Tragic telegram: 'Charlie Adams died this morning'

(Litchfield Historical Society collection)

John Henry Hubbard

A telegram no family wanted to receive during the Civil War: "Charlie Adams died this morning," it reads. "He did not appear to suffer at all. I was with him. His body will be up around Tuesday. His father is at White House (Va.)." A 19-year-old corporal in the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, Adams was wounded in the leg and arm at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 1, 1864. From Litchfield, Conn., he died 10 days later aboard a steamer in the Potomac in Washington. The telegram, part of the Litchfield Historical Society collection, was sent by Congressman John Hubbard of Litchfield, a family friend who witnessed Charlie's death. Hubbard paid for the embalming of Adams' body and $55 for an engraved coffin to transport him home to Litchfield, where he was buried in East Cemetery.