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| 16th Connecticut Private Jason Twiss had this image shot in the Prescott & Gage studio at 368 Main Street in Hartford, perhaps just before he was mustered into the regiment on Aug. 24, 1862. (Photo: Blogger's collection) |
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| Jason Twiss' gravestone at Antietam National Cemetery in Sharpsburg, Md. |
Commanded by Captain John Drake of Hartford, Company I of the 16th Connecticut suffered 15 killed or mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam. Only Company G suffered more killed or mortally wounded (16) at the battle. (See my downloadable Excel spreadsheet of Connecticut Antietam deaths here.) Among Company I's dead was Jason Twiss, a 32-year-old private from Willington, Conn., who was shot in the breast in the 40-acre cornfield of farmer John Otto and left behind a wife named Augusta and two young sons, Frederic, 5, and Robert, 3 months. At the time of his death, Jason and Augusta had been married a little more than six years.
Drake himself was shot and killed at Antietam, a bullet tearing through his heart, according to a letter written home four days after the battle by 16th Connecticut Corporal James Peckham, who noted that two other Company I officers were also killed on Otto's farm: Lieutenant William Horton of Stafford Springs (shot through the head) and Sergeant Thomas Macarty of Hartford. "You must write Mrs. Macarty to tell her that he was shot through the head [and] killed instantly," Peckham wrote to his wife, Katie. "He fought bravely [and] died with a good hart [sic]. I believe it to be true. He and Twiss both died Christians I think."
After her husband's death, Augusta filed the paperwork to obtain a widow's pension, which was granted. She began receiving $8 a month in April 1864. In 1889, she lived in Michigan and received a $12-a-month widow's pension. On Nov. 11, 1892, Augusta died in Hillsdale, Mich., having never re-married.
SOURCES:
Jason Twiss pension file, National Archives And Records Service, Washington (via fold3.com)
Website: Wilt Thou Remember Me, Letters From The American Civil War
Congrats on the acquisition, John!
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