Funeral of Captain Lewis Buzzell in Barrington

Sunday, May 17, 1863

Nearly one-thousand people attended the funeral of Captain Lewis Buzzell at 2:00 P.M. in Barrington, New Hampshire. Freewill Baptist Minister Enoch Hayes Place officiated at the funeral and recorded the sad event in his journal:

The procession led by the Strafford Guards was nearly one mile in extent. He was interred in his father’s cemetery, and three volleys discharged by the guards over the grave ... [Captain Buzzell's sword] lay on his coffin, with his bible and hymn book, coffin plate, and two miniatures of the deceased. The coffin was shrouded in a flag of the glorious Union. ¹

References:
¹William E. Wentworth, Journals of Enoch Hayes Place, 2 vols. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic and Genealogical Society and New Hampshire Society of Genealogists, 1998), 2:1615.

Captain Buzzell Sent Home For Burial

Sunday, May 10, 1863

The body of Captain Lewis Buzzell of Company F was disinterred and embalmed for transport for burial in his home town of Barrington, New Hampshire. The regimental band played for the procession as it moved to the railroad station nearly three miles from camp.¹

References:
¹S. Millett Thompson, Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 : A Diary Covering Three Years and a Day (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888), 157.

Burial of Captain Lewis Buzzell

Tuesday, May 5, 1863

Captain Lewis Buzzell of Company F was buried by his men in the woods near camp in Suffolk. He was held in high esteem by his regiment and would be greatly missed.¹

References:
¹S. Millett Thompson, Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 : A Diary Covering Three Years and a Day (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888), 153, 157.

"Your Son is Dangerously Wounded..."

Sunday, May 3, 1863

Surgeon Samuel A. Richardson of the Thirteenth New Hampshire drafted a letter to John S. Caverly, step-father of Nathaniel Caverly Jr. The letter read:

In the Field Near Suffolk Va.
Sabbath day, May 3rd, 1863

Mr. John S. Caverly.
Dear sir, It becomes my painful duty to write you that your Son is dangerously wounded ...

It is not likely that he will live long as his spine is injured by a musket shot.

I asked him if he had any friends to send word to ... & he said write to my father and tell him that "I die trusting in the Lord"

We then asked the Chaplain to pray for him and was sent immediately to the Methodist Church Hospital in Suffolk ...

You receive my deepest sympathy and yet I can but congratulate you that you have been the father of so noble a son who could die for his country blessing God.

I am Sir,
Very truly,
S. A. Richardson
Surgeon, 13th N.H. Reg.

[P.S.]We have had about 60 wounded in our division today. Capt. Buzzell Co. F. was shot dead¹

References:
¹Letter from Samuel A. Richardson to John S. Caverly, 3 May 1863, copy in possession of Carol Swaine-Kuzel.

Battle of Providence Church Road

Sunday, May 3, 1863

At 6:00 A.M .the Thirteenth New Hampshire regiment marches toward Suffolk with Colonel Aaron Stevens in command. At 9:00 A.M. the Thirteenth crosses the Nansemond River in support of the 89th New York, the 103rd New York, and the 25th New Jersey regiments. The Thirteenth New Hampshire takes position in a line of battle along a field near the ruins of Captain Nathaniel Pruden’s house. The Confederates formed a line in the woods nearly 500 yards across the field. At 1:00 P.M. the order to charge is given. The Thirteenth New Hampshire charges gallantly across the open fields into the woods. At about 1:15 P.M. the Confederates are in full retreat and the rifle pits are taken. The Thirteenth New Hampshire continued into the woods for nearly two hours. Rapid gunfire from sharpshooters exploded from the dense brush. Captain Lewis Buzzell of Company F and others were shot; Captain Buzzell was shot through the heart and died instantly. The Thirteenth New Hampshire retreated with their dead and wounded and reached camp at 10 P.M. The casualties for the Thirteenth New Hampshire were four killed and nineteen wounded, with the largest number of casualties occurring during the charge. Among the mortally wounded was Nathaniel Caverly Jr. The Thirteenth was wisely praised for their gallantry in their charge. General Longstreet withdrew from Suffolk later in the day and reached the main body of the Confederate Army on May 9.¹

References:
¹S. Millett Thompson, Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 : A Diary Covering Three Years and a Day (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888), 139-52.

Mustering In at Camp Colby

Saturday, September 20, 1862

The enlisted men of the regiment mustered in today at Camp Colby, near Concord.  Among the enlisted was Private Nathaniel Caverly Jr. of Company F.  The captain of Company F, Lewis Buzzell, was absent due to sickness.  Captain Buzzell would not return to the regiment for nearly two months.¹

References:
¹S. Millett Thompson, Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 : A Diary Covering Three Years and a Day (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888), 3-4.