"The ominous booming of distant cannon admonished me to hasten on:" The Melancholy Mission of Bowen B. Moon to the West Woods, Part 2

This is the second of a multi part post on the journey from Herkimer County, New York of Bowen B. Moon to retrieve his brother-in-law William A. Salisbury, Company C, 34th New York who fell in the West Woods on September 17, 1862.[1]

In due time I arrived at Harpers Ferry and by the assistance of Col. Loflin I found the location of the 34th on Bolivar Heights, a high hill overlooking the Ferry with an extended view up the Shenandoah Valley.[2] I soon found the tent of Captain Corcoran of Co. C. 34th Regt. N.Y. Vol. [3] The captain gave me a hearty welcome and insisted that I should occupy his tent that night.

Col. James A. Suiter
New York State Military Museum

It was late in the afternoon when I got there, but I saw the regiment drawn up in line and heard Colonel Suiter give them his orders for the night. Capt. Corcoran gave me an introduction to Col. Suiter and each gave me "Godspeed you" in your journey. Col. Suiter drew an offhand map of the battlefield and showed the position that Company C. occupied and indicated where I would probably find the body of William. All of the boys killed had been buried and headboards erected, and so what Chas. Willoughby had told me at Norway was substantiated by the Col. of the Regt.

I rested very well that night in Capt. Corcoran's tent though I must confess that I was a little nervous in the evening as on the Capt.'s cot I heard strange sounds and thought of the terrible results of grim war. I was awake and up at an early hour and from Bolivar Heights saw the sun's rosy fingers of light as they rolled up the curtains of the night. I saw the dread paraphernalia of war; Parks of artillery, piles of cannon balls - guns stacked ready for use, and indelibly stamped on the tablets of my memory is the picture of the landscape - the white tents of the soldiers - men rolled in their blankets sleeping in the open air - the distant haze of the morning as it veiled the fields of the valley of the Shenandoah - the smoke that curled upward from a thousand fires, built for the preparation of the morning meals. And there from Bolivar Heights I saw the Jefferson rocks at the base of which the waters of the historic Potomac mingle with those of the Shenandoah. I heard there, on that beautiful morning of Oct. 1, 1862 the bugle call, to the soldiers -reveille - the sharp commands of officers as they inspected the serried ranks - the neighing of horses - the rattle of side arms and the trampling of a company of cavalry - and more than all the ominous booming of distant cannon admonished me to hasten on.

Captain Emerson Northrup of Co. K. of the 23d,[4] with whom it was my good fortune to be acquainted, kindly assisted me in getting out of the lines of the army at Harpers Ferry. I took a look at the old Armory in which John Brown defied the slaveholders of the South and afterwards was hung as an enemy of his country. "But his soul goes marching on." What impressed me most as I was looking around the building was to see a German soldier in the U.S. service eating a luncheon of moldy bread and a piece of meat the worse for age. He could speak but a few words of English but there he was a stranger in a distant land trusted and deputed to guard one of the most important strategical points in the zone of contention.

The pontoon bridge at Harpers Ferry is under construction
in this 1862 photo from the Matthew Brady collection,
Historic Photo Collection, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

At Harpers Ferry I first saw a pontoon bridge consisting of many large sized row-boats anchored side by side facing upstream and held together by string-pieces upon which planks were placed forming the bridge. I crossed the Potomac on this bridge and took a towpath of a canal and started for Sharpsburg. There was no water in this canal at that time. In going I deemed it best to avoid the main highways as I was liable to be challenged by sentinals posted along these main roads. I inquired from time to time of citizens as to the route to the town. The day (Oct. 1st) was very warm, the roads were dusty, indeed all vegetation, grass and trees and shrubs, were covered by a coat of dust. As I passed along this towpath I saw soldiers filling their canteens from a little stream that trickled from the side of a very high hill. I was not long in getting to that place of genuine refreshment. I rested for a while, chatted with some of the soldiers, took a bite of luncheon and pushed on.

I made no effort to dodge a soldier if in my course, and so, at one time, as I was going toward a park of artillery the sentinal motioned me to go around. Of course I was more than willing to obey as the last thing I wanted was to be examined by the military. I had not gone many miles before I left the towpath of the canal but I kept close to the river Potomac until I came to the lower bridge that crossed the Antietam creek below Sharpsburg. It was at this bridge that Gen. Burnside was ordered to cross and did so after defeating Gen. Tombs in a sharp engagement. The bridge was guarded by a small detachment and there was only a sentinel on the bridge as I attempted to cross. Being ordered to halt by this sentinel I took from my pocket those valuable letters. The guard took a hasty glance at them and ordered me to cross the bridge and report to the commandant, pointing me to a certain house. I so reported and the officer looked at the papers and at me, asked a few questions and pointing up a quite steep hill, said, "Get up that hill just as far as you can." I did not stand long after this order to go.
As soon as I had got to the top of the hill, I found that I was on the direct road from Harpers Ferry to Sharpsburg and so I ceased going crosslots and in by-ways and traveled on. I was soon overtaken by a peddler licensed to sell goods to soldiers. I asked him to ride to Sharpsburg, two or three miles away. He gave me a good seat and much information about roads to the battlefield etc.

The location of the 34th New York in
the West Woods just north of the
Dunkard Church. The time is
approximately 9:15 a.m.
Cope/Carman Map (1908), Library of
Congress.

I arrived at Sharpsburg, a town then about the size of Poland or Newport. The point I wished to find on the battlefield was perhaps a mile or little more on or near the main road leading from Sharpsburg to Hagerstown and near what is called Dunkards Church. Sharpsburg was literally filled with soldiers; infantry, cavalry and artillery. After thinking the matter over I concluded to visit the battlefield that evening before dark. I did so and by means of Col. Suiter's map I found the grave of Wm. A. Salisbury, as located by Willoughby and Col. Suiter.

Visiting a cooper's shop I found several carpenters making coffins. These coffins were solid and substantial, but I was told that to get an elegant coffin I would have to send to the town of Frederick or Baltimore and it would be several days before it would arrive. Of course duty required me to take one of the substantial coffins that many were using there. It was now nearly dark and I asked permission of the cooper to make my bed on a pile of shavings. He consented but said that they would be working most of the night and if I could stand the noise I would be welcome to stay there.

Partaking of a luncheon and a cup of tea at a restaurant nearby, I returned to the shop and soon was reclining on a bed of shavings, vainly trying to go to sleep. The workmen left the shop about midnight after which I slept more or less until daylight. Perhaps I should relate how I was startled a little towards morning. I heard an unusual racket near or under the shop. Of course I was anticipating that perhaps a part of Lee's army was on my track or that some person judging that I must have money while off on such an errand was arranging to give me a call - so 1 made plans for self-defense. I worked myself to quite a pitch of excitement in anticipation of a personal encounter. I soon found myself convulsed with uncontrollable laughter as I discovered that the noise proceeded from a nest of pigs under the shop.


to be continued...


Notes

1. In 1987 the Herkimer County Historical Society New York published an account of one man's journey to the West Woods to recover a family member lost there on September 17. Bowen B. Moon's "In the Wake of the Battle: an account of a journey to the field at Antietam on a most melancholy mission." (LEGACY - Historical Magazine Published By The Herkimer County Historical Society 2:1 pp. 7-10) featured a letter written on September 3, 1907 by Bowen B. Moon to his niece Clara Spencer recounting his journey to recover the body of his brother-in-law William A. Salisbury of the 34th New York. I would like to thank the Herkimer County Historical Society for their permission to republish this remarkable letter and acknowledge the work of Arthur Moon and his son Joseph Moon  who assisted the Society in the preparation for publication of Bowen Moon's account. I have added annotations to the original letter.
2. The 34th left Sharpsburg early on September 22 and arrived at Bolivar Heights at 3 p.m. that afternoon. The regiment remained at Bolivar until October 30th. Louis N. Chapin, A brief history of the Thirty-fourth regiment, N.Y.S.V.: embracing a complete roster of all officers and men and a full account of the dedication of the monument on the battlefield of Antietam, September 17, 1902 (New York:1903), pp. 71-72.
3. Thomas Corcoran, Captain, Company C, 34th New York. Corcoran as well as most in Company C was from Herkimer County. New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, 34th Regiment New York Volunteers, Civil War Newspaper Clippings at http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/34thInf/34thInfCWN.htm
4. This appears to be a typo in the printed manuscript. Captain Emerson S. Northrup commanded Company K of the 34th New York not the 23rd New York. Twenty year old Captain Northrup was from Salisbury, Herkimer County, New York. New York, Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900 record for Emerson S. Northrup; New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, 34th Regiment New York Volunteers, Civil War Newspaper Clippings at http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/23rdInf/23rdInfMain.htm; 1860 United States Federal Census.

"The ominous booming of distant cannon admonished me to hasten on:" The Melancholy Mission of Bowen B. Moon to the West Woods, Part 1

Bowen B. Moon
Herkimer County
Historical Society

In 1987 the Herkimer County Historical Society New York published an account of one man's journey to the West Woods to recover a family member lost there on September 17. "In the Wake of The Battle: An Account of a Journey to the Field of Antietam on a Most Melancholy Mission," featured a letter written on September 3, 1907 by Bowen B. Moon to his niece Clara Spencer recounting his journey to recover the body of his brother-in-law William A. Salisbury of the 34th New York. Salisbury was one of 33 from the regiment that fell that day in the West Woods just west of the Dunkard Church; another ten went missing.[1]

I would like to thank the Herkimer County Historical Society for their permission to republish this remarkable letter and acknowledge the work of Arthur Moon and his son Joseph Moon  who assisted the Society in the preparation for publication of Bowen Moon's account. I have added annotations to the original letter.[2]

________________________________
Bowen Moon to Clara Spencer,

Russia, N.Y. September 3, 1907

At the Salisbury Reunion of the present year you very kindly requested me to give you an account of my journey to the battlefield of Antietam and the bringing home of the body of William A. Salisbury who was killed on the 17th day of September, 1862 in that sanguinary battle.

Rosena Salisbury Moon
Herkimer County
Historical Society

About the 25th of September of that year, we were living at Russia, we heard or rather read the account of William's death. Rosena, my wife, (and sister of Wm. A. Salisbury) and I hastened to Norway to sympathize and to take counsel as to the future in those dreadful days.[3]

At father Salisbury's request and at the urgent wishes of the family, I consented to attempt the finding and bringing home the body of the soldier boy. I confess that I accepted the task with many forebodings as to the result. But every step I took seemed to encourage me that I would be successful.

The first was on going to the village of Norway from Dairy Hill, I saw Charles Willoughby[4] who had returned from the army wounded. He assured me that the grave of brother William was properly located and that in all probability I might find it. And I might say here that I found the grave as indicated by Mr. Willoughby and having exhumed the remains of the soldier brother, I returned to Norway and the good people of that town in appreciating expressions of gratitude and honor received and reinterred in the Norway Cemetery the one representative of the Salisbury family who in the hour of his Country's peril hastened to offer himself, if need be, a sacrifice for the honor and preservation of his country and its laws. The memories of the incidents of this journey are somewhat veiled in the mists of advancing years, but it gives me a somber pleasure to rehearse, though imperfectly, the narrative.

Starting from my interview with Chas. Willoughby at Norway, I called upon Judge Ezra Graves[5] at Herkimer and he and he very kindly gave me letters to Gov. E. D. Morgan,[6] who in turn gave letters to Gen. Wool[7] who was then commanding the U.S. forces at Baltimore, Md. Arriving at Baltimore, I soon learned that Gen. Wool was absent from town and would not probably return in a week or ten days. Fortified by the letters of Judge Graves and Gov. Morgan, I decided to go ahead and trust to luck for the outcome.

Accordingly I took the cars for Harpers Ferry at which place I had previously learned that the 34th Regt. to which brother William had belonged, was stationed. It was with some misgivings that I began threading my way through crowded cars, and among railroad men, travelers, officers and soldiers all under a high state of excitement, discussing the then recent battle of Antietam and the possible and probable outcome of the great rebellion. But I had decided and go ahead I must and take the consequences.

By a fortuitous event I heard two military officers aboard the cars talking about the then recent battle. I overheard one of them remark that the 34th N.Y. Regt. had distinguished itself in the battle. You need not guess that I kept my eye on that officer until an opportunity presented itself to speak to him, for I certainly did with as much zeal and success as a good detective would ex­ercise in bagging his game. At an opportune moment, I accosted this officer, saying to him that I had overheard his remark about the 34th NY and that I was on my way to that Regt. to get the remains of one of the slain. I soon learned that he was the Lieut. Col. of that Regt. and that he was Lieut. Col. Byron Loflin of Herkimer.[8] I explained my errand, showed him my letters from Gov. Morgan and Judge Graves, and asked him if he would assist me in getting in and out of the lines of the army. He replied that he "certainly could and would." This meeting with Col. Loflin relieved my mind very much for I felt more assured that my mission would be successful.

To be continued...

============
Notes


[1] The total number of dead from the regiment varies from source to source. The Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York: Register of the 34th NY Infantry Regiment (Albany: New York State Adjutant General Office, 1893-1905) shows 40 killed, one missing, and, of the wounded, three who later died. Frederick Phisterer lists in his New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. (Albany: J.B. Lyon Company, 1912) one officer and 32 enlisted men killed; an additional 13 wounded who died; and one officer and nine enlisted men as missing.

The 34th's companies were formed from the following towns and counties: Company A recruited at West Troy; B recruited at Little Falls; C at Graysville and Norway; D recruited at Champlain; E drew from Addison; F and G both recruited at Herkimer; H at Crown Point; I at Hammondsport, and K recruited at Salisbury. Frederick Phisterer, New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. (Albany: J.B. Lyon Company, 1912); The Union army: a history of military affairs in the loyal states, 1861-65 -- records of the regiments in the Union army -- cyclopedia of battles -- memoirs of commanders and soldiers (Madison, WI: Federal Pub. Co., 1908) and retrieved from New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs online at: http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/34thInf/34thInfMain.htm.

[2] Moon, Bowen B. "In the Wake of the Battle: an account of a journey to the field at Antietam on a most melancholy mission." LEGACY - Historical Magazine Published By The Herkimer County Historical Society. 2:1 7-10.

[3] In 1857, Bowen Buck Moon (1829-1924) married Rosena Salisbury (b. 1834-1892), the sister of William A. Salisbury. Bowen, a graduate of Fairfield Academy and Union College, served as the local school teacher in Russia, Herkimer County, New York for several years, before turning to dairy farming. He later found time to serve as Russia's School Commissioner and Justice of the Peace.

Rosena and William Salisbury came from a large extended family. Their father, Ackland Salisbury (1803-1865) and mother Mary Ayers (1806-1850), produced a family of six children--five girls and one boy, William A. Salisbury (1841-1862). Rosena Salisbury (1834-1892) was his older sister.

Their father listed himself as a farmer in the 1860 Census of New York. The Census also recorded that William Salisbury, then 19, had attended school within the past year. By that time, his father had remaried and the family grew by another six children. William, at the time of his enlistment in Company C of the 34th New York, was living at home with his stepmother, Maria A. Salisbury (b. 1813) and seven siblings and step-siblings, five girls and two boys. Retrieved from http://www.genealogycenter.info/pdf/jonathanmillington/JonathanMillington2Jonathan.pdf; Ancestry.com entry for Ackland Salisbury; Rosena Salisbury; William Salisbury; New York State Archives, Albany, New York; Town Clerks Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca 1861-1865; Collection Number: (N-Ar) 13774; Box Number: 27; Roll Number: 16 retrieved from Ancestry.com; U.S. Census, New York, 1860.

[4] The 1860 Census records a 17 year old Charles Willoughby living with his father and mother and three siblings in the town of Norway, New York. His father is listed as a carpenter and Charles a laborer. Charles joined the 34th New York on May 1, 1861. 1860 Census; Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York: Register of the 34th NY Infantry Regiment (Albany: New York State Adjutant General Office, 1893-1905) under Charles A. Willoughby.

[5] Ezra Graves (1809-1883) of Herkimer County, New York. Wikipedia under Graves.

[6] Governor Edwin D. Morgan (1811-1883). Mr. Lincoln and New York at http://www.mrlincolnandnewyork.org/inside.asp?ID=62&subjectID=3

[7] General John E. Wool served as military commander of Baltimore from June to October 1862. Baltimore: Its History and Its People, Volume 1, Clayton Coleman Hall, ed. (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1912), pp. 192-193.

[9] This was Lt. Col. Byron Laflin.

Searching for the Wadham Brothers

Some time ago, John Banks posted to his blog spot, a short report on his research on an ambrotype photograph of Justus Collins Wellington (1838-1862) of the 15th Massachusetts who fell in the West Woods.

He had found the ambrotype at an auction and then, going on just a name and no other information, eventually matched Justus with the 15th Massachusetts and contributed his research to Wellington's biography on the regiment's website maintained by Susan Harnwell.

Once lost and now found.
Tintypes of George Fergo
Fletcher and possibly
James Fletcher both
of the 15th Massachusetts.
Their parents are also
included in this collection.

Traveling to Antietam, he posed Justus by the regiment's lion memorial and snapped the photo displayed here. The complete post can be found here.

A week ago, John came across a set of photographs of members of the Fletcher family that an online auction house was offering.

One of the photos was of George Fergo Fletcher (see notes on the Fletcher story posted here on February 23 and April 1). This is posted here. Currently George is thought to be the image on the upper right while his brother James, killed at Antietam in the West Woods, appears in the upper left. Their parents are depicted below them.

He contacted the Fletchers to alert them to the offering and happily they were able to bring the tintypes back into the family.

Now John has undertaken a larger research project--that of finding three Wadham brothers from Litchfield, Connecticut. The most recent entry in this remarkable story was posted on April 9 and can be found at this address.

"My best helper in this matter 'passed over the river:'" John Purifoy, Ezra Carman, and Map Making

A map sketch from the
Papers of Ezra Carman, Library of Congress.
This one depicts Early's movements
countering Sedgwick's advance in the
West Woods. Notes the writer, "This
affair occurred about 10 o'clock, and enemy
[Sedgwick] was driven beyond the left of the woods.
Our troops going out into the field, when
they were drawn back."

The series of maps produced by the Antietam Battlefield Board in 1904 and revised in 1908 are valuable resources to anyone interested in the events of September 17, 1862. These maps have become known to many as simply the Carman-Cope maps. Thanks to the American Memory Project at the Library of Congress, both map series are available online in full format size and can be viewed and downloaded from the Library's website. Your local printer or blueprint shop, will be able to print the full color, poster-sized map series from the .tiff file you download from the site for about $25 per sheet.

The detail of each of the 20 to 30 minute segments is extraordinary and allows visitors to locate a unit by its juxtaposition to a fence, stone wall, rock outcropping, or farm lane. 

How were these maps created? 

Thomas Clemens' recently published The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, Volume 1: South Mountain gives us valuable insights to how Carman went about his work. [1]

Clemens tells us that "Carman toured the Antietam battlefield in November of 1862, collecting information about the fighting and talking to civilians in and around the town. While there he confided to his diary that he was making a map and writing an account of the the battle." After the war, Carman "was active in veteran's groups and communicated with former comrades on a regular basis." In October, 1894 he was appointed to the Antietam Battlefield Board as Historical Expert. "His assigned task was to create a map showing the terrain and troop positions during the battle, which would be verified by surviving veterans." Four years later, the "base map" of the battlefield was completed and he asked for additional funding to create the series of fourteen sequential maps which appeared first in 1904 and revised into a final set in 1908. These are the maps that are now available from the Library of Congress. [2].

Carman's research is built on "letters he received from veterans of the battle, and the conversations he had with them when they visited the battlefield." The difficulty that Carman faced locating units on the map series is evident in a letter from John Purifoy to Carman on July 21, 1900. [3]

Lt. George S. Gove, Company K,
Fifth New Hampshire,
marked his company's positions on this
map and enclosed it in a letter to
Ezra Carman, March 24, 1896.
Papers of Ezra Carman, Library of Congress. 

Carman had asked Purifoy to mark his unit's location on a map of the Fox Gap area of South Mountain. Purifoy then tells Carman that he has “given the matters of inquiry therein due consideration, having consulted others who were with me on that occasion. If my conclusions as to the battle field at South Mountain, where D H Hill’s division fought on the 14^th of September, 1862, are correct, as drawn from the map enclosed by you, and supported by the reference to it in Gen Lee’s report of his Maryland campaign, the first position held by us was in the field South of the Wise field, and marked by me with a red cross….” [4]

A few lines later in the letter, however, he expresses second thoughts: “When the present map was submitted to me I marked the position as shown in this. Yet the more I study the map the less confident am I that I have marked the correct spot. Having read Gen Lee’s report, I am led to ask myself the question whether we were first located further south. The following questions present themselves to me. Is Fox’s Gap shown on the map higher or lower (more or less elevated) than the point marked with my red cross?  Is the Wise House and Wise field higher or lower than the point indicated?”[5]

Detail from the Carman-Cope
9 a.m. map (1904 edition)
Library of Congress

Purifoy laments “[m]y best helper in this matter ‘passed over the river’ in February last, having died before my letter of inquiry about Sharpsburg with map reached him. If you think, by enlightening me on the topography of the field as indicated by the questions asked, I will be enabled to more definitely settle on the first location, I shall be glad to make an other effort to do so. If I were to visit the field now I do not know whether I could definitely settle it. This is is suggested by a visit to another field made by me and the effort to locate the three positions occupied by the battery to which I was attached. I find it the most difficult thing to do in the world to find two or more participants in a battle who have the same recollection of the topography or location at which they battery did its shooting.”[6]

Sources:

[1] Thomas Clemens, The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, Volume 1: South Mountain (New York: Savas Beatie, 2010). See also, David A. Lilley, "The Antietam Battlefield Board and its Atlas: or The Genesis of the Carman-Copes Maps" in Lincoln Herald 82 (Summer 1980): 380-87.
[2] Clemens, Maryland Campaign, pp. xii-xv.
[3] John Purifoy (1842-1927) served in the Jeff Davis (AL) Artillery (Bondurant's Battery). Alabama Department of Archives and History, Official and Statistical Register, 1915, p. 19 and retrieved from http://www.archives.alabama.gov/conoff/purifoy.html; Brian Downey's Antietam on the Web under Jeff Davis Artillery; Clemens, Maryland Campaign, p. xvi.
[4] John Purifoy to Ezra Carman, Montgomery, Alabama, July 21, 1900, Papers of Ezra Carman, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Containers 15/16.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.

"Only 9 were left standing:" Company H, 15th Massachusetts in the West Woods, Part 2

This is a continuation of a previous post. In that entry, the relationship of the Fletcher, Chapin, and Whitin families were chronicled. The Whitinsville casualties listed in The Worcester Daily Spy were connected in various ways to each other, to the village from which they came, and to the commander of Company H, Lt. Samuel Fletcher, whose family, allied with the Whitens, provided much of the employment to residents of the Mumford River mill town. [1]

The previous post explored the fates of James B. Fletcher (brother of Samuel Fletcher), Edward Chapin (cousin of Samuel and James Fletcher), and Henry W. Ainsworth.

What of the others listed that day? The Roster and Genealogy Project of the 15th Massachusetts Online maintained by Susan L. Harnwell gives us some insights into their lives. Unless otherwise noted, this is the source for the biographical information that follows. [2]

Orlando W. Bacheler. Photo at
15th Massachusetts website.

Eighteen year old Private Orlando W. Bacheler (April 6, 1844-September 17, 1862), hailed from Sutton, Worcester County, Massachusetts. The only son of Jonas Batchelor (1803-1891) and Mary A. Young (1813-1894), Orlando gave his occupation as machinist when enlisting in Company H. According to the family history, when… “the father went south for the body and returned home with it. After this he was not quite the same man as before.” The spelling of his last name is in some dispute. The 15th website lists him as Batchelor but the photograph of his tombstone in South Sutton Cemetery taken by Gerry Dahlstrom shows the spelling as Bacheler. Further confusion comes from the History of Sutton which lists his father as Jonas Batcheller. 

Arthur J. Andrews (1841/42-September 17, 1862) of Northbridge, Worcester County, listed himself as a machinist on enlisting in Company G. His parents were William H. Andrews, a machinist (ca.1814-1872) and Susan Andrews (1816-nd). His younger brother Oliver, later enlisted in the 42nd Massachusetts and survived the war.

Private Isaac Marshall (ca. 1840-September 17, 1862), a machinist, enlisted in Company H with his friend Eugene Keith, 22, also a machinist. According to the 1860 Census for Massachusetts, both lived in a boarding house in Whitinsville. Eugene Keith was killed at Balls Bluff on October 21, 1861.

Private Andrew Addison (ca 1844-September 17, 1862) was born in Scotland listed his occupation as machinist. He joined Company H with his father William Addison (1809-1892), who served as a “fifer,” and his brother, James Addison, listed as an apprentice mechanic. On 23 Jan 1862 William ended military service with the 15th Massachusetts due to disability. He returned, however, to duty in February 1865, with the 1st Maine Light Artillery, Company G serving as a "Major Fifer." The father survived the war. His other son James, appears on a list of the sick and wounded brought to New York from Fortress Monroe in late August 1862. James apparently deserted Company H just prior to Antietam on September 1, 1862. On August 28, 1891, however, his father included in an application to enter the Washington State Soldiers' Home in Oakedale that both sons were killed in the war.

Private George N. Smith (1842-September 17, 1862), machinist, joined Company H while his brother Edwin Jacob Smith joined  Company G. George was and currently is listed as missing and presumed dead. His brother Edwin was severely wounded in the neck in the West Woods. Captured and imprisoned at Libby Prison in Richmond, Edwin was eventually paroled and was taken home by his father.

Those listed in The Worcester Spy as wounded from Whitinsville are:

James S. Flannegan, (also, James S. Flanigan) (1812-1873), from Ireland, was 49 when he enlisted in Company H. He was the head of a household that included his second wife, her daughter and son from her previous marriage and his two sons from his previous marriage. His step daughter was married to Thomas Wathey also in the 15th. He was taken prisoner in the West Woods and sent to Libby prison in Richmond. The Worcester Spy, in its October 15, 1862 edition lists him among the "camp of paroled prisoners at Annapolis." He returned to the 15th and served until July 28, 1864.

Edwin Smith (1844-1924), brother of George N. Smith (see above).

Ebenezer Prest, (1837-1874), enlisted in Company H and listed as machinist. Wounded in the hand. Ended service Dec. 29, 1862 due to disability. Joined U.S. Navy the following year and was discharged as Acting 3rd Assistant Engineer in October 1865.

Charles H. Plimpton, 17 years old, (1845-1931), joined Company G with his two brothers Webster Daniel Plimpton and Franklin Amos Plimpton. A third brother, Amos Gardner Plimpton joined the 15th in July 1862 and was transferred immediately to the Andrews Sharpshooters. From the family genealogy “Near the close of Antietam, he [Charles] was severely wounded and taken prisoner. After being a prisoner 3 days, he was recaptured by his own regiment and conveyed to the battlefield hospital. The surgeons there decided to amputate his leg above the left knee joint. This he opposed so strongly, that he was left to care for himself. In intense suffering, by ambulance and by railroad he was taken to Philadelphia. There, by the aid of the most skillful surgeons and good nursing, he recovered.” Another brother of Charles, George Washington Plimpton, served with the Fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Cavalry. After the war Charles married Mary A. Bell from Virginia. He became a locomotive engineer and passenger conductor, and at age 84, was listed as a salesman for flour mills. He died in Waukegan, Illinois on October 7, 1931--86 years, 4 months, and 14 days old.

Ira Partin (also Parkis), (1840-1897) was a 21 year old clerk when he mustered into Company H of the 15th. He was wounded in the thigh at Antietam and in November 1863 transferred to the Veterans’ Reserve Corps. After the war he became a dry goods merchant in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Additional members of Company H listed as killed on the 15th Massachusetts Monument are:

Corporal Henry A. Collar, from Uxbridge,

Private Patrick Finnegan, from Worcester.

Private Christopher Young[s], Private at Antietam, from Northbridge.

Wounded and died are:

Private Samuel Emerson, Sept. 26, 1862, from Webster.

Private Franklin L. Hayden, Sept. 27, 1862, from Uxbridge/Sutton.

Private Charles D. Smith, Sept. 27, 1862, from Sutton.

Private Simon Sullivan, Oct. 21, 1862, from Worcester.

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Notes

[1] The Worcester Daily Spy, September 25, 1862.

[2] This remarkable and unique online collection of individual histories, many with photographs, of the 15th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, 1861-1864 is a valuable resource for any student of the Civil War. You can find it at http://www.nextech.de/ma15mvi/ma15mvi-p/index.htm.