettysburg and elsewhere.

The day before my return one hundred and eighty-six recruits had arrived, consisting of substitutes and bounty jumpers representing ten different nationalities, besides three Confederate deserters and two former members of the regiment who had re-enlisted.  The great majority were thieves and cut-throats who had looted, burned and murdered during the draft riots in New York, and to escape arrest had fled the city, gone to Boston, enlisted as substitutes and been assigned to the Thirteenth Massachusetts Volunteers.  As I reached the camp I found the regiment in line for dress parade.  These new men had been distributed among the companies, my Company K receiving eighteen.

A more villainous lot I have never seen.  As I looked down the line I thought there must be some mistake, this could not be the old Thirteenth I had known and loved.

All through the weeks of my absence I had been homesick for my regiment, like a young boy away from home, and now it was as though the boy on his return had found the family gone and the old home occupied by tramps and hoboes.  For the first and only time my pride in the regiment turned to shame and disgust.  It was heart breaking indeed.

The first night forty deserted and altogether one hundred and fifteen were missing before spring, and we counted it fortunate for us and our cause.  Only the most severe military discipline kept them in order while they remained.

John Parra

One of these was a notable exception, a Cuban, John Parra by name, doubtless an assumed name, then thirty-two years of age, who within a few days of his arrival fancied I had befriended him in some way, and whom I came to know quite intimately.  Not long after he told me the story of his life.  His family was one of the most aristocratic and wealthy in Cuba, his father holding an important position under the Spanish government.  He had been sent abroad and educated in a German university, was a fine linguist, an astronomer of no mean ability, and a man of culture and learning.

Soon after his return home he became identified with a band of revolutionists who sought to throw off the galling yoke of Spain and make Cuba free.  He was then about twenty years of age.  About 1850 Lopez, a Venezuelan, with a small force made a landing on the island and was joined by the Cuban band.  After a brief time Lopez was overwhelmed by a large force of Spanish troops and he and his followers were taken prisoners and promptly garrotted.

John Parra, because of the loyalty of his father and the lavish use of his wealth, had his death sentence commuted to imprisonment for life, and he, with several other Cubans, was transported to Ceuta, a Spanish fortress opposite Gibraltar.  He suffered a most rigorous imprisonment for many months.  Finally he, with four others, escaped from the fortress and, hiding till night, determined to cross the Straits, here several miles wide, and reach British soil.

NASA/JPL/NIMA graphic image of the Strait of Gibraltar.  Gibraltar is on the left, Ceuta, Spain, is the tip of the peninsula on the right.  Topography is digitally enhanced by a factor of 3.  The Strait is  8.9 miles wide at its narrowest point.

On the way over three of the five becoming benumbed and exhausted went down to their death.  Parra and one other swam on through the night, until utterly spent;  they, too, went down and found they had reached shallow water and waded ashore, and, utterly exhausted, lay until daylight, when they found shelter and friends.

Soon after Parra came to the United States, settled in Memphis, engaged in business, married and lived until some time in 1862 when he was forced into the Confederate service.

His sympathies were wholly with the North and at the first opportunity he came into the Union lines, was sent North, enlisted and came to us.

One night I said to him:  “This is not your country and this is not your fight, why did you enlist?”  His reply was:  “I love liberty.  I thought I should never have a better chance to fight for liberty than here.”

Benjamin Franklin said:  “Where liberty dwells there is my country.”  So felt John Parra.

He remained with us until April, 1864, and then, because he had been in the Confederate service and it was feared he might be taken prisoner and executed, he was transferred to the Division of the Northwest at the time of the Sioux War in Minnesota.  While he was with us he was a credit to the regiment and faithful to every duty.

There is little doubt that after his term of service expired he found his way back to Cuba and took a patriot's part in the ten years' struggle to free his beloved island from the bitter oppression of Spain.

In all probability he did not live to see the final triumph of the cause he loved achieved as it was by the help of the United States in whose army he had served in the time of its utmost deed.

*NOTES:  Narciso Lopez was executed.  Several of his band were shot.  The Spanish Prison John Parra went to was Ceuta, not Centa which was printed in Walker's article.  See “The Lopez Expeditions" below.

The Lopez Expeditions

John Parra's story as told by Melvin Walker checks out well against facts, as this brief examination will show.  Information for the following is chiefly derived from Mr. Andrew Chenault Quisenberry's detailed, 1906 publication mentioned in the text.

Filibusters planned military expeditions to foreign countries with hopes of usurping power and creating a new government, with themselves as president.  It was not so uncommon in the 19th Century.  Narciso Lopez, a committed anti-Spanish revolutionary organized 3 such expeditions to Cuba between 1849 - 1851.  He was forced to flee Cuba in 1848, when the oppressive Spanish Government cracked down on agitators.  The first venture in 1849 was financed in New York, among other Cuban ex-patriots and pro-American Expansion movers and shakers.   It was ready to set sail from Mississippi in the late summer of 1849, with 3 chartered ships and about 600 adventurers, when President Zachary Taylor shut it down.  Taylor, not wanting to be associated with this kind of expansionism put an end to the shenanigans and ordered the U.S. Navy to blockade Lopez’s ships and disband the roughnecks.¹

Subsequently Lopez looked to Southerners to finance a new expedition.  He discretely re-located to New Orleans, by way of the Ohio and  Mississippi Rivers, recruiting in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana, along the way, and enticed influential men with dreams of Southern expansion.  The South was looking for ways to expand its territory beyond indigenous borders, and Lopez’s plans to remove Spain from Cuba proved attractive to some.

The second Lopez expedition, called the “Cardenas Expedition,” set sail and secretly landed in Cuba in May, 1850, but Lopez’s forces failed to garner support from the local population after landing in Cuba, and his adventurers after some initial success were forced to flee the Island, pursued by a large force of Spanish military that gleaned what was happening.  Several prominent Kentuckians, veterans of the War with Mexico, were along for the adventure.  The troubled revolutionaries planned to renew efforts from Mantua, but their vessel ran aground on a coral reef and forced them to lighten their load to ascape capture.  The load was lightened by disposing of their arms.  The idea of continuing the revolution was now out of the question.   The party landed at Key West, with a Spanish gun boat hot on their heels.  Barely escaping capture the crew quickly disbanded and fled into town, so as not to cause an international incident.   A Federal Grand Jury indicted Lopez and his leaders for violation of the Neutrality act, and he was arrested in Savannah, but without forthcoming evidence he was acquitted.   But the limited success at Cardenas encouraged Lopez, whom it seems, was not easily discouraged, to organize a third expedition to liberate Cuba from the Spanish.

 This large expedition left again for Cuba in August, 1851.  Six companies of infantry, three companies of artillery, a nominal regiment of Cubans, nine Germans, nine Hungarians* and an independent company of 49 Cubans. were along for the fight.   Lopez was led to believe by important contacts that an enthusiastic Cuban population would support his efforts with horses and stores as soon as he landed,  but the exact opposite proved true and the natives were hostile.  In short, the adventure again failed with many of the captured raiders including Narciso Lopez, meeting a cruel and unseemly death at the hands of Spanish authorities.  This put an end to Lopez’s attempts to drive the Spanish from Cuba.

Filibustering continued for a while, the most famous case being that of William Walker who in 1856-57 briefly usurped the government in Nicaragua and established himself as its president.  A coalition of Central American armies  rose up and deposed him and he was executed in Honduras.   American Filibustering lost its allure after that.

In 1906, a Kentuckian, Mr. Anderson Chenault Quisenberry published a booklet titled, “Narcisco Lopez Expedition to Cuba.”  It contained several period newspaper accounts of the third expedition and printed the names of nearly all of the participants, and many interesting details from the raid.  Several Cubans are listed but the name John Parra is not found among them.

  Melvin Walker said it was likely a pseudonym.  Parra escaped to Gibraltar, according to the story.  The adventurers with Lopez who were not immediately executed, were sentenced to hard labor at the Spanish penal colony at Ceuta, located at the tip of the African continent, across from Gibraltar.  Again, Parra’s story holds up.  More research into Parra’s true identity is required to verify his biography as given by Mr. Walker.  Nonetheless, Parra's remarkable story, as given here by Melvin Walker, is credible and worthy of further investigation.

Galvanized Yankees

Former Confederate soldiers who later joined the National forces were sent west to fight Indians for the reasons Walker stated.  The first regiment composed of 1,000 Confederate Prisoners willing to change sides, was organized at Point Lookout, Virginia,  March 28, 1864, and designated 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry.  A trial run of these new soldiers in North Carolina worked out well, but General Grant did not like the idea of former Rebels fighting in the Union army.  He ordered them west to fight Indians, with the reasoning that  if re-captured by the Confederates, these men risked execution for desertion.  Those sent West were called, “enlisted prisoners,”  “former rebels,”  and later, “galvanized yankees.”   Author Dee Brown, wrote a book about them with the later title, in 1963.  This information is derived from a 1963 Civil War Times article by the same author.

A Fascinating Footnote

An interesting side note to this narrative is the story of one of the Lopez adventurers tentatively identified as “David Q. Rousseau.”   Sentenced to be shot with 50 others of his captured comrades, Rousseau miraculously escaped that unfortunate fate.  The 51 prisoners were told they were to be shot, but they could write farewell letters to their friends.  Not having any close friends to write to, but knowing the Spanish captors would read the letters, Rousseau penned a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster, pretending to be his good friend.  As a result, his life was spared when the others were shot.  When the ruse was discovered, the Lopez raid was old news, so Rousseau was sent to Ceuta instead of being executed.  His name does appear on the list of prisoners sent to the mines and later pardoned, due to the efforts of U.S. President Fillmore.  David Rousseau fought in the Civil War as a Lieutenant in the 5th Kentucky Infantry, and later in the Fifth U.S. Infantry.

NOTES:   I don’t like to rely solely on Wikipedia where this information is derived, but the source given for this statement is:

1. Bauer, K. Jack (1993-08-01). Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest. LSU Press. p. 279.  Retrieved 16 January 2013.;  &,  de la Cova, Antonio Rafael (2000). "The Taylor Administration Versus Mississippi Sovereignty: The Round Island Expedition of 1849". The Journal of Mississippi History. LXII (4):  295–327.

  *  Several Hundred more had been raised in NY but authorities prevented them sailing to the rendezvous at New orleans; — Quisenberry.

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Lieutenant Rollins: Drilling the Recruits

The following article found in the pages of Bivouac, is no doubt authored by Lieutenant Edward Rollins of the “13th Mass.”  Rollin's diary was one of the primary sources Charles Davis used to write the regimental history, and late in the volume he quotes a few substantial passages from it.  Edward Fay Rollins was one of the publishers of Bivouac Magazine, so perhaps modesty prevented him from signing his name to the article, although most of the articles are written anonymously.

From Bivouac Volume 2, 1884, p. 234.

DRILLING THE RECRUITS

In the summer of 1863, and after the battle of Gettysburg, my regiment, being much depleted in numbers, received from the State of Massachusetts, where we hailed from, over two hundred recruits.  These recruits were of every nationality.  Many of them were substitutes for men who had been drafted and who paid money enough to buy men to take the risks of warfare, and for no other reason would they do it save for the money they thus received.  Some of them had seen service already in our war, on one side or the other, numbers of them in Europe, and were well drilled.  One German, I afterwards learned, had been a major of a Western cavalry regiment and was cashiered for intemperate habits.  Soon after their arrival I was detailed to drill them.  For some reason those who were proficient in military tactics endeavored to “play off” that they knew nothing of what they were required to do.  It must have been a poor drill-officer indeed who could not detect the really green ones from the counterfeit.

One pleasant morning, at 10 o’clock, I took the lot out for company drill, though in number there were more than were required for a regulation company.  After putting them through the manual of arms and facings for a while I started them off on company movements.   I noticed one man in the ranks particularly who failed to “cover in file.”  I halted them, and going along in front spoke to him personally, asking him if he understood what the order meant “to cover in file.”  He replied that “he reckoned it was to go behind the man before him;” – a concise manner of explaining the order, I thought.  I observed, as I again started them, nods and winks from those near him in the ranks, encouraging him to disobey the order for their amusement and to test my capacity as an officer in controlling them.  I gave them several movements, watching the man particularly.  I soon found that he persistently continued to march out of his proper place, though I repeated the order several times to “be careful and cover in file.”  I halted the column, and going to the right, counted the files from right to left till I came to him, telling him that he was in the seventh file, front.  I took my place and gave the order, “front rank man seventh file, left face, right shoulder shift arms,” which he obeyed.  Then, “forward, double-quick, march.”

He knew the meaning of the order well enough, and started on the double-quick, going directly away from the company, whom I brought to the front and an order arms, so that they became easy spectators of his movements.  Before he got beyond the sound of my voice I gave him a “file left.”  He turned a good military corner, and was now on the double-quick parallel to our front, fifteen or twenty rods away.  When he got opposite the left of the column I gave him another “file left,” and as he approached the line another “file left,” which took him along and near the front of the company.  As he passed where I was standing, he did not seem to be much jaded by his double-quick movements, and I thought to fully enforce discipline it was necessary for him to continue.  On his reaching the right of the company I gave the order again “file left.”  This was the climax; as the others in the company saw at once that he was to go around the square again.  I could hear them making jocose remarks in an undertone of the style of his performing double-quick, like this:  “Shut your mouth and breathe through your nose, my boy, and you will hold out longer:”  “You’re good for a charge,” and many similar ones familiar to old soldiers regarding the double-quick movement.

We were directly in front of the camp, a little way off, and the unusual sight of one man drilling and the rest looking on to see him called out all the regiment from their tents, and they became interested spectators.

My man looked to me as though his pace was beginning to slacken, and he probably began to realize what this violent exercise was for, and that he was the laughing stock of the camp and company.  I “filed him left”  completely around the square till he came opposite his place in the ranks, when I gave the order, “file right to your place in the ranks,” and then, without stopping, gave the order, “company, shoulder arms, right face, forward, march,” and the company drill continued.

A shout of approval and a clapping of hands was heard from the camp.  Indeed, my conscience smote me a little for my vigorous discipline of the man, as the perspiration was steaming from his face, by my point was  gained ;  he “covered in file,” equal to the best drilled old soldier, after that, and in the lesson he learned, the others who were disposed to be disobedient partook.  I continued to drill them each day till marching orders came, having no further trouble.

This man afterwards, during the hard fighting of Grant’s campaign, became quite an admirer of mine.  Whenever I was detailed in charge of skirmishers he would volunteer to go with me, and did good service until the expiration of the regiment’s time, when he was turned over to another regiment to complete his term of enlistment.

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Addendum - Roster of Conscripts

The data from the roster of conscripts in the Massachusetts Adjutant General's Report differs somewhat from Charles E. Davis, jr.’s narrative in the 13th Massachusetts regimental history, “Three Years in the Army.”  Davis reported 186 conscripts arrived in camp on August 14, 1863.  Comparing names of conscripts listed in Davis’s roster, with the tally reported in the Massachusetts Adjutant General’s report, I arrived at a total of 195. There is however, plenty of room for error, — especially duplicate entries.  Davis did report that many of these men had forgotten the names they had used to enlist.  Consider the multiple entries for, “Thomas Sullivan,”  “John Smith,”, and “John Wilson,” in the tally below.

Accordingly, the number of conscripts distributed to the different companies of the regiment, varies between the two reports.  I don’t know how Davis arrived at his totals, but in trying to reconcile the two reports I present the following tables.  One thing is clear, the number of conscripts that deserted was exceedingly high.

Methodology

The following list is compiled from Charles Davis, Jr.'s roster included in his regimental history, “Three Years in the Army,” Boston; Estes & Lauriat, 1894.  The text was accesed digitally from Mr. Art Rideout's website, [www.angelfire.com/ca5/4xmas/army.html] and cross-checked with the actual book.  This roster is supplemented with notes and additional information from the 1865 Massachusetts Adjutant General's Report.  Only recruits from late July to early August, 1863, are included on this list.

Data between the two lists varies.  The Adjutant General report includes:  Name & Rank, Age, Bounty,  Residence or  Place credited to, Date of Muster & Company, and Termination of Service and cause thereof.

Davis's Regimental History Roster includes:  Name and Rank, Age, Place of Birth, Occupation,  Date of Muster and Company, & Termination of Service and cause thereof.

Where the data matched between the two reports, I only record it once.  When information differs, I included the differences.

Abreviations:  A.G. = Massachusetts Adjutant General's Report; V.R.C. = Veteran Reserve Corps.

Deserters names are given in red.

COMPANY A

COMPANY B

COMPANY C

COMPANY D

COMPANY E

COMPANY F

COMPANY G

COMPANY H

COMPANY I

COMPANY K

A special case, is Walter S. C. Heath, age 33, of Worcester.  He joined the regiment as a recruit August 2nd, 1862. Sometime before the battle of 2nd Bull Run, he disappeared.  He was returned to the regiment as a deserter, under arrest, with the conscripts, in August, 1863.   He then resumed his service in Company K.  The record states he was mustered out January 4, 1864 to re-enlist for which he received $325.00 bounty money.  And then he deserted April 10, 1864, and probably went to Canada.  His numerous antics while with Company K, are humorously described in Austin Stearns' memoirs.

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© Bradley M. Forbush, 2017

Page Updated January 4, 2018.