CHAPTER XLIII.

Affairs before Richmond. - Grant and Sherman of Connecticut Stock.

Genealogy. Location and Organization of Connecticut Regiments. The First Cavalry returns to Petersburg. Whitaker captures Major Gilmor. - Twelfth and Eighteenth Regiments. First Artillery. - Death of Lieut.-Col. Trumbull. - Second Artillery. First, Second, and Third Batteries. - Sixth and Seventh.— Death of Chaplain Eaton. Eighth, Eleventh, Twenty-first, and Twenty-ninth. - Ninth and Thirteenth. -Tenth and Fourteenth. Sherman's Great March Northward. - The Fifth and Twentieth. Incidents of the Campaign. - Battles and Victories. · Casualties. Disaster of the Fifteenth Connecticut. The Sixteenth.

LYSSES GRANT was not the man to relax his grip on Richmond. When the spring of 1865 stirred among the sentient roots of grasses, and woke the beauty latent in the hills, he had strengthened his chain of redoubts, tightened his cordon of rifles, and reached farther outward and forward with his armored left, in the death-clasp that was to encircle the enemy's citadel. The matériel of war was renewed. Every regiment was put in the best fighting-trim. He felt that this was the head of the Rebellion; and, with Sherman and Terry working steadily at the giant's limbs, he knew that his adversary would soon become an amorphous monster, a mere torso, easily enough dispatched. As the people of our State looked on at the struggle, they recalled with pardonable pride the fact that these three soldiers, Grant, Sherman, and Terry, — who had become the supreme hope of the nation in its hour of agony, had all sprung from a long line of ancestors, who were born upon the soil, and trained in the district-schools, of Connecticut.1

1 J. Hammond Trumbull of Hartford, and Richard A. Wheeler of Stonington, have ascertained and arranged the genealogical record of Gen. Grant. He is descended from an ancient and worthy Connecticut family. The immigrant ancestor was Matthew Grant, who, with his wife Priscilla, came over in the ship Mary and John to Dorchester, Mass.,

Lee was on the defensive; but he was weak, and appealed earnestly for re-inforcements. Mr. Davis saw the peril of the situation, and again he roweled with fiercer spur the flanks of the jaded Confederacy. Confederacy. No response came. The South was utterly exhausted, not in men, but in motive; not in strength, but in effective will. Its master passion was worn out; for a majority of the promoters of secession were dead. Its body was rent sore; and the devils of State supremacy and slave chivalry had been expelled. Lee in front of Grant, and Johnston again in the path of Sherman, had barely eighty thousand soldiers; while a hundred thousand men hid in the mountains, avoiding the officers of conscription. From the regiments of Lee, a hundred men deserted every day. The end was drawing nigh.

The location of most of the Connecticut regiments was essentially the same as at the beginning of winter. The

in 1630. He and his neighbors came in 1635 to Connecticut, and founded a town, which for the first year they called Dorchester, and subsequently Windsor. Grant became an active and prominent citizen of Windsor; being for many years town-clerk, and surveyor of lands, and also deacon of the church. Says Dr. Stiles in the history of ancient Windsor (published before Gen. Grant had attained any distinction), "Few men filled so large a place in the early history of Windsor, or filled it so well, as honest Matthew Grant. His name figures in almost every place of trust." In the diagram of the "palisado plot," a fortification which inclosed the first houses of the settlement for defense against the Indians, the residence of Matthew Grant is posted, like a sentry-box, at the single gate of entrance. In Windsor, Priscilla died, leaving four children; and Deacon Grant afterwards married widow Susanna Rockwell.

1. MATTHEW GRANT m. Priscilla, Nov. 16, 1625; he d. Dec. 16, 1681. Chil.: Priscilla ; (2) Samuel, b. Nov. 12, 1631; Tahan; John.

2. SAMUEL GRANT of Windsor m. Mary Porter, May 27, 1658. Chil.: (3) Samuel, jr., b. April 30, 1659; John; Matthew; Josiah; Nathaniel; Mary; Sarah; Abigail.

3. SAMUEL GRANT, Jr., of Windsor, m., 1st, Hannah Filley, Dec. 6, 1683, by whom he had a dau., Hannah, who d. young; m., 2d, Grace Miner, dau. of John of Woodbury, April 11, 1688. Their chil. were: Hannah; Samuel; (4) Noah, b. Dec. 16, 1692; Abigail; Ephraim; Grace; David; Ebenezer.

4. NOAH GRANT located in Tolland, Conn., soon after that town was settled. He m. Martha Huntington, dau. of John of Norwich, and a descendant of the second wife of Matthew Grant. They had the following chil.: (5) Noɑh, b. July 12, 1718; Adoniram; Solomon: Martha.

5. NOAH GRANT removed from Tolland to Coventry about 1750. He and his brother Solomon, who was also a resident of Coventry, joined the expedition to Crown Point in 1755, and were both killed the same year. He m. Susannah Delano, Nov. 5, 1746; and had chil.: (6) Noah, b. June 20, 1748; Peter.

6. NOAI GRANT was a captain, and served with distinction in the Revolutionary War. He removed from Coventry to Pennsylvania about 1787. He m., 1st, Mrs. Anna Richardson in Coventry; she d. before he emigrated; he m., 2d, in Pennsylvania, Rachel Kelley in 1791. Chil. by 1st wife, b. in Coventry: Peter; Solomon. Chil. by 2d wife, b. in Pennsylvania: SusN; (7) Jesse Root, b. Jan. 1794; Margaret; Noah; John; Roswell: Rachel.

7. JESSE ROOT GRANT, father of Gen. Grant, was named for Hon. Jesse Root of Coventry, the learned and able Chief Justice or Connecticut during a former generation. He settled in Ohio; and m. Miss Hannah Simpson, June 24, 1821. Their chil. were: Gen. Ulysses Simpson, born April 27, 1822, and others.

It will be seen by the above record, that Gen. Grant is a descendant in the eighth generation from Matthew Grant of Windsor; the line being as follows, -1, Matthew; 2 Samuel; 3, Samuel, jr. ; 4, Noah; 5, Noah; 6, Noah; 7, Jesse Root; 8, Ulysses Simpson.

Besides the Grant blood, there is intermingled in the veins of the general, by suecessive marriages, the blood of some of the best Connecticut families, the Huntingtons, the Lathrops, the Porters, the Miners, the Putnams,—all strong names, and significant of good training and sturdy growths.

THE FIRST CAVALRY UNDER SHERIDAN.

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First Cavalry was still under Sheridan in the Shenandoah. The regiment had been engaged in raids and skirmishes all winter. On the 20th of December, 1864, under Major E. W. Whitaker, it formed a part of the division of Gen. Custer, bivouacked at Lazy Springs, Va. Before daybreak, a division of rebel cavalry dashed in among the slumberers.

Major E. W. Whitaker says, "Though some regiments did not stand firmly under the excitement of the sudden charge, and a temporary confusion ensued, the First Connecticut was firm among dazzling camp-fires, facing the flashes of the enemy's rifles. The enemy was driven from our bivouac by the dawn of light; and we were assigned the important duty of covering the rear and left flank in the retrograde movement decided upon by Gen. Custer. In this affair, the officers and men of the regiment deserve especial credit for the remarkable coolness and firmness with which they stood the charge of the enemy under the peculiar disadvantages. Neither the recent arousing from an icy bivouac, the dazzling of fires in the darkness of the storm, the demoralization witnessed in other commands, nor the fiendish yell of the enemy, nor all combined, could shake for a moment the solid ranks of the First Connecticut, formed and moving to a charge under the enemy's fire."

Col. E. Blakeslee resigned at the end of three years' distinguished service, and received the brevet rank of brigadier-general. Lieut.-Col. Brayton Ives became colonel; Major E. W. Whitaker, lieutenant-colonel; and Capt. John B. Morehouse, major.

On the 4th of February, Lieut.-Col. Whitaker, promoted vice Ives appointed colonel, achieved a brilliant exploit. The famous rebel raider, Harry Gilmor, had charged through Maryland, destroyed the Baltimore and Washington Railroad, captured a major-general and many officers on the train, and escaped across the Potomac. Col. Whitaker was designated by Sheridan's chief of staff to lead three

2 Among the passengers on the train that was stopped and burned by Gilmor was Lieut.-Col. M. B. Smith of the Eighth. He slipped his watch and pocket-book into his boot-leg; and, when a soldier demanded his boots, he saved them by appealing to an officer. Col. Smith was made prisoner; but, while the raiders were busy with plunder, he sauntered off to a neighboring house, concealed himself, and escaped that night to our lines.

hundred picked men, and capture the bold rider. He straightway chased and captured Gilmor, and delivered him over to the Federal authorities. Of this adventure, we only learn the following from his report: "A difficult march of all day and night over the Alleghanies, of seventy miles, thirty of which were within the enemy's line, enabled me to reach and surprise Major Gilmor in vicinity of his camp. I returned successfully, having accomplished the object of the expedition; making a march of one hundred and forty miles in a little over forty-eight hours."

In

Col. Whitaker acknowledged his great indebtedness to Lieut. Elias S. Brown of Ledyard, and Lieut. Lester W. Cowles of Hartford; also to surgeon George A. Hurlburt of Glastenbury, who accompanied the expedition. February, Lieut.-Col. Whitaker was detached as division inspector to Gen. Custer; and Col. Ives took a short furlough.

About the first of March, Sheridan started to return to Grant's army, via the valley and Lynchburg. The First Connecticut started from Winchester, commanded by Major Leonard P. Goodwin. The enemy was met at Waynesborough, March 2. Says Col. Ives in his report,

"The First Connecticut, with two other regiments, was dismounted by Gen. Custer, and put upon the rebel flank [the three regiments being led by Col. Whitaker]. Although the men could move but slowly, owing to the depth of mud, still they advanced with so much enthusiasm, that the enemy broke; when the rest of the division charged, mounted, and put them completely to rout. In this affair, our side lost but nine in killed, wounded, and missing; while our captures consisted of thirteen hundred prisoners, one hundred and fifty wagons, eight hundred horses and mules, eleven guns, and eighteen battle-flags!"

It was evident that the Rebellion was waning; that the soldiers had lost their spirit and hope. The column moved to Charlotteville, when Sheridan abandoned his plan of crossing the James, and pushed eastward, via New Market, Columbia, King William's Court House, to the north of Richmond. Lieut.-Col. Whitaker says,

"March 13, as Gen. Sheridan neared Richmond, I was given the command of my regiment in advance, and routed Gen. Early with his escort of two hundred and forty men, scattering all not taken prisoners to the woods. Passing to within nine miles of Richmond, we moved north

DOINGS OF THE FIRST ARTILLERY.

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ward to Ashland, when the 2d New-York Cavalry was sent to re-inforce me while destroying railroad dépôt, &c. On the next day, the regiment was in line, confronting the enemy, who was feeling us at Ashland. Gen. Sheridan, desiring to learn the force of the enemy about to intercept his column, ordered an attack to develop his strength. Gen. Custer directed me to charge his lines to discover, if possible, any infantry. Leaving a greater portion of the regiment as reserve, and taking Capt. E. M. Neville's squadron, I succeeded in pressing in the enemy's cavalry to their reserve, and on to a strong infantry command of Longstreet's corps. regret to report the loss, in this last charge, of Lieut. J. W. Clark, killed; a brave and faithful officer, who was loved and respected equally by subordinates and superiors." Sergeant Frank Newbold and John Geiger, valued soldiers, also fell here at the extreme front of danger.

I

When the army crossed the James, Col. Ives returned, and resumed command of the regiment.

The First Artillery still manned the long line of guns in front of Petersburg. The casualties of the regiment during the year had been one officer and twenty-nine enlisted men killed, and four officers and forty-four enlisted men wounded. Sixty-eight had died of disease and exposure.

Col. Abbot's report says,

"To Lieut.-Col. Nelson L. White I am indebted for cordial support and gallant service. Acting as inspector-general on my staff, and for a time as commanding officer of the batteries in front of Petersburg, he has been the model of a high-toned gentleman. After serving until the end of the campaign, about six months beyond his original term, he left the army regretted by all. Lieut.-Col. Thomas S. Trumbull has highly distinguished himself for ability, courage, and devotion to duty. Entering upon the campaign with health much impaired, and placed at first in command of Fort Anderson, where he was under fire night and day, he seemed to throw off disease by determined will. Transferred to the command of the most important line of batteries in front of Petersburg, his only fault was in laboring beyond his strength. In October, when recovering from a severe attack thus engendered, he gave energetic attention to getting into position, and organizing the artillery on the lines of City Point. Few officers have the energy and ability to accomplish what he has done. Major G. B. Cook, during most of the campaign, has been in charge of the artillery on the lines of Bermuda Hundred, and has well performed his duties. Major Albert F. Brooker and Major George Ager, after gallant and distinguished services during the summer as battery commanders, have been promoted, and have energetically entered upon their new duties.

"Where all the company commanders have so faithfully done their duty, it seems almost invidious to select names for special mention. Almost all have at different times had command of independent batteries; and none have failed to efficiently serve them. Some, however, have been more fortunate than others in having rare opportunities for performing conspicuous services of this number are especially Capts. H. H. Pierce, Wilbur F. Osborne, and William G. Pride, also E. C. Dow, F. A. Pratt, E. A. Gillette, C. O. Brigham, John H. Burton, W. A. Lincoln John A. Twiss,