Earl Fenner

“ Frank Wheaton, our division commander, accompanied by his staff, came riding swiftly down the road and halted before our battery, and said: “Captain Allen, General Lee has surrendered; get your battery out on yonder hill and fire a salute of one hundred guns.”
Captain Allen turning to his command gave the order: “Battery attention!” He then said: “Boys, General Lee has surrendered. No more fighting. We are going to let you go home. We have orders to fire a salute of one hundred guns.” He then gave the command: “Drivers and cannoneers mount—forward double-quick—march!” ”

“ President Lincoln, who had been at City Point for several days, on the morning of the capture of Petersburg, received a dispatch from General Grant inviting him to ride out to Petersburg and he would meet him there. He found Grant in the captured city occupying the piazza of a deserted house. Mr. Lincoln warmly congratulated the general on the recent victory, thanking him and his army for the good results accomplished, and said: “Do you know, general, that I have had a sort of sneaking idea for some days that you intended to do something like this.” ”

“ This camp was established as an artillery camp of instruction for all volunteer batteries, for drill and discipline preparatory for service in the field. Soon after its arrival the battery exchanged the James rifled pieces with which it left Rhode Island for three-inch ordnance guns.
In November General McClellan was relieved from command of the Army of the Potomac, and General Burnside reluctantly assumed the position. His career while connected with its leadership is so well known to every one interested in the history of that army, that it is deemed inexpedient to dwell upon it here. ”

“ General Burnside regarded him as one of his best officers. ‘He has shown great courage and skill,’ once wrote the general, ‘and in organization and discipline he has no superior.’ General Foster was enthusiastic in his commendation. ‘He stands as high as any officer or soldier in the army of the United States,’ said he, ‘on the list of noble, loyal and devoted men.’ On the 27th of December he was promoted to the rank of 43brigadier-general, and, on the 14th of March, 1863, he was confirmed and commissioned to that grade. ”

“ General Meade, who had now arrived, at once ordered an advance along the front of the other corps holding our works on the left. Our forces succeeded in wresting from the enemy their intrenched picket line, which was held and strengthened by our troops.
While heavy firing was going on in our front, from the position of our battery near Fort Fisher we witnessed a grand and imposing sight as our infantry marched out of our lines and moved forward to the attack. This movement was observed by President Lincoln and several members of his Cabinet. ”

“ I cannot hold the Little River Turnpike without more infantry. If the rebels pass Fort Worth on it, they ought to be stopped by the forces near Alexandria; if they then turn up on the Seminary plateau the light battery is ready to prevent their attacking our line in rear in that vicinity, and the convalescent men ought to hold their own camp. ”

“ General Wheaton, in his report to Major Whittlesey, says:
“During our advance towards Petersburg, Capt. Crawford Allen, Jr.’s Battery H, of the First Rhode Island Artillery, was admirably handled and his losses were severe. His guns were always in front, frequently in advance of the skirmishers; and, as our lines moved forward, he invariably forced the enemy’s batteries to retire, and followed them closely. Earlier in the day, when the assault commenced, Captain Allen very handsomely compelled a section of the enemy’s artillery to retire. ”

“ Augustus Woodbury, late chaplain of the First Rhode Island Infantry, visited us to-day and received a soldier’s welcome. We have now received orders to join the old Ninth Army Corps. We are proud of being attached to this gallant 33corps, commanded by the loved and esteemed Burnside, Rhode Island’s foremost soldier. This corps since its transfer from the West has been reorganized at Annapolis, and now numbers nearly twenty-five thousand men. It is composed of four divisions, three of white and one of colored troops. ”

“ The fight was now over and night had fallen, but the cavalry and a part of the Sixth Corps pursued the enemy a few miles, anxious to complete a victory which had annihilated one corps of Lee’s army, and had compelled Longstreet to move to Farmville, and take a road north of the Appomattox River, instead of continuing toward Danville. The result of this victory was the capture of six general officers (including General Ewell) and seven thousand men. Sheridan immediately sent a staff officer to General Grant apprising him of the situation. ”

“ We learn that our forces are having quite a brush with the enemy. A large body of our troops are concentrating at Fairfax Court House, awaiting orders to move toward Gettysburg. A number of rebel prisoners passed our camp to-day under guard. Their brown butternut uniforms and slouch hats indicated that they hailed from North Carolina.
June 25th. The battery received orders to leave camp at Chantilly this morning at eight A. M., and proceed to Fairfax Court House, and report to Brig.-Gen. Henry J. Hunt, who had command of the Reserve Artillery of the Army of the Potomac. ”

“ I do not want you, therefore, to cut loose and go after the enemy’s roads at present. In the morning push around the enemy, if you can, and get on to his right rear.... We will act all together as one army, until it is seen what can be done with the enemy.”
The rain fell in torrents from the night of the 29th to the morning of the 31st, and the roads were almost impassable. Sheridan advanced from Dinwiddie Court House, on the 6330th, towards Five Forks, and found the enemy there in full force, and, reinforced by the rebel cavalry, forced him back to Dinwiddie Court House. ”

“ When Battery H was ordered to the defenses of Washington, in May, 1864, the Army of the Potomac was engaged in a deadly struggle with the Confederate forces at Spottsylvania. Shortly after this encounter with the enemy Grant commenced his celebrated left flank movement, crossed the North Anna River, where a sharp battle was fought, and a few days later the Union army was engaged in the more hotly contested battle of Cold Harbor. ”

“ The morning of the 7th still found our troops in hot pursuit of Lee’s retreating army. Crook’s cavalry division overtook the main body of the Confederates at Farmville, and promptly attacked their trains on the north side of the Appomattox, with Gregg’s brigade. The enemy fiercely turned upon our forces, compelling them to recross the river, and captured a number of prisoners, among them Gregg himself. It was apparent that Lee had abandoned all effort to escape to the southwest by the way of Danville. ”

“ Beyond these was other infantry supports. General Warren immediately made preparations for battle. The Union troops were soon engaged and an obstinate combat ensued. The losses were large and many officers fell, and regiments that went into the contest two or three hundred strong returned with a mere handful of men. General Warren, however, steadily gained ground in spite of the efforts of the enemy to drive him back, and in the afternoon, being reinforced by a brigade from General Sedgwick’s corps, he succeeded in driving the enemy back to their intrenched line. ”

“ On the first of August he received authority to raise and organize a regiment of infantry for a term of three years, and on the 7th of September he went into camp at Readville with twenty men. On the 9th of December he left the State of Massachusetts with the Twenty-fourth regiment—one of the finest and best drilled, organized, equipped and disciplined body of troops that Massachusetts had yet sent to the war. His regiment was assigned to General Foster’s brigade in the North Carolina expedition, and he soon gained the respect and friendship of his superior officers. ”

“ After this engagement General Grant became convinced that he could not accomplish all he desired north of Richmond, and determined to hold the ground then occupied by his forces, and, after his cavalry had been sent to break up the railroad communication between Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley and Lynchburg, he began to move the Army of the Potomac again by the left flank to the south side of the James River, and where he believed he could more effectually cut off the sources of the enemy’s supplies. ”

“ Perhaps they did not keep the perfect alignment of the well drilled troops of the Army of the Potomac, but nevertheless the marching of the Western army could not be excelled, and it was thoroughly drilled to endure hardships, either by long and continuous marches or through exposure to any climate without the ordinary shelter of a camp.
On the 25th of May, we painted the battery preparatory to going on review with the Sixth Corps in Washington. May 27th, we marched from City Point at seven A. M., and camped for the night near the outskirts of the town of Manchester. ”

“ The infantry was at once thrown in. Sheridan then moved his troops around to the enemy’s left and decided to attack at once. Just as Custer’s division was forming to charge, a white flag appeared, and Custer sent word to Sheridan: “Lee has surrendered; do not charge; the white flag is up.” Sheridan immediately rode over to Appomattox Court House, where he was met by General Gordon, who requested a suspension of hostilities with the assurance that negotiations were then pending between Generals Grant and Lee for a capitulation. General Ord then joined the party. ”

“ Messinger, was born in the city of Providence, R. I., March 27, 1842. At the commencement of the Civil War, he was attending a private school in that city, preparatory to entering Brown University. With all the ardor and patriotism of youth, and imbued with a strong desire to serve his country in her hour of peril, he offered his services and was mustered into service as a private in Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, June 6, 1861. He participated with his battery in the first battle of Bull Run. ”

“ An occasional long roll at night would relieve the monotony of our existence, when the men would hasten to the guns remaining there until reveille.
It was a source of regret to us that we were not permitted to remain with the Ninth Corps, which was at that time with the Army of the Potomac confronting the enemy at Cold Harbor, where a severe battle had just been fought. After the Wilderness and Spottsylvania battles General Grant became convinced that he had more artillery than could be 48brought into action at any one time. ”

“ May 29th. The long roll awakened us from our slumbers, and “boots and saddles” call was sounded. The battery was hitched up and ready to move in eight minutes. We anticipated an attack of the rebels on our picket line. If they had come upon us then they would have found confronting them the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Maine regiments (each eleven hundred strong) , and, with the Eleventh Massachusetts Battery and our own battery, they would have met with a warm reception, as the night was very dark and we had the advantage of a good position. ”

“ In the battle before Petersburg, Va., on the 2d of April, 1865, he won special commendation from his superior officers for his gallant conduct. He carried the battery guidon at the head of the battery throughout the entire action. In the seventh and last position which the battery occupied on that eventful day in rear of the Whitworth House, while the 136battery was under a very severe cross fire from the enemy he was ordered by Captain Allen to deliver a message to Colonel Cowan, commanding the Artillery Brigade of the Sixth Corps, requesting assistance. ”

“ Crawford Allen, Jr.
29A little more than a year ago we had first encamped on this familiar ground, and although our battery had not suffered from the casualties of direct conflict with the enemy, yet we mourned the loss of several tried comrades who had succumbed to disease and lay buried near the little chapel at Fairfax Station, while others who could not withstand the hardships and exposures incident to a soldier’s life had been discharged from the service for disability, and had returned to their homes with shattered constitutions, the result of disease contracted in the army. ”

“ It seems there was a soldier well known in the battery (now deceased) whose name we do not desire to make public, who cherished an enmity against Sergeant Messinger because he had appointed him a corporal at Camp Mauran against his wishes. He only held the position a short time, then returned to the ranks, and was appointed mail carrier for the battery. He was present in the officers’ quarters to take the mail the morning the captain sent the 123papers to Rhode Island, and heard the captain express the desire that the papers might soon bring Sergeant Messinger his commission. ”

“ Here General Sheridan, instead of retreating with his command to the main army, deployed his cavalry on foot, leaving only mounted men enough to take charge of the horses, and compelled the enemy to deploy over a vast extent of wooded and broken country, making his progress slow. ”

“ At the time of the battle of Chancellorsville Captain Hazard, with one section of his battery, was ordered to Rappahannock Station, where it remained nine days with the Twelfth Vermont Infantry, for the purpose of guarding the river at that point.
101On the 29th of June, we find Captain Hazard with his battery on Little River Turnpike in the vicinity of Forts Worth and Ward, where it was engaged in supporting the picket line, as it was apprehended that the enemy, who were reconnoitering on the turnpike, might be seeking to force an entrance within our lines at that point. ”

“ In June, 1861, Captain Wheaton was appointed by Governor Sprague lieutenant-colonel of the Second Rhode Infantry. On the death of Colonel Slocum he was immediately promoted to the colonelcy of his regiment. In November, 1862, he was appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers. He commanded a brigade of the Sixth Corps, and was with it in its various campaigns and battles, until the battle of Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864, when, by order of General Sheridan, he was assigned to the command of the First Division, Sixth Corps. ”

“ He settled all the affairs of the battery for Captain Allen in a manner creditable to himself and to all concerned. Even to this day there is no member of the battery who is more highly esteemed and respected than he, and no one who takes a livelier interest in the welfare of his comrades. He has had the opportunity and privilege of visiting many of the members who are scattered over the country, and they always find him ready to extend a hearty welcome to all ”