Lincoln's 1864 Trip to City Point, Va.-- Part 10: Like 'A Monitor's Turret Coming Overland'

President Lincoln then rode through the lines of Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James at Bermuda Hundred.  Many of these soldiers took part in the two Battles of Fort Fisher, so I will write down some of their observations of their commander-in-chief.

One of the first camps they encountered was that of the 117th New York, where a soldier named John Humphrey recorded:  "Prisedent Lincen and Gen Buttler rode along the lines visiting the troops."  Another wrote his father the next day that there "is quite an object now for him to be familiar with the soldiers," probably referring to the upcoming elections in November as well as the huge losses Grant's Overland Campaign had experienced so fat in 1864.

Soldiers in the camp of the 7th Connecticut, another regiment that took part in the Fort Fisher Expeditions, had their fun when first spotting Lincoln toward them on his horse with his tall hat, joking that "it was a monitor's turret coming overland."

Especially if the mounted Lincoln was coming over the top of a hill and that was the first you saw of him.

That Top Hat Did Resemble a Monitor's Turret.  --Old B-Runner

To City Point and Bermuda Hundred-- Part 9: The Crow's Nest and Greeting

After a quick greeting with some of the Malvern's officers, the president "accompanied by Ass't Secretary Fox and A.R. Admiral Lee landed at Lookout Tree Landing."  The landing was just below where a Union lookout tower nicknamed "The Crow's Nest" would later be built.  Once up the slope, the group took horses and rode across Gen. Butler's lines. 

There is a picture of the Crow's Nest in the distance behind the monitor USS Mahopac in the James River.  The Mahopac would later take part in the attacks on Fort Fisher. (See picture to the right of this.)

The troops the party encountered were almost entirely from Butlers X Corps.  And, unlike the day before, Lincoln's visit was anticipated.  The soldiers turned out to see their commander in chief.

One Connecticut soldier, likely from the 6th or 7th Connecticut (who later took part in the Second Battle of Fort Fisher) wrote: "We were apprised that our worthy President, Abraham Lincoln, was near us and all that were not engaged on duty were ordered to appear near the regimental quarters and render a proper salute."

All That Fort Fisher Connection.  Yes!!  --Old B-Runner

7th Connecticut Infantry-- Part 2: Became "Boat Infantry"

Continued from Thursday.

October-November 1863, they were reclassified as "Boat Infantry" for the night assault on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.  They trained for it at Folly Island, which I am writing about in my Saw the Elephant blog in relation to the cannonballs found there after Hurricane Matthew.

However the project was eventually dropped as it was deemed impractical.

The regiment numbered 1000 men.  During the course of the war it lost 11 officers and 157 enlisted killed or mortally wounded.  Another 4 officers and 192 enlisted died of disease.

--Old B-Runner

7th Connecticut Infantry-- Part 1: At the Second Battle of Fort Fisher

In my Not So Forgotten War of 1812 blog last week, I was writing about General Amos Hall of that war serving in the 7th Connecticut during the American Revolution.  While looking that unit up, I found that there was also a 7th Connecticut Infantry during the Civil War and that this unit had been at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher.

From Wikipedia.

The Civil war unit was organized at New Haven, Connecticut, on September 13, 1861.   They invaded Tybee Island, Georgia, captured Hilton Head, South Carolina and fought at the Battle of Olustee in Florida.

After 1864, they transferred to Virginia where they became a part of the Army of the Potomac and later the Army of the James and finished the war in North Carolina.

They were mustered out of service July 20, 1865, and discharged August 11, 1865, in New Haven, Connecticut.

A Coastal Regiment.  --Old B-Runner