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THE
Old Sixth Regiment,
ITS
WAR RECORD, 1861-5,
BY
CHARLES K. CADWELL,
_Late Sergeant of Co. F_.
NEW HAVEN, CONN., 1875.
NEW HAVEN:
TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, PRINTERS.
1875.
TO
THE LOYAL WOMEN,
WHOSE
HUSBANDS, BROTHERS AND FRIENDS
CAST THEIR LOT WITH THE OLD SIXTH
IN
_DEFENCE OF THE FLAG_,
THIS MEMORIAL OF PATRIOTIC SERVICE IS RESPECTFULLY
INSCRIBED
By the Author.
INTRODUCTORY.
The object of this work is to give a true and impartial record of the
old Sixth Regiment during the war. The author collected the facts from
a private diary kept by himself while in the service. Less has been
known of the Sixth by our citizens than most of the other regiments;
perhaps this is due partly to the fact that when we arrived in
Washington Colonel Chatfield instructed officers and men that it was
unmilitary to write letters for the press; he desired that the War
Record should know the record of the Sixth, and not the newspapers
only. Its history is less full on this account; yet none can say that
the record of the Sixth is sullied. In many trying places the regiment
proved itself honorably and gained confidence from its corps and
department commanders.
There may be errors in this work, and if any are inclined to censure,
I trust they will remember that very few histories are without them;
yet they are errors of the head and not of the heart. If what is here
written meets the approval of the old members and the intelligent
readers in general, I shall feel that my labors have been amply
rewarded.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
In camp at New Haven.--Fall in for rations.--Uncle Sam’s “Tanyards.”--
Squad drills.--An old man’s blessing.
CHAPTER II.
Off for the conflict.--Reception at Philadelphia.--Through Baltimore
at night.--Cattle cars to Washington.--“Soldiers’ Retreat” in
Washington.--Fat pork and muddy coffee.--Visit the Capitol.--Camp at
Meridian Hill.--At Annapolis, Md.--Embark on an Expedition.--Terrible
storm at sea.--Incidents, &c.
CHAPTER III.
In Port Royal harbor.--The ball opens.--First naval engagement of the
war.--Forts Walker and Beauregard.--Union fleet bombard the rebels.--
Complete rout of the enemy.--Triumphant victory for the Union.--Great
enthusiasm.--Connecticut lands the first troops.--Terrible scenes on
land.--Rebel pigs and chickens.--Uncle Sam’s rations at a discount.--
Warsaw Sound, Ga.--“Greybacks accumulate.”--“Sketch for special
artist.”--Spotted fever.--Deaths daily.--The old Sixth unfit for
duty.--Ordered to Hilton Head.--Dawfuski Island Camp.--Jones Island on
Savannah river.--Fort Vulcan built of mud.--Yankee ingenuity and
cunning displayed.--High tides, &c.
CHAPTER IV.
Capture of Fort Pulaski.--Heavy bombardment.--Back to Dawfuski
Island.--North Edisto Island blackberries help Uncle Sam’s pork to
digest.--Across John’s Island.--Col. Chatfield’s speech, victory or
death.--Tedious rain.--Guerillas cut off our supplies.--Three days
without food.--50 cents for a “hard tack.”--Arrive at Legareville on
the Stono river.--Cook rations.--Across the river to James Island.--
Tom Grimball’s Plantation.--Rebel advance.--Battle of Secessionville.--
Evacuation of James Island.--Go to Beaufort.--Band of the Sixth
mustered out.--Expedition to Mackay’s point.--Battle of Pocotaligo.--
Col. Chatfield and Lieut. Col. Speidel wounded.--Whole command return
to Hilton Head.--The Sixth at Beaufort.--Death of our department
commander Maj. Gen. Mitchell.
CHAPTER V.
Off for Florida.--Land at Jacksonville.--Occupy houses instead of
tents.--Skirmish with the enemy.--Streets barricaded to prevent
incursions of the rebel cavalry.--Sermon by Rev. Mr. French.--
Evacuation of Jacksonville by Union troops.--Town fired by the 8th
Maine and a colored regiment.--Back to Beaufort.--Thirty-five hours in
the town.--Embark again--a fizzle.--Back to Hilton Head.--Off again;
land at Folly Island.--Battery building at night.--Speak in whispers.--
Up Folly river.--Capture of the southern portion of Morris Island.--
Brilliant charge of the Sixth.--Capture a rebel flag.--Assault on Fort
Wagner.--Terrible scene at night.--Awful carnage.--Col. Chatfield
twice wounded.--Union force repulsed.--The ranks of the Sixth terribly
shattered.--Ordered to Hilton Head.--Death of Col. Chatfield.
CHAPTER VI.
Our new Colonel.--Great dissatisfaction thereby.--Part of the Sixth
re-enlist.--Deserters shot.--Death of Captain Allen.--Up to Virginia
under Butler.--Ascend the James river.--Bermuda Hundred.--Skirmish
with the enemy.--Battle of Chester Station.--Death of Captain
Wilcox.--Advance on Drury’s Bluff.--One of Butler’s “masterly
movements.”--Battle of Drury’s Bluff.--Union forces “change front to
the rear.”--Resignation of our new Colonel.--Appointment of Captain
Rockwell as Colonel of the Sixth.--President Lincoln rides by.--“What
mean those cheers.”--Battle of Strawberry Plains.--Hancock’s
works.--Battle of Deep Run.--In holes around Petersburg.--Discharge of
the non re-enlisted men.--Their reception in New Haven.
CHAPTER VII.
Around Petersburg.--Advance toward Richmond.--Attack on Battery
Harrison.--Draft riots in New York.--The Sixth ordered there until
after election.--Back again to Virginia.--Embark on expedition down
the James.--Capture of Fort Fisher.--Advance on Wilmington.--Skirmishing
with the “Johnnies.”--Enemy driven across North East river.--At
Goldsboro, N. C.--Surrender of Lee’s army.--Muster out of the Veteran
Sixth at New Haven.
APPENDIX.
Association of the Old Sixth meet in New Haven in May, 1868.--Its
object.--Permanent organization effected.--Choice of officers.--Yearly
reunions, their character, &c.--Pleasant occasions.
ROSTER OF THE OLD REGIMENT.
Names of officers.--Residence.--Date of muster.--General remarks.--
Names of enlisted men.--Substitutes and drafted.--Date of muster.--
Residence.--General remarks concerning all.--Unassigned recruits.
ROLL OF HONOR.
CASUALTIES OF THE SIXTH.
PRINCIPAL ENGAGEMENTS.
Hilton Head, S. C., November 7, 1861.
Pocotaligo, S. C., October 22, 1862.
James Island, S. C., June 10, 1862.
Secessionville, S. C., June 16, 1862.
Jacksonville, Florida, March 20, 1863.
Morris Island, S. C., July 10, 1863.
Fort Wagner, S. C., July 18, 1863.
Bermuda Hundred, Va., May 6, 1864.
Chester Station, Va., May 10, 1864.
Drury’s Bluff, Va., May 16, 1864.
Strawberry Plains, Va., August 14, 1864.
Deep Run, Va., August 15, 1864.
Fort Fisher, N. C., January 14, 1864.
THE
SIXTH REGIMENT,
CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
CHAPTER I.
Early Spring in the year 1861, was an eventful one in American
history. Troops were organizing in all the loyal States to go forth
and suppress the unequal war that was waged upon the people of the
North. Deeply was it overshadowing our land and threatening to destroy
our liberties as a nation. The shot against Sumpter’s wall was the key
note of the Rebellion, and its echo was heard in every town and
hamlet, uniting all loyal hearts and inspiring all the people with a
zeal which had hitherto remained dormant--a zeal to avenge the insult
offered to our flag and to vindicate the nation’s honor. Traitors had
been arrogant in our land and had openly defied any power of the
national government to suppress their actions, but the shot from
Charleston directed against a federal fort aroused the people to a
stern sense of duty. The call for brave men was nobly responded to,
and regiment after regiment took their place in line, and in due time
was off for the conflict. The disaster that befell the three months’
troops in the memorable Bull Run campaign, is widely known and needs
no repetition here. Then the call for three years’ men was issued and
again the ranks of the army were rapidly filled. None heeded the call
with greater alacrity than the men who composed the members of the
Sixth Regiment. A finer regiment or a more patriotic one, I venture to
say, never entered the Union army; and that they maintained the honor
of the State of Connecticut and reflected credit on their
organization, subsequent events will prove.
The Sixth was sworn into the State service on the 3d of September, in
camp at Oyster Point, New Haven, and on the 12th of the same month
Uncle Sam made us secure for three years or the war. The ranks of the
Sixth were filled with men who represented almost every avocation in
life. There were to be found professional men, others who had made
science a study, as well as a number who were skilled mechanics in
those higher grades of industry. The merchant left his counting room,
the student his books, the mechanic his workshop, the farmer his plow,
and stood shoulder to shoulder in the ranks for the one grand
object--the suppression of the Rebellion and the restoration of the
old flag. The field officers of the Sixth, with one exception, had
already been baptized with fire, and quite a large number of the rank
and file had seen active service in the three months’ campaign. John
L. Chatfield of Waterbury was commissioned as Colonel; Wm. G. Ely of
Norwich, Lieut. Colonel; John Speidel of Bridgeport, as Major.
The first company that reported on the ground was from Windham
County--Thomas K. Bates of Brooklyn, Conn., as Captain. Three
companies were furnished from New Haven, viz: Company “C,” Capt.
Daniel Klein; Company “F,” Captain Lewis C. Allen, Jr.; Company “K,”
Captain Henry G. Gerrish. Company “B,” Captain Benjamin F. Prouty, was
from Hartford and the adjoining towns. Company “D,” Captain Lorenzo
Meeker, was recruited principally from Stamford and Greenwich.
Waterbury and the towns along the Naugatuck Valley furnished the
members of Company “E,” Captain Edward P. Hudson. Company “G,” Captain
John N. Tracy, was mainly from New Britain. Company “H,” Captain Henry
Biebel, was called a Bridgeport company, although most of the members
were recruited in towns and cities north of New Haven. Company “I,”
Captain Thomas Boudren, was from Bridgeport, yet the adjoining towns
contributed largely to her quota.
The companies, although formed under each letter, were not full when
they reported in camp, yet recruits rapidly arriving soon swelled the
ranks to the maximum number. The camp at Oyster Point was but the
primary school that was to fit us for the more stern duties of the
field, and very little care was bestowed upon our future movements,
nor did we deem it wise to dwell upon the hardships of the soldier’s
life when in the enemy’s country. We had some faint ideas of what
might be, and while we could exclude these thoughts from our minds we
considered it best to do so, knowing full well that trials would come
soon enough. Our duties in camp were not arduous, and we patrolled our
“beat” with _unloaded_ muskets and kept a vigilant watch over the
commissary stores at night, exercising as much care as in guarding the
outposts in an enemy’s land. We would occasionally glance at the
future and try to study its mysteries. There was considerable pleasure
in the camp of the old Sixth, as well as its sorrows, and the time was
well occupied in various ways and the days glided swiftly by. Friends
were not wanting to regale our palates with choice food to supercede
the rations of Uncle Sam, and to ply all manner of questions regarding
our general health and condition. Such questions as “Did we sleep on
feather beds?” and “We surely could not be expected to keep awake all
night on guard?” and “Don’t they furnish butter on bread and milk in
coffee?” All these questions met with a ready response, and we
informed our careful friends that there was nothing like getting used
to these things, and Uncle Sam would not probably see us suffer while
so many _patriots_ wanted a contract to furnish supplies. Our
drilling was not very proficient during the first few days of camp
life, from the fact that the camp was filled every day with the
friends of the regiment, and the soldiers not having their uniforms,
it was rather hard to determine who were enlisted in the service and
who were the visitors. It is nothing detrimental to say that perhaps
we “smelt the battle afar off,” and anticipated a succession of drills
when we were removed from our friends and the pleasant scenes that
surrounded us in New Haven. But after we received our uniforms and
rifles, which was a few days before our departure, it gave a new
impetus. Then the boys began to feel that they were really soldiers.
We would don the army blue, and with a pair of Uncle Sam’s brogans
upon our feet, the boys would respond to the order to “fall in,” with
great alacrity; and then such a tramp with the “tan-yards” upon the
parade ground was a sight amusing to behold; and woe be to that
individual who had corns upon his feet when such a piece of sole
leather happened to light upon them. Under the efficient leadership of
our beloved Colonel, a brief period sufficed to acquaint us with a
soldier’s varied duties. Each soldier received from Uncle Sam the
usual equipment of kitchen utensils, which consisted of tin cup and
plate, together with a knife, fork and spoon, and the men require no
drilling to learn their use. If the order to capture a rebel fort was
responded to with as much speed as the boys obeyed the call to “fall
in for rations,” the cause of the Union would not suffer defeat at the
hands of its defenders.
But all things have an end, and so it was with our pleasant camp at
Oyster Point. After receiving the usual articles necessary for
transportation, we received our marching orders. There was the usual
bustle and excitement incident to breaking up a camp of soldiers, and
each one felt that the time for parting with friends had come.
Friendly greetings were heard on every hand. Many hearty hand-shakes
and “God bless you,” were given with a will, and not a few were bathed
in tears as the last good-bye was said. Many fond parents bade
farewell to sons for the last time on earth. Lovers greeted those
whose ties of affection and sympathy endeared them to each other, and
fondly cherished the hope that they would meet again when the war was
over. Our city fathers were not lacking in their praise at our
soldierly bearing, and extended a prayerful wish for a speedy and
triumphant return to our home and loved ones. One good old man, the
Hon. James Brewster, from whose name Company “F” Was called Brewster
Rifles, appeared in camp to the company he was so endeared to, and
made them a speech, recounting the hardships and perils of a soldier’s
life, and expressing a wish to hear a good report from Company “F.” As
we gazed upon the venerable aspect of this good man, whose counsel and
judgment were entitled to so much respect, we could not but inwardly
resolve that our best efforts should be put forth in defense of the
sacred liberties which had been such a strong bulwark to our nation.
Many were affected to tears during his address, and I doubt not the
memory of that hour made a lasting impression on many hearts present
as he closed with an old man’s blessing.