said, " not one." I learned his story, and took care ever afterward to
have a kind word for him whenever I met him, which he repaid with the
abundant affection of a warm and generous nature. If, when on guard
or picket, he was able to secure a canteen of milk or some fresh eggs,
he was careful to see that the chaplain had a share. On the night after
the battle at Irish Bend 1 secured a length of rail fence for my own use,
while the rest was speedily turned into kindling-wood, to cook the coffee
for supper. I took off the top rails and laid them over the bottom ones
to secure a shelter for the night. While thus employed, Pat came up,
and said he was looking for me, as he had heard I was sick and without
any blanket. I told him it was true. I was a good deal used up, and
my blanket was on my horse, and the horse had been left behind, and
would not be up for a day or two. Pat at once offered to share his
blanket with me. I declined, as kindly as I could. Pat was not neat ;
and I knew that, if I accepted his offer to share his blanket, I should
have more bed-fellows than I wanted. The next morning we were
aroused before sunrise. As I crawled out from under the rails, Pat
stood by waiting to offer to carry my haversack. He had his own gun,
cartridge-box, knapsack, and haversack to carry. I told him we were to
have a forced march that day, and he must look out for himself. He
was heavily loaded. I had nothing but my empty haversack. It was a
hard march. At night our horses came up, and I had a blanket to wrap
about me as we lay in an open field.
The ne.xt day I found Pat, as our straggling line made its way over
the broad plains of Western Louisiana. He had confiscated a horse,
which he was leading by a rope. Too unselfish to ride, he had piled as
many knapsacks of Co. B's men as he could upon the horse, and thus
relieved the tired and foot-sore men of a portion of their burden. At
night Pat's horse and the chaplain's were tied side by side, and shared
their rations between them, Pat close by as guard to both. The next
day came an order to have all confiscated horses turned over to the
quartermaster. I was eager to save Pat's horse for the good he was
doing the company in carrying their knapsacks. While I was meditat-
ing how we could save the horse, the quartermaster rode up, and ordered
NOTES . ^i'"^
the knapsacks off and the horse turned over to him. Some one near
me called out, " That is the lieutenant colonel's horse, sir." " Well, let
him go then," replied the quartermaster. It was a stretch of the truth,
but it was not the first time the truth was stretched all it would bear
during the war. Pat kept his horse through all that long march, and
then turned him over to the quartermaster.
All went well with Pat till the siege of Port Hudson. On the day
before the assault of the 14th of June Pat was made very happy by the
arrival of two letters which I had caused to be written to him, one by
my wife. He showed them to me with great delight. He passed un-
scathed through the fierce battle of June 14. But the next day, as he
lay behind a log, quite near the enemy's works, he thought he saw a
head he could hit. He fired, and, in the excitement, popped up his own
head to see if he had hit anything. A dozen bullets flew at him, and
one struck him in the forehead and killed him instantly. The following
night two men crept in to where the body lay. They found in his
pockets the cherished letters. That was all. They threw a few shovels
of earth over the dead body ; and that was the last of the good-natured,
affectionate, unselfish, friendless Irish boy, Pat Conolly. There was no
one at home to mourn his death. I shall always cherish his memory
with tender affection.
NOTE E.
Rodolphus D. Fish was with the regiment on the expedition to
Jackson Cross Roads. Being sick at the time, he was ordered into
one of the wagons, and carried some distance by the panic-stricken
colored mule-driver. While waiting for the regiment to come up, he
and others were taken prisoners. His own account of his experience
as a prisoner is as follows : —
" Shortly there was a dire commotion, — a volley of musketry, — and
we were prisoners, rifled of our belongings, made to mount the teams as
drivers, dash through an opening in the fence, across fields, through
streams. We finally came upon a road running northward. Such was
the haste that the mules must not drink while fording the stream ; and
thus we drove till near midnight, so exhausted that in slipping from the
saddle I fell on the ground asleep, and lay in the wet sand without cov-
erino- till daylight, dreaming of the springs of cool water in Franklin
County.
"At dawn we remounted, and about noon reached their camp near
Woodville, Miss., having been shamefully treated. At one time a guard
raised his carbine and threatened to shoot me ; but God kept my heart
in perfect peace. Here we were more carefully searched, losing many
Ix HISTORY OF THE 52D REGIMENT
valuables, after which they fed us with sour pone, and then prepared for
an early start on Monday for Jackson. During the night I got an ear
of corn to gnaw upon. At early dawn some fifty of us were hustled into
a few wagons, and the third day reached a small village, thence by rail
to Jackson, having had one small meal a day. At Jackson we were
searched again, with a revolver in the face. Pockets, stripes, and
linings yielded a harvest of money and keepsakes, my watch among
the rest. Here they issued dry meal, giving no facilities for cooking.
Before the search I had sent a black boy found hanging round out to
secure some food, giving him a pocket-glass for pay. After three hours
he returned with two pones, saying he got fifty cents for the glass and
gave the whole for the food, which, divided between the boy and a few
men, soon disappeared.
" Leaving Comrade Dickinson in the hospital, the day following we
took rail for Mobile, being treated on the way with raw bacon, and
assured that once we reached the city they would serve us with coffee,
— corn-meal coffee. Our portion here was a fair lunch a day in three
pieces, six hours apart.
"The fourth day our number increased to one hundred and fifty.
We started by rail for Richmond, passing through Montgomery, Macon,
Columbia, and on the fourth day reached Raleigh, N.C., where they fed
us with four hard-tack, the first food since we started, although each
day we passed throuiih cities having commissary stores, having been
twice marched to the doors thereof and refused. How we begged to
jump from the box-cars and eat the luscious dewberries growing pro-
fusely by the track. But no !
" From Raleigh we slowly steamed away to Petersburg, reaching the
city at dawn. All was excitement. One of our army divisions was
hovering around Richmond, while the conflict raged at Gettysburg and
the railway was taxed to its utmost capacity to carry every boy that
could hold a gun to the defence of the capital. So it was nearly night
when we were taken in by a train following one loaded with paroled
Confederates. Six miles out of Richmond the first engine exploded,
injuring many poor boys ; and we marched in on the track, and were
quartered in an old tobacco warehouse, opposite Thunder Castle.
'• In the morning the authorities searched us again with brutal treat-
ment, after which we pinched ourselves to see if the bones were left.
"To our astonishment and joy, in the afternoon we were herded with
some fourteen hundred more Yankee prisoners they dare not keep in
the city, and taken in and on box and platform cars to City Point for
parolement, via Lynchburg and Petersburg.
" Coming around the curve in sight of the dear old flag on the steamer,
and the stars and bars on the bluff, the rebs began to cheer, and the
Yankee skeletons jumped to their feet and three times drowned their
huzzas. How we hustled on board ! and. while pushing out from the
NOTES Ixi
wharf, were fed each with half of a large loaf of nice, clean, white bread,
a large slice of ham, and a cup of hot coffee that was coffee. Down I
sat upon the deck, and praised God. Did anything ever look or taste so
good ?
"Taken to the parole camp at Annapolis, clothed in new garments,
fed two weeks, sent home, the goodies provided all the way, the
happy greetings at Greenfield, Shelburne Falls, and home, and the thou-
sand and one questions about the regiment, which arrived three weeks
later, — these you must imagine."
NOTE F.
RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE SOPHOMORE CLASS OF AMHERST
COLLEGE.
Whereas our beloved friend and classmate, Alfred Dwight Clapp, has
been removed by death,
Resolved^ That we acknowledge the Infinite Providence in this afflic-
tion, and bow in submission to the divine will.
Resolved, That we mourn the loss of a dear friend and brother, whose
upright and honorable character won for him our respect and confidence.
Resolved, That in his death, occasioned by disease contracted in the
arduous and exhausting duties of a soldier's life, we see a noble life
sacrificed in his country's cause.
CAPT. GEORGE S. BLISS.
Capt. George S. Bliss was born in Northampton, Dec. 22, 1839. He
was educated in the public schools of Northampton, and from the earliest
boyhood gave promise of a noble and manly character.
On the breaking out of the war he enlisted, June 21, 1861, in Co. C,
loth Regiment, and served with that noted regiment through the dreadful
Peninsula Campaign. He took part in the battles of Yorktown, Will-
iamsburg, Malvern Hill, and Fair Oaks, where he was slightly wounded.
He was strongly attached to the loth, and his experience there did much
to fit him for the position he afterward held as captain of Co. G, 52d
Regiment. In consequence of his wound he received a brief furlough,
and came home to Northampton. At that time Co. G was " in search for
a captain." Capt. Storrs had been promoted lieutenant colonel. His
successor was mustered out of service while the regiment was at Camp
Ixii HISTORY OF THE 52D REGIMENT
Miller. George S. Bliss, a sergeant of the loth, was at home, and was
highly recommended to fill the vacant office in Co. G, and was immedi-
ately chosen captain. He resigned his place in the loth, and was com-
missioned and entered upon his office two days before the regiment left
for the front. He was a brave and skilful officer, kind and considerate
for his men, an excellent drill-master, and deeply interested in the well-
being of any man under his command. He gained the respect and love
of every one in his company. No sacrifice was too great for them to
make for him.
On the 13th of June he said to his company: "We are going into
battle in the morning. Every man must do his duty. There must Ise
no skulking. A dead soldier is better than a living coward." On the
following day, while leading liis company, he received a wound in his
breast, which resulted in his death on the i6th. In a letter written
home on the 13th he says: "I am not eager to see the fighting; but, if
ordered in, I shall try to do my duty. If it be my fate to fall, be assured
you shall have no reason to be ashamed of my record." In his death
Co. G and the whole regiment lost one of its bravest and most efficient
officers.
NOTE G.
Two Bibles were sent to Col. Greenleaf at the time the regiment was
organized, to be given to the two most deserving soldiers. Just before the
regiment started for home a meeting of the staff was held to dispose
of these two Bibles. One was unanimously voted to Edgar G. Pomeroy,
of Co. G, who had served as orderly sergeant. The other was given to
James K. Hosmer, of the Color Guard, for his valuable services as nurse
in the hospitals, especially at Springfield Landing.
NOTE H.
Daniel VV. Lyman, of Co. K, was one of the youngest men in the regi-
ment, — a few months more than eighteen when he enlisted, — a native of
Easthampton. He was a frequent correspondent of the Northampton
Gazette. A soldier faithful in all his duties. Worn out by the march
from Barre Landing, he was sent to a hospital in New Orleans, and so
far recovered that he joined his regiment shortly before the assault on
Port Hudson. A conscientious. Christian man, constantly grieved that
so much needless work was put upon the soldiers on Sunday, and that
so many battles were fought on that day. In an extract from a letter
NOTES Ixiii
written to his father June i6th, he is told that " Daniel was one of
the victims of the disastrous assault upon the rebel works made last
Sunday. He was instantly killed, and afterwards buried by his com-
rades on the spot where he fell. Your son had carried himself bravely
and manfully in this campaign. He was interested in all that was done
for the religious welfare of the regiment. He was led by the noblest
sentiments of patriotism to devote himself to this cause, and you may
well feel that he is a sacrifice which you have laid upon the altar of your
country and your God."
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