Faces of the Civil War: The Hincks family

Elisha Hincks (or Hinks) was wounded three times during the Civil War:
at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Cold Harbor. (Photo Mollus Civil War Collection)

Many families had multiple members serve in the armies during the Civil War, sometimes with tragic consequences. (See earlier entries on my blog here and here.)

Christopher Pelkey

Christopher Pelkey of Bangor, Maine recently surfed into John Banks' Civil War Blog and e-mailed me accounts and photos of three of his ancestors -- including two brothers -- who served in the Union army. Unlike blog reader Brian Farrell of Austin, Texas, whose great-great grandfather was killed at Malvern Hill, Pelkey's ancestors survived, although two of them were wounded multiple times. (A distant cousin of Pelkey's wife was killed at Reams Station, Va.) Like this man and this man buried near my home here in Connecticut, Christopher's distant cousin was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, a fabulous distinction.

Here are Pelkey's fascinating accounts of his ancestors' Civil War exploits, along with some quick research from yours truly:

EDWARD WINSLOW HINCKS

Pelkey: "Edward Winslow Hincks was born in Bucksport, Maine. He received no more than a regular public education. He was a printing apprentice in Bangor, Maine and then moved to the Boston area in the 1850s. He became involved in politics. In 1859, he was appointed adjutant of the 8th Regiment of Massachusetts militia. In December 1860, when Major Robert Anderson was holding Fort Moultrie and expecting attack by the forces of South Carolina, he offered his services for the defense of the fort in a letter that brought grateful acknowledgment from Major Anderson. On this ground, he has been spoken of as the first volunteer of the war. His story is a long and glorious one! Eventually he became a brevetted major general. He commanded the 19th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, which saw some really tough action, including at Antietam and Gettysburg."

Like his brother Elisha, Edward Hincks
was wounded  at Antietam.

My quick research: This man took a beating during the Civil War; it's amazing he survived. Edward was wounded twice, at Glendale on June 30, 1862 and at Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862. At Glendale, acccording to a post-war account, "Col. Hinks was severely wounded by a bullet through the upper portion of the right thigh, receiving also a severe contusion in the left ankle, and was sent to the rear. For his gallantry and good conduct in battle. Col. Hinks was recommended for promotion by Gens. Sedgwick and Sumner." (1)

At Antietam, "Col. Hinks fell wounded with a bullet through the right arm, fracturing and shattering the bone, and another through the abdomen, passing from over the right hip in front, penetrating the colon, and out on the left side of the spine, in the region of the kidneys; from which wound he has never fully recovered." Hincks' wounds were thought to be mortal, and obituary notices even appeared in Massachusetts newspapers. Dr. Alfred Hitchcock -- no, not that Alfred Hitchcock -- visited the gravely wounded Hincks and noted that "a miracle only can save him." (2)

Well, Hincks got his miracle and eventually returned to service. Edward served in the U.S. army until 1870. (3)

ELISHA ALBERT HINCKS

Pelkey: "Elisha Albert Hincks is my great-great grandfather. He enlisted in the 19th Massachusetts as their commissary sergeant when his brother, Edward, took command. He eventually was commissioned and attained the rank of captain. He retired as a brevetted lieutenant colonel. Both he and his brother were wounded several times. There's a great story where he almost met his demise accidentally when they were policing homes door to door. At the time he was a lieutenant. His captain took his musket and bashed in a door. When he did, the musket went off and the ball went through my great-great grandfather's beard! They had a wicked argument and the captain threatened to file charges, but because he nearly killed his subordinate by doing something stupid, he never did!"

My quick research: Elisha was wounded three times during the Civil War: at Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862 (abdomen), at Frederickburg on Dec. 13, 1862 and at Cold Harbor (severe right shoulder wound) on June 3, 1864. (4)

WILLIAM BLISS HINCKS

William Hincks was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for
capturing a Rebel flag at Gettysburg.

Pelkey: "William Bliss Hincks was the nephew of Elisha and Edward  (my first cousin four times removed.) He won the Congressional Medal of Honor at Gettysburg for a real-life game of capture the flag! He ran right into the midst of the 14th Tennessee and stole their colors and ran back to his lines unscathed! He was attached to the 14th Connecticut. My wife's maiden name is Hawley. She comes from a long line of Hawleys from Connecticut. There is a good story where William B. Hincks was fighting alongside of a fella named William Hawley, who after some research turns out to be her first cousin four times removed. William Hawley was killed in battle."

My quick research: According to the Congressional Medal of Honor website, Hincks' medal was issued on Dec. 1, 1864 for his actions during Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863. "Upon a call for volunteers by Maj. Ellis, commanding, to capture this flag, this soldier and 2 others leaped the wall," according to an account on the site. "One companion was instantly shot. Sgt. Maj. Hincks outran his remaining companion running straight and swift for the colors amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to his lines. The 14th Tenn. carried 12 battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty shown by Sgt. Maj. Hincks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle."  Hincks is buried in Bridgeport, Conn.

Interestingly (at least to me), William Hawley served in the 14th Connecticut with Edward Wadhams, one of three brothers from Litchfield, Conn, whose backgrounds I have been researching off and on for a couple years. The brothers were killed in an 18-day span in Virginia in late May and early June 1864.

(1) "Massachusetts in the Rebellion," P.C. Headley, 1866, Page 258
(2) Ibid, Page 263
(2) American Civil War Research Database
(3) Ibid.

Civil War travelogue: Joshua Chamberlain's grave

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

If you're a Civil War buff, you're well acquainted with the amazing story of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

A professor at Bowdoin College in Maine, Chamberlain enlisted in the Union army on Aug. 8, 1862, then became a decorated officer and eventually rose to brigadier general. As colonel of the 20th Maine Infantry at Gettysburg, Lawrence achieved fame (and earned a Congressional Medal of Honor) for his leadership at Little Round Top, where his men helped hold (barely) the extreme left flank of the Union army. I get goose bumps every time I watch that scene in the movie "Gettysburg." Just great stuff.

Chamberlain survived some the worst fighting of the war at  Fredericksburg, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania Courthouse and Petersburg.  He was wounded several times and even had his horse shot out from under him. After the war, Chamberlain became governor of Maine and then president of Bowdoin College, his alma mater. He died at age 85 in 1914, apparently of lingering war wounds.

Chamberlain is buried at Pine Grove Cemetery, on the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick, Maine.  ESPN colleague Matt Volk, a Bowdoin grad, visited Chamberlain's grave recently and shot these photos of the great man's final resting place.

Chamberlain, wounded several times during the Civil War, died in 1914. (Photos by Matt Volk)

Faces of the Civil War: Unknown III

A Civil War sergeant poses with his sword in this tintype photo.

As is the case with the ambrotype of this Civil War soldier and this tintype and ambrotype of the same officer in my collection, the name of this gentleman is unknown. Unfortunately, there's not a ton of information from the tinytpe above to narrow down the name of the soldier, his regiment and the state for which he served. On some tintypes, Civil War photographers scratched the name and/or the regiment of the soldier on the reverse of the photo or on the proctective mat. Or the name of the soldier sometimes would be written in pencil in the case for the photo. No such luck on this photo, which is part of my collection of Civil War photography.

Here's what I do know:

Based on the three stripes on each arm, this soldier was a sergeant. He served in the infantry in the Union army.

This is a tintype, a photo made by creating a direct positive on a sheet of metal. In the process of creating the image, the photographer made a couple swipes across it, accounting for the unfortunate marks across the shoulder and neck and near the middle of the soldier's body. The imperfections diminish the value of the image to collectors.

A model 1858 U.S. Army hat atop his noggin, he is wearing a frock coat, common attire for U.S. army officers dating to the 1820s. (1)

He wore white gloves, a nice fashion statement that this guy might appreciate.

The photographer did not use a distinctive background that included army tents or other scenery, a common practice in city studios during the Civil War. This photographer did use a non-descript background, an indicator that this photo might have been taken in one of the many portable field studios that followed both armies during the Civil War.

I bought this tintype on eBay about nine or 10 years ago. The seller indicated the soldier was from New York, in the western part of the state if memory serves me right.

Perhaps by throwing this one out to the public, someone will step up and say: "Hey, that's my great-great grandpa."

That would be kind of cool.

(1) "Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of the Union," By the Editors of Time-Life Books, Page 114.

Faces of the Civil War: Unknown II



A Civil War officer poses with his sword. This 1/6-plate tintype is in my collection.



The same man as shown above, dressed
as a civilian. This ruby ambrotype probably
 was taken before  the Civil War.

Like many Civil War soldiers, the officer above decided to have a keepsake photograph made. Unfortunately, as is common of  many photographs of soldiers from that era, the man in the image is not identified, so his name may be lost to history forever.

Maybe.

A little detective work could eventually I.D. "Mr. Unknown." Here are reasonable conclusions that can be made about these images, both of which are in my collection:

+ Based on the uniform, this man served in the Union army. Because he wore shoulder boards, he was an officer -- probably a captain, according to Civil War photo dealer Mike Medhurst. Civil War uniform experts may be able to narrow down what state he came from.

+ The Civil War-era shot above is a tintype, a photo made by creating a direct positive on a sheet of metal. On June 30, 1864, Congress passed an act that placed a tax on photographs. Pretty stunning, huh? Photographers were required to add a revenue stamp on the back of a tintype photo. No evidence of such a stamp appears on the reverse of this photo, so it's reasonable to conclude that it was taken between 1861 and spring 1864.

+ For this man's sitting, the photographer used a backdrop resembling an outdoor scene that included trees and what appears to be a flag or perhaps a ship in the upper right. The backdrop also includes a checkerboard pattern. If I come across a similar photo of an identified soldier, this may help me at least narrow down the state and regiment for which this man served. Or perhaps identify where the photo was taken and by what photographic studio or photographer. If it were taken shortly after this man enlisted, as I suspect, there's a good chance the image was made in this subject's hometown.


Both images of the man in this post are housed in
this elaborate thermoplastic case.

A scenic backdrop was a popular prop in city studios. Photographers with portable studios often followed the armies during the war, but the backdrops they used were not elaborate, so it's a good bet this man's photo was taken in a city studio.

+ The photos in this post show the same man. Genius observation there, right? In the civilian photo, the man looks several years younger than in his Civil War-era shot at the top. The civilian shot is a ruby ambrotype, a  photographic process that was most popular in the 1850s and early 1860s. If the soldier photo was taken by the spring of  1864 and the man dressed as a civilian is at least four years younger, it's reasonable to conclude the ambrotype was taken in the late 1850s or 1860. It's my story and I'm sticking to it.

+ Both of these photos came in a molded thermoplastic case with an ornate design, a more expensive option than a leather case that was also popular but more fragile. So it's reasonable to conclude that this officer was a man of some means.

Of course, identifying this soldier would be a slam-dunk if a long-ago relative had simply slipped a piece of paper with his name on it and placed it behind the images in the case, as sometimes occurred. I looked yesterday. No such luck.

The detective work continues.

Faces of the Civil War: Amazing likeness

In a recent post, I told the tale of Wiley Simeon Boon, who served in the 35th North Carolina Infantry. A farmer from Chatham Country, N.C., Boon was killed at Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862, less than a year after he enlisted as a private in the Confederate army. The final resting place of Boon, one of about 5,300 Confederates killed and wounded in the last of the Seven Days battles near Richmond, is unknown.

After reading one of my posts on Malvern Hill, Wiley's great-great grandson, Brian Farrell of Austin, Texas, e-mailed me a photo of his Civil War ancestor. Farrell's aunt discovered the outstanding tintype of Boon in an attic trunk about eight years ago and thought Wiley resembled Brian. Thanks to Texan Andy Hall, author of the excellent Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog, now we can see just how much of a resemblance.

Using the magic of Photoshop, Hall flopped the photo of Farrell, scaled it to match the old shot and then superimposed it over the photo of Wiley Boon. The resemblance is downright eerie. The photo at the top is of Wiley, probably taken shortly before or after he enlisted. The middle photo is Brian, and the superimposed shot is at the bottom.

"Fun fact: when John Paul Jones’ remains were exhumed in Paris c. 1905 and brought back to the Naval Academy," Hall e-mailed, "they used this same technique to confirm the identity of the bones, using the famous bust by Houdin for comparison. Call it CSI: Annapolis."

Keeping history alive. Gotta love it.

My thanks again to Brian Farrell for sharing the photo and story of his ancestor.

Faces of the Civil War: Unknown I

A 1/9-plate ambrotype of an officer in my Civil War collection.

He was someone's son, maybe somebody's brother too. Perhaps he had a wife and children who worried about him when he went off to fight the dastardly rebels. Unfortunately, we may never know the name of this Civil War soldier, who probably had the photo above taken shortly after he enlisted in the Union army. Because the photo is an ambrotype -- a photographic process that produced a negative image on a piece of glass that turned into a positive when backed with a black material -- this shot likely was taken early in the war. Ambrotypes were most popular in the early 1860s before the tintype -- a photo made by creating a direct positive on a sheet of metal -- was more in vogue. Because he has shoulder boards, the man who stared so intently for this photograph was an officer.

Civil War photographers sometimes etched the name and even the regiment of a soldier on the reverse of a tintype or on a protective mat for the photo before putting it in a decorative miniature case. Or sometimes a soldier or relative slipped a piece of paper with an ID of the subject inside the case holding the photo. In the case of this 1/9-plate ambrotype in my Civil War collection,  no such identification exists. That decreases the value of the photo to collectors, but more importantly, the soldier's name is lost to history.

Faces of the Civil War: Elisha Strong Kellogg

Elisha Strong Kellogg is one of the more interesting Civil War characters. Before the war, he prospected for gold in California and served in the British Merchant Fleet. As one story goes, he may have been jailed in a foreign port for assaulting another man who disparaged the American flag. (1)

From New Hartford, Conn., Kellogg enlisted as a captain in the Federal army on Nov. 22, 1861, and was commissioned into Co. B of the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery. A tough-as-nails soldier and a taskmasker who was respected by most of men, Kellogg later rose to colonel of the 19th Connecticut Infantry, known as the Litchfield County regiment. "The Old Nineteenth," which later became the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, served mainly in the defenses of Washington before General Ulysses Grant put it on the front lines in Virginia with the Army of the Potomac in May 1864.

Elisha Strong Kellogg, a colonel in the 2nd Connecticut Heavy
Artillery,  was killed at Cold Harbor on June 1, 1864.
(Litchfield Historical Society)

"In the eyes of civilians, Colonel Kellogg was nothing but a horrid, strutting, shaggy monster," Dudley Landon Vaill wrote after the war. "But request any one of the survivors of the Nineteenth Infantry or the Second Artillery to name the most perfect soldier he ever saw, and this will surely be the man." (2)

Monument for Kellogg in Forest View
Cemetery in Winsted, Conn., near Hartford.

On the afternoon of June 1, 1864 at Cold Harbor, Kellogg was killed while leading his regiment of 1,800 men in their first major battle of the Civil War. Kellogg, cheering his troops on, was shot in the head as his men initially dented the Confederates' position but were later cut to pieces in a futile effort against a heavily entrenched enemy. The toll: 85 killed, 221 wounded and 19 missing. I have walked the ground the Connecticut men covered many times and agree with the Confederate general who said such fighting wasn't war, it was murder.

Kellogg's body was eventually retrieved near the Rebel works, and he was buried in a corner of Forest View Cemetery in Winsted, Conn., about 25 miles from Hartford. Kellogg, 39 when he died, had settled there with his wife, Polly. (The monument for Kellogg at the cemetery was recently refurbished with the help of  the Civil War War Roundtable of Torrington, Conn., led by my friends Mary Lou and Blair Pavlik of Torrington, Conn.)

Kellogg's death had a major effect on the 2nd Connecticut.

Kellogg was 39 when he was killed
at Cold Harbor, near Richmond, Va.

"He was, indeed, the controlling spirit and bond of the regiment, and his death is our greater loss," according to minutes of a meeting of 2nd Connecticut officers on July 1, 1864. "Long will we hold him in endeared remembrance -- thorough as an officer, brave as a soldier, and kind as a man." (3)

There's a small monument to the 2nd Connecticut at Cold Harbor -- the only monument on the field to a regiment -- near where Kellogg and his men died. On the base of the monument last week lay an American flag with a broken staff (below).

(1) "Not War But Murder," Ernest B. Furgurson, Page 100.

(2) "The County Regiment: A Sketch of the Second Regiment of Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery, Originally the Nineteenth Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War," Dudley Landon Vaill, 1908, Page 16.

(3) "The Old Nineteenth: The Story of the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Civil War," Richard W. Smith, Page 332.

(Video by Jessica Banks)

CORRECTION: Kellogg enlisted in the Union army on Nov. 22, 1861, not July 1862 as stated in the video. He first served with the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery.

Dedicated in 2003, the 2nd Connecticut monument at Cold Harbor. An American flag
with its staff broken lay at the base of the monument during my recent visit
 to the battlefield near Richmond, Va.

Faces of the Civil War: Wiley S. Boon

Wiley Simeon Boon, who served in the 35th North Carolina Infantry, was killed
at Malvern Hill, near Richmond, on July 1, 1862. (Photo courtesy of Brian Farrell)

An imposing Bowie knife in his hand and a kick-butt expression on his face, Wiley Simeon Boon certainly looked the part of a rebel when he had his photo taken, probably shortly before or after he enlisted in the Confederate army on Sept. 20, 1861.

Wiley S. Boon was listed as a farmer on the 1860 U.S. census. He
and his wife, Ann,  had a 10-month-old son, John. (CLICK TO ENLARGE.)

A farmer from Chatham County, near Raleigh, Boon was a private in Co. D, known as the "Haw River Boys," in the 35th North Carolina Infantry.  The regiment was comprised of men from 10 counties, many of them young farmers like Wiley, who was 24 when he enlisted. Boon's home county was mainly agricultural, but its coal mines also helped fuel the Rebel cause.

The 35th North Carolina didn't distinguish itself in its first battle of the Civil War, at New Bern, N.C., on March 14, 1862. According to General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch's official report, the 35th "quickly followed the example of the militia, retreating in the utmost disorder." Lack of leadership from its commanding officers, many of whom were soon replaced, was to blame. (1)

Union artillery fires on the Rebels at Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862, in this sketch
by Civil War artist correspondent Alfred Waud (Library of Congress)

"That it was attributable to want of leadership the Thirty-fifth Regiment did not behave better on this, its first field of battle, is established by the fact, that in every subsequent battle of the war in which it was directly or remotely connected,it never failed to act in such a manner as to deserve and win the encomiums of its commanding officers," Captain William Burgwyn wrote after the war. "And that the conduct of their Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel at New Bern was such as to cause the officers to lose all confidence in their military capacity to lead them, is evidenced by the fact that at the reorganization of the regiment (10 April, 1862), neither of these officers were re-elected ; while the one who had shown both capacity and bravery, the youthful Petway, was advanced higher in command and elected Lieutenant-Colonel." (2)

Confederate troops attacked up this slope at Malvern Hill.


Following the Battle of New Bern, Private Boon's Co. D fought well as a rear guard as Rebel troops retreated to Kinston. "Special praise is due to Company D, commanded by Captain (Hardy) Lassiter, for the alacrity with which they volunteered to defend our retreating columns when the enemy's cavalry was reported to be upon us," Burgywn wrote. (3)

After re-organizing under new leadership in Kinston, the 35th eventually was ordered to join the Army of Northern Virginia defending Richmond during the Seven Days campaign. It was involved in sharp fights near Seven Pines from June 25-28, 1862. But in the final battle of the Seven Days campaign, at Malvern Hill near the James River on July 1, the 35th North Carolina was mauled. (Click here for interactive Malvern Hill panoramas.)

Failing to take out the many Union cannon on a ridge, Robert E. Lee's army made ill-advised  direct assaults on an impregnable position. As Rebel troops emerged from the woods, they were cut to pieces by well-aimed artillery and later canister as some got closer to Union guns. One can only imagine what was going through the mind of Wiley Boon, who surely saw the earlier carnage, as he waited in the woods before moving up the slope of  Malvern Hill with his comrades late that afternoon.

View from Confederate position at Malvern Hill.

"As each brigade emerged from the woods from fifty to one hundred guns opened upon it, tearing great gaps in its ranks, but the heroes reeled on and were shot down by the reserves at the guns which a few squads reached," Confederate General D.H. Hill wrote in his after-action report.

Among the 5,300 Rebel casualties were both commanders of the 35th North Carolina, who were killed in the assault. And somewhere on the expanse of Virginia farmland, Wiley Simeon Boon, the young farmer from North Carolina, lost his life. He left behind a wife, Ann, and a 2-year-old son, John. Boon is probably buried in a unmarked grave somewhere near Richmond, according to Brian Farrell, Boon's great-great grandson.

Although no Civil War-era correspondence from Boon is known to exist, the remarkable tintype above was handed down through Farrell's family through the generations. Farrell, who bears a striking resemblance to Wiley, answered questions about his Rebel relative after contacting me through my blog:

Q: When did you first find out you had a relative who fought during the Civil War?

Farrell: About eight years ago one of my aunts found Wiley’s photo in an old trunk in her attic. She then took a picture of the picture and sent it to me because she thought she saw a resemblance. This actually got my kin on my mom’s side of the family to do a picture search and they found a picture of Eli Griggs, my great-great grandfather on my mom’s side who also served the South in the Civil War. Unfortunately, his photo is when he was an old man. He lost his arm at Marye's Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg. He was in the artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia.

Brian Farrell of Austin,
Texas  bears a striking
resemblance to his
great-great grandfather. 

Q: Have you visited the sites where Simeon served the Confederacy?

Farrell: I have not, but I would love to. I have been to Marye's Heights, which I enjoyed very much.

Q: What's the most interesting story told about Wiley in your family?

Farrell: According to our family history, it is believed that he was eventually promoted to major. If true, that's pretty good considering he started as a private and was a farmer before that and considering how long he survived.

1) Histories of the Several Regiments from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-65, Volume 2, Written by Members of the Respective Commands, Edited by Walter Clark, Lieutenant Colonel Seventeenth Regiment N.C.T, Published by the State, 1901, Page 595
2) Ibid, Page 595
3) Ibid, Page 596

Civil War travelogue: Cold Harbor

Remains of  Union trench near the Cold Harbor battlefield visitors center.

At least 97 Union soldiers died at Garthright House,
used as a field hospital at Cold Harbor. 

By 1864, trench warfare was in vogue, especially in the East, where Ulysses Grant was determined to batter Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia no matter the cost. On the small portion of the Cold Harbor battlefield that is National Park Service property, evidence abounds of trenches dug by both sides in late spring 1864.

To preserve these slices of history, the Park Service has posted signs warning visitors to not walk on the trenches. But judging from the footprints on the remaining mounds of earth, that warning sometimes goes ignored. Near the Garthright House, a field hospital at Cold Harbor, Hanover County maintains a 50-acre park that includes a one-mile walking trail and preserved trenches and rifle pits. Trenches are also evident on privately held land on the battlefield.

Relic hunting is
highly  discouraged
at Cold Harbor.

On the morning of June 3, 1864 at Cold Harbor, Grant attacked across a broad front against well-protected Confederates behind breastworks and paid an awful price: thousands of casualties (somes historians estimate 7,000) in perhaps an hour. Afterward, both armies dug in even more, creating miles of zig-zag trenches. In the 12 days Grant and Lee were entangled at Cold Harbor, life in the trenches was miserable.

"The work of intrenching could only be done at night," Union officer Martin McMahon wrote. "The fire of sharp-shooters was incessant, and no man upon all that line could stand erect and live an instant. This condition of things continued for twelve days and nights: Sharp-shooters' fire from both sides went on all day; all night the zigzags and parallels nearer to the enemy's works were being constructed. In none of its marches by day or night did that army suffer more than during those twelve days. Rations and ammunition were brought forward from parallel to parallel through the zigzag trenches, and in some instances where regiments whose term of service had expired were ordered home, they had to leave the field crawling on hands and knees through the trenches to the rear." (1)

(1) "Battles And Leaders of the Civil War," Volume 4.

Remains of Confederate breastworks and trenches at Cold Harbor.

Remains of a Union trench are behind this historical marker at Cold Harbor.

Civil War travelogue: Malvern Hill

Thanks to terrific efforts by the Civil War Preservation Trust and National Park Service, Malvern Hill is easily the best preserved of the Seven Days battlefields near Richmond. On a humid Saturday morning, I stopped by for my second visit to the field and left impressed. The Park Service has put up several wayside markers since my first visit to Malvern Hill in the summer of 2009, making it one of the easier Civil War battlefields to interpret.

Confederate private Edwin Jemison was
killed at Malvern Hill. (Library of Congress)

On July 1, 1862, Robert E. Lee planned a bombardment of Union positions from two spots: about 900 yards down the slope from the Federals' left atop Malvern Hill and from a mile away on the Union right from the Poindexter Farm. Lee wanted to follow up the bombardment with an infantry assault, but better-positioned Union guns silenced his artillery first. Rebels were then cut to pieces by artillery when Lee went ahead with an ill-advised frontal assault.

"It is astonishing that every man did not fall," David Winn of the 4th Georgia wrote of the attack on Malvern Hill. "Bullet after bullet, too rapid in succession to be counted ... shell after shell, illuminating the atmosphere, burst over our heads, under our feet, and in our faces." (1)

No Rebel soldier made it to the top of Malvern Hill, which is more a long slope than a hill. Among the 5,300 Rebel casualties was Edwin F. Jemison, a 17-year-old private in the 2nd Louisiana who was killed. You may recognize his photo (right), which is often used in Civil War books and magazines. The circumstances of Jemison's death -- was he really decapitated by a cannonball? -- have sparked curiosity and at least one Facebook page. (This man colorized a photo of Jemison and posted it on YouTube. Interesting.)

(1) "To The Gates of Richmond," Stephen A. Sears, Pages 324-25.

Union sharpshooters harassed Rebel soldiers as they came up this slope.

Confederate cannon were postioned  here during the Battle of Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862.
Union cannon and infantry were positioned on the ridge in the far background.



National Park Service markers such as this one make Malvern Hill  easy to interpret.

Civil War travelogue: Chasing Cold Harbor ghosts



Nearly 2,000 Civil War soldiers are buried at Cold Harbor Cemetery.

Development and historic preservation typically don't mix. That's especially true in Hanover County in Virginia, where urban sprawl has encroached on or wiped out important Richmond-area Civil War battlefields such as Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines Mill, Cold Harbor and others.

Well-preserved trenches at Cold Harbor.

On Saturday night in Mechanicsville, Va., I dined with my wife and daughters at Friday's, a U2 song playing in the background. After we were done, I drove five miles to Cold Harbor battlefield and was deep in the woods, gazing at well-perserved trenches dug by soldiers in late spring 1864. Of course, to get to the historic battlefield where thousands were killed and wounded in June 1864, I had to pass the usual suburban jumble: a couple ugly subdivisions, Subway, Great Clips, Valero and a Papa John's Pizza. A large chunk of the Cold Harbor battlefield, including farmland, remains in private hands and retains its rural character. Much of it has also been carved up by housing developments.

The 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery attacked over this
ground on June 1, 1864.  Eighty-five soldiers in the
regiment were killed. The monument to the
2nd Connecticut is in the background.

To its credit, the National Park Service has spruced up some of the Richmond-area battlefields, including Cold Harbor, with new interpretative signs in expectation of an influx of tourists for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Because the vast majority of the Cold Harbor battlefield is in private hands, there's no guarantee it won't be carved up for more housing or another convenience store or two. What's left is memorable.

Cold Harbor's small national cemetery is one of my favorite Civil War spots. Nearly 2,000 Civil War soldiers from battlefields in the Richmond area are buried on the 1.4-acre plot, many of them under headstones marked "Unknown." In a guidebook to the gravestones that is available for visitors near the entrance to the cemetery, there are 6 1/2 pages of entries for unknown Civil War soldiers. Some of the markers denote the final resting place of up to as many as five soldiers.

As this list in the Cold Harbor cemetery 
gravestone  guidebook shows, many of the
soldiers buried there are unknown.

Cold Harbor also is where 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery captain Luman Wadhams of Litchfield, Conn., was mortally wounded on June 1, 1864 in the regiment's first major action of the war.  At Cold Harbor, the 2nd Connecticut suffered 85 killed, 221 wounded and 19 missing in action in an assault on Confederate breastworks. Many of the wounded later died, either on the field or in field hospitals. (Luman and his brothers, Henry and Edward, were killed within a span of 18 days on Richmond-area battlefields.)

This quote from the 2nd Connecticut regimental chaplain describing the terrible scene at Cold Harbor sticks with me: "You cannot conceive the horrors & awfullness of a battle," Winthrop Phelps wrote. "I never wish to hear another much less see it. I went out to see this but found myself in such danger I soon fled ... Pray for me. I cannot write -- am not in a fit state of mind." (1)

Hair stood up on my neck two years ago when I first glimpsed the 2nd Connecticut monument as I walked up from a depression where Connecticut soldiers briefly assembled before continuing their ill-fated assault. With no one else around Saturday night, I again walked the same ground Wadhams and the 2nd Connecticut fought for 147 years ago. It was eerie.

As darkness settled over the battlefield, I met a local couple walking their large dog. They said they often walk the battlefield to enjoy the now-peaceful setting. "This was an awfully bloody place," the man said. The woman nodded and then glanced at their dog. "He often goes into the woods," she said, "to chase the ghosts."

I believed her.

(1) "Not War But Murder," Ernest B. Furguson, 2000, Page 102

On June 3, 1864, the Union Sixth Corps attacked across this ground
-- open field during the Civil War -- and was easily defeated.

The imposing Pennsylvania monument at Cold Harbor National Cemetery.



Faces of the Civil War: Me (Ugh!)



That's me in my ESPN office with a few items from my Civil War
collection. (Courtesy ESPN Front Row blog)

Page views on ESPN Front Row blog expected to reach record levels today because of this, according to  these sources. But seriously... great questions from Bill Hofheimer, senior director with ESPN Communications.