Identification Stencils, Charles E. Crouch, 9th New Hampshire Infantry
Brass and tin identification stencils, privately purchased and used to mark a soldier’s personal effects and equipment, owned by Charles E. Crouch of the 9th New Hampshire Infantry. Crouch was drafted into the 9th New Hampshire in June 1864 and would have seen action at Cold Harbor and Petersburg. He was transferred into the 6th New Hampshire after the war ended to finish his term of service. The lot consists of two stencils, one measuring 2 ½” by 1 ¼” and the other 2 ¼” by 7/8”, as well as a period paper note with directions for marking clothing with stencil ink. A scarce pair of Civil War soldier’s stencils. Accompanied by extensive soldier's history and regimental information.
Charles E. Crouch - Inventory Number: IDE 166
Residence Gilsum NH; 37 years old.
Enlisted on 6/7/1864 as a Private.
On 6/7/1864 he was drafted into "I" Co. NH 9th Infantry
He was transferred out on 6/1/1865
On 6/1/1865 he transferred into "I" Co. NH 6th Infantry
He was Mustered Out on 7/17/1865 at Alexandria, VA
Other Information:
born in New Hampshire
NINTH REGIMENT NEW HAMPSHIRE VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. (THREE YEARS.)
By GEORCE L. WAKEFIELD, late Sergeant Company C, Ninth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry.
THE record of the Ninth New Hampshire is one of arduous campaigns, followed by comparative rest. It suffered in battle at Antietam and Fredericksburg, and in the mud at Falmouth ; was cheered by the comforts of Newport News, and feasted in Kentucky ; had its ranks depleted by disease in Mississippi, and returning to the Blue Grass region, recuperated for the hazardous march over the mountains of East Tennessee. At Annapolis it welcomed recruits and convalescents' in preparation for the bloody ordeals of Spottsylvania, the "Mine", and Poplar Springs Church, and for the wearisome waiting before Petersburg.
Recruiting for the Ninth began in May, 1862. The Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth regiments, organized in the latter part of 1861, had taken almost all the available men, and the mission of the officers who recruited the Ninth, was difficult; but, nevertheless, by July 31 many recruits had been mustered in at "Camp Colby," Concord, and the organization was completed August 23. The regiment started on the morning of the 25th, and proceeded, via Worcester, Providence, Groton (Conn.), end Jersey City, to Washington, arriving on the 27th, in the evening. The next morning it crossed the Potomac to "Camp Chase," near Fort Albany, Arlington Heights, and was assigned to General Whipple's Division, Defenses of Washington. September 6 it was transferred to the First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps, which was to join the armies reorganized under General McClellan.
The Ninth Regiment found its corps at Leesboro, Md., and with the First Brigade, moved forward to check Lee's advance. On September 13 it bivouacked at Middleton; and on the 14- just twenty days after its departure from New Hampshire- the Ninth Regiment alone charged a rebel brigade, and drove it from the crest of South Mountain. No other New Hampshire regiment went into battle with so little experience. Two days later, September 17, at 9 A. M., the Ninth was ordered to the front at Antietam, and took position on the left, opposite the "stone bridge" over the creek. After two hours, exposure to an incessant musketry fire at short range, from an enemy posted on the high and heavily wooded bank across the stream, the bridge was carried by storm, the Ninth being one of the first regiments over. It fought all day, and that night guarded the bridge.
After remaining near Antietam a few days, the Ninth encamped at Pleasant Valley until October 27, when it crossed the Potomac on a pontoon bridge at Berlin' and marched along the valley east of the Blue Ridge. On November I5 it was lightly engaged with a rebel battery at Warrenton (White Sulphur Springs), Va. General Burnside being now in command of the Army of the Potomac, the Ninth Corps, under General Willcox, was assigned to the Right Grand Division, and reached Falmouth November 19, going into camp at Stafford Heights.
The Rappahannock was crossed December 12, and that day and night the Ninth Regiment occupied the streets of Fredericksburg. Early the next afternoon the brigade was ordered into the fight by regiments. The Ninth moved to the left and rear of the city, and then, crossing the railroad, passed through a deep cut and over an open field, under a heavy, and at times almost enfilading, fire of artillery and musketry, until the front line was reached, where there was some shelter. Further advance was impossible, and after dark the regiment was withdrawn to the city ; but in the evening of the 15th was again fortifying the line at the front. At midnight it was silently moved back, covering the retreat of the army, to the former camp on Stafford Heights.
There the Ninth Regiment remained until February 9, 1863- suffering greatly from sickness and deprivation- when, with its corps, it was ordered to Newport News, which it reached via Aquia Creek, on the 11th. The cleanliness here was in strong contrast with the mud at Falmouth. On March 25, at 4 P. M., the Ninth embarked on the steamer "Croton," for Baltimore, arriving at: 2 P. M. the next day. It left that evening for Lexington, Ky., via Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Cincinnati; pitching camp at Lexington on March 30. There, and at Winchester, Crab Orchard Springs, and vicinity, the troops remained until they were ordered to reinforce General Grant before Vicksburg. The men of the Ninth left Cincinnati for Cairo, June 5, arriving there on the afternoon of the 7th. The steamer "Armada," for Vicksburg, was boarded June 9. During the night following June 13 they anchored at Milliken's Bend; June 14 moved down to Young's Point, and disembarked at Sherman's Landing; June 15 were ordered to report on the Mississippi river below Vicksburg, but returned to former camp that night.
Grant's forces had surrounded the city, but Johnston was approaching from the east, and the Ninth Corps was sent up the Yazoo to Milldale. The troops disembarked, and the Ninth Regiment encamped about two miles from the landing. A line of defense was established from the Yazoo to the Big Black, and Johnston's reinforcements could not avail the beleaguered city. The Ninth made a reconnoissance of ten or twelve miles, towards the Big Black, on June 25. July 1 found the regiment entrenched at Oak Ridge. Vicksburg surrendered on the 4th. Johnston retreated, and the Ninth Corps pursued. On the 5th, the Fourteenth Corps joined the Ninth, and General Sherman assumed command of the pursuing Federals. At Jackson, Johnston halted; Sherman came up on the 10th, and on the 12th The Ninth Regiment, meet, with its brigade, was stationed at the front, on the extreme left. There was some skirmishing on the 13th, several companies of the regiment taking part; but the Ninth was relieved the following day. July 17 it was found that the city had been evacuated, and on the 20th the return march began, the Ninth reaching its former camp at Milldale three days later.
The regiment was at Snyder's Bluff the 25th, and August 8 embarked for Cairo, arriving there on the afternoon of the 16th, after a most exhausting journey. All who were able took cars immediately for Cincinnati, reaching that city August 20; started for Nicholasville, Ky., on the 23d, and arriving there the same day, encamped near Camp Nelson. The brigade to which the Ninth belonged had been so reduced by sickness, that the regiments were separated and put on light guard-duty. During the last four months of 1863, the Ninth, with headquarters at Paris, guarded the Kentucky Central Railroad, and won golden opinions from the Kentuckians, who petitioned that the troops might be continued as guards as long as any were needed; but on January 15, 1864, the regiment was relieved from this pleasant duty, and ordered to Nicholasville; thence to Camp Nelson, which was reached at 7 P. M. on the 16th. A week later new Springfield rifles were issued in place of the old-styled Windsors.
January 25 the Ninth started for Point Isabel, arriving at 1 P. M. on the 30th. There it remained until February 27, when it was sent to Knoxville, via Cumberland Gap, as an escort to the First Ohio Heavy Artillery. Knoxville was reached March 17, at noon, and in the early morning of the 21st the return march began. This going and returning was occasioned by the trouble which the guerrillas had caused in the mountain districts, and was especially hazardous at that season of the year, because of the bad roads. "Camp Burnside," at Point Isabel, was reached March 27, and March 31 found the regiment at Camp Nelson once more. It left Nicholasville April 2, and proceeded via Covington and Cincinnati, to Annapolis, Md., where the Ninth Corps was reorganized. The Ninth New Hampshire having been assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, set out April 23 to join he Army of the Potomac.
Arriving at Washington on the 25th the corps was reviewed by President Lincoln and General Burnside. Bristoe Station, on the extreme right of Grant's army, was reached April 27. On that day the Ninth was transferred to the Second Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps; but, with the Thirty-second; Maine, was temporarily detached from its brigade to guard a train, and so missed the first day's battle in the Wilderness. Bristoe Station was left May 5, the Ninth marching twenty miles to the Rappahannock. It reached Germania Ford at noon, May 6, and that afternoon rejoined its brigade on the Wilderness battle field, taking position in the line of support. The night of the 7th was passed near the old Wilderness, tavern, where the regiment lay without stacking arms. Next day it was off for Chancellorsville, where it remained behind the earthworks till the afternoon of the 8th, when the division moved towards Fredericksburg, and bivouacked.
May 10 the division marched to the front, near Spottsylvania, and came under artillery fire. The following day it was withdrawn, marched to the rear, and given six days' rations. At daybreak, on the 12th; after an all-night exposure to a violent rainstorm, the Ninth, occupying the extreme right of its corps, and numbering about five hundred muskets, took part in the charge that was ordered along the whole line, companies I and G deployed as skirmishers, capturing about fifty prisoners. On account of the unevenness of the ground, the regiment became separated from its brigade, and advanced beyond it into "Bloody Angle," just in time to meet the enemy's advance and save the left of the Second Corps.
Here the Ninth became involved in its fiercest conflict. The enemy, in heavy force, met the regiment in front, and quickly moved around its left flank. Though bullets were rapidly thinning its ranks, and the left was wholly unprotected, yet, rallying around its colors, the Ninth met this onslaught with such a stubborn resistance that the enemy was thrown back to his works. The battalion fell back steadily a short distance, and established and held a line with the rest of its brigade. In this engagement the Ninth sustained a loss in killed, wounded, and missing, of over two hundred. The survivors were placed on picket at the apex of the angle formed by the lines of the Second and Ninth corps. During the night the enemy withdrew, but the regiment retained its position, doing some skirmishing, until the 18th. An advance was ordered then, and the Ninth, acting with other regiments as a support to the Irish Brigade of the Second Corps, was heavily engaged.
May 19 the corps was moved about four miles to the left, where it remained till the 21st. That afternoon it set out for the North Anna river, near which it bivouacked on the night of the 23d. The Second Brigade crossed the river next day, under a sharp artillery fire, and advanced to the front. Breastworks were thrown up, behind which the brigade remained till the 26th, when it was withdrawn to the north bank of the North Anna, a picket detail of the Ninth bringing up the rear. May 27 the brigade marched to Hanovertown and fortified. On the 31st, at Totopotomoy Creek, the Ninth alone assaulted and carried the enemy's rifle-pits in front, charging through a miry ravine and up a steep bank under a galling fire. June 2 it was in the successful race for the abandoned works near Bethesda Church. June 3 it was in support of a battery at the same place. On the night of June 4 the brigade was moved to Cold Harbor, where it was employed in throwing up earthworks.
On the I2th the army was transferred to the south bank of the James, and the 16th found the Ninth in the vicinity of Petersburg. June I7, with the Sixth and Eleventh New Hampshire, it was engaged in the successful assault on the Shand House' capturing several hundred prisoners and three pieces of artillery. Then came two long months before Petersburg. Every alternate two days was passed in the trenches, most of the time in front of the fort which was then being undermined for the Battle of the Mine, in which engagement the Ninth bore a conspicuous part. It was the first to assault and to float its colors over the enemy's works at the "Crater."
August 19 the Ninth Corps was sent to the Weldon Railroad. Here it assisted the Fifth Corps in repulsing a determined advance of Confederates on August 20 and 21. Up to September 30 the corps were engaged in picket duty, building works, and making corduroy roads. On that day the Fifth Corps drove the enemy from their outworks at Poplar Springs Church; the Ninth Corps then advanced, came up with the enemy, and the Ninth New Hampshire, with its brigade, was ordered to charge. The Confederates again gave way; the impetuous Ninth New Hampshire followed, but encountering superior numbers was flanked and forced back, contesting every inch of the ground, to Pegram House, where the advance of the enemy was checked.
The Ninth Regiment remained near Poplar Springs Church till October 27, when it participated, as skirmishers, in the movement on Hatcher's Run. It returned to its former quarters October 28, remaining there until November 29, when the Ninth Corps was relieved by the Second and moved to Fort Alexander Hays, on the Jerusalem plank road, where the winter was passed.
When the final flank movement was made around Petersburg, the Ninth was among the forces left in front of the city. An assault had been planned for April 3, 1865, but at dawn it was seen that the enemy had evacuated their works, and the troops were soon in possession of the city.
The regiment performed its last active service April 8, when, with two others, it was detailed to guard several thousand prisoners captured by Sheridan. On the 11th it was relieved, and rejoined the Second Brigade at Burkesville Junction. Thence it started, on April 20, for City Point, Va., reaching that place on the 23rd. On the 26th it embarked for Alexandria, arriving the next morning and going at once into camp, where it remained nearly a month. May 23 it participated in the grand review at Washington, and on June 10 - the muster-out rolls having been completed and signed on the 10th- the regiment broke camp and returned to New Hampshire. The regimental colors were delivered to the governor at Concord on June 14, 1865, and that same day the regiment, having deposited its arms in the military depot, was
paid and discharged.
The Ninth New Hampshire Volunteers was attached to Whipple's division, Defenses of Washington' August 28,1862; First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps, September 6, 1862; in District of Kentucky, Department of Ohio, September 9, 1863, to January, 1864; unassigned, in Department of Ohio, January to March, 1864; attached to First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps, March 26,1864; Second Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps, April 27, 1864.
E N G A G E M E N T S.
South Mountain, Md. Sept. 14, 1862
Antietam, Md. Sept. 17, 1862
White Sulphur Springs, Va. Nov. 15, 1862
Fredericksburg, Va. Dec. 13, 1862
Siege of Vicksburg, Miss. June 14 to July 4, 1863
Jackson, Miss. July 10- 16, 1863
Wilderness, Va. May 6, 7, 1864
Spottsylvania, Va. May 10- 18, 1864
North Anna River, Va. May 24- 26, 1864
Totopotomoy, Va. May 31, June 1, 1864
Bethesda Church, Va. June 2, 3, 1864
Cold Harbor, Va. June 5- 12, 1864
Siege of Petersburg, Va. June 16, 1864, to April 3, 1865
Petersburg, Va. (assault at the Shand House) June 17, 1864
Mine Explosion, Petersburg, Va. (assault) July 30, 1864
Weldon Railroad, Va. Aug. 20, 21,1864
Poplar Springs Church, Va. Sept. 30, Oct. 1, 1864
Hatcher's Run, Va. Oct. 27, 1864
Petersburg, Va. Apr. 1,2, 186
Comes housed in an 8 x 12 inch display case with blue velvet backing and descriptive card.
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Inventory Number: IDE 166