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Pvt Henry H Archer

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Pvt Henry H Archer

Birth
Ohio, USA
Death
22 May 1863 (aged 35–36)
Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, USA
Burial
Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Information from Civil War Military Records: Born Ohio. Residence in 1862 Agency City, Iowa. Enlisted 22nd Iowa Infantry Co E Aug 5, 1862.

Killed in action May 22, 1863 Vicksburg, Miss during ill-advised suicidal frontal assault of heavily fortified Ft Beauregard.

Burial site not listed. Assume unknown in Vicksburg Nat Cemetery.

The following report is of 22nd Iowa adjutent concerning frontal assault of Fort Beauregard,Vicksburg, May 22 1863:
"The enemy were on the alert and, as our colors rose above the crest of the hill, a thousand bayonets glistened in the sunlight above the parapet at Fort Beauregard.
The strong work against which the main attack was directed covered about half an acre of ground, the walls being about fifteen feet high, surrounded by a ditch ten feet wide. A line of rifle pits connected it with others of the same kind, each of which was so arranged as to enfilade the approach to the other. The regiment succeeded in reaching—under a concentrated fire of grape and musketry—an almost impenetrable abatis, forty yards from. the works, where it
became necessary to reform the line, the men having become separated in crossing the obstructions. They promptly rallied to the flag and were again led to the charge. A few officers and about fifty men, succeeded in reaching the ditch surrounding the fort, but, having no scaling ladders, they were unable to enter the works. Sergeant Joseph E. Griffith of the 22nd, with some fifteen or twenty men,
succeeded—by raising one another up the wall—in gaining an entrance and capturing a number of prisoners, but the fire from the enemy's rifle pits in rear of the fort, and the lack of reinforcements coming to their aid, rendered the place untenable."

Only two men of the 22nd Iowa who entered the fort survived. This was the last frontal assault of Fort Beauregard ever attempted. Afterwards Vicksburg was defeated using long term siege tactics.

Almost none of the men killed outright or who died shortly afterward of wounds are listed in Vicksburg National Cemetery. Believe they were, in all probability, buried in a mass grave with many remains unidentified.

"The proper name of the fortification where Henry Archer died is The 2nd Texas Lunette which is located in Vicksburg National Military Park." According to a FindAGrave visitor.


Information from Civil War Military Records: Born Ohio. Residence in 1862 Agency City, Iowa. Enlisted 22nd Iowa Infantry Co E Aug 5, 1862.

Killed in action May 22, 1863 Vicksburg, Miss during ill-advised suicidal frontal assault of heavily fortified Ft Beauregard.

Burial site not listed. Assume unknown in Vicksburg Nat Cemetery.

The following report is of 22nd Iowa adjutent concerning frontal assault of Fort Beauregard,Vicksburg, May 22 1863:
"The enemy were on the alert and, as our colors rose above the crest of the hill, a thousand bayonets glistened in the sunlight above the parapet at Fort Beauregard.
The strong work against which the main attack was directed covered about half an acre of ground, the walls being about fifteen feet high, surrounded by a ditch ten feet wide. A line of rifle pits connected it with others of the same kind, each of which was so arranged as to enfilade the approach to the other. The regiment succeeded in reaching—under a concentrated fire of grape and musketry—an almost impenetrable abatis, forty yards from. the works, where it
became necessary to reform the line, the men having become separated in crossing the obstructions. They promptly rallied to the flag and were again led to the charge. A few officers and about fifty men, succeeded in reaching the ditch surrounding the fort, but, having no scaling ladders, they were unable to enter the works. Sergeant Joseph E. Griffith of the 22nd, with some fifteen or twenty men,
succeeded—by raising one another up the wall—in gaining an entrance and capturing a number of prisoners, but the fire from the enemy's rifle pits in rear of the fort, and the lack of reinforcements coming to their aid, rendered the place untenable."

Only two men of the 22nd Iowa who entered the fort survived. This was the last frontal assault of Fort Beauregard ever attempted. Afterwards Vicksburg was defeated using long term siege tactics.

Almost none of the men killed outright or who died shortly afterward of wounds are listed in Vicksburg National Cemetery. Believe they were, in all probability, buried in a mass grave with many remains unidentified.

"The proper name of the fortification where Henry Archer died is The 2nd Texas Lunette which is located in Vicksburg National Military Park." According to a FindAGrave visitor.



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  • Created by: K L Bonnett
  • Added: Nov 4, 2009
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43942457/henry_h-archer: accessed ), memorial page for Pvt Henry H Archer (1827–22 May 1863), Find a Grave Memorial ID 43942457, citing Vicksburg National Cemetery, Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, USA; Maintained by K L Bonnett (contributor 46868590).