NIMS' BATTERY ASSOCIATION
After over three years of association in camp and field the ties of comradeship among the members of the battery were too strong to be ignored and the mustering out of the original members had hardly severed the official bond than preparations were begun for the formation of an organization to be known as Nims' Battery Association. On December 10, 1864, a meeting was called at the Webster House, at which time this association was organized and officers elected.
The preamble to the constitution as given in the first secretary's book is as follows:
"Associated as we have been together for the past three years both in camp and on the field of battle, bound together by more than brotherly ties, we should feel grateful for our safe return and proud to know that we once constituted a battery that knew no superior in style or action.
"Therefore we the undersigned do organize an association for our mutual benefit and do hereby adopt the following rules and regulations to secure good order and to determine our rights, duties and privileges as members of said association."
The officers chosen at this time were: President, Henry E. Brown; Vice-President, George E. Ham; Secretary, P. J. Mayer; Treasurer, William D. Butts.
As the vice-president and secretary declined to serve, these offices were filled at a subsequent meeting by the election of C. B. Maxwell, Vice-President; J. S. Knowlton, Secretary.
It was voted that regular meetings should be held monthly and the place of meeting was to be at Evans Hall, Tremont Row.
The early records of the association give only a hint of the life of the organization, but we will indicate a few incidents that may be of interest to the surviving members.
On March 27, 1865, we find that the battery attended as a body the grand mass meeting of the Veterans' Union held in Tremont Temple, while on June 1 at a grand procession in Boston it appeared on parade with badges and drum corps and bearing the colors carried by them during the war. A letter from Captain Nims, who was then in New Orleans, in reply to a request for the colors is incorporated in the records and may well be quoted here.
"Your note dated April 4 came to hand yesterday morning requesting the loan of the company colors on all important occasions, once the colors borne by the noble old 2d Massachusetts Battery which I am ever proud to call mine. In answer I will say that it gives me great pleasure through the representative of the association to tender the use of the colors on all important occasions. Knowing well the past conduct of the members of the association, I have no fear for the care and protection of the colors while under their charge. Wishing all prosperity and happiness I subscribe myself
"Respectfully your humble servant,
"O. F. Nims."
Although few fatalities occurred on the field or in camp among the members of the battery, the first year at home brought death to some of the number, among whom were Comrade J. C. Tate, who died on April 16, 1865, and Comrade Charles W. Green, who died on June 25 of the same year. In both instances the battery paid the last sad honors to its former comrades and in one case gave material aid as well. We also find under the date August 6, 1866 resolutions on the death of A. Barsantee, another one of the boys.
The first social event in the history of the association was a grand ball held about the first of March, 1865. Other balls followed, and indeed they seem to have become annual affairs kept up for some time; for in a newspaper clipping we read: "The seventh annual ball of Nims' Battery Association took place last evening at Boylston Hall. As the members of this association bear an enviable reputation in matters of this kind the hall was filled with a very good humored and sociable company.... These balls always afford a good opportunity for old comrades to meet and enjoy social intercourse and pleasant reminiscences."
As time went on and other duties and interests became more imperative, the monthly meeting at Evans Hall was no longer deemed advisable and Colonel Nims kindly tendered the use of a room at 80 Cambridge Street, where the association property could be kept and meetings held. This offer was accepted and the change made on July 15, 1867.
We have no records as to where and when the first annual banquet took place. We find, however, an interesting account of the fourth annual banquet taken from the Boston Journal, undated, which is as follows:
"The fourth annual reunion of the Nims' Battery Association was held last evening in the parlors of the American House. About 40 members were present, most of them men who went out at the first and stayed at the post till the battery was mustered out of service. General William Schouler was the invited guest on this occasion.
"After an hour's social intercourse the meeting was called to order by the President, Col. O. F. Nims.
"The committee appointed to consider the matter of the preparation of the history of the battery reported that little progress had been made. Some material had been collected but more funds were needed. The matter was discussed quite freely, with the prevailing opinion that the work should be completed and published.... After dinner was served, General Schouler was called upon and said he was glad to meet Colonel Nims and his old command and would only say what was said of them when at the front that this battery was one of the best, if not the best, that went from Massachusetts.... The regular toasts were then announced."
Our Country—response by Mr. Thomas Knights who sang America.
Massachusetts—response by Captain Marland.
Nims' Battery—response letter from Col. H. E. Paine, etc.
Another interesting meeting was held on December 12, 1879. "It was the first gathering of the old organization which had occurred for five years and fully 40 members were present accompanied by several of the 13th Battery. The early part of the evening was spent in social intercourse, singing of songs, and the election of officers. The after dinner exercises included speeches, reminiscences of camp life and interesting facts concerning the association since the close of the war. Letters of regret were received from many prominent members of the old battery and from Col. H. E. Paine of the 4th Wisconsin Regiment."
Other notable occasions were the reunion at the home of Comrade John G. Dimick, Worcester, where the hospitality of the host and his wife made the meeting especially delightful, and the 25th anniversary in 1890 when nearly fifty of the boys together with Generals Dudley and Kimball and Past Deputy Commander Billings as guests gathered at the call of the bugler to a feast of good things and an evening of fellowship and army stories.
In 1888 the Nims' Battery Ladies' Social Club was organized and since that date has held its meetings annually at the time of the battery reunion. Its members are the mothers, wives, and daughters or indeed any relative of the men of the battery and its purpose is not solely social but mutually helpful as well. It aims to visit the sick among the members, to give material aid if necessary and in any way possible assist the organization to which it is auxiliary.
The annual reunions were at first held on February 22, but in recent years this date has been changed to April 19.
As the years have passed the grim reaper Death has appeared more and more often and the ranks have gradually thinned until in 1912 only 14 of the regular members were present at the annual reunion.
To those who remain, however, the memories and associations of more than a half century ago are still precious, and form a bond which will be broken only when life itself shall cease.
LIFE OF COL. ORMAND F. NIMS
A history of the 2d Massachusetts Light Artillery will hardly be regarded as complete unless it contains a sketch of the life of its commander, Capt. Ormand F. Nims.[[18]]
From the time of the early settlement of America down to the last war in which the United States has been engaged, the Nims family has participated in the offensive and defensive campaigns of the country save only in the war with Mexico. Indeed it may truly be said that the commander of Nims' Battery came of good fighting stock. The family of Nims is descended from the old Huguenots of France, coming from that part of the country where is situated the city Nismes, from which is derived the family name de Nismes, or as it is now written Nims. Godefroi de Nismes, or as known here, Godfrey Nims came to this country in the 17th century, the first mention of his name being found in the records of Northampton under the date September 4, 1667. He was in Turner's Fight, May 18, 1676 and was a soldier in King Philip's War. He was twice married. His first wife was Mary, daughter of William Miller and widow of Zebadiah Williams. His second wife was Mehitabel, daughter of William Smead and widow of Jeremiah Hall. He had six children by his first wife and five by the second. Rebecca (died young), Rebecca, John, Henry, Thankful, Ebenezer, Thomas, Mehitabel, Mary, Mercy and Abigail. The family of Godfrey Nims were victims of that terrible Indian tragedy which resulted in the destruction of Deerfield, Mass., to which place Mr. Nims had moved in 1686. This calamity occurred February 29, 1704. On that fatal day, Mrs. Nims was captured and was slain on the way to Canada. Her dwelling was destroyed by fire. The eldest surviving daughter, then Mrs. Mattoon, was slain, together with an only child, Henry; the eldest son was captured and slain. Ebenezer, the second son, was captured and carried to Canada. Mehitabel, Mary and Mercy were burned with the house. Abigail, the youngest was captured at the age of four years and carried to Canada, where she married another captive, Josiah Rising, then christened Ignace Raizeune, received a permanent home, and a large domain.
It does not appear that Godfrey Nims was captured at this time. The suggestion has been made that he was with a military company elsewhere. An inventory of his estate was taken at Deerfield, March 12, 1704, or 5, the presumption being that he had died there just previously.
Ebenezer and John were the two surviving sons of Godfrey. John has many descendants in Michigan and other parts of the West. Ebenezer was carried to Canada as was also another captive, Sarah Hoyt. These two were married in Canada and had there one son also named Ebenezer. They were redeemed by Stoddard and Williams with difficulty in 1814 and returned to Deerfield, where four more sons were born, David, Moses, Elisha, Amasa. David, son of Ebenezer, was born at Deerfield, March 30, 1716 and died in Keene, July 21, 1803. He came to Keene while a boy and was appointed scribe by the proprietors July 25, 1737. At the first town meeting after the town was chartered by New Hampshire which was held May 2, 1753, he was elected first town clerk and after that held some town office nearly every year till 1776. In 1740, he was granted 10 acres of upland in Keene, for hazarding his life and estate by living in the place to promote the settlement of the township. Still later he was granted 104 acres in that part of Keene, which is now in the town of Roxbury. This estate is at present occupied by David Brigham Nims, his great great-grandson. He had ten children one of whom Asahel fell at the battle of Bunker Hill. "On the morning when Captain Wyman and his men left Keene for Massachusetts, Asahel came into town from his home on the Sullivan Hills where he was clearing land and getting ready to settle with one whom he hoped soon to marry. He saw the military movement and was fired with that spirit of military and patriotic fervor which has been such a characteristic of the Nims family. One fellow who had enlisted did not have the courage to start. Asahel consented to take that fellow's place and lost his life in his first battle. He was buried on the battlefield and his name is recorded on one of the gates of Bunker Hill Park."
Zadok, another son and the grandfather of Col. Ormand Nims fought at Lake Champlain, and it is a tradition concerning him that at this time he became so exhausted that his commander and comrades believed him dead. They were preparing his body for burial, when to their delighted surprise he came to his senses and afterward fully recovered.
Col. Ormand F. Nims was born in Sullivan, N. H., August 30, 1819, his father, Philander Nims, being a farmer in that vicinity and his mother, the daughter of Col. Solomon White of Uxbridge, Mass.
Colonel White served seven years in the War for Independence and later commanded a Massachusetts regiment at the head of which he marched to Worcester at the time of Shay's Rebellion. An uncle, Frederick Nims, served during the War of 1812 performing creditable military service.
Ormand Nims was twenty-three years old when he left the farm in Sullivan and came to Boston, where in 1854 he bought a drug store on Cambridge Street and set up in business for himself. His first taste of a military career had been when, a boy of fifteen, he had joined the Sullivan Militia commanded by his brother. In 1853 he with his two brothers joined the Lancers and this branch of the militia of Massachusetts had no more ardent members than these three young men from New Hampshire.
It happened that about this time General Sherman's Battery of United States artillery came to Boston from Newport for the purpose of giving an exhibition in encampment, parade, and drill on Boston Common. Young Nims saw the drill and was delighted; after this nothing would do for him but the artillery.
Early in 1854 he enlisted in a new battery raised under command of Capt. Moses G. Cobb, and was made first sergeant on the night of his enlistment. After three years of service, he was made fourth lieutenant and later received command of the battery. During his term of command he made this battery famous for its efficiency and perfect organization.
"I resigned from my command in 1860," said Colonel Nims in an interview some years since, "and my last appearance with it, my last parade in fact, was on the occasion of the review on Boston Common by the Prince of Wales, the late King Edward, who was on a visit to America."
Then came the Civil War. The battery with which Colonel Nims had been connected was among the first to volunteer and although he was not a member he rendered efficient aid in equipping and drilling the men, accompanying them as far as New York when they started on active service. Just as he took the train, a prominent official said to him, "Nims, we will have six guns ready for you when you return."
The organization of the 2d Massachusetts and its service in the field has already been recorded in the pages of this book and this naturally includes the military career of its captain.
A few quotations may serve to show the more personal side of Colonel Nims and the relations existing between the commander and his men.
The following extract is from a letter written by an officer while at Franklin, La. "Captain Nims is the hardest working officer I ever saw, always looking out for the interests of the battery and the men. Hardly ever in his quarters, nothing escapes his observation. He is a man of strict probity and has none of the minor vices, always reliable and reminds one of the hero Garibaldi. Although proud of his battery and its reputation, and pleased at anything written or said in its praise, he thoroughly detests personal flattery and indeed I would not venture to say this much to him for my commission."
A quotation from the Boston Transcript at the close of the war: "It is a remarkable fact that during the three and a half years that Captain Nims commanded the 2d Battery, punishment was to its members almost unknown. Splendid discipline was maintained solely by esprit de corps and by the respect and affection entertained for the commander on one hand and by the fatherly care and solicitude always exhibited by Captain Nims for his men under all circumstances. The slight mortality by disease in this battery is attributed by the members to the efficiency of their leader."
Some years after the war a niece of Colonel Nims was visiting in the South and dined at the home of a former Confederate captain. She was told that at one time during the war, orders were given to the Confederate officers to kill Captain Nims at any cost as his battery was inflicting so much damage upon their forces.
After the discharge of the original Nims' Battery at the end of three years, Captain Nims immediately secured enough enlistments for another battery and at once returned to New Orleans. But an injury to his ankle received while he was at home to muster out his men, and the fact that most of his boys were no longer with him led him to resign his commission and accept a position in the Chief Quarter-Master's department at New Orleans, where he remained till after the close of the war. After peace had been fully restored and the work of reconstruction had been begun, Captain Nims returned to Boston and bought back the little drug store he had left at the beginning of the war, where he remained for nearly a half century until at the age of ninety he retired from business, in 1910. After the return of peace the attention of the government was directed to Captain Nims' services and on March 13, 1865, by special enactment of the Senate he received the titles of "Brevet Major—Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel—and Brevet Colonel, for gallant and meritorious service during the war," thus explaining the title Colonel Nims.
After leaving the army, Colonel Nims took almost no part in military or political affairs—except in connection with Nims' Battery Association and for a short time serving as commander of Post 7, G.A.R. He was also a member of the Loyal Legion. He would never accept a pension. To quote his own words on the subject, "I don't want a pension. It doesn't seem right to me that a man should be paid by the Federal government simply because he was in the army. I served my country to the best of my ability and I don't want any pay for it either. If one were incapacitated for earning a living that would be a different matter."
During the half century that Colonel Nims maintained his drug store at the West End he saw many changes in that neighborhood. Someone has said that he served the poor and needy from his little store as faithfully as he ever served his country in the days of the war. Everyone in that section regarded him as a friend and helper, and he was always ready to give aid to those who needed it. He made it a practice to give away one prescription at least, every day. If the families of any of his men were in need, it was his delight to care for and assist them.
Colonel Nims died at his home, 42 Blossom Street, on May 23, 1911, at the age of 91 years. His funeral was held at Trinity Church on May 25 and was attended by the remaining members of the battery and by members of the Loyal Legion together with many friends who honored and loved him. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.
A Christian patriot and soldier.