South Danvers Wizard, 1/6/1864, p. 2/5
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON – JAN. 1, 1864

South Danvers Wizard, 1/20/1864, p. 2/4 
“We publish the following acknowledgment from Major A. Parker Brown of the 40th Massachusetts, as it must be gratifying to the friends of our soldiers in that regiment to know that they are receiving comforts from the north:
      Camp of 40th Mass. Vols.
      Folly Island, S.C., Dec. 17, 1863
L. B. Schwab, Esq. – Dear Sir: Pardon me for allowing the manifold duties of an officer in the field to prevent my acknowledging weeks ago the receipt of your gifts to the men of this regiment.  I am deeply sensible of your interest in and kindness to these men who have left their homes to battle for the flag.  If you could be eyewitness to the pleasure excited by these attentions from you, you would be more than repaid for your exertions.  For the package to myself I heartily thank you, and for those to my men, be assured of the liveliest gratitude and the deepest respect of
      Yours very truly,
      A.P. Browne, Major 40th Mass. Vols.”

South Danvers Wizard, 2/17/1864, p. 2/6
“The following extract is from a letter received in this town from a member of Co. I, 17th Mass. Regiment, who participated in the engagement at Bachelor’s Creek: Newbern, Feb. 5, 1864 - I suppose you have heard of the attack on Newbern before this time.  I will give you an account of the part we had in the skirmish.  The rebels attacked our pickets at Bachelor’s Creek at 3 o’clock on Monday morning, Feb. 1.  About 6 in the morning we were ordered out there to reinforce the 132nd New York (that is the five companies of the 18th that were encamped outside of Fort Totten were ordered out.)  We had a hundred and twenty men and a section of Battery C, Third New York Artillery, all under command of Lieut. Col. Fellows.  When we got about half way there we met a cavalry man with orders for the battery to come on as fast as it could.  We opened right and left to let them pass through.  We had not gone much farther before we had orders to come on at double quick, when we ran from there to the creek.
     When we arrived, the rebels were just crossing the creek.  We had orders to deploy one company as skirmishers to the right, the others to form in line of battle on the right of them in a field.  We had just got into line when we saw the enemy advance out of the woods in line of battle.  Our skirmishers fell back.  Col. Fellows gave orders for them to rally on the battalion.  We thought they (the rebels) were going to make a charge as they began to yell, but we gave them such a volley that they fell back under cover of the woods.  When the smoke cleared away a little, we found they had planted a battery right in front of us, about two hundred yards from us, and we fell back a little, a battery shelling us.  We very soon heard a cheering in our rear, and we received a heavy fire from the woods on the right at the same time.
     We then had an order to fall back, but it came too late to save the men, for the rebels were right on us.  We were cut off from the road, so we had to take to the woods.  Lieut. Cann, with myself and twenty men, made our way through to the camp of the 132d and started down the railroad; but the rebels had got ahead of us, as they tried to take a train of cars that started before we did, so we had to take the woods again.  We went across and came out on the Trent road, about four miles above Newbern.  I arrived in Newbern about ten o’clock, all safe, but about tired out.
     We lost, in all, one man killed and fifty-eight missing, and eight officers missing.  From our company (I) we lost one lieutenant and six men.  I will give you a list of the officers missing.  They are Lieut. Co. Fellows, Surgeon Galloupe, Capt. Lloyd and Lieut. Hill, Co. H. Lieut. B. N. Mass, Co. K; Lieut. Day, Co. E; Lieut. Comins, Co. I; and Adjutant Cheever, who was wounded.  We can’t find out whether he is still living or not.
    The rebels came down to within three miles of Newbern and encamped for the night. The next night they all left.  The report is they have gone to Washington.  There were about fifteen thousand of them in all.  It was Gen. Picket’s Division from Gen. Lee’s Army.
     The next day they attacked Newport and captured it, and cut the railroad between here and Morehead City.  We have been expecting reinforcements from Fortress Monroe, but none have arrived yet.  Two regiments arrived today from Plymouth.  I don’t think we have got rid of the rebels yet.  I think they will make us another visit.” Signed “J.S.”. 

South Danvers Wizard, 3/2/1864, p. 2/3
NEWPORT BARRACKS – “We learn from a letter from Quarter Master Sergeant Andrew D. Murray of this town, which we have been permitted to peruse, that Company D of the 2d Mass. Heavy Artillery and other forces stationed at this post, were subjected to very great hardships by the recent rebel raid in the vicinity of Newbern, having been overpowered by a large body of rebels, and driven to the necessity of passing a burning bridge or swimming a river to escape capture; and having lost all their effects and many of them their lives.”

South Danvers Wizard, 3/9/1864, p. 2/6
WAR CORRESPONDENCE – “Fort Norfolk, Va., Feb. 29, ’64 - Dear Wizard, - “The other day I turned out of my usual daily course, and took a ride to Sewall’s Point – that former scene of rebel labors and hopes.  The Point is reached by a drive of exactly six miles from the eastern bank of  ‘Tanner’s Creek’ .- it was twice measured by the rebels while occupying those extensive works they had vainly constructed in defense of Norfolk.  The telegraphic wire traverses the road, connecting Norfolk with Fortress Monroe, it being submarine athwart Hampton Roads.….”

South Danvers Wizard, 5/18/1864, p. 2/5
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON – “Washington, D.C., May 14, 1864, Mr. Dear Wizard, -Were it not that a greater wizard than you, the telegraph, forestalls all tidings that travel by mail, I could give you more and good news in this letter.  About sixty miles away the defenders of the Union, and of cause now become more sacred than the Union itself, have been struggling for more than a week with the most powerful army, which the rebellion has ever brought into the field.
     It is the prayer of every loyal heart that this may prove the death struggle of our enemies; and it is desperate and bloody enough to be the last act of that terrible tragedy which the arch traitors of the South, inspired by the fell spirit of slavery, have been writing in characters of fire and blood upon the page of American history.  The struggle is not yet over, but our brave soldiers are represented by those just from the battlefield to be confident of final victory and in each brief lull of conflict to be girding up their loins for the finishing blow…”

South Danvers Wizard, 5/25/1864, p. 2/4-5
SERGEANT BLAISDELL SAFE!

South Danvers Wizard, 5/25/1864, p. 2/5
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON – “Washington, D.C., May 21, 1864, Dear Wizard, - Until yesterday we have had rain every day for over a week, and, by consequence, the Virginia mud imposed a serious obstacle to the movements of our army, even though it be composed to a great extent of the ‘mud-sills’ of the North.  The fighting on Wednesday last, and the attempt of the rebels to capture our trains on the following day, constitutes the latest operations between the two armies now confronting each other near Spottsylvania Court House.  But the weather is becoming more settled and the roads will not long delay an advance of Grant and his gallant army; and when the next great struggle comes, terrible and desperate though it will be , there is reason to hope for a decisive result, for our soldiers are in good spirits, and their motto is, ‘God – Grant – Victory.’
     The failure of General [Franz] Sigel to carry out his part of the programme, did not excite much surprise here among a large portion, at least, of those in the best position for judging, for they looked upon him as an overrated man, who held his position more from the clamor which the Germans made over him, than from his military capacity.  But one of the advantages resulting from the appointment of a Lieutenant General is that he is in a position so independent of popular favor that he can consult capacity and fitness alone in selecting those who shall be entrusted with the execution of his plans, and thus Gen. Sigel has been promptly suspended by Maj. Gen. [David] Hunter.  I cannot say what success General Hunter has ever achieved thus far in this war, but he may have shown the capacity for success had the means been placed at his disposal.  At any rate, I am convinced that Gen. Grant is a good judge of men, and trust to his discernment in making the selection.  [General Philip] Sheridan’s cavalry is doubtless on another raid while I write, but these outings of railroads and temporary interruptions of communications and supplies do not tell very heavily against the rebels unless our grander movements are fortunate enough to take advantage of them.
     The wounded still continue to arrive at our hospitals in the District, and many of them have already been forwarded to Philadelphia, while others of the slightly wounded have been granted furloughs, and can thus get the best of nursing, that of the ‘loved ones at home’.  I am informed by a gentleman who left Fredericksburg yesterday that there are about 8000 wounded still remaining at that place, but they are receiving all the attention that is possible. 
    The hundred days volunteers have been arriving from Ohio and taking the places of the veterans who have gone to join in the conflict.” Signed “Yours, &c., DELTA.”

South Danvers Wizard,6/8/1864, p.1/ 4-5 
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON [Original] – “Washington, D.C., May 28, 1864, Mr. Dear Wizard – The First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, (the old 14th) which has until recently been doing duty in the forts around Washington was ordered to the front some two weeks ago and soon had occasion to try its mettle against Lee’s well trained veterans, and you are aware that their first battle was a fierce one, but the result reflected nothing but credit upon the splendid regiment. – When the 1st Mass. and 1st Maine Heavy Artillery started from this city equipped as Infantry, to take a more active part in the bloody conflict, the former over 1800 and the latter over 2000 strong, each of them looked more like a brigade than a regiment, and elicited praises at their fine appearance from all who saw them.  I conversed with a number of them, as they halted to rest on their way to learn with what heart they went forward to their first battle, and found that their comparative inactivity had not weakened in them the true spirit of a soldier. They said to me, ‘We have been in the service nearly three years, during most of which time we have performed easy duty in healthful and comfortable quarters and now we cannot complain if we are placed where the hardest work is to be done.’  On the 19th inst., in the attack upon our trains, they made good all which this response implied, and did their full part to hurl back the rebels with very considerable loss in killed, wounded and prisoners.  I have been this afternoon to visit some of the wounded from the 1st Mass. Heavy Artillery, of whom there are now over 260 in the hospitals of this city, and learned many facts in regard to the battle in which they participated but as you have already had a general account of that fight I will not attempt a description of it.  Many of these men were wounded by rebel sharpshooters, who were concealed in the tops of trees, some of whom came tumbling down like squirrels when our men discovered their leafy haunts.  It was hot work and at close quarters, as the heavy loss which the regiment sustained well attests; but the complete repulse of the rebel attack makes lighter the sufferings of the wounded, as their cheerful countenances, while they relate the particulars of the fight, almost forgetting for a time their fresh and gaping wounds, shows plainly to the listener.
     The hospitals of Washington are, I believe, as comfortable, as well attended and regulated, as complete as that can conduce to the comfort and speedy recovery of their inmates as any in the world.  There is probably scarcely a ward in them all which is not daily visited by some noble hearted woman, who consecrates her hours to this most holy work – to those sacred and most appropriate offices for which she is fitted by her nature, and which no one else can half as well perform.  Her very presence seems to change the atmosphere of a whole ward, to touch each sufferer with a soft and magic spell, and carry with it the light and breath of home.  Stand and watch, as I have done, when she enters some ward with perhaps forty or fifty patients in it.  Each ear deadened to harsher sound, catches the soft step or the rustling of her dress, as our attention is often fixed by a whisper while we are indifferent to louder tones; each eye turns to catch her gentle, sympathetic moves from couch to couch, neglecting none, but smoothing a pillow or administering medicine here, speaking a cheerful word or touching a burning forehead there until every sufferer feels as if a cordial of unwonted virtues had touched his lips, or the cherished vision of reunion with those at home, were more dear to him than life itself were almost realized.  A hospital without woman is like a ‘home without a mother’.  When no other women have been present I have seen the ‘Sisters of Mercy’ with characteristic zeal, devote themselves day and night to this noble mission and they seemed to wish no other source of happiness.  How great reward is the consciousness of doing good! 
     Quite a number of the wounded of the 1st Mass. Heavy Artillery will soon be transferred to Philadelphia and some who do not require much attention from the surgeons, will be furloughed. 
     I have not been able to learn the number of killed in this regiment but Company ‘C’, which probably suffered as much as any other, lost nine , including Michael Fitzgerald and Chas. Jarvia of Lynn; _____ Chipman, Samuel Fairfield and John Bickford of Salem. Among the wounded now here are: Sergt. J. P. Withey, of Danversport, Armory Square Hospital; Samuel B. Bond, of Lynn, Judiciary Square Hospital; Simeon Murray, of Danvers, Lincoln Hospital; Charles Hillery (sick) of Danvers, Columbia Hospital; Eben W. Howard, of Salem, Armory Square Hospital; Geo. P. Furgerson, of Salem, Mt. Pleasant Hospital; N. D. Pitman, of Salem, Mt. Pleasant Hospital; Frank Magee, of Marblehead, Armory Square Hospital; P. C. Lavelette, of Ipswich, Emory Hospital; John J. Fowler, of Ipswich, Mt. Pleasant Hospital; L. M. Blaisdell, of Ipswich, Finley Hospital; Corporal C. B. Hardy, of Ipswich, Judiciary Square Hospital; Samuel Merrill, of Ipswich, Harwood Hospital; Corp. O. E. Burnham, of Essex Campbell Hospital; H. N. Andrews, of Essex, Emory Hospital.” Signed “Yours, etc., DELTA”

South Danvers Wizard, 6/22/1864, p. 2/5-6
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON – Dated June 18,1864.  Describes political discussion in Washington, D.C. and concludes, “The army of the Potomac has just completed another strategic move, and the first results are announced in the capture of Petersburg. General Grant has shown himself to be as full of resources as he is quick and decisive in executing his purposes.  ‘Spades to the rear and bayonets to the front,’ is the aggressive principle upon which he acts, and acts so promptly as to puzzle if not out wit his antagonist.  In a former letter I predicted Richmond would be ours by the 4th of July, and though that prediction seems in doubt of being realized, yet I will back the prophecy of the President at the great Fair in Philadelphia that Grant will not let go his present hold until the rebel capital shall fall into Union hands.  This is the belief, but more earnestly the wish, of  Yours, etc., DELTA”

South Danvers Wizard, 6/22/1864, p. 2/6-7
SOUTH DANVERS, JUNE 21ST, 1864 – “Dear Wizard, - Thinking that few extracts from my memorandum of the last campaign may interest some of your readers, I send the following:

May 3d, 1864, in obedience to orders we destroyed our winter quarters and were about to erect comfortable summer shelter, when we heard ‘from a reliable source’ that the army was expected to move before the next morning, which caused a change of programme, and we only put up temporary shelter for the day.  It was also reported that everything at the end for the fourth time, on towards Richmond. We marched rapidly and with short rests (with the exception of a half hour for making coffee) until half past ten the next morning, when we reached the river at Ely’s Ford.  We were not the first there, however, for several lines of troops could be seen on the opposite cliff resting with apparent indifference as though the enemy was not near; our advance was evidently some distance beyond.   After a short rest, we crossed the river and climbed the opposite bank which was steep and difficult of ascent, the station was being packed up – a sure sign of a general movement.  In the evening the order came, but we ‘turned in’ for a few hours rest and were not called until half past eleven.  We took six days’ rations, broke camp, and commenced the march without delay, in a southeastern direction.  Once more,  Another rest and we resumed our march on the road to Chancellorsville, touching the nearest part of the old battlefield at quarter past two o’clock.  Here we rested for the night, and moved to the Chancellorsville House that next morning at five o’clock, halting near the scene of our engagement a year ago. At eight o’clock we moved by a zig-zag road in a southern direction, through dense woods, facing southwest.  We were ordered to construct a breastwork, but before completion the order was countermanded  by Gen Hancock, and soon after came the order to advance.  Our Division advanced about a quarter of a mile, when we met the enemy, but our line being broken in the movement through the dense woods and under-brush, the ground was held but a short time, when we fell back to the unfinished breastwork.  The third Division of our corps advanced soon after and a part of the lost ground was recovered.  We completed the breast work and remained behind it until four o’clock in the morning on the 6th, when we took part in an attack by the whole corps.  The action seemed to commence on the extreme right and soon extended along the whole line through our corps, which formed the left.  Our brigade as in the second line of battle until twelve o’clock, when the line in front was withdrawn, (having exhausted their ammunition) and ours became the front line.  Our company was deployed as skirmishers and advanced to within range of the rebel entrenchments, which were on the top of a sharp ascent.  Only a few shots were fired and the rebels seemed disposed to remain quiet, unless attacked.  The line of battle had halted and was resting, when a sudden and furious attack was made from the left and in our rear.  Our regiment was faced by a rear rank, wheeled to the left and faced about to meet the attack, but in so doing the formation was broken, and other lines, as well as our own, were confused.  A rapid fire, however, was kept up as we fell back to re-form, but just as a favorable spot was reached, the rebels were encountered coming from an opposite direction, and now the confusion became greater.  Between two fires, a disorganized mass was moving rapidly towards the rear, but obliqueing towards the right.  The firing was continued, and the enemy did not gain ground without considerable loss.  Our loss at this time must have been great, and it is probable that a considerable number were taken prisoner.  The entrenchments were finally reached and the men rallied in squads.  About forty of our Regiment, under command of Capt. McDonough, rallied with a part of the brigade and were placed in the second line of entrenchments – half a mile to the right of our position the last night, and about seventy-five yards in rear of the front line.  The remainder of our Regiment rallied at a point some distance further to the right. The rebels were checked at half past two o’clock, soon after which the various Regiments and Brigades were re-assembled and order once more was restored.  Up to this time the fighting of our corps had been done almost entirely by the infantry, there being no good position for artillery, except for a few pieces on the main road.  Some artillery could be heard at intervals, apparently near the extreme right.   The volleys of musketry were terrific, resembling the prolonged roll of thunder.  The woods were on fire in several places, filling the air with dense clouds of smoke. We strengthened our entrenchments and prepared for an attack, which came at ten minutes past four.  Encouraged by their success, the enemy made a furious assault, and after an hour’s hard fighting the first line of entrenchments was yielded.  Again we became engaged, and after firing a few rounds, charged, recapturing the first line of entrenchments, taking some prisoners and colors.  The rebels retreated precipitately leaving us in possession of the field.  Two pieces of our artillery in the main road were lost, but almost immediately re-taken.  During the night and next day (Saturday), we were left in undisputed possession, and in quietness, with the exception of an occasional shot by the skirmishers, or by the artillery on the extreme right or left; but at four o’clock extensive changes were made in the position of brigades and division, and in the evening troops from the extreme right commenced the march to Spottsylvania Court House.” Signed “H.W.” [Harrison Whittemore?]. 

South Danvers Wizard, 6/22/1864, p. 2/7
LETTER FROM THE SOUTHWEST – “The following letter has been put into our hands; but although not designed for publication, we venture to present it to our readers.  It is from a very reliable source and does justice to Massachusetts troops, as well as giving an interesting narration of operations on the Red River: - …” Dated “Head-Quarters, 3d Mass. Cavalry, 3d Brigade, Morganza Bend, La. May 25, 1864 and signed “D. F. L.”

South Danvers Wizard, 6/29/1864, p. 2/6-7
WAR CORRESPONDENCE