Joseph S. Milne.

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Lieut Joseph S Milne. 

Birth: Apr. 27, 1842.
Death: Jul. 7, 1863, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania.

Parents: Andrew L Milne (1808 - 1866), and Anna Dunlap.

Sibling: William O Milne (1842 - 1912), Joseph S Milne (1842 - 1863).

Burial: Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts.

Rhode  Island First Light Artillery, Co. E., Regimental History. 

Page 490., Joseph S. Milne. Tiverton. Mustered as sergeant Sept. 30, 1861 ; second lieutenant, Battery B, Nov. 11, 1862; detached to Battery A, Fourth U. S. [Cushing's], during the Gettysburg campaign ; mortally wounded at Gettysburg July 3, 1863 ; died July 8, at Gettysburg, Pa.

Page 120-2, Joseph S. Milne received his commission as second lieutenant, dated November 11th, and was assigned to Battery B, of Rhode Island. Sergeant Milne was a young man of fine ability and had a promising future. His departure from us was regretted by all, especially by the fifth detachment, whose sergeant he had been from the beginning, being then only twenty years old. He belonged in Tiverton, R. I., but was born in Bolton, N. Y. By trade he was a printer. He served faithfully at Fredericksburg, where he had a horse shot under him. At Gettysburg he likewise served with increased credit, but before the battle ended he received his mortal wound, of which more will be said at a later date.

Author.  In the following information some of the letters of the word are missing or the word is missing all together.

Page 224-5.,One of the lieutenants of Battery B, Joseph S. Milne, who was mortally wounded during this battle, will be remembered by the older members of Battery E as being one of its first sergeants. Just previous to the beginning of the Gettysburg campaign, he was detached to serve in Batter)' A, Fourth United States Artillery, better known as Cushing's battery. During Pickett's charge, Lieutenant Milne was shot through the left lung, and died five days after, on July 8th, at Gettysburg. His body was taken to Fall River, where his parents then lived, under the charge of Lieutenant Lamb, of Battery A, Rhode Island.

An extract from the Fall River New's of July 17, 1863, says : " The funeral services over the remains of this gallant young officer took place this afternoon at the Baptist Temple. A large congregation assembled, and the exercises, conducted by the Rev. Charles A. Snow, pastor of the church, were very impressive. The choir sang the pathetic dirge, 'Put me down gently, boys,* founded on the words uttered by a captain of the Sixteenth Ohio, as his shattered body was taken to the rear, and he was laid in the shade of a tree to die. The body was dressed in the uniform of his rank, and upon the casket encasing it rested his sword and the flag wreathed with flowers.  A few of his comrades-in-arms, among whom was Captain Randolph, were present at the funeral.

 At an early age he entered the office of the Glens Falls (N. Y.) Messenger a religious paper, published at that time by his father, the Rev. A. D. Milne. Subsequently, he removed to Fall River, and became a compositor in the Daily News office, where he was employed for about two years. Leaving here, he took a situation on the Providence Daily Post, which he held up to the breaking out of the war, when he joined Battery E, and was appointed sergeant.The Providence papers referred to him in terms of high es- and respect.

The obituary in the Fall River Daily News long, and paid to his memory the highest praise. Gen. G. Hazard was then captain of his battery and chief of battery in the Second corps, and in his report he tenderly re- to Milne in these words  "Lieutenant Joseph S. Milne, : Rhode Island Light Artillery, was mortally wounded the afternoon of July 3rd by a musket shot through the s. He survived his wound one week and breathed his at Gettysburg on July l0th.," In his regiment he was  noted for his bravery and willingness to encounter death by guise, while his modesty and manliness gained for him eady esteem of his many comrades. His death is a loss and we cannot but mourn that so bright a life should suddenly be veiled in death."

His mother, in writing e author, says that she hastened to Gettysburg immediately after the news of his being wounded was received, but was too late, as his death occurred before her arrival. His only regret was that he could not live until his mother arrived. On being told that he could live but a few hours, he told the lady who was attending him: " Comfort my mother when she comes, and tell her that I died doing my duty".  At the time of his death he was only twenty years He was the only Rhode Island officer that was killed in the battle of Gettysburg.