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Dealers in Fine Civil War Memorabilia. The Excelsior Brigade offers high quality, original items en We also recognize and respect your privacy.

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07/14/2026

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster Grouping of 25 CDVs with album.

One of the nation's greatest orators, Daniel Webster (1782–1852) lent his eloquence to the cause of national unity during the tumultuous years leading to the Civil War. Webster was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, and gained national prominence as an attorney while serving five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. After moving to Boston in 1816, he successfully argued several notable cases before the Supreme Court of the United States that helped define the constitutional power of the federal government. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1827, Webster established his oratorical reputation in the famous 1830 debate with South Carolina senator Robert Hayne over the issue of states' rights and nullification, declaring, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!" From 1841 to 1843, Webster served a distinguished term as secretary of state before returning to the Senate in 1845. Five years later he endorsed the controversial legislative Compromise of 1850, elements of which his constituents strongly opposed. On July 22, 1850, Webster resigned his Senate seat and accepted appointment as secretary of state. He died two years later at his home in Marshfield, Massachusetts.

Source: United State Senate (www.senate.gov)
https://www.excelsiorbrigade.com/products/details/CDV-11910

07/13/2026

General Joseph Farmer Knipe Album
Item CDV-11909

This is personal Civil War “Pocket Album” belonging to either General Joseph F. Knipe or his wife Elizabeth. It contains eleven carte de visite’s of union army officers associated with General Knipe during duty in Tennessee in late 1864 and early 1865.

The photographer imprints on back of the images indicate the months when General Knipe assumed command of the Cavalry Corps in the Army of the Tennessee consisting of the 7th Cavalry Division and cavalry units attached to the Military Division of West Mississippi headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

Card No. 1 General Joseph Farmer Knipe taken by J.W. Taft at the Oak Gallery in Memphis, Tennessee. Joseph Farmer Knipe enrolled in the Pennsylvania state militia and became a major and aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. Edward Williams, commander of the Dauphin County Militia. With the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861 and the subsequent Federal call for troops to put down the rebellion, volunteers flocked to Harrisburg to enlist in Pennsylvania's newly commissioned regiments. Williams and Knipe selected the site for the state's new military training center, Camp Curtin. In September 1861, Governor Andrew Curtin commissioned Knipe as a colonel and authorized him to raise the 46th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. After cursory training, Knipe's regiment was assigned to garrison duty at Harper's Ferry.

In the spring of 1862, Knipe fought in the Valley Campaign against Stonewall Jackson's forces. He was wounded at the First Battle of Wi******er. He was again wounded at the Battle of Cedar Mountain. Due to the chain of command changes necessitated during the Battle of Antietam by the death of XII Corps commander Joseph K. Mansfield, Knipe took command of the brigade of Samuel W. Crawford in the first division. Crawford had taken command of the division when Alpheus Williams became acting corps commander.

On April 15, 1863, Knipe was promoted to brigadier general, backdated to November 1862. He led first brigade first division XII Corps under Alpheus Williams which saw action at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Suffering from lingering effects from his wounds and a bout with malaria, he temporarily left the Army of the Potomac and returned to Harrisburg. He took command of a brigade of inexperienced New York militia and led it in pursuit of the retreating Army of Northern Virginia following the Battle of Gettysburg.

Returning to his XII Corps brigade, Knipe went to the Western Theater and served in the Atlanta campaign. He took command of a division of Union cavalry during John Bell Hood's incursion into Tennessee, and captured 6,000 Confederates and eight battle flags in a decisive victory over the retreating Army of Tennessee following the Battle of Nashville.

Card No. 2 General Joseph Farmer Knipe taken at the Army of the Cumberland Gallery operated by A. H. Morse in Nashville.

Card No. 3 Orrin O. England, 72nd Ohio Infantry. No photographer imprint but a revenue stamp is on the back. Captain Orrin O. England, a twenty-year old tinsmith of Fremont, Ohio, enlisted in October of 1861, as a private in General Ralph P. Buckland's 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served until September of 1865. He rose rapidly through the ranks to command several different companies of the 72nd. Buckland, as brigade commander and commander of the Military District of Memphis, appointed England as his aide-de-camp and, later, assistant inspector general. In his military correspondence, Buckland expressed high regard for England's abilities, intelligence, and character. England participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Jackson, Vicksburg, and Nashville. As part of the Red River Campaign in the spring of 1864, he claimed to be the only Ohioan to have participated in the campaign.

Card No. 4 Colonel Matthew Henry Starr of the 6th Illinois Cavalry. Photographed by J.W. Taft of the Oak Gallery in Memphis. He initially served with the 9th Illinois Cavalry before becoming Colonel of the 6th Illinois Cavalry. Served on the staff of General Benjamin H. Grierson. He was mortally wounded in August 1864 in a saber duel with Nathan Bedford Forrest, during Forrest’s Raid on Memphis. Starr died of his wounds on October 1-2, 1864.

Card No. 5 Colonel William Jay Smith (later brevet brigadier general) of the 6th Tennessee Calvary. The photographer imprint is that of J.W. Taft at the Oak Gallery in Memphis. In the American Civil War, Smith served in the First West Tennessee U.S. Cavalry, later known as the 6th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. He rose through the ranks of the regiment, largely as an associate and confederate of Fielding Hurst. Both Smith and Hurst gained reputations for using the regiment to enrich themselves during the course of the war. The regiment's most effective leader, Lt. Colonel William K.M. Breckenridge, who worked to equip and lead the regiment in most of its legitimate missions from October 1862 to October 1863, derisively referred to Smith as "Petticoat Smith" for his habit of raiding plantation homes and even taking ladies' garments for his own wife and daughters.

Smith, along with Hurst, detailed subordinates to burn and raid the homes and farms of local Confederate sympathizers. Despite labeling himself a Unionist and being a Union Army officer, Smith gained a reputation for seizing everything from furniture to mules and slaves and sending them back to his own plantation to enrich himself. His misdeeds remained largely unknown until the discovery of Breckenridge's diary in 2012 and the subsequent publication of In The Shadow of the Devil: William K.M. Breckenridge in Fielding Hurst's First West Tennessee U.S. Cavalry in 2020. This work helps to document Smith's controversial career, both wartime and postwar.

Card No. 6 Colonel Frederick Buttinghaus of the 3rd Tennessee Volunteers. There is no photographer imprint but a clear inked autograph of “Yours Truly, Fred Buttinghaus” is on the back of the image. Buttinghaus initially served as a Captain in the 3rd (Memphis) Battalion Tennessee Infantry in the service of the Confederate States of America. Battalion disbanded May 1862, on account of the surrender of Memphis. He became the United States Army Colonel of the 3rdRegiment Tennessee Enrolled Militia, District of Memphis, December 29, 1863. Described as a “low-flung, dirty foreigner” in a Memphis newspaper editor’s letter to Governor Andrew Johnson criticizing the selection of Enrolled Militia officers. He was a U.S. Volunteer Aide-de-camp, on the staff of Brigadier General Ralph P. Buckland, October 18, 1864.

Card No. 7 Lt. Colonel Joseph W. Harper of the 9th Illinois Cavalry. He was wounded at the Battle of Nashville while leading his regiment. Promoted to colonel on December 4, 1864. There is no photographer imprint.

Card No. 8 Brigadier General (then colonel) John Fuller and staff. This mint cdv was likely given to General Knipe while the two served in the Army of the Tennessee during the Atlanta, Campaign. Another possibility is that it was obtained by Knipe when Fuller was promoted to brigadier general and assigned temporary duty in Memphis before joining Sherman’s March to the Sea. Fuller had served under General Grenville Dodge for many months in 1863 and 1864 headquartered at LaGrange, Tennessee. Fuller initially commanded the 27th Ohio Infantry. There is no photographer imprint on this mint image.

Card No. 9 Lt. Colonel (later brevet brigadier general) Isaac Hawkins of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry. Captured at Union City, Tennessee on September 6, 1864, and exchanged in Memphis on the 12th September, 1864. Most likely detailed to assist General Knipe in his reorganizing efforts. There is no photographer imprint.

Card No. 10 Edward Hatch volunteered for service as a private in the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War. He assisted in raising the 2nd Iowa Cavalry, becoming its major in August 1861. A few weeks later, he was commissioned its lieutenant colonel. In June 1862, on the promotion of Colonel Washington L. Elliott to brigadier general, he was made the regiment's colonel.

Hatch served under General Ulysses S. Grant in the South. After commanding the entire cavalry division in the Army of the Tennessee, he was appointed and confirmed a brigadier general in the spring of 1864. His gallantry in the field resulted in his further promotion to the rank of brevet major general later in 1864. The photographer imprint is that of J. W. Taft of the Oak Gallery in Memphis.

Card No. 11 Elizabeth Hagan Knipe taken at the City Gallery in St. Louis. The home base of the Knipe family was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Knipe traveled frequently to visit her husband in the field.

https://www.excelsiorbrigade.com/products/details/CDV-11909

07/05/2026

44th New York Infantry Letter Group

1861 – 1864
Frank M. Kelley

Frank M. Kelley, enlisted as private in Company H, September 25, 1861, age 19. Promoted to sergeant September 1861 and served in such until March 1863, when he was promoted to second lieutenant of Company H, acting adjutant April 6-16, 1863. Acting assistant adjutant general of the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps, April 27, 1863, and during the campaign of Chancellorsville. In June 1863, was detached as acting aide-de-camp to the Commanding General of the Army of the Potomac and served with Generals Ho**er and Meade through the Gettysburg Campaign. Brevetted Captain of U.S. volunteers for “gallant, faithful, and meritorious services during the war.”

27 original war dated soldier letters written by Frank M. Kelley of the 44th New York Infantry Regiment and 1 letter written to Frank M. Kelley by Lieutenant Charles H. Broom of the 57th New York Infantry.

Kelley served as Aide de Camp to Generals Ho**er and Meade during the Gettysburg campaign.

All letters have been transcribed and transcriptions are included with the group.

https://www.excelsiorbrigade.com/products/details/LTR-342

07/05/2026

5th Vermont Infantry Letter Group WIA - Wilderness

War Dated
Amos B. Hawley

This grouping consists of 28 original Civil War letters written by Amos B. Hawley of Company D, 5th Vermont Infantry. Each letter has been carefully transcribed, and complete transcriptions are included with the collection.
Amos B. Hawley enlisted as a Private on September 20, 1861, and mustered into Company D, 5th Vermont Infantry on October 31, 1861. During his service, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Hawley was wounded in action on May 5, 1864, during the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia, and was honorably mustered out of service on October 15, 1864.

https://www.excelsiorbrigade.com/products/details/LTR-131

07/05/2026

76th New York Infantry - 57 War Documents

1861 – 1864
Warren, Cook, Byram, Smith

A collection of 57 Civil War-era documents from the 76th New York Infantry. The group includes documents signed by General Gouverneur K. Warren; Lieutenant Colonel John E. Cook, who commanded the regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2–3, 1863, and was wounded at both Gettysburg and the Wilderness; Captain Samuel M. Byram, commander of Company D, who assumed command of the regiment following the Wilderness Campaign until he was wounded at Petersburg; and Lieutenant A. P. Smith, author of the History of the Seventy-Sixth Regiment New York Volunteers.

https://www.excelsiorbrigade.com/products/details/DOC-44

02/22/2026

40th & 74th New York Infantry - Medal of Honor - Witness to the Shooting of STONEWALL JACKSON

Felix Brannigan

(Brannigan is standing on the extreme right)

Felix Brannigan was one of a number of Irishmen who were awarded the Medal of Honor for actions at Chancellorsville. The circumstances behind Brannigan’s award are surely among the more unusual. A comrade would later claim that one of the reason’s Brannigan received the honor was that he was one of two Yankees actually present when Confederate General Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded, struck by friendly fire on the night of 2nd May, 1863.

Felix Brannigan is a hard man to locate prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War. Born in Ireland in 1844, it is not known what county he was from or when he emigrated to the United States. A ‘Felix Branagan’ was naturalized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1856 but it is unclear if this is the same individual. Felix was an early volunteer in 1861, enlisting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 22nd April 1861. Unusually his company became part of a New York regiment, the 74th Infantry, one of the units of the famed Excelsior Brigade.

Felix appears to have been a natural leader of men. He mustered in as a Corporal of Company A in July 1861 before becoming First Sergeant in Company K on 14th June 1862. However, an indiscretion led to him being returned to the rank of Private, and back to Company A, on 1st October that year. It was here that he found himself when the Battle of Chancellorsville erupted in May 1863.

The 2nd May had seen Stonewall Jackson launch a ferocious attack against the Army of the Potomac’s right flank, which consisted of the Eleventh Corps. Achieving complete surprise, the Rebels swept all before them. As the day drew to a close it fell to other units of the Northern army, including the Excelsior Brigade of the Third Corps, to hold the line. Private Felix Brannigan and his comrades formed part of Major-General Hiram Berry’s Division, and as night fell, they were in position to the north of the Orange Plank Road, facing towards the west, and Stonewall Jackson’s victorious Confederates.

Everyone expected the battle to resume with unrelenting fury on the morning of 3rd May. In the darkness of night, the men heard firing to their front, and wondered if some of the Eleventh Corps may still be ahead of them. The confused fighting of the day meant that no-one was sure of exactly what they faced. Captain F.E. Tyler of the 74th New York was with his men when Brigadier-General Joseph Revere, who commanded the Excelsior Brigade, rode up. Tyler remembered their conversation:

‘He then told it me it was of the utmost importance to know what was in front, and ordered me to pick out some trusty men and send them out to get the best information they could. I went to my old company (A), and called for Felix Brannigan, who had been with me all during the war, and whom I knew from long experience to be a cool, courageous, intelligent soldier. I told him what I wanted, gave him my ideas as to how to get out of the lines and what to do, and suggested the other men who he should take along.’

The four men in the scouting group, all of whom volunteered for the mission, were Sergeant-Major Eugene P. Jacobson, Private Joseph Gion, Private Gotlieb Luty and Private Felix Brannigan. They decided to split into two groups of two to increase their chances of success. Slipping out of the lines, the men set off through their own pickets and into the thickets and swamps where they had to negotiate enemy pickets before hoping to find out what was in front of them. Felix Brannigan and Gotlieb Luty went together. Luty described what happened next:

‘We had advanced about fifty yards beyond the outposts, and were close to the plank road, when we heard horses coming down. We concluded to hide and await developments. A party of horsemen rode to within fifteen yards of us and we discovered by listening to their conversation that it was a body of rebels. Suddenly the firing commenced from all sides at once. There was only one round, and just as the firing ceased, we heard them say that ‘the General’ was shot. The reconnoitering party consisted of General Jackson and his staff.’

Luty was admittedly writing after the war, but if his testimony is to be believed than he and Felix Brannigan were present when Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own troops. The two men appeared to have tried to get back to their own lines at this point, but confused by the woods and darkness actually pressed on in the wrong direction. They came upon a large body of enemy troops which they realized were Jackson’s men, who appeared to be in a position to launch an attack against their line at first light. The Yankees successfully retraced their steps back to their own lines, all the while hearing occasional crashes of musketry as nervous soldiers fired at every perceived danger. All four men had returned by daylight, armed with valuable information as to the enemy’s intentions.

The reconnaissance the men had undertaken had ultimately been ordered by Major-General Berry, the men’s divisional commander. When the expected Rebel attack was about to get underway shortly after 7am on 3rd May, Berry was at the front having just delivered orders to one of his brigades. When he moved to return to his headquarters he was struck by a sharpshooter and wounded. He knew it to be mortal, informing his staff: ‘I am dying, carry me to the rear.’ Berry died that morning at the Chancellor House. It was reported that one of his last instructions was that the four men who had reconnoitered the enemy positions the night before be rewarded for their services.

So it was that Private Felix Brannigan and his three comrades received the Medal of Honor. Brannigan’s award was issued on the 29th June 1866. The citation read: ‘Volunteered on a dangerous mission and brought in valuable information.’ The remainder of the war saw Brannigan’s continued rise. He transferred to the 40th New York in August 1864 but soon decided to take the opportunity to become and officer. In December that year he accepted the position of Second Lieutenant with the 32nd United States Colored Troops, and ended the war as First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 103rd United States Colored Troops, a position he took up in April 1865.

After the war Felix became an attorney and in the 1870s was practicing in Mississippi; he was living in Jackson in 1875. On 4th January 1877 he married Sarah P. Pegram, with whom he had a daughter. Felix Brannigan died on 10th June 1907 of disease of the kidneys. Unfortunately, he did not have a significant estate and could afford only limited life insurance, and so his death left his wife destitute. Efforts were made to secure her an increased pension based on her husband’s wartime service, as by this stage in her life she suffered from impaired sight and was unable to work to support herself and her daughter. Sarah followed her husband to the grave in 1913.

Source: Irishamericancivilwar.com

https://www.excelsiorbrigade.com/products/details/CDV-11723

02/22/2026

The Clark Brothers - All Wounded and One Medal of Honor

James W. Whiting S & Charles A. Clark
Left: James W. Clark
1st Maine Heavy Artillery
Wounded at Petersburg (Died of wounds)

Center: Whiting S. Clark
1st Maine Heavy Artillery
Wounded at Petersburg

Right: Charles A. Clark
6th Maine Infantry
Wounded at Rappahannock Station
Medal of Honor for action at Brooks Ford, VA

Image Size: Albumen 4 x 5 1/2 inches
Card stock 6 x 7 1/2 inches

Precarious Position at Brook’s Ford.

On April 27, 1863, the Clark brothers of Sangerville, Maine, strode into Brady’s studio and posed for this portrait. The timing of the impromptu family reunion is noteworthy. A week later and 60 miles south in Virginia, a member of this trio performed an act of gallantry that resulted in the Medal of Honor.

Charles Amory Clark, right, started his service in the 6th Maine Infantry as a corporal and had advanced to first lieutenant and regimental adjutant. A few days later near Chancellorsville, Clark and his comrades, along with four other regiments designated the Light Division, numbered among the first U.S. troops to cross the Rappahannock River. The Light Division fought hard and lost heavily during the unfolding battle. It’s success, however, was not enough to turn the larger tide of battle.

Late in the evening of May 4, as U.S. forces retreated across the Rappahannock River, the 6th found itself in a precarious position guarding a pontoon crossing at Brooks’ Ford. Facing imminent attack by rebel forces, the quickest escape route involved a steep descent of 50-60 feet down a bluff to the pontoons. The senior captain balked. Clark, astride his trusty horse Jim, managed to lead the regiment in silence beneath a moonlit sky to the river’s edge and safety.
The commander of the Light Division and colonel of the 6th, Hiram Burnham, paid tribute to Clark in his after action report: “His coolness, gallantry, and presence of mind in the engagement at Brooks’ Ford contributed in a great measure to saving his regiment from annihilation and capture.” Burnham added, “He is deserving of a brevet, medal, or mention in general orders” for his courage along the Rappahannock.

Six months later along the same river, Clark suffered a wound in the leg during the Battle of Rappahannock Station. The injury ended his service. He resigned in October 1864 after a stint in the Adjutant General’s Office, leaving the army with the rank of captain and two brevets. In 1896, he received the Medal of Honor. Clark lived until age 72, dying in 1913. He had outlived his two brothers.

Colby University student Whiting Stevens Clark, center, organized Company E of the 18th Maine Infantry after his 1862 graduation and became its captain. Before the year’s end, the War Department changed the regiment’s designation to the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery. Like many of the Heavies, the Mainers left the Defenses of Washington and joined the Army of the Potomac on the 1864 Overland Campaign. Whiting survived it all. He mustered out in 1865 with a colonel’s brevet and died in 1891 at age 53.

James William Clark, left, served as first lieutenant in brother Whiting’s company and advanced to regimental adjutant. He suffered a wound to his right arm in the Second Battle of Petersburg on June 18, 1864. Surgeons amputated the limb, and he succumbed to its effects a month later at age 25.

Source: Military Images Magazine. March 10, 2022.

https://www.excelsiorbrigade.com/products/details/CDV-11725

02/22/2026

5th Maine Light Artillery - Medal of Honor at Chancellorsville & Wounded at Gettysburg

John F. Chase

Cabinet Card size image and note the word "Gettysburg" on his hat.

THEY STOOD BY THEIR GUNS.

"ON SUNDAY morning, May 3rd," Private John F. Chase narrates, "my battery, the Fifth Maine, was ordered to take position in an apple orchard between the Chancellor House and the woods. The sight which presented itself to our eyes as we came through the woods to our designated position was enough to make the heart of the bravest man falter. Limbs and twigs of trees were falling struck by a storm of iron hail; the very air was laden with these flying missiles of death and it seemed impossible to be in that hell of shot and shell and survive.

Into that position shot and shell and survive. Into that position of death and annihilation we were ordered, and obeyed. Our battery was ordered to strip for action, a short prayer was offered and the command given: 'Mount battery, forward, gallop,' and as fast as the horses could go, we galloped forward.

" The boys were singing: 'I am going home, to die no more,' and in less than thirty minutes half of our number had gone 'home.' Even before we could get into position our horses and men went down like grass before the scythe. We had to place our guns by hand, and open fire on the enemy's batteries, which were masked on a wooded ridge about 200 yards in our front, and on several regiments of Confederate infantry to the right and left. Our orders were; 'Fight your guns to the death.' Our beloved Captain, George F. Leppien, had his leg shattered, the other officers were soon killed or wounded, and within a short time only two guns out of the six could be worked.

" General Hancock sent Lieutenant Kirby, of the First U. S. Battery, to take charge of us. He had just reached my gun, when a shell exploded, shattering his hip and breaking his horse's leg. I shot the horse to keep him from tramping on the wounded officer, whom I asked whether I should take him from the field. Lieutenant Kirby answered: 'No, not as long as a gun can be fired.' He was lying on the ground near the gun, bleeding from his wound, and liable to be hit again at any moment.

" Only one gun going now, and that short handed! I was number one cannoneer-my duty was to sponge the gun and ram the cartridge home. Beside myself, there was now left only Corporal Lebrooke. We could have gone to the rear and carried honors with us, but we had made up our minds to lie there on the battle field with our dead comrades, and fight the last gun to the death. We loaded several times with canister, and fired at the column of infantry that was charging up to capture our guns. Oh! how we hated to see the guns that we had served through many a hard fought battle, go into the hands of the enemy. At last a rebel shell struck our piece, exploding in the muzzle, and battering it so that we could not get another charge into it. I stepped to the rear of the gun, and reported to Lieutenant Kirby that our last gun was disabled and only two of us left. I also asked him if I could take him off the field. He replied: 'No, not until the guns are taken off.' What a display of courage in that young officer, lying there with his life's blood slowly ebbing away and putting duty before life.

" At this moment the Irish Brigade came charging in to our support. Corporal Lebrooke and I held up the trail of our gun, while the men of the One hundred and sixteenth Pennsylvania, belonging to the Irish Brigade, and led by Colonel St. Claire A. Mulholland, hitched on with the prolong rope and helped us draw it off the field. As soon as I saw that the guns were safe, I returned to Lieutenant Kirby, took him up in arms and carried him to the rear, where I put him into an ambulance and started him back across the river. I was informed later on that he died before reaching Washington, but before he left, he took the names of myself and my comrade, saying: 'If ever two men have earned a Medal of Honor, you have, and you shall have it."

PRIVATE CHASE's experience at the battle of Gettysburg was still more exciting and resulted disastrously for the heroic soldier, who at that battle was made a cripple for life.

" My battery," he says, "took position on the north side of the Seminary buildings on Seminary Hill, where we fought from 10 o'clock until four on the first day's battle at Gettysburg, July 1st, losing nearly two-thirds of our corps, and being outnumbered five to one. We were forced to fall back through the town of Gettysburg and take position on a knoll between Cemetery and Culps Hills, which position the battery held during the second and third days' battles. It was the time of the historic charges of Early's Division, led by the Louisiana 'Tigers,' on the Union batteries on East Cemetery Hill. My battery was enfilading the charging column as it dashed up the hill. Our shot, shrapnel, and canister was doing such terrible ex*****on that the Confederates opened three or four batteries on us, and made the shot rattle around us pretty lively.

" One of those shrapnel shells exploded near me and forty-eight pieces of it entered my body. My right arm was shattered and my left eye was put out. I was carried a short distance to the rear as dead, and knew nothing more until two days after.

" When I regained consciousness, I was in a wagon with a lot of dead comrades being carted to the trenches to be buried. I moaned and called the attention of the driver, who came to my assistance, pulled me up from among the dead, and gave me a drink of water. He said the first words I uttered, after he gave me the water, were: 'Did we win the battle ?'

" Then I was taken to the First Army Corps Hospital. It was a farm owned by Isaac Lightner, three miles from Gettysburg, on the Baltimore Turnpike. They laid me down beside the barn, where I waited three more days before my wounds were dressed. The surgeon let me lie there to 'finish dying,' as they said, while they attended to all the rest of the wounded. No one thought that I could live another hour. I lay on the barn floor several days, and was then taken into the house, where I stopped for a week. From there I was removed to Seminary Hospital.

" After about three weeks I was carried out of the hospital to die again, and was told by the head surgeon that I could not live six hours, but I did not do him the favor. I graduated with honors from that Seminary in about three months, and was sent to West Philadelphia Hospital, where I remained until I was able to return to my home in Augusta, Maine."

Source: Deeds of Valor, p. 157

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