Letters from the Front - Nathan Hayward

Friday, April 11, 1862

In a letter to his father Doctor Nathan Hayward related recent events affecting the regiment since their arrival on the Peninsula. He noted that he was serving as the director of the division hospital temporarily, and that patients would be soon be transported by ambulance to Ship Point. The roads were in very poor conditions due to heavy rainfall, and any travel was slowed considerably. He related that the regiment lacked adequate shelter from the rain. Despite the difficult conditions, the regiment was in relatively good health.

Doctor Hayward relayed the arrival of Colonel Lee at Fort Monroe, with hopes of his exchange and return to command within the next week or two. Sadly, he noted that some of the officers who had recently returned to the regiment after severe wounding at Ball's Bluff were not able to stand the strain of active command. Captain John C. Putnam and Lieutenant William Riddle, still struggling with their former injuries, had requested sick leave. Captain Ferdinand Dreher, despite continuing pain from his former wounds, decided to remain.¹

References:
¹Nathan Hayward, "Letters," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 1, p. 372-75, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.

Regimental Matters – Officers Return; Resignations and Promotions

Saturday, March 24, 1862

Earlier in the week Captains John C. Putnam and Ferdinand Dreher, First Lieutenant Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and Second Lieutenant William Riddle returned to the regiment for the first time since their wounding at Ball’s Bluff in October 1861. Captain Allen Beckwith and First Lieutenant John LeBarnes resigned, and Lieutenant Holmes was promoted to Captain of Company G. Second Lieutenants August Muller and Nathaniel Messer were promoted to First Lieutenant.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 80.

Regimental Matters - Promotions and Commissions

Monday, November 25, 1861

Massachusetts Governor John Andrew bolstered the roster of officers by promoting First Lieutenants George Macy, Allen Beckwith, and Charles Cabot to Captains, and Second Lieutenants Henry Abbott, Charles Tilden, and Henry Sturgis to First Lieutenants.

Governor Andrew commissioned three Second Lieutenants from the enlisted men, namely First Sergeant William Riddle of Company I, Quartermaster Henry F. Sander, and First Sergeant James Murphy of Company A. In addition, he commissioned three new recruits as Second Lieutenants: Herbert C. Mason, Arthur R. Curtis, and Henry L. Patten.¹

References:
¹George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 72.