46 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE TAMMANY JACKSON GUARD;" OR, FORTY-SECOND VOLUNTEER REGIMENT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. S SOON as the news of the attack upon Fort Sumter reached New York City, Tammany Hall took immediate action in placing itself on the side of the Union; and, at its own expense, recruited, equipped and sent to the front a full regiment, the Forty-second, whose record on many a bloody field is unsurpassed by any other that fought under the Stars and Stripes to the end of the war. Its first Colonel was the Grand Sachem of the Tammany Society at the time he received his commission as commander of the regiment. During the war, over seven thousand men fought for the Union under Tammany's regimental banner, and of these thousands less than five hundred returned home. Of the original twelve hundred, forming the first regiment sent into the field, only two hundred and fifty returned. Colonel Kennedy, like Vosburg and Ellsworth, did not live to command the regiment in battle, for he died of an illness brought on by over-exertion in behalf of his charge, in July of 1861. By the middle of June the Tammany regiment had enlisted one thousand one hundred men, but, when just ready to start, word was received from Washington "that they had men enough," but it was suggested that the regiment be held together until further notice. This was the illusive period of the inexperienced statesman rule, when Secretary Seward thought the war would be ended in “sixty days." The Tammany regiment, to the great disappointment of officers and men, was temporarily quartered at Great Neck, Long Island, where they were supplied with arms, and received drill instruction, for which purpose an officer was detailed from West Point. The importance of accurate instruction in the use of arms and other military tactics was not at first so thoroughly appreciated as later on in the struggle. Before leaving Long Island for Washington, the regiment was presented with the national colors; a regimental standard with State arms, and a guidon bearing the arms of the Tammany Society. The presentation was made by Grand Sachem Elijah F. Purdy, who was at this time chairman of the General Committee of Tammany Hall, on behalf of a Joint Committee appointed to this duty by the Society. The flags were received on the part of the regiment by Colonel Kennedy, who briefly and appropriately responded, expressing hearty thanks of himself, his officers and men. An elegant pistol was presented to the gallant Colonel by George W. Roome, and a splendid sword and sash by John Clancy. These were the gifts of personal friends. The Colonel then led the delegates through the open ranks of the regiment, which was pronounced to be equal to the best yet organized at the North; and the statement was freely made that there were very few which showed such excellent material in physical appearance. One of the saddest losses, early in the history of this regiment, was the premature death of their Colonel, William D. Kennedy, who had been one of the most enthusiastic advocates for raising the regiment. When the proposition to do so was first made in a meeting at Tammany Hall, the query was put, "If we raise a regiment, who will command it?" "I will," answered the Grand Sachem, "if a better commander does not offer." And from that moment all his thoughts, time and energy were directed to this object, and success came rapidly as to the enlistment of recruits; then came the delay at Great Neck; the care of hundreds of men in camp, only a few miles from the city; the ambition to turn out welldrilled men; the constant desire, thrown back, to start to the front. Colonel Kennedy knew no rest, but the unwonted physical exertion, and of such a novel nature, was paid for by a fatal penalty. The regiment reached Washington on the third Saturday of July, 1861. Colonel Kennedy, though very unwell, persisted in keeping at the head of his men when marching through the hot streets of Washington to the camp-ground assigned to them. Eventually compelled to retire for rest, he never rallied, but passed away, without having been allowed the satisfaction of a single encounter with the enemy.* On receiving the news of their loss, a special meeting of the General Committee was held at their room in Tammany Hall, on the 24th of July, 1861, where resolutions of regret for their own loss and condolence with his family were passed, not in a merely perfunctory style, but, as those who were present will remember, with a sorrowful tenderness of sympathy and sincere regret which it would be difficult to find exceeded on any similar occasion. Not content with verbal expressions only, the committee issued a memorial pamphlet, recording Colonel Kennedy's service in raising the Forty-second Regiment, and his virtues as a man and a citizen, as well as a high officer of the Tammany Society. This printed memorial is signed: ELIJAH F. PURDY, Chairman. JOHN HARDY and A. B. ROLLINS, Secretaries. This Forty-second Regiment was by no means the only one raised by Democrats, who either were, had been, or became Tammany men. Fernando Wood. raised another, of which John S. Cocks was Colonel, though at this particular time Mr. Wood was the leader of the Mozart faction-truants from Tammany. Then there was the Sickles Brigade, filled with Tammany men; in fact, it was hard to find a regiment raised in the City of New York during the war in which there were not many-especially was this true of the brigade raised by General Francis B. Spinola. Among other Tammany men active in promoting recruiting may be named John Clancy, editor of the Leader, Judge Moses D. Gale, Colonel Thomas Dunlap, Colonel Delevan, Mr. Peter Bowe, Douglas Taylor, Alderman Charles E. Loew, Nelson J. Waterbury, Isaac Bell, Casper C. Childs, C. L. Monel, John. Houghtaling and others. It was at the battle of Ball's Bluff, in which the Tammany Regiment was engaged, when General Baker fell, that Colonel Cogswell ordered his brigade to cut their way through to Edward's Ferry. In this brigade was a Tammany com The "Kennedy Post," G. A. R., named in his honor, still keeps alive his revered memory in the City of New York. pany, headed by Captain Timothy O'Meara. In the commencement of the engagement O'Meara had placed by the side of the Stars and Stripes the green flag of his native isle. The twin emblems seemed to inspire the men of this particular company with redoubled energy and intrepidity, and they charged upon the enemy with terrible effect: nor did they give way till all hopes were dead. Colonel Cogswell and Captain O'Meara were captured, and shared all the horrors of rebel captivity. At the battle of Antietam the Tammany Regiment lost one hundred and eighty killed, wounded and missing, out of two hundred and eighty who went into the battle. The regiment had to be refilled several times by new enlistments. In fact, Tammany Hall kept up a permanent recruiting station while the war lasted. At Gettysburg Lieutenant Colonel William A. Lynch, a Tammany soldier, seeing his color-sergeant shot down, and the men wavering under a terrible fire, sprang from his horse, tore the standard from the hands of the dying sergeant, and, bearing it to the head of his command, restored the temporarily flagging hopes of his regiment. This brave man was in many battles, but survived the war. The Forty-second, or Tammany Regiment, was mustered into the service of the United States June 22-28, 1861, and was mustered out on the 13th of July, 1864. Those who chose to remain in the military service, with all the new · recruits were transferred to the Eighty-second N. Y. Volunteers. The official record of the service of the Tammany Regiment in the archives of the Adjutant-General's office at Albany is the most honorable. The Tammany Jackson Guards were in the thick of the fight at the battles of Ball's Bluff, Yorktown, West Point, Va., Glendale, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, etc. After the battle of Gettysburg, on the second day of the fight, the entire weight of the rebel army was thrown against the Second Corps-General Hancock's-in which was the Tammany Regiment. In Townsend's valuable work entitled, "The Honors of the Empire State in the War of the Rebellion," he thus describes the scene: "This devoted corps [Hancock's] bore the brunt of the onslaught and merits the honor of the victory. Pickett's splendid division of Longstreet's Confederate Corps came on in front with the best of Hill's veterans supporting them. When they were at blank-point range, came the order for our troops to fire; then from eighteen thousand guns issued a sheet of smoky flame-a crush of leaden death. The first of the Confederate lines literally melted away, but the second came resolutely on. Pickett's division now thrust itself up to the Union line, and the full strength of this attack fell upon the New York City brigade, which included the Tammany troops." "The movement," says the historian Swinton, "was certainly as critical as can well be conceived, but the coolness and bravery of both officers and men caused the repulse and route of the assailants; and with that repulse perished the last hope of Confederate victory," and in the grand result the Tammany Jackson Guards had its full share of glory-and of loss. We give here a few of the names of men of the Forty-second which have received "honorable mention" or other official honors for heroic conduct under fire: Lieut. Thomas Abbott was honorably mentioned in Lieut.-Col. Mooney's report of the battle of Ball's Bluff, also Major Peter Bowe in the same report. Col. Milton Cogswell was presented with a sword by the Common Council of the City of New York, on the scabbard of which was inscribed these words, which the recipient had used at the battle of Ball's Bluff, suiting the action to the words: "Men, we'll cut our way through to Edward's Ferry." Colonel Henry Harrington was also honorably mentioned for brave conduct at Ball's Bluff. Col. Edward C. Charles was one of the noted heroes of White Oak Swamp, where he was badly wounded and taken prisoner. Private D. H. Morgan is commended in the official report as having volunteered to advance with the head of the column, and cut down the palisading, at the time of the assault on Fort Fisher. These are but a few specimens among hundreds of others showing the kind of material that did all their duty, and more, at the seat of war, furnished by the much-vilified Tammany Hall. Let us say of them in the words of the Rev. Henry W. Bellows: "Rest patriots, rest Rest within the bosom of that earth Thou didst so much to make A more worthy residence for thy fellow men." |