JOHN BANKS' CIVIL WAR BLOG: 108th New York

Wednesday, October 04, 2017

Note from Antietam: 'You must be prepared for bad news'

Union surgeon Anson Hurd cares for wounded at the Otho J. Smith farm, near the
Antietam battlefield. 108th Corporal Richard Morrell died there on or about Oct. 4, 1862.
(Library of Congress collection)

An Alexander Gardner photograph of the Otho J. Smith farm hospital.
(HOVER ABOVE FOR "NOW" PHOTO | Then: LOC collection | Now: John Banks.)

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When Richard Henry Morrell went into battle at Antietam the morning of Sept. 17, 1862, he bore immense responsibility. The 45-year old shoemaker had a family that included his wife, Margaret, and 10 children -- four boys and six girls -- ranging in age from 11 months to 17 years. The Morrells had emigrated from England in the 1850s, settling in Rochester, N.Y.

"(He) is well cared for, but the Doct is much concerned about him,"
S.D. Porter wrote of Richard Morrell, seriously wounded at
the Battle of Antietam. (National Archives via fold3.com)
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

Despite his family obligations, Morrell enlisted in the 108th New York as a private in July 1862 -- he was promoted to corporal later that month. Less than two months later, he marched through a farmer William Roulette's field with rest of the 108th New York en route to an assault on the Rebels' position in a sunken farm lane.

Sometime during the attack on Bloody Lane, a bullet or piece or artillery shell tore into Morrell's arm, which required two amputations. He was taken to General William French's division hospital at Otho J. Smith's farm, less than a mile from the battlefield.

While Morrell recuperated there, a man from Rochester visited with the grievously injured soldier, whom he noted was in dire condition. "[He] is well cared for, but the Doct is much concerned about him," S.D. Porrter wrote Sept. 28 in the one-page note, presumably to Margaret. "He may recover, but you must be prepared for bad news."

The bad news came in a short note to Morrell's wife dated Oct. 14, 1862, from Bolivar Heights, Va., and signed by two 108th New York officers:

"Dear Madam, I take this opportunity to inform you of the death of your husband. He died on or about the 4th day of this month after having his arm amputated twice. Once at the elbow and again at the shoulder. He seemed to be getting along well when lockjaw set in and after intense suffering [of] three days died. His remains were neatly draped and he was buried at Sharpsburg, Maryland. His personal effects I will forward to you by Express tomorrow. Anything further in regard to him will be cheerfully furnished by your obdt. svt. and sympathy in affliction."

Although Morrell's final resting place is unknown, he may be buried among the thousands of other Union soldiers at Antietam National Cemetery.

LETTER TO THE WIDOW: "HIS REMAINS WERE NEATLY DRAPED"

PAGE 1: National Archives via fold3.com
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.

PAGE 2: National Archives via fold3.com

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SOURCES:

-- Richard Morrell widow's pension file, National Archives & Records Administration, Washington, D.C., via fold3.com.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Dying 108th N.Y. soldier: 'Tell Charlie I tried to do my duty'

Rifle pits at Petersburg, Va. Private John W. Bailey was mortally wounded at Petersburg
on June 18, 1864. (Library of Congress collection)

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In the spring of 1864, the hardfighting 108th New York struggled to replenish it ranks after brutal battles at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. "Difficulty was experienced in getting recruits to join our regiment," a soldier in the regiment recalled, "as they said it was sure death to join the 108th."

Chaplain Thomas Grassie, probably in a post-war photo.
He wrote a letter to Charles Bailey about his brother's
final hours after he was shot at Petersburg.

But when a call went out in Monroe County, N.Y., for men to join the 108th, John W. Bailey was all-in. And so, on Feb. 25, 1864, the 20-year-old orphan from Webster mustered into the regiment as a private, joining his brother Charles in Company F. (More than a decade earlier, the brothers' parents had died, leaving sister Lydia as their guardian. John leased a farm of "about 75 acres" in Webster, using income from his labors to help support Lydia and another sister.)

It didn't take long for Charles and John to participate in relentless, terrible fighting together. On May 6, 1864, Corporal Charles S. Bailey, a color-bearer, was wounded at the Wilderness, knocking him out of the war. At Spotsylvania Courthouse six days later, John was severely wounded, but he recovered in time to re-join the regiment at the front at Petersburg.

On the morning of June 18, the 108th New York came under fire near Petersburg, the strategic town about 25 miles south of Richmond, the Rebel capital. According to Thomas G. Grassie, the regiment's 32-year-old, Scottish-born chaplain, John was shot in the back when he "left the breastworks to go toward" Confederate fire. Another soldier recalled a slightly different scenario.

"... while the regiment was reposing upon a roadside, much annoyed by sharp-shooters," he recalled, "[Bailey] was struck by a ball on his spine. In his excruciating agony he partially raised upon his elbow, and seeing us across the road, cried out, 'Haven't I done my duty? I can die happy that I have done so.' We responded, 'Yes, yes, John you have truly and unflinchingly done heroic duty.' "

John Bailey's grave in City Point National Cemetery
in Hopewell, Va.
(Find A Grave)

John was transported to a hospital, where he "bore the pain with admirable fortitude and with Christian resignation," Grassie recalled in a poignant, six-page letter to Charles. (See complete transcription below.)

"I gave him a soothing medicine which soon eased his pain & lulled him to sleep," the chaplain remembered. But even though John's pain apparently briefly subsided, there wasn't much that could be done for the severely wounded private, who said he was unafraid to die.

In his final hours, Bailey told Grassie he had expected to be killed when he joined the army -- and spoke frequently about his brother, Charlie.

"Tell [him] I thought of him when I was dying -- and my sisters too," John said, according to the chaplain. "Tell Charlie I tried to do my duty to my country & tell him I hope he will be spared to his friends. Tell him I was ready to die & expect to see him again. Tell all our folks not to feel bad for me."

Two hours later, at about 10 a.m. on June 19, 1864, John W. Bailey died. "I had to go to the Regt. & had not returned before his brave spirit was released," wrote Grassie, who added John was buried in a II Corps graveyard near Petersburg. After the war, Bailey's body was recovered and re-interred in City Point National Cemetery in Hopewell, Va., where the remains of more than 5,000 other Civil War soldiers are buried.