Died From Wounds

Babcock is standing center

Union Lieutenant Colonel Willoughby Babcock died October 6^th 1864 from wounds received during the Battle of Winchester 17 day earlier.

Willoughby Babcock was born in Scott, New York January 12^th 1832 the son of Samuel Babcock.  He graduated in 1857 from New York Central College, and then studied at the Albany Law School.  He had a law practice in Owego, New York.

When the Civil War started Babcock took a commission as First Lieutenant in the three month regiment of the 3^rd New York Infantry April 18^th 1861.  The 3^rd saw action at the Battle of Bethel on June 11^th 1861.  He moved to the 64^th New York Infantry in November and then with a promotion Babcock became the Major of the 75^th New York Infantry.  On December 6^th 1861 the 75^th was stationed at Santa Rosa Island, Florida, and while there they took part in the bombing of Forts McRae and Barrancas.  In the summer of 1862 Babcock was made Provost Marshal and the Military Governor of Pensacola, Florida.  In September 1862 the 75^th along with Babcock moved to New Orleans and the Department of the Gulf, where they were involved in several engagements.  On December 7^th 1862 Babcock was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel and took over command of the Regiment.  He led them at the Battle of Fort Bisland, and in the assault on Port Hudson.  Babcock was wounded in the thigh at Port Hudson, and when he returned to the Regiment he served as Provost Judge of New Orleans.  Because of a letter Babcock wrote which was published in a New York New Paper, he was brought up on a court martial August 22^nd 1863, and did not return to service until January 28^th 1864.  Babcock returned as Chief of Staff for Union General A L Lee in the Department of the Gulf.

On August 3^rd 1864 Babcock rejoined the 75^th at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.  He took over command of the Regiment again.  While at the head of the 320 men of the 75^th New York during the Third Battle of Winchester he was shot in the leg and it shattered the bone on September 19^th 1864.  He was found on the field by Confederate Major Andrew L Pitzer, who did his best to make Babcock comfortable and offered to get Babcock’s things sent to his wife.  Shortly after the Union retook the field and Babcock was moved to a field hospital, where his leg was amputated. A couple of weeks after his wounding on October 6^th 1864 Babcock passed on at the Union General Hospital in Winchester, Virginia.  He is buried in the Glenwood Cemetery in Homer, New York.

His Death Caused The Burning Of A Town

Union Major John Rodgers Meigs was killed October 3^rd 1864 under a cloud of controversy which led to the burning of a town in Virginia as retaliation.

John Rodgers Meigs was born February 9^th 1841 the son of Major General Montgomery C and Louisa (Rodgers) Meigs.  He received an appointment to the United State Military Academy at West Point in 1859.  He took a short leave from the school following the First Battle of Bull Run to serve as aide-de-camp to Union General Philip Henry Sheridan.  Meigs returned to West Point graduating at the top of the class of 1863.

Following the Battle of Gettysburg, Meigs became a staff officer for Brigadier General Benjamin Franklin Kelly in West Virginia.  He saw action at the Battle of New Market, and was with Sheridan during the actions in the Shenandoah Valley.  Meigs received a brevet to Captain and then to Major for action in the Third Battle of Winchester and the Battle of Fisher’s Hill.

On the rainy night of October 3^rd 1864 Meigs and two other Union soldiers were traveling to Union headquarters in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  They came onto three Confederate cavalrymen riding on the same road.  Both parties demanded the surrender of the other.  There was an exchange of gunfire during which Meigs was killed, one of the men riding with him was taken prisoner, and the third man escaped.  The man who escaped told Sheridan that Meigs was killed without the chance to defend himself.  Thinking Meigs had been murdered; Sheridan ordered the town of Dayton, Virginia to be burned to the ground as retaliation.

Meigs’ father had him buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, DC, but would latter have him re-interred in Arlington National Cemetery.