History has shown that many men and boys who enlisted during the American Civil War used alias names for a range of reasons. One individual was Arthur Smith born in Coventry England in 1847. In old age Arthur was proud of his service, he became the 59th member of the London Branch of American Civil War veterans. At memorial days he led the aging veterans to Parliament Square, laid a wreath at the Statue of Abrham Lincoln. Arthur never personally met the President, but recalled his visit to City Point Virginia in April 1865. He also recalled how, as young man, he had been duped by carpet bagging bounty hunting recruiters to enlist in an alias name. This is Arthur’s campfire tale:
On October 10th, 1864 Arthur enlisted as a Private in Company H, 80th New York regiment. The regiment had been formerly known as the 20th New York Militia, but had been redesignated in December 1861. Arthur joined at Kingston , New York, using an alias of William Frazier. Years later in a letter to Winfield Scott, Pensions commissioner, Arthur explained why he had joined using an alias.
“It is very difficult under vastly altered conditions today for anyone who was not old enough to understand what was going on in America under war conditions in 1864. A great many recruits enlisted in an assumed name. It was chiefly because a very large part of the recruits were brought to the recruiting stations by interested persons who had arranged to draw for themselves a large part of the bounty that should have been given to the recruit.
It was their kidnappers, self-appointed recruiters and their aiders and abettors who advised the recruits to enlist in an assumed name. The recruits scarcely knew why. They, the self-appointed recruiters advanced payment for board, lodgings, and drinks so that the recruit should be in their debt and therefore, in their power.
The poor recruit finding himself in the toils of these scheming rouges and seeing no way out, became under their (odic force ) influence and under the influence of beer, tobacco, and often beer drugged with tobacco juice, only too willing to do anything he was told. Hence assumed names. These self-appointed recruiters kept their own names in the background, so that the recruit should have no way of retaliation if he wished to get his own back after the event.
If I had been two or three years older, in 1864, I might have seen through the clever schemes of these artful recruiters, my youth and inexperience was why, at 17 years of age I was unable to disobey the suggestions of older, more influential and more crafty scheming men who brought me to the recruiting station to get for themselves a large part of the bounty that should have been given to me. Trusting this will suffice to make it clear why big boys were so often, including myself, in 1864 induced to enlist in an assumed name”.
When Arthur joined the 80th as William Frazier they were a veteran unit by the time of his enlistment. Many of his comrades had seen action at the Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg in 1863. The battles had taken their toll. At the second Bull Run the regiment lost 279 men, either killed, wounded and missing. Out of 287 engaged, 170 men were killed, wounded or missing at Gettysburg. After the battle of Gettysburg, the 80th was ordered to undertake provost guard duty at City Point Virginia, as part of the Army of the Potomac. The New Yorkers continued in that service until the end of the siege of Petersburg, when it was involved in the final assault on April 2nd , 1865.
On that day whilst passing Fort Sedgwick (known as ‘Fort hell’) and other forts outside Petersburg with reinforcements he was struck by a bullet from the enemy in an ambush. The Confederate rifle ball pierced through the front of his right calf, between knee and ankle, shattering some of the bone and left both an entry and exit wound. He was left lying on the battlefield, exposed to enemy fire. However he survived the day and was transferred to City Point Hospital. Five days later the 80th began provost duties at City Point, Virginia, commencing April 7th . On the 8th he was briefly returned to his regiment, And it was during that time that Arthur crossed paths with the President of the United States.
Between April 4th and 7th President Lincoln visited the Union army front at Richmond and City Point, Virginia. On the 8th he visited the Depot Field Hospital at City Point and it may have been at that time Arthur was aware of his visit. On April 10th Arthur spent time at the general hospital at Broad & Cherry Street, Philadelphia, and Lincoln had departed for Washington. Less than a week later the President was dead. On the night of April 14th , Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes-Booth whilst attending a play at Ford’s Theatre.
Whilst Arthur never personally got to meet the President at City Point he recollected guarding him in a manor house where he slept. In old age he honoured the late President with a salute too. In a United Press article of 1927 he explained. “I never saw Lincoln personally. But he visited the manor house when I was on duty there. The guard had special orders that night. We were stationed all around the house, only a few feet apart. And we were not allowed to talk with each other for fear of disturbing the President. A curious thing about that guard. I remember was that there was an equal number of white and black men every man in the line on duty was a negro”.
In memory of Arthur “William Frazier” Smith. 1847-1932, Hon Secretary, London Branch of American Civil War Veterans.
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