Joseph K. F. Mansfield, Brigadier General of the U.S. Army: A Narrative of Events Connected with His Mortal Wounding at Antietam, Sharpsburg, Maryland, September 17, 1862Gould, John Mead
History
Joseph K. F. Mansfield, Brigadier General of the U.S. Army: A Narrative of Events Connected with His Mortal Wounding at Antietam, Sharpsburg, Maryland, September 17, 1862
Gould, John Mead
Antietam, Battle of, Md., 1862; Mansfield, Joseph K. F. (Joseph King Fenno), 1803-1862
It will therefore be seen that almost every one of the 10th Maine, who
came out of the battle unharmed, had a chance to view the field and to
impress its topographical features in his mind. Therefore, when a dozen or
more of us who had fought in the battle, visited the field in 1889, we had
no difficulty whatever in finding our locality, and our testimony is
sufficient; but more can be cited.
Mr. Sam Poffenberger, by whom I have been most hospitably entertained in
two of my trips (1891 and 1894), assures me that the 10th Maine graves
remained near "the bushes" until removed to the National Cemetery. He also
says the graves of the 111th Penn. Vols., during all that time, were under
the ledge where the left of our regiment (Co. F) rested. The 111th Penn.
Vols. relieved us.
The course of the march of the 107th N. Y. has been identified by members
of that regiment who have visited the field; and letters from several of
them confirm the statements made on page 17.
The line of march of the 3d Maryland and 102d N. Y., who were on the left
of the 111th Penn. Vols., has been fully identified and exactly joins our
identification.
For substantial evidence of the truth of our narrative we will say that
Maj. Jordan still has the cord which fell from the General's hat as he
waved it at our left companies in trying to make them cease firing.
The hat itself, which fell off inside the fence when the General gave
himself into the care of Joe Merrill and the others of us, got into the
hands of Gen. Nye (Capt. of Co. K) and he forwarded it to the family, and
has the acknowledgment of receipt of the same.
Geo. W. Knowlton, Esq., Boston, Mass., has a pair of blood-stained gloves
sent home by his father, Maj. Wm. Knowlton, (Capt. Co. F, but not present
at Antietam) who wrote and afterward explained to Mrs. Knowlton that one
of his men picked them up and gave them to him.
It will now be seen that though the regimental excursion of 1889 was
positive of the position of the regiment, we could not decide _exactly_
where Mansfield fell, for it so happened that the main witnesses of the
wounding were not then present. On returning home, I made a special study
of the facts, and found that Maj. Jordan was sure he could find "the
boulder" which he mounted to attract the attention of Gen. Mansfield. Maj.
Redlon, who was in command of Co. D, a man of remarkable memory and
faculty of observation, also assured me that Maj. Jordan was there. Jordan
is a short man, and naturally mounted the ledge to "get even" with the
General. Sergeant Burnham, of Co. C, while living, frequently spoke of
this to me.
On September 17, 1891, Maj. Jordan, Surgeon Howard and myself accepted the
invitation of the 125th Penn. to visit the field with them. Major Jordan
readily found the ledge without my assistance, on the afternoon of the
16th, but "the boulder[13]" was not visible. During the evening Mr. Sam.
Poffenberger told of the change of fence and the building of the new road.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account