Saturday, November 22, 2014

James Bosworth Peakes.

First Maine Bugle Magazine
Publish date 1893, p. 69.

Santa Cruz, Cal., Jan. 8th, 1893.

Gen. J. P. Cilley,

When captured 156,lbs. when released 85,lbs.
Dear Sir and Comrade, I have just been reading the last Bugle and think it is about time for me to fall in and pay my dues. Thinking it may be of inteest to some of my old comrades, I send you with this a picture of myself, taken at Alexandria, Va., in Sept. 1863, after being four months a prisoner, two months at Lynchburg and two months on Belle Isle. Enclosed please fmd order for fifteen dollars, four for picture, two fifty for badge of First Maine Cavalry, three dollars for dues, three fifty for Bugle Campaign II., and for Campaign III., and the balance to be applied to subscription for Bugle for Comrade Edmund T. Bangs, who, I see by the Bugle, has been unfortunate. Please inform me as to date of the next reunion, as I intend to visit the East sometime this year and wish to time my visit so as to attend the reunion and fall in line once more with the " boys " and answer to the roll-call," Here."

Yours fraternally,
James B. Peakes,

Maine First Cavalry
Co. A, 1st Me. Cav.

Maine First Cavalry

Peakes, James B.; Age 20; res. Oldtown; mus. Oct. 19, '61; pris. at Middletown, May 24, '62; ex. and rejoined co. in Oct.; on detached duty as scout for Gen. Kilpatrick, Sept. '63; pris. Sept. 20, '63, near Culpepper; ex. Dec. 26, and rejoined co. ; m. o. Nov. 25, '65, ex. of ser.

Author.  To read of his Civil War service and family, go to the site of ( Find a Grave ).

George E. Closson.

GEORGE E. CLOSSON.

George E. Closson, (Hist. p. 597): b.July 5, 1843, at Bluehill; res. E. Surry; oc., followed the sea until the last six years; m. twice; first wife Abbie M.Cole, second wife Ellen F. Turner.

CHILDREN.

Fred H., b. August 23, 1865.
Henry N., b. May 29, 1869.
Charles H., b. Dec. 21, 1871.
Nellie A., b. Nov. 19, 1874.
John H., b. Dec. 2, 1878.

Father, George W. Closson, b. 1822; seaman; res. Bluehill; m. in 1841, Louisa C. Chatto, dau. of Chas. and Martha Chatto. En. Jan. iS, 1864, as private in Co. G, 1st D. C. Cav.; was transferred
to 1st Me. Cav., Co. I, promoted to coporal; was in Cav. Corps Hospital, City Point, Va., and receives a pension by reason of dis. from bronchial and lung trouble; has lived in Bluehill, Sedgwick,
Rockland and Surry; Democrat.


First Maine Cavalry, Company I.p.497.

Closson, George E. — Sailor; age 21; b. and r. Bluehill; en. 1st D. C. Jan.18, '64, Belfast; mus. Jan. 19; wd. Reams' Station, Aug. 25, '64; absence at tr.; joined co. ; pro. corp. '65; m. o. with regt.

Friday, November 21, 2014

George L. Beatty.

George L. Beatty..

Birth: August 26, 1845, Tennessee..
Death: May 5, 1934.

Burial: Live Oak Cemetery, Brady, Mc Culloch County, Texas.

Texas pioneer and Judge and Lawyer, was listed in the Texas State Gazetteer  as being a lawyer in Brady Texas (1890-1891 ).  Was a Civil War Vet.

George L. Beatty, Private, Ninth Kentucky C.S. A. Infantry, Co. A.  Enlisted November 1, 1862 at Fayetteville, Tennessee.  Captured with Captain Hones in the Indiana and Ohio raid.  Prisoner to close of the war.


Thursday, November 20, 2014

Colonel John G. Chambers.

Push to enlarge.
John G. Chambers.

Birth: 1827.
Death: July 15, 1864.

Fathrt: John Chambers.

Wife: Hannah J. Wilson Chambers.
Married October 3, 1852.

Children: William S. Chambers, Charles H. Chambers.

Burial: Unknown..

Massachusetts Twenty-Third Infantry, Regimental History.

Lt. Col. Chambers was in command of the regiment.  One of the diarists records that, during this early time,  he was walking up and down behind the line, clapping his hands, and evidently enjoying the fun.

Lt. Isaac H. Edgett, his acting-adjutant, reports, "when Col. Chambers was hit, we were standing very close together, and he fell against me, forcing me down on the right knee—his body falling across my left. I laid him on the ground, and was proceeding to ascertain the nature of his wound, when he rose to his knees and said 'I guess they have fetched me this time.  Go and find Brewster (Major), and tell him to take command, but don't let anybody else know that I am hit.' He then got upon his feet and, clutching his left breast with both hands, started for the rear. I learned afterwards, that he went only a short.distance when he fell again, was picked up and carried away on a stretcher."  Even then he refused to lie down, but went away, sitting cross-legged on the stretcher, and, with compressed
lips, repressing any sign of the pain he suffered.

John G. Chambers Biography.

John G. Chambers, sou of John and Belinda (Woods) Chambers, was born at Chelsea, Mass., 15 Sept., 1828. At the age of fifteen, he went to work, at first in a printing office at Cambridge, and, after a little, in the office of the Boston Journal. In the spring of 1846 he enlisted, in Co. 'E,' Capt. Crowninshiold, of the Massachusetts Regiment, for service in Mexico, and served through the war. One of his comrades recollects him as "genial comrade and gallant, soldier."

After that war, he was at work, as compositor for the Journal, as reporter for the Atlas, or, as collecting clerk for the Courier. In the spring of 1861, he went out, with the 5th M. V. M. as 1st Lt. in Co. 'E,' and, after a time, was appointed Adjutant.

Author. The following information was put together from, The medical and surgical history of the war of the rebellion, Volume 1.,pt.2 .  I found although Colonel Chambers died of his wounds, it was the oversight of the surgeons which was the biggest cause of his death.

Lieutenant Colonel John G. Chambers, 23rd., Massachusetts Volunteers, Age 37 years was wounded near Fort Darling, on May 16, 1864, by a musket ball.  The missile shattered his watch before entering the walls of the thorax, some parts of the machinery of the watch were driven in with the projectile.  After being wounded the stretcher bearers with great difficulty, hastily carried him from the field.,

He was taken to the landing at Bermuda Hundred, where his friend Surgeon G. Derby, U. S. A., placed him on the evening of the day battle, on one of hospital transports for Fort Monroe.When he reached Fort Monroe  no wound of the stomach was suspected not for a considerable time.  His case was regarded as a cheat wound the ball first striking and disintegrating his watch and entering the chest below the left nipple.

Colonel Chambers was a man of small stature, thin and slender, active and resolve, but with greater strength of will then vigor of body

On a previous occasion at Quaker Bridge, north Carolina, July 6, 1863, he received a shell wound over the left clavicle, and although he was not severely hurt the immediate nervous depression was very marked.

On arriving at Fort Monroe Colonel Chambers entered the Chesapeake Hospital on May 18, 1864, and was put under the care of Assistant Surgeon R. Clellan U. S. A., who on June 9, 1864, extracted the ball.

June 30, 1864, a fistulous opening exists connecting the inferior oritice with the cavity of the stomach, with discharges of partially digested food.  "Orifice of entrance completely cicatrized."  Death came July 15, , 1864, from exhaustion.

From a later report.

When Colonel Chambers, who was then in command of his regiment, went into action, he had in his left breast pocket of his coat a large watch and an comb. His coat was buttoned tightly for the attack of the enemy which was resisting was made at an early hour.  When he was removed from the field, it was found that the ball by which he was wounded had struck and destroyed the watch and had broken to many pieces the iron comb.

It was supposed that the fragments of the watch and comb had been lost when his coat was first opened  An examination made by the ward surgeon failed to determine the presence of any foreign body in the chest; all detached pieces of bone were removed.  The hospital being at the time over crowed with wounded, my attention was not called to the case until June 9th..

When he was opened up it was found that many pieces of the watch was in the cavity of the stomach, after a careful  examination and washing of the cavity the wound was closed.

He was gaining his strength, the wound had closed to nearly its whole.  In early July his health began to fail.  A few days before his death being present as he swallowed some brandy, he exclaimed; "Doctor; it smarts my wound;" and upon examination, the odor of brandy was found upon the dressing.  All fluids taken into the stomach, a small portion was immediately present at the wound.  His exhaustion became more profound, and on July 15th, he died calmly of exhaustion.

The autopsy determined the fact that a prong of iron comb had escaped detection at the time of the operation; that its sharp point had become embedded in the bottom of the cavity and by its means a gastric fistula was established.

Author. You may be wondering about this talk about the stomach when he was struck in the chest.  When the ball had struck the watch the ball had flattened out and upon entering  the chest the flattened ball push everything with it, the ball traveled backwards and downwards and entered the cavity of the stomach.


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Oliver W. Williams, Ohio.

Oliver W. Williams.

Birth: Unknown.
Death: Unknown.

Wife: Gertrude F. Baker Williams, ( 1842-1930 ).

Children: Hattie E. Williams.

Burial: Unknown.

Note. She is buried in Huron county, Ohio, he is not buried with her.
His wife name was found on his pension file.

Roster Twenty-Fifth Ohio Infantry.

Company G.

Oliver W. Williams, Privaet, age 20, Enlisted June 18, 1861, for 3 years.  Promoted to Hospital Steward, November 1, 1861.

Company C.

PRIVATE Oliver W. Williams, promoted to Hospital Steward : wounded at Chancellorsville ; promoted to Second and First Lieutenant ;  wounded at Honey Hill and Dec
eaux's Neck ; discharged April '26, 1865, on account of wounds.

Ohio State Records.

Oliver W. Williams, Twenty-Fifth, Ohio Infantry, Co. C.; First Lieutenant, Age 19; Enlisted June 18, 1861, for 3 years.  Promoted to Second Lieutenant from Hospital Steward May 25, 1864; First Lieutenant August 11, 1864; Wounded November 20, 1864, in battle of Honey Hill, S. C., discharged April 25, 1865.

The medical and surgical history of the war of the rebellion, Volume 2., pt.2


Push to enlarge.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Jeremiah O'Donovan

Jeremiah O'Donovan.

Birth: 1834, Ireland.
Death: Oct. 22, 1904, Chelsea, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

Parents: Mary and Daniel O'Donovan.

Burial: Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery, Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts 20th., Infantry Co. F.


O'Donovan, Jeremiah — Priv. — Res. South Boston; 27; carpenter; enl. and must. Aug. 21. 1861; re-enlist. March 19, 1864; comm. 2d Lieut. from 1st Sergt., June 1, 1865; not must.; must. out July 16, 1865, as Sergt.

Author. Other records shows he was Promoted to Full 1st Sergeant. Promoted to Full Sergeant. Promoted to Full 2nd Lieutenant on 01 June 1865.Mustered out on 16 Jul 1865 at Washington, DC.

The medical and surgical history of the war of the rebellion, Volume 2., pt. 2.

CASE 152. Sergeant Jeremiah O' Donovan, Co. F, 20th Massachusetts, aged 27 years, was admitted into Douglas Hospital, Washington, July 18, 18(55, from the "Soldiers Rest," with a bayonet stab in the epigastric region, received the day previously while endeavoring to quell a mutiny. The wound penetrated the peritoneal cavity and was followed by acute peritonitis, which was treated by opiates and other remedies.

He recovered, and was discharged from service. The examining board for pensions at Boston reported, on February 24, 1870, that there was a small triangular-shaped cicatrix on the linea alba, five inches above the umbilicus. The applicant had recently an attack of apoplexy, and was still bemiplegic. The disability was total, yet due to other causes than the wound. The applicant's s claim for pension was rejected.


Sunday, November 16, 2014

George S. Harger

Thomas S. Harger.

Birth: Sep. 1, 1840, Granville, Hampden County, Massachusetts.
Death: Oct. 3, 1890.

Wife: Fanny D. Kingsley Harger,
Married October 18, 1865.

Children: Linus W. Harger.

Burial: Cemetery of the Maples, Canaan, Columbia County, New York.

Note.  On his pension file, his wife name was spelled; Fannie L. Kingsley.

  Massachusetts Tenth Infantry, Co. I.


Harger, George S., b. West Granville; 20, S.; farmer, Granville; April 26, '61; wd. right shoulder. Fair Oaks;wd. thigh, Spottsylvania, and captured, lying two days and nights upon the field; a prisoner in Orange Court House, Gordonsville, Trevellion Station, and Richmond, being in six different prisons before his trip down the James, Feb. 18, '65, to freedom; June 24, '65, was recaptured by Sheridan but, owing to wds., could not be removed; when he did start for liberty, it was in the arms of a stalwart comrade who carried him out bodily,clothed in rags indescribable; M. O. April 14, '65; in 1875, dealer in hay and straw. East Chatham, N. Y., apparently in excellent health; said to have been killed at Ayer by R. R. train.

The medical and surgical history of the war of the rebellion, Volume 2., pt. 2.

Corporal G. S. Harger, Co. 1, 10th Massachusetts, aged 24 years, was wounded at Spottsylvania. May 18, 1864, and made prisoner and paroled to Annapolis, where Surgeon B. A. Vanderkieft reported that the "ball entered the right buttock and passed forward, wounding the rectum, urethra, and bladder, and emerged through the upper third of the left thigh. This soldier was sent to Boston, well, April 15, 1865, for muster out.

Massachusetts Tenth Regimental History.

On May 18, 186, the Regiment suffered severe losses in the left flank movement of General Grant, and in the report of that engagement I included among the killed Corporal Harger, who was a true soldier in every respect, and a man of deep rehgious convictions. Two years after the war my doorbell rang in Northampton. I answered the bell, and was surprised to see Corporal Harger, whom I had supposed killed.

He came in and stayed with me a day or two, and his story from that time until'he got into the Union lines would fill a book. He lay there, he savs, that afternoon and nearly all the next day, till towards night he saw a Rebel with half a dozen canteens on the end of a musket thrown over his shoulder. He must have some water. He managed to raise himself and attract the Rebel's attention who came over to where he lay. He said "Oh! for God's sake give me a little water." "Give you water, you damned Yankee you killed my brother here yesterday."

He threw down the canteens, seized his musket, the right hand at the small and the left at the tail bend, and made a lunge at the Corporal as though he would run his bayonet through him. He said, "I'm not going to kill you yet; I'm going to torture you." Three separate times he went through this motion; the last time when the Corporal opened his eyes, the countenance of the Rebel had completely changed; he threw down the musket and said, "For God's sake, what am I thinking of? I may be where you are tomorrow."

He took the canteen, bathed the Corporal's brow, gave him a drink, and then got a little pine bush which he inserted in the ground to keep the sun off and said, " I will send an ambulance for you when I get into camp." The Corporal was soon taken to a camp of wounded Rebels, where lie was the only Union soldier present.