friend of his State and town, and to his personal supervision and instruction was owing the high military character which distinguished our soldiers. General Hawley expressed the feeling of not a few Connecticut officers, when he said, "General Tyler is the father of us all." The record of the State had thus far been remarkably creditable, while the popular enthusiasm manifested itself in local war-meetings, in generous pledges of assistance to volunteers and their families. The recruiting machinery was in the hands of men of energy and patriotic impulses, and the several towns and counties sought to emulate each other in the promptitude with which they raised their assigned quotas. V. 1862. NINE MONTHS' MEN. "Qui transtulit sustinet?' motto of light! 'Neath the folds of that banner we strike for the right; The Hand that transplanted, that Hand will sustain.' “And now in the darkness of Treason's black night, ON S. S. WELD. N the fourth of August, 1862, appeared President Lincoln's proclamation for three hundred thousand troops to serve nine months, with orders for a draft to be made, if the quotas of the different States were not filled with volunteers, by the fifteenth of the month. In Norwich it only served to intensify the war spirit, and made all citizens feel that it was no time to despond or slacken in efforts that hitherto had reflected such honor upon the town. The "Daily Bulletin," from the first, pronounced in its patriotic utterances, and cager to second every movement for the raising of the called for troops, - spoke out in bold and earnest tones, "There is not a loyal heart in these United States who will not rejoice on seeing the President's procla mation. . . . It is an indication of earnest work. It proves that the administration will not suffer this Republic to perish because it hesitates to put forth its full strength. We cannot doubt of the hearty approval and willing response of the people to this new call upon their patriotism. There are many among us who could hardly determine their duty. On the one hand, were the sweet endearments of home, the wife and children to be provided for, the anxious care for them, which pleads strongly; and on the other hand, the call for soldiers, which comes home to every man's heart who loves his native land. To them the draft will be welcome." It was a dark hour in the history of the war, perhaps the darkest that was known at any time during our long struggle. The Peninsular campaign had resulted most disastrously to our arms, though never did troops fight more bravely. The stubborn heroism of our splendid Potomac army, led by such war-worn veterans as Sumner, Kearney, Heintzelman, Hooker, and others, had made its retreat a costly one to the rebel forces, and might even have turned its sad retirement from the advance on Richmond into victory, if there had been the requisite courage and skill on the part of the then commanding general. Following this great failure came the short and unfortunate campaign of General Pope, and the triumphant advance of General Lee into Maryland. The need of more men by the government was urgent in the extreme, and the President's call appeared just at the time when national reverses had produced widespread discouragement and solicitude, and yet, as we shall see, the people met the crisis with undaunted faith, and responded with reasonable promptness to the appeal made to them for more troops. Going back a little in our regimental history, we find that in January of this year, the Fourth Regiment of Infantry was by order of the War Department converted into the First Artillery. It received two additional companies, and was recruited to eighteen hundred men, and placed under command of Colonel Robert O. Tyler. In a few months, it attained a remarkable degree of efficiency, and was soon after "ranked by military judges as the best Volunteer Regiment of Artillery in the field, and considered equal in all respects to any regiment of the same arm in the regular service." On the promotion of Colonel Tyler, Henry L. Abbott was appointed to the command, and under him the regiment served until the close of the war. It constituted, during a portion of this period, the basis of an Artillery Brigade, which sometimes exceeded an aggregate of thirty-five hundred men, and had in charge the entire siege train in use in the final siege of Petersburg and Richmond. From this regiment, after the transference of Major H. W. Birge to the colonelcy of the Thirteenth Infantry, Norwich was represented by Dr. Edwin Bentley, Assistant Surgeon, promoted to the position of Brigade Surgeon; John H. Tingley, Second Lieutenant, Company A, who had with a noble patriotism served in the ranks as a private during the three months' campaign; Bela P. Learned, Second Lieutenant, Company D, who also served two years with honor as a field-officer on the staff of General Abbott, transacting with rare efficiency the complicated office duties of the command. Subsequently promoted Captain, he received the appointment of Brevet Major before he was mustered out with the regiment; Edwin L. Tyler, Second Lieutenant, Company G; Frank J. Jones, Second Lieutenant, Company L. On the regimental rolls appear the names of about sixty privates, some of whom were non-residents, and are credited to the town as substitutes. The regiment served through the Peninsular campaign under General McClellan, where its discipline and splendid equipment were severely tested. At the battle of Malvern Hill its guns were served with great rapidity and accuracy, and for its efficient services the names of "Siege of Yorktown," "Hanover Court House," "Chickahominy," "Gaines' Mills," and "Malvern," were ordered to be emblazoned on its colors. When garrisoning Washington, subsequent to this, it was awarded a position of supreme importance, and in the advance under General Grant, the regiment again had a distinguished part, the gallantry of its officers and men attracting attention. Throughout the final campaign against Richmond, it continued to hold the high reputation it had gained, in the earlier one during this year, under McClellan. In the siege of Yorktown in 1862, when the Regiment had been but few months in service, and had received comparatively little exact training, the report of the ordnance officer of its siege-train, Major Doull of the Second New York Artillery, said, “Its labors will compare favorably with anything of the kind that has been done before." It manned the long line of guns in front of Petersburg in 1864 and '65, while eight companies served on the lines in front of Richmond. When not serving their guns, the greater part of the regiment would act as guards for the reserve artillery, or would be ready to accompany assaulting columns, in order to use without delay any captured artillery upon the retreating enemy. In the assault of the lines of Petersburg, April second, 1865, by the Ninth Corps, a detachment of the regiment joined the assaulting column, and entered among the first the enemy's works, serving instantly four captured light twelve-pounder guns upon the retreating masses of the enemy. Two more were afterwards taken, when the six guns were served gallantly all day and during the night, contributing greatly to the success of the charge, and repulsing the rebels in their desperate efforts to retake the works. |