GETTYSBURG
The Visit of
Worcester
County
Veterans
Dedication of its Monuments
An Oration by Gen. Devens
Impressive Speeches By Hon. W. W. Rice, Gen. Sprague and
Others
[Special Dispatch to The Gazette]
New York
, June 1.---Last evening a large crowd gathered
at the depot to witness the departure of the Gettysburg Excursion
party which included 150 persons.
Additions were made as was expected to this number, at the
different stations along the route, until on our arrival in
New York
the party numbered 200. Nearly
one-half of this number were veterans of the 15th
regiment.
The guests of the regiment and its members were supplied with
silk badges. The
veterans wore a blue silk badge and the guests crimson.
Each had a clover leaf the insignia of the army corps to
which the 15th was attached.
The inscription was “15th Regiment
excursion---Gettysburg, Antietam, Ball’s Bluff,
Washington---1886” The
first stop after leaving the city was at Webster where a large crowd
had assembled with a brass band which played ‘Auld Lang Sine.”
Among the party were
Gen. Charles Devens of
Worcester
; Gen. A. B. Sprague, Gen. J. W. Kimball, wife and daughter of
Fitchburg
,
Hon. W. W. Rice, Capt. D. M. Earle and wife of
Worcester
;
Cutler Moore and wife of Warren
;
H. T. Dudley and wife of Wilkersonville;
W. H. Anderson of
Worcester
;
C. M. Palmer of
Westminster
;
E. P. Morton of Webster;
Mrs. Geo. H. Ward, widow of Col. Ward,
Geo. W. Ward and wife of Worcester;
Capt. Amos Bartlett of Webster;
George W. Mirick of Worcester;
E. J. Humphries, and R. E. Bowen,
Fred J. Bowen of Millbury.
Geo. K. Nichols and wife of North Grafton,
C. B. Newhall and wife of Worcester,
Frank A.
Holbrook,
F. A. Dodge of Saundersville,
R. R. Dodge of
Wilkinsonville,
Geo. J. Dudley and wife of Sutton;
A. E. Houghton of
Wilkinsonville;
W. W. Holman, F. F. Ball, B. F. Stone, H. S. Poland,
C. T. Stearns, G. N. Goodspeed, D. H. Pepper of Winchendon;
G. F.
Stevens of Springfield;
O. Fairbanks of Worcester;
Wm. Barret of
Berlin;
Newton Talbot of Boston;
Joseph Shambo of Wilkinsonville;
W.
J. Coulter of Clinton of Clinton;
F. G. Sargent of Grantville;
Lucius Field of 36th regiment of Clinton;
F. E. Nourse of
Holyoke;
Charles A. Watson of Northampton, N. H.;
O. A. Laythe of
Sterling;
G. W. Laythe
of Clinton;
W. H. Shumway of Worcester;
G. E. Shumway of Brookfield;
Andrew B. Garfield of Millbury;
B. A. Leonard, L. S. Amidown, Col.
C. H. Page, Hon. A. G. Bartholemew of Southbridge;
Samuel L. Pevear
of Hampton Falls, N. H.;
A. M. Eaton, Sibley Putnam, B. P. Lord,
Sergt. P. F. Murray, Benj. Stevens, P. A. Thompson, A. S. Sawyer of
Worcester;
Augustus Renrick of Hyde Park;
E. B. Hudson of Grafton;
Cyrus Gale of Northborough;
C. H. Newton of Fitchburg;
P. S. Newton
of Royalston;
Albert
Davis of Upton;
M. H. Montague, Osborne Walker; H. B. Bartlett, A.
H. Foster, J. H. Lombard, J. C. Converse, Calvin G. Bliss, Lucien E.
Bliss, C. H. Bartlett of North Brookfield;
S. N. Wheeler, Benjamin
Shattuck, J. H. Carpenter, Lyman Patch and wife, Col? E. P. Loring,
Henry A. Willis, C. A. Corey, M. L. Sheldon, W. A. Hardy, Capt. A.
A. Gibson, H. Bailey of Fitchburg;
C. R. Frazier, Henry Greenwood
Dr. J. B. Brigham, H. J. Raymond of Clinton,
Charles F. Morey of
Leominster;
S. Doane of Boston;
L. H. Rockwood of South Weymouth;
J. J. Kendall of East
Plympton;
M. E. Chandler, C.
F. Chandler of Boston;
E. S. Kendall of Westminster;
B. F. Clark and
wife of Conway N. H.;
Geo. H. Eagan of Boston;
A. C. Willard of
Charlton;
G. S. Gilchrist and wife of Lunenburg;
J. L. Frost of
Belmont;
Col. J. M. Studley of Providence;
Col. Chase Philbrick of
Lawrence;
Matthew Seymour of Danielsonville, Conn.;
Wm. R. Warren of
Fall River;
C. A. Tenny of Sterling;
Orlando McIntire of Sutton;
C.
E. Southwick, O. Southwick, of Hardwick;
Capt. B. B. Vassal, C. R.
Wiswall of Newton;
W. R.
Dimond of West Newton;
Henry Rusock of Webster;
Postmaster T. A.
Hills of Leominster;
G. W. Rockwood of Northborough;
Lieut. F. W.
Pally of Leominster;
Greenleaf Parker of Boston;
Albert Everett of
Worcester;
J. H. Lawrence of Lunenburg and George M. Rice 2d of
Worcester.
The party was
provided with special cars and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
We arrived at
New London
on time and found that staterooms had been reserved for us through
the kindness of Conductor E. M. Turner, who looked well after our
wants. We arrived at New York
early this morning but preferred a few quiet hours before going
ashore.
Gettysburg
,
Pa.
, June 2.---The Worcester County party reached here last evening
in good time and in good health, having had a pleasant trip from
Philadelphia
. Early this morning the
party took carriages and visited the several principal places of
interest, including Cemetery Hill, Culp’s Hill, Spangler’s
Spring, the National Cemetery, Cemetery Ridge, ect, and the “Copse
of Tree’s” where the 15th Mass. Regiment is located,
and the Col. Ward Monument. At
every point there were reminiscences of the great battle, as one
after another of the veterans recognized familiar locations.
At the 15th
Regiment
Monument
, formal dedicatory exercises were held.
Capt. D. M. Earle of Worcester, chairman of the committee,
presided. reverend C. M.
Palmer of
Westminster
,
Mass.
, officiated as chaplain and made the opening prayer, after which
Gen. Charles Devens delivered the oration, speaking as follows:
[Oration by Gen. Devens]
Comrades
and Friends: We have met at a
distance from our home on a great field rendered immortal
forever by the victory won here for the Union of these
states and for the great principle of liberty and equality
on which that heroism must live or else have no life, to
dedicate this monument to the memory of those of the 15th
Massachusetts Regiment, who fell in that terrible conflict.
If such be the
immediate object of this monument, it has also a wider scope
as in a large sense it commemorates all the brave men who
nobly gave or bravely offered their lives and testifies to
our own devotion to, and faith in the great cause which
demanded this solemn sacrifice.
Our gathering is in no sense ceremonial; yet simple
and informal as they may be, we must willingly speak as we
stand above these glorious graves some words that shall
express however inadequately the gratitude we bear those men
for their priceless service and the love and honor in which
we cherish their memory.
So rapidly do the
years move that in the near future the language of impartial
history shall speak in the solemn and unanswered tones
in which it has recorded its judgment upon brave men
and heroic souls long gone before us in the ages past.
But, although 23 years are gone since these hills
rang with the echoes of the dead artillery and these fields
almost shook with the tramp of contending armies, to us,
then, men must ever be what they were that day, brothers and
comrades, husbands, lovers, fathers and sons, every thing
that makes life sweet and beautiful gathers and entwines
itself around their memory.
The 15th
Regiment mustered into the service in July, 1861, in
Worcester
, was the first of six regiments which were organized in
that city for the suppression of the rebellion.
It was composed of
Worcester
County
men almost entirely, and was the offering of ten towns in
that county whose names in familiar conversation the
companies frequently bore to the last in the regiment as
well as the letters which were their proper designation.
I name them in the alphabetical order of their
designation: A, Leominster; B, Fitchburg; C, Clinton; D,
Worcester; E, Oxford; F, Brookfield; G, Grafton; H,
Northbridge; I, Webster; K, Blackstone.
It was the only one of the regiments organized in the
County
of
Worcester
that participated in the battle of
Gettysburg
; although all others were doing on other parts of the field
reliable and faithful service.
The battle of
Gettysburg
indicates the high water mark of the rebellion.
Although many great battles were to be fought
thereafter, many trials endured, many disasters encountered,
yet the culminating battle was here and it was here that the
tide was turned. If
the so called confederacy could establish itself firmly on
the soil of one of the northern states it would indicate to
Europe
that the civil war was something more than a local one of
vast rebellion and might perhaps gain for it an admission
into the family of nations by them who were covertly
supporting it.
Vicksburg
was not yet taken. It
could not be wrenched from the grasp of the iron hands which
held it, but the blow might be parried if a victory could be
won for the rebellion upon northern soil.
Whatever were the motives and hopes which induced the
invasion of
Pennsylvania
by general Lee, here they were seen to come to naught and
were utterly blasted.
In view, it may
fairly be presumed, in consequence of this great victory, of
the fact that it was upon the soil of one of the free states
and that this field is an appropriate memorial of the whole
war, the state of Massachusetts on March 25th,
1884, appropriated to each of its regiments or batteries
here engaged a sufficient sum for a suitable monument to be
erected on the battle field.
The work of the artist is before us and that if
simple it is yet graceful and appropriate, will be conceded.
No state has proved more tenderly regardful of the
children whom she sent forth to battle than our own
Massachusetts
.
No troops ever went
forth more carefully prepared, clothed and equipped than
those who were sent out under her war Governor, John A.
Andrew, whose name is never to be mentioned but with love
and respect. Never
were men watched over with more affectionate regard through
those stormy days of trial.
Since the war has closed no state has been more
generous in supplementing the national bounty in behalf of
our sick and wounded, our decayed and broken men.
It is to her that we owe the means of erecting this
tribute to our fallen comrades, and for this we render to
her today our grateful and cordial thanks.
I shall not
undertake here, my comrades, at any length, to relate the
deeds of the 15th
Massachusetts
, or fully to describe this great battle in which it bore so
creditable a part. The
merest sketch must suffice.
Before this conflict the regiment had won for itself
an honorable, I might safely say an illustrious name among
the foremost and best disciplined regiments of the army.
There is a point with the bravest where organization
looses its power, where losses are so severe and men so
utterly broken that discipline fails and can do nothing
more, and yet twice in its history it had lost more than
half its men and still unflinchingly it had drawn off the
remnant of its men resolutely and in good order.
At its first battle,
that of Ball’s Bluff, unfortunate though the day was, it
had established a reputation for valor and for determined
staying power which it never forfeited or lost, but that
reputation had been won at the expense of many, noble brave
lives. It was in
this engagement that General Ward, then Lieut..-
Col.
, was severely wounded.
He was destined afterward, bravely to lose his life
on this field and the dedication of his monument will be a
part of our solemn office today.
The Regiment made a
campaign in February, 1862, in the
valley
of
Virginia
and then joined the forces of McClellan on the
Peninsula
. At
Yorktown
, having been assigned to the command of a brigade by
promotion, my own immediate connection with the regiment
ceased and Colonel Ward being utterly disabled the active
command passed for the time, to the always brave and
reliable Colonel Kimball.
It participated in all the conflicts of this
Peninsula
. I have re-read
the reports of Generals Gorman, Sully, Howard, and Sedgewick.
In different forms of expression each of those
generals has said that better and braver troops no man ever
led.
It was in the same
division with the 19th and 20th, who,
it is just to say received similar recommendations.
My own words are of little importance compared with
those, but in a report made by myself to Gov. Andrew,
Dec. 20, 1862
, principally as to the 7th, 10th and
37th Regiments of Mass., then in my brigade.
I spoke of the 15th in language which I
believe as firmly now as when I wrote it: “Called upon,”
I said, “both at Ball’s Bluff and at
Antietam
when it was commanded by
Lieut.
Col.
(now Colonel Kimball), to endure the terrific loss of more
than one half of its men engaged, it exhibited a courage and
fidelity more than worthy of veteran troops, for it was
worthy of the holy cause which had drawn its men from their
peaceful homes.”
At
Antietam
when I was moving up with my Brigade on the morning after
the principal battle, anticipating its renewal, my orderly
George W. Mirick said to me “Gen. Sedgwick is wounded,
lying in a hut near the road.”
I jumped off my horse and ran in for a moment.
After speaking of his wound, which although it
disabled him for the time, was nor severe, Gen. Sedgwick
said to me “your old 15th was magnificent
yesterday, no regiment of the regular army ever fought
better.” I
thought he might well say this, when at a later period I
learned that it had carried 606 officers and men into the
battle and that its list of casualties was 322 men, all 24
of whom but were accounted for by name as killed on the
field or wounded. It
certainly was a sufficient complement when he says in his
report that its “conduct was not different from what it
was on other occasions.”
The disastrous battle of
Fredericksburg
followed Antietam, and was followed by the no less
unfortunate battle
of
Chancellorsville
. In both these
engagements the 15th had a part worthy always of
its reputation.
It
can not be denied that their expect was to depress the
North, and the hope to take advantage of that depression was
included in the campaign that Gen. Lee now inaugurated.
When the design of Gen. Lee was unmasked Gen. Hooker
acted with great vigor, crossing the
Potomac
only one day later, and moving so rapidly as to threaten
Lee’s communications, and interpose between him and his
cavalry. As
celerity of movement was now of the highest importance it is
worthy to note that the 15th, together with the 19th
Mass.
, received the compliment of a special complementary order
for its vigorous and compact marching on the day when Gen.
Hooker crossed the river in pursuit.
At
Frederick
, in
Maryland
, Gen. Hooker was relieved from command, and Gen. Meade
substituted, but the Potomac Army advanced so vigorously
that Lee fell back from the Susquehanna, anxious lest his
line of retreat should be barred.
The first encounter took place to the north, west of
Gettysburg, the battle being opened by Beaufords cavalry,
the 1st and 11th Corps on our side
being the only corps engaged, outnumber by the enemy, they
were forced back to the crest on which we are standing.
The 15th Regiment, whose fortunes we
desire more immediately to follow, was in the 2d Corps,
Hancock’s, and proudly they were all entitled to wear the
cloverleaf, which is its badge, for the good work in those
days. Its
division commander was Gen. John Gibbon, and Col. Ward was
acting temporary brigade commander of the First Brigade, in
which it served. Gen.
Hancock, who without troops, had been sent forward to
Gettysburg, had reported that the ground was favorable for a
battle; that it could be held until nightfall, and orders
had been at once issued for the concentration of the army at
Gettysburg.
The 15th
on the night of July 1st, bivouacked about three
miles from the field, and moved forward on the morning of
July 2d, with the rest of the 2d Corps at daybreak, reaching
the field about
7 o’clock
. The other
brigades of the division were in line.
The First Brigade was formed in the undulation or
hollow behind the line of
the regimental monument, so that it might be readily
moved to the aid of other parts of the line in column of
regiments. Col.
Ward who had been relieved by the arrival of the brigade
commander, now took command of the regiment
He spoke briefly but spiritedly to the men, urged
them to do their duty and told them of the momentous issues
involved in their holding the ground firmly.
It was not until
about
4 o’clock
that serious conflict took place by a terrific attack upon
the left of the 3d Corps which had been thrown
forward to a more advanced position on the
Emmetsburg Road
, which ran diagonally to the front of our general line.
The line of the 3d Corps, commanded by Gen.
Sickel’s extended
along that road by the Peach Orchard, then turning back to
the foot of Round Top, its right resting on the Emmitsburg
Road in echelon, some 550 yards in advance of the line of
the 2d Corps. To
protect his own left and the right of Gen. Sickel’s Corps,
and to fill the gap, Gen. Hancock ordered two regiments to
be advanced to the
Emmitsburg Road north
of the Cadori House. The
15th
Massachusetts
, Col. Ward, and 82d
New York
, Lieut. Col. Huston, were ordered to move forward, which
they immediately did, forming along the road, the 15th
being on the right and the 82d on the left.
This line did not immediately connect with the
extreme right of the 3d Corps, but was some 200 yards from
it, nor with the extreme left of the 2d Corps but was
partially in front of it.
The attack which had
commenced at the extreme
left of the 3d Corps and at the Peach Orchid,
gradually extended to its right until the whole line of the
corps was engaged. It
was nearly
seven o’clock
in the evening when the storm fell upon the 15th
and 82d
New York
. the extreme
right of the 3d Corps was now attacked by Barkdale’s ,
Wilson’s and Perry’s Confederate Brigades and forced
gradually back, thus uncovering the left of the line of the
two regiments whose action we are following Wrights Georgia
Brigade now advanced and would have struck or swept around
the right flank of the 3d Corps but that it was encountered
by these regiments.
The engagement was
desperate, from their advanced position the two regiments
were to some extent under the fire of our own men as
much as that of the enemy.
The 82d whose left was now wholly uncovered was first
forced back, and the whole weight of the assault fell upon
the 15th. It
was necessary to retire to the line of the 2d Corps, and
thither? fought its way back.
But
the two regiments had done their work well in protecting the
flank of their own corps, for as the enemy followed closely
they were handsomely repulsed by then second Brigade of
their Division, and by a portion of the 13th
Vermont
, which had just reached that part of the field.
In this fearful conflict we had to mourn the loss of
many brave officers and men, among them Col. Ward, who
gallantly fighting as his regiment steadily retreated, he
received the mortal wound of which, in a few hours later he
died. Lieut.
Col. Huston was mortally wounded.
But if terrible blows had been received they had most
terribly been returned.
The Georgia Brigade
of Wright had left on the field either killed or seriously
and perhaps mortally wounded, three of their regimental
commanders, Col. Warden of the 22d Georgia, Major Ross,
commanding the 2d Georgia; Col. Gibson, commanding the 48th
Georgia, and its loss in subordinate officers and men was
proportionately heavy. I
have spoken somewhat fully of the conduct of the 15th
of the 2d of July, for from the isolated position which it
and its companion regiment occupied they rendered a
peculiar, dangerous and gallant service.
Notwithstanding the
forcing back of the Third Corps, the wd of July had taken as
a whole, closed successfully for our army.
Round top which protected our left, was now so firmly
held that it could not be torn from us, and on our extreme
right at Culp's Hill although some advantage had been gained
by the confederates, it was clear that all they had obtained
could be taken from them, as it was indeed on the next
morning.
It was about
1 o’clock
on the 3d of July, when the preparation for the terrific
assault intended to break the center of our line and drive
in confusion its two separate fragments on two distinct
lines of retreat, began by one of the most terrific
cannonades ever known. The
Confederate army was especially strong that day in artillery
and Gen. Lee was able to concentrate for this 150 guns.
For two hours or more this storm continued towards
the center it was intended to break.
Sheltering themselves as far as possible by such rude
breastworks as they had been enabled to make, or troops,
whom the artillery fire is intended to demoralize, await the
struggle which is to come by the movement of the enemies
infantry. The
position of the 15th
Mass.
, now under the command of Col. Joslin lay during this
tempest of shot and shell is some 20 to thirty rods to the
left of the monument. Hancock
knows that somewhere on the 2d Corps the weight of the
assault is to fall and as he ride along the line rouses his
men by inspiring words and his own gallant bearing.
It is about
3 o’clock
, and the Confederate fire slackens so that their infantry
may move out of the woods that have partially sheltered
them. They are
coming now in numbers nearly on quite 18,000 men. Longstreet
organized the assault; but Pickett’s Division of
Virginians is to lead. It
contains about 5000 or 6000 men who have not yet fought in
the battle and is supported on the right and left by
divisions from other corps in their army.
It is a relief to see them come, for fierce as the
encounter must be, the recumbent position of our men under
the blazing July sun, is intolerable, and they spring to
their feet with alacrity.
The enemy was formed for the attack in two lines,
which as they moved, contracted their front and doubled or
tripled their lines by reason of the difficulties and
obstructions of the march, thus having the appearance and to
some extent the formation of columns as they are generally
termed. They
were severely handled by our artillery, but the enemy came
steadily. The
assault was directed at first precisely toward the point of
the line where the brigade was posted, in which the 15th
served, but more lately and advanced it deflected to our
right, perhaps because the clump of trees afforded them a
prominent landmark, or because of the fire of Stannard’s
Vermont Brigade which was now thrown forward on the right
flank.
The 15th
Mass.
, with the other regiments of the brigade following this
movement, presently moved towards their own right to
encounter the attack when it was about to strike on the line
of the 2d Corps. in
this movement many of our own men fell, notably Capt.
Jorgenson and a little later Capt. Murkland. as the 15th
Regiment reached the clump of trees, the enemy breaking
through the line of Gen. Webb which was marked by a lone
stone wall, for a moment fairly pressed the Union lines
back, it was the last effort of desperation.
The assaulting lines or columns could do no more.
There was a moments pause, but the point penetrated
by the enemy was instantly covered, and if by common consent
the order “Forward” was given, and our men resolutely
advanced upon the foe
“The first time I
heard ‘Advance the Colors !’ says Capt. Hastings of the
15th, was from Corporal Cunningham, although it
was only the repetition of the order given by Col. Joslin.”
The order was uttered and repeated from man to man as well
as from General to Colonel, along the line.
No one can say who gave it first.
There was some confusion, for in the rapid movements
and the heavy fire, organization was to some extent lost,
but all know what is to be done, and are resolute to do it.
Firmly on now comes the whole Union front, officers
if they cannot always direct by their commands,
animate by their example.
For a few moments
the contest is most furious, but such a struggle is to
desperate to endure long.
The Confederate lines waver, yield, break at last
while many of their men throw down their muskets and throw
up their hands in surrender.
A few wild disorganized bands strive to fall back to
the Confederate lines from which they had issued so bravely
an hour or two before, and the Army of the Potomac as it
gathers up the straggling prisoners by thousands knows that
by its steady valor a great victory has been won. for the
Union
.
In this conflict our
regiment had its full share alike of the danger and the
glory for both on the 2d and 3d of July it was at the points
where the fiercest fighting was done and where the victory
was finally secured. Depleted
by its former engagements, the 15th brought into
the battle only 18 officers and 221 men.
It lost killed on the field, 3 officers and 19
enlisted men, and wounded ( of whom many afterward died ), 8
officers and 85 men; in round numbers one half of those whom
it had engaged. tested
in a merely material point of view,
Gettysburg
was one of the great battles of the world.
While the loss in
our own regiment was 50 per cent., throughout our whole
army, it was probably from 25 to 30 per cent.
In the Confederate army it was without doubt larger,
as it had been the attacking force.
But dreadful as the story is when we remember that
the killed, wounded and prisoners of the federal army
numbered 23,000 men, who shall say as we reflect how much
was done here for freedom and law and good government
throughout not only our country but the world. that the
victory won here was not worth even the noble lives it cost.
“The spot is holy
where they fought,
And holy where they fell,
For by their blood the land was bought
That land they loved so well.”
I will not undertake
to follow the history of the 15th regiment,
except by a single sentence.
It fought in all the battles of the Army of the
Potomac
in 1863 that followed. it
was in the great battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania
and Cold Harbor with which the year 1864 opened, sadly
depleted in the ranks it was never false to its reputation
and its full term of service completed it was mustered out
in July of that year at Worcester with only 150 men.
As its Colonel I had carried from
Worcester
in 1861 a thousand and sixty-five men and it had received
about seven hundred recruits.
Its men who were killed on the field, or died of
wounds and disease during its term of service were 364.
This does not include of course those who were
discharged for wounds or disability, many of whom returned
home only to die. Tried
in this terrible and bloody test, its place is among the
most gallant regiments of the Union army during the entire
war.
From an article
published in the National
Tribune of this year by Mr. ? F. Gilman, formerly of the
32d
Mass.
, it appears that in percentage of its losses it stands
fourth among those who served in the armies of the Union
army. I have not
the means of verifying the accuracy of Mr. Gilman’s
statements. I am
able to state however, from my own examination in the
records of the Adjutant Generals office of Massachusetts,
that its proportional loss of men who died during its term
of service having regard to the number of men born upon its
rolls is larger than that of any of the regiments that went
from our commonwealth. The
actual losses were greater than those of any other regiment
except the 20th.
Mass.
But this gallant regiment was in the service eight months
longer and had upon its rolls more than half as many men, in
all three thousand and thirty men.
Massachusetts
sent to the war 60 gallant regiments all of whom did honor
to the state, whose children they were and to the cause they
served. To have
gained such a place among them as that won by the 15th
is surely a sufficient eulogy.
How shall I speak of
my friends and comrades of those men, when I remember that
it was my duty to command them nearly a year and to lead
them in the first of many bloody battles in which they
fought. Certainly
no better or braver men ever went forth in obedience to the
solemn call of country.
They were the young farmers, mechanics and business
men of our
County
of
Worcester
, men who thought and felt as freemen.
Before them lay the path of duty; they could take no
other road; they were animated by no hope of agrandizement,
for most of them left behind far more lucrative positions;
they were stimulated by no hope of bounties; they were
excited by no fixes of personal ambition; they were enflamed
by no wild enthusiasm. Calm
and deliberate reflection had told them that it was by their
hands and the hands of men such as they, that the
Union
must be defended. They
were no kinless men, no waifs of society such as float on
the surface of turbulent waters of great towns and cities.
Around them were the most sacred ties that bind us to
life. Yet they
laid these aside to answer the call of country.
They were such men as make the heart, and bone, and
sinew of a nation and embraced all that was noblest and
purest in its young life.
When shall their glory fade.
Not surely while the great flag that they follow
waves above a free and united country.
All that led this regiment in battle that now are
living are here today. I
am sure I speak for all when I say that I wish we could have
led and served them better.
The monument we have
reared to them is not a monument to the glories of war.
If that were all, it were better that the state of
Massachusetts
had withheld its gift, and that this granite block was
sleeping in its native quarry. No one knows better that we
who have seen the trampled fields, the desolated homes, the
blazing towns, the agonies of the dying on such a field as
this, less happy than the dead, who are past all pain, what
the horrors of war are.
A
war can only be justified or ennobled by great, and solemn
cause, and that cause the American people had.
It is the noble spirit and the high resolve that
their government should not be destroyed, that freedom
should prevail wherever their flag floated, which we seek to
commemorate. Patriotic
self devotion, unflinching loyalty to duty, these we would
honor, these we would hold up to the reverence and imitation
of those who come hereafter, whether he who displays those
great qualities fell with the stars of the General, or the
eagle of a Colonel, on his shoulder, or in the simple jacket
of a the private soldier.
This memorial is
reared in no spirit of hostility toward or exultation over
the defeated in our late civil war.
Let the passions it engendered pass away from the
dreadful source from which it sprung.
Even if the baffled and beaten traitors around whom
gather all the infamies and horrors by which a wretched
cause was rendered even more wicked, still parades himself
with feeble utterance to cry out the cause is not dead,
secession and slavery are in their dishonorable graves
together. The
hand of a merciful
Providence
will extend to them no resurrection.
But the recollections of the grand results which our
bretheren achieved and the heroism with which they achieved
them can not be allowed to pass away.
Over the unfortunate
and erring with whom they contended let the long grass wave
undisturbed. Yet
as we stand by these glorious graves we can not confound the
heroes and marytrs of a noble cause with those whom the twin
furies of treason and slavery lead forth to battle, unless
by a confusion of ideas worthy of chaos itself.
It is the cause that sets our brethren apart among
the myriads who people the silent cities of the dead.
We should not be true to their just fame if in any
sickly sentimental gush of reconsideration we should
hesitate to assert that the principles for which they died
were right, and those against which they fought were deeply
wrong. That
assertion, in no sense unkind or ungenerous to those with
whom they were once in deadly strife, this monument makes
today. It tells
of bravery and valor, but it tells of more than these, for
it tells of duty and patriotism, and it summons all who look
upon it hereafter to answer their call.
We dedicate this
monument then, the gift of Massachusetts to the memory of
the dead of our 15th Regiment, who fell on this
immortal field, and in the various conflicts in which the
regiment fought, to the memory of those who served in it and
nobly offered their lives for their country, as they have
passed, or shall hereafter pass away, and, to the memory of
their brave comrades of the whole Federal army.
We dedicate it to the great cause of the Union and
the freedom of all who dwell beneath the flag, which is the
emblem of its sovereignty, in the solemn trust that
“Government of the people, by the people and for the
people,’ shall not perish from among men.
|
At the close of Gen. Devens
oration there were brief addresses by Gen. John W. Kimball of
Fitchburg
, Col. Geo. C. Joslin of
Boston
,
Col
Charles E. Philbrick of
Lawrence
.
Letter
From Senator Hoar
Senator Hoar, who was
expected to accompany the excursion, was detained in
Washington
by important public duties, and sent the following letter, which was
read:--
Worcester
, May 31,
To
the !5th Regiment:--
I
have looked forward to the expedition to
Gettysburg
as my chief holiday in this long and laborious season, but I am
obliged to give it up. The
soldiers of the 15th are the last men who would desire me
to disobey the command of the public duties which require my
presence in
Washington
. I am very much
disappointed not to be with you.
I have never been and never shall be in better company.
Life
has few opportunities like that of visiting these famous fields with
the survivors of the men who have given them there renown.
The hands of the youth of
Worcester
County
have a large share in planting the laurel that shall ever bloom on
the fields of Ball’s Bluff and Antietam and
Gettysburg
, laurel fragrant and immortal as freedom itself.
Gettysburg
will be counted always as one of the great
battles of the world; it was the turn of the tide of Rebellion, it
will also be forever associated with
Lincoln
’s brief and wonderful oration, unsurpassed in all our literature
for simplest and loftiest utterance of sublimest truths. But you
will not have forgotten another of the most eloquent utterances that
ever came from American lips, your own Col. Deven’s address to
your own broken but undaunted ranks, after the fearful slaughter of
Ball’s Bluff.
Life
has nothing, no wealth, no office, no title, no fame like the
memories that are yours today. Nothing
that man can receive is like that which has been your to give.
All honor and glory which this world has to give is cheap and
poor compared with that which belongs to you and your comrades, and
which is summed up in the simple sentence “these are the men who
served their country.
I
am, faithfully yours,
George F. Hoar
|
The
assembly then adjourned to the monument
of
Gen. Geo. H. Ward
, the first Colonel of the 15th Regiment, when an address
was made by Gen. A. B. R. Sprague.
He spoke as follows:--
Mr. President, Gentlemen
of the 15th
Mass.
Association: In behalf of the
Worcester City Guards Veterans Association I return thanks for the
courtesy of your committee and with whose request to join in the
exercise of the occasion, I will briefly comply.
Comrades
and Friends:
This
part of the great battlefield of
Gettysburg
is hallowed by tender memories of one we loved, who here sealed his
devotion to his country
with his blood. Here the
angel of death held high carnival and reveled mid shot and shell and
carnage 23 years ago. How
changed the scene today. No
armed host encircle the crest from Culp's Hill to Round Top, and the
desperate Army of Northern Virginia has left no trace of its
fruitless struggle.
“Hark
how the shered calm that breathes around,
Bids
every fierce, tumultous passion cease,
In
still small accents whispering from the ground
A
grateful earnest of eternal peace.”
You
my comrades, who with bated breath in that whirlwind of death
grasped the rifle stock or swords from hilts and beat back the foe
in the smoke of that terrible conflict may well bow here in
reverence, as brands plucked from the burning.
Col.
George Hull Ward was born in
Worcester
Massachusetts
, on the 26th day of April, 1826.
He was from good military stock.
His father Col. Artemus Ward was enrolled as a soldier in the
militia in 1821, was made Captain of the
Worcester
light Infantry and rose to the command of the regiment.
He was named after one of the early pastors of the Old South
Church; of which his parents were honored members, and it was their
intention that he should be educated for the ministry, but after
passing through the common and high schools he gained their consent
to choose his own vocation, and after years of close application at
the age of 21 he became a skillful machinist.
At the age of 16 the death of his mother and a sister brought
a burden of sorrow, which bore heavily upon him and made him
thoughtful, as well as self-reliant, beyond his years.
At 21 he enlisted in the Worcester City Guards, and through
the various grades rose to the commander in 1852.
His through knowledge of the duties of commanding officer
eminently fitted him to maintain the company in a high state of
discipline for eight years, from whose ranks 31 field and line
officers followed the fortune of the old flag in the armies of the
Union
.
While
members of the City Guards we marched side by side bearing the
clumsy flint lock musket; drilled weekly together by old Scott’s
tactics; camped and messed together as private, non-commissioned and
commissioned officer for years when it was unpopular for young men
outside the regular army to spend their time learning the art of
war. In his happy home
and at his place of business I was always welcome, and no unkind
word or act that ever for a moment disturbed the regard and
affection that bound each to the other, lingers in my memory today.
Colonel Ward was a born soldier, of fine physique and
commanding presence; quiet in movement and speech; a gentleman in
manners, his sunny smile shone through the repose of his manly face.
He had risen to the rank of Brigadier General of the 5th
Brigade of the M. V. M., just before the war began, and from
personal knowledge and without fear of contradiction I affirm that
in the school of the soldier, the company, the battalion and
evolutions of the line, as an organizer and disciplinarian he had no
superior in the volunteer militia.
He had a taste for agriculture and horticulture and was
living on a farm in the suburbs of
Worcester
with his beloved wife and two little boys, the youngest less than
two months old, when the President called for 75,000 men to suppress
the armed rebellion.
Massachusetts
responded promptly and the great War Governor ordered by regiment
and battalion parts of brigades, and the hope of Gen. Ward
entertained that his entire command would be ordered out would not
be realized.
June 28,1861
Camp
Scott
, the first in
Worcester
, where volunteers were enlisted for three years or the war was
occupied by men of the 15th Mass. Vols. Infy., and of
this
camp
Col
Ward assumed command. The best and the bravest rallied around its
colors, and within a month he was qualified as Lieutenant Colonel,
and upon the same day July 26th, Major Devens already in
the United States Military service as commander of the 3d Battalion
of Rifles was qualified as Colonel.
Within six weeks from the occupation of the camp, it left the
state for service in the field, and the truth will bear me witness
that no regiment ever left the camps of our old commonwealth for the
front, better officered, drilled, disciplined
and equipped, and the distinguished commander who
subsequently won the admiration of all in higher positions on many a
well fought field affirms that this was largely due to the skill,
efficiency and discrimination of Col. Ward.
In
the battle of Ball’s Bluff so disastrous to our troops, Col. Ward
lost a leg by amputation, the result of a gunshot wound and remained
in hospital till the January following when he reached his home in
Worcester, and when sufficiently recovered he was assigned to duty
in charge of camps where regiments were being recruited and
organized for service. The
knowledge he thus imparted to officers and men was of incalculable
value and gave them a standing among veterans.
It was my fortune to command one of these regiments which in
the forming process had been directed and instructed by him, and I
shall never forget to give credit due to him for the esprit-du-corps
with which he inspired the command and the faithful service he
rendered to the end that all might acquit themselves like men.
After
a years absence he joined his regiment and assumed command.
His wound never permanently healed and he wore with
difficulty his artificial limb.
On the march it was often detached and strapped to the
saddle. The long forced
march from
Falmouth
,
Va.
between June 16th and July 1st of the two
great armies that met in deadly conflict on this field was
accomplished by him not only with great discomfort and fatigue, but
untold suffering. Stretching
along this crest from Culp's Hill to round top lay the Army of the
Potomac
on Thursday, the 2d of July, opposed by the Confederate Army.
The 15th Mass. and 82d New York were thrown
forward without support to the Emmitsburg Road at this point, and
held this advanced line until overpowered by the swelling force that
crowded their front and flank when, just as the order to retire was
given, Col. Ward here fell mortally wounded.
I
know that it has been said that in consequence of his disability
incurred in the line of duty he should have retired from active
service with the sacrifice he had made, and the laurels he had won.
So thought and
advised a host of his friends, but the decision was his own and from
it there was no appeal. the
last letters to his loved ones were written in view of the impending
conflict and with no expressions of regret for the cause he had
conscientiously adopted. I
know that his life went out when his sun was at meridian, when
crippled as he was, living, there might be in store for him the
blessings and benedictions of his countrymen when peace should be
restored with healing on its wing, but---
“To
every one upon this earth death cometh soon or late,
And
how can man die better than in facing fearful odds,
For
the ashes of his fathers and the temple of his Gods.”
He
was devoted husband, a loving father, an affectionate son, a
reliable friend, a worthy and loyal citizen, the brave defender of
the government and the flag.
A
great Post of the Grand Army of the Republic bears his name and his
portrait is on the wall of the great public hall of the city of his
birth along with that of Lincoln and Andrew, a perpetual reminder of
his noble life and heroic death.
We who knew him and can never meet again on this spot sacred
to his memory, consecrated by his blood, by this granite shaft which
bears his likeness in the chiseled marble, can draw fresh
inspiration from the lessons of his life, his faith and resignation
as crippled and suffering he went into the conflict and down the
dark valley of the shadow of death to life immortal.
“Alas
for him who never sees the stars shine through the cypress trees,
Who
never sees the breaking day across the mournful marble play,
Who
never learns in hours of faith the truth to flesh and sense unknown
That
life is ever lord of death and love can never love its own.”
|
Hon.
W. W. Rice then formally delivered the Ward monument over to the
Gettysburg Battlefield Association, with the following address:--
Address
of (Congressman) Hon. W. W. Rice.
It
would be more fitting that those of us who were not here or in
kindred and connected service on those great days of July 1863
should keep silent today. High
enough privilege for us to listen to the words of those who
have the right to speak; to stand uncovered in the presence of the
mighty memories which burden this sacred spot.
Here was fought one of the great battles around which are
grouped the epoch of the worlds history.
Marathon, where the Persians was driven thence from art
loving Greece, Poitiers, where the moors were beaten back from
Christian Europe, Waterloo, where the sun of Austerlitz went down in
blood, Yorktown, where American independence was won, Gettysburg,
where it was saved, all were historic points in the history of
races.
In
none of these were the issues more clearly defined, or the results
of vaster importance than in the last.
They were brave men, 6000(0) fighting men, who came wearing
the gray. Many of them
were honest men, but they were fighting on the wrong side, they were
fighting against progress, against civilization, against liberty,
against the integrity of the Republic, in which were it but that God
rules we may believe the last hopes of humanity are gathered.
Flushed with victory, insolent in self confidence, they came
across the border with high hopes of conquest and plunder.
They saw these peaceful homes, fruits of honest industry, of
free unowned labor, they thought to win the right to extend over
them the baleful shadow of their peculiar institutions.
But before them on these heights was the Army of the
Potomac
. They had met that army
before, they had won victories over it, but now close behind it lay
the home of the men mustered beneath its banners.
Three days they fought in bloody strife, but the fourth day
rose on a routed invader, on a triumphant victory to the Union Army.
The bells of that anniversary day never rang out with gladder
peals for the cause of the confederacy was lost, that of the nation
was served, the sword of
Gettysburg
gentle and peaceful
Liberty
for all the broad land forever more.
On the second of these great days it was the privilege of
Col. Ward to die. “Fortunate,’
said the old poet, “are those who die young their fame secure.”
Gettysburg
and death were not necessary to the fame of Col. Ward.
That he had already won, but when fate added these, it gave
him immortality. I
suppose that among all the brave men that our country sent to the
war there was no truer soldier than he, in whose memory you dedicate
this stone today. I saw
him in his modest home the winter after Ball’s Bluff, patient,
uncomplaining, unassuming, but not content.
he had then given but one limb to his country.
All to soon he returned to his command.
Some of you can bear witness, for you were with him.
How bravely he struggled against weakness, privation and
pain, until he met death on that fateful afternoon here in the front
of the mighty strife. His
pains were settled, his weary march was ended.
He fell as a soldier should, “with his back to the field
and his feet to the foe.”
There
was no better blood in our country than his, kindred of the old
General, whose tomb is across the lake on Shrewsbury Hill, the first
commander in chief of the Army of the Revolution, he sleeps in the
quiet cemetery of his native city;
first on the roll of heroes whom Worcester gave to the last
great war for freedom. You
build to his memory this monument on the spot where he fell.
You engrave upon it in endearing letters his name and his
fate. In this you do
well, but he did better. He
helped to build a monument nobler
and more enduring than this, the nation; for which the fathers
aspired and suffered.
Never finished until he died, but cemented by his blood and
that of his three hundred thousand comrades fronts the world in
majestic beauty and invincible strength the culminating fabric of
human aspirations, its foundations justice to all; its wall, peace
and liberty won by the sword.[Volume 41 #121 Worcester Spy, June 3,
1886 insert in their column at this point] Hon. Church Howe of How
Neb., the first adjutant of the regiment, paid eloquent tribute to
the regiment and to Col. Ward’s memory.
|
After
Gen. Sprague and other gentlemen had spoken, Gen. Devens said:
I
most cordially concur in all that has been said of Colonel Ward.
He was a natural soldier, sincerely attached to military
life, between himself and myself there existed the most cordial
relations from the time the regiment entered service to the day of
his untimely death. In
the organization, drill and discipline of the regiment he rendered
most valuable service. Gen.
Sprague's remarks and those of others, have done him no more than
justice and I thank him for them.
I thank him also and all friends for the aid we have received
in erecting this appropriate monument, and my comrades and friends
in the name of the survivors of the 15th
Mass.
Regiment. In the name of
the old City Guards of Worcester and of others who have come to our
assistance I dedicate this monument to the memory of Colonel George
H. Ward, who fell in command of the 15th
Mass.
on this immortal field; may it stand through winter’s cold and
summer’s heat, through sunshine and through storm, to attest the
patriotic self devotion of a true soldier who died for his country.
[
Volume 41 # 121
Worcester
Daily Spy,
June 3, 1886
insert in their column at this point as follows]
J.
M. Krouth, for the Gettysburg Memorial Association, made an
excellent address , receiving the monument into the guardianship of
the association. The
exercises were then closed by the singing of the doxology — “Praise God from whom
all blessings flow.” and
the benediction by Rev. Mr. Palmer.
Details of the Excursion
Eagle
Hotel,
Gettysburg
,
Penn.
, June 1, 1886.---
The
trip thus far of the 15th Regiment Battle field Excursion
has proved a most decided success.
All the details, thanks to a most efficient committee, have
been arranged for the pleasure and comfort of the party and they
have proven themselves as good organizers of an invasion in time of
peace as they were executors in times of war.
the members of the committee with us are Capt. David M. Earle
of Worcester, Capt. H. T. Dudley of Wilkinsonville and Gen. John W.
Kimball of
Fitchburg
.
At
New London last night there was ample accommodations for all on the
palace of the Sound, the steamer City of Worcester, on which had
been reserved a sufficient number of staterooms, although for the
first time this season every one was taken. After a supper all were
soon at rest preparitory for today's long ride
At an early hour this morning a large portion of the party
were up and on deck in time to see the sun come up out of its bed in
the ocean blue It was of
a deep red hue, and had the appearance of a monster ball of fire.
Soon
the shores of
Connecticut
and long Island seemed to meet in the distant foreground and the
lookout opened up with a panorama of most changing beauty, elegant
country seats, public
institutions and works of industry.
In about an hour Hellgate was reached, the tide was at ebb
and the sight of the swift running
water over the rocks told of the great importance of the work of
General Newton. The
landing at
New York
was made on time.
Here
some of the party were welcomed by George W Brady Esq., the agent of
the Norwich Line, and a former much respected citizen of
Worcester
. After breakfast at
Jersey City
the party found a special train waiting.
The 15th Regiment train consisted of four of the
Pennsylvania Railroad cars, which were our home until we reached
this historic spot, the high water mark of the Rebellion of 1861-65.
Attached to the train some said as a rear guard, others as
guests, was Co. B. of the State Fencibles of the City of
Brotherly Love
. Captain William Chew
and 75 men. They were
accompanied by the Metropolitan Band of 25 pieces.
These soldiers were returning home from a trip to
New York
where they had been to decorate the grave of the nations hero,
General U. S. Grant.
The
committee have been aided in the details of transportation by John
H. Markley of Boston, Traveling Passenger Agent, New England
District, of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
and later by J. L. Chapman of Philadelphia, Traveling Passenger
Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, John B. Bagley, Jr., of
Harrisburg: General Traveling Agent of the Cumberland Valley
Railroad, and James T. Long of Gettysburg, Traveling Passenger Agent
of the Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad.
Mr. Markley will remain with us until we reach
Antietam
. He has been of much
help and has proved to be a valuable addition to the party, the
right man in the right place.
The
Pennsylvania Railroad is one of the best constructed roads in the
country. There has been
a marked improvement since we went over it during the dark days of
the Rebellion. Its many changes were very notable.
It is said its road bed has no superior.
The greater portion of the distance between
New York
and
Harrisburg
is ballasted with broken stone and its banks are symmetrically
graded and covered with closely trimmed grass.
There is but very little smoke and no dust.
For miles the road is as straight as an arrow, we remember
one length of eight miles. The
heaviest of all steel rails are used, weighing 68 ponds to the yard
and 12 yards long. The
conductor when asked if we were not running unusually fast,
answered, “No, not very fast, only 57 miles an hour;” but with
the heavy rails and well laid road bed, to one riding in the cars it
did not seem to be as fast as we often ride on some of the New
England roads when half that distance is covered in the same time.
The
ride across
New Jersey
and through
Pennsylvania
was replete with interest. The
train being a special had no occasion to stop except at long
intervals. All along
vegetation was much more advanced than in
Worcester
County
, and the foliage of trees and bushes appeared to be heavier.
Hardly had we left New Jersey before we passed, not the noted
“Wheat Field” and “Peach Orchard “ of the battlefield of the
“Waterloo of America,” but through fields of waving grain all
heaped out, and some turning as if ripe for the reaper, and orchards
of peach trees, some of which brushed the train as we slowed down,
and peaches as large as walnuts were picked.
All
along the line, but particularly after we left
Philadelphia
, large country sets were seen on every hand, while the stations
were monuments to architectoral beauty made more beautiful by
landscape gardening. when
Lancaster
county was reached there we saw immense barns and sheds and great
preparation for fields of tobacco, for which the country is famous.
After leaving
Harrisburg
then we entered a country like the
Connecticut
, Deerfield and Hoosac and other valleys of
New England
, only more continuous.
Through the watchful care of the several representatives of
the railroads, who say it was one of the best parties they ever
conducted across the state, we reached Gettysburg one hour and
twelve minutes ahead of time announced in the circular of the
committee. At
Harrisburg
we met the gentlemanly clerk of the Eagle Hotel, and as a result
rooms were assigned to nearly all before
Gettysburg
was reached.
We
have just had our supper and are making preparations for the night.
Some are out for a walk about town, some have gone to
Sergeant W. D. Holtzworth’s illustrated lecture on the Battle of
Gettysburg, while the larger part are preparing for much needed
rest. There was a large
crown at the station when we arrived.
flags and streamers are flying on every hand while the air is
loaded down with the perfumery of the June roses which are now
loading down the bushes with various ---- beauty.
On our arrival at the Eagle Hotel we met Major Church Howe,
who was first Quartermaster of the 15th
Mass.
and after an Aide –de-Camp to General Sedgewick.
He came East from
Nebraska
on purpose to be with his comrades once more.
H.
L. D
|