Funeral of Major Henry Patten

Saturday, September 17, 1864

The funeral of Major Henry Patten was held this morning at 11:00 A.M. in the Harvard College Chapel. Many of Henry's past and current comrades attended, including William Raymond Lee, Frank Palfrey, George Macy, Theodore Lyman, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Herbert Mason, and John Chipman Gray Jr. Three Harvard presidents offered eulogies for Henry, including Rev. Doctor James Walter, Rev. Andrew Peabody, and Rev. Thomas Hill. After the solemn service a procession led by Henry's Twentieth Massachusetts comrades carried his coffin, draped with an American flag and covered with flowers, to Mount Auburn Cemetery for burial.¹

References:
¹Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 409-410.

Sad Death of Major Henry Patten

Saturday, September 10, 1864

Major Henry Patten tragically succumbed to his wounds today at Turner's Lane Hospital in Petersburg. Major Patten was shot in the left leg at Deep Bottom on August 17, a wound which required amputation at the Petersburg field hospital at Strawberry Plains. After transport to Turner's Lane Hospital his amputated leg became infected, and sadly he grew steadily weaker until his death today. Major Patten was the final active link between Harvard and the "Harvard Regiment."¹

References:
¹Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 409.

Oliver's Story - Funeral of Oliver Stanton Bates

Thursday, September 1, 1864

Today a solemn funeral mass in honor of Private Oliver Stanton Bates of Company A was attended at the Methodist Church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Oliver's hometown. Two notices appeared in the Pittsfield Sun newspaper today that reported Oliver's death and funeral.

BATES - At Slough Hospital, Alexandria, Va., Oliver S. Bates, aged 24, a member of Co. A, 20th Mass. Regiment, and son of J. Dwight Bates of this town¹

The funeral of Oliver S. Bates, a member of Co. A, 20th Mass. Regiment, who was wounded in one of the battles before Petersburg will be attended this afternoon from the Methodist Church.²

References:
¹Pittsfield Sun (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), 1 September 1864, p.3.
²Pittsfield Sun (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), 1 September 1864, p.3.