3 /to, fyrvitt^o^k j y CL^yiTu UAA14AXVV Class £_6& Book ~M< h V (From the Hartford Daily Courant.) THE BRILLIANT MILITARY RECORD OF -^maj: general hawley. His Gallantry at Bull Run, ^"ask.^ S eces- sJonville, Pocataligo, Morns Island, ©lustee, Drewry's Bluff, De^p Run, Petersburg and » TO -Wnm hunter, general panic, as to excite the special attention of ^uSbmvmoXS^tk? voris, EHB.; correspondents who were personally unacquaint- FO^TEK Mil TERKY, AND COLONEL HALPKE , ed With him. WITH OPINIONS OF GENERALS KEYES,STEVENS, ^ ^ ^^ wag c , rdere d, after the bat- btannabd, gillmore, birney ano BUiLEL. ^ towards Georgetown, with an order to leave two men from each company on guard at the It may seem unnecessary to call attention at ^^ Church caUiP) Captain H. counted himself this dav to the war record of General Joe Haw- ag ^ Qf lhe twQ from his comma nd, although bey; but as the presses which persistently vlb that was his third night without sleep, and he fied him and his army comrades at every step in ^^ &]{ nigbt ou guard iu a pelting storm, only the progress of the war see fit to still traduce his- t0 save some p00 r private from the unwelcome character as a soldier, there is manifest propri- ^^ Thus it was that he got a "good position" ety in meeting squarely the issue thus renewedly ^ h&d a <(good time „ aud « easy p i aces " in the presented. The Hartford Times flatly asserts that firBtcampaigtl of the war. What wonder that General Hawley "got promotion and good posi- GeueralDa n. Tyler, his earliest brigade cm- tion through the influence of pergonal friends, mandei . )(like General Keyes,a West Point soldier,) and further, that "few officers and none of tne writegof him thus enthusiastiealb : soldiers had so good a time as he, or easier places knQwn Major General Hawley from all through the war." the first day he entered the military service of his *JS?S?« the facts in this case. On the | ? £ ^^j^^VlZ President's first call for troops, Joseph B. Haw- 2«^^*g|g£ wbo came forward to ihe^ ley, without military experience or aspiration,, J* cu £ ofthe Union, nor one more worthy the volunteered to enter the government service as gStatafa of his friends and the eonudenceof itldS, drawing up the enlistment paper in the hi; ^y^%J$PE%*£& 'con- presence of a few friends and affixing his own JjM^j^S^ highest honor She co«M name to it as the first. In twenty-four hours a £C- efectinghim her Chief Jfag-tm. company was formed, and he chosen one of is the b and wd ,,,e o the ■ Sute f ' ng Untenants. On the advancement of his cplain ^era Hawley^ |do *>- be for the t mc n i ow to the colonelcy, Hawley was promoted to the ^^^^VSamen are concerned who captaincv. In that position, he had no "easier tgJggJS f , , b , ld the horor of the pTes" Ling *■ ««• **** #*?**£ 8&j^^ other line officers inactive duty. At the battle youAa r*J B £^^^wWltoLr of Bull Run the only "good position" he sought gj&|™ the camp and their leader m the fi( Id. was that of doing with his company the skirmish- ^^ ^ ^ a w ,. ( k C1 WBt after in B on the way to the field. Iu the fight his con- p t befbre agaia commencing to ductwassuchasto secure his commendatory J^JXS* He could have had a colonel- menti, ,ri in the report of General Key es-a West rais e a ; c . m ^ / deBt tu aocept it. At Col. Point ofiW, and while returning from the field **X^>ri«W»A, he went out with the 7th C his coolness and courage were so marked, in the onei terry j V. as second iu command, and shared all the'pri- vations and dangers of the Port^TJoyal expedi- tion. During the siege of Fort Pidaski he was brought to the verge of the grave by sickness re- sulting from exposure, yet he managed to be on duty when the fire opened, and was in command as "field officer of the trenches" on the morning of the fight, being at the batteries every moment for thirty hours — until the fort surrendered. To the 7th C. V. was given the honor of occupying the fort, and on Colonel Terry's promotion the command devolved on Hawley. The new posi- tion was likely to prove a desirable one for ease- loving officers, but Colonel H. earnestly entreat- ed for himself and his regiment a share in the movement against Charleston, and thus came to have a part in the bloody fight at Secessionville, where his conduct in battle won the hearty com- mendation of yet another West Pointer, Generai Stevens, his division commander. Again Colonel H. was with his regiment fh the hotly contested battle of Pocataligo ; and there it was noted that while in the shifting scenes of the fight he sev- eral times ordered his men to lie down for cover, he never once sought shelter or lay down him- self, although he might properly have done so. In the interval of more active operations in the department, Colonel H. was requested by his com- mander to go to Florida in the discharge of a trust requiring administrative ability, discretion, firm- ness and integrity. His officers uniting in the request that he would accept the positson, he was in command first at Fernandina and then at St. Augustine. Of his discharge of the duty thus as- signed him, Major General Hunter has said : "I was in need of a talented officer to command in the district of Florida. General Hawley was selected for that purpose, and I never had reason a moment to regret my choice. He always per- formed the various and most important duties of his trust with great gallantry and ability, and to my entire satisfaction. My only regret, when thinking of General Hawley, was, that we had not many more like him." • While in Florida, four companies were de- tached from his regiment, and this battalion, un- der Lieutenant Colonel Rodman, distinguished itself in the landing on Morris Island and the first assault on Fort Wagner, in Gillmore's move against Charleston. No sooner did Colonel Haw- ley hear of a renewal of active operations, than he sent, by first steamer, a* request for himself and his command to be permitted to join the remnant of Rodman's battalion, and at the same time wrote to "personal friends" to intercede in his behalf in this request. His desire was grant- ed, and he was assigned to a laborious and hon- orable share in the protracted and exhausting siege. As Afield officer of the trenches," he was in charge at the opening of the first two days bombardment of Wagner, having general super- vision at the extreme front, under the hottest fire. For a time he commanded the brigade of the brave General Stevenson, and again he was with his regiment preparing for an assault on Sumter, the command lying bivouacked on Folly Island for a fortnight in daily anticipation of the order for an attack. Colonel H. might have retained the "good po- sition" at Fort Pulaski, but he chose instead the bloody fields of James Island and Pocataligo. He could have continued in the "easy place" at St. Augustine, but he ' preferred to that the dis- comforts and dangers of the wilderness of sand and fire, on Morris Island, in the terrible summer of 1863. Colonel C. G. Halpine, ("Private Miles O'Reilly,") assistant adjutant :* general, on the stafifof both Generals Hunter and Gillmore, and who is himself a Democrat, writes as follows of General Hawley, as he knew htm in the depart- ment of the South : "Colonel Josepli R. Hawley's reputation for prudence, good discipline and courage was such that his regiment was made prominent in all matters requiring the especial display of those qualities ; and the only 'easy position' I ever knew him to hold, was when he was sent to occupy Fernandina and command Florida, as a check to certain dishonest transactions and wholesale pil- ages in which some civilian appointees of the United States government, and some civil and religious followers of General Rufus Saxton, the military governor of the black population in the department, were found to have been engaged. This duty, a very importaut and perplexing one, Colonel Hawley, faithfully discharged, his reports leading to the recovery of much pillaged property already shipped for the North, and to the discon- tinuance of such practices in the future — at least so long as I remained assistant adjutant general and chief of staff of that department." Major General Turner, an officer of the regular army, who was General Gillmore's chief of staff, and who now commands in the city of Rich- mond, adds : "I have been more or less intimately associated with him [General H ] since June 1863; was side by side with him during the memorable opera- tions upon Morris Island, S. C, against Fort Sum- ter and Wagner, and in the long and arduous campaign of 1864 in Virginia. No soldier has a brighter record or one more to be proud of than General Joseph R. Hawley. "The idea that General Hawley had a 'good time' in 'easy places' all through the war, procur- ing promotion only by personal influence, is to me and all of us who have seen him so often in the front of battle, idle and ridiculous. The old 10th corps will repel with indignation any such vile aspersion of one of their most gallant an ' worthy ifficers." When General Seymour prepared for his m rt~ Ida campaign he selected as his brigade -oa- manders, Colonel Hawley, Colonel Jack Mont- gomery, of Kansas fame, and Colonel Barton, of the 4Sth ^ew York. At the battle oC Olustee, Colonel Hawley's brigade commenced the fight, and the 7trl C. V. under his guidance was the last regiment out. He was in the battle for three and a half hours, never once dismounting from his hoise, ah hough greatly increasing his danger by being thus conspicuous, while his men were lying down fighting^with their breech-loading ri- fles. The enthusiastic cheers he received from? his men while rallying hi%regiment from the pro- longed skirnnW line in the centre of the field, showed how heartily his-.gallan.try was apprecia- ted by those who fought under him. Of about 4700 actually engaged in that battle, over 1800 were killed or wounded," Colonel H.'s brigade losing its full share, or over 38 per cent. The brave General Seymour, distinguished officer of the regular array a* fce is, writes to a friend un- der recent date : "I hardly need assure you that I was highly pleased to learn that General Hawley may be Governor of Connecticut. For it would appear that the good time is at hand when 'Man obtains that which he merits, ., Or any merits that which he obtains.' "My first acquaintance with General Hawley (then Colonel) was in the department of the South, where I found his reputation as an ad- ministrator and a commander second to none of his grade. My own knowledge of his excellence not only confirmed this reputatton, but induced me to urge that he might be placed in command of a brigade during the expedition to Florida, the ^vent and results^of which greatly increased the respect and esteem 1 had previously entertained'* for him. The conduct of Colonel Hawley at Ulustee, un*er the most trying and critical cir- cumstances, was so satisfactory to' me that I sent to him, and this without outside stfggestion or so- licitation, a recommendation for promo^on, that I believed him richly to deserve, and th0 he has subsequently honored, "Astde from this official connection with Gen- eral H. I have had but little personal acquaint- ^ande witrftim. So fa*«a.s my knowledge foe's' he never sought any immunity, directly or indirect- ly, from the severest duties of a soldier ; while in every position assigned him the discharge of ' his duties was such as to increase his good re- pute with his commanders. Connecticut will uo her elf honor by electing such a man as her, go v^ ernor."' * The recommendation of General Seymfcrr was warmly approved by General Gill more, and wa's urged upon the authorities at Washington solely on the ground of Colonel Hawley's special gal- lantry and military services. Yet the promotion was still delayed. And it was thus that Colonel H. coniinued to have " so good a time" in " easy •places," in the department of the South 1 In April, 1863, Colonel Hawley came to Yir- ia with his regiment and was assigned to the co nand of a brigade in Terry's division of the Tenth Corps, in the Army of the James. In the battle of Drewry's Bluff, he lost between 400 and 500 men, and his conspicuous gallantry in the three days of that fight called forth warm praise from his commanders, General Stannard of Ver- mont — a brave officer, who subsequently lost an arm at Chaffin's Farm — complimenting him on £hft field for his marked coolness and courage. The campaign before Richmond and Petersburg, was an almost uninterrupted series of battles and skirmishes; frdii May to November — unequaled before in the world's history — and of all the hard service Colonel H. had fully his sh^re. At Deep Run, in August, he losjL, twenty per cent of his command, and for his conduct there, Major Gen- eral Birney, his corps commander, requested Gen. Terry to forward a recommendation for his promotion, which beinf approved by Gen-, erals Birney and Butler, injaddition to others pre- viously forwarded, secured his commission as brigadier general, in September, 1864. At the Darbytown road, on Oct. 13th, General H. was again distinguishe™ ftt bravery in a desperate 1 fight; and Oct. 27th, near the same position, he commanded a division during the battle. Such was his "good time" in "easy places" in Virginia. When appointed a delegate to the National Convention, he would not leave to at- tend it, although Baltimore was distant but fif- teen to eighteen hours from the extreme front. Only once in all the war did even sickness keep him out of a fight in which his command had a part, and that was the brief engagement at Ches- ter Hill. General Plaisted, of Maine, Commander of anothef fighting brigade in Terry's division, writ- ing of tne Virginia campaign, says: "If Butler's army was 'bottled up' a little while at Bermuda, it was ribt a whitr behind any other portion T>f the army in respect to.the hard fight- ing it liad to, do. We were* kept 'hammering away' at the ea»iny fiom the *?th*of MSy IB tihe 29th of October, inclusive, in which time my brigade was engaged with the, enemy, and had men killed and wounded on fifty-nine different days— its losses amounting in the aggregate to 1375 out of 2693. Hawley's brigade, side by side with mine, had just about as soft a chance as that. It was often remarked in the army that 'Terry spared not Hsfwley's brigade' any more than any other of his brigades. The long list of its casualties will, in my opinion, sadly but glor- iously attest that fact. Fighting.side by side with General Hawlev, f saw a great deal of him m action. We were near each other at Drewry's Bluff, and every day there saw him under fire with his command, right at his post. At Deep Run I saw him make perhaps the most desperate charge of that bloody day, with three regiments of his brigade. Having carried the left of the enemy's intrenched line, Hawley's brigade, with Voris' swung round and charged down the rebel line in order to roll up the enemy's right which still held fast to the works;- The charge failed because of a dgep ravine which enabled the enemy to form a new line'with an overwhelming force, Hawley drove the enemy out 6( that ravine but tV could not pass it. His brigade must have suffered "Long before his promotion, it was^he general terribly iu the charge. An officer of the 7th sentiment of the officers of the 10th army corps Coim.'told me that five officers— one of them thatgreat injustice was done by not promoting Colonel H. — shook hands together iu that ravine him; and such-was the estimation iu which his and bade each other good bye, and that he and qualities as a soldier and nis services were held, Colonel H., aloue of the five, ca»-ne out alfret that the brigades o- the corps were arranged with Again, Oct. 13th, Hawley and* 1 were Side by special reference to giving him the coutmxnd of a 6ide. For ten hours of that day we were exposed geaesal officer though he cuujd not have the rank to shot, shell and musketry, as tifing^s any cir- wof me. No officer had fewer leaves of ab ence cumstances mv men were "in during th^g war. We or remained more constantly on dutj than he. I the Vi k? it cumstances my _ could do nothing but lie still an* tak? it! The doubt very much whether any^rtion of the moment we h«d driven the enemy intohi^main army suffered greater hardships man the troops" ■works, General Hawlevj^de up to the disinon engaged in the 6peratia»s ou*Tybee and Morris commander and said: 'General, we have driven I-)and, and in the Virginia campaigns of 1864- the enemy into his main line. Shall I charge One thing is certain, that no officer in his poei- himout?' How much better it would have been tion evei thought le*>. of his own comfort or to have charged t/^.than to wail till afternoon more cheerfully shared in the hardships which when -the enemy* w^ fully* prepaid! Major *is men endured. So. firmly established is his Camp miiiht have been living now, perhaps, and reputation, at least iu the army, that it seems many a brave boy Of the 10th Conn, who went entirely superflous to syeafc^.f his ability. En- down in the final assault." teringnhe service -. or nb military knowl- '•* , '■■ ',' TT *,*' , PA ,i , , i edge, he soon showed thayienoseessed in a high Major General Tons, of Ohio, referred to as d JL lall lhe qua i ifie8 wn f ch g0 to make up the commanding a brigade aj«p^p Iiun, writes: selSer and commander; and these qualities de- "I knew General Hawley Tj^uen he was % Col- veloped by careful study and experience made onel and had the 'easy' command of a brigade in him one of the most valuable officers of his rank the pestilential climate of South Carolina, and on which^the war has produced. Exact and untir- the Bermuda Hundred and Petersburg fronts, 1 ng intbe performance of his duties, of great when the stoutest hearts yielded, to the awful practical judgment in the management of his pressure that weighed down all of every grade in troops, and of the highest courage, no officer in the army, lknew him to be a zealous, able, the army more fully enjoyed the respect, confi- heroic, hi#hful and industrious officer, who shared denceaud esteem both of his superiors and of his full measuie of the hardships and dangers of his officers and men, than he." the war." When General Terry went to Fort Fisher, he General Guy V. Henry, of the legular army, left General Hawley iu command of his division, sa y s: as the fittest man for that important *po j lobj "I have known of General Hawley for three*Later, after Gen H. joined his bmgade at WiP years and was*j4th him in S»uAh Carolina, Fiori- minion, Gen. Scofield a sjgned to him tiie duiy da and Virginia. He bore-Aen the reputation f , Lk Me% f co ^a nuic3iirou ^ he of being a good soldier. As to his having, been . *^ = *» » . »_, * •* . _.. . in'ea ' all through the waV.T can hardly m '- >veu U P te J om Sherman. At Wilmington agree, with join informant, as I happened m»be an£ Richaiond?after hostilities had ceased, General in some o! 'them, ;*nd.«l>h;H, f the matt* .is, the"H Jflord &m& and fc^hUiis troops so desperately iu the final and its' paftyhate Genera) Hawley because He charge at Petersburg as to win for them special was a so >dier and fought s$ efficiently for the 'praise in Qeiieyal grant's great report of the war, government during thjfwar. Hadheb en d:s»- and who struck the last blow at Lee at App omatj ufissed from service or for§ed t > resign on account tox Court Hguse, declares : . - *>f ^loyalty or general worthlessr e?s, he "would "ITo ma/rbi.i.! a mere Vonspicious part, nor upfj^ve been to obnoxious to tfyi Times and lis was any one more frequently in positions of dan- ger than General Ha vley. Any "one familiar wiih the cainprtfiis of South Carolina, and in Florid as in front %>f Richmond and around lv cam tesrtfy tft General Haw- jullo were, even with his present politics. It is for the # harm' he d! 1 t > their Southern brethren in arms that he is opposed and villified nnecticut copperheads. And if is because !V>'* *' .mstai.ees and in places of th t • d ( , ; - Ull , Ml he displayed in that tried men s courage, we always fouifd him , ,,,,,., . , firm, cool, and at hi I forlorn it— because of what he did as a soldier and what n ihe enemy's work-.*' he was and is as a patriot, that the soldiers and Major General "terry, a s«n of Connecticut, those who love the soldi(*fs, in Connecticut, sus- whorn his State delights to bono*, says further of tam him in this canvass and will vote for him at General Hawley : the coming election. 10 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 785 441 7 •