More On Oliver Dart, Jr.-- Part 5: "His Face Torn Off As Though Slashed By a Cleaver"

One account of his wounding has him being left on the field until midafternoon on December 14 when General Lee agreed to let Burnside collect his wounded from the fields below Marye's Heights.  This story has been proven false by available records.

After Dart was wounded, the rest of the 14th pushed on toward the wall and Marye's Heights along with the rest of William F. French's 3rd Division of the 2nd Corps.  Here, Oliver Dart's cousin Charles was mortally wounded while carrying the regimental flag forward.

At the Rowe House, Oliver was temporarily patched up though most believed the wound to be mortal.  Regimental chaplain Henry S. Stevens wrote:  "On the northern porch lay, among others, our Dart, his face torn off as though slashed by a cleaver, and by his side lay Symonds, his eyes swollen with inflammation to the size of eggs, the sand grains showing through the tightly stretched and shining lids."

--Old Secesh

Mangled By a Shell-- Part 1: Privates Oliver Dart's Horrific Wound at Fredericksburg

I have been writing about his regiment, the 14th Connecticut for awhile leading up to these posts.  I happened upon this article and brought it up at our McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table discussion group meeting in December 2019.

From the February 2018, Civil War Times magazine "Mangled By a Shell" by John Banks.

You can look up Oliver Dart 14th Connecticut to see what happened to him.  He sat for a photograph a year after his wound with his mangled lower jaw, mouth and nose, from a shrapnel wound suffered during the attack on Marye's Heights December 13, 1862.

His regiment had crossed a pontoon bridge on Dec. 12 and spent the night among the shell-torn and ransacked houses of the town.  On the 13th, the regiment came under a tremendous artillery barrage from the Confederates after they neared the train depot and one of those shells burst right among Oliver Dart's Company D  of the 14th Connecticut.

A 3- by 2-inch fragment smashed into the ground fling sand into the eyes of Corporal John Symonds and blinding Private Dart's brother-in-law.  Then it crashed into the arm and face of the 23-year-old Dart before striking a 4-inch square wooden fence post.

--Old Secesh

The 14th Connecticut at the Battle of Fredericksburg

DECEMBER 12-15, 1864:  Crossed river into Fredericksburg

DECEMBER 13:  Assaulted the stone wall at the foot of Marye's Heights.  Lt. Col Perkins and Major Clark disabled from further service.

DECEMBER 15:  Left Fredericksburg for camp at Falmouth.

In the course of the battle 10 men were killed, 92 were wounded and 20 were listed as missing.  Among the dead were Lieutenant Canfield and Captain Gibbons of Company B.  Lt.Col. Perkins was wounded.

--Old Secesh

John G.B. Adams, Medal of Honor Recipient at Battle of Fredericksburg- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

This was my "Frank" question I gave in yesterday's post.

(1841-1900)

Enlisted as a private and eventually rose to the rank of Captain.  Fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville,Gettysburg.  He, along with his entire regiment was captured at the Battle of Cold Harbor and he was held in various Confederate prisons for nine months.

He was from Massachusetts and enlisted with the 19th Massachusetts Infantry.

Adams was one of 18 Union soldiers receiving Medals of Honor at the Battle of Fredericksburg, when as a corporal he recovered both the regimental and national flags after their bearers were mortally wounded.  With a flag in each hand, he advanced toward the Confederate positions on Marye's Heights. The regiment reformed around him.

Of course, flag bearers were a natural targets in battles.

--Old Secesh

The Battle of Fredericksburg: The 14th Connecticut and Sad Case of Oliver Dart, Jr.

Tomorrow, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table will have its monthly discussion group meeting about the Battle of Fredericksburg at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

I was doing some catch-up reading in the February 2018 Civil War Times magazine recently and came across an article about Oliver Dart, Jr. whose face was essentially destroyed by the explosion of a Confederate shell "Mangled By a Shell."

He was in the 14th Connecticut, a regiment that fought in most every battle of the Army of the Potomac after its organization in August 22, 1862.  His regiment participated in the Union charge upon Marye's Heights, but he wasn't in it.  While waiting to attack, his unit and others came under heavy Confederate cannon fire and a 3-by-two-inch shell fragment blinded his brother-in-law and had it not then struck a four-inch square fence post, probably would have killed another soldier.

His comrades thought that Dart was going to die, but he somehow recovered, but had a ghastly wound on his face from his nose to jaw. for the remainder of his life.  he partially covered it with a full beard.

I will be talking about him and the 14th Connectcut's service at the meeting.

--Old Secesh

Fredericksburg's Slaughter Pen Farm

In the last post, I mentioned that the Civil War Trust had bought acreage to preserve this important part of the December Battle of  Fredericksburg.  I'd never heard of it.

This is where the main Union attack took place south of town against Stonewall Jackson's Confederates.  It was on a slope, but not as high as Marye's Heights further north.

Union troops crossed the field and 4,500 casualties took place, hence the name Slaughter Pen Farm.

Before the land was bought, the area had only been partially preserved.

The Emerging Civil War blog site has a very interesting series of photos showing how the battle here evolved.

It is from the December 23, 2011 entry "A December Walk Across Slaughter Pen Farm."

--Old Secesh

Mort Kunstler Calendar for October 2017-- Part 2: The Battle of Fredericksburg

The men from Maine pushed their way over the bodies of their fallen comrades to within a stone's throw from the Confederate lines before they were forced to find cover on the body littered slopes of Marye's Heights.

There they stayed in the bitter cold all night and all day, lying amid the bodies of the dead.

Finally, on the afternoon of the next day, they were recalled for the retreat of the Federal army.  It was a harrowing and heartrending exposure to the worst of war for Chamberlain and his men.  Yet,they had proven their mettle.

The painting shows men lying prone, loading rifles and men standing and firing, including Lt.-Col. Chamberlain firing his pistol and a bullet-riddled U.S. flag.  One prone man with a pistol, reaches over to check to see if a man is dead.  Quite a gripping picture of big-time bravery.

--Old Secesh

Mort Kunsler Civil War Calendar for October 2017-- Part 1: Courage in Blue

From the Mort Kunstler 2017 Civil War Calendar.

FREDERICKSBURG, VA. DECEMBER 13, 1862.

During the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1962, Northern troops from the Army of the Potomac repeatedly assaulted impregnable Southern positions on Marye's Heights.  Wave after wave of Federal troops charged up the hill -- and were slaughtered.  Casualties were horrific.

Near dusk, after numerous unsuccessful attempts to break the Confederate line, another assault was ordered.  Among the front-line troops chosen for the attack was the 20th Maine Infantry, whose officers included Lieutenant-Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

Coming Up On the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Fredericksburg-- Part 3

Kind of strange that the Union would not refer to this as the Battle of the Rappahannock, since that is the name of the river by the town.  Normally, they named battles after nearby water.

A sunken road near the bottom of the hill was protected by a stone wall which made for excellent Confederate defensive positions.  Members of the Goldsboro Rifles from Wayne County were among the men behind that wall.

Standing four deep, they used assembly line techniques to keep the soldier in the front constantly firing a gun and they literally mowed down the Union attackers.  During the afternoon, there were twelve attacks that December 13th afternoon, all of which failed.

According to Bull, "It was probably the best defensive position lee held during the entire war.  It wasn't war.  It was murder."

He noted the actions of Richard Kirkland of South Carolina who jumped the wall to help the many wounded Union soldiers.  He is remembered as "The Angel of Marye's Heights."

The next scheduled lecture in the series will be held Dec. 11th and will focus on the Battle of Goldsborough Bridge and a re-enactment of the battle is planned for Dec. 15-16 on the actual battle site, which is county-owned.

Sure Would Like to be There.  --Old Secesh