Enlisted on 12/6/1861 as a 1st Sergeant.

On 12/27/1861 he mustered into “L” Co. RI 1st Cavalry

He was discharged for promotion on 3/31/1864

On 3/31/1864 he was commissioned into Field & Staff NH 1st Cavalry

He was Mustered Out on 7/15/1865 at Cloud’s Mills, VA

He was listed as:

* Absent leave 2/16/1863 (place not stated) (For 15 days)

* Detached 3/15/1863 Col Duffie’s Staff As Asst Inspector Gen (Estimated day)

* Returned 6/15/1863 (place not stated) (Estimated day)

* POW 6/18/1863 Middleburg, VA (Confined at Libby Prison, Richamond, VA)

* Released 5/15/1864 (place not stated) (Estimated day)

Promotions:

* 2nd Lieut 8/4/1862

* Adjutant 12/1/1862

* Capt 3/31/1864 (As of Co. D)

Intra Regimental Company Transfers:

* 12/1/1862 from company L to Field & Staff

* 3/31/1864 from Field & Staff to company D

Other Information:

born in Littleton, NH

After the War he lived in Boston, MA

By EZRA B. PARKER, late Captain First Regiment New England

Volunteer Cavalry.

THE First New England Cavalry was the first full regiment

of this arm of the service raised in New England.  The regiment

was composed of three battalions.  The First and Third were

enlisted in Rhode Island and the Second in New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire Battalion–Companies I, K, L, and M–was

recruited mostly from the northern and central portions of the

State, but enlistments for mounted service came quickly from

all sections.

The first rendezvous was at the Fair Grounds, near

Concord, east of the river, in the fall of 1861, where the

battalion organization was completed, mustered into service,

and horses supplied.

The New Hampshire Battalion joined the two Rhode Island

Battalions at Pawtucket, R. I., January 22, 1862, where the

regimental organization was perfected.

At the outset the men were armed with sabres, Colt’s

revolvers, and the Burnside carbine.  This carbine was later

replaced by Sharpe’s.

The command, one thousand officers and men, under Col. R.

B. Lawton, a captain in the Third United States Cavalry, left

Rhode Island March 12, 1862, reached Washington March 18, and

was assigned to cavalry brigade under General Stoneman on East

Capitol Hill.

On March 31 the name of the regiment was changed from

First New England Cavalry to First Rhode Island Cavalry, by

order of the War Department, unsupported by any preliminary

correspondence with Governor Berry of New Hampshire.  This act,

effacing as it did the original character of the regiment, was

grievously received by the men and bitterly felt throughout the

State.  But a prompt disavowal of intended injustice, combined

with the sympathetic and noble spirit displayed by the officers

and men from Rhode Island, did much to heal the wound and

fraternize the command.  But the camp guidon, inscribed “First

New England Cavalry,” was cherished and preserved to the end.

The New Hampshire Battalion, however, a little later, on

May 30, while temporarily detached from the regiment, had an

opportunity at Front Royal, Va., to write their identity with

their newly-ground sabres, where, wholly unsupported, they

performed one of the most brilliant exploits of the war under

the eye of Major-General Shields, who that night published an

order reciting the valor of the “brave Granite State troopers.”

Colonel Lawton and Lieutenant-Colonel Sayles resigned July

8, and were succeeded by Maj. A. N. Duffie as colonel, and

Capt. J. L. Thompson of the New Hampshire Battalion, as

lieutenant-colonel.

The drill and discipline of the six weeks, commencing with

this change of field officers, resulted in incalculable benefit

in developing the regiment to its celebrated condition of

battalion evolution and utility for service.  To such

prominence did it attain that it was selected by General

Hooker, commanding the Army of the Potomac, to display its

proficiency before President Lincoln at the grand review at

Falmouth, in the winter of 1862-’63.

The small force of cavalry attached to General Pope’s Army

of Virginia in the fall of 1862, decimated the ranks of the

regiment by its burdensome duties and frequent conflicts with

the enemy.  It fired the first shot and received the first

artillery fire in the four great battles of this campaign,

viz., Cedar Mountain, Groveton, second Bull Run, and Chantilly.

The regiment was in line on Falmouth Heights all of the

first day of the battle of Fredericksburg, waiting orders to

cross the river and engage the enemy; and that night a

detatchment was hurried to Dumfries to repel a guerilla attack

on the Government supplies at that point.  Two companies, K and

M, were on duty at General Stoneman’s headquarters during the

Fredericksburg fight.

“Forty winks” was an adult potion for the cavalry in the

winter of 1862-’63.  They slept in the saddle.

Raids on both sides, night attacks in force on the picket

line, was the rule, not the exception.  It was “play ball” all

the time.

The successful initial exclusive cavalry fight, on both

sides, at Kelly’s Ford, March 17, 1863, resulted in the

organization of all the cavalry into one army corps, and its

subsequent career furnishes a conspicuous part of the history

of the fighting.  Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania brought it to

the front.

The perilous and untenable position which the regiment,

then numbering less than four hundred, was ordered to carry and

hold at Middleburgh, on June 18, is a sample of the demand made

upon it; but it never faltered nor failed.  Confronted and

hemmed in by a force twenty times their number, they heroically

cut their way out, with a loss of over two hundred in killed,

wounded, and captured.  To add to the unfortunate condition of

the captured, the cartel for the exchange of prisoners had been

recently suspended, and was never again but partially restored.

The writer of this sketch, then adjutant of the regiment,

“boarded” nine months in Libby prison, with many others.

The regiment did not participate, as an organization, in

the battle of Gettysburg, but two men of the New Hampshire

Battalion were on mounted duty at Major-General Sickles’s

headquarters, and both were killed.

On the 7th of January, 1864, the following order restored

the battalion to the custody of its own State:

WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE,

WASHINGTON, January 7, 1864.

SPECIAL ORDER No. 9.

Extract.

V.  Companies I, K, L, and M, First Rhode Island Cavalry,

are hereby permanently detached from that regiment, and will be

considered as New Hampshire cavalry companies, they having been

enrolled and mustered into service in that State.

All further appointments of officers for the said

companies will be made by the governor of New Hampshire, by

whom a proper numerical designation will be given to the force.

By order of the Secretary of War,

E. D. TOWNSEND,

A. A. General.

The men were immediately re-enlisted for another three

years, forming the four veteran companies of the First New

Hampshire Cavalry.

The regiment had two colonels, Robert B. Lawton, Alfred N.

Duffie; two lieutenant-colonels, Willard Sayles, John L.

Thompson; ten majors, Willard Sayles, William Sanford, John L.

Thompson, Robert C. Anthony, David B. Nelson, Preston M.

Farrington, John Whipple, Jr., Edmund C. Burt, Stephen R.

Swett, and William H. Turner; four adjutants, Augustus W.

Corliss, George T. Cram, Charles S. Treat, Ezra B. Parker.

Several members of the regiment achieved distinction

outside of the organization, on detached service.

The First Regiment New England Volunteer Cavalry (also

known as First Regiment Rhode Island Volunteer Cavalry) was

attached to Abercrombie’s Brigade, Department of the

Rappahannock, April 1, 1862; Third (Hartsuff’s) Brigade, Second

Division, Department of the Rappahannock, May 2, 1862;

Department of the Shenandoah, May 24,1862; Shield’s Division,

Department of the Shenandoah, June 1, 1862; Third Army Corps,

Army of Virginia, June 28, 1862; Cavalry Brigade, Third Army

Corps, Army of Virginia, August, 1862; Corps of Observation,

Defences of Washington, September 14, 1862; Stoneman’s

Division, Army of the Potomac, October 28,1862; First Cavalry

Brigade, Centre Grand Division, Army of the Potomac, November

16, 1862; First Brigade, Second Cavalry Division, Army of the

Potomac, February 25, 1863; Twenty-second Army Corps,

Department of Washington, June 21, 1863; Second Brigade, Second

Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac, July, 1863; First

Brigade, Second Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac, August

13, 1863.  Companies I, K, L, and M, were permanently detached

January 7, 1864, and became Companies I, K, L, and M, First

Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Cavalry.

ENGAGEMENTS.

Front Royal, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  May 30, 1862

(The New Hampshire Battalion.)

Cedar Mountain, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  Aug. 9, 1862

Groveton, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . Aug. 29, 1862

Bull Run (second), Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . Aug. 30, 1862

Chantilly, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .Sept. 1, 1862

Mountville, Va. (Cos. L, K, and M)  .  .  .  .  . Oct. 31, 1862

Fredericksburg, Va. (Cos. K and M)  .  .  .  . Dec. 12-14, 1862

Hartwood Church, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .Feb. 26, 1863

Kelly’s Ford, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .Mar. 17, 1863

Stoneman’s Raid, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  April 27 to May 8, 1863

Brandy Station, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  June 9, 1863

Thoroughfare Gap, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  June 17, 1863

Middleburgh, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . June 18, 1863

Rapidan Station, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  Sept. 14, 1863

Culpeper (or White Sulphur Springs, also called Warrenton

Springs), Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . Oct. 12, 1863

Bristoe Station, Va.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .Oct. 14, 1863

THE First New England Cavalry was the first full regiment of this arm of the service raised in New England. The regiment was composed of three battalions. The First and Third were enlisted in Rhode Island and the Second in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Battalion — Companies I, K, L, — was recruited mostly from the northern and central portions of the State, but enlistments for mounted service came quickly from all sections. The first rendezvous was at the Fair Grounds, near Concord, east of the river, in the fall of 1861, where the battalion organization was completed, mustered into service, and horses supplied.

The New Hampshire Battalion joined the two Rhode Island Battalions at Pawtucket, R.I., January 22, 1862, where the regimental organization was perfected. At the outset the men were armed with sabres, Colt’s revolvers, and the Burnside carbine. This carbine was later replaced by Sharpe’s. The command, one thousand officers and men, under Col. R. B. Lawton, a captain in the Third United States Cavalry, left Rhode Island March 12, 1862, reached Washington March 18, and was assigned to cavalry brigade under General Stoneman on East Capitol Hill.

On March 31 the name of the regiment was changed from First New England Cavalry to First Rhode Island Cavalry, by order of the War Department, unsupported by any preliminary correspondence with Governor Berry of New Hampshire. This act, effacing as it did the original character of the regiment, was grievously received by the men and bitterly felt throughout the State. But a prompt disavowal of intended injustice, combined with the sympathetic and noble spirit displayed by the officers and men from Rhode Island, did much to heal the wound and fraternize the command. But the camp guidon, inscribed “First New England Cavalry,” was cherished and preserved to the end.

The New Hampshire Battalion, however, a little later, on May 30, while temporarily detached from the regiment, had an opportunity at Front Royal, Va., to write their identity with their newly ground sabres, where, wholly unsupported, they performed one of the most brilliant exploits of the war under the eye of Major-General Shields, who that night published an order reciting the valor of the “brave Granite State troopers.” Colonel Lawton and Lieutenant-Colonel Sayles resigned July 8, and were succeeded by Maj. A. N. Duff as colonel, and Capt. J. L. Thompson of the New Hampshire Battalion, as lieutenant-colonel.

The drill and discipline of the six weeks, commencing with this change of field officers, resulted in incalculable benefit in developing the regiment to its celebrated condition of battalion evolution and utility for service. To such prominence did it attain that it was selected by General Hooker, commanding the Army of the Potomac, to display its proficiency before President Lincoln at the grand review at Falmouth, in the winter of 1862-’63.

The small force of cavalry attached to General Pope’s Army of Virginia in the fall of 1862, decimated the ranks of the regiment by its burdensome duties and frequent conflicts with the enemy. It fired the first shot and received the first artillery fire in the four great battles of this campaign, viz., Cedar Mountain, Groveton, second Bull Run, and Chantilly. The regiment was in line on Falmouth Heights all of the first day of the battle of Fredericksburg, waiting orders to cross the river and engage the enemy; and that night a detatchment was hurried to Dumfries to repel a guerilla attack on the Government supplies at that point. Two companies, K and M, were on duty at General Stoneman’s headquarters during the Fredericksburg fight. “Forty winks” was an adult potion for the cavalry in the winter of 1862-’63. They slept in the saddle. Raids on both sides, night attacks in force on the picket line, was the rule, not the exception. It was “play ball.” all the time.

The successful initial exclusive cavalry fight, on both sides, at Kelly’s Ford, March 17, 1863, resulted in the organization of all the cavalry into one army corps, and its subsequent career furnishes a conspicuous part of the history of the fighting. Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania brought it to the front. The perilous and untenable position which the regiment, then numbering less than four hundred, was ordered to carry and hold at Middleburgh, on June 18, is a sample of the demand made upon it; but it never faltered nor failed. Confronted and hemmed in by a force twenty times their number, they heroically cut their way out, with a loss of over two hundred in killed, wounded, and captured. To add to the unfortunate condition of the captured, the cartel for the exchange of prisoners had been recently suspended, and was never again but partially restored. The writer of this sketch, then adjutant of the regiment, “boarded” nine months in Libby prison, with many others.

The regiment did not participate, as an organization, in the battle of Gettysburg, but two men of the New Hampshire Battalion were on mounted duty at Major-General Sickles’s headquarters, and both were killed. On the 7th of January, 1864, the following order restored the battalion to the custody of its own State: WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE, SPECIAL ORDER No. 9. WASHINGTON, January 7, 1864. Extract.

V. Companies I, K, L, and M, First Rhode Island Cavalry, are hereby permanently detached from that regiment, and will be considered as New Hampshire cavalry companies, they having been enrolled and mustered into service in that State. All further appointments of officers for the said companies will be made by the governor of New Hampshire, by whom a proper numerical designation will be given to the force. By order of the Secretary of War, E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A. General.

The men were immediately re-enlisted for another three years, forming the four veteran companies of the First New Hampshire Cavalry. The regiment had two colonels, Robert B. Lawton, Alfred N. Duffle; two lieutenant-colonels, Willard Sayles, John L. Thompson; ten majors, Willard Sayles, William Sanford, John L. Thompson, Robert C. Anthony, David B. Nelson, Preston M. Farrington, John Whipple, Jr., Edmund C. Burt, Stephen R. Swett, and William H. Turner; four adjutants, Augustus W. Corliss, George T. Cram, Charles S. Treat, Ezra B. Parker. Several members of the regiment achieved distinction outside of the organization, on detached service.

The First Regiment New England Volunteer Cavalry (also known as First Regiment Rhode Island Volunteer Cavalry) was attached to Abercrombie’s Brigade, Department of the Rappahannock, April 1, 1862; Third (Hartsuff’s) Brigade, Second Division, Department of the Rappahannock, May 2, 1862; Department of the Shenandoah, May 24, 1862; Shield’s Division, Department of the Shenandoah, June 1, 1862; Third Army Corps, Army of Virginia, June 28, 1862; Cavalry Brigade, Third Army Corps, Army of Virginia, August, 1862; Corps of Observation, Defences of Washington, September 14, 1862; Stoneman’s Division, Army of the Potomac, October 28, 1862; First Cavalry Brigade, Centre Grand Division, Army of the Potomac, November 16, 1862; First Brigade, Second Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac, February 25, 1863; Twenty-second Army Corps, Department of Washington, June 21, 1863.; Second Brigade, Second Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac, July, 1863; First Brigade, Second Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac, August 13, 1863. Companies I, K, L, and M, were permanently detached January 7, 1864, and became Companies I, K, L, and M, First Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Cavalry.

ENGAGEMENTS.

• Front Royal, Va. (The New Hampshire Battalion.) …………….. May 30, 1862.
• Cedar Mountain, Va. …………………………. Aug. 9, 1862.
• Groveton, Va. ……………………………. Aug. 29, 1862.
• Bull Run (second), Va. ………………………… Aug. 30, 1862.
• Chantilly, Va. ……………………………. Sept. 1, 1862.
• Mountville, Va. (Cos. L, K, and M) …………………… Oct. 31, 1862.
• Fredericksburg, Va. (Cos. K and M) …………………… Dec. 12-14, 1862.
• Hartwood Church, Va. …………………………. Feb. 26, 1863.
• Kelly’s Ford, Va. ………………………….. Mar. 17, 1863.
• Stoneman’s Raid, Va. …………………………. April 27 to May 8, 1863.
• Brandy Station,Va. ………………………….. June 9, 1863.
• Thoroughfare Gap, Va. ………………………… June 17, 1863.
• Middleburgh, Va. …………………………… June 18, 1863.
• Rapidan Station, Va. …………………………. Sept. 14, 1863.
• Culpeper (or White Sulphur Springs, also called Warrenton Springs), Va. ….. Oct. 12, 1863.
• Bristoe Station, Va. …………………………. Oct. 14, 1863.

Capt Ezra Burleigh Parker

 DEATH

Waterford, Caledonia County, Vermont, USA

Saint Johnsbury, Caledonia County, Vermont, USA