Today in History:

270 Series I Volume XXVII-I Serial 43 - Gettysburg Campaign Part I

Page 270 Chapter XXXIX. N. C., VA., W. VA., MD., PA., ETC.

Nearly all our wounded, myself among them, fell into the hands of the enemy when he took possession of the town of Gettysburg. When the enemy evacuated the place, on the night of the 3rd instant most of the wounded were left behind. The regiment occupied Culp's Hill during the battles of July 3 and 4, but sustained little or no loss. During the battle of the 1st instant, the regiment lost in killed four color-bearers-Abel G. Peck, Charles Ballare, Augustus Ernest, and William Kelly. During the engagement of the 1st, the flag was carried by no less then nine persons, four of the number having been killed and three wounded. All of the color guard were killed or wounded. The officers wounded were: Colonel Henry A. Morrow, scalp wound; Lieutenant Colonel Mark Flanigan, lost leg; Major Edwin B. Wight, lost an eye; Captain William H. Rexford, severely in leg; Captain Charles A. Hoyut, severely in leg; Lieutenant John M. Farland, wounded by fall; Lieutenant William R. Dodsley, slightly wounded; Lieutenant Abraham Earnshaw, wounded in side; Lieutenant Frederick A. Buhl, severely in thigh; Lieutenant Edwin E. Norton, slightly. The officers killed were: Captains William J. Speed and Malachi J. O'Donnell; Lieutenants Walter H. Wallace, Winfield S. Safford, Newell Grace, Reuben H. Humphresville, Gilbert A. Dickey, and Lucius L. Shattuck. Of the killed nothing less can be said than that their conduct in this memorable battle was brave and daring, and was creditable alike to themselves and the service. It will not be disparaging to his brave comrades who fell on this terrible but glorious day to say that Captain Speed's death was a severe loss to the service and an almost irreparable one to his regiment. He was amiable, intelligent, honorable, and brave, and was universally respected and esteemed by all who knew him. Captain O'Donnell was a young officer who had given strong proofs of courage and capacity, and whose death was deeply deplored in the regiment. Lieutenant Wallace served in the Peninsular Campaign under General McClellan, and lost an eye at the battle of Fair Oaks. He was a brave officer, an honorable man, and a good disciplinarian. Lieutenant Dickey joined the regiment in the capacity of commissary sergeant, and for his integrity, capacity, and attention to business was promoted to the rank of sergeant-major, and thence to a second lieutenancy. He had given great promise for future usefulness and distinction. He was the first commissioned officer of the regiment killed at Gettysburg. Lieutenants Grace, Humphresville, Safford, and Shattuck were distinguished in the regiment for their attention to duty, for the amiability of their manners, and for their unflinching courage in battle. Lieutenant Grace was one of the bravest men I ever knew. The remains of Captain Speed and Lieutenants Wallace and Safford were of the other officers sleep, with the brave non-commissioned officers and privates who fell that day, in the cemetery in which a grateful nation will, at no distant period, erect a mausoleum to perpetuate the memories of its defenders. Lieutenant-Colonel Flanigan lost his leg in this battle. His conduct here, as everywhere in battle, was gallant and daring. Major Wight acquitted himself in the most creditable manner, and remained


Page 270 Chapter XXXIX. N. C., VA., W. VA., MD., PA., ETC.