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The First Rhode Island Leaders in the War
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After the South Carolina State Militia defiantly and illegally violated the United States Constitution and fired on the small Federal Garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, in an emergency response to such large scale acts of treason and armed insurrection against the country, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 three month volunteers to put down the rebellion. In response to the President’s call to put down the armed and open rebellion of the southern states against the United States, Rhode Island Governor William Sprague issued an order for the immediate muster of the Rhode Island Brigade. The Brigade consisted of the First and Second Regiments, Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, the Rhode Island Light Artillery Battery Battery A and a detachment of the First Rhode Island Cavalry. A native of Bristol, Rhode Island, Ambrose E. Burnside was appointed R.I. State Militia Colonel to command the First Detachment of the First Rhode Island Volunteers-R.I. Detached Militia and the Brigade. Under Burnside, the first detachment left Providence, Rhode Island on April 19, 1861, amid great patriotic fanfare and celebration. The Second Detachment left Providence the following day on April 20th commanded by Lt. Col. Joseph S. Pitman, R.I.D.M., followed by the R.I. Artillery Battery (re-mustered later as Battery A) and the First R.I. Cavalry. Each send off was equally festive. Burnside also took two companies of the Burnside Carbineers as sharpshooters to accompany the First Regiment. His Carbineers were armed with the deadly Burnside Carbine lever action fast firing breach loader. A great number of the men who enlisted in the First R.I. went on to re-enlist after First Bull Run as 3 year Union Volunteers. When it became apparent the war would last longer than 90 days, new units were formed to prosecute full-scale war. Several men of the 1st Brigade and the 1st Infantry became officers and NCOs in other R.I. units formed later. After the war they were among some of the most prominent Rhode Islanders and leaders of the R.I. GAR. Prior to the Civil War, Burnside a veteran of the War with Mexico and the Apache Wars, was highly regarded as one of the top 10 most experienced military minds in the America, north and south. |
| Early war time photograph, Col. A. E. Burnside, wearing the famous Burnside Fatigue Blouse, officers issue. |
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In April 1861, the mood in Rhode Island was jubilant. Most Rhode Islanders wanted revenge against the South Carolina State Militia under P. G. T. Beauregard who had fired on the Dear Old American Stars and Stripes or then known as the Flag of Columbia in armed rebellion against the Federal Government at Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor on April 12, 1861. A day after the fall of Fort Sumter on April 14th, the President of the United States issued a call for all loyal American Citizens to defend the flag and State Militia volunteers to form a Grand Army to defend the Republic. Its first mission would be to protect the Nation's Capitol then act in the manner of US Marshals and move in to all the rebellious Southern States to restore law and order. |
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| Major John S. Slocum
- Promoted to Colonel; Transfered to assume command of the 2nd R.I. just prior to First Bull Run |
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To many average Rhode Islanders, as well as those in politics, John Slocum was very well known and widely respected. A native of Bristol, he was also a well-respected veteran of the War with Mexico and a hero of the Battle of Chepultepec, serving as a lieutenant under Joseph Pitman. His men knew him as a cool headed commander under fire. Rhode Islanders knew him as a defender of the cause of the R.I. State Government during the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island prior to the Civil War. Slocum was also known as an officer who would relieve a tired soldier of his musket while on the march and carry it for him. His men loved him as one who would also share his canteen with even the lowliest private who was in need of refreshment. After the Civil War his comrades named GAR Post No. 10 after him (Slocum Post 10, the largest GAR Post in R.I.). Upon Burnside’s recommendation and Governor Sprague's request, Slocum returned to R.I. after he accompanied the First Regiment to Washington, to form a new Infantry Regiment, the 2nd R.I. Volunteers and take command. He gathered 5 other officers experienced officers to help him form the 2nd R.I. They were Sullivan Ballou, Frank Wheaton, Levi Tower, S. James Smith and Henry Prescott. During the First Battle of Bull all but Wheaton were killed leading the Second against the Rebels. All the soldiers around him saw Slocum urging his regiment on as he lay dieing with a joyous look of near victory on his face, never to see the disaster at Bull Run that would follow shortly after his death on the field. After the battle a band of disorderly Rebels searched the field to take his head as a victory trophy, which outraged every Rhode Islander to the degree that throughout the remainder of the Civil War, Rhode Island never had to institute a draft to fill the State’s quota of troops needed to preserve the Union. Although his body was never recovered, in tribute to Slocum, an empty grave for him marked by a beautiful monument was placed in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. |
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 Ensign Levi Tower, Promoted to Captain and transfered to the 2nd R.I. Killed at First Bull Run with the 2nd |
A native of Pawtucket, Levi Tower helped form a Rhode Island Militia unit called the Pawtucket Light Guard. A deeply religious man, Tower marched out of Providence with the 1st Regiment R.I. Volunteers on April 19, 1861, and took up quarters in defense of Washington D.C. at the outbreak of the Civil War, after Fort Sumter. As Union Troops arrived to defend the Nation’s Capitol Confederate units were so close they could set their time-pieces by the clock towers of the city. Several times while serving as Ensign with the First R.I. Tower was sent out in command of small raiding units on the Rebel side of the Potomac River to perform very dangerous reconnaissance missions in key areas along the river to dislodge the enemy or ascertain the strengths of Confederate units most threatening the Nation's Capitol. For this he drew the admiration and attention of his Commander, Colonel Burnside.
Tower and S. James Smith of the 1st R.I. were both promoted to the rank of Captain and transferred to the 2nd R.I. Volunteers to assist Co. John Slocum in forming the new regiment not long before the First Battle of Bull Run, which occurred on July 21, 1861. Both Captains Levi Tower, of Company F, and Samuel James Smith, of Company I, were killed leading their men in battle at Bull Run. In the heat of the battle at the point of near victory Tower's last words were, "We have em ! Go in Boys ! Go in !" Tower was greatly admired by his men. So much so that Private Joseph Barnes of Company F, 2nd Rhode Island, took his entire meager funds; the sum of $2.00, and went out to the battle field after the fight by way of safe passage through Rebel lines to see that his beloved Captain Tower be given a descent burial. After the war the R.I. GAR Veterans named Tower Post No. 17 in his honor. They also named R.I. GAR Smith Post No. 9 after Tower’s close comrade Capt. Samuel Smith, also killed at 1st Bull Run while leading his Company against the rebels., |
 Major Sullivan Ballou, Appointed Judge Advocate, R.I.M. and helped Burnside form the 1st R.I. and helped form the 2nd R.I. Killed at First Bull Run second in command under Slocum with the 2nd |
A lawyer and native of Smithfield, Sullivan Ballou served 4 terms in the Rhode Island General Assembly as a State Representative. He married Miss Sarah Hart Shumway of Poughkeepsie, New York and together they had two sons. Ballou was nominated, on the Rhode Island Republican Ticket, for State Attorney General, but lost the election as did all Republicans in R.I. in 1860 to a sweeping victory by the Democrats led by William Sprague. Sprague believed the south would break from the Union well before most Rhode Islanders. He appointed Ballou Judge Advocate of the R.I. State Militia just before the out break of the Civil War. Sullivan Ballou assisted Burnside in the formation of the First R.I. Volunteers and the R.I. Brigade, but stayed behind to conduct additional duties serving Governor Sprague when the First R.I. Volunteers marched off to relieve Washington D.C. after the fall of Fort Sumter. When Col. Slocum returned to Rhode Island to form the 2nd R.I. Volunteer Infantry he sought out Ballou to help. Ballou was made a Major in the 2nd R.I. Volunteers, second in command under Slocum. At the First Battle of Bull Run, the 2nd R.I. moved in to action near Sudley Church. While leading his men and pressing the attack a Rebel cannon shell struck next to him, instantly killing his horse and ripping off his leg. His men carried him back to Sudley Church which was converted in to a hospital, where Major Sullivan Ballou later died. A week before the battle Ballou had a vision of his death and wrote the now famous letter home to his wife Sarah. Sullivan Ballou was a loving and dear husband and a kind father. Their lives shattered, his wife and both sons mourned his death until their final days. After the battle a group of disorderly Rebel soldiers sought out the body of Col. Slocum. They found the body of Ballou, mistook it for that of Slocum and mutilated it. The act drew the attention of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who expressed his shame and disgust for such dishonorable behavior. |
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Wearing the R.I. State Militia uniform. Promoted to 1st Lt. and transferred to the 2nd R.I. due to his great skills in all aspects of infantry drill. "A Masterful Officer In Drill And Tactics. He Taught Us Everything". A native of Providence, Henry Prescott was a deeply religious man. He was also a very successful businessman with his family business in Providence prior to the war. He had absolutely no ambitions to become an officer in the State Militia or the Volunteers, but his strong leadership ability and patriotism drew him to duty. Prescott was also a well-educated man interested in English Literature, Drama, genealogy studies and he loved military spectacles. He was very proud to be able to trace his lineage to a veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill. To his friends he quoted Shakespeare, detailed accounts of the American Revolution and the life of General Nathanael Greene. A staunch Rhode Island Patriot, he was a member of several R.I. Militia pre war units and served as a Captain of the First Light Infantry, R.I.M. Prescott was with the First R.I. Volunteers when they left Providence on April 19, 1861. Since Prescott was one of the key officers who drilled and trained the First Volunteer Regiment to the peak of their proficiency, he was selected to join Col. Slocum and help form the 2nd Regiment R.I. Volunteers. As the war began when the call came for citizens to volunteer for the First R.I. Regiment, during a dramatic militia meeting of the First Light Infantry, Henry Prescott rose to his feet first and captured everyone's attention when he said, "I offer myself to go; I feel that God calls me to his duty. I have no choice; I must go and do his will". Prescott and the First Regiment marched from the parade gathering point at Grace Church on Broad Street in Providence to downtown Providence at Exchange Place (seen in the Providence photo above). Then they marched to their embarkation area at Fox Point, Providence, Rhode Island. They boarded the steamer "Empire State" bound for New York City (the Jersey side of the Hudson) to take a train to Washington. Prescott led the First Regiment in prayer prior to boarding the steamer and wrote the following excerpt from his first letter home to his beloved family: "If you could have seen the enthusiasm at our embarkation, and after we got off; if you could have seen and heard our men, their determination the good feeling, the apparent realization of their position, the calm, noble, trusting spirit shown by most of them, you would have been proud to have me with them, as I was proud to be with them".
After joining Slocum, on July 16,1861, Prescott marched with his new Regiment, the 2nd R.I. Volunteers across Long Bridge out of Washington with the Union Army under General McDowell to engage the enemy in Virginia. Several people from Rhode Island were witness to the grand march and followed to see the Union Army gain a great victory. Prescott and Company D camped at Fairfax. In his last letter home he wrote, "From present appearances, I shall have no moving accidents by flood or field to relate our greatest achievements being in the way of forced marches; expecting to engage the enemy, but never getting very near to them. However if the approach of our troops has the effect of making them retire, we ought to be thankful the effusion of blood is spared". During the Battle of Bull Run when all looked as though victory was imminent, Lt. Henry Prescott was shot through the forehead by a Rebel musket. At first it seemed that no one would continue to press the fight forward in his Company. As shot and shell flew around his men they all stood around Prescott stunned at the loss of their leader. Finally they regained enough of their wits to reform and continue the fight. They pressed on as far as they could loading and firing their muskets all with tears streaming down their cheeks. In March 1862, Governor Sprague and others went to the battle field to look for Prescott's body and the bodies of other Rhode Islanders. All they found of Prescott was a small piece of his tunic. A mural tablet was erected as memorial to him in Grace Church in Providence. After the war his comrades named the first GAR Post in Rhode Island in his honor, Prescott Post No.1. |
| E-mail Lt. Gregory H. Payne Field Commander, for more information about the First R.I. Volunteer Infantry, and the 2nd R.I. Volunteer Infantry, Co. D and reenacting Civil War Events, 12 Tucker Hollow Rd. North Scituate, R.I. 02857. | 
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| Or E-mail Lt. Gregg A. Mierka, Adjutant, Battery A, and the 1st R.I. Volunteer Infantry, also Secretary/Treasurer Camp 7 and the R.I. Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum, c/o the General Nathanael Greene Homestead, 50 Taft Street Coventry, R.I. 02816 for membership information. |
On The Left: A current Unit Association photo, of Lt. Gregory H. Payne, Field Commander, of the 1st & 2nd R.I. Volunteer Infantry. The GAR post card in the center shows the distinctive Rhode Island "Red" bedroll on the napsack. All R.I. Civil War units (all branches) were equipped with red bedrolls by the R.I. Sprague Mills. The Confederates could always tell from a distance they were going up against a R.I. unit due to their distinctive bedrolls. On The Right: A current Unit Association photo, of Lt. Gregg A. Mierka, Adjutant, of the 1st R.I. Volunteer Infantry & Battery A, 1st Regiment, R.I. Light Artillery.
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