Saturday, March 09, 2013

Antietam: Berlin, Connecticut photo journal

Wadsworth Washburn's grave is surrounded by an ornamental wrought-iron fence.
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)
Washburn, an orderly sergeant in Company G of the 16th Connecticut, was killed
at the Battle of Antietam. (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)
Killed at Antietam, Private William North of the 16th Connecticut is buried in
Wilcox Cemetery in East Berlin, Conn. (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)
William North's name appears on a brownstone memorial
opposite Wilcox Cemetery. (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)
As the temperature nudged into the 50s this afternoon in the miniature state of  Connecticut, I drove to Berlin, where two soldiers in the 16th Connecticut who were killed at the Battle of Antietam are buried. Wadsworth Washburn's final resting place is in tiny Denison Cemetery, his marker surrounded by a beautiful wrought-iron fence topped by figures of angels. It's one of my favorite Antietam graves. A 26-year-old orderly sergeant, this son of a Congregational minister was felled by seven bullets in John Otto's 40-acre cornfield, according to a post-war account from a comrade in his regiment. At nearby Wilcox Cemetery, in East Berlin, I trudged through a foot of melting snow to find the grave of William North, a private who served in Company G with Washburn. Both soldiers have their names etched on a 20-foot brownstone memorial located just outside the gate of Wilcox Cemetery. Probably sitting along a country road when it was erected by the Washburn G.A.R. post in 1871, the memorial now sits on a tiny island of land along a busy residential street. According to sources, the monument has been struck at least a couple of times by wayward cars.
Erected by the Washburn Grand Army of the Republic Post in 1871, this memorial
honors the men from the Berlin, Conn. area who died during the Civil War.
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)
A close-up of the bottom of the memorial. (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)

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FACES OF THE CIVIL WAR: Stories and photos of common soldiers who served during the war.
16TH CONNECTICUT SOLDIERS: Tales of the men in the hard-luck regiment.
MORE ON ANTIETAM: Read my extensive thread on the battle and the men who fought in it

1 comment:

  1. The Watcher allegedly was killed at a nearby bridge, but is drawn to the cemetery by the little witch, whom he tries to capture, but cannot, due to the fence of cedar fences company

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