Friday, April 25, 1862
In a letter to his mother Captain Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. expressed his sorrow over the wounding of Captain William Bartlett. He remarked, "The Regt has suffered a gr[ea]t loss by Capt. Bartlett’s being shot in left leg yesterday wh[ich] is amputated just above the knee – He bore it bravely – he was hit at one of the posts on picket ..."1
References:
1Marc DeWolfe Howe, editor, Touched with Fire: Civil War Letters and Diary of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (New York: Fordham University Press, 2000), 46-47.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Letters from the Front - Nathan Hayward
Friday, April 25, 1862
In a letter to his father Doctor Nathan Hayward recounts the wounding of Captain William Bartlett and the tough decision he made in amputating his leg. He noted that Captain Bartlett was sent to Ship Point by wagon and that a detail from the Twentieth accompanied Bartlett as litter bearers in case riding became difficult. He reported that Bartlett made the journey to Ship Point in fine shape and that he boarded a steamboat for a hospital in Washington, D.C. He remarked wryly that, despite the sad loss of Captain Bartlett, the casualties were relatively few and that the sharpshooters of the Twentieth did more damage than the Confederate sharpshooters.1
References:
1Nathan Hayward, "Letters," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 1, p. 375-76, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
In a letter to his father Doctor Nathan Hayward recounts the wounding of Captain William Bartlett and the tough decision he made in amputating his leg. He noted that Captain Bartlett was sent to Ship Point by wagon and that a detail from the Twentieth accompanied Bartlett as litter bearers in case riding became difficult. He reported that Bartlett made the journey to Ship Point in fine shape and that he boarded a steamboat for a hospital in Washington, D.C. He remarked wryly that, despite the sad loss of Captain Bartlett, the casualties were relatively few and that the sharpshooters of the Twentieth did more damage than the Confederate sharpshooters.1
References:
1Nathan Hayward, "Letters," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 1, p. 375-76, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
In His Own Words - Captain William Francis Bartlett
Thursday, April 24, 1862
Captain William "Frank" Bartlett wrote briefly and stoically about his wounding in his journal. He remarked, "While I was visiting the pickets, watching the enemy with my glass, a sharpshooter hit me in the knee with a minie ball, shattering the bone down to my ankle. Dr. Hayward amputated it four inches above the knee, and I started for Baltimore in the same afternoon."1
His friend, Colonel Francis Palfrey, accompanied Captain Bartlett as he was carried to the rear for surgery by Doctor Hayward. As he was being attended, he said to Colonel Palfrey, "It’s rough, Frank, isn’t it?" Palfrey remarked that this was the only word of complaint he spoke the entire time.2
References:
1Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Osgood and Company, 1878), 41.
2Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, 41.
Captain William "Frank" Bartlett wrote briefly and stoically about his wounding in his journal. He remarked, "While I was visiting the pickets, watching the enemy with my glass, a sharpshooter hit me in the knee with a minie ball, shattering the bone down to my ankle. Dr. Hayward amputated it four inches above the knee, and I started for Baltimore in the same afternoon."1
His friend, Colonel Francis Palfrey, accompanied Captain Bartlett as he was carried to the rear for surgery by Doctor Hayward. As he was being attended, he said to Colonel Palfrey, "It’s rough, Frank, isn’t it?" Palfrey remarked that this was the only word of complaint he spoke the entire time.2
References:
1Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Osgood and Company, 1878), 41.
2Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, 41.
Wounding of Captain Bartlett
Thursday, April 24, 1862
While on command of the picket line, Captain William “Frank” Bartlett of Company I was seriously wounded. Bartlett was deployed at an advanced post when he was struck by a ball that shattered his left leg. He was carried by stretcher to a field hospital and received prompt medical assistance from Dr. Nathan Hayward. Upon surveying the wound Hayward amputated Bartlett’s leg above the knee. Bartlett was taken by ambulance to Ship Point, and then to a hospital in Washington, D.C.. Although he returned to military action nearly seven months later, he never returned to service in the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 84-5.
While on command of the picket line, Captain William “Frank” Bartlett of Company I was seriously wounded. Bartlett was deployed at an advanced post when he was struck by a ball that shattered his left leg. He was carried by stretcher to a field hospital and received prompt medical assistance from Dr. Nathan Hayward. Upon surveying the wound Hayward amputated Bartlett’s leg above the knee. Bartlett was taken by ambulance to Ship Point, and then to a hospital in Washington, D.C.. Although he returned to military action nearly seven months later, he never returned to service in the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 84-5.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Regiment Deployed at Battery Seven
Wednesday, April 23, 1862
In the evening of April 23 details from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts regiments deployed at Battery Seven, working all night to mount guns to protect the picket line.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 84.
In the evening of April 23 details from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts regiments deployed at Battery Seven, working all night to mount guns to protect the picket line.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 84.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Easter Sunday - Forming a Line of Battle
Sunday, April 20, 1862
Easter Sunday afforded no rest for the regiment, who was ordered to march under arms and form a line of battle for the entire day. After turning in briefly during the evening, the regiment was ordered into battle formation again until 1:00 AM on Monday.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 84.
Easter Sunday afforded no rest for the regiment, who was ordered to march under arms and form a line of battle for the entire day. After turning in briefly during the evening, the regiment was ordered into battle formation again until 1:00 AM on Monday.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 84.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Dangerous Picket Fire at Yorktown
Friday, April 18, 1862
After a movement in front of the enemy on Wednesday, the Twentieth deployed in a location close to the Confederate lines and engaged in constant picket fire day and night. At 12:30 AM the entire regiment was called to stand under arms for three hours due to enemy fire. During this engagement Private Samuel Kershaw of Company H was shot in the chest, the first man in the Twentieth Massachusetts regiment injured during the Peninsula campaign.1
The men of the Twentieth experienced their first real taste of the dangers of the picket line at Yorktown. The picket firing was relentless, and the regiment learned firsthand the life and death nature of picket duty. Captain Frank Bartlett of Company I observed that picket duty was "the hard part of a soldier's life; battle would be a relief from this."2
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 84.
2Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 114-15.
After a movement in front of the enemy on Wednesday, the Twentieth deployed in a location close to the Confederate lines and engaged in constant picket fire day and night. At 12:30 AM the entire regiment was called to stand under arms for three hours due to enemy fire. During this engagement Private Samuel Kershaw of Company H was shot in the chest, the first man in the Twentieth Massachusetts regiment injured during the Peninsula campaign.1
The men of the Twentieth experienced their first real taste of the dangers of the picket line at Yorktown. The picket firing was relentless, and the regiment learned firsthand the life and death nature of picket duty. Captain Frank Bartlett of Company I observed that picket duty was "the hard part of a soldier's life; battle would be a relief from this."2
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 84.
2Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 114-15.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Letters from the Front - Nathan Hayward
Friday, April 11, 1862
In a letter to his father Doctor Nathan Hayward related recent events affecting the regiment since their arrival on the Peninsula. He noted that he was serving as the director of the division hospital temporarily, and that patients would be soon be transported by ambulance to Ship Point. The roads were in very poor conditions due to heavy rainfall, and any travel was slowed considerably. He related that the regiment lacked adequate shelter from the rain. Despite the difficult conditions, the regiment was in relatively good health.
Doctor Hayward relayed the arrival of Colonel Lee at Fort Monroe, with hopes of his exchange and return to command within the next week or two. Sadly, he noted that some of the officers who had recently returned to the regiment after severe wounding at Ball's Bluff were not able to stand the strain of active command. Captain John C. Putnam and Lieutenant William Riddle, still struggling with their former injuries, had requested sick leave. Captain Ferdinand Dreher, despite continuing pain from his former wounds, decided to remain.1
References:
1Nathan Hayward, "Letters," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 1, p. 372-75, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
In a letter to his father Doctor Nathan Hayward related recent events affecting the regiment since their arrival on the Peninsula. He noted that he was serving as the director of the division hospital temporarily, and that patients would be soon be transported by ambulance to Ship Point. The roads were in very poor conditions due to heavy rainfall, and any travel was slowed considerably. He related that the regiment lacked adequate shelter from the rain. Despite the difficult conditions, the regiment was in relatively good health.
Doctor Hayward relayed the arrival of Colonel Lee at Fort Monroe, with hopes of his exchange and return to command within the next week or two. Sadly, he noted that some of the officers who had recently returned to the regiment after severe wounding at Ball's Bluff were not able to stand the strain of active command. Captain John C. Putnam and Lieutenant William Riddle, still struggling with their former injuries, had requested sick leave. Captain Ferdinand Dreher, despite continuing pain from his former wounds, decided to remain.1
References:
1Nathan Hayward, "Letters," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 1, p. 372-75, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Oliver's Story - First Encounter at Yorktown
Monday, April 7, 1862
Company A was among the companies sent out as skirmishers in the reconnaissance, and was under temporary command of Lieutenant Charles Whittier due to the sickness of Captain Harry Tremlett. Private Oliver Stanton Bates was among the skirmishers in the reconnaissance. Although he did not leave a personal record of the account, he was undoubtedly grateful that the regiment escaped without casualties.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 82-83.
Company A was among the companies sent out as skirmishers in the reconnaissance, and was under temporary command of Lieutenant Charles Whittier due to the sickness of Captain Harry Tremlett. Private Oliver Stanton Bates was among the skirmishers in the reconnaissance. Although he did not leave a personal record of the account, he was undoubtedly grateful that the regiment escaped without casualties.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 82-83.
First Encounter at Yorktown
Monday, April 7, 1862
At 7:00 A.M. the regiment was ordered to fall into line and begin a reconnaissance with the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment and the First Massachusetts Sharpshooters. After marching two miles and emerging from the woods, pickets were sent forward, who immediately encountered the Confederates. Firing ensued and lasted for several hours. After a series of movements the Confederates fired a thirty-two pound shell which caused injuries to the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment. The three Massachusetts units were ordered to retreat. The Twentieth Massachusetts did not suffer any injuries from their first encounter at Yorktown.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 82-83.
At 7:00 A.M. the regiment was ordered to fall into line and begin a reconnaissance with the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment and the First Massachusetts Sharpshooters. After marching two miles and emerging from the woods, pickets were sent forward, who immediately encountered the Confederates. Firing ensued and lasted for several hours. After a series of movements the Confederates fired a thirty-two pound shell which caused injuries to the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment. The three Massachusetts units were ordered to retreat. The Twentieth Massachusetts did not suffer any injuries from their first encounter at Yorktown.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 82-83.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Near the Enemy Line at Yorktown
Saturday, April 5, 1862
The regiment left their camp near Big Bethel and marched to Howard's Bridge. After turning off the main road, the regiment heard musket fire as they passed near a Confederate camp which had recently been vacated. The regiment moved into a clearing where they made their camp, nearly four miles from Big Bethel and five miles from Yorktown. The Confederates were camped in a large semicircle nearly a mile from the Union line in the vicinity of Wynn's Mill works.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 81.
The regiment left their camp near Big Bethel and marched to Howard's Bridge. After turning off the main road, the regiment heard musket fire as they passed near a Confederate camp which had recently been vacated. The regiment moved into a clearing where they made their camp, nearly four miles from Big Bethel and five miles from Yorktown. The Confederates were camped in a large semicircle nearly a mile from the Union line in the vicinity of Wynn's Mill works.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 81.
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