From "The Story of the Fifteenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War 1861 - 1864," by A. E. Ford, 1898, p. 203:
"He was a scholar of excellent ability. He had intended to enter college, but the failure of his health forced him to relinquish this ambition. Later he attended the private school of Rev. Joseph Allen in Northboro, and took a course at a commercial college....
He was skillful in the use of tools and had considerable talent in drawing and music. He worked for a time as a salesman for a dry goods firm in Beloit, Wisconsin. He settled upon some government land in Minnesota and built himself a house, where he lived for a year and half. Work as a salesman in the West and Boston filled up most of the intervening time between 1856 and the opening of the Civil War....
When the President's first call for troops was issued, he enlisted from Boston in the Fourth Battalion Rifles. He was at Fort Independence until August, when he received a commission as second-lieutenant in the Fifteenth Regiment. He was assigned to Company H....
His letters, collected in a memorial volume entitled "The Young Captain," have been one of our chief sources of information in regard to the history of the Fifteenth Regiment. From these we have been able to catch many glimpses of his life and character. He was made first-lieutenant November 22, 1861, and captain August 6, 1862. He commanded Company C."
(Note: "The Young Captain," by P. A. Hanaford, 1865, can be seen at openlibrary.org.)
He died on 17 Sep 1862 at The Battle of Antietam. He was 27 years, 11 months and 14 days old.
At the end of September, Richard's mother received a letter from Capt. Walter Gale recounting the circumstances of Richard's death. It says in part:
"We left camp in cheerful spirits, through with something like a premonition that great events were at hand. I chatted pleasantly with Richard, who was almost a brother to me, and we went forward hand in hand, as it were, as we had often done before. When we approached the enemy, he asked me to attend to the men on the right of the company while he gave orders to those on the left. In a moment heavy volleys were poured into our ranks, and finding myself slightly wounded I sought the shelter of a tree. While binding my wound, I saw the lieutenant cheering on his men in the most heroic manner; it was a scene that I never can forget. Two minutes later he also was laid at the foot of the tree, fatally wounded in the temple. He was quite unconscious, apparently in almost a childlike sleep; and thus, without suffering, he passed from life to immortality....
I had found in him such a genial companion, with so much to love and respect, that I could not quite reconcile myself to the thought that we were parted for this life; and yet I almost longed to be with him, if I might leave such a fair name and glorious record.
"He was a scholar of excellent ability. He had intended to enter college, but the failure of his health forced him to relinquish this ambition. Later he attended the private school of Rev. Joseph Allen in Northboro, and took a course at a commercial college....
He was skillful in the use of tools and had considerable talent in drawing and music. He worked for a time as a salesman for a dry goods firm in Beloit, Wisconsin. He settled upon some government land in Minnesota and built himself a house, where he lived for a year and half. Work as a salesman in the West and Boston filled up most of the intervening time between 1856 and the opening of the Civil War....
When the President's first call for troops was issued, he enlisted from Boston in the Fourth Battalion Rifles. He was at Fort Independence until August, when he received a commission as second-lieutenant in the Fifteenth Regiment. He was assigned to Company H....
His letters, collected in a memorial volume entitled "The Young Captain," have been one of our chief sources of information in regard to the history of the Fifteenth Regiment. From these we have been able to catch many glimpses of his life and character. He was made first-lieutenant November 22, 1861, and captain August 6, 1862. He commanded Company C."
(Note: "The Young Captain," by P. A. Hanaford, 1865, can be seen at openlibrary.org.)
He died on 17 Sep 1862 at The Battle of Antietam. He was 27 years, 11 months and 14 days old.
At the end of September, Richard's mother received a letter from Capt. Walter Gale recounting the circumstances of Richard's death. It says in part:
"We left camp in cheerful spirits, through with something like a premonition that great events were at hand. I chatted pleasantly with Richard, who was almost a brother to me, and we went forward hand in hand, as it were, as we had often done before. When we approached the enemy, he asked me to attend to the men on the right of the company while he gave orders to those on the left. In a moment heavy volleys were poured into our ranks, and finding myself slightly wounded I sought the shelter of a tree. While binding my wound, I saw the lieutenant cheering on his men in the most heroic manner; it was a scene that I never can forget. Two minutes later he also was laid at the foot of the tree, fatally wounded in the temple. He was quite unconscious, apparently in almost a childlike sleep; and thus, without suffering, he passed from life to immortality....
I had found in him such a genial companion, with so much to love and respect, that I could not quite reconcile myself to the thought that we were parted for this life; and yet I almost longed to be with him, if I might leave such a fair name and glorious record.
From "The Story of the Fifteenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War 1861 - 1864," by A. E. Ford, 1898, p. 203:
"He was a scholar of excellent ability. He had intended to enter college, but the failure of his health forced him to relinquish this ambition. Later he attended the private school of Rev. Joseph Allen in Northboro, and took a course at a commercial college....
He was skillful in the use of tools and had considerable talent in drawing and music. He worked for a time as a salesman for a dry goods firm in Beloit, Wisconsin. He settled upon some government land in Minnesota and built himself a house, where he lived for a year and half. Work as a salesman in the West and Boston filled up most of the intervening time between 1856 and the opening of the Civil War....
When the President's first call for troops was issued, he enlisted from Boston in the Fourth Battalion Rifles. He was at Fort Independence until August, when he received a commission as second-lieutenant in the Fifteenth Regiment. He was assigned to Company H....
His letters, collected in a memorial volume entitled "The Young Captain," have been one of our chief sources of information in regard to the history of the Fifteenth Regiment. From these we have been able to catch many glimpses of his life and character. He was made first-lieutenant November 22, 1861, and captain August 6, 1862. He commanded Company C."
(Note: "The Young Captain," by P. A. Hanaford, 1865, can be seen at openlibrary.org.)
He died on 17 Sep 1862 at The Battle of Antietam. He was 27 years, 11 months and 14 days old.
At the end of September, Richard's mother received a letter from Capt. Walter Gale recounting the circumstances of Richard's death. It says in part:
"We left camp in cheerful spirits, through with something like a premonition that great events were at hand. I chatted pleasantly with Richard, who was almost a brother to me, and we went forward hand in hand, as it were, as we had often done before. When we approached the enemy, he asked me to attend to the men on the right of the company while he gave orders to those on the left. In a moment heavy volleys were poured into our ranks, and finding myself slightly wounded I sought the shelter of a tree. While binding my wound, I saw the lieutenant cheering on his men in the most heroic manner; it was a scene that I never can forget. Two minutes later he also was laid at the foot of the tree, fatally wounded in the temple. He was quite unconscious, apparently in almost a childlike sleep; and thus, without suffering, he passed from life to immortality....
I had found in him such a genial companion, with so much to love and respect, that I could not quite reconcile myself to the thought that we were parted for this life; and yet I almost longed to be with him, if I might leave such a fair name and glorious record.
"He was a scholar of excellent ability. He had intended to enter college, but the failure of his health forced him to relinquish this ambition. Later he attended the private school of Rev. Joseph Allen in Northboro, and took a course at a commercial college....
He was skillful in the use of tools and had considerable talent in drawing and music. He worked for a time as a salesman for a dry goods firm in Beloit, Wisconsin. He settled upon some government land in Minnesota and built himself a house, where he lived for a year and half. Work as a salesman in the West and Boston filled up most of the intervening time between 1856 and the opening of the Civil War....
When the President's first call for troops was issued, he enlisted from Boston in the Fourth Battalion Rifles. He was at Fort Independence until August, when he received a commission as second-lieutenant in the Fifteenth Regiment. He was assigned to Company H....
His letters, collected in a memorial volume entitled "The Young Captain," have been one of our chief sources of information in regard to the history of the Fifteenth Regiment. From these we have been able to catch many glimpses of his life and character. He was made first-lieutenant November 22, 1861, and captain August 6, 1862. He commanded Company C."
(Note: "The Young Captain," by P. A. Hanaford, 1865, can be seen at openlibrary.org.)
He died on 17 Sep 1862 at The Battle of Antietam. He was 27 years, 11 months and 14 days old.
At the end of September, Richard's mother received a letter from Capt. Walter Gale recounting the circumstances of Richard's death. It says in part:
"We left camp in cheerful spirits, through with something like a premonition that great events were at hand. I chatted pleasantly with Richard, who was almost a brother to me, and we went forward hand in hand, as it were, as we had often done before. When we approached the enemy, he asked me to attend to the men on the right of the company while he gave orders to those on the left. In a moment heavy volleys were poured into our ranks, and finding myself slightly wounded I sought the shelter of a tree. While binding my wound, I saw the lieutenant cheering on his men in the most heroic manner; it was a scene that I never can forget. Two minutes later he also was laid at the foot of the tree, fatally wounded in the temple. He was quite unconscious, apparently in almost a childlike sleep; and thus, without suffering, he passed from life to immortality....
I had found in him such a genial companion, with so much to love and respect, that I could not quite reconcile myself to the thought that we were parted for this life; and yet I almost longed to be with him, if I might leave such a fair name and glorious record.
Family Members
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
