Wanted: Info on Massachusetts brothers who died during war

A private in the 34th Massachusetts, George Adams was killed at the Battle of New Market (Va.)

William Adams, a private in the 15th Massachusetts, died of wounds suffered at Antietam.

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William Levi Adams died of his Antietam
wounds nearly two months after the battle.
(Courtesy Susan L. Harnwell)

At least 40 sets of brothers from Connecticut who served in the Union army died during the war. It's not difficult to find others elsewhere in New England who suffered the same fate.

After a stop at a Civil War show in Sturbridge, Mass., on Saturday, I drove to nearby West Brookfield to visit Pine Grove Cemetery, where I found this old, tilted zinc memorial for brothers William and George Adams. They were two more young victims of the "wicked rebellion," two frequently used words of the era.  You may view an image of  George on the Find A Grave web site here.

A 22-year-old private in the 15th Massachusetts, William was wounded in the West Woods at Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862, and died at nearby Smoketown hospital nearly two months later. George, a 20-year-old private in the 34th Massachusetts, was killed at the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864. His remains are believed to have been buried in Pine Grove Cemetery; William is likely buried at Antietam National Cemetery in Sharpsburg, Md.

I'm hopeful to find more about the Adams brothers and other siblings who served in the Union and Confederate armies who died during the Civil War. If you know of others, e-mail me at jbankstx@comcast. Your story could be included in my latest book project.

A zinc memorial for the Adams brothers in West Brookfield, Mass.

Civil War under my nose: Springfield Armory

An "Organ of Muskets" at the Springfield (Mass.) Armory holds 645 1861 Springfield muskets.


Arms manufacturers in the Connecticut River Valley produced a vast quantity of weapons for the Union army during the Civil War. Rifles, muskets, pistols and other arms were manufactured in Connecticut by Colt in Hartford, Whitney U.S. Navy Rifle in New Haven, Welch and Brown in Norfolk and by James D. Mowry and Norwich Arms Co. in Norwich. More than 200,000 bayonets were supplied to the army by the Collins Co. in Collinsville, about six miles from my house.

This Gatling gun -- an early machine gun -- was first used
during the Civil War.  It's on display at
 the Springfield Armory musuem.


In Massachusetts,  the Federal armory overlooking the Connecticut River in Springfield, about a 35-minute drive from Hartford, competed with other manufacturers in the valley to supply small arms to the Union. The destruction of the armory in Harpers Ferry, Va., (now West Virginia) during the Civil War left the Springfield Armory as the only federal manufacturing point for arms until the 1900s. The Springfield Armory manufactured, repaired, tested and designed weapons from 1777, when President Washington authorized its creation, until it closed in 1968.

My first impression of the Springfield armory grounds: Hey, this place is huge. Surrounded by more than a mile of wrought-iron fence, many of the armory buildings are now occupied by Springfield Technical Community College. The most fascinating display in the museum is the two-story tower of 645 Springfield muskets, stacked Jenga-like. It's called an "Organ of Muskets," and it was made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's anti-war poem in 1843. I was tempted to ask the National Park Service employees behind the main desk at the Armory museum today if they cared to part with just one -- a pristeen 1861 Springfield musket like the ones displayed can easily go for $3,000 or more -- but figured that would not go over well. :)

This was just a drive-by visit today, but it's definitely worth another trip and a couple hours of my time.

The Main Arsenal building at the Springfield (Mass.) Armory.



Carbines manufactured during the Civil War.



JFK: Completing the circle

We traveled to Boston this morning with the in-laws to check out a few of the many historic sites in and around the city. Our all-day tour included a quick stop at JFK's birthplace in Brookline, a Boston suburb. The house is located on a fairly non-descript street about three or four miles from Harvard, where JFK attended college. Kennedy was born in the second-floor bedroom in 1917. The half-hour tour cost three bucks, and it was well worth it. The house includes period furniture, some of which is original to the house and owned by the Kennedys. Rose Kennedy, JFK's mother, wanted the house to be a memorial to her son after he was assassinated in 1963, so the family purchased it from the owner in the 1960s and later turned it over to the National Park Service. This completes the JFK circle for me. I have now seen where he was born, married and died. It was a little eerie walking through that house. Here's a blurry cell phone shot -- no flash was allowed -- of the second-floor room in which Kennedy was born. The ranger said Kennedy was born on the bed nearest the window. The shot at the bottom is the room Kennedy lived in as a tike. The family, which soon grew to nine kids, moved to a much larger house about a mile or so away in the 1920s.