Sgt. Major William B. Hincks, 14th Connecticut Awarded Medal of Honor at Battle of Gettysburg

From Wikipedia.

Date of Action:  July 3, 1863
Date of Medal of  Honor Issue:  December 1, 1864

"The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Major William B. Hincks, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on July 3, 1863, while serving with the 14th Connecticut Infantry, in action at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

"During the high water mark of Pickett's charge on 3 July 1863 the colors of the 14th Tennessee Infantry C.S.A. were planted 50 yards in front of the center of Sergeant Major Hincks' regiment.  There were no Confederates standing near it but several were lying down around it.

" 'Major Ellis called for volunteers to capture the flag and instantly Major Hincks, Major Broatch and Lieutenant Brigham leaped the wall.  Brigham was shot down by a retreating rebel, but the other two sped on.  Hincks finally outstripping Broatch, ran straight and swift for the color, amid a storm of shot.

"Swing his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to the line.'

"The 14th Tennessee carried 12 battle honors on its flag.  The devotion of duty showed by Sergeant Major Hincks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment in the battle."

Capturing the Flag, Possible MoH.  --Old Secesh

The 14th Connecticut at Gettysburg

The 14th Connecticut arrived at the Battle of Gettysburg late on the night of July 2, after the fighting had stopped.    The regiment by then was down to 160 men and were positioned in the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge, right where the brunt of Pickett's charge was to strike on the 3rd.

There they fought the 13th Alabama, 14th Tennessee and 26th North Carolina infantry regiments and lost about 60 more men (10 killed, 52 wounded and 4 missing), now down to 100 in strength.  They have a monument at the site which gives them credit for capturing 200 prisoners and five battle flags.

--Old Secesh

The 14th Connecticut at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg

At the Battle of Antietam, they were in the East Woods, Mumma's Orchard and Cornfield.  Casualties:  28 killed, 88 wounded and 28 missing.

At Fredericksburg.  The regiment started off at Harpers Ferry, crossed the Shenandoah River on October 30, then Warrentown, Virginia, Nov. 7, Nov. 15 in camp at Belle Plain and marched to Fredericksburg on December 10.

In the course of the battle, the 14th lost 10 killed, 92 wounded, including Oliver Dart, Jr., and 20 missing.  Among the dead were Lt. Gibbs and Captain Gibbons of Co. B and Lt.Col. Perkins was wounded.

At Gettysburg, the regiment arrived late on July 2 and were posted at the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge where they saw action in Pickett's Charge.  During the battle, they lost 60 men.

--Old Secesh

The 14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment-- Part 1: From 1,015 to 165 Men By Gettysburg

During the November 23, 2019, McHenry County Civil War Round Table Discussion Group I talked some about Private Oliver Dart of the 14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment and how his face was mangled by a shell at that battle.

This was from an article in the February 2018 Civil War Times magazine.  He survived, but that wound haunted him the rest of his life.

The 14th Connecticut Infantry regiment was called "The Nutmeg Regiment" and organized in Hartford August 22, 1862 with 1,015 men.  Companies A and B were assigned Sharps rifles and the rest Springfields.

Major battles it participated in were Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Falling Waters, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Lee's Surrender.  hey were, to say the least, much involved.

At first, losses were not replaced and by the time they got to Gettysburg, the regiment was down to 165 officers and men present for duty.  After Gettysburg, they were down to just 100.  Later in July 1863, they started filling numbers from new volunteers.

--Old Secesh

Seven Rebel Graves Designated a Cemetery-- Part 4: The Seven

The seven Texans buried at the Camp Blair Cemetery in Arkansas are:

James W. Gillespie and Kinchen J. Stokes from Orange County

H. Jackson Rawls, James W.A. Smith and Charles W. Wright of Tyler County

Henry H. Tucker of Anderson County

Samuel B. Gilliland of Angelina County

Members of the Barton Camp SCV will provide upkeep of the cemetery  They hope that one day the descendants of these men will be found and will visit the site.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table Discussion Group Meets Saturday, Dec. 21

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) Discussion Group will meet this Saturday, Dec. 21, at Panera Bread at 6000 Northwest Highway (US-14) in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

This month's topic will be the The Engineering Corps of the Union and Confederacy.

It meeting lasts from 10 AM and noon.

All are welcome.

Come See It Built.  --Old Secesh

Seven Rebel Graves Designated a Cemetery-- Part 3

The 13th participated in these battles in Louisiana during the war:

Lake Providence
Fort DeRussey
Mansfield
Pleasant Hill

And in Arkansas at Jenkins Ferry.

The majority of the regiment's 145 fatalities during the war were from disease.  Only eleven came from enemy fire.

Those at Camp Blair were forgotten until just recently

--Old Secesh

Seven Rebel Graves in Arkansas Designated a Cemetery-- Part 2: More Deaths from Disease

Their regiment was commanded by Col. John H. Burnett and had been ordered to Arkansas to defend that state.  Later the regiment went to Louisiana.

The 13th Texas had about 850 men  and their camp on Spring Bank Hill, overlooking the Red River was named Camp Blair for Riley J. Blair, the first regiment sergeant major.

A measles outbreak delayed the regiments move through the Red River area for about six weeks.  After crossing the river at Blanton's Ferry, 23 more soldiers died of disease and were buried in the Walnut Hills community.  Other soldiers died after they left the Red River area.

As a part of Major General John G. Walker's Texas Division , the 13th was dismounted at Walnut Hills and served as infantry for the rest of the war.

--Old Secesh

Seven Rebel Gravesites Designated a Cemetery in Arkansas-- Part 1

From the October 14, 2019, Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette by Neil Abeles.

The Texas Confederates have been there since 1862, unknown and near the old Spring Bank Ferry by Doddridge.    The ferry was on the Red River in southwest Arkansas.  They were found using a Google Earth image.

Earlier this month, about 100 people turned out as the site was dedicated as a cemetery.

The John B. Barton Camp 1664 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans  conducted a campaign to  to build a park with fencing  and grave markers on the seven graves.

The seven soldiers were from the 13th Texas Cavalry Dismounted and died from measles and typhoid fever and are buried at what used to be Camp Blair , as the cemetery was once called.

--Old Secesh

What Lexington Cemetery and the Battle of Kingsport Have in Common-- Part 5: A Complete Confederate Rout

The Confederates were routed, according to Union General  Alvan Gillem's report, "This movement completely surprised them,  and after a feeble resistance, considering the advantage of their position, fled in confusion, and were pursued for seven miles.  The pursuit only ended when  the enemy, losing all semblance of organization, scattered through the woods for safety."

Among those taken prisoner at Kingsport was Colonel Morgan.

The Battle lasted less than a day.  By the evening of December 13, 1864, Union cavalry had pushed through Blountville, overran Bristol on Dec. 14 and was skirmishing outside Abingdon the next day.

The Confederate command at Kingsport was made up of family and friends.  And, even though they were separated during the battle, they are now all buried together in Lexington cemetery.

--Old Secesh

What Do Lexington Cemetery and the Battle of Kingsport Have in Common-- Part 4: Confederates Routed

Colonel Richard Morgan as John Hunt Morgan's younger brother and at one time commanded the 14th Kentucky Cavalry.  Earlier in the war, he had served as an aide on the staff of General Breckinridge.  Now it was the younger Morgan's job to delay the Union advance long enough for Confederate forces to be gathered and deployed to defend Saltville.

Col. Morgan had a strong position at Kingsport, but hadn't counted on two things:  the speed with which the federals were moving and who would be leading the way.

The Federal cavalry pushed their way through Rogersville very quickly and the Confederates were surprised when they awoke to find Union forces on the other side of the river on December 13.

Leading the Union attack were the 8th, 9th and 13th East Tennessee Cavalry, whose knowledge of the area enabled them to get around the Rebels  and attack from behind and in the front at the same time.

The Confederates were routed.

--Old Secesh

What Does Lexington Cemetery and Kingsport Have in Common-- Part 3

Taking command of Morgan's forces after his death is the man who is buried in front of John Hunt Morgan's grave at Lexington Cemetery:  Gen Basil W. Duke.

Duke was Morgan's brother-in-law and had trained many of Morgan's raiders in the Ohio raid and was captured along with Morgan at the end of it.  He was later exchanged and  commanded the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry at Greenville before assuming overall command in the region.

At the end of the war, he was part of the group of Confederates who fled southward with Jefferson Davis.

After the war, he wrote a book about Morgan's Ohio raid and he also played a part in the preservation of the Battle of Shiloh land.

But, on the day of the Battle of Kingsport, Duke was in Bristol, Tennessee, so ill with influenza that eh was unfit for duty.  Command of Confederate forces then went to Col. Richard Morgan.

--Old Secesh

What Does Lexington Cemetery and the Battle of Kingsport Have in Common-- Part 2

One of John Breckinridge's top commanders in East Tennessee and the man who originally commanded at Kingsport is buried near Breckenridge at Lexington Cemetery (Lexington, Ky.).

John Hunt Morgan led several raids into northern territory.  The biggest one was in 1863 when he  rode through Kentucky and across Indiana before he was finally captured in Ohio.  His raid was the farthest north any Confederate military units got into the North during the war.

He then staged a daring prison break, tunneling out from Ohio Penitentiary, and returned to Confederate lines in Tennessee.  Eventually he and his cavalry were placed under Breckenridge and stationed at Greenville.

If you visit Morgan's grave at Lexington Cemetery, take note of the date of his death:  September 4, 1864.  It was on that day that his command was surprised by the 13 Tennessee (U.S.) Cavalry at Greenville.

It was the same 13th Tennessee Cavalry that charged across the North Fork of the Holston River and attacked the Kentucky cavalry from the   front, while Kingsport's Col. Samuel N.K. Patton  and the 8th East Tennessee  Cavalry (U.S.) attacked  from behind after crossing the river farther north.

--Old Secesh

What Does Lexington Cemetery and the Battle of Kingsport Have in Common?-- Part 1

From the December 4, 2019, Kingsport (Tn) Times News "The Battle of Kingsport was a family affair" by Ned Jilton.

"There is a cemetery in Kentucky that has a lot of history surrounding the Battle of Kingsport (Tn)."
That cemetery is Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky.

So, how does that relate to a Civil War battle in Tennessee?

The Confederate soldiers on the north bank of the Holston River were mostly cavalry from Kentucky.  All of the top Confederate officers at that battle are buried near each other in Lexington.  Most of them next to each other.

One of them is Major General John C. Breckinridge, a former U.S. vice president who lost to Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election.  By 1864, he was in command of the East Tennessee-Southwest Virginia District and his main task was defend all the raw materials coming out of that region such as salt from Saltville,  potassium nitrate (used in the manufacture of gun powder) from Wytheville and lead from Marion.

--Old Secesh

An 1861 Appeal for Aid at the Confederate Hospital in Bowling Green, Ky.

From the December 4, 2019, Bowling Green (Ky) Daily News Way Back in Warren County "In 1861, women asked to provide aid to Confederate hospital in Bowling Green."

An open letter to the December 2, 1861, Louisville (Ky) Courier  Journal asked  'the ladies of Kentucky and northern Tennessee"  for help in providing supplies and services to the Confederate hospital in Bowling Green.

Women were asked to form relief organizations, send needed supplies (such as bed clothes, bandages and soap)  and volunteer at the hospital since "the sick chamber is destitute of its chief solace unless graced by the  presence of your sex."

I find this surprising as I thought Louisville was under Union control at the time.

And, No Corvettes.  --Old Secesh

Wisconsin Pearl Harbor Survivor Will Lehner Writes a Book About It

From December 6, 2019, WXOW 19, ABC News "Wisconsin Pearl Harbor survivor to release book detailing  his life story" by Kevin Millard.

Will Lehner, 98, a prominent central Wisconsin World War II veteran planes to release his book "Legacy of a Pearl Harbor Survivor" on Saturday.  A good day to do the release.  He had help writing it from Patty Drier over 8 months.

He joined the Navy at age 17 and was later stationed at Pearl Harbor.  "I was at Pearl when the war started."  And, you could say he was there for the first shot of the war for the United States.  Aboard the destroyer USS Ward, his ship attacked a Japanese submarine attempting to enter the harbor.

The confrontation took place several hours before the Japanese planes attacked.   That submarine was found in 2002 by deep sea diver Terry Kirby and Lehner went to Pearl Harbor to go down 1200 feet to view it.  "When I saw that submarine, the hair on the back of my neck stood up," said Lehner.
After Pearl Harbor, he took part in many Pacific Campaigns and battles until diagnosed with battle fatigue between 1944 and 1945.

--GreGen

Some Pearl Harbor Survivors Return to Day of Infamy Commemoration, Some Don't

From the December 6, 2019, CNN International "Just 1 of 3 living Pearl Harbor survivors will be able to attend a ceremony  marking the attack's 78th anniversary" by Leah Asmelash.

Lou Conter, 98, is in Pearl Harbor today.  He is one of just three survivors of the USS Arizona still living.  The USS Arizona had the single biggest loss of life in the attack, Just 334 men survived the attack.  1,177 died that day.  Now, there are just three of those 334 still alive.

The other two survivors, Donald Stratton (97) and Ken Potts (99) were not well enough to attend.

Two Arizona survivors died in 2019:  Lonnie Cook in July and Lauren Bruner in September.

--GreGen

James M. Shane's Death at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

September 9, 1864 report to War Department of movement of the 98th Ohio from May 2, 1864, to Sept. 8, 1864.

Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

"In this charge Lieut, Col. James M. Shane was mortally wounded and died with an hour afterward.  His loss was a severe one to the regiment.    There was not one of us who did not love and confide in him.

"His true manly qualities won for him the respect and admiration of all who knew him here in the military circle of friendship.  His country had no truer patriot, and when he found that he could serve it no longer against its enemies, he asked to be buried with his face toward them.

John S. Pearce, Lt.Col. Commanding

--Old Secesh

John M. Branum, 98th Ohio-- Part 2: His Book

Evidently, there is a book of his letters written home from the war.

Branum, J.M.  "Letters of Lieut. J.M. Branum from the 98th Ohio Vol. Inf."  (New Castle, Pa. Warnock Brothers.) 1897.

Currently unavailable at Amazon.

--Old Secesh

John M. Branum, 98th Ohio-- Part 1

From Official Roster, 98th Ohio Infantry Regiment.

Listed as John M. Brannum (instead of Branum)

Listed as Ser. Major.

Enlisted July 20, 1862, age 21, for three years.

Promoted from private Co. C February  7, 1863 to 1st Lieutenant Co. C.


COMPANY C ROSTER

John M. Brannum

1st Lt., 21 July 30, 1862 for 3 years.

Promoted to Serg, Major from private Feb. 7, 1863; 1st  Lieutenant Aug. 29, 1864.  Killed March 19, 1865 in battle of Bentonville, N.C..

--Old Secesh

Other Famous/Interesting People Connected With Lynn, Massachusetts: Frederick Douglas

Continuing with my Roadtrippin' Through History.

From Wikipedia.

VERMA BLOOM--  actress.  Played Mrs. Dean Wormer on "Animal House."

WALTER BRENNAN--

FREDERICK DOUGLASS--  Lived there after his escape from slavery.

CHARLES REMOND DOUGLASS--  His son.  First Black to enlist in New York.

SUSAN STAFFORD--  Original hostess of "Wheel of Fortune" before Vanna White took over.

LESLEY STAHL--  "60 Minutes"

Just Trippin'.  --Old Secesh

Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, Massachusetts: Two Other Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients Buried There

Besides John G.B. Adams, there are two other Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients buried at Pine Grove Cemetery.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN FALLS

He was with Adams' 19th Massachusetts and received his Medal of Honor for action on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg where he captured a Confederate battle flag.  Later, he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Spottsyvania and died on May 12. 1864.

WILLIAM B. POOLE

Sailor on the USS Kearsarge who received his Medal of Honor for gallantry while he was a quartermaster and steering the ship at the helm in its fight with the CSS Alabama.

--Old Secesh

John G.B. Adams and Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, Massachusetts-- Part 1

Whenever I write about a person and find out where they are buried, I like to go to that cemetery site and see if anyone else of interest is buried there.  This is part of my "Road Trippin' Through History."

****************************************

SOME INTERESTING PEOPLE BURIED AT LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS; PINE GROVE CEMETERY

HARRY AGGANIS--  Nicknamed the "Golden Greek."    Made name for self playing at Boston University where he was the school's first-ever All American.  His career with the Boston Red Sox was cut short by his death after just two seasons.

ELIHU THOMSON--  Famous inventor.  Had about 700 electrical patents and founder of the Thomson Houston Electric Company which was a precursor of the General Electric Company.

FRANCIS MOORE--  Was undisguised at the Boston Tea Party.  He was a baker and supplied bread to the Patriot Army as his own expense.

--Old Secesh