River after it had been opened to navigation, but must delay our
departure a week or two from want of the necessary transportation.
And just here I think it proper to introduce a copy of a letter writ-
ten at this time and place by a distinguished l^nion officer, then
personally known to many of us, whose name, when I shall speak
it, will be recognized by all as that of a most gallant soldier of
Western Massachusetts. This letter will serve to explain, in a
measure, why it was that the 5 2d was to be the first regiment to
return home via the Mississippi, — a circumstance which caused
some comment at the time, inasmuch as the term of service of sev-
eral other regiments had jireviously expired. The letter reads as
follows : —
" IIkadquarters Dept. of the Gulk, 19TH Army Corps,
PuKT Hudson, July 20, 1863.
"MajorGen. N. p. Banks, commanding Dept. of the Gulf, New
Orleans :
" General, — I inspected the camps, hospitals, kitchens, etc., of
Ullman's brigade this morning. They are getting into a pretty
good state of police generally. Large mortality from dysentery
and measles.
"There is very considerable disaffection in some of the nine
months' regiments. Most of them think of nothing but getting
home, without any regard to want of transportation. To-day one
company of the 50th Massachusetts mutinied, and refused to do
duty. The mutineers were promptly put under guard ; and I have
directed Brig.-Gen. Andrews to send them under guard to-day
to New Orleans, to be sent to Ship Island for hard labor during
the war, subject to your approval. At the same time I have
elected the 52d Massachusetts Regiment, in which there has been
no instance of refusal to do duty or of insubordination, for im-
mediate shipment North, and, without any publication of the fact,
have allowed it to be understood that the regiments are to be
shipped in such order as to leave those who behave badly to go
last. Most of Ullman's brigade are unarmed. Shall the arms
and accoutrements of the nine months' men be taken from them?
"Very respectfully your obedient servant,
" Chari-es p. Stone,
Brigadier- General.
[Taken from official Records of the Union and Confederate Annies, Series i,
vol. xxvi., Part I., p. 648.]
WITHIN PORT HUDSON THE JOURNEY HOME 209
"Possibly, in this connection, the following letter written by me
to the editor of the Greenfield Gazette and Courier, with respect to
this good ' friend at court,' a few months later, may be of some in-
terest to his friends who may survive, as well as to the surviving
members of the regiment and their friends, many of whom, I know,
were the personal friends of Gen. Stone. This letter, although
intended for publication, never was published, to my knowledge.
Perhaps it was not deemed worthy a place in the columns of the
Gazette and Courier during the perilous times in which it was
written; but of this you maybe able to judge better than I. It
reads thus : —
" [Copy.]
" New Orleans, June 10, 1S64.
" S. S. Eastman, Esq., Editor " Gazette and Courier, Greenfield,
Mass.:
'''■Dear Sir, — I notice, with much pleasure, in the Gazette and
Courier of the 23d of May, duly received, an article headed ' Gen,
Charles P. Stone,' exonerating him from all responsibility for the
disaster which befell our late expedition up Red River.
" I am pleased, sir, with this article for two reasons : first, be-
cause I think it states but the simple truth with regard to Gen.
Stone, than whom, I believe, there are but few better soldiers
anywhere, and none who came nearer my idea of a gentleman ; and,
secondly, because of the ' irrepressible ' interest I feel in the
records of all good soldiers from my adopted State, and especially
in the records of those from Western Massachusetts.
" Of Gen. Banks's responsibility in the matter I do not presume
to speak. Undoubtedly, it will yet appear that he, too, has been
unjustly censured ; but, whoever may have been at fault for the
results of that campaign, of one fact you may rest assured, — that
person was not Gen. Charles P. Stone.
" We have unquestionably many excellent officers yet remaining
in the Department of the Gulf, — ofBcers well tried and true, and
who command the respect and esteem of all who know them ; but
I think I speak but the common sentiment of officers and men in
this department, when I say that no one of the many is more uni-
versally respected and esteemed than Gen. Stone, or more de-
servedly so.
" And I intrude this line upon you at this time, sir, simply as
a tribute of justice to one of whom Massachusetts may well be
proud, and whom, I believe, history will show to have been greatly
wronged.
" Truly yours,
" H. S. Greenleaf,
2IO HISTORY OF THE 52D REGIMENT
" But 1 digress. The necessary preliminary arrangements having
been made, late in the afternoon or evening of the 23d of July,
1863, the regiment took passage on the old river steamer ' Henry
Chouteau' for Cairo, 111., whence we were to proceed home by
rail. A large portion of the steamer — indeed, the most comfort-
able portion — was converted into a hospital, and filled with the
sick, many of whom were destined never again to cross the
threshold of the old homestead, or again to behold the faces of
loved ones who were eagerly awaiting their return.
"Spencer Phelps, of the Northampton company, breathed his
last in his tent on this day, while busy preparations were being
made to permanently 'break camp.' I saw him in company with
Capt. Spaulding, and was recognized by him, as he lay stretched
on his rubber blanket, on the ground, a few hours only before we
enbarked on the steamer ' Chouteau.' He died in his uniform, a
manly man and brave soldier, one of many victims to congestive
fever, while others of his comrades were rejoicing in the hope
that, having made their last march and fought their last battle in
Louisiana, they would soon be welcomed back to family and
friends among their native New England hills, in the blessed hope
that, having faithfully performed the military duties which had
been given them to do, their lives would still be spared to stand
erelong once more upon their native heath, beneath our dear New
England skies.
" Our first night on the river was made memorable by the loss of
one of the many royal members of the regiment, — Joshua G. Hawks,
of the Deerfield company. He was, indeed, a splendid specimen of
the Massachusetts volunteer soldier. That other equally splendid
specimen of the volunteer soldier. Prof. James K. Hosmer, who
served as a corporal of the same company, and who, as we all
can testify, stood bravely, manfully, by the colors to the end, thus
speaks of his comrade Hawks in his 'Corporal's Notes of Military
Service,' entitled * The Color Guard ' (pages 230, 231) : ' Grosvenor
Hawks, indeed, my good friend, a high-minded patriot, whose great
spirit had carried his feeble body through all our exposures, though
pale and haggard, went from man to man, shaking hands. He lay
down at night, spreading out his blankets with his old comrades.
In the morning his couch lay as he had spread it ; but he was
gone, and the eyes of no man have rested upon him since. His
was a brave and knightly soul. No doubt he rose in the night,
too exultant, perhaps, over the brighter prospects of our great
WITHIN PORT HUDSON THE JOURNEY HOME 211
cause, and over the thought that hardship honorably borne was
soon to be over, to sleep. The moon, about full, floated gloriously
before him in the heavens among the summer clouds, as the
" Sangreal, with its veils of white samite," floated before Arthur's
pure-souled knights. A misstep with his weak limbs, and he fell
overboard into the flood. So our good friend must have perished.'
"On the 27th of July, while yet on our passage to Cairo, three
other ' weary and heavy-laden ' soldiers crossed the dark river on
board the ' Henry Chouteau,' — namely, Sylvester Howes, of Co.
E, Warren A. Graves, of Co. H, and Henry M. Albee, of Co.
B, — making four of our number who died on board the steamer
between Port Hudson and Cairo.
"Natchez, Vicksburg, Memphis, and Island No. Ten were
passed in slow succession, with little time for any one on board to
go ashore for any purpose. A few of the more able-bodied and
enterprising improved their opportunity to visit a portion of the
city and fortifications of Vicksburg, but their numbers were indeed
few. So worn and weary and sick were most of us that great
effort was required to get up much interest on our part, even in so
famous a city as this, made more famous by its stubborn and long-
continued resistance to Grant, and whose final and unconditional
surrender preceded but a few days the surrender of Port Hudson,
to which the 52d Regiment had contributed its full share.
" Is it strange that, under the circumstances, the wonderful,
battle-scarred city and fortifications of Vicksburg should have had
no attractions for us ?
" So of Memphis, so of Island No. Ten. We cared little for
either as we steamed past : our objective point was Massachusetts ;
and nothing could divert our minds from thoughts of home by day,
nor our gaze from the north star by night.
"On the 30th of July — seven days from Port Hudson — we
landed at Cairo. And, that my respected hearers not connected
with the regiment may have some idea of the slow speed of the
' Chouteau,' I will say that in 1867, four years later, I made the
entire distance from New Orleans to Cairo, — one hundred and six-
teen miles farther than from Port Hudson, — on the steamer
' Ruth,' in four days and a few hours.
" We found Gen. Buford, of the Union army, in command of
the post at Cairo, and were very kindly received by him and mem-
bers of his staff. To him we at once applied for railroad transpor-
tation, via the Illinois Central, to Massachusetts; and so promptly
2 12 HISTORY OF THE 52D REGIMENT
was it furnished that we were able to proceed on our journey the
same day, July 30. We were, however, compelled to leave some
eighteen of our sick (who were unable to travel by rail at the time)
in hospital at Mound City, 111., near Cairo. Fortunately, I am able
to give their names. They are as follows : Charles E. Spear,
of Shutesbury; J. H. Osmond, of Orange; Amasa A. White, Co.
B ; Lorreston Pierce, of Shutesbury ; George F. Bardwell, of Deer-
field ; A. B. Goodnough and Charles C. Crittenden, of Conway ;
Watson W. Cowles, of Amherst; J. W. P. Wheelock, of Amherst;
George M. Smith, of Hadley ; Henry A. Oakley, Hiram M. Bolton,
of Winchester, N.H. ; Benjamin Lombard, of Hadley ; Nathan
Perkins, Henry G. Claghorn, of Williamsburg ; Edward F. Hale,
of Ashfield ; Truman Bowman, of Co. F; and John Bascom, of
Montague. George Wait, of Montague, — a noble, big-hearted
comrade, who no doubt was as anxious to return to family and
friends as others, but able-bodied himself, — magnanimously vol-
unteered to remain behind, to care for these more unfortunate
comrades. Truman Bowman also volunteered to remain behind
to care for the sick.
" We left these poor fellows in hospital at Mound City, as pre-
viously stated, on the 3olh of July, and, with hearts sad on their
account, proceeded on our journey home. Our route took us to
Mattoon, 111., thence to Indianapolis, Ind., thence to Marion,
Ohio, thence to Cleveland, thence to Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse,
Utica, and Albany, N.Y., thence to Massachusetts.
" At the beautiful little town of Marion, Ohio, we were met by
her citizens with open arms. We were here received with the
most generous hospitality, and for the first time since we sailed
from New York, Dec. 2, 1862, were most royally entertained,
and in a way never to be forgotten. Nothing in the way of whole-
some food or drink was too good for the tired and dusty soldier.
It was an oasis in the desert ; and to this day I never recall to
mind that occasion without a feeling of gratitude for those good
people of Marion, not only on my own account, but also in behalf
of the regiment."
From Church's journal : —
"The deck of the steamer had been occupied by horses, and
was not so clean as a decent man would keep his stable with us.
At Cairo we were put aboard a train of cars, and were slowly
whirled towards home. As we stopped at the stations on the way,
the people of the villages crowded about us, and loaded us with
WITHIN PORT HUDSON — THE JOURNEY HOME 213
provisions in abundance. We began to think we had reached
God's country once more/'
We reached Westfield, N.Y., before sunrise Sunday morning.
There our engine broke down. We knew not how long it would
take to repair it ; but, without leave of the officers (we were enter-
ing the land of freedom), many of us rushed to the houses of the
village, and clamored for food. The inhabitants were still in bed ;
but, sticking their heads out of the windows, they saw their village
invaded by as dirty and as ragged a set of tramps as their eyes
ever rested upon. We made known our wants, and they were
hastily supplied, mainly with bread and milk ; for we could not
wait for anything else, and hurried back, so as not to lose our
train.
At Albany the chaplain was so fortunate as to get several
pails of coffee for the one hundred and fifty sick men aboard.
Time was limited ; and he forgot to secure any for himself, and so
fasted till the afternoon, when the train stopped for a moment at
Pittsfield, where he expended his last five-cent piece in two dough-
nuts with which to break a twenty-four hours' fast.
From Col. Greenleaf : —
" Soon Cleveland was reached without notable incident, and
then in due time — although it seemed to us the slowest on rec-
ord — Buffalo. Here, too, as at Marion, we were received by the
people with the utmost cordiality, — especially by the whole-souled
members of the Rev. Dr. Hosmer's church, — and were gloriously
welcomed by them. It was Sunday; and the good Dr. Hosmer,
having been notified by his gallant soldier-son — the 'Corporal of
the Color Guard ' — of the probable hour of our arrival, the Uni-
tarian friends especially flocked from their church to greet us
about the hour of one o'clock p.m. The New York Central Railroad
Depot had been extemporized, practically, into a mammoth ban-
queting hall for our use ; and all the luxuries to be found in that
fine market, calculated to tempt the appetite of a half-starved sol-
dier, apparently had been supplied in unlimited quantities. No
one who never has had army experience similar to ours ever can
know how enjoyable was that reception by the kind people of Buf-
falo, or how blissful we were made by the banquet in the depot
on that second day of August, 1863 ; and God grant that no other
body of men, either in blue or gray, shall ever receive, as did the
52d Regiment, the preliminary education requisite to the full en-
joyment of a reception and banquet like that !"
214 HISTORY OF THE 5 2D REGIMENT
We reached Buffalo, N.Y., about noon on Sunday, August 2.
News of our coming had been telegraphed by Corp. Hosmer
to his father, Dr. Hosmer, pastor of the Unitarian church in
that city. The minister read the despatch, which was handed
to him as he stood in the pulpit, to his audience. Further ser-
vices were given up, and the congregation met us at the depot
with large supplies of provisions. The people were very much
surprised at our haggard appearance. With tears in their eyes,
they filled our haversacks, and wished us a fervent Godspeed
to our homes. The night of Aug. 3, 1863, we were home again, —
a weary, tired, worn, lean, and sick company of men turned
old before their time.
One of the most striking features of our stop at Buffalo was
the contrast which the men of the regiment presented to the men
who were assembled to greet us. Our men were walking skeletons,
— ragged, unkempt beyond words to express. Our appearance
would have been ludicrous in the extreme if it had not presented
so sad a picture of suffering and privation. The one distinguish-
ing feature in our appearance was the great staring eyes of half-
starved men. Our hosts were clean, well-fed, well-dressed men.
But they treated us with a cordial and abundant hospitality.
" Bidding the kind friends in Buffalo adieu, we slowly took our
way to Rochester, where, for some reason not now remembered,
we were detained until some time into the night, during which
time, the train being at a standstill and the thermometer in the
nineties, we suffered greatly from the excessive heat. Strange to
say, it seemed to me that we really suffered quite as much from
this cause during our brief stay in Rochester as we ever had done
from the same cause in the far distant South.
" One after the other, Syracuse, Utica, and Albany were reached ;
but, as might have been expected, the nearer we got to New Eng-
land, the more our train seemed to ' slow up.' No other train in
all the world was ever so slow ! Finally, we reach and cross the
old Bay State line, and soon after the picturesque town of Hins-
dale, the home of some of the 'boys 'of Co. I; and here they
leave us, to meet again in Greenfield on the 14th of the month.
Springfield comes next. Here we take by the hand a few old
friends who have come down the river to meet us, and here tele-
grams from still other friends begin to come in. At Greenfield
another reception and banquet is to be tendered the Franklin
County 'bovs ' who may reach this last station of our long, tedious
route.
k
WITHIN PORT HUDSON THE JOURNEY HOME 215
" Co. C, Co. G, Co. H, Co. K, and Co. I leave the train at North-
ampton. Comrade Gere, then the late polite and efficient post-
postmaster of Baton Rouge, now the accomplished veteran sec-
retary and treasurer of the regiment, had anticipated somewhat
our arrival. His tall, familiar, commanding figure was the first to
greet our longing eyes as we pulled up to the Northampton station.
He served his country well ; has served the regiment exceeding
well since; is a good citizen; 'and may his shadow never be
less ! ' But again I digress.
" Co. D takes leave of the remaining companies at Deerfield, so
that only Co. E, Co. F, Co. B, and Co. A are left to be enter-
tained by the dear friends of Greenfield.
" Thus what remained of this gallant, war-worn, ' schoolmaster '
regiment returned to the place from which, on Nov. 20, 1862,
it started for the front, nine hundred and thirty-nine strong, —
to the pleasant village in which it was organized; to the lonely
camp in which, on the ist of October, 1862, it pitched its first
tents, — returned on the third day of August, 1863.
"The Greenfield Gazette and Courier^ issued a few days later,
made mention of the return of this remnant of the regiment in
these words : ' The train was met at the depot, at the south of
Cheapside bridge, by a large concourse of our citizens, with the
band and No. 2 Engine Company bearing torches. As the train
came to a stop, the returned volunteers were greeted with loud
cheers, and the band struck up "Sweet Home." '
" Carriages were on hand to convey the sick to Franklin Hall,
which had been converted into a hospital, beds having been placed
there and every convenience for sick men, with a plenty of at-
tendants, both male and female. The sick were soon conveyed to
the hall, where twenty-two of them remained through the night,
several being very sick.
"Those who were able to ride were taken home by their friends.
Those of the regiment who were well were escorted to Washington
Hall, where our citizens had set tables loaded with refreshments
of all kinds, which were partaken of with the relish of hungry men.
The hall was filled to its utmost capacity with the friends of the
soldiers from this and the neighboring towns, and their greeting
was a hearty one.
"There were some sad hearts present, however, A father, a
wife, and brothers first heard on the arrival of the regiment, or
by telegraph while waiting its arrival, of the death of a son,
2l6 HISTORY OF THE 52D REGIMENT
husband, or brother whom they had come into the village to wel-
come home."
From Col. Greenleaf : —
" We numbered on our return seven hundred and ninety-four, all
told, eighty-five of our number having died of disease, and eleven
having been killed in battle, or died from wounds received in
battle.
"Monday evening, August 3, the regiment, what was left of it,
was met at the south end of Cheapside bridge (the bridge had
been burned a few days before) by a large concourse of our
citizens with a band ; and, when the train came to a stop, the return
volunteers were greeted with loud cheers as the band struck up
' Sweet Home.' Those of the regiment who were able were es-
corted to Washington Hall, where the citizens had set tables
loaded with refreshments of all kinds, to be partaken of with the
relish of hungry men. Among the multitude present there were
some sad hearts, a father, a wife, and sisters, first hearing, on
the arrival of the regiment, or by telegraph while waiting its
arrival, of the death of a son, husband, or brother whom they had
come into the village to welcome home. One father exclaimed
with choked utterance, ' I came here expecting to welcome my
son alive and well, but he is dead.' Another was informed that
his only son had been left behind in a low condition.
" But few changes had been made in the field, staff, or line, from
the time of our organization in October, 1862, as a regiment, to
the expiration of our term of service in 1863 ; and, as our term of
service had long since expired, it now only remained for us to be
formally ' mustered out,' and this was done in due form on the
fourteenth day of August, each discharged soldier receiving a cer-
tificate of honorable discharge.
"Thus ends my somewhat disconnected reminiscences of the
52d Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, — as fine a regiment,
I believe, as ever was mustered into the service of the United
States. I would that these reminiscences were more worthy of
your consideration ; but, such as they are, you now have them with
my earnest blessing.
" You, my old comrades, like myself, entered the service of our
country from patriotic motives, with little knowledge of the art of
war. You left that service with honor to yourselves, a chivalrous
body of men, accomplished soldiers, well versed in that art. From
that memorable day you have properly taken rank with the ' Veter-
ans of the Union Army.'
WITHIN PORT HUDSON THE JOURNEY HOME 217
" Claiming nothing for myself, but speaking rather in your be-
half in what I now have to say, what patriotic heart, let me ask,
would not be stirred as are uttered these most eloquent words,
' Veterans of the Union Army ' ? We are thrilled again with high
resolves, we hear again the bugle-call, we view again the mar-
shalled hosts. Do people realize what these silent words, ' Veter-
ans of the Union Army,' imply ? Do they realize that these five
words stand for whole volumes of the most thrilling American
history, both written and unwritten ? That better and more truly
than any others can these words express love of country, loyalty to
the old flag 1 They tell the story of desolate hearthstones and
sundered family ties ; of bereaved parents, weeping children, dis-
consolate maidens ; of physical daring and courage unsurpassed in
the history of the world ; of mental and physical suffering greater
than men could bear.
" They speak of the sentry's midnight watch ; of the attack, the
repulse, the retreat ; of the clash of arms, the ' hum ' and ' ziz '
of musket-shot, the roar of cannon, the shriek of murderous
shell, the dying and the dead. They recall Sherman's grand
march to the sea. They remind us of the unmerciful forced march
beneath a broiling Southern summer's sun ; of the far-off, tented
field ; of the ever-present ambulance ; of the military hospital ; of
the Confederate prison \ of ignominious defeat ; of glorious victory !
They tell the story of Fair Oaks and Malvern Hill ; of Manassas
and Antietam; of Shiloh and Gettysburg; of Chattanooga and
Cold Harbor ; of Vicksburg, and Port Hudson and Red River ;
of New Orleans and Mobile ; of Savannah and Charleston and
Richmond.
" Except for the ' Veterans of the Union Army, ' what, think
you, would long since have become of our boasted republican
form of government, of our beloved Union under the Constitution,
of the great United States of America ? This magnificent country
of ours, greater and grander far than any other on the face of
the globe, whether ruled by queen or king or president,— now in
fact, as heretofore in 7iame, ' the land of the free and home of the