NATHANIEL
MONSELL
10th Connecticut Volunteers
Sergeant, Company H
Middle Island
Nathaniel Monsell, photo from Willard Monsell.
Nathaniel
Monsell
10th Connecticut Volunteers, Company H
Middle Island
Nathaniel
Monsell was born on November 27, 1839 in Middle Island.
His parents, Nathaniel and Maria Monsell, had eleven
children. Nathaniel became a sailor, and was on a whaling
expedition to Greenland when the Civil War began. When he
returned from the voyage, Nathaniel enlisted with the
10th Connecticut Volunteers. Captain Leggett mustered him
in for three years on October 29, 1861, at Hartford.
Monsell was twenty-two years old, stood five feet eight
inches tall, had black hair and dark eyes when he
enlisted.
Nathaniel's
younger brother, Alexander, had enlisted earlier. He
served with the 65th New York, but died from an illness
in December of 1861.
Nathaniel left
with the 10th regiment and went to Annapolis, Maryland.
They were assigned to General Fosters brigade. The
regiment remained in Annapolis for November and December,
where the men worked on drill and discipline. In
December, Monsell was assigned to work as a carpenter.
During January
and February of 1862, Monsell was sent on detached duty
to work on a steamer, the Pilot Boy. This steamer was
used to transport troops for an attack on Roanoke Island
on February 8.
Monsell
rejoined the 10th in March when they were camped at New
Bern, North Carolina, where they stayed until the end of
the summer. Nathaniel, in a letter from New Bern dated
July 7, 1862, expressed his longing for news from home:
When you get my ambrotype you can show it to Mrs.
Hulse. I shall write to Jas Downs tomorrow. Give my
respect to him. Tell him that I am doing well. Goodby
write soon as you get this. Write about the folks in
Middle Island.
A week later,
on July 13, he told his family that the war was taking a
toll on his health. "Tell father I am as poor as
a shad. I only weigh 140 pounds. I weighed 184 when I was
taken sick. But I am gaining slowly." This was
common among soldiers, many of whom fell sick during the
war.
In December of
1862, the 10th left for the Goldsboro expedition. General
French and 7,000 Confederate forces occupied Kingston in
North Carolina. The Confederates put a brigade in front
of the Neuse River to defend the approach to the bridge
spanning the river. On December 14, several Union
regiments were sent in, but they failed to take the
bridge. The 10th was then sent in and succeeded in
pushing back the Confederates. Monsell described the
battle that day in a letter to his sister on December 23:
I will now
take my pen in hand and communicate to you the news of
the day. It is about the hard battle of Dec. 14. Our
intentions were to destroy the railroad between
Goldsborough and Charleston which we done. But not
without some hard fighting, and loss of life. We had a
small skirmish, we killed 5 Rebs wounded 4 and took 7
prisoners. The next day when within 3 miles of Kingston
we met them in force… We went in front and engaged
their center. They was in the open field and we hid in a
thick swamp. We came out with charge of the bayonet and
drove them from their position… We had to lay down
to load and raise up to fire. I fired 32 rounds taking
good aim. There was 3 men killed within 4 feet of me, one
of them fell on me when he was shot…I will not tell
on the particulars of this for we had two more hard
fights before we got to our journeys end. One at
Whitehall the other at Thompson's bridge. We whipped them
at both places with heavy loss… General Foster gave
us a speech and said we be counted with the bravest of
the brave here after. Charly Homan and Jessy Monsell was
in one regiment that came from Suffolk. Charly was
wounded. I have been to town and seen Charly. He is
getting along well. He was hit with a musket ball on the
left temple. He is in good spirits and will soon be on
duty again. (Charly Homan of the 92nd N.Y. was later
killed in battle and Jesse Munsell, also of the 92nd
N.Y., died while in the service at Richmond.)
Battle at
Kingston, December 14. Illustration from Harper's Weekly.
Nathaniel was
spared in this battle. The regiment returned to New Bern,
continuing with drills and other day-to-day tasks. They
were moved to St. Helena Island, South Carolina, for
February and March. Life on the island was a bit
different, as Monsell wrote in a letter home:
I am happy
to inform you that I am well and in good spirits
considering circumstances. It is very unpleasant weather
here now but rather warm for comfort…we had quite
esciting time in camp today. One of the men saw an
alligator and shot him. We had some fun with him. He was
about 7ft in length… If you see Mary Eliza Davis ask
her if she got a letter from me. And let me know what
regt Albert is in… When you write tell me all about
the young folks, who all the boys go with. How all the
girls are getting along in these times. I have two more
to write tonight so I will close by bidding you goodby.
Mail call was
an important event for soldiers. They wanted desperately
to hear news from home. Not receiving letters was a major
disappointment, so Monsell, like others, wrote as
often-and to as many people-as possible. He wrote to many
people in the Middle Island-Yaphank area. It is
interesting to note that his cousin, Mary Louie Booth,
was among those with whom he exchanged letters. Theirs
must have been a lively exchange: Booth was a noted
abolitionist, and later became the editor of Harper's
Bazaar when it was first published.
Monsell wrote
home on March 26, 1863, "We have received
marching orders and will leave here tonight or tomorrow
morning… I expect the next time you hear from me I
will tell you of some fighting." They did not,
however, leave until April 9, 1863. The regiment left St.
Helena Island for Edisto Inlet, South Carolina. Monsell
was right about the fighting, though. They did battle
with Confederate forces, and were able to secure Seabrook
Island.
In July, the
10th was part of a force beginning the siege of
Charleston, South Carolina. However, there were two
forts, Wagner and Sumter, that had to be taken before
Charleston could be taken. In preparation for an attack
on Fort Wagner on Morris Island, the 10th helped
transport troops to the island on July 18.
The 54th
Massachusetts Colored troops began the first assault on
the fort. Firing from the fort took a heavy toll on the
Federals who attacked. The 54th suffered staggering
losses, and was forced to withdraw. This attack was
immortalized in the recent movie, Glory.
Monsell and his
regiment were next in line for a frontal assault when the
order was reversed. Union generals, seeing the carnage of
earlier attacks, did not wish to add to those numbers.
For the next fifty-eight days, the Union army and navy
bombarded Fort Wagner. The men were kept quite busy
throughout this time. Monsell had to steal a few moments
to write home. He described the siege in a letter dated
August 8, 1863, written from Morris Island:
I will now
improve a few leisure moments as I am on guard today. It
is the only chance we have to write letters. All the rest
of the time we are either on picket or at work on the
siege. We are getting in close quarters with them now. We
can hear them talking from our outer works. We are
building one battery within 200 yards of Fort Wagner and
expect the next to be still closer. . They have got 8
batteries beside Fort Sumter that can shell us now. They
throw the most over the outer works and short of the
next. This morning while I was eating breakfast they
fired a shell, it struck within 10 feet of me and bounced
3 rods and burst. It killed one man and wounded 5."
The siege ended
September 7, 1863, when Confederate forces evacuated both
Fort Wagner and Fort Sumter.
Swamp Angel
used in the shelling of Fort Wagner. Gun burst
on firing and was thrown onto the sandbags above.
After the forts
surrendered, the 10th was moved to St. Augustine,
Florida. By this time, almost 60% of their men were on
the sick list. Men were needed to continue the fight.
Monsell's enlistment was up on January 1, 1864. He
decided to re-enlist, with the promise of a $300 bounty.
He was also given a thirty-day furlough, so he returned
home from February 13 to March 13, 1864.
Monsell
returned in time to be transported with his regiment to
Virginia. On May 7, the 10th drove the Confederates back
from Port Walthall Junction, destroying the telegraph
located there and ripping up railroad track. On May 16,
they engaged the Confederates at the battle of Drewry's
Bluff. They prevented the Confederates from advancing,
allowing other Union troops to withdraw.
This was a very
busy time for the men of the 10th regiment. In early
June, they took part in repulsing an attack by
Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard. On June 15, they
advanced and captured a Confederate artillery battery and
thirty-two men.
Five days
later, they took part in the capture of Deep Bottom,
crossing the James River and taking the town. Deep Bottom
was strategically located north of the James River and
just nine miles from Richmond. It then served as a Union
base of operation against Richmond until the end of the
war. On August 10, 1864, the Confederates attacked and
tried to take this key position. The attack was
unsuccessful, and they were forced to withdraw with heavy
losses. The Union forces prevailed, but they too suffered
heavy losses. The operation at Deep Bottom resulted in
seventy-three casualties for the 10th.
Monsell
survived these attacks, but then left his regiment for no
apparent reason. He was absent without leave during the
months of September and October. He returned to his unit
at the end of October. Despite his unauthorized absence,
Monsell was promoted to Corporal on November 1, 1864.
What remained of the 10th regiment was sent to New York
City to preserve order during the presidential election
of 1864. During November and December, the regiment was
strengthened to 800 men.
On February 1,
1865, Monsell was promoted to Sergeant. He was given a
thirty-day furlough starting February 6, 1865. He did not
return and, once again, was declared absent without leave
on March 16, 1865. After failing to return by June 1,
1865, he was dropped from the rolls as a deserter.
After the war,
Monsell moved to Greenport, where he worked as a boat
maker. He married Eliza Ann Tomlinson on June 24, 1866.
They had five children. The youngest, Raymond, was born
January 7, 1891.
Despite all of
the letters Nathaniel wrote during the war, no reason was
found to explain why he deserted. It is puzzling that he
would serve faithfully for three years, re-enlist rather
than go home, only to become a deserter a year later. The
war ended less than thirty days after he was reported
absent without leave. He could have returned to his
regiment even after the war ended and faced, at worst, a
fine and reduction in rank. On March 10, 1888, more than
twenty years after the war ended, Nathaniel Monsell wrote
to the War Department and applied to have the charge of
"desertion" removed.
Nathaniel
Monsell died of kidney disease on February 22, 1899, at
the age of fifty-eight. His widow, Eliza, attempted to
clear his name and file for a widow's pension. The
government, however, denied her application.