After the battle of Bentonville, Sherman experienced no further resistence and on the 24th of March, his two wings were reunited at Goldsboro as planned. According to Capt. Henry Comey, the triumphant army presented a lamentable appearance as it entered the town. "Out clothing was entirely worn out. We were ragged and barefoot." Capt. Francis Crowninshield considered himself luckier than most of his comrades because he had carried an extra pair of shoes to see him through the Carolina swamps. His "chief grievance," was the want of drawers. "The pair I have on, my only ones, I have worn nearly a month. To say that they are torn is nothing. They are ragged,and as for dirt, I can give you no idea of it."
In fact, Crowninshield expressed serious doubts that even his own mother would recognize him in his present condition:
The campaign in North Carolina was all but over. Next would be the drive north to Virginia. Comey was confident it would be their last campaign. "The people of the South acknowledge they they are whipped, that it is useless for them to fight any more."
Sherman hoped to share in the glory of taking Richmond, a sentiment shared by the officers and men of the 2nd Massachusetts. Having unsuccessfully entered Virginia enough times from the north, they were eager to do so from the south. But it was not to be. Sherman's army was left uncalled for and apparently unwanted. Richmond on the brink of falling. Grant, who had attached himself to the long-suffering Army of the Potomac, had watched Sherman's star almost eclipse his own. No, if anyone was going to take Richmond, it would be the Army of the Potomac. Sherman chafed, but no one was more happy than Comey when the Confederate capital fell on April 3rd, without any help from them, for the western men had been "inclined to sneer at the Eastern Armies and talked of going up to take Richmond & show them how to fight."
While awaiting orders, Sherman reorganized his forces. Slocum's Left Wing was given the title of the Army of Georgia. In one the great injustices of the entire war, BG Alpheus S. Williams was passed over to command the 20th Corps, a duty which he had performed admirably (if not spectacularly) time and again. Instead, Sherman put in one of his "favorites," scrappy Joe Mower, who had demonstrated a quality Sherman believed "Pop" Williams lacked--aggressiveness. It was a rude slap in the face to a dedicated and capable soldier. If Williams lacked anything, it was the quality of self-promotion.
In the 2nd Massachusetts, the number of enlisted men left in the ranks was completely out of proportion to the number of officers. As a result, Captains Brown, Oakey, Crowninshield, Parker, Comey & Perkins, plus Adjutant John Fox and Lt. Thompson, were detailed back to Massachusetts for "recruiting duty." The remainder of the once glorious fighting body of 1,000 men was consolidated into 2 companies under the command of Capt. Edward Phalen.
Sherman's force numbered about 89,000 as it commenced its new movement on April 10th, with Williams in the lead. Two days later, the army entered Raliegh, where news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox was learned. Gen. Johnston subsequently sent Sherman a message requesting an armistice in order commence negotiations for hsi own surrender. It was this note, said Chaplain Alonzo Quint, "which arrested the march of the Second on the morning of the 15th; and, so far as war was concerned, arrested it forever."
Quietly and uneventfully, the war was over. But not bloodlessly. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln was a devestating blow, taking all of the joy out of victory.
On May 11, 1865, the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry passed through Richmond, four years to the day after the first detachment arrived at Brook Farm. Back then, none of them could have imagined it would take so long and cost so much to enter the capital of the Confederacy. For the recovering Col. Charles Morse, still at home as the war ended, it was a supreme disappointment not to have shared this moment of supreme triumph with the regiment he had served since April of 1861, and had led through its final battles. He made all haste to rejoin the Second, only to learn that, in his absence, he had been mustered out of the service because of his wounds. But there was no way that Morse was going to be cheated out of being at the regiment's head when it returned home. He asked Slocum to intervene. Slocum, in turn, sent him to Adjutant General Edward Townsend with an application to rescind the order. "It had received pretty heavy endorsements from all my superiors, and was at once granted."
Also hurrying back to rejoin the regiment were all the officers who had been sent home on recruiting duty. No one wanted to miss out on the Grand Review being planned in Washington. Passing through New York City Crowninshield and his colleagues were warmly received by the Union League Club. "We were presented as eight veterans of Sherman's Army," he related. "I was especially presented as having been wounded four times--and whereupon before I could say anything an old gentleman rushed up and hugged me before the whole crowd, much to my disgust."
On the day of the Grand Review, Morse could not have been more pleased. "I had as prominent a place for the regiment as I could ask for, on the right of the brigade....The day was a fatiguing one. but one which will never be forgotten by any of us."
The war was over, but home was still far away. The 2nd Massachusetts Infantry became part of the garrison at Washington. "That we have been detailed for provost duty in this city shows that though we are now among strangers, we are not altogether unknown," said Morse. "We are camped quite near the Capitol, in a not very aristocratic neighborhood. We have considerable guard and patrol duty to do, now that so many troops are passing through on their way home."
The armies were breaking up and the gallant 20th Corps was mustered out of existence. But it was not soon enough for some men of the Second, who would not be separated from their families for another day. Some simply deserted--after years of untarnished sacrifice and devotion to duty. They did not have the luxury of resigning their positions, as Capt. Robert Brown did. One of only four "originial" officers still with the regiment (BG Cogswell--who still held his commission with the regiment, Morse and Francis were the other three), Brown wanted only to get on with his life and took his leave before the regiment was mustered out during the first week of July.
It was an emotional day when the men of the 2nd Massachusetts bid farewell to their friends in the 3rd Wisconsin. These two regiment, who had been together from the Valley Campaign of 1862 to the war's end, had been the backbone of the 3rd Brigade. They had marched, camped and fought side by side, and through every skirmish and every battle, the 2nd Massachusetts had taken heart in the knowledge that, "the old Third Wisconsin was close at hand to support us." The officers of the Second sent a testimonial to their comrades stating this fact, adding that between these two regiments, one from the East and one from the West, there had existed a strong bond of "friendship and mutual regard, untinged by the slightest shadow of jealousy,". This relationship, the officers believed, not only "elevated the tone"of both regiments, but went a great way towards "making our brigade and our division what they are acknowledged to be--among the very best organizations of the army." The officers of the 3rd Wisconsin returned the compliment.
Eager to get home, Capt. Henry Comey desired first a "steady occupation to engage in as soon as I get home," and in the next breath decided, "perhaps I shall not feel like working so much when I get home." Capt. Crowninshield could scarcely believe that he was coming home for good, to "hang my old sword up on the wall never to draw it more." Happy as he was, he felt it would be "terribly hard" to leave the "old flag that I have fought under so long."
On 14 July, 1865, the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry was mustered out of Federal service and discharged at Readville, MA, on the 26th.
"In the first place, imagine a cap, once blue now brown, with the back of it covered with grease, surmounted by a star or what once was a star, now a dingy piece of red velvet with shreds of gold lace around it. Next comes the face, well! it is the same old face, badly begrimed with pitch pine smoke, and badly in need of shaving. An old time worn blouse turned from blue to a rusty brown, but still whole. Next come trousers. If it were a possible thing, I should like to send them home as a curiosity. They are covered with spots, smoked completely black, and as for tears and mends, there is no end to them. The back of the legs I burnt badly and was consequently obliged to take them in considerably, which gives them a rather unique appearance. They have been mended partly with white and partly with black thread which adds to their remarkable appearance. I was going to describe the appearance of the seat of them but unfortunately there is very little left of their original structure, it mostly being composed of odd pieces of cloth."
To their collective chagrin, the men of the 2nd Massachusetts found no supplies awaiting them at Goldsboro. The railroad had yet to be repaired. It was incredible, remarked Comey, how the army had been supplied (or not) by the government. Soon, however, supplies began coming in. Regular camps were once again established (Sherman's army remained in Goldsboro for 17 days), drills were conducted, and, most importantly, the first mail in 2 months was delivered on the March 27th--almost 520 bags of it in 2 days. While the Paymaster was conspicuous by his absence, morale soared.
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