Soldiers Returning Home…

by Erin McGough, Collections Manager

Flag presented to Duxbury members of the 4th Massachusetts Infantry

December 2011 saw the momentous return of U.S. soldiers after nearly 9 years of war in Iraq. And as we continue to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, it seems a particularly appropriate moment to reflect on what life was like for returning veterans in the 1860s.

Civil War soldiers returned home in an era before the advent of modern therapy, rehabilitation, or diagnoses of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but there is evidence, aside from common sense, to suggest that the Civil War was a particularly traumatic experience. Soldiers in the Civil War were often relatively young at enlistment, they were readily able to identify with their enemy, and battles were fought at close range. Upon their return home, what kind of reception did they receive? Did the memories of the war stay fresh in their memories, and if so, how did they return to normal life, making sense of what they had seen? Was there value in retaining the relationships they experienced with other soldiers, even in subsequent years or decades?

The Duxbury Rural and Historical Society has a commemorative flag in its collection that helps to illustrate some of these questions. It was one of those presented in 1863 to the men from Duxbury who served in the 4th Massachusetts Infantry, Company I, “at the reception given to the Company on their return from the war of the rebellion, at the expiration of their term of enlistment, by their friends and fellow-citizens, as a slight token of our appreciation of their services and loyalty to the Government, and devotion to the Union.” This flag is the only known surviving example of these gifts and was owned by John S. Loring, who was present at the town reception to welcome back the Duxbury soldiers.

Originally a three-month regiment, the 4th was re-organized in September 1862 as a nine-month regiment in Lakeville, and it was in the latter incarnation of the regiment that the men from Duxbury served.  The 4th Massachusetts was sent to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and joined General Nathaniel Banks’s XXIX Corps.  They participated in the Siege of Port Hudson from May 22 to July 9, 1863, when Union Army troops assaulted and then surrounded the town of Port Hudson, Louisiana, a crucial move to secure one of the final Confederate strongholds on the Mississippi River. The 4th Massachusetts returned to Boston and mustered out on August 28, 1863. During its nine months of service, the regiment lost 20 men in battle and an additional 131 to disease or accident; in total, 52 men from Duxbury served in the regiment and of those, 11 died in service.

This flag was donated by the Loring family after the war to The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a national fraternal organization for Civil War veterans of the Union Army. The GAR initially focused on support for returned veterans, linking men through their common experiences of the war, providing a social outlet, and creating collections of objects meant to memorialize these experiences.  The GAR was founded in 1866 and at its peak in 1890, it boasted a membership of nearly 500,000 people – a considerable number when one considers that about 2 million people served the Union Army in total, and about 360,000 of those did not survive the war.

Such an impressive membership illustrates the importance that the organization played in facilitating the soldiers’ return to non-military life in the decades after the war.  Eventually, the organization also became an early advocacy group in American politics, supporting causes including voting rights for black veterans and the establishment of veterans’ pensions, as well as supporting Republican political candidates. The organization closed in 1956, when its last member died. At the dissolution of the national organization, the Duxbury GAR chapter donated all its collection and its building to the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society. Included in the donation was this flag, whose history was made richer through its use by the GAR in preserving wartime memories.

In 2011, the flag was included in the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society’s “Adopt an Artifact” program, and due to the generosity of donors Bob and Lyddy Hale, it is currently undergoing conservation treatment to remove it from its acidic backing paper and properly frame it. Such conservation treatment dramatically increases the life expectancy of this evocative object.

Duxbury Civil War Letters featured by the Library of Congress.

We are so excited to announce that the  collection of Civil War letters in the Drew Archival Library of the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society has been featured by the Library of Congress.

The John Southworth letters are included in the Library’s online “Documentary Heritage of the Civil War  (Part 2, 2012: “Gone to be a Soldier”) ” project. The project is a part of the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. (NUCMUC)

The letters were written by Private John Southworth (pronounced Southerd), born in Duxbury in 1843. At age 17, he and his brother, Walter, enlisted in the 18th Massachusetts Infantry, Company E. Southworth also wrote home whenever he had a spare moment to his Duxbury cousin, Emma Paulding whose letters are part of the Emma C. Paulding Papers in the Society’s archives.

The archives has six letters from Southworth to his cousin, Emma, who also lived in Duxbury. In them, he described  the horrors of war, the infantry unit’s new uniforms, his displeasure with soldiers drinking too much, his fear of being killed, and the suicide of a soldier who shot himself in his tent. He also expressed his longing to return home and at times, adopted a flirtatious tone with his cousin.

During the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864, Southworth and others from his regiment were captured by the Confederate Army. He was taken to Andersonville, a Rebel prison notorious for its abusive conditions. On June 24, 1864, John Southworth died of dysentery at age 21. His grave is one of 13,737 at the National Cemetery in Andersonville, Georgia.

Other sites featured as part of the “Documentary Heritage of the Civil War” project include Washington and Lee University, the Rutherford Hayes Presidential Center, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Maine Historical Society. The mission of the program is to provide and promote bibliographic access to the nation’s documentary heritage.

http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/2012CivilWar/02_JohnSouthworthLetters.html

Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself . . . .

On January 20^th, we will launch the Facebook page of David Crossley Meechan, a Duxbury resident who fought in the Civil War.

The memoir, “Big Davy the Brave”, was donated to the Drew Archival Library by David’s Granddaughter, Evelyn  Alden Ryerson Hathaway in 2008.  The entries start on 20 January and that is when we will start also.  On his Facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/David-Crossley-Meechan), we will post his journal entries 150 years to the day that they were written.  These diaries were written during the “War of the Rebellion”.  Some days he had to write with a pencil but while he was in camp he wrote in ink.  When he complied the journals he wrote the following “As I do not intend to write for public perusal, I hope whoever may read my narrative may be lenient in their criticism, and bear in mind my object and purpose is to let my children know how their father tramped and suffered with the glorious ARMY OF FREEDOM and followed that dear old flag on many a long weary march and bivouac, camp and battlefield and toughed it out through the struggle.  Given in his own hand in his own poor prosaic way, simply told as to beloved children the story of my life during the war of the great rebellion”.

But let’s start with some of his reminisces about his enlistment and his journey to Virginia where the diaries begin.  He wrote:

David Meechan and Friend

“Before I come to the date, January 1862, when I commenced my diaries, I must try to rake up my memory the facts and incidents leading up to my being a soldier on Hall’s Hill, Virginia in camp with the 18^th Massachusetts Regiment, 1^st brigade, 1^st Division, 5^th Corps, McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.”  . . . .

“It always seemed to me as if Duxbury, Mass. was more stirred up than any other town I know of, and more thoroughly aroused at the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter in Charlestown Harbor in the early spring of 1861.  . .  Staid and puritan old Duxbury seemed to be madder at them pesky rebels and more anxious to be first at their throats; to grapple with treason and to get the honor of opening the fight”

“On the 23^rd day of May 1861, a town meeting was held, well attended. Town Hall full of earnest men.  Patriotic speeches by all the prominent men.  Hon. Gershom B. Weston who was a senator in the state legislature, was anxious to recruit a company of one hundred citizens of Duxbury to respond to the governor for duty wherever he saw fit to send us.  We were not to go to Washington like a mob or flock of sheep.  We must uphold the honor of the town like regulars and give a good account of the patriotic spirit which animated the town in sending us to the front.”

“I was twenty three years old, had lived in Duxbury since I was fifteen, was married to Laura A. Alden, had a child, our girl Mary, who was nearly two years old, and in the ordinary course of nature we expected another child in about three months.  Mr. Weston had canvassed the town in the section in which I lived and found that there were about 15 or 16 young men who would enlist if I would, and not otherwise, so that made me for the time a rather important personage.  I told Mr. Weston I was more than willing to enlist, but I could not see my way clear to leave my wife in the condition in which she was, and my duty seemed to be to remain with her until at least the young unmarried men had been exhausted.  He was so enthusiastic, and so thoroughly in earnest, and so anxious to secure the other young men, my friends, that he gave me a solemn promise.  If I would go to war he would look after my family in my absence, and see they had everything necessary for their comfort.  And the best of care, medical attendance.  After consulting my wife I signed the roll as did my friends, and I want to say right here and now that the Hon. Gershom B. Weston kept his pledge to me faithfully, fully and honorably.  My family had much better care and luxurious treatment from Mr. Weston’s liberality that I could have provided for them during the four years of my absence.”

“A few days before June first we had a company of raw recruits numbering about ninety men. By the end of the first week in June the town had provided us with a fine gray uniform and employed a very efficient drill Master from Plymouth, William H. Winsor to drill the company. . .  sometime in the latter part of June, we were ordered to Readville, near Boston.  There we found other companies of the 18^th Regiment of Infantry that was being organized for service at the front . . .The Duxbury Company was E and we soon stood foremost among all because of our martial appearance and our saucy looking captain.  . . . Under Colonel Barnes we developed such excellence in drill and military discipline that we were considered the crack regiment in the army around Washington and were complemented my receiving French Zouve uniforms and full equipments; knapsacks made of calf skin trimmed with the hair on, and everything Frenchy, a free gift to every man in the regiment.  We remained in Readville . . . until August 1861 when we started for Washington. . . .  The 24^th day of August we boarded a train, crowded, packed the cars full of our equipments . . . I can never forget the match through New York City . . . Never a regiment marched through New York City could equal the appearance of the 18^th Massachusetts Regiment  . . .During the night we were transferred to the Jersey Shore and packed onto trains to Baltimore.  Arrived in Baltimore about sunset.  As the cars had to be hauled through the city by horses they must be emptied so we must march to the depot to embark for Washington. We had heard of the manner in which the Sixth Massachusetts regiment had been mobbed just before . . .  we were hurried to the depot and boarded the train for Washington. . . .In September we got orders to march into Virginia  . . . moving forward to Hall’s Hill, we began to learn the whole duty of a soldier in enemy country. . . . We began to suffer from the cold as the ground was frozen most of the time, and I remember I made my letters shorter on account of number fingers, in a tent, on a hardtack box cover.  My wife sent me a diary to jot down my experiences each day.  I now commence on:”

So look for David Meechan’s page of Facebook starting on January 20^th and we will journey with him as he fights for the “Army of Freedom”

Contretemps over Contraband . . .

By Alison Arnold

 “Another historical item is the death of the Prince Consort, Albert, and one of greater consequence to me, the rendition of Mason & Slidell to the British govt, as the only means of averting war with that power. This is no doubt right, as Great Britain, no doubt justly, felt herself aggrieved by the act of Capt. Wilkes and we have done what we could to remove unpleasant feelings, but we can go no further with honor to ourselves in the way of concession. Give us a fair start with every one, justice on our side, and we are willing to abide the result, trusting in God that the right will triumph”

-Edward Baker, journal entry January 7, 1862

Capt. Ned Baker of Duxbury (lieutenant in the U.S. Navy but referred to locally as “Captain” Baker as he was master of merchant vessels) makes the above reference to what is known as the “Trent Affair.”

The Trent Affair, also known as the Mason and Slidell Affair, was an international diplomatic incident that came dangerously close to bringing Great Britain into the American Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. On November 8, 1861, the USS San Jacinto, intercepted the British ship RMS Trent and removed two Confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell, who were headed for Great Britain to plead the Confederacy’s case for diplomatic recognition. The British government was infuriated by this violation of their neutrality and felt it was an insult to their national honor. Great Britain demanded an apology and the release of the prisoners. After several weeks of tension and talk of war, the Lincoln administration released the envoys and disavowed the actions of Capt. Charles Wilkes of USS San Jacinto. No formal apology was issued. Mason and Slidell went on to Britain but failed in their goal of achieving diplomatic recognition.

The Confederacy believed from the start of the war that European dependence on cotton for its textile industry would lead to diplomatic recognition and intervention. In particular, the Confederacy hoped that the British would break the Union naval blockade which was choking trade to and from the South. The Union’s main focus in foreign affairs was to prevent any British recognition of the South.

At the beginning of the war, it was made clear that the Lincoln administration considered the war strictly an internal insurrection saying the Confederacy had no rights under international law. Any movement by Britain towards officially recognizing the Confederacy would be considered an unfriendly act towards the United States.

John Slidell (1793–1871)

Mason and Slidell were going to Great Britain to emphasize the stronger position of the Confederacy now that it had expanded from seven to eleven states, with the likelihood that more states would also eventually join the new nation. An independent Confederacy would lead to a mutually beneficial commercial alliance between Great Britain, France, and the Confederate States. Of immediate importance, they were to make a detailed argument against the legality of the Union blockade.

James Murray Mason (1798–1871).

But, they ran a blockade and were on a British ship and the last thing the Union wanted was for these two “diplomats” to arrive in England to plead the case of the Confederacy.  Was Captain Wilkes correct in classifying these two men as contraband and removing them from the RMS Trent? Or was he taking the law into his own hands? I suppose it depends on which side of the ocean you lived.

For his part, Capt. Baker of Duxbury evidently felt that Great Britain had a right to feel aggrieved and we might infer, based on this, that he felt Capt. Wilkes had handled the affair inappropriately. Yet Baker also seems to agree with the Lincoln administration in that no further concessions would be appropriate. The damage was done but the United States needed to protect its honor and not bow to Great Britain.

In the end, the Trent Affair damaged the Confederacy’s ability to secure international recognition. Great Britain and France realized that the United States would strongly defend its sovereignty and any further attempts to officially interfere with the blockade would lead to a war which neither the Europeans nations nor the United States desired.

Christmas for the “Duxbury Company,” 1861

Members of the 18th Massachusetts. Photo taken at Hall's Hill, Virginia. On the right is Duxbury native, First Sergeant Preston Soule.

By Christmas 1861, roughly 65 men from Duxbury had enlisted to serve in the Union Army. Almost all of these were in the 18th Massachusetts Infantry, Company E (sometimes known as the “Duxbury Company”).

Earlier that fall, the 18th Mass, along with the other regiments of their brigade, set up camp at Hall’s Hill, Virginia on a farm belonging to a man named Basil Hall. The farm is now a built-up neighborhood known as High View Park in Arlington.

The regiment was just one of many in the Army of the Potomac, a huge fighting force that was pieced together over the course of that fall by its commander, General George B. McClellan. The army (eventually 150,000 men) was camped all around the outskirts of Arlington, Virginia, covering many square miles. They remained there, drilling, drilling and marching the occasional reconnaissance, for about six months from fall through winter.

It is interesting to read the differing accounts of the winter camps of some of the regiments. The 22nd Massachusetts, for instance, which was in the same brigade and camped very near the 18th, had relatively comfortable winter quarters. Their colonel permitted them to dig “cellars” of sorts, build walls of wood and mud, and place their tents (which were quite large at this stage) atop these structures as roofs. Add to this a pot belly stove and a chimney and the men remained fairly cozy.

Unfortunately, the men of the 18th were not so lucky. Their commander, Colonel James Barnes of  Boston, forbade them to break military regulation and would not allow them to build make-shift shelters. Consequently, the Duxbury boys in the 18th Massachusetts had a tough winter.

A member of the 18th, Private Thomas Mann of Norfolk, later wrote a memoir. In it he records that it was a mystery as to why Colonel Barnes was so strict with regard to their camp. “…Why ‘Jimmy Barnes’ wintered his troops in bare tents, with only the ground for a floor, on the crown of a bleak hill, remains a question to this day. The colonel was a proud man, as well as a martinet–proud of the discipline of his regiment–and it was thought by some that the bleak winter quarters were a part of this discipline.”

Private David Meechan of Duxbury later wrote of that winter, “We began to suffer from the cold as the ground was frozen most of the time, and I remember I made my letters shorter on account of numb fingers, in a tent, [writing] on a hardtack box cover.”

"Harpers Weekly" cover by Winslow Homer depicting boxes arriving in camp, Christmas 1861

This rough situation was brightened with the approach of Christmas. According to Mann, boxes from home were plentiful and the contents shared among “messes” (groups of men assigned to the same tent). The 18th Massachusetts was fond of “round ball,” a pre-cursor to baseball, and they played at every available opportunity. And poker was, Mann says, like a “religion” for the soldiers in the 18th Massachusetts. No doubt plenty of round ball and card games were enjoyed on Christmas Day 1861.

Company E, the Duxbury Company, was fortunate enough to have a healthy “company fund,” according to Private Meechan, provided mostly by their company commander, Captain Thomas Weston of Middleborough. The men of Company E were sometimes treated to a good dinner through the company fund during that winter. Although Meechan does not specifically mention such a dinner on Christmas day, it seems likely that the captain would pick that date for such an expenditure as was the case in other regiments.

So, the Duxbury boys and the rest of the 18th Mass had it a little tougher than most soldiers in the Army of the Potomac that Christmas. But they were well supplied by their loved ones at home. And probably grateful for small blessings.

Conservation of a Damaged Civil War Photograph

by Carolyn Ravenscroft

Rare and recently conserved photograph of the officers of the 7th Massachusetts Infantry

Occasionally I come across an item at the Drew Archival Library that needs the extra care only a professional conservator can provide. One such item was the Civil War photograph of the officers of the 7th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

When the photograph was donated to the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society the board used to mount the albumen print had discolored with age and the image had actually adhered to the glass with which it was framed. Some aspects of the photograph were difficult to see either due to over exposure, fading or, just plain old dirt and grime. We decided the best thing to do for such a remarkable image was to have it conserved at the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, MA. Luckily for us, the cost of conservation was covered through the generous “adoption” by Rick and Nancy Heath.

Once the photograph was at NEDCC, experienced and highly qualified conservators removed from the photograph from it’s frame and began the intricate task of cleaning the image. After the surface dirt had been removed, pieces of the photograph and emulsion that had remained adhered to the glass of the frame were re-attached using a wheat-starch paste. Small losses to the image were retouched using watercolors. Because the photograph was so fragile, the conservators chose not to remove it from the stained, acidic board on which it had been mounted 150 years ago. To support and protect the image a sink-mat was made with 100% rag paper and a sheet of mylar was placed over the photograph.

While the photograph is in no way pristine, its conservation will ensure the image is viewable for generations to come.

History of the 7th Massachusetts

It was especially gratifying to conserve the photograph this year, the 150th anniversary of the formation of the 7th Massachusetts. The unit was comprised of men and boys who mostly hailed from Bristol County in the southeastern part of the state. The 7th Massachusetts left Camp Old Colony in Taunton, MA on July 11, 1861 and headed for Washington DC. It remained in DC for almost a year, helping to fortify the Capital with the construction of Fort Stevens.  In March of 1862 the men of the 7th joined the Army of the Potomac under General  McClellan.  The 7th was later sent to Northern Virginia where it participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Wilderness, among others.  The regiment was mustered out of service on June 27, 1864.

It is difficult to precisely date the photograph as the 7th Massachusetts had a series of commanding officers between 1861 – 1862 and none seem to match perfectly with the gentleman seated at the center of the image.  The location is also somewhat of a mystery.  If the photograph was taken in 1862 it is quite possibly a building located at Fortress Monroe.  If anyone has a better guess or can identify the subjects of the photograph please contact me at the Drew Archival Library.  I would love to be able to better date the image and/or identify the officers and the young boy in the striped socks!

Lt. Edward Baker and Rumors of Battle

by Alison Arnold

Lt. Edward Baker, USN

The Duxbury Rural and Historical Society has, over the past few months, been posting the journal entries of Duxbury resident, Edward Baker, written during his time as a Lieutenant in the Navy in the Civil War.  These journal entries are posted on his Facebook page almost to the day that he wrote them, 150 years ago.

There is something intriguing about reading the thoughts of a man who is part of the greatest war in American History.  He describes the mundane tasks of each day as well as his emotions about his beloved wife, especially after the loss of his 3 month old son.  But the most fascinating are his reports of the activity in preparation for battle and his editorials about what might, or might not happen and then to view it from a distance of 150 years knowing what we know today.

A few of the entries are just remarks of this nature:

Sunday, July 21st (1861).  During the forenoon, we heard incessantly heavy firing in the direction of Manassas for a space of three hours and we have heard it this afternoon but not so long continued as this morning. (What he was hearing was the first great battle of the war, the Battle of Bull Run)

Sept. 18th Wednesday.  Went to the Navy Department and modestly asked for a week’s leave of absence, to which I received a reply that we should soon have a big fight and after that, perhaps, I could get leave of absence. I told him that if such was the case, I didn’t wish for leave.  (Not sure why they wouldn’t give him leave, no big fight happened until end of October – Ball’s Bluff)

Sept. 29th Sunday.  – “The rebels last night evacuated Munsons Hill and this morning our troops marched over it and this afternoon heavy firing has been kept up beyond. I have been on the ship house this afternoon and can see our flag flying in a tree top, where I saw when last up there the rebel flag flying. Many troops of ours are moving now, some in the city and some on towards Bailey’s Cross Roads (what we northerners call Four Corners).”

A little history about what really happened here…After the loss suffered at the Bull Run by the Union Army in July 1861, the Union Army withdrew almost completely from Northern Virginia. The Confederate Army quickly occupied Munson’s, Upton’s and Mason’s Hills, from which they had commanding views of Bailey’s Crossroads (just south of Arlington, VA) and all the way into the federal capital which was only seven miles away.  Conversely, the residents of Washington could also see a massive Confederate flag flying high atop the hill. Those same residents were alarmed, when using telescopes, to see fearsome-looking Confederate cannons all across Munson’s Hill.

On the night of September 28, 1861, the Confederate Army silently withdrew from Falls Church and Munson’s, Mason’s and Upton’s Hills. The Union Army, to its extreme embarrassment, discovered the fearsome-looking cannons to be “Quaker guns” – logs painted black. Oops!

Sept. 30th Monday.

Came down river today. This evening I was shown the plan of a battle to be fought by us tomorrow. We are to attack at about 4 oclock Mathias Point. Nearly every ship on the river will be engaged and a land force will cooperate. The ship this evening is as still as death almost. All are quiet but not dejected. I hope twill be a bloodless engagement.

Oct, 4th Friday.

We did not go on our expedition on Monday night, but it was not our fault certainly. I don’t understand the reason but suppose our Govt. is determined not to fritter away its strength on this river so long as tis possible to avoid it. We expected to go next night and have ever since been looking for troops but we “don’t see them,” so I hardly think we shall, as we are detached from the Flotilla to go on other service, probably Hatteras first.

Oct. 29th Tuesday.

Got underweigh and stood to sea in company with about fifty other vessels of various kinds; Wabash 44 guns frigate, Steam sloop of war, Mohican, Seminole, many gun boats transports, Vanderbilt, Atlantic, Baltic, Augusta, and several others, (steam) Great Republic, Ocean Express, Golden Eagle, Zenas Coffin, sailing ships, and many steamers of different kinds, including two or three large ferry boats, &c, &c. truly as we are all lighted up this evening we look like an immense floating city. We hold communication by means of Costons signals as well at night  as by day with the flag ship.  . . .The Potomac River is now effectually closed, for the present at least, by the rebels from Mathias Pt. to Indian Head. Our forces crossed the river at Edwards Ferry, and the Massachusetts 16th [and 20th regiments suffered severely and Gen. Edw D Baker, Senator from Oregon was killed. Sad affair. Rather than surrender to an overwhelming force, they having the river behind them and no boats, threw their arms into the water and plunged into the swollen torrent, many being drowned, many shot in the water and many reaching camp in safety. They had fought desperately before they fled and nearly all their officers were killed…Where we are going is still a secret.

 Here he describes the terrible Union defeat at Ball’s Bluff. It was a small engagement but a tough blow to Union morale.

Baker did not know where his fleet was going, but we know today that they were headed to Port Royal, S.C. There they would face considerable danger as the port had been heavily fortified by the Confederacy.