An Old New Yorker

Union General James Samuel Wadsworth died May 8^th 1864 from wounds received two days earlier at the Battle of the Wilderness.

James Samuel Wadsworth was born October 30^th 1807, the son of James Wadsworth in Geneseo, Livingston, New York.  He studied law at both Harvard and Yale, and was admitted to the bar.  He didn't set up a practice; instead Wadsworth managed the family’s estate.  He would enter politics as a Democrat, but then became one of the organizers of the Free Soil Party, and finally a Republican.  In 1861 Wadsworth was a member of the Peace Conference.

When the Civil War became inevitable, Wadsworth volunteered his service to the Union.  He served as an aide-de-camp at the First Battle of Bull Run to Union Major General Irvin McDowell.  McDowell recommended Wadsworth for command, and with the rank of Brigadier General on October 3^rd 1861 he began commanding the 2^nd Brigade of 3^rd Division of the 1^st Corps.  From March 17^th to September 7^th 1862 Wadsworth had command of the Military District of Washington, and had a hand in holding troops for its defense against the wishes of Major General George B McClellan.  After having stepped on McClellan’s toes, Wadsworth could see no prospect in McClellan’s army, and so put his name into the running for Governor of New York State.  After McClellan was replaced at the head of the Army of the Potomac, and Wadsworth had lost the election to Democrat Horatio Seymour, he took the command of the First Division in the 1^st Corps.  He was well thought of by his men.  As the leader of his new division, they were only marginally involved at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863.  At the Battle of Gettysburg, his division was the first Union infantry troops to arrive on the field on July 1^st 1863, and was heavily engaged, loosing over 50% of their strength that day.  They would also fight on the second day.

When the spring 1864 Campaign began, the Army of the Potomac was reorganized, and Wadsworth became the commander of the 4^th Division in the V Corps.  At the Battle of the Wilderness, Wadsworth was the oldest Union divisional command at 56.  On May 5^th 1864 his division was ordered to defend the left of the Union line, but lost their way in the thick underbrush, exposing his left flank to an attack.  Then on May 6^th 1864 while placing two of his brigades, Wadsworth was shot in the back of head, he fell from his horse and was captured by the Confederates.  Wadsworth would die in a Confederate field hospital two days later on May 8^th 1864.  His son-in-law Montgomery Harrison Ritchie would cross line under a flag of truce to retrieve his body.  He is buried in the Temple Hill Cemetery in Geneseo, New York.

Friendly Fire Part Two

Confederate General Micah Jenkins died from a wound May 6^th 1864, received during the Battle of the Wilderness.

Micah Jenkins was born December 1^st 1835 on Edisto Island, South Carolina, the son of John and Elizabeth Jenkins.  He graduated in 1854 from the South Carolina Military Academy [the Citadel], first in his class.  Jenkins was a member of the Yorkville Episcopal Church.  He worked to organize, and founded along with Asbury Coward in 1855, the King’s Mountain Military Academy.

As the Civil War got started Jenkins recruited and became the Colonel of the 5^th South Carolina.  They were present for the First Battle of Manassas.  During the Battle of Seven Pines, Jenkins took command of Richard Anderson brigade after Anderson was wounded, leading it with distinction until he wounded in the knee.  He was promoted to Brigadier General July 22^nd 1862.  Jenkins was wound again at the Second Battle of Manassas in the abdomen and chest, which kept him out of the Battle of Antietam.  He was back with the army in time for the Battle of Fredericksburg, serving in Confederate Major General George Pickett’s division, but wasn't engaged.  Jenkins brigade went with Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet to Tennessee, taking part in the second day of the Battle of Chickamauga on September 20^th 1863.  On January 16^th 1864, he led his men in a victory against Union cavalry at the Battle of Kimbrough’s Crossroads.

At the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6^th 1864, Jenkins was riding with Longstreet and some other staff officers at about 1pm when they were hit with friendly fire coming from the 12^th Virginia.  It occurred very near the place where Confederate General Thomas J Jackson was struck down a year before.  Jenkins was hit in forehead, with the ball entering his brain.  He remained semiconscious, but unknowing, dying of his wounds six hours later.  He was buried first in Summerville, South Carolina, but in 1881 was moved to the Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.

More Officers Fell

Francis V Randall

The 17^th Vermont Infantry a part of the Union IX Corps mustered out of service July 14^th 1865.

The 17^th Vermont Infantry was recruited by order issued August 3^rd 1863 by Vermont Governor Frederick Holbrook.  It was thought that this regiment would be filled by men recently mustered out of the Nine Month regiments, this didn’t work out however.  The bounties offered to join the 17^th were gradually increased, but still the first company wasn’t filled until January 5^th 1864.  From then until September 1864 companies of the regiment were mustered into service for a three year term.

The Colonel of the 17^th was Francis V Randall who had served as a Captain in the Vermont 2^nd and then as a Colonel in the 13^th Vermont having led them at the Battle of Gettysburg.  The 17^th left Vermont April 18^th 1864 with only seven companies under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Cummings.  They arrived in Alexandria, Virginia four days later with very little drill or training, placed in Union General Ambrose Burnside’s IX Corps just in time for the Battle of the Wilderness.  Here under fire for the first time, the 17^th went into battle with 313 and lost 80 men killed and wounded.  They continued in this command throughout the 1864 spring campaigns and the siege of Petersburg.  When the Union army exploded the mine in front of the Confederate line at Petersburg, the 17^th went into battle with 8 commissioned officers and 120 men, they out with only 1 officer and about 60 men left standing.  The 17^th was part of the final pursuit of Robert E Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, and was at Burkesville when the surrender came.

The men of the 17^th participated in the Grand Review May 23^rd 1865 in Washington, DC.  They were mustered out of service July 14^th 1865.  The 17^th had 14 officers killed or mortally wounded, more than any other Vermont regiment.  The regiment’s totals numbered 1,106, of which 226 men were killed, died of wounds or in Confederate prisons.  They also had 386 men wounded or captured.

He Received The Masonic Sign

A member of the 140^th Pennsylvania Infantry, Henry Harrison Bingham received his commission on August 22^nd 1862 to First Lieutenant.

Henry Harrison Bingham was born December 4^th 1841 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He attended Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and would graduate with a law degree from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania.

Bingham enlisted in the Union Army, and was commissioned First Lieutenant in the 140^th Pennsylvania Infantry August 22^nd 1862.  During the Battle of Gettysburg he was part of Union Major General Winfield Scott Hancock’s Second Corps.  He was near the Angle as Pickett’s Charge came to its conclusion.  Bingham would be the man to whom Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Addison Armistead gave the Masonic sign after being wounded. [Although this story has been discounted recently.] Bingham who was a Captain would come to Armistead’s aid, receive his personal effects and tell Hancock the news of his old friend.  During the Battle of Wilderness Bingham was the aide-de-camp to Union Major General Gouverneur Kemble Warren.  As a Captain in Company G of the 140^th Pennsylvania on May 6^th 1864 he "rallied and led into action a portion of the troops who had given way under fierce assaults of the enemy."  For this action he would be awarded the Medal of Honor.  Bingham was wounded at the Battle of Spotsylvania and captured at the Battle of Fair Oak.

After the war Bingham was appointed by President Andrew Johnson to Postmaster of Philadelphia, a post he held until December 1872.  He was a delegate at the Republican National Conventions from 1872 through 1900.  He was a Congressman from 1879 until his death, serving as the Chairman of several committees.  Bingham died March 22^nd 1912 in Pennsylvania and is buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Only Married Aout Three Weeks

The first former United States officer to be captured as a Confederate; Brigadier General John Pegram was killed February 6th 1865.

John Pegram was born January 24th 1832 in Petersburg, Virginia the son of John West and Virginia [Johnson] Pegram. His father died when he was still young, and his mother supported the family by running a girls school. Pegram received an appointment to the United State Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1854, and was assigned to the United State dragoons as a Second Lieutenant. After three years of garrison duty in the West, Pegram was appointed as Assistant Instructor of Cavalry at West Point. He took a leave in 1858-59 to go to Europe and observe the Austro - Sardinian War. After returning from Europe in 1860 Pegram was assigned on the frontier in New Mexico Territory.

Pegram received news in May 1861 that his home state of Virginia had seceded. He resigned his Untied State Lieutenant commission. In July of 1861 Pegram was assigned to the 20th Virginia Infantry and commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel. The 20th Virginia was part of Brigadier General Robert Selden Garnett’s brigade serving in western Virginia. In August 1861 Pegrem’s men were cut off from the brigade during the Battle of Rich Mountain on July 11th 1861, and Pegram surrendered his men to the Union forces. Making Pegram the first former United States Army officer to be captured as a Confederate, he spent six months imprisoned in Fort Monroe. Paroled on January 1862, Pegram was prompted to Colonel and made the Chief Engineer of the army of General Braxton Bragg. In November 1862 Pegram was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of a Cavalry Brigade. In November 1862 he reported to the Army of Northern Virginia, where he was given command of a brigade in Jubal A Early’s division. Pegram was wounded during the Battle of the Wilderness, but was back in time for Early’s Valley Campaign.

Pegram married Hetty Cary January 19th 1865 in Richmond, Virginia. The wedding was attended by Confederate President and Mrs Jefferson Davis. Pegram was killed in action February 6th 1865 at the Battle of Hatcher’s Run. His funeral would be held in the same church he was just married in. Pegram is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Lion of Little Round Top

He was known as the Lion of Little Round Top. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain died February 23, 1914.

Joshua Chamberlain was born September 8, 1828, in Brewer, Maine. The oldest of five children born to Joshua and Sarah (Dupee) Chamberlain. He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he met his future wife Fannie Adams. After graduating in 1852 he studied at the Bangor Theological Seminary. Three years latter Chamberlain excepted a job at his old college, married and settled into a normal life.

In 1861 when the southern states began to succeed Chamberlain; who felt strongly about the Union cause, volunteered his services to the state. Although he had no military experience he was given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Maine Infantry. The 20th was part of the “Light Brigade” of the 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Although perhaps best known for the Bayonet charge on Little Round Top on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain and the 20th saw action at many crucial battles, Fredericksburg, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, etc. He was seriously wounded during an assault outside of Petersburg, Virginia. The surgeon at the field hospital pronounced Chamberlain’s wound to be mortal. General Ulysses S Grant had him promoted to Brigadier General two days latter. Joshua recovered and rejoined the army in April of 65, where he led his troop during the Battle of Five Forks which ended the hold of the Confederates on Petersburg. General Joshua Chamberlain accepted the formal surrender of arms of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 12, 1865 at Appomattox Court House.

After the war Chamberlain returned to his home in Maine. He was elected to Governor of the State of Maine in 1866. In 1871 he became the President of Bowdoin College, however in 1883 he resigned do to health reasons related to old war wounds. He spent a great deal of time in writing and helping other veterans. Chamberlain was honored by Congress in 1893 with the Congressional Medal of Honor, for his service at Gettysburg. From 1900 until his death on February 24, 1914 he was the Surveyor of the Port of Maine in Portland, Maine. He is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Brunswick, Maine.