building had taken the time and strength of the soldiers, some of them,
for a number of days. Nicely decorated and appointed, the men were not
a little proud of their place of worship. Chaplain French had charge
of the exercises; the band of the Sixteenth Maine was present and most
obligingly discoursed appropriate music. Among the people who crowded
the interior were Colonel Leonard of the Thirteenth Massachusetts
with his wife, Surgeon Alexander of the Sixteenth Maine and wife,
with others. Compliments were dealt out to the men who had labored so
zealously for the success of the project and Colonel Davis' remarks
in this direction were especially happy. The next day was Sunday,
and regular service was held in the new chapel. Apparently the 22nd,
Washington's birthday, received no special attention. The new chapel
afforded most excellent quarters for the regular meetings of the
Masonic Lodge which had been one of the features of the Regiment for
considerably more than a year. As far back as Offutt's Cross Roads,
November 20, '62, the lodge had been instituted, under a special
dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Grand Master,
William D. Cooledge, the document bearing date, November 13, 1862.
[Sidenote: FEB. 22, '64]
FOOTNOTES:
[H] Long years intervening, General Peirson recalls the existence of a
certain church edifice, out Slaughter Mountain way, which in a former
campaign had afforded cover for a rebel battery and that the same,
issuing from its concealment, had done no little harm to the Second
Massachusetts Infantry, even wounding several of his good friends. Lest
it might be used thus again, and with a certain feeling of resentment
as though the building had been _particeps criminis_, he suggested to
the builders of the winter quarters that the siding of the house and
its foundations might help out their own building schemes. "A word to
the wise" was sufficient, and ere long the structure disappeared, to
reappear as flooring and chimneys for Yankee comfort. The story does
not end here, since many years later the officer was introduced, at the
home of a Boston friend, to a Virginian lady whose mission North was
the soliciting of funds for the rebuilding of the very edifice whose
destruction he had suggested. The General's memory seemed defective
when asked whether he responded liberally or not.
MASONIC LODGE
This original meeting was held at the regimental headquarters, Colonel
Davis presiding, he having been named as Worthy Master of the Putnam
Army Lodge, No. 8, thus called in compliment to the East Cambridge
Lodge of which he was a member. It appears that army posts were no
innovations at this date as the number of this new one would indicate.
Already lodges had been formed in the Third, Sixteenth, Seventeenth,
Twenty-fifth, Second and Forty-eighth Massachusetts Regiments and later
dispensations were granted to the Forty-second and the Thirty-second.
Aside from the Master of Putnam Lodge, Colonel P. S. Davis, the
officers were Henry B. Leighton, S. W.; Capt. Geo. S. Nelson, J. W.;
Capt. F. R. Kinsley, Treasurer; Lieut. Julius M. Swain, Secretary;
Daniel Henry, S. D.; Perry Coleman, J. D.; Lieut. Henry F. Felch, S.
S.; Lieut. Wm. T. Spear, J. S.; Lieut. Willard C. Kinsley, Marshal;
and John M. Curtis, Tyler. In the distribution of officers it would
seem that army rank had no place, fraternal relations being the only
line of consideration. By-laws for the proper management of the lodge
along with blank forms for application for membership were adopted
and, though the Third Thursday of each month was named as the regular
meeting date there were far more special than regular assemblings.
The second meeting of the lodge was in the Methodist chapel and when
the Regiment moved back to Poolesville, the schoolhouse there was
utilized, proper secrecy being gained by putting on guard, near the
place of meeting, members of the order. Applications for membership
came in rapidly and the record for the remainder of the calender year
was twenty-three candidates admitted and seventeen meetings, $580
being received for dues and degrees. From April 6 to July 15, in front
of Petersburg, after the death of Colonel Davis, there was a lapse;
then the Lodge voted to bear the expense attending the return of the
Colonels' remains to Massachusetts but, at the request of the family,
the part of the lodge was confined to embalming and transportation to
Boston, along with the expenses of Chaplain French, who accompanied
the body on the sad journey to Boston. Help was given to the families
of comrades who had been killed or were in hospitals or rebel prison.
October 16, '64, at Fort Dushane it was voted to pay the expenses of
sending the body of Lieut. Wm. T. Spear, Company B, to Roxbury, the
officer having died in hospital from wounds; the same consideration was
shown to the remains of Lieut. Willard C. Kinsley when he was killed.
The final meeting of the lodge was in the State House Boston, January
29, 1866, with fourteen members present when it was voted that of the
remaining funds, $198, $50 should go towards a portrait of Colonel
Davis and the rest for relief. The officers were given the regalia that
they had worn; the Bible was given to the widow of the Colonel, the
square and compasses to the East Cambridge Lodge, the remaining set to
go to Brother Henry B. Leighton, the S. W. During the activities of the
field, the Master, S. D., J. S. and Marshal were killed, the Treasurer
and Secretary were captured. There are recorded considerably more
than fifty names of those voted in, while the brother, turning in the
records, says that thirty-nine took the three degrees.
MITCHELL'S STATION AND THE SCHOOL IN CAMP
Channing Whittaker, Company B
[Sidenote: FEB., '64]
Our most ideal winter's camp before the Wilderness Campaign was that
at Mitchell's Station. A more perfect parade and drill ground could
not have been desired. It had abundant length and breadth. It was
the smooth level top of an extensive plateau. The log cabins of the
officers were in a straight row where the slope to the rear began. The
log cabins of the men stretched down the slope toward a veritable
Eldorado of firewood and drinking water. These log cabins were very
comfortable. Each accommodated eight men. The entrance from the company
street was at the middle of its length. The fireplace and chimney were
directly opposite the entrance. The living room was between the two.
There were four bunks, two at each end with one above the other. Each
bunk was long enough for a tall man to stretch out at full length
with his head upon his knapsack and wide enough for two men to sleep
comfortably, side by side. The cabins of the field officers had, of
course, the right of the line. The chapel was more to the front and a
little to the left of the cabins of the field officers. The pioneers
who constructed Col. Davis' cabin and the chapel were master workmen.
No keel of ship in New England shipyard had timbers hewn and dowelled
into a substantial whole with more absolute perfection. I never shall
forget the perfect delight of an afternoon when, convalescing from a
severe attack of measles, I was detailed to report at the Colonel's
quarters. Here I was received by Lieut Colonel Peirson with a smile
upon his face. He showed me that the cabin was not yet dry enough for
occupancy, showed me the wood which I was to burn to dry it out, showed
me the charming fireplace in which I was to burn it. If I remember well
its top was arched. Perhaps the arch had blocks, with a central one of
keystone shape. He gave me a comfortable seat and an entertaining book
to read, by an army chaplain, "The Whip, Hoe, and Sword," by George
H. Hepworth. The friendly behavior of the Lieut. Colonel, the restful
charm of the roomy clean interior finished in natural wood showing its
grain, the blazing fire in the big fireplace with its perfect chimney,
and the extreme comfort of it all, after the discomforts of the
measles, filled me with agreeable sensations and with gratitude to the
Lieutenant Colonel.
[Sidenote: FEB., '64]
And the chapel! It may have been thirty by fifty feet inside. Its hewn
oaken logs were perhaps twelve inches square, its roof was a fly
that the Christian Commission had furnished. Its fireplace was huge,
magnificent. The prayer meetings were held in it, the Freemasons used
it as a lodgeroom, the Sons of Temperance had meetings there, and the
regimental school for those who could neither read nor write nor cipher
was held in it. I well remember the morning when Comrade John F. Locke,
of Company E, and myself were detailed to report at the chapel and
appointed to be the teachers of the school by Lieut. Colonel Peirson.
I remember hearing the roll-call of the students of my own and of a
neighboring company and the ugly mutterings, the dissatisfaction, the
almost mutinous emphatic expressions of discontent of some of those
whose names had been called, because they had been detailed to attend
a school. I fully expected trouble. A considerable number of men were
in anything but a teachable spirit. We met in the chapel, the Lieut.
Colonel, the teachers, and thirty students, some of them bristling with
unwillingness. But the Lieut. Colonel, who was always a gentleman,
drew us all into a comfortable semi-circle about the hearth where
the cheerful fire blazed. He told us of the personal benefits and
advantages which it was hoped that the work in the school would bring
to each student, and his manner and speech almost immediately disarmed
the embryo antagonism of the others in the group. When he finally asked
if there were any present who desired to be relieved from attendance
at the school, not a man wished to withdraw, all were glad of the
opportunity. The antagonism had melted away like a mud-puddle in the
light of a July sun. And the antagonism never returned. I have taught
many hundreds of students since but none who were more interested, more
attentive, more constant. Each of the men learned to write his name.
Seven wrote letters home before we broke camp, to the great delight of
themselves and their families. Twenty-three made especially commendable
progress in reading and arithmetic. Our text and copy books had been
the generous gifts of Colonel Davis and his brother Robert. The Lieut.
Colonel had offered a gold pen and case as a prize to the man who
should gain the greatest proficiency in writing. All of the written
exercises were carefully preserved from the beginning and, when the
time came to award the prize, it was almost impossible to say whether
it had been won by Johnny Gibbs of Company A, a brick layer, who was
well along in years or by Daniel Lines, a carriage painter. For year
after year the good right hand of Johnny Gibbs had clasped the small
handle of a trowel. Its active exercise in that cramped position with
the acrid lime sometimes in contact with it had caused its bones and
cords and muscles to grow out of shape. He could no longer open it much
more than enough to enter and remove a trowel handle. He could not hold
a pen in usual position. There were sharp crooks made at the joints
of his right thumb and forefinger when he brought them together, and
there were similar crooks in his capital O's when he wrote his best.
But his handwriting, though characteristic, was absolutely clear. It
was perfectly easy to read. He had mastered his hand for the purposes
of a writer. Despite the crooks he wrote a handsome hand. The hand
of Daniel Lines had gained a wonderful cunning in the business of a
carriage painter. He could do what he would with a camels-hair brush,
when making scrolls and stripes and decorations. He brought to his
copy book the artistic power of a hand over which he had a complete
control. From the beginning his double-reversed curves were lines
of beauty. At the end his writing had almost the perfection of the
copyplate. There was no possible doubt that Daniel Lines' writing was
more beautiful than that of any other pupil in the school, but which
had gained the greatest proficiency in writing in the school, he or
Johnny Gibbs? The teachers were puzzled. They called in the Lieut.
Colonel as referee. He too was in doubt and suggested that Gibbs and
Lines should draw lots. The lot fell to Gibbs. On Sunday, the 21st of
August, 1864, Johnny Gibbs and his teacher, John F. Locke, were taken
prisoners in a battle on the Weldon Railroad. They were both very sick,
together, in that fearful prison in Salisbury, North Carolina. There
were no tender-hearted, white-capped, trained nurses there, to keep in
extreme cleanliness the clothing of the very sick. But the gratitude,
the compassion, the sympathy of the old man for his youthful teacher
became too strong. Like many another soldier who has volunteered to
dare almost certain death in a forlorn hope, weak Johnny Gibbs washed
the soiled clothing of John Locke. Within a day, Johnny Gibbs was dead.
STILL IN CAMP.
[Sidenote: FEB. 29, '64]
Incessant picket duty has marked the month of February with a great
variety of weather and the men are not sorry to see the 29th day, Leap
Year's allotment, for they know that they are just so much nearer the
end of the war and their consequent return to their homes. A spring
feeling begins to be felt on both sides of the river and indications
of activity are discovered among the Confederates, and at least twice
recently orders have been given for the preparation of rations for
the haversacks, as though some sort of a move were contemplated. On
this final day of the month, the Regiment is mustered for two months'
pay, while drill, inspection and parade have their accustomed places.
Doubtless very few are aware of the hardening effect upon the bodies
of the men this regular and constant round of discipline is having;
the same will appear in the exactions of the coming months. While
February is expiring thus quietly with our Regiment, in the First Corps
Kilpatrick is making his famous raid towards Richmond, having started
on the night of the 28th, crossing the Rapidan at Ely's Ford and, with
Colonel Dahlgren's forlorn hope, is entering upon a project which will
make history rapidly. To cover this attempt, a diversion of Confederate
attention is made by the Sixth Corps and a cavalry force under Custer.
Passing through the camps of the Third Corps, Sedgwick and his men move
out towards Madison Court House, while Custer and his mounted force
push on to Charlottesville, where, on this final February day, hostile
forces are contending within sight and sound of Monticello, the home
and the tomb of Jefferson.
March started off rainy and cold with usual rumors as to immediate
orders for some sort of a move, but duty on the picket line continued
just the same, and not a few remarked on the discomforts of those who
had gone out to Madison Court House and were compelled to bivouac
in the snow, into which the rain had changed. For the 2d day of the
month, the return of the Sixth Corps and its cavalry accompaniment
was chronicled, along with the fact that nothing had been heard from
Kilpatrick. Even in wartimes, it did not always rain and the 3rd, being
"a splendid day," some of the men climbed up the sides of Cedar or
Slaughter Mountain for the view, and to look up traces of the fierce
encounter, August 9, 1862, when the Second and Third Corps, Generals
Banks and McDowell respectively, all under General John Pope, were
beaten by "Stonewall" Jackson and his men. Having encamped so long
under the shadow of the eminence, the trip was particularly enjoyable
and there was no difficulty in locating many of the prominent features
of the bloody day which served as a prelude to the still bloodier
battle of Second Bull Run. A two hours' brigade drill on the 4th,
under Colonel Leonard, took all available men to the extensive plains
across Cedar Run. As an illustration of the degree to which neatness
was carried, it should be stated that from their respective company
funds pay was given to men, detailed for the purpose, who should do
the company washing, hence no excuse for uncleanliness would avail
thereafter.
Sunday, the 7th, marked the relief of the Second Brigade on picket,
and its return by train to Culpeper, while the First Brigade took
its place. An order, promulgated March 10th to the effect that
all women in the camp must depart at once, was taken as a sign
of increased activity and the next day saw the departure of the
visiting betterhalves for their northern homes. Further indication
of active campaigning appeared on the 12th when the Colonel issued
an order directing the several captains to send back to Washington
all dresscoats. John S. Beck, Company C, entered in his diary, the
14th, "In the evening, took the Second Degree in Army Lodge, No. 8,
and Free and Accepted Masons," an unusual incident in army life; two
nights later, he took his Third Degree. St. Patrick's Day, or the
17th, secured no recognition in camp, though large fires on the rebel
side of the river betokened something doing there, yet the afternoon's
sun, lighting up the hillside on which the Confederates were encamped,
revealed their tents still in place. The 18th, in the afternoon,
witnessed no end of hurry and bustle as all effects were packed, even
to removing tents from the cabin roofs, and all were to be in readiness
to move at once. It was the general agreement that Stuart and his
lively followers were surely in the saddle. With stacked arms and
expectant hearts, the next order was awaited and, at 5.30 p. m., it
came, not to fall in and "Forward," but the bubble-burst words heard
so often, "As you were," with a resumption of regular camp routine and
duties.
[Sidenote: MAR. 20, '64]
The signing of pay-rolls on the 19th was a sure sign of the approach of
the paymaster and the perfection of the weather gave light hearts to
all, though a clergyman of the Methodist Church South, seized outside
our lines for conducting certain of Stuart's men to the capture of one
of our pickets may have had a leaden heart as he was dispatched on his
way to Washington, there to account for his conduct; bearing the name
of Garnett, he must have belonged to one of the best families of the
Old Dominion. The 20th was Sunday, not usually a pay day, but were
there signs of activity it was thus employed and, as the paymaster
came on this date, the event was considered a pretty sure sign of a
movement; so late did he begin, it was 8 p. m. before the last company
was reached. Much to the disgust of all who had thought winter over
and past, snow began to fall on the 22nd. By nightfall the ground was
white with it, the wind blowing as in an old-fashioned "nor'-easter,"
so that the on 23rd there was a foot of snow lying around and all hands
had to turn out and shovel the same out of the streets and from the
parade ground, which was quite ready for the dress parade of the late
afternoon.
To the Regiment, however, the most important event of the day was
the rearrangement of the several corps constituting the Army of the
Potomac, though this act had no immediate effect upon the regular
life of the Thirty-ninth. The First Army Corps of the Potomac Army,
commanded successively by Generals McDowell, Hooker, Reynolds and
Newton, had left an excellent record through the nearly two years of
its existence; the disk which, in red, white and blue, represented its
several divisions, had ever been a badge of honor and now the advent
of General Grant to the command of the army was to bring about various
changes, among them the merging of the First Corps with the Fifth; its
three divisions, reduced to two, became the Second and Fourth under
Robinson and Crawford respectively while Warren, of late temporarily
in command of the Second, was assigned to lead the Fifth Corps, and
Newton[I] who had succeeded Reynolds at Gettysburg, was relieved.
Under the same general orders, the Third Corps also was disbanded,
its first and second divisions going to the Second Corps, its third
division to the Sixth, and General Sykes, the Commander, to the command
of the District of South Kansas. There were thus left the Second, Fifth
and Sixth Corps in the Potomac Army, to which in the campaign of 1864
the Ninth Corps, under General Burnside, was to be added.
This rearrangement of army relations was not accomplished without some
heart-burning and many adverse remarks. John D. Billings in his story
of the Tenth Massachusetts Battery says:
"Next to the attachment men feel for their own company or regiment,
comes that which they feel for their corps. All the active services
that we had seen was in the Third Corps, and its earlier history and
traditions from the Peninsula to Gettysburg had become a part of our
pride, and we did not care to identify ourselves with any other. If
such was our feeling in the matter, how much more intense must have
been that of the troops longer in its membership, whose very blood
and sinew were incorporated with the imperishable name it won under
General Sickles."
The farewell of General Newton to the men of the First Corps bears date
of March 25, 1864, and is as follows:--
"Upon relinquishing command I take occasion to express the pride and
pleasure I have experienced in my connection with you, and my profound
regret at our separation. Identified by its services with the history
of the war, the First Corps gave at Gettysburg a crowning proof
of valor and endurance, in saving from the grasp of the enemy the
strong position upon which the battle was fought. The terrible losses
suffered by the Corps in that conflict attest its supreme devotion to
the country. Though the Corps has lost its distinctive name by the
present changes, history will not be silent upon the magnitude of its
services."
[Sidenote: MAR. 26, '64]
Though the Thirty-ninth had borne no part in the battle-trials of
the corps, save in the premonitions at Mine Run, yet its marchings
and campings, during eight months of service, had done much towards
impressing upon the Regiment the character of the corps and an
appreciation of the corps and an appreciation of its excellent record.
Foundation facts for the coming summer are coming fast in these
days for, on the 26th of March, General U. S. Grant established his
headquarters at Culpeper, a little south of those of the Army of the
Potomac. For just a month, the General's name has been heard in the
public ear more than usual since, on the 26th of February, the bill
restoring the grade of lieutenant-general became a law; on the 1st of
March, General Grant's name was sent to Congress and it was confirmed
March 2nd; on the 3rd, he was ordered to Washington to receive his
commission and he started the day following. March 9th, in the White
House, in the presence of the President's Cabinet, his staff or such as
were with him and his son, Fred, General Grant received his commission
from the hands of Lincoln, with the briefest possible exchange of
compliments. The Thirty-ninth Regiment knew it not, but on the 10th,
the Lieutenant-general was at Brandy Station viewing some of the scenes
that were to be better known by him in approaching days; the next day
he was in Washington again and in the evening started back to the west.
Many plans were evolved by Grant and his lieutenants before his return
to Washington on the 23rd, whence he went to Culpeper as before stated.
Henceforth his military record will be a part of that of the Potomac
Army.