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| War-time print of Emory U.S. General Hospital in Washington, where Henry Morris died on May 28, 1864, U.S. Capitol Building appears in the background. (Library of Congress) |
"Please keep up good spirits and don't be despondent," the 39th New York corporal in Company K wrote from a camp near Stevensburg, Va., on Feb. 12, 1864. "All things have an end and so will my time of service. I hope for the best. Hope for and feel instinctively that I will see you all again in Brooklyn."
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| Powhatan Robinson House, used a hospital at Battle of Morton's Ford. Did Henry Morris receive care here? |
"Dear mother," Morris added, "keep up a good heart and remember you have a son who is always thinking of you."
Just days earlier, Morris had been slightly wounded at the Battle of Morton's Ford, Va., the U.S. Army's brief but unsuccessful effort to penetrate Robert E. Lee's stout defenses along the Rapidan River. In his first battle of the war on Feb. 6 -— a cold, foggy and rainy morning -— the balls flew "thick and fast," wrote Henry, who was hit by a Rebel ball that tore through his overcoat, pants and drawers before it landed in his "boot to sleep."
Although the bullet left only a scratch on his thigh, Henry wrote of being "very proud" of his wound and intended to send home the one-ounce piece of lead that caused it. The bullet had hit a rock before it struck Morris, perhaps preventing it from doing more damage.
"I am now very well indeed," Morris wrote to his 42-year-old mother days after the battle. "We may not go away from camp again in 3 months."
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| Trace of war-time road leading to Morton's Ford, perhaps route Henry Morris took on Feb. 6, 1864. (CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.) |
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| Morton's Ford, where Henry Morris and his comrades crossed the icy, waist-deep Rapidan River. |
Pan right to see site of wartime Morton House in the stand of trees.
(CLICK AT UPPER RIGHT FOR FULL-SCREEN EXPERIENCE.)
In early May, Morris and the 39th New York moved with the Army of the Potomac toward Spotsylvania Court House, Va., following brutal battles in the dense thickets of the Wilderness. After vicious fighting at the Bloody Angle on May 12 resulted in a stalemate and thousands of casualties on both sides, Ulysses Grant shifted his army to the left to pound the Rebels again. After a stretch of gloomy weather, Mother Nature provided a beautiful spring morning on May 18. What an incongruent scene.
"The rain had ceased and all nature seemed refreshed," a 116th Pennsylvania soldier recalled, "but on ground occupied and fought over by the Regiment on this morning nothing of charm or beauty was visible." Rotting, unburied bodies from fighting on May 12 littered the field.
"The sight was hideous," the soldier remembered, "the stench overpowering and sickening."
On this grisly tableau, Morris and the 39th New York charged Confederate works during the Third Brigade's assault. Rebel artillery fire doomed the attack from its start. Among the scores of Union casualties was Morris, who had his right arm "entirely blown off by a shell, not a shred hanging" and lost the thumb and fingers from his left hand. Adding to his misery, a bullet or piece of a shell also struck the teen in the back, penetrating his lungs.
In separate visits with Morris at a division hospital, New York chaplains were struck by the calm demeanor of the grievously wounded corporal, who seemed resigned to his fate. Each of them wrote short letters to Cornelia Morris, but neither provided hope her son would survive. (Complete transcriptions below.)
"He is yet alive," 64th New York Chaplain Oliver D. Hibbard wrote on May 18 after recounting Henry's numerous wounds. "[He is] perfectly conscious, self preserved, converses in the most intelligent & collected manner & has won the admiration of all."
Two days later, 111th New York Chaplain John N. Brown wrote: "Though a stranger to you, I take the liberty of addressing you this time, knowing the anxiety you will feel as a mother for the welfare of your son, your noble boy. I came across him day before yesterday among the wounded and became deeply interested in him."
Despite his wounds, Henry seemed comfortable, noted Brown, who made no mention of any drugs Morris may have been given to ease his pain. After a surgeon told Morris he wouldn't survive, Henry said, "Then tell my mother that I die patiently & contented."
"We very seldom see," Brown wrote, "a more perfect example of true heroism."
Later that night, Henry was sent to a hospital in Fredericksburg, about 10 miles away.
On this grisly tableau, Morris and the 39th New York charged Confederate works during the Third Brigade's assault. Rebel artillery fire doomed the attack from its start. Among the scores of Union casualties was Morris, who had his right arm "entirely blown off by a shell, not a shred hanging" and lost the thumb and fingers from his left hand. Adding to his misery, a bullet or piece of a shell also struck the teen in the back, penetrating his lungs.
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| Assistant quartermaster's document notes Henry Morris' official cause of death: "Gun shot wound of chest involving lung." (National Archives via fold3.com) CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE. |
"He is yet alive," 64th New York Chaplain Oliver D. Hibbard wrote on May 18 after recounting Henry's numerous wounds. "[He is] perfectly conscious, self preserved, converses in the most intelligent & collected manner & has won the admiration of all."
Two days later, 111th New York Chaplain John N. Brown wrote: "Though a stranger to you, I take the liberty of addressing you this time, knowing the anxiety you will feel as a mother for the welfare of your son, your noble boy. I came across him day before yesterday among the wounded and became deeply interested in him."
Despite his wounds, Henry seemed comfortable, noted Brown, who made no mention of any drugs Morris may have been given to ease his pain. After a surgeon told Morris he wouldn't survive, Henry said, "Then tell my mother that I die patiently & contented."
"We very seldom see," Brown wrote, "a more perfect example of true heroism."
Later that night, Henry was sent to a hospital in Fredericksburg, about 10 miles away.
"I do not think it possible for him to live long," Brown wrote to Morris' mother. Later, he was transported to Emory U.S. General Hospital in Washington, one of the many U.S. Army hospitals in the capital. Morris survived that trip, but died at the hospital on May 28, 10 days after he was wounded.
On June 1, mourners attended a funeral service for Morris at his mother's house at 337 Gold Street in Brooklyn. Cornelia Morris had her son buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
in Brooklyn. The house was torn down long ago. (Google Street View)
In the field near Spotsylvania Courthouse, Hospital 1st Division
2nd Army Corps May 18, 1864
Mrs Cornelia Morris
In an assault on the enemy's works this morning your darling son Henry Clay Morris fell mortally wounded we think. His right arm was blown entirely off by a shell, not a shred left hanging, carrying away portions of the shoulder. His thumb, the first & second finger on the left hand were shot away & a piece of shell entered the back & cut into the lungs.
He is yet alive -- perfectly conscious, self preserved, converses in the most intelligent & collected manner & has won the admiration of all.
He has talked to me of his mother, his religious training, his minister ...
... says he thinks he can entirely and wholly trust in the Saviour & commit his soul to his keeping. I shall see him as often as practicable while he lives & be what service I can to him.
May God deal kindly & tenderly with you is the wish & prayer of yours.
Most sincerely,
O.D. Hibbard
Chaplain 64th NY Vols
Washington D.C.
Mrs. C. Morris
Field camp Spotsylvania, Va.
111th Reg NY Vols May 20, 1864
Mrs. Cornelia Morris
Dear Madam, Though a stranger to you, I take the liberty of addressing you this time, knowing the anxiety you will feel as a mother for the welfare of your son, your noble boy. I came across him day before yesterday among the wounded and became deeply interested in him. He was mortally wounded in the battle of May 18 when our Brigade charged the enemy's works. His right arm was entirely ...
... cut off by a shell & his left thumb & two fingers were also cut off by another piece of shell. A ball also entered his back between his shoulders penetrating his lungs. He seemed to be in but little pain from his wounds but a more patient sufferer I scarcely ever saw. He bore his misfortune with the fortitude of a brave and courageous soldier. When the Surgeon told him that he could not do anything for him, he said, "Then tell my mother that I die patiently & contented." We very seldom see a more perfect example of true heroism ...
... I talked with him on the subject of religion & prayed with him. He said that he was praying for a preparation for his death & that he could rest by faith upon the merits of Jesus Christ for his salvation & that he was fully resigned to the will of God. He told us that he had a Christian mother who was connected with the Presbyterian Church. When I saw him last he seemed to be failing, though he was in hopes of living. He was sent with the rest of the wounded to Fredericksburg in the evening but I doubt whether he lives to ...
... get there. I do not think it possible for him to live long. All his comrades write in pronouncing him one of the best & bravest boys in the 39th Reg -- always calm, always patient, always brave. Though young he has made a record that will live forever. To a covenant keeping God, the God of the widow & the fatherless I commend you in your present great grief.
Yours sincerely
John N. Brown
Chaplain 111 Reg NY V
1st Division 3rd Brigade 2d Corps
SOURCES
-- Corporal Henry C. Morris pension file, National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C., via fold3.com. (Includes letters to his mother dated Feb. 10 and 12, 1864.)
-- Mulholland. St. Clair A., The Story of the 116th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion, The Record of a Gallant Command, Philadelphia, P. McManus, Jr. & Co., 1903, Page 223.
-- New York Times, June 1, 1864.
On June 1, mourners attended a funeral service for Morris at his mother's house at 337 Gold Street in Brooklyn. Cornelia Morris had her son buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
in Brooklyn. The house was torn down long ago. (Google Street View)
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| National Archives via fold3.com. |
2nd Army Corps May 18, 1864
Mrs Cornelia Morris
In an assault on the enemy's works this morning your darling son Henry Clay Morris fell mortally wounded we think. His right arm was blown entirely off by a shell, not a shred left hanging, carrying away portions of the shoulder. His thumb, the first & second finger on the left hand were shot away & a piece of shell entered the back & cut into the lungs.
He is yet alive -- perfectly conscious, self preserved, converses in the most intelligent & collected manner & has won the admiration of all.
He has talked to me of his mother, his religious training, his minister ...
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| National Archives via fold3.com. |
May God deal kindly & tenderly with you is the wish & prayer of yours.
Most sincerely,
O.D. Hibbard
Chaplain 64th NY Vols
Washington D.C.
Mrs. C. Morris
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| National Archives via fold3.com |
111th Reg NY Vols May 20, 1864
Mrs. Cornelia Morris
Dear Madam, Though a stranger to you, I take the liberty of addressing you this time, knowing the anxiety you will feel as a mother for the welfare of your son, your noble boy. I came across him day before yesterday among the wounded and became deeply interested in him. He was mortally wounded in the battle of May 18 when our Brigade charged the enemy's works. His right arm was entirely ...
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| National Archives via fold3.com. |
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| National Archives via fold3.com. |
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| National Archives via fold3.com. |
Yours sincerely
John N. Brown
Chaplain 111 Reg NY V
1st Division 3rd Brigade 2d Corps
Have something to add (or correct) in this post? E-mail me here.
SOURCES
-- Corporal Henry C. Morris pension file, National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C., via fold3.com. (Includes letters to his mother dated Feb. 10 and 12, 1864.)
-- Mulholland. St. Clair A., The Story of the 116th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion, The Record of a Gallant Command, Philadelphia, P. McManus, Jr. & Co., 1903, Page 223.
-- New York Times, June 1, 1864.
An amazing story recounted compassion. To bad is resting place is missing.
ReplyDeleteSuch strength and courage in faith for a 19 year old. Sad to say, but at least his mother had closure, unlike so many mothers that were never contacted by unit chaplains.
ReplyDeleteA powerful story - thank you John
ReplyDelete