COMPANY K, THIRD REGIMENT, MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER MILITIA.
[WRITTEN BY CORPORAL HENRY MANLEY, MEMBER OF THE COMPANY.]
Company K was a new company recruited for the purpose of filling
the quota of the towns of East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater,
and Bridgewater. It was not connected with the Third Regiment of
Massachusetts Militia either before or after its term of service.
In the call for 300,000 three years’ men early in the summer of 1862,
the combined quota of the above-named towns was 102, and taking it
for granted that about the same number would be required under the
call of August 4th, for 300,000 men for nine months, concerted action
was taken in town meetings in each of those towns.
A very enthusiastic war meeting was held on the evening of
Aug. 18, 1862, in the town hall in East Bridgewater, at which
Joseph Chamberlain was president and Sergt. Morton D. Mitchell
was secretary. It was voted that it is expedient that East
Bridgewater, together with Bridgewater and West Bridgewater, should
endeavor to raise by voluntary enlistment a company to enter into the
United States service for nine months.
_Voted_, That Messrs. James Mitchell, Benjamin W. Harris and George
Bryant be a committee to wait upon the governor and request him to
appoint some person or persons, to engage in the enlistment of such
volunteers.
_Voted_, That Messrs. Richard M. Smith and William Allen be a
committee to consult with the citizens of Bridgewater and West
Bridgewater in relation to a meeting of the three towns for the
purpose of forming a military company.
It is probable that similar meetings were held in each of the other
towns, but no record of them has been found.
In West Bridgewater a town meeting was held on Aug. 22, 1862. It
was voted that a bounty of $150 be paid to volunteers for nine
months’ service, and it was recommended that the volunteers unite
with Bridgewater and East Bridgewater to form a company. It was
also recommended that the whole town attend a meeting to be held at
Agricultural Hall in Bridgewater on the following Wednesday (August
26th) for the purpose of forwarding the formation of a military
company. A committee had been chosen at a previous meeting to take
charge of recruiting, consisting of the Selectmen (James Howard,
Albert Copeland and George T. Ryder), together with one man from each
school district, as follows: William O. Alger, J. Q. Hartwell, Nahum
Snell, Samuel N. Howard, Charles E. Howard, Galen K. Richards, Thomas
Ames, Leavitt T. Howard.
In East Bridgewater at a town meeting held on Aug. 23, 1862, it
was voted to pay a bounty of $100 to volunteers for nine months’
service, and a committee of three was chosen to procure enlistments.
The committee consisted of Samuel Bates, John B. Fisher, and George
Bryant. The meeting also recommended to such of its inhabitants
as may enlist for nine months’ service that they unite with the
volunteers from the towns of Bridgewater and West Bridgewater in
forming a company.
[Illustration: CAPT. SAMUEL BATES.]
A town meeting was held in Bridgewater on Aug. 26, 1862, to raise
volunteers under the call for men to serve nine months. It was voted
that a committee of seven be chosen by the town to take in charge the
business of raising the number of volunteers necessary, also to pay
a bounty of $150 to each volunteer who shall enlist to the credit
of the town for nine months’ service. The committee chosen at this
meeting were F. B. King, Edward W. Bassett, Nathan Fobes, Almansor
Osborne, Lewis Holmes, and Holden W. Keith.
Shortly after this time a number of men from North Bridgewater and
Easton who had arranged to join the Fourth Regiment, learning that
this company was nearly full, and that the regiment was nearly ready
to leave for the seat of war, joined the company, completely filling
its ranks.
The mass meeting alluded to in the town meeting in West Bridgewater
was held in Agricultural Hall, Bridgewater, on the evening of
August 26th. The presiding officer was B. W. Harris, Esq., of East
Bridgewater. The vice-presidents were Hon. Artemas Hale, Col.
Samuel Leonard, Hon. J. H. Mitchell, Samuel G. Alden, James Howard,
and Capt. Joseph Kingman. The meeting is represented as of an
enthusiastic character, but no account of the addresses has been
discovered.
The company thus recruited was assigned to the Third Massachusetts
Infantry and named “Company K.”
It went into Camp in Lakeville, Mass., on Sept. 16, 1862, and was
the second company of the regiment to arrive at the camp. It was
given a patriotic and affectionate send-off by the people of the
Bridgewaters, and was escorted to the train and from the train at
Haskins Station to Camp Joe Hooker by the Bridgewater Cornet Band.
The barracks at Camp Joe Hooker were new. The main buildings, twenty
in number, were each about 70 × 25 feet on the floor and nine feet
high in the walls. They were built of matched boards, planed on
the inside, with good tight floors, and shingled roofs. The bunks
were built double “like two sinks, one above the other,” and each
accommodated four men, two in the upper and two in the lower berth.
Each barrack held one hundred men, or a company. They were well
ventilated and comfortable. The barracks, cook-houses, officers’
quarters, stables, etc., fifty buildings in all, were built in one
week.
The company consisted of one hundred and one men, exactly the legal
maximum for an infantry company. The towns furnishing the men were
as follows: Bridgewater, thirty-four; East Bridgewater, twenty-four;
West Bridgewater, twenty-five; North Bridgewater, eleven; Easton,
four; Middleboro, one; Boston, one; Gloucester, one; total, one
hundred and one. It will be seen from the above that the members of
the company were from contiguous territory with only two exceptions;
First Sergt. Winter was imported from Gloucester as a trained and
drilled man and was almost the only man in the company with military
experience even in the militia, and he had never been in the United
States service. With him came his friend “Natty” Ackerman who hailed
from Boston. The remainder of the company was recruited amongst
friends and neighbors. Nearly all were of American parentage, and
most of them were men of standing in the community both before and
since the war. They were “men of their hands,” too, and there are few
things that could not be built, or machines that could not be run by
members of the company.
The occupations of the recruits were given as follows: Boot and shoe
workers in some form, forty-six; farmers, seventeen; moulders, seven;
machinists, four; laborers, four; carpenters, three; salesmen, three;
students, three; bookbinders, two; druggist, one; “railroader,”
one; civil engineer, one; surveyor, one; butcher, one; nailer, one;
wheelwright, one; painters, two; box maker, one; stone cutter, one;
teacher, one.
The officers were as ignorant of military usages as the men, and, as
may be supposed, the discipline at first was not of the most rigid
character. But the members of the company as a rule were disposed
to do the right thing, and perhaps enjoyed themselves better and
did just as good service as they would have done under more severe
officers. The men of the company owe a debt of gratitude to their
officers who were all kind-hearted men and devoted to the welfare of
the company, and whose mildly used authority was much better adapted
to a company of intelligent men of pronounced Yankee blood than would
have been that of military martinets.
Fifty-two members of the company were married and forty-nine were
single.
The average age was between twenty-eight and twenty-nine years.
Twenty were twenty years old and under, twenty-four were between
twenty and twenty-five, nineteen were between twenty-five and thirty,
twenty-two were between thirty and forty, and sixteen were more than
forty.
Company K was the color company throughout its service, and its
position was therefore on the right centre when the regiment was in
line of battle.
The record of the company in the service is not a bloody one. No one
was killed, wounded, taken prisoner, or missing, and no one deserted.
Two men died from disease in the service and six men were discharged
for disability before the regiment was mustered out. The story of
the regiment as a whole will be given elsewhere, and that part of
the company’s history which also means the regimental history, has
been omitted in this account. Company K followed the fortunes of the
regiment closely. The only time that it was on detached duty, except
for picket, or service of that nature, was early in its service after
it arrived in Newbern and before the arms had been distributed,
when it was ordered to some mythical point to build a bridge. After
groping around outside the picket line, entirely unarmed, for two
days, the company returned, having found the bridge nearly completed.
The members of the company had an exceptional opportunity to see
the details of warfare. At the Battle of Kinston the company with
the regiment was in reserve, and, while under fire, was unharmed.
After the action they had an opportunity, from the view point of the
victors, to examine a well-fought field with many killed, wounded and
prisoners, and also to explore the captured town of Kinston.
At Whitehall the company was again under fire, and, as was reported,
the inferior character of its arms saved it from a more intimate
acquaintance with the enemy.
At Goldsboro the company had an opportunity of seeing a charge
repelled under sensational circumstances and with severe loss to the
enemy, a sight which many soldiers of longer service have never seen.
The circumstances of this charge have been traditional in the company
and the results have been much exaggerated, the enemy’s loss being
set all the way from five hundred to fifteen hundred. The unadorned
facts are that after the burning of the bridge and during the
withdrawal of the Union forces, by a blunder of the enemy a charge
was made by two regiments of General Clingman’s brigade against a
much superior force, and it was the fortune of Company K as a part
of the regiment, to act as guard to Belger’s Rhode Island battery,
which with another light battery had a fair chance to destroy the
attacking force as it charged up a long slope. The Third Regiment
lay on the ground in front of the battery (which was firing over the
regiment), and Company K had an unobstructed view of the premises,
and nothing to do but look on. The writer in a letter written at
the time estimated that the nearest rebel came within fifty rods
of the regiment. The attacking force consisted of the Fifty-second
North Carolina Regiment, Colonel Marshall, and the Fifty-first North
Carolina, Colonel Allen. These regiments, with two others which did
not participate in the charge, made the brigade commanded by Gen.
Thomas E. Clingman. His report, printed in the “Official Records of
the Union and Confederate Armies,” First Series, Vol. XVIII, page
117, gives the losses as follows:
Killed Wounded Missing
Marshall’s Regiment 11 58 10
Allen’s “ 6 43 8
---- ---- ----
Total, 17 101 18 making
a total loss of 136. The writer has not succeeded in learning the
total strength of the two regiments at the time of the charge.
The company’s most potent enemies during its service were the severe
marches to which it was subjected and the malarious climate. The
effects of both of these are still felt by many of the survivors.
On the return of the regiment a public reception was given to Company
K on Saturday, June 20th, at the Agricultural Hall by citizens of
Bridgewater, East and West Bridgewater. The company met at the
town hall, Bridgewater, and was escorted to the Fair grounds by the
Bridgewater Cornet Band under the marshalship of Dr. Asa Millett,
where twelve or fifteen hundred people had assembled to receive it.
For the gratification of their friends the soldiers spent about half
an hour in drilling. At about half past two o’clock, after stacking
arms the company was drawn up in front of the judges’ stand on the
track to listen to the speech of welcome. The president of the day,
James Howard, Esq., of West Bridgewater, after stating the object
of the meeting, introduced Hon. B. W. Harris, of East Bridgewater,
who, in an appropriate speech in behalf of the citizens, welcomed the
soldiers on their return home. A procession was then formed which
marched to the hall to partake of a collation which had been prepared
by the ladies of the several towns. After the repast the company
adjourned to the upper hall to listen to the speeches. This hall as
well as the lower was tastefully decorated with flags and pendants.
The soldiers occupied seats directly in front of the speakers and
were here presented each with a bouquet of flowers by the school
children, the presentation speech having been made by one of the
young ladies. Speeches were made by Hon. John A. Shaw, Hon. Benjamin
W. Harris, and others. Later in the afternoon, Major Morrissey
entered the hall, and, taking his seat on the platform, was received
with great applause, Company K giving him three hearty cheers. He was
then introduced and addressed the soldiers. The entertainment was
closed by singing “America” by the whole audience under the direction
of Mr. Wilde.
After the arrival home of the company and before it was mustered out
came the death of one of its members, Mr. James Henry Packard, of
North Bridgewater (now Brockton). He was buried in the Marshall’s
Corner Cemetery with military honors from his comrades.
Twenty members of the company entered the military service after
being mustered out of Company K. Ten of this number joined Company
D, Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Infantry, three of them forming the
commissioned officers of the company. Of these ten, one was killed
in action, five were wounded, seven were taken prisoners, of whom
two died in rebel prisons. All but one of the ten is included in
one or more of the above categories, and whether the tenth man was
taken prisoner or wounded the writer has not been able to learn. The
remaining ten enlisted in various organizations, but none of them
lost their lives in the service.
In June, 1906, thirty-six members of Company K were known to be
living. One has not been heard from by his relatives for about
twenty years, and the remaining sixty-four are known to be dead. The
commissioned officers are all dead. Of the non-commissioned officers,
two corporals survive. Fourteen of the surviving men of the company
are past labor by reason of age or infirmities, or both. Twenty are
“still in the ring” pursuing their usual avocations; one has retired,
and one is in the Soldiers Home, in Togus, Maine.
The company was mustered into the United States service on Sept. 23,
1862, and was mustered out on June 26, 1863. The members of Company K
were mustered on the above dates unless otherwise noted.
CORRECTED ROSTER OF COMPANY K.
SAMUEL BATES, Captain; born in East Bridgewater, June 3, 1828.
Boot-cutter; married; commissioned Sept. 3, 1862; died in Whitman,
Mass., Sept. 26, 1879. After the war, Capt. Bates passed several
years in the employ of the interior department in Washington, ending
in September, 1879.
NATHAN FOBES, First Lieutenant; salesman; twenty-two; single.
Enlisted from Bridgewater. Commissioned Sept. 3, 1862; died in East
Orange, N. J., Oct. 14, 1899. Lieutenant Fobes was a traveling
salesman for Boston and New York merchants.
CHARLES E. CHURCHILL, Second Lieutenant; thirty-eight; married;
shoe-cutter. Enlisted from West Bridgewater. Commissioned Sept. 3,
1862. Lieutenant Churchill served as aid on the staff of Brig.-Gen.
J. Jourdan from Feb. 26, 1863, until the return of the regiment.
Lieutenant Churchill entered the service the second time and served
as captain of Company D, Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Infantry. He
was wounded and taken prisoner Sept. 3, 1864, and discharged for
disability, Feb. 10, 1865. Lieutenant Churchill lived in West
Bridgewater, and died there on Feb. 4, 1901.
GEORGE F. WINTER, First Sergeant; twenty-nine; bookbinder; married.
Enlisted from Gloucester; died in Gloucester of heart disease Jan. 9,
1886. He was a bookbinder by occupation.
JOHN B. FISHER, Sergeant; twenty-one; law student; single. Enlisted
from East Bridgewater; died June 13, 1882, in East Bridgewater. He
also served in the Thirty-sixth United States Colored Troops, known
as the Second North Carolina Regiment.
LINUS E. HAYWARD, Sergeant; forty; married; farmer. Enlisted from
West Bridgewater. Enlisted a second time in the Fifty-eighth
Massachusetts as first lieutenant and was promoted captain. Was
wounded and taken prisoner. Was exchanged and returned home with the
regiment. Died in West Bridgewater, July 16, 1904.
SAMUEL E. HAWES, Sergeant; salesman; twenty-five; single. Enlisted
from Bridgewater. Died in Brockton, Feb. 9, 1886.
JOSEPHUS L. FREEMAN, Sergeant; thirty-five; shoe-cutter; married.
Enlisted from West Bridgewater. Lived in Brockton and followed the
occupation of a mechanic in the shoe manufacturing shops of that
city. Died in Brockton, March 18, 1892.
NAHUM WASHBURN, JR., Corporal; twenty-three; single; druggist. Was
proprietor of a drug store in Bridgewater, and died there Oct. 14,
1893.
ALFRED H. PERKINS, Corporal; moulder; thirty-one; married. Enlisted
from Bridgewater. Promoted regimental wagoner Dec. 9, 1862. Died in
Bridgewater, March 8, 1902.
THOMAS P. RIPLEY, Corporal; twenty-one; single; farmer. Enlisted from
West Bridgewater. Carried on the business of manufacturing boots and
shoes in Cocheset, West Bridgewater. Died Aug. 23, 1891, in West
Bridgewater.
ELIJAH HINKLEY, Corporal; “railroader;” forty-four; married. Enlisted
from East Bridgewater; was a shoemaker, and later a gate tender for
the Old Colony Railroad Company and its successors, until his death,
on Dec. 16, 1893, in East Bridgewater.
GEORGE M. KEITH, Corporal; thirty-one; married; shoemaker. Enlisted
from East Bridgewater; was foreman in shoeshops for seventeen years;
superintendent of Bridgewater Water Company for ten years, ending in
1900, and since then president of the East Bridgewater Savings Bank.
Mr. Keith is still living in the house in which he was born in East
Bridgewater.
MARCELLUS G. HOWARD, Corporal; student; twenty-five; single. Enlisted
from Bridgewater. Corporal Howard was detailed as a member of the
color guard and as such carried the State colors. He carried on the
market business in Bridgewater; died of consumption in Palatka, Fla.,
Dec. 24, 1881.
SETH B. EDSON, Corporal; surveyor; twenty-seven; single. Enlisted
from East Bridgewater. Mr. Edson lived in East Bridgewater, where he
carried on the nursery and farming business. Died Feb. 21, 1905, in
East Bridgewater.
HENRY MANLEY, Corporal; teacher; twenty-one; single. Enlisted from
North Bridgewater. He is a civil engineer, assistant engineer
engineering department city of Boston. Member American Society of
Civil Engineers. Lives in West Roxbury (Boston), Mass.
DAVID P. REYNOLDS, Private, promoted Corporal, Dec. 9, 1862;
shoemaker; twenty; single. Enlisted from East Bridgewater. Died Sept.
6, 1867, of consumption, in East Bridgewater.
ALFRED GURNEY, Company Wagoner; farmer; forty-four. Enlisted from
East Bridgewater. Was a farmer in East Bridgewater, and died there
Feb. 28, 1901.
_Privates_.
ALDEN, CALEB, 42; single; farmer. Enlisted from Bridgewater. Died in
Soldiers Home, in Togus, Me., on Jan. 3, 1899. Buried in Bridgewater.
ALDEN, ISAAC R., painter; 18; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater. Was
the company drummer; enlisted a second time and served as drummer
in Company F, Fifty-sixth Massachusetts Infantry; has carried on the
business of grocer in Bridgewater since the war.
ALDEN, LUCIUS F., 18; single; shoemaker. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Carried on the business of shoe manufacturing in
Brockton, as a member of the firm of Churchill & Alden for many
years. Died in Brockton, Dec. 28, 1903.
ALDEN, WILLIAM S., JR., farmer; 18; single. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Went to California many years ago. His relatives have
not heard from him for about twenty years.
ANDREWS, MANASSAH LLOYD, machinist; 18; single. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Lives in East Bridgewater (Elmwood), in good health, and
busily employed at his trade.
ACKERMAN, NATHANIEL, bookbinder; 38; married. Enlisted from Boston.
Discharged for disability, March 1, 1863. Died --.
BARNEY, HIAL, farmer; single; 26. Enlisted from Bridgewater. He
carried on the meat business in Wareham, Mass., for twenty-five
years. Was selectman, assessor, and overseer of the poor in Wareham
for six years. Retired from business in 1891. Lives in Manchester, N.
H. Address, 708 Pine St.
BARTLETT, EZEKIEL R., shoe stitcher; 22; single. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater; absent sick when company was mustered out. Honorably
discharged June 26, 1863. Enlisted and served in Company C, Sixtieth
Regiment, 100 days’ service; followed business of workman in shoe
factory. Lives in East Bridgewater.
BEALS, CHARLES T., shoemaker; 18; single. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Has been a carriage painter for thirty-six years; has
lived in Massachusetts, Ohio, and California. Is now living at No.
17 West Second St., Mansfield, Ohio, in poor health, his lower limbs
being paralyzed.
BEATON, JAMES W., shoemaker; 22; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Lives in Boston (Dorchester); has been a teamster and
stage driver. Is in the employ of the New York and New Haven Railroad
Company as gate-tender.
BIRD, HENRY W., shoemaker; single; 19. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater, lives in East Bridgewater.
BLACKMAN, ANDREW G., carpenter; 29; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Has worked in a shoeshop for twenty-five years. Lives
in East Bridgewater.
BRAINARD, JOHN M., shoemaker; 39; married. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. He was drowned in the stream near his residence in East
Bridgewater, on Oct. 23, 1878.
BRIGGS, GEORGE D., shoemaker; 19; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Also served as corporal in Eighteenth Unattached Company,
Massachusetts Infantry; one year’s service. Has been foreman in shoe
factory and is now janitor of The Union Trust Building, Brockton,
Mass.
BRIGGS, WALTER C., salesman; 18; single. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Served in Twentieth Unattached Company for one year, and
in Eleventh United States Infantry. Died --.
CALDWELL, GEORGE, shoe cutter; 43; married. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Died in the service from disease in the Foster Hospital,
Newbern, N. C., on June 7, 1863.
CALDWELL, CHARLES H., shoemaker; 20; married. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Lives in West Bridgewater, near Westdale Station.
CALDWELL, MELVIN, shoe cutter; 18; single. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Died in West Bridgewater, May 25, 1864.
CONANT, SETH W., farmer; 40; married. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Enlisted and was mustered into United States service as private in
Company D, Fifty-eighth Regiment, March 12, 1864, and was killed in
action in front of Petersburg, July 30, 1864.
In _Bridgewater in the Rebellion_, a book written and published by
Arthur Hooper, a member of Company K, it is related that after the
Battle of Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864, Conant was detailed with
others to bury the dead. The first one found was his son Lucius, a
private in the same company.
COPELAND, EZRA S., farmer; 27; single. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. He was a member of the Pioneer Corps. Died March 2, 1874.
COPELAND, JOHN, butcher; 43; married. Enlisted from West Bridgewater.
Lived on his farm in West Bridgewater and died there on June 3, 1904.
COUGHLIN, BARTHOLOMEW, laborer; 29; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Died in Bridgewater Mar. 12, 1871.
COUGHLIN, GEORGE T., farmer; 18; single. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Lives in Brockton; has carried on a real estate business
and is a special police officer.
CRAFTS, FRANCIS T., machinist; 21; single. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Has been a teacher and farmer; is a clerk in the office
of the Secretary of State, State House, Boston. Resides in Quincy,
Mass.
CUSHMAN, NEWELL F., carpenter; 38; married. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Enlisted and served in Company D, Fifty-eighth
Massachusetts Infantry. Is an inmate of the Soldiers Home, Togus,
Maine.
DAVENPORT, AUGUSTUS H., bootmaker; 21; married. Enlisted from North
Bridgewater. Lives in Brockton, Mass.
DAVENPORT, NATHANIEL M., shoemaker; 26; married. Enlisted from
North Bridgewater; also served as corporal in Company C, Sixtieth
Massachusetts Regiment, 100 days’ service. Proprietor of Hillside
Farm (hotel), Jefferson, N. H. Post office address, Standing, N. H.
DELANO, HENRY H., shoemaker; 22; single. Enlisted from Easton. Was at
home in Easton sick when the regiment was mustered out. Is a box and
trunkmaker. Lives at 226 B Washington St., Malden, Mass.
DYSON, WILLIAM A., shoemaker; 28; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Lived in East Bridgewater and was well known in all
nearby localities as a tin peddler. Died in East Bridgewater May 31,
1899.
ELLIS, WATERMAN J., shoemaker; 36; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Died in Pembroke, Mass., Apr. 3, 1891.
FRENCH, ALBERT W., moulder; 40; married. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. He was popularly known as “Old Hockomock” from the name
of the extensive meadows near his home in West Bridgewater. He was a
heavy and strong man and was a member of the Pioneer Corps. Died --.
FRENCH, GEORGE H., moulder; 18; single. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Died in West Bridgewater, Sept. 13, 1879.
FRYES, JAMES, laborer; 42; married. Enlisted from West Bridgewater.
Absent sick when the company was mustered out. Died --.
HANCOCK, ELIJAH, farmer; 42; married. Enlisted from West Bridgewater.
Was superintendent of the Town Farm in West Bridgewater for
twenty-five years, and also superintendent of the Town Farm of
Sandwich, Mass., for fifteen years. Died in Brockton, Mass., April 7,
1906.
HARDIN, LUTHER, shoemaker; 37; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Lived in East Bridgewater and died there Mar. 7, 1899.
HAYWARD, BEZA, 44; nailer; married. Enlisted from Bridgewater. He was
a farmer and died in West Bridgewater, Nov. 7, 1895.
HAYWARD, EDWIN, machinist; 22; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Died at Soldiers Home, Togus, Me., Nov. 21, 1900, and his remains
were sent to Bridgewater for interment.
HINSMAN, WILLIAM VAN BUREN, shoemaker; 43; married. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Was the company officers’ cook. Has lived mostly in
Boston since the war, serving as house agent and janitor. Present
address, 15 Pierce Street, Norfolk Downs, Quincy, Mass.
HOLMES, JOHN, shoemaker; 38; married. Enlisted from Bridgewater. He
was living in Bridgewater, in his own house, in July, 1905, but made
his home with a daughter in Whitman, Mass. He was the company cook,
and performed his duties as such to the entire satisfaction of the
company, and his cook house was always a model for the company cooks
of the regiment. Died in Bridgewater March 17, 1906, age eighty-one
years and five months.
HOOPER, ARTHUR, painter; 19; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Promoted Regimental Commissary Sergeant, Oct. 27, 1862. Enlisted and
served as Commissary Sergeant in Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Regiment
from Jan. 14, 1864, to June 14, 1865. Lives in Dorchester (Boston),
Mass. Clerk and director of John Carter & Co. (incorporated), dealers
in paper, 100 Federal St., Boston.
HOWARD, CYRUS S., shoemaker; 27; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Has lived in Easton; at present living in Middleboro,
Mass.
JONES, SAMUEL, farmer; 38; single. Enlisted from Middleboro. Died in
Newbern (in Foster Hospital), of measles, May 26, 1863. Buried at
Hillside Cemetery, Bridgewater.
KANE, JOHN, farmer; 21; single. Enlisted from West Bridgewater. Lives
in East Bridgewater.
KEITH, EDGAR D., shoemaker; 36; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Died Jan. 9, 1896, in Bridgewater.
KEITH, GEORGE T., civil engineer; 19; single. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Is a civil engineer living in Olean, N. Y. Member
American Society Civil Engineers. Is resident engineer Barge Canal,
Gates, Monroe County, N. Y.
KING, FRANCIS D., wheelwright; 39; married. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Kept a public stable in Bridgewater and was a deputy
sheriff. Died in Bridgewater, July 10, 1896.
KINGMAN, HOSEA, 19; student; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Was detailed on the Signal Corps and served thereon from Nov. 26,
1862, to June 25, 1863. Mr. Kingman was an eminent lawyer and was
easily the leader of the Plymouth County bar. He was a member of the
Metropolitan Sewerage Commission at the time of his death. Died in
Bridgewater, March 29, 1900.
A memorial tablet on the walls of the building of the Old Bridgewater
Historical Society in West Bridgewater, reads as follows: “Hosea
Kingman, Born in Bridgewater, April 11, 1843, enlisted in State
Volunteers, 1862; mustered out of service 1863; graduated at
Dartmouth College, 1864. Admitted to the bar 1866, appointed judge
1878. Died in Bridgewater, 1900. He inherited patriotism from his
ancestors and served his country in the field before his majority.
A faithful and devoted friend, a good citizen, affable, free in
manner and absorbed in his profession. He was a discreet and wise
counsellor, a powerful advocate with keen judgment. Towns, counties,
and states, sought his services.”
LACKEY, GEORGE A., painter; 23; married. Enlisted from Easton.
He also served as private in Company H, Seventh Massachusetts
Regiment, and as sergeant in Company D., Fifty-eighth Regiment. In
the Battle of Spottsylvania Court House, May 4, 1864, Sergeant Lackey
was severely wounded, losing his left leg. He was discharged for
disability March 11, 1865. Has lived in Easton since the war, was
representative in the Massachusetts Legislature in 1883, and has been
a member of the Board of Registration of Voters in Easton since 1884.
Is proprietor of a general store and janitor of school. Address,
South Easton, Mass.
LINCOLN, ISAAC H., shoemaker; 21; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. He was absent sick at East Bridgewater when the company
was mustered out. He also served in the band of the Twentieth
Massachusetts Regiment, and in the Fourth Heavy Artillery. Shoemaker
and carpenter; lives in East Bridgewater.
MARSHALL, ALBERT L., farmer; 19; single. Enlisted from North
Bridgewater; also served as private in Fourteenth Massachusetts
Battery from Feb. 27, 1864, to June 16, 1865. He is a patient in the
State Insane Asylum, Taunton, Mass.
MITCHELL, HENRY M., carpenter; 27; married. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Died in Oakland, California, June 13, 1904.
MORSE, LUTHER M., bootmaker; 26; married. Enlisted from North
Bridgewater. Died in Lynn, Mass., Oct. 13, 1894.
MURPHY, WILLIAM T., farmer; 19; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Also served in Company D, Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Infantry; was
taken prisoner in battle in front of Petersburg, July 30, 1864. Died
a prisoner of war at Danville, Va., Nov. 27, 1864.
NORTON, JOSEPH C., farmer; 43; married. Enlisted from Bridgewater. He
was the company fifer, also served as fifer in Company C, Fifty-sixth
Massachusetts Infantry, where his name is recorded as “Naughton.”
Died in Bridgewater, Aug. 3, 1887.
O’NEIL, JOHN, moulder; 27; single. Enlisted from West Bridgewater.
OSBORNE, ISAAC P., bootmaker; 37; married. Enlisted from North
Bridgewater. He was detailed in command of a gang of forty negroes
and built a blockhouse and numerous corduroy roads near Newbern.
Isaac, as he was always called, was a great dancer, and, with the
weight of eighty years, is still light enough on his feet to be the
envy of many a young man. Lives in Brockton, and has been a member of
the Common Council in that city.
PACKARD, BRADFORD, farmer; 44; married. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Lived and died on his farm in West Bridgewater. Died
Aug. 26, 1884.
PACKARD, JAMES H., bootmaker; 27; married. Enlisted from North
Bridgewater. Discharged for disability, March 12, 1863, and died in
North Bridgewater, June 23, 1863. His death occurred during the few
days’ interval between the arrival of the regiment in Massachusetts
and before it was mustered out. He was buried with military honors in
the Marshall’s Corner Cemetery.
PACKARD, NATHAN F., farmer; 24; single. Enlisted from North
Bridgewater. Lived in North Bridgewater, and died there of
consumption, Oct. 1, 1873.
PHELAN, GEORGE, bootmaker; 27; married. Enlisted from North
Bridgewater; died in Raynham, Mass., June 16, 1903.
QUIGLEY, PATRICK, laborer; 36; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. He also served in Company E, Fifty-eighth Regiment. Died
in East Bridgewater, June 30, 1894.
REED, JOHN N., boxmaker; 20; single. Enlisted from East Bridgewater.
Lives in Brockton and is employed in the insurance business.
REYNOLDS, JOSIAH E., shoemaker; 19; single. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Died in East Bridgewater of consumption, Oct. 4, 1879.
Also served in Company O, Sixtieth Regiment, 100 days.
REYNOLDS, ELISHA, laborer; 44; married. Enlisted from North
Bridgewater. Discharged for disability March 27, 1863. Died --.
RIPLEY, EDWARD H., moulder; 23; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Died in Soldiers Home in Togus, Me., June 5, 1905.
SAMPSON, EZRA F., shoemaker; 34; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Discharged for disability, May 9, 1863. Lives at East
Bridgewater; was a member of the “Pioneer Corps.”
SHARPE, EDWARD O., shoemaker; 34; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Died June 3, 1889, in East Bridgewater.
SHAW, ASA T., shoemaker; 29; married. Enlisted from West Bridgewater.
Also enlisted in Company B, Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, and died a
prisoner of war at Salisbury, N. C., Dec. 22, 1864.
SHAW, GEORGE T., shoemaker; 26; married. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Lives at Cocheset, in West Bridgewater. Is proprietor of
a grocery store.
SHIPMAN, JOHN, moulder; 34; single. Enlisted from West Bridgewater.
Shipman was the company armorer. The quality of the rifles furnished
were such as to make his office no sinecure, and a large amount of
work was necessary to put the arms in condition to be used at all. He
was, however, equal to the occasion, as he was a trained man, and, if
necessary, could make any part of a rifle. He enlisted in Company D,
Fifty-eighth Regiment, was wounded in both legs in the Battle of the
Wilderness, and was taken prisoner on May 12, 1864. He was a prisoner
in Andersonville and other prisons for six months and nineteen days,
and when exchanged weighed only eighty pounds. He was a large man and
his usual weight was 200 pounds. He died in West Bridgewater, Dec. 3,
1905.
SNELL, ISSACHER K., shoemaker; 22; married. Enlisted from Easton.
Discharged March 12, 1863, for disability. Lived in Brockton and
Boston, and died in Boston, Oct. 11, 1902; buried in Cocheset, West
Bridgewater.
STURTEVANT, DEXTER M., farmer; 39; married. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Absent sick when the company was mustered out. Honorably
discharged June 23, 1863. Lives in Bridgewater; has always been
a farmer there and has kept the grocery store at “Sturtevant’s
Corners,” Bridgewater. When the writer called on him in the last days
of June, 1905, he found him engaged in mowing with a scythe.
STURTEVANT, ZENAS W., shoemaker; 39; married. Enlisted from East
Bridgewater. Absent sick at East Bridgewater when the company was
mustered out. Lived in East Bridgewater, and died there Aug. 21, 1899.
TOWNSEND, JOHN P.; machinist; 26; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Was commissioned second lieutenant in Company D, Fifty-eighth
Massachusetts Infantry, Mar. 2, 1864; promoted first lieutenant, Aug.
8, 1864, and captain, May 3, 1865. Was taken prisoner in battle near
Poplar Spring Church, Sept. 30, 1864; was confined in Petersburg,
Libby Prison, Salisbury, N. C., and Danville, Va. Released Feb. 22,
1865; came home on furlough, returned to the regiment Apr. 9, 1865,
and was mustered out of the service July 18, 1865. Mr. Townsend is
foreman of a large machine shop and foundry in Bridgewater.
WASHBURN, JOHN M., shoemaker; 19; single. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Has been in business mostly in the west; now with the American Clock
Company, Chicago. Lives in Chicago; address, 2885 North 46th Street,
Jefferson Station.
WASHBURN, NATHAN H., stonecutter; 26; single. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Lives in Brockton, “Campello.” Has been employed in
various capacities in shoe factories since the war.
WASHBURN, SELDEN M., cutter; 26; single. Enlisted from West
Bridgewater. Has been employed in shoe factory. Died in Bridgewater,
Feb. 8, 1900.
WINSLOW, JOHN A., moulder; 27; married. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
Enlisted in Company D, Fifty-eighth Regiment. Arthur Hooper in
_Bridgewater in the Rebellion_ gives the following account of his
service: “Wounded in the head in the battle of Cold Harbor, June 3,
1864; returned to his regiment and served faithfully until he was
taken prisoner Sept. 30, 1864, in battle near Poplar Spring Church.
Was taken to Richmond, Va., and from there to Salisbury, N. C., where
he was confined about four months; returned to Richmond and was
released Feb. 22, 1865, and went to Annapolis, Md. Winslow was a man
six feet, four inches tall, and weighed 165 pounds at the time of
his capture, but was reduced to seventy-five pounds while in rebel
prisons. He remained at Annapolis about a month when he was able
to come home on a furlough where he remained until Apr. 9, 1865;
returning to his regiment he remained until the regiment was ordered
home and mustered out of service July 14, 1865, as corporal. He lived
in Bridgewater and died there on Apr. 11, 1887.”
WENTWORTH, HORACE, shoemaker; 45; married. Enlisted from Bridgewater.
He was John Holmes’s efficient assistant in the cook house. His two
sons, Horace E. and Lucian, were soldiers in the same company. Died
in Bridgewater, Mar. 3, 1896.
WENTWORTH, HORACE E., shoemaker; 19; single. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Died Sept. 11, 1876, in East Bridgewater.
WENTWORTH, LUCIAN T., shoemaker; 18; single. Enlisted from
Bridgewater. Died at Caspar, Wyoming, Feb. 8, 1904.
WILBUR, SHEPARD B., shoemaker; 22; single. Enlisted from North
Bridgewater. Died in Brockton, July 3, 1899.
WHITMAN, JOSEPH M., shoemaker; 22. Enlisted from West Bridgewater.
Lives in East Bridgewater. His was the last name shouted at roll
call, and as he was the shortest man in the company his post was on
the extreme left, the last in the ranks.