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THBColonel Edwin Metcalf, 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery & 11th Rhode Island Volunteers, Civil War Archive
Lot 372
About Seller
Cowan's Auctions
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
With offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver, Cowan’s holds over 40 auctions each year, with annual sales exceeding $16M. We reach buyers around the globe, and take pride in our reputation for integrity, customer service and great results. A full-service house, Cowan’s Auctions specializes in Am...Read more
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About Auction
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By Cowan's Auctions
Jun 13, 2014 - Jun 14, 2014
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2014-06-13 01:00:00
2014-06-14 01:00:00
America/New_York
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View Full Catalog (603)
- Lot Description
This large archive of war-date letters and documents is comprised of battle reports of the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, including first-hand accounts of the Battles of Fort Wagner and an eyewitness report of the charge of the colored 54th Massachusetts Infantry.
Edwin Metcalf (1823-1894) was a Harvard-educated lawyer and Rhode Island state legislator when he resigned his seat to join the war. Commissioned as Major of the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, he immediately made a name for himself and the regiment when he led the first battalion in the battle of Secessionville, SC.
Promoted to Colonel and transferred at the governor’s request to command the new 11th Rhode Island Infantry, Metcalf was with the Army of the Potomac only a short time before being recalled to South Carolina. Yellow fever had swept the ranks and claimed Col. Brown of the 3rd RI HA, as well as several other officers, and Metcalf was seen as the one to revitalize the demoralized regiment. He commanded the regiment and served as Chief of Artillery until January 1864, when he returned to Providence on medical leave. He resigned due to illness on February 5, 1864.
Col. Metcalf was Speaker of the House in the Rhode Island legislature from 1873 to 1874, and served in the state Senate 1874-1875. He served as state Attorney General and commander of the Rhode Island Department of the GAR.
When reading through these letters, one is struck by the high regard everyone who served with Metcalf had of him. Despite his short stint as commander of the 11th Rhode Island, several letters attest to the affection the officers and men had for him. Many officers who served under Metcalf in the 3rd Rhode Island HA kept in touch after moving on to their own commands, crediting him for their advancement and fondly recalling their service together.
The highlight of the archive is probably the detailed reports by Major James E. Bailey of the first and second battles of Fort Wagner. On July 17, 1863, the major writes of the taking of the south end of Morris Island, and moving his guns to support the attack on Wagner. He relates how the Rebel artillery and rifle fire was tearing up the Union soldiers: Brayton could not depress his guns so as to protect them. He asked for engineers to go out and dig away the dirt, but they didn’t go. Then B—ordered his men to tear away the gabions and fascines and run the guns out on the embankment, which they did.
At the second battle of Fort Wagner, Bailey’s command was in the front line of artillery, only 1000 yards from the Rebel fortifications. This report includes his eyewitness account of the charge of the 54th Massachusetts, the colored regiment made famous in the movie “Glory”:
Since writing you we have had another set to with Battery Wagner, with the same result as before. How mortifying to meet with such results when we have men enough to carry two such works... such was the tremendous weight of metal and STUPIDITY brought to bear upon Wagner from the land on Saturday. Five monitors and “Ironsides” pitched into the battery from the sea.
Sumpter troubled us most, getting a splendid range on us and bursting shells over us every time…my first piece being knocked out of position by a 10 in shell from Sumpter, covering the detachment with earth.
EYEWITNESS ACCT OF 54TH MASS. CHARGE
[Strong’s Brigade] Up they went to within 300 yards of Wagner when they received a shower of grape that staggered the 54th, who were in advance, some running, but the majority pressing on to the Battery, which they soon gained. Just as they mounted the emplacement, two brass pieces from the left with an enfilading fire swept them down like grass before a scythe.
Apparently routing Yankee infantry fled back toward the artillery: … soon be overpowered we call out all our cannoneers and blockade the passage with drawn sabres and pistols cocked. The rout is stayed. Some few were shot and some more sabred down. They began to reform, got into line and did not move forward. Then I rolled one of my pieces out on the beach and loaded with a blank cartridge and fired. Away went the troops up to the Battery again. All this time the 7th NH were at the Battery and in the works fighting and holding every inch, but an order was given to retreat and all fell back, leaving Col Putnam with his few hard men to die fighting in their tracks, without ammunition and without support.
Earlier reports include the panic induced in the Union forces and wooden fleet at Hilton Head by the Rebel ironclad CSS Atlanta: The scare increases daily instead of diminishes. Yesterday we produced palpitations of the heart in the fleet. Williams ordered us to try two guns, which we did, whereupon the fleet steams up and Dupont runs to Hunter to find out where the ram is… I have three guns loaded all the time to fire as a signal to the fleet when the ram comes.
Perhaps the most offbeat item is a letter to Metcalf from a soldier pleading to be reassigned to recruiting duty back home. Why?: During the past two months as well as at the present time I have suffered much from involuntary seminal emissions… the effects of these frequent emissions cause great debility both of body and mind…
Other items in the archive include two cabinet photos of a young and older Metcalf, as well as a CDV and ferrotype of a young Metcalf. Several copies of Metcalf’s obituary in the newspaper round out the lot. - Shipping Info
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