CHAPTER X.
Return to City Point—March to Richmond—From thence to Washington—Returning Homeward—Muster-out.
Now that the two principal armies of the Confederacy had surrendered to the Union forces, the ultimate end of the Rebellion was a foregone conclusion, and the thoughts of muster-out and return home became uppermost in all our minds. We enjoyed several days’ rest at Danville before a retrograde movement was made.
On the morning of the 2d of May, in conjunction with the First Brigade of the First Division of the Sixth Corps, we started on our return march, camping at night at Laurel Hill. The next day (3d) we marched twenty-one miles, crossing Banister River at nightfall and went into camp. On the 4th we marched as far as Staunton, and camped for the night on the banks of the river near the railroad. Here we observed an extensive line of rifle-pits which had been constructed by the Confederates to defend the bridge and the railway at this point. On the 5th crossed the Staunton River on pontoons, and moved to Keyes’s Station, arriving there about three o’clock in the afternoon. After a short stay here we marched a few miles further on, to obtain good water, and encamped about six P. M.
May 6th, we broke camp at 7.30 A. M., and arrived at Burkeville Station at two o’clock in the afternoon. After a brief halt we moved two miles beyond and encamped. We were informed that the War Department had ordered the discharge of all men in the army as soon as possible, with the exception of regular troops. We remained here several days.
On the morning of the 15th we were ordered to hitch up, marched to the station, and loaded our battery, comprising the pieces and limber chests on the train for City Point. On the 20th of May we left Burkeville Station at seven A. M., and marched toward City Point. On the 22d, the battery, with the Sixth Corps, arrived at City Point at three o’clock in the afternoon.
On the 23d of May the Army of the Potomac under Meade, with the exception of the Sixth Corps, passed in review before President Johnson and his cabinet in Washington. It was witnessed by thousands of spectators, and is said to have been grand and impressive. It occupied over six hours in passing the grand stand which had been erected in front of the President’s house.
On the morning of the 24th, Sherman’s army commenced at ten o’clock to pass in review. The appearance of this army was in striking contrast to that of the Army of the Potomac the day before. The latter troops had been operating where full supplies of food and clothing had been regularly received from the North, while Sherman’s army, being far from its base of supplies, were not so well dressed as their comrades of the Army of the Potomac, and were to a great extent compelled to obtain their food from the country through which they passed. Perhaps they did not keep the perfect alignment of the well drilled troops of the Army of the Potomac, but nevertheless the marching of the Western army could not be excelled, and it was thoroughly drilled to endure hardships, either by long and continuous marches or through exposure to any climate without the ordinary shelter of a camp.
On the 25th of May, we painted the battery preparatory to going on review with the Sixth Corps in Washington. May 27th, we marched from City Point at seven A. M., and camped for the night near the outskirts of the town of Manchester.
On the 28th, we marched through Manchester, crossing the James River on pontoons, and marching up the main street of Richmond which had been the objective point of the Army of the Potomac for so many long years, we passed through and encamped outside the city.
We observed in Richmond the devastation made by the recent conflagration. It was said by an eye witness that on the evacuation of the place by the rebel army that an order was issued from General Ewell’s headquarters to fire the four principal tobacco warehouses of the city. The mayor dispatched by a committee of citizens a remonstrance against this reckless military order, but it was not heeded, and nothing was left but to submit to the destruction of their property. The authorities had taken the precaution to empty all the liquor into the streets, and to throw out the provisions which the Confederate government had left for the people to gather up. Some of the retreating rebel soldiers managed to get hold of a quantity of liquor, and from that moment law and order ceased to exist. Many of the stores were pillaged, and the sidewalks were encumbered with broken glass where the thieves had smashed the windows in their reckless haste to lay hands on the plunder within. The air was filled with the wild cries of distress, or the yells of roving pillagers. When our forces entered the city on the morning of the 3rd of April, it was found to have been fired in two places, and the place was in the most utter confusion. Our troops immediately set to work to extinguish the flames, which they finally succeeded in accomplishing.
May 29th, we moved to Hanover Court House and encamped.
On the 30th, we left Hanover Court House at seven o’clock in the morning, crossed the Pamunkey River on pontoons, marched a short distance, and encamped for the night. At eight o’clock the next morning (31st) we crossed the Mattapony River, directed our march toward Bowling Green, and camped there for the night.
June 1st, found the battery marching toward Fredericksburg; on the 2d, we were at Dumfries; on the 3d, at Fairfax Court House; on the 4th, at Hall’s Hill. On the 7th, we reached Long Bridge at Washington, where we went into camp. On the 8th, the Sixth Corps, which was necessarily absent on the occasion of the great review of the Army of the Potomac on the 23d of May, now passed in review before the President. The troops made a fine appearance, and their marching and perfect alignment received favorable comments from the spectators along the route of march. Our battery was excused from participation in the review.
At ten o’clock on the morning of the 9th, an order came directing Captain Allen to march his battery to the Arsenal at Washington, and turn the guns and equipage over to the commanding officer there, and the horses were turned into the general corral. We returned to camp about four P. M. Private Franklin P. Burlingame came out to visit us, he having been on detached service in the adjutant-general’s office in the War Department since the fall of 1863, when our battery lay at Fort Scott.
June 12th still found our battery in camp near Long-Bridge. Private Earl Fenner, who was orderly at headquarters, imparted the joyful information to us about nightfall that our battery had been ordered to proceed to Washington on the following day, at noon, and take the cars for Providence, R. I. These glad tidings induced the men to strike up the familiar song:
“When Johnnie comes Marching Home!”
On the morning of the 13th, there was hurry and bustle in the various camps in our neighborhood. Preparations were being made to cross over Long Bridge into Washington, and from thence the different organizations would proceed on their homeward journey. At 12.30 we received orders to pack knapsacks, strike tents, and turn over all property belonging to the government to Quartermaster Sergeant Allen, and be ready to fall in at a moment’s notice. At two o’clock we bade adieu to old Virginia, and, marching into Washington, proceeded to the depot, and, at six P. M., boarded the train, with our faces toward the north, and our destination Rhode Island. While crossing the switch just out of Washington, a passenger train on the switch approached us from the opposite direction. There being but one track it should have waited on the upper end of the switch until our train had passed. The danger signal was up and could be seen a long distance, but instead of heeding the signal the passenger train from Baltimore came thundering along, and a frightful collision ensued. The locomotive of the passenger train struck our train in the centre, demolishing three cars, and resulted in the loss of thirty-four men killed and wounded. Ambulances from Washington were immediately dispatched to the scene, and removed the wounded.
Although none of Battery H were injured it was a sad sight to see our comrades of other commands after passing through all the dangers and vicissitudes of war, killed and mutilated in a railroad accident while returning to their homes. Comrade George F. Woodley, for many years since the war an honored citizen of Providence, was on board this train, and his escape from immediate death was almost miraculous. He was a member of Battery A, First New Jersey Artillery. He was sitting with a comrade on the top of a freight car, with a rubber blanket thrown over both of them as a protection from the rain. When the collision occurred his companion was instantly killed, while Comrade Woodley sustained a dislocation of the shoulder, besides receiving severe bruises. Just after midnight the track was cleared and we started on our way again.
At sunrise on the 14th, we arrived in Baltimore, marched, through the city, and embarked on the cars for Philadelphia. We arrived in that city about eleven A. M. After disembarking from the cars we received a royal welcome from the good people of this city while on our way to the famous Cooper Shop, so well known to every Union soldier who passed through Philadelphia on his way to and from the seat of war. Here we found a bountiful collation awaiting us. After partaking of this welcome repast we continued on our way, and about four o’clock in the afternoon took the train for New York, arriving there about dark, and quartered for the night in the barracks at Castle Garden.
At three o’clock on the afternoon of the 15th, we left Castle Garden and marched to the wharf of the Neptune line of steamers, and embarked on the propeller Galatea for Providence. We were accompanied by Battery G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. We left New York at five P. M., and arrived in Providence Friday morning, June 16th. A salute was fired in honor of our arrival, and, under escort of the Burnside Zouaves we marched to Washington Hall, where an elegant collation had been provided under the direction of the Commissary-General of the State. We were welcomed by Adjutant-General Edward C. Mauran, and then partook of the refreshments before us, after which we marched to the Silvey Barracks on the Cove lands, and were dismissed until the 28th of June, when we were ordered to report at the same place for final muster out. We were subsequently ordered to report on South Main Street, July 3d, where we received our discharge papers, and were paid off and mustered out of service.
The following officers and men returned to Rhode Island with the battery:
Captain.
Crawford Allen, Jr.
First Lieutenants.
Walter M. Knight,
Allen Hoar.
Second Lieutenant.
Anthony B. Horton.
First Sergeant.
John P. Campbell, 1st.
Quartermaster Sergeant.
Albert F. Allen.
Sergeants.
| First Duty Sergeant, | Thomas Smith. |
| Second Duty Sergeant, | Benjamin Carter. |
| Third Duty Sergeant, | Esek S. Owen. |
| Fourth Duty Sergeant, | Gardner L. Bennett. |
| Fifth Duty Sergeant, | Apollos Seekell. |
Corporals.
William H. Springer,
Job Randall,
Hurbert Ochee,
Michael Crogan,
Hiram A. Casey,
Marvin Ryan.
James H. Rhodes,
Franklin E. Paul,
Alexander Gilleland,
Earl Fenner,
Isaac Briggs,
John P. Campbell, 2d.
Buglers.
Frank Dawson,
Charles S. Stringer.
Artificers.
Samuel T. Allen,
Leon Allison.
Privates.
Adams, George A.
Alden, Warner
Alderwick, George
Arnold, Gideon W.
Arnold, Henry O.
Balcom, Orville
Barry, John
Barry, Michael
Barry, William
Bean, Asa S.
Begley, Michael
Bishop, John
Blabon, George R.
Briggs, Horace C.
Brown, Francis A.
Brown, William S.
Butterfield, Francis H.
Butts, Horace R.
Byrns, Bernard
Caswell, Joseph
Chapman, Cornelius
Cheever, Emolus A.
Cheney, Moses B.
Close, Solomon
Coffee, Daniel
Conner, Stephen H.
Cross, George G.
Cutting, Erastus
Dailey, Patrick
Dawley, Franklin W.
Dougherty, Charles
Dunn, Robert
Easterday, Christian
Ellison, Charles J.
Evans, John
Farrell, Patrick
Fox, Michael
Fox, Peter
Floyd, Horace F.
Freeborn, George W.
Gardner, Peter
Gilbert, William G.
Gladding, James M.
Goodrich, Sydney A.
Graham, Michael
Grey, John A.
Haradon, George W.
Hardon, Rufus P.
Hart, Thomas
Haskins, Amos H.
Hayfield, Isaac F.
Hayfield, James F.
Hazelton, Andrew
Heckman, David
Higgins, John
Hixon, William M.
Howard, Henry I.
Howard, William E.
Howe, Charles W.
Jack, Robert
Jackson, Rowland
Johnson, Edwin C.
Kennedy, John
Kettelle, John B. F.
Knowles, Henry L.
Laugherty, Robert
Lawton, Edward N.
Leonard, John
Lewis, John
Lillibridge, Jacob L.
Lucas, Albert B.
Mahon, Thomas
Martin, Thomas H.
McComb, William
McGuire, Bernard
Merrills, Henry
Messinger, George
Millard, Charles E.
Murphy, Daniel
Newman, John C.
Northrop, Edwin
Noyes, Isaac P.
O’Conners, Thomas
Packard, George W.
Pearsons, John
Phillips, Luther A.
Pitts, George H.
Price, Ellery W.
Rearey, James
Reed, William
Ryan, Cornelius
Sampson, John A.
Schanck, Aaron B.
Sheffield, Josiah
Smith, Frederick A.
Smith, George H.
Snell, Otis
Sprague, Charles
Stafford, Levi
Stone, William H.
Taber, Otis
Tasker, William H.
Taft, John
Thornley, William H.
Tood, James W.
Tongue, Eben
Tweedale, Charles
Tweedle, William B.
Vallette, Gilbert P.
Vaughn, Albert A.
Vaughn, Charles D.
Venner, John F.
Vincent, Charles
Wade, James
Walden, Joseph, Jr.
Ward, John
Wells, Albert
White, William H.
Wood, James
Woodward, Alden H.
As has already been mentioned Battery H was the last battery sent out from Rhode Island, and it labored under many disadvantages. It suffered severely by the desertion of men who enlisted solely for the bounty obtained, and many incurred physical disability incident to the service, causing their transfer to the Veteran Reserve Corps. All these circumstances contributed to weaken the battery for effective work, and we were unable to show such a long and honorable record as the majority of our Rhode Island batteries won on many hotly contested fields, yet every true soldier of our battery may take pride in the consciousness that he faithfully performed every duty and task assigned him, and that his name is recorded on the rolls as among those who risked their lives in the defense of constitutional liberty in the dark hours of the nation’s peril, and although ours may have been the humbler service, yet we stood ready to offer our all for home and fatherland.