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Randolph and Holbrook's Medal of Honor Winner
The little plot of greenery that is formed by the road realignment at the junction of Union and Center Streets was dedicated on Saturday, May 25, 1998 to the memory of George M. Lovering. Selectman James Burgess had learned that Lovering had enlisted in the Army while residing in East Randolph and thus is the sole known recipient of the Medal of Honor from the town. Today, East Randolph is now Holbrook, so the two sister communities can share the honor and history of this Civil War era veteran.
Lovering served in the Massachusetts 4th Regiment. During the Civil War state regiments were organized in numerical succession, thus a very low number such as the 4th, indicates a unit formed out of state militia already organized and active before hostilities began in 1861. The Mass.4th was one of those early units that answered Pres. Lincoln's call to rush south and hold onto the border states and the District of Columbia. They served in this role for 90 days, sometimes seen as the origin of the phrase "90 day soldiers". From contemporaneous accounts the unit mustered up at the railroad station before boarding a train into Boston and then onto Baltimore, where local residents showered them with epithets and vegetables, and where a few units actually saw their first casualties. Thus the new memorial to George Lovering overlooks the very spot from whence he left home to go off to war. After their 90 day service the unit returned to Randolph for a respite and then later Co. D of the 4th Mass. was assigned to the Western theater under the rising star of General Ulysses S. Grant. Eventually joining with many other units to try and take the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi, at Port Hudson, Louisiana.
This series of sieges and assaults occurred over a lengthy period extending from at least May of 1863 until the eventual capitulation on July 9, 1863. There was action by both the Union Navy and Army against a Confederate garrison at Port Hudson of about 2,500. Several Navy Medals of Honor were awarded during this series of engagements as well as several Army awards. Port Hudson was one of only two remaining strongholds that allowed the Confederacy to block free navigation of the Mississippi, the other being Vicksburg and while Port Hudson withstood furious Union naval attacks and artillery barrages along with two major ground assaults, its defenders held out. Only when word of the fall of Vicksburg (July 7, 1863) reached them did they strike their colors aware that they could not hold out indefinitely. The first ground assault happened on May 23, 1863. This action is significant especially in connection with Sergeant Lovering, as we shall see later, though was not the engagement for which he was awarded the Medal. Some of the most courageous and unstinting efforts on this day where made by the 1st and 3rd Infantry Regiments of the Louisiana Native Guards (also called the Corps d'Afrique, and the United States Colored Volunteers, generally considered part of what is called "The Black Phalanx", from the book of the same title by Joseph T. Wilson, American Publishing Co., Hartford, Ct., 1892, which recounts the contributions of African-American soldiers from the War for Independence and on to the Western campaigns of the so-termed 'Buffalo soldiers'.) To put it in perspective, this happens in late May of 1863, the more famous unit of African-American soldiers the Massachusetts 54th has only formed in February of 1863 and is still in training. But in fact Federal units consisting of former slaves and freemen had been organized since mid 1862 and had already fought several battles. The 54th will first go into gallant action at Fort Wagner, So. Carolina on July 18, 1863, two weeks after Port Hudson has finally surrendered. The movie 'Glory' which recounts the Mass. 54th is typical of Hollywood in that what is given with one hand is taken away with the other, since it unkindly and perhaps quite unfairly presents these existing units in a less than favorable light in order to heighten the drama. The Mass. 54th and the 'forgotten' 55th were the first two units organized of African-Americans in the North as state volunteers. An impressive brass relief monument, located on Boston Common opposite the Massachusetts' State House, was dedicated to the Mass. 54th and its commanding officer Robert Gould Shaw. Created by the sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens it further insures this unit's fame. The monument was recently re-dedicated in a ceremony featuring Civil War recreators and highlighted by a keynote speech given by Gen. Colin Powell, U.S.A. ret. Sergeant Lovering would have been posted to Fort Hudson as part of Co. D of the 4th Mass., but by the date of the action that earns his nation's gratitude he is the First Sergeant of Co. I. 4th Mass. which was probably not fully composed of Randolph/Holbrook residents. A second major assault occurs starting on June 13, 1863 and lasting until the 14th. Like the May 23rd action this fails to breach the bastion, and results in substantial Union casualties. Both assaults while bold were probably intemperate in the face of the well entrenched defenders, a pattern that is typical of many Civil War era actions. The actual citation awarding the Medal of Honor to George M. Lovering is as follows: Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company I, 4th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Port Hudson, La., 14 June 1863. Entered service at: East Randolph, Mass. Born: 10 January 1832, Springfield, N.H. Date of issue: 19 November 1891. Citation: During a momentary confusion in the ranks caused by other troops rushing upon the regiment, this soldier, with coolness and determination, rendered efficient aid in preventing a panic among the troops. As the award describes there was poor coordination amongst the various unit commanders. General Banks in overall command had planned an assault on several sides, but in the actual event, Union troop formations ran into one another. The situation then returns to active siege until July 9, 1963 when the Confederate garrison surrenders upon learning of the fall of Vicksburg. George Lovering is then offered a commission as a First Lieutenant in the renamed 75th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops which is formed from the 3rd Infantry Corps d'Afrique. One of three units that fought so well on May 23 and which suffered greatly that day. His record then follows this unit which means that he stays in the bayous of Louisiana until mustered out in 1865. Lovering eventually lived at a veteran's home in Maine, and died at St. Mary's hospital in Lewiston in 1919, aged 87. What follows is a brief history of the 75th Regiment, its commanding officer and its place in the historical record of Civil War and the Afro-American soldiers who served during and afterwards.
Organized April 4, 1864, from 3rd Corps d'Afrique Infantry. Attached to 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Corps d'Afrique, Dept. of the Gulf, to February, 1865. District of LaFourche, Dept. of the Gulf, to November, 1865. SERVICE.-Red River Campaign March 10-May 22, 1864. Advance from Franklin to Alexandria, La., March 14-26. Retreat from Alexandria to Morganza May 13-20. Mansura May 16. Near Moreauville May 17. Yellow Bayou May 18. Duty at Morganza till February, 1865. Ordered to Terre Bonne February 26. Duty there and in the District of LaFourche till November, 1865. Expedition to Lake Verret, Grand Lake and the Park April 2-10, 1865. Operations about Brashear City April 30-May 12. Mustered out November 25, 1865.
George Lovering was offered a commission as a first lieutenant of the 75th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops. A unit reorganized from the 3rd Regiment, Corps D'Afrique. Lieutenant Lovering, appears to have served the remainder of the War with this regiment. They participated in what came to be called the Red River Campaign. This was a series of fierce though ultimately futile attempts by Union General Banks to extend control westward to the Red River valley (same as the folk song.) A new biography of Gen. Banks, entitled Pretense of Glory is scheduled to be published by the Louisiana State University Press in November, Banks had been twice elected to Congress from Massachusetts and served as Speaker. He was a rising star in the then new Republican Party, rumored to be of possible presidential timber. In the end Banks never quite seemed to achieve the glory he sought. Several speculations arise about why George Lovering accepted this commission. Primarily, it would have been a nominal promotion (every G.I knows or soon learns that the sergeants really run the army.) However, he may have wanted to continue to serve under Banks, someone whose political record he would have known before the war. Lovering may have been active or at least interested in politics prior to 1861, there are some tantalizing threads suggesting same which need more research and some luck to confirm. The 75th regiment was reorganized from the 3rd regiment, Corps D'Afrique and that from the Louisiana Native Guards. In 1995. Louisiana State University also published a book entitled the Louisiana Native Guards, The Black Military Experience during the Civil War. And quite a story it is, this unit was first organized by the Confederacy, as a home guard and almost surely for propaganda reasons, as they go on to serve the Union at the first opportunity. They truly opted for liberty in the face of a clear danger to life. After the War many of the veterans were active in the early Civil Rights struggle. To paraphrase one soldier's expression: struggle was their normal lot. French names such as the Corps D'Afrique and even french uniforms (the Zouaves for example) were popular in that time. But the french name may have also reflected the language spoken by many of the troopers. Even a hundred years later parts of Louisiana spoke mostly French due to the Cajun (Acadian) influence. It may be that George Lovering needed to parlez francais to converse with his new unit's soldiers. In July of this year the newest memorial in Washington was unveiled. Located in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington which name derives from Col. Robert Gould Shaw who commanded the Massachusetts 54th regiment, the first state regiment of black troops (the Corps d'Afrique actually predates that both in organization and in its baptism of fire.) This memorial commemorates all the soldiers and sailors who served in the USCT and the Union Navy. It also recognizes their families and features three aspects, one for the soldiers, one for the sailors and the third depicts the women and children of the family. Whilst probably not of African-American ancestry himself, Lovering's name is proudly carried on the rolls as one of the more 225,000 soldiers and sailors who served in the United States Colored Troops and U.S. Navy. His name is on plaque C-82. So if you visit Washington D.C. you can use this to help locate this further memorial to a son of Randolph/Holbrook. Information for this report derived from: Wes Cote, Holbrook Historian; U.S. Military History Archives; National Park Services-U.S. Colored Troops Database; and Henry Cooke IV, Randolph Historian, and Boston Globe article. Some Additional links:
Civil War Sites in Louisiana
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