Two New Resources for the First Connecticut Volunteers Including a Book

I'm always on the look out for information regarding Connecticut's three month regiments (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) and recently obtained two new sets of letters, one published and one not.

The unpublished set is from Private William H. Cooley (sometimes spelled Coley) of Cold Spring, Connecticut who enlisted in Company H of the First Connecticut Volunteer Regiment on April 23rd 1861.  He fought in the First Battle of Bull Run and was honorably discharged on July 31st with the rest of his regiment.  While in the First Connecticut Cooley wrote 12 letters home from May 1st through July 15th.  These letters mainly give details of camp life and events and no letter providing detailed of the advance on Manassas or the battle on the 21st seems to exist.  Although he explicitly states in his letters that "thousands [of dollars] would not tempt him to enlist again", he did reenlist in the Fall of that year in the 7th Connecticut Regiment.  The first letter from his second enlistment is dated September 13, 1861, six days after his enlistment.  One of Cooley's letters [January 6, 1863] was referenced in McPherson's "For cause and comrades" and posted letters online show he was slightly wounded on June 22, 1862 during operations on James Island in South Carolina.  Cooley died exactly two years later of wounds suffered in the Petersburg Campaign.

Reference: William Henry Cooley papers #3678, in the Southern Historical Collection of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

The published set is a book titled "Letters to a Civil War Bride: The Civil War Letters of Captain Wolcott Pascal Marsh" edited by Sandra Marsh Mercer and Jerry Mercer. Marsh enlisted as a private on April 17th, 1861.  This webpage states he enlisted in Infantry Company A, but he actually served in Rifle Company A.   He served at First Bull Run and was discharged on July 31st, 1861.  Wolcott went on to re-enlist as 2nd Lieutenant in Company A of the 8th Connecticut.  He was subsequently promoted to Captain of Company F, but resigned for medical reasons on December 22nd, 1862 after the Battle of Fredricksburg.  He had earlier contracted malaria in North Carolina.  The letters in this book are to his young wife Anna who he married shortly after enlisting in 1861. He had seen action at several places including First Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredricksburg. This book is available through Heritage Books (ISBN: 0788436856).

These new sets of letters, although not as detailed as those of Horace Purdy's, mesh nicely with my existing information, fleshing out many details of events leading up to First Bull Run.  I cannot fully post them here as I do not have copyright, but will post cited snippets from time to time as I feel is needed.  Again, if anyone is aware of any more sets of letters on this regiment, please let me know.  I will continue to share any new information I find here.

Off to the War - 1st Connecticut Volunteers - April 1861

From the journal of Private Horace Purdy, 1st Connecticut Volunteers.

Friday April 19th 1861 Danbury to New Haven, Connecticut


“I went to the shop in the morning to get my shop clothes and some of my tools. I came home and completed my preparations for leaving home. We took dinner over to Father Griswold’s. He broke a bottle of wine to drink together before my departure. After dinner I bid goodbye to all and started for our hall. Before taking the train (which was the freight) the company paraded up as far as Franklin St. and down to Concert Hall where unexpected to me Father Griswold was waiting to pray with and for us ere we left our native town. After the prayer we went to the depot where the train was in readiness for us and a large concourse of people meeting to bid us perhaps a last farewell. After shaking hands with a thousand or less we finally moved off amid deafening cheers. A number more enlisted in our company at Norwalk. We arrived in New Haven about 6 o’clock P.M. A delegation from New Haven Greys [another local militia which served in the 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Regiment] escorted us to the New Haven Hotel where we were quartered. In the evening we were serenaded by the New Haven Cornet Band which played beautifully. We are the first company in the state to arrive at Rendezvous.”



Saturday April 20th 1861, New Haven, Connecticut

“Three other companies arrived today. We spent a part of the day drilling on the Green. We escorted Lt. Col Gregory to the cars in the P.M. He made a short speech on the rear car previous to starting.” [Gregory left to raise another Company from Danbury, see below].



Sunday April 21st 1861, New Haven, Connecticut

“After breakfast we were ordered out for an hours drill on the Green. It is claimed by the officers to be indispensible on account of the new recruits. I attended Dr. Bacon’s church on the Green in the P.M. He preached a very patriotic sermon. I was very much interested and I trust profited by it.”

From the "History of Danbury":
 
"Lieutenant-Colonel Gregory, who escorted the boys to New Haven, returned Saturday evening, and a meeting was called in Concert Hall. He, with the band, was escorted to the hall, and after the organization of the meeting by electing Isaac Smith as chairman, Colonel Gregory responded to loud calls, and reported the arrival of the boys in New Haven, their reception there, and what other information he possessed ooncerning them. The excitement was at a fever heat, and papers, pens, and ink. were called for and a roll started for a second company. This was in little over twenty-four hours from the time of the departure of the first company. As one after another put his name to the
paper, cheer after cheer were given".

Departure of the Wooster Guard (1st Conn. Regiment) from Danbury Conn, April 1861

The reaction of the town of Danbury Connecticut to the attack on Fort Sumter and the subsequent call for volunteers by President Lincoln in April of 1861 is detailed in James Montgomery Bailey's "History of Danbury Connecticut 1684-1896" (published in 1896). The Wooster Guard (local militia of which Horace Purdy was a member) was one of the first units to answer the President's and Governor's call travelling immediately to New Haven Connecticut where they were mustered into the first regiment from the state.

From the "History of Danbury Connecticut 1684-1896" pages 381-384:


It was three o'clock on the afternoon of Saturday, April 13th, 1861, when Danbury received the news of the fall of Sumter, and the first victory of the Secessionists. All that day anxious men besieged the telegraph office in search of the intelligence which they dreaded. When it came there was a shock. It was as if the batteries that played against the doomed fortress had been galvanic, with their wires running through our heart's very centre.

The next forty-eight hours were full of compressed life. They were mental yeast cakes. No excitement had equalled it since that April day, nearly a century dead, when the face of a foreign foe was turned our way and the tramp of an enemy's feet pressed our borders. Now we knew there was to be a war. Even the most sanguine of a bloodless ending to the trouble gave up the hope of peace, but not the determination to win it. In that first flush of indignant shame party lines went under, and a sea of patriotic passion swept over Danbury. There was little sleep in Danbury that night, there was none whatever the next day, although there were eight churches here. St. Peter gave way to saltpetre in the theology of that hour.

On April 15th President Lincoln issued his call for seventy five thousand volunteers, and Governor Buckingham supplemented it with a call for volunteers to rendezvous at Hartford. Danbury was among the first to awake to the necessities of the hour. Her patriotism was aroused, and her flags were unfurled, showing her to be true to her colors. Hon. Roger Averill flung out the first flag, and he was followed by others, until houses and hilltops were crowned with the emblem that had ever led the armies of our country to victory. An interesting incident occurred in connection with the unfurling of Governor Averill's flag. Many distinctly remember the venerable Colonel E. Moss White. Several years before the war he was stricken with paralysis, and never recovered from the shock. He moved about with great difficulty and lost all control of verbal expression except two words, in the form of an injunction, which were, " Come all!" On seeing the flag he smote his breast with both hands and cried aloud, again and again, "Come all! Come all!" And the record shows that the able-bodied men of his native town almost literally responded to the cry.

Governor Buckingham's call was received here on Wednesday, and on Friday, the 19th, the Wooster Guards, commanded by Captain E. E. Wildman, started for New Haven. It is a fact to the honor and credit of the Guards that even before the governor's call had been issued, the services of the company had been tendered him, which he had promptly accepted.

The departure of the Guards for New Haven, which had been made the rendezvous, was a grand, sublime, and yet a touching and pathetic scene. Soon after dinner the Guards met at their headquarters, then Military Ball, in the top story of D. P. Nichol's Block, on the corner of Main and White Streets. Hundreds of people met with them, and forming in line, escorted by a cavalcade of citizens and a band, they marched to Concert Hall, where now appropriately stands the Soldiers' Monument erected in memory of some of that brave band, whose courage was equal to the test of giving up their lives for their country. Filing into the hall, they were seated, and Rev. E[lijah]. E. Griswold, presiding elder of this district of the Methodist church, offered a prayer to the Throne of Grace for their welfare and that of the country. The services concluded the company re-formed, and escorted by the crowd, which had by this time swelled to thousands, they marched to the Danbury and Norwalk Railway station to take the cars.

Note: Elijah E. Griswold is the father of Anne Augusta Griswold Purdy, wife of Horace Purdy, and my direct ancestor.

The large square on the north of the station now became the scene and centre of the most intense and exciting interest. The place was a condensed mass of humanity. Wives, mothers, fathers, and children stood in tearful mood, but withal imbued with firmness and patriotism and heroism, and exchanged. Good wishes and farewells. Here, amid the huzzas of the crowd, the bursts of martial music, the waving of flags, the boom of Cannon, the Wooster Guards went forth, the first company in the State of Connecticut to pledge itself to the defence of the untarnished honor of the commonwealth and the nation.

The following is the roster of the company:

Captain, E. E. Wildman.
First Lieutenant, Jesse D. Stevens.
Second Lieutenant, John D. Bussing.
Sergeants: Andrew Knox, Milo Dickens, William. Moegling, Samuel Y. Petit.
Corporals: George B. Allen, E. S. Davis, Alexander Kallman, Nathan Couch.
Musicians: Edward H. Dann, Grandison D. Foote.

Privates: John Allen, Harris Anderson, C. H. Anderson, John Bogardus, Charles A. Boernm, James Blizzard, William H. Blizzard, Thomas T. Bussing, James Bradley, Theodore B. Benedict, A. H. Byington, George W. Banker, Charles A. Benger, Niram Blackman, Thomas D. Brown, Henry E. Buckingham, William K. Cowan, Lemuel B. Clark, William R. Doane, Josiah L. Day, Edward H. Day, Joseph L. Duuning, Ezekiel Eaton, C. Fieldstone, Dennis Geliven, Christopher Grimm, Charles A.. Gordon, H. W. Gibbs, Carl W. Hillbrandt, William O. Hoyt, W. P. Hoyt, David B. Hoyt, Alfred H. Hoddinott, Thomas Hooton, Otto Hagement, James Howath, Jesse L. James, Ernest T. Jennings, Isaac N. Jennings, George D. Keeler, Morris A. Krazynsky, William J. Murphy, Emil C. Margraff, James Martin, Andrew B. Nichols, Horace Purdy, Francis W. Platt, Joseph W. Raymond, James Reed, James R. Ross, Timothy Rose, George L. Smith, Alson J. Smith, Benjamin F. Skinner, David Sloane, Grandison Scott, Louis Shack, Eli D. Seeley, Augustus Staples, George Sears, James H. Taylor, Joseph Tammany, Darius A. Veats, Edgar L. Wildman, Howard W. Wheeler, John Waters.

The [Danbury] Times of May 2d, 1861, in speaking of the commanders of the Danbury companies, has the following: "Captain Wildman is a young, energetic, straightforward, and highly esteemed citizen. His response to the call of the governor was, 'Our country needs our services and it is our duty to go,' and by his manly, resolute course inspired his whole company with confidence and courage. It cannot be otherwise than a source of gratification to those who have friends and relatives in the guards to know that their services will be performed under a brave, gallant, and honorable commander."

The company arrived in New Haven at six 0' clock, and there they were met by the Grays, a company from that city, and by thousands of people, who gave them a hearty welcome. They were escorted to the New Haven House, where they made their headquarters.

Lieutenant-Colonel Gregory, who escorted the boys to New Haven, returned Saturday evening, and a meeting was called in Concert Hall. He, with the band, was escorted to the hall, and after the organization of the meeting by electing Isaac Smith as chairman, Colonel Gregory responded to loud calls, and reported the arrival of the boys in New Haven, their reception there, and what other information he possessed concerning them. The excitement was at a fever heat, and papers, pens, and ink. Were called for and a roll started for a second company. This was in little over twenty-four hours from the time of the departure of the first company. As one after another put his name to the paper, cheer after cheer were given.

Other Accounts of the First Connecticut Volunteers in 1861

Horace Purdy was only one of thousands of volunteers that answered Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers in April of 1861 and only one of hundreds who enlisted in the First Connecticut Regiment. However, finding the accounts of these volunteers is very difficult because although almost certainly letters of other recruits exist, only a handful have surfaced. Probably the best known account of the three month regiments from Connecticut are found in the 1872 book "Wooden Nutmegs" at Bull Run by Elnathan B. Tyler (writing as Frinkle Fry) of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment. This is a well written and humorous account of the Connecticut regiments from April through July of 1861 and highly recommended to anyone interested in these regiments or even in events leading up to the first battle of Bull Run.

Another existing but little known account was published in the Lincoln Herald in 1965. Titled "Bully for the 1st Connecticut" (written by Lester L. Swift) it recounts experiences of Gustavus Sullivan Dana of Company A of the First Connecticut Regiment and includes entries from his enlistment to a good detailed description of the unit's role at First Bull Run, the best that is known.

Dana was a 22 year old machinist from Hartford Connecticut and was a member of the Aetna Hose Company and the Hartford Light Guards. Many of these early volunteers were firefighters and/or members of local militia units. He offered his services on April 19th and formally was mustered in on April 22nd in New Haven. Dana later reinlisted in the 6th Connecticut Volunteer Regiment and rose to the rank of second lieutenant. After the war he was president of the Lincoln Guard of Honor, which was organized to prevent the theft of the casket containing Lincoln's body (Swift, 1965).

Like others who enlisted at this time Dana believed that the war would be over quickly, "the general opinion was that the trouble would be ended and that we would be home at the end of the three months for which the first troops were enlisted" (Swift, 1965:73). In this expectation Dana left his tools in the charge of the shop superintendent and was told his job would be available when he returned; however, as stated earlier Dana served for the entire duration of the war and the fate of his tools and career as a machinist is unknown. He died in 1916 (Swift, 1965).

The accounts of Dana, Tyler, and Purdy are currently all we have telling the detailed story of the three month men from Connecticut. I have some leads on other possibly surviving letter collections, but nothing else for certain at this time. Thus, the details on this units as somewhat vague, and because the three regiments were dissolved in July of 1861, these units do not have the long histories or reputations as many of the later Connecticut regiments. Still their story is an important one that should be told, providing us with a glimpse of the early months of the war, and a unique one as at one point these units were at the forward position of the Union advance in northern Virginia. It is my hope that more accounts of these regiments will surface at some point for they must surely exist.

REFERENCES

Swift, L. L. (ed.). 1965. "Bully for the First Connecticut": The recollections of a three month volunteer. Lincoln Herald 67(2):72-82.

Tyler, E. B. 1872. "Wooden Nutmegs" at Bull Run. George L. Colburn Steam Print, Hartford. (reprinted by Gale Archival Editions on Demand).

Regimental History of the 1st Connecticut Volunteers

Although I linked to this document in my initial post I wanted to repost it here for future reference. To me one of the really special things about going through letters and diaries of historic events is seeing how well they jive with published reports of the same events.

Colonel George S. Burnham was made the commanding officer of the 1st Connecticut following the promotion of Col. Daniel Tyler to Brigadier General. As recently recounted by Harry Smeltzer on his Bullrunnings blog, there is much confusion in most resources as to who was in command of the 1st Connecticut during the First Battle of Bull Run. Most list Lieutenant Colonel John Speidal of Bridgeport, who was originally the Captain of Rifle Company B. This is because Speidal is noted prominently in Gen. Keyes official report of the battle, whereas Burnham is not mentioned at all. However, Burnham did write a report of the battle to Keyes but for some reason it was not included in the official reports. It is clear from several sources, including this report and several newspaper articles that Burnham was in command. In letters by his soldiers Burnham is often accused of being drunk; however, in his report he states that he suffers from 'neuraligy' (a nervous disorder), which would account for this appearance.

History of the First Connecticut Volunteers

Written by COL GEORGE S. BURNHAM

The First Regiment of the three months’ men was recruited under the proclamation of President Lincoln, issued Monday, April 15, 1861, and the call of Governor Buckingham issued the day following.

Anticipating the call of the Governor, recruiting had begun so promptly that by the 16th many companies were ready to report with more than the minimum required, and Rifle Company A of Hartford, with George S. Burnham, Captain, Joseph R. Hawley, 1st Lieutenant, Albert W. Drake, 2d Lieutenant, had completed its organization with full ranks. This company and Rifle Company A, Captain John C. Comstock, left Hartford for the rendezvous at New Haven, April 20th. The regiment was at once organized with Dan. Tyler of Norwich, as Colonel, George S. Burnham, Lieut.-Colonel, and John L. Chatfield, Major.

The regiment was at first quartered in the buildings of Yale College and wherever shelter could be found, but soon went into camp in a vacant lot in the western part of the town, where the different companies were mustered into United States service, and immediately began work in earnest at company and regimental drill. On May 10th the regiment embarked for Washington on the steamer “Bienville,” and on the same day Colonel Tyler, who was a West Point graduate and had seen regular army service, was made Brigadier-General of Volunteers; Lieut.-Colonel Burnham being promoted to the full Colonelcy of the regiment.

The First arrived at Washington via Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac May 13th and proceeded at once to camp at “Glenwood,” about two miles north of the Capitol. May 31st Lieut.-Colonel Chatfield was promoted to the Colonelcy of the Third Regiment, vice Arnold resigned. Major Spiedel was made Lieut.-Colonel and Captain Theodore Byxbee of Meriden, was made Major.

These were days of intense excitement in Washington, and false alarms were frequent, but cool heads were in control of the Connecticut Brigade. On the day of Colonel Ellsworth’s funeral, all Washington was subjected to a false alarm, the long roll was sounded, and the First was hastily ordered out and marched to Long Bridge, when the alarm having subsided it was ordered back to camp.

At midnight, June 1st, the regiment broke camp at Glenwood and crossing Long Bridge, marched to Roach’s Mills on the Alexandria & Leesburg railroad, where it established camp, relieving the 12th New York. About June 16th a detachment of the First, under Colonel Burnham, was ordered up the railroad as escort to General Tyler in a reconnaissance. The train was made up of miserable rolling stock, and the couplings parted so frequently that the detachment was compelled to return after passing a short distance beyond Vienna. As the train was passing Vienna on its return, it was fired into from an ambuscade, and George H. Bugbee, of Infantry Company A, was severely wounded. If we except Major Theodore Winthrop, who fell at Big Bethel seven days earlier, this was the first blood of a Connecticut soldier in the Civil war.

The next day the First was ordered on the same duty, but was relieved by the 1st and 2d Ohio regiments, the 1st Connecticut going to the grounds in the vicinity of Long Bridge, where with a large number of other regiments it was reviewed by the Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. As the review closed the First was ordered hurriedly to the relief of the Ohio regiments which had been fired into at Vienna. On the next day the First went into camp at Falls Church, then considerably in advance of the main lines – a position peculiarly exposed to attack, as the rebels could easily reach its rear by way of either Balls’ or Bailey’s Cross Roads.

The First Regiment was joined by the Second on the next day, and soon after by the Third Connecticut and the Second Maine regiments, all of which were organized as a brigade, under command of Colonel Erasmus D. Keyes. On July 16th the entire army under immediate command of General McDowell began its advance toward Manassas, and Keyes Brigade, designated as the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, had the advance – the First Regiment covering the left of the head of column as skirmishers and the Second covering the right. They bivouacked the first night at Vienna, and the second at Germantown, arriving at Centerville on the 18th.

At midnight of Saturday, July 20th, the brigade was advanced via Warrentown road toward Bull Run, and was detached to guard the Warrentown road during the detour of the flanking column via Sudley Ford. It remained in this position until about 10 A.M., when it was beyond Youngs Branch, farther west.

Colonel Keyes in his official report said:

“The order to advance was given at about ten o’clock A.M., and from that hour to four P.M. my brigade was in constant activity on the field of battle. The First Regiment Connecticut Volunteers was met by a body of cavalry and infantry, which it repelled, and at several other encounters at different parts of the line the enemy constantly retired before us.

“Before recrossing Bull Run, and until my brigade mingled with the retreating mass, it maintained perfect freedom from panic, and at the moment I received the order for retreat, and for some time afterward, it was in as good order as in the morning on the road. Half an hour earlier I supposed the victory to be ours.”

Before night-fall the entire brigade reached its former campground at Centerville in good order, and under orders, bivouacked as was supposed for the night; the men suffering much from fatigue, at once going to sleep on their arms. About 10 o’clock P.M. peremptory orders came to continue the retreat to Falls Church. The road was now comparatively clear, as the disorganized part of the army was already far advanced on its way to Washington. About 9 A.M. the next day the regiment arrived at Falls Church, and, in a drenching rain, struck its tents and dispatched its entire camp and garrison equipage, together with that of the Second Maine, which had left the brigade, to Alexandria. The three Connecticut regiments marched that night to the camp of the First and Second Ohio regiments, which they found deserted. Occupying this standing camp during the night, it spent all day Tuesday, July 23d, in packing and sending to Alexandria the camp and garrison equipage of the First and Second Ohio and the Second New York regiments, leaving not a vestige of anything useful to fall into the hands of the enemy.

General Tyler in his report says:

“At seven o’clock on Tuesday evening, I saw the three Connecticut regiments, with two thousand bayonets, march under the guns of Fort Corcoran in good order, after having saved us not only a large amount of public property, but the mortification of seeing our standing camps fall into the hands of the enemy.”

The First remained in Washington until July 27th, when (their term of service having expired on the 22d) it started for New Haven, where, after tedious delays, it arrived and was mustered out on July 31st. The regiment was splendidly armed and equipped; eight companies with Springfield rifled muskets, and the two flank companies with Sharps rifles. The clothing was much of it very inferior, though all possible effort was made to remedy the defect.

A few of the companies were old militia organizations which preferred to retain their old regimental letters, thereby occasioning some confusion, but the exigencies of that short term of service did not warrant dallying with trifles. Too much credit can never be accorded the members of the three months’ regiments, who from pure patriotism, without promise or hope of bounty or reward, eagerly enlisted to repel the enemies of their country; and who had with still greater alacrity would have enlisted for the war had the call of President Lincoln permitted it.

This early service was an excellent school for the citizen soldiers of the State, and by far the larger part of those who participated were soon again in the service for three years or the war, fully one hundred and eighty from the 1st Regiment holding commissions. Connecticut can always look back with pride on her three months’ volunteers of 1861.

Casulties

Wounded: 6
Captured: 6
Discharged due to Disability: 25

Welcome

Welcome to Three Month Men, a site dedicated to the First Connecticut Volunteer Regiment in the American Civil War. Although this unit was only in existance for a little more than three months (April 19 - July 31, 1861) and fought in only a single major engagement (First Manassas or First Bull Run), regiments such as these were crucial in the initial defense of the North (as well as the initial invasion of th south) in the early months of the war. This regiment is typical of those that answered President Lincoln's call for volunteers after the bombing of Fort Sumter in April of 1861.

I have been researching this regiment for nearly 20 years based mainly on the war diary and letters of Horace Purdy, a private in Infantry Company E. These resources are extremely detailed and provide almost daily recollections of the actions of this unit. Unfortunately other information on this regiment is difficult to find other than the brief regimental history written by the commander George S. Burnham, as well as a post battle report also written by Burnham and an article written by another member of the regiment. However, the First Connecticut was brigaded with the 2nd and 3rd Connecticut regiments as well as the 2nd Maine and information exists for these units in particular a detailed book.

This blog will draw from all of these resources. In particular I hope to provide a chronological progression of excepts from Horace Purdy's diary and letters in weekly posts that will bring you through events leading up to the war and through to the Battle of Bull Run. This will be supplemented by other material from the three connecticut regiments (particularly the 1st) which I already possess and that I hope to obtain. Eventually I would like to put the full text of the letters, diary, and other regimental information into book form.