Faces of the Civil War: Perkins Bartholomew

Born in New London, Conn., Lieutenant Perkins S. Bartholomew was killed at the
Battle of Boydton Plank Road in Virginia  in 1864. His body was never returned
to Connecticut. (Mansfield Historical Society via Tad Sattler)

In late November 1864, Maro S. Chapman returned to Connecticut with a ghastly cargo: the remains of 12 soldiers who died in Virginia months earlier.

Among the dead were Horatio D. Eaton, a captain in the 6th Connecticut from Hartford killed at Drewry's Bluff in May; George Walbridge, a private in the 10th Connecticut from Manchester who died of disease in late July; George Shaw, a private in the 10th Connecticut from Baltic killed at Deep Bottom Run in August; and Amandor Keeney, a private in the 10th Connecticut from Manchester killed at New Market Road in September.

Chapman, a businessman and former Union soldier, was experienced in this grim duty. He and undertaker William W. Roberts frequently advertised in the Hartford Courant for their services to retrieve bodies of soldiers buried in the South. "... have it done in a thoroughly reliable manner, by one who has had much experience, and is well-acquainted with the different localities in the South" one advertisement noted. (Roberts was especially busy after Antietam, retrieving the body of 14th Connecticut captain Jarvis Blinn and seven other soldiers buried on the Maryland battlefield.)

In these 1865 advertisements in the Hartford Courant, businessman Maro S. Chapman and 
undertaker William Roberts offered their services to retrieve remains of soldiers buried in the South.

Despite "unusual exertions," Chapman failed during his November 1864 trip south to recover the remains of a young soldier named Perkins S. Bartholomew, a lieutenant in the 14th Connecticut who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Boydton Plank Road. "He was anxious to go in search of it, but could not obtain a flag of truce," the Hartford Courant reported Nov. 28, 1864.

The circumstances of Bartholomew's death, described in detail on my blog in December, are especially sad.

A bullet tore through the 23-year-old soldier's haversack and ripped through his side on Oct. 27, 1864. Suffering in a muddy rifle pit deep in rebel-held territory, Bartholomew gave his equipment to a comrade, urging him to keep it unless the regiment had a battle the next day. If it did, he told the soldier, he should throw the equipment away so it wouldn't be a burden.

"This touching thoughtfullness for others in his own distress marks the true unselfishness of an heroic life," an 1872 book on 14th Connecticut officers who died during the war noted, "and makes us realize how much the war cost humanity." (1)

Published in 1872,  A Memorial of Deceased
Officers  of the Fourteenth Regiment, Connecticut
Volunteers  includes a short account of
Bartholomew's war service.  This is an original copy.

Alone for a period of time that rainy day, Bartholomew asked his friend, Private Horace Brown, to stay with him after other soldiers were compelled to flee.

"I saw the sergeant and asked what he thought of his wound and he told me he couldn't live but not to tell him for it would make him worce so I tryed cheer him all that I could ..." Brown wrote Bartholomew's sister weeks later.

Noting Bartholomew "vomited occasionally" after he was shot, 14th Connecticut adjutant William B. Hincks spared few details of the soldier's death in a letter to his mother.

"He had his senses perfectly and remained conscious of his condition," Hincks wrote to Caroline Bartholomew. "We had but two or three officers but one of them detailed a number of men to carry him away. The ambulances had all gone back with wounded men before. The lieutenant of the ambulance train agreed to send back an ambulance for him and did so. But it was an uncommonly dark night and rainy and the ambulance got lost in the woods and never found him."

Hincks wrote of how a soldier retrieved Bartholomew's shoulder straps and memo book and noted the lieutenant's last words. ("Tell my mother I die like a man fighting for my country.") The officer explained that Bartholomew's son had "the love and respect of us all," and "we sympathize with you in your grief."

And he also made a vow.

"...I think I can promise you in the name of the few officers who are left in the 14th," Hincks wrote, "that if it ever lies in our power we will have his remains sent home to Connecticut."

Buried by a plank road by the rebels, Perkins Bartholomew's body was never found.

William Hincks, the 14th Connecticut adjutant, promised Perkins Bartholomew's mother
"that if it  ever lies in our power we will have his remains sent home to Connecticut."
(CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)

(1) Memorial of Deceased Officers of the 14th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, Henry P. Goddard, 1872, Page 25

Faces of the Civil War: The Hincks family

Elisha Hincks (or Hinks) was wounded three times during the Civil War:
at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Cold Harbor. (Photo Mollus Civil War Collection)

Many families had multiple members serve in the armies during the Civil War, sometimes with tragic consequences. (See earlier entries on my blog here and here.)

Christopher Pelkey

Christopher Pelkey of Bangor, Maine recently surfed into John Banks' Civil War Blog and e-mailed me accounts and photos of three of his ancestors -- including two brothers -- who served in the Union army. Unlike blog reader Brian Farrell of Austin, Texas, whose great-great grandfather was killed at Malvern Hill, Pelkey's ancestors survived, although two of them were wounded multiple times. (A distant cousin of Pelkey's wife was killed at Reams Station, Va.) Like this man and this man buried near my home here in Connecticut, Christopher's distant cousin was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, a fabulous distinction.

Here are Pelkey's fascinating accounts of his ancestors' Civil War exploits, along with some quick research from yours truly:

EDWARD WINSLOW HINCKS

Pelkey: "Edward Winslow Hincks was born in Bucksport, Maine. He received no more than a regular public education. He was a printing apprentice in Bangor, Maine and then moved to the Boston area in the 1850s. He became involved in politics. In 1859, he was appointed adjutant of the 8th Regiment of Massachusetts militia. In December 1860, when Major Robert Anderson was holding Fort Moultrie and expecting attack by the forces of South Carolina, he offered his services for the defense of the fort in a letter that brought grateful acknowledgment from Major Anderson. On this ground, he has been spoken of as the first volunteer of the war. His story is a long and glorious one! Eventually he became a brevetted major general. He commanded the 19th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, which saw some really tough action, including at Antietam and Gettysburg."

Like his brother Elisha, Edward Hincks
was wounded  at Antietam.

My quick research: This man took a beating during the Civil War; it's amazing he survived. Edward was wounded twice, at Glendale on June 30, 1862 and at Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862. At Glendale, acccording to a post-war account, "Col. Hinks was severely wounded by a bullet through the upper portion of the right thigh, receiving also a severe contusion in the left ankle, and was sent to the rear. For his gallantry and good conduct in battle. Col. Hinks was recommended for promotion by Gens. Sedgwick and Sumner." (1)

At Antietam, "Col. Hinks fell wounded with a bullet through the right arm, fracturing and shattering the bone, and another through the abdomen, passing from over the right hip in front, penetrating the colon, and out on the left side of the spine, in the region of the kidneys; from which wound he has never fully recovered." Hincks' wounds were thought to be mortal, and obituary notices even appeared in Massachusetts newspapers. Dr. Alfred Hitchcock -- no, not that Alfred Hitchcock -- visited the gravely wounded Hincks and noted that "a miracle only can save him." (2)

Well, Hincks got his miracle and eventually returned to service. Edward served in the U.S. army until 1870. (3)

ELISHA ALBERT HINCKS

Pelkey: "Elisha Albert Hincks is my great-great grandfather. He enlisted in the 19th Massachusetts as their commissary sergeant when his brother, Edward, took command. He eventually was commissioned and attained the rank of captain. He retired as a brevetted lieutenant colonel. Both he and his brother were wounded several times. There's a great story where he almost met his demise accidentally when they were policing homes door to door. At the time he was a lieutenant. His captain took his musket and bashed in a door. When he did, the musket went off and the ball went through my great-great grandfather's beard! They had a wicked argument and the captain threatened to file charges, but because he nearly killed his subordinate by doing something stupid, he never did!"

My quick research: Elisha was wounded three times during the Civil War: at Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862 (abdomen), at Frederickburg on Dec. 13, 1862 and at Cold Harbor (severe right shoulder wound) on June 3, 1864. (4)

WILLIAM BLISS HINCKS

William Hincks was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for
capturing a Rebel flag at Gettysburg.

Pelkey: "William Bliss Hincks was the nephew of Elisha and Edward  (my first cousin four times removed.) He won the Congressional Medal of Honor at Gettysburg for a real-life game of capture the flag! He ran right into the midst of the 14th Tennessee and stole their colors and ran back to his lines unscathed! He was attached to the 14th Connecticut. My wife's maiden name is Hawley. She comes from a long line of Hawleys from Connecticut. There is a good story where William B. Hincks was fighting alongside of a fella named William Hawley, who after some research turns out to be her first cousin four times removed. William Hawley was killed in battle."

My quick research: According to the Congressional Medal of Honor website, Hincks' medal was issued on Dec. 1, 1864 for his actions during Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863. "Upon a call for volunteers by Maj. Ellis, commanding, to capture this flag, this soldier and 2 others leaped the wall," according to an account on the site. "One companion was instantly shot. Sgt. Maj. Hincks outran his remaining companion running straight and swift for the colors amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to his lines. The 14th Tenn. carried 12 battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty shown by Sgt. Maj. Hincks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle."  Hincks is buried in Bridgeport, Conn.

Interestingly (at least to me), William Hawley served in the 14th Connecticut with Edward Wadhams, one of three brothers from Litchfield, Conn, whose backgrounds I have been researching off and on for a couple years. The brothers were killed in an 18-day span in Virginia in late May and early June 1864.

(1) "Massachusetts in the Rebellion," P.C. Headley, 1866, Page 258
(2) Ibid, Page 263
(2) American Civil War Research Database
(3) Ibid.