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 MEMORIAL 
 
 Deceased Officers 
 
 FOURTEENTH REGIMENT. 
 
 CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 Late Captain Company B, Fourteenth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers. 
 
 "We think with imperious questionings, 
 
 Of the brothers we have lost 
 And we strive to track, in death's mystery, 
 
 The flight of each valiant ghost." 
 # * * * # 
 
 " No fear for them ! In our lower field 
 
 Let us toil with arms unstained, 
 Till at last we be worthy to stand with them 
 
 On the shining heights they've gained. 
 We shall meet and greet in closing ranks, 
 
 In Time's declining sun, 
 When the bugles of God shall sound recall, 
 
 And the battle of Life be won ! " 
 
 JOHN HA T. 
 
 hiblislp) bg rjcqitjesi of tht Jfourtontlj |Uginunial Mnion 
 
 HARTFORD: 
 
 CASE, LOCKWOOD & BRAINARD. 
 
 1872. 
 
14^ §3 
 
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The Jiving- Officers and //Len of the 
 
 t dedicate 
 This Memorial of our^Pear^ Pnes 
 
 uMuSTERED pUT." 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The Fourteenth Connecticut Regiment was mustered into service 
 August 23, 1862. Participating in twenty-six general engagements 
 and the long siege of Richmond, it was mustered out, May 31, 1865. 
 During these two years and nine months there were killed in 
 action 132; died of wounds, 65; died of disease, 169; missing, 6; 
 discharged prior to muster out, (nearly all for disability contracted 
 in the service,) 416. This makes a total of 788 casualties in a regi- 
 ment that left the State with 1,015 men, which number was subse- 
 quently increased by recruits to 1,726. 
 
 Of commissioned officers the regiment lost twenty during and six 
 since the war, all but one of whom owe their deaths directly or indi- 
 rectly to the service. In the following pages brief memorial sketches 
 of these officers will be found. Could it have been, I would gladly 
 have printed here a sketch of the dead of rank and file also, but no 
 record has been kept, and it is now impossible. But the figures given 
 above tell their story more eloquently than I could have done. No 
 record of commissions issued, no personal mention in official reports, 
 no detailed biographies preserve their memories, yet the highest of 
 earthly honor is theirs, in that they gave up homes and loved ones, 
 not 'for glory, not for personal advancement, but for Freedom and for 
 Fatherland. 
 
 In compiling these sketches, I have been struck with the extreme 
 youth of most of our officers. The oldest at death was Lieut. Emery 
 who died at forty-four, though but thirty-five when he enlisted. Capt. 
 Willard who enlisted and died at thirty-nine, was the oldest at muster- 
 in. The youngest at death was Lieut. Hart, aged nineteen years and 
 
three months, though Capt. Bartlett who survived him a year and 
 died at nineteen years and seven months was the youngest of us all, 
 enlisting as a private on his seventeenth birth-day, and winning his 
 way to a captaincy in two and a half years. 
 
 In the preparation of these memorials the writer has been greatly 
 assisted by several of his old comrades, and by relatives of the de- 
 ceased. To Mrs. Gen. Joseph R. Hawley he is especially indebted 
 for the sketch of her brother, Lieut. Foote. 
 
 H. P. G. 
 
 Hartford. Conn.. Sept. 17, 1872. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 Capt. JARVIS E. BLINN, whose name heads our roll of honor, 
 as the first of all our officers that fell, was a man of fine personal 
 presence and one whose face had a peculiar attraction to the physi- 
 ognomist from its expression cf quiet but earnest resolve, tinged " with 
 a dash of sadness in his air," that would lead such an one to believe 
 he was one of those who had prescience of the shadow" of the dark 
 angel who was so soon to take him from us. Capt. Blinn was born 
 at Rocky Hill, July 28, 1836. He resided there till 1853, when he 
 removed to New Britain and engaged in rule making. August 8th, 
 1862, he enlisted in the company then organizing in New Britain for 
 the 14th regiment. He was unanimously chosen captain and com- 
 missioned as such August 15, — left the State at the head of his com- 
 pany August 25, and was constantly at his post until the 17th of Sep- 
 tember, when, early in the day, just as his company was being ordered 
 to fall back from their somewhat advanced position on the battle 
 field, a bullet struck him, passing through the heart. He made the 
 single exclamation : " I am a dead man !" and died instantly. 
 
 His remains were taken to New Britain where funeral services 
 were held from the Center Church, Oct. 14, 1862, an address being 
 delivered by Rev. C. L. Goodell. After the services the remains 
 were escorted by one of the largest processions ever seen in the town, 
 to Rocky Hill, where another short service was held in the Congre- 
 gational Church in that town. The procession then filed to the beau- 
 tifully located cemetery, and the body of our comrade w r as committed 
 to its native dust with Masonic honors. 
 
 His company which in one brief month of service had learned to 
 love him tenderly, passed fitting resolutions of respect to Ins memory, 
 as did the officers of the regiment — conjointly witli those adopted on 
 the death of Capt. Willard. I cannot close the Memorial of Capt. 
 Blinn more appropriately than by quoting the words of one who I 
 regret to say did not furnish me with his or her name, who, in reply 
 
to the query in my circular asking for a memoranda of " important 
 events of his life," replies : 
 
 "I know of.no important incidents in his life. I only know that 
 he was faithful and true in all the relations of life, winning his way 
 by his own merit to the affection and confidence of all who knew him. 
 With an earnest devotion to his country, he gave himself " willing to 
 die if need be, for the good cause." 
 
 Cai>tain SAMUEL F. WILLARD was born in Madison, 
 Conn., November 22, 1822. In that pretty and quiet New England 
 village he passed his life, engaged in mercantile operations until his 
 enlistment into the 14th regiment, August 1, 1862. He had for some 
 years prior to the Avar commanded an independent militia company 
 in Madison, and at the outbreak of the war in 1861, was anxious to 
 enlist, but was persuaded by his family that his duty lay at home. 
 But at the second call for troops lie said to his loved wife, u 1 feel 
 that it is God who bids me go. Can you say no?" He then called 
 upon his company and townsfolk to form a company for the war. 
 The ranks were quickly filled with the best and bravest of the youth 
 of the town, and he was unanimously chosen their captain. March- 
 ing with them to camp at Hartford. Capt. Willard was constantly 
 with his men, till he fell in th first tight of the regiment at Antietam 
 on that memorable 17th of September, 1802. Early in the day. 
 while gallantly leading his men into the thick of the fray, he was 
 shot and fell unconscious. Before he ceased to breathe, he was picked 
 up by his brother-in-law, private Bradley, who afterwards became a 
 Lieutenant and died of his wounds, but his spirit soon fled, and his 
 body was born to Kedysville, Md., whence it was transferred to Madi- 
 son, where the funeral services were held from the Congregational 
 Church, with military and Masonic honors, on the 23d of September. 
 A relative of Capt. Willard, who furnishes the incidents of his life 
 writes: M Capt. Willard possessed a warm and generous heart, and those 
 who knew him best loved him best. About the age of 30 he became 
 a loving child of the loving Jesus, and from that time the whole 
 course of his life was changed. He was literally ready for any good 
 work. Upon his body when he died was found a diary in which he 
 recorded lead pencil notes that lie forwarded to his wife from time to 
 
\ 
 
 time. The record is very interesting, and shows a most earnest faith 
 and trust in a Divine Providence." We regret that we have space 
 for but two quotations from it. September loth, he writes : 
 
 Monday Morning, ^ 
 
 Middletotvn Vallet, Sept. 15, 1862. \ 
 
 These may be my last words ; if so, they are these : I have full faith. 
 in Jesus Christ my Saviour ; I do not regret that I have fallen in 
 defence of my country ; I have loved you truly and know (hat you 
 have loved me, and in leaving this world of sin I go to another and 
 better one, where I am confident I shall meet you. I freely forgive 
 all my enemies, and a?k them for Christ's sake to forgive me. If my 
 body should ever reach home, let there be no' ceremony; I ask no 
 higher honor than to die for my country — lay me silently in the grave, 
 imitate my virtues, and forgive all my errors. 
 
 I prefer death in the cause of my country, to life in sympathy with 
 its enemies. 
 
 The last entry is dated Wednesday morning the 17th. It closes 
 " I pray God we may be successful, and that you may see me again 
 
 Here the pencil notes close suddenly, for the battle had even then, 
 commenced, and the soldier dropped the pencil to gird on his sword 
 and to lead his comrades into the conflict, in which in one brief hour 
 he gave up his life. 
 
 Of the two petitions in his last recorded prayer, one has been 
 vouchsafed us, God has granted us success. Let us hope and prajr 
 that the other petition may be granted not only to the wife to whom 
 it was specially addressed, but to all of us his comrades, and that we 
 may all see him again in the land immortal, 
 " The beautiful of lands." 
 
 Second Lieutenant GEORGE H. CROSBY was born at Barn- 
 stable, Mass., Nov. 23d, 1840. In 1850, he removed with his 
 parents to Middle Haddam, Conn., where he resided until his enlist- 
 ment. As a school boy he gave great promise. One of his former 
 teachers writes, " I remember distinctly the enthusiasm and spirit of 
 perseverance with which he pursued his studies. He was ever anxious 
 to improve." Leaving school he was employed as a clerk in Middle 
 2 
 
 
10 
 
 Haddam, but continuing a course of study after two unsuccessful at- 
 tempts to get an appointment to West Point, entered Wesleyan 
 University, in Middletown, in the Fall of 1861. Having decided 
 military predilections, he joined the Mansfield Guard of Middletown, 
 and there studied the tactics. 
 
 In the summer of 1802, he decided that his country needed his 
 services, and to a dearly loved mother loath to part with him said : 
 "I feel it is my duty to go." Opening recruiting offices in Middle- 
 town and Middle Haddam, he took a squad of men to the camp of 
 the 14th, at Hartford, where he was chosen 2d Lieutenant of Co. K 
 — with rank from Aug. 18th, 18G2. 
 
 Marching with his regiment to Washington, Lieut. Crosby was left 
 with a large guard over the camp at Arlington, when the regiment 
 marched up to Fort Ethan Allen. The government not supplying 
 sufficient rations, he purchased them for his men from his own limited 
 means, declining to be repaid by them. When the regiment 
 marched from Ethan Allen on the Maryland campaign, he rose from 
 a sick bed in the hospital to join and march with his company. A 
 letter written about this time from Sergeant Goodwin of his company 
 (killed later in the war), to his friends, praises his coolness under 
 fire, and states that his men were growing very fond of him. 
 
 During the battle of Antietam, Crosby was walking from one end 
 of his company to the other, encouraging his men, when a bullet 
 struck him in the side, passing through his lungs just in front of the 
 spine, and lodging on the opposite side just under the skin. He was 
 carried back to hospital, and in a few days sent home. Dr. A. B. 
 Wortriington, of Middle Haddam, who attended him during his illness, 
 writes us, " From this time to his death, he was a great but a very 
 patient sufferer." 
 
 He talked much of his country during his illness, and but little of 
 himself. He died, Oct. 22d, 18G2, and was buried the 24th of the 
 same month, from the Episcopal Church in Middle Haddam. Rev. 
 Dr. De Koven preached a funeral sermon from Ezekiel, xxxvii, 3. 
 "And he said unto me, Son of Man, can these bones live." Presi- 
 dent Cummings, of Wesleyan University, added a eulogy, and a series 
 of resolutions by the class of '65, at the university, was read. The 
 funeral was attended by the Mansfield Guard, his classmates at 
 Middletown, and a large number of his townsmen. And so they laid 
 him by the smooth Mowing Connecticut, whose waters murmur a gen- 
 tle requiem for the fair haired, frank-hearted lad we loved so well. 
 His name, with those of seventeen other Wesleyan students who 
 
11 
 
 gave their lives to their country, is emblazoned in gold and silver 
 letters on a plate of ruby glass in that beautiful freestone memorial 
 chapel recently completed on the college grounds at Middletown. Yet 
 gold and silver and ruby and freestone shall moulder and crumble 
 away, but the memory of the dead who died in that red strife for 
 freedom and country, shall remain while endures the love of Liberty, 
 Truth, and Right. 
 
 Second Lieutenant DAVID E. CANFIELD, was born in 
 Newark, New Jersey, probably in the year 1839, as he was down on 
 his company muster-roll as twenty-three years of age at enlistment, 
 July 16, 1862. 
 
 Of his early life I have gleaned a few incidents from an uncle in 
 Middletown, Conn., of whom he learned his trade as a marble carver. 
 It seems that as a lad he exhibited a rare taste for drawing, and once 
 when quite a little fellow, made an equestrian drawing of Gen. Scott, 
 during the visit of that old hero to Newark. Some days after, on 
 some public occasion, his father presented the lad and the picture to 
 the General, who inspected, commended, and wrote his autograph 
 upon its back, and returned it to the father, who values it now as a 
 doubly precious relic. At his trade his taste was so promisingly 
 called into play that his master and fellow workmen feel very sure 
 that he would have won eminence in his vocation. After five years 
 labor in Middletown, he removed to New Haven, where the call for 
 the 1 4th aroused his patriotism and rekindled an old fondness for mili- 
 tary life, and he returned to Middletown to enlist under Lieut. Cros- 
 by, in Company K of the 14th. 
 
 To a favorite cousin, in whose album he drew a picture of a delicate 
 bouquet as a parting memorial of himself, he remarked that she 
 might rest assured that he would win distinction or lose his life. 
 Little did she think that within five months he would do both. Can- 
 field was made 1st sergeant of his company ere it left the State, and 
 Nov. 11,1862, was promoted to be 2d Lieutenant of B Company, 
 which was almost entirely composed of Middletown boys. During 
 his brief connection with this company, he won their love and respect, 
 as he had that of Company K before. The night of December 12, 
 1862, Lieut. Canfield, Capt. Gibbons, Capt. (then Lieut.) Sherman, 
 
12 
 
 and the writer, occupied the same quarters in a shot-ridden house in 
 the then just captured city of Fredericksburg. Never shall I forget 
 tin- Bcene as Capt. Gibbons read to us from an old Bible found in the 
 house, till the flickering fire-light by which he read died out, and bid- 
 ding us each good-night, with a reminder that it might be our last 
 good-night, he retired. Gibbons was in his sweetest mood that night, 
 and Canfield made many anxious inquiries as to his views of life and 
 death, and announcing his willingness to lace the grim conqueror for 
 the sake of his country and God, relapsed into silence. That was our 
 last night together. 
 
 In the terrible carnage of the next day's charges up Marye's 
 Heights, Gibbons fell mortally wounded in the thigh, and while at- 
 tempting to carry him off the field, his lieutenant (Canfield) was shot 
 through the head, and fell dead on the field of honor. Others bore 
 off his captain, who died five days later ; but Lieut. Canfield had kept 
 his word andjmore than his word, for he had won death and distinc- 
 tion. His remains are supposed to have been buried on the battle- 
 field where he fell, and probably are among the bones of our boys in 
 the vast number of " unknown " on that fair green field of Fredericks- 
 burg, where the Rappahannock sings their lullaby, unmindful of 
 the many ancient strifes upon its banks ; and the tomb of Mary, 
 mother of Washington, is surrounded by the graves of thousands 
 who bravely fell to preserve the liberty transmitted to them by her 
 son. 
 
 Captain F.LIJAII W. GIBBONS, was born in New York city, 
 Nov. 29, 1831, but resided in Middletown, Conn., nearly all his life, 
 until his enlistment. His occupation was that of a cabinet maker 
 and painter. At the age of nineteen years lie united with the Bap- 
 tist church in Middletown, of which he ever remained an active and 
 consistent member. He was a very earnest worker in the Sabbath 
 School and at prayer meetings, and was accustomed to accompany his 
 pastor on his mission work to out-lying rural districts. The first call 
 for troops found him ready, and enlisting, May 22, 1861, in the 4th 
 Connecticut, , which afterwards became the 1st Connecticut Heavy 
 Artillery, he was elected 1st Lieutenant of Company G. He held 
 this position till May 6, 1862, when he resigned and returned to 
 Middletown, his regiment having, up to that time, had little but 
 
13 
 
 garrison duty. He had scarce resumed his old avocation when a new 
 call for troops aroused his desire to do something more for the good 
 cause, and he speedily enlisted a full company of the very best mate- 
 rial that Middletown ever gave to the country, of which he was 
 unanimously chosen captain — and a most faithful officer he proved. 
 His previous experience had taught him what men needed, and his 
 company was always well cared for. 
 
 A personal pride in dear old " B " Company doubtless affects my 
 judgment, but I think no survivor of the regiment but will agree 
 with me that no company in the regiment, all things considered, ever 
 looked or did much better. And this was owing to one man more 
 than any other, and that man was Elijah W. Gibbons. He showed 
 what could be done with and what should be done for men, and officers 
 and men should alike bless his memory. 
 
 From the time the regiment left Hartford until his mortal wound, 
 he was never absent from his company a day. He led them gal- 
 lantly at Antietam, where, by a quick flank movement of his com- 
 pany, he enabled the regiment to capture a large posse of rebels in 
 the famous Roulette house. 
 
 At Fredericksburg he was advancing courageously with the regi- 
 ment, when a rebel ball shattered his thigh, and he fell. He was 
 picked up by the men who loved him so dearly, and conveyed to the 
 Falmouth side of the river, where he lingered in great suffering but 
 sweet resignation for six days — until the 19th of December — when 
 he died. His body was interred with military honors by his regi- 
 ment, but subsequently was removed to Middletown, where funeral 
 services were held from the Baptist church of which he was a mem- 
 ber, January 3, 1863. 
 
 Capt. Gibbons' death was a great blow to his family, who idolized 
 him, and to a large circle at home, but his company and his fellow- 
 officers missed his influence and example sadly, and at our regi- 
 mental re-unions, years after his death, we somehow feel as if we 
 needed him with us. But if he cannot come to us let us trust that 
 it may be our fate to meet with him at that greatest of all re-unions, 
 in the sphere 
 
 " Where all is made right that so puzzles us here." 
 
14 
 
 Second Lieutenant WM. A. COMES, was bom, as near as I 
 can learn, at Danbury, Conn., or Binghamton, N. Y., about 1836. 
 Hi- <-arly life was passed at Binghamton, where he was an officer 
 of a Sunday School and a Temperance Society. Here he had a large 
 circle of friends. I have been able to learn little of his career, but 
 the war found him a stone-cutter in New Haven, at the time of his 
 enlistment, June 12th, 1862, as quartermaster-sergeant of the 14th. 
 He was selected for this position by quartermaster Dibble, who knew 
 his ability to till the position, being a fellow-townsman. As he was 
 one of the first to go into Camp Foote, his position on the non-com- 
 missioned staff threw him into intimate relations with the writer, 
 and who was his tentmate till both were commissioned 2d Lieut- 
 enants, Sept. 17th, 1862. Comes was assigned to Co. F, and at 
 once entered into a thorough study of the duties of his position. He 
 was rapidly acquiring this knowledge, and the esteem and affection 
 of the company, when in the terrible charges at Fredericksburg, he 
 was mortally wounded in the groin. He limped back to hospital, 
 and there, apparently forgetful of his own wound, he was helping 
 others, when the writer and his (Comes') nearest friend Drum 
 Major McCarthy, summoned the surgeon to examine the wound. 
 The doctor at once pronounced the case a critical one. For a while 
 we hoped for his recovery, but the wound grew more painful, and on 
 the 14th he became delirious, and continued so for eight days after 
 the battle, till the 21st December, when he died in hospital on the 
 north side of the Rappahannock. His brother officers buried him 
 at Falmouth, with military honors, but the remains were subsequently 
 removed to the Grove street Cemetery, in New Haven, and there 
 buried. A monumeni is now (1872), about to be erected to his 
 memory by the Sons of Temperance, in New Haven. From the 
 intimate personal knowledge I had of Lieutenant Comes, I can testify 
 that he was a pure and honest man. Not brilliant or dashing, he 
 was faithful and anxious to do well whatever was set him to do. His 
 letters written from the field bear evidence of this. As I look back 
 over these years that have, passed, and think of {unfaithfulness in all 
 things committed to him, I think of the promise made to the faithful 
 servant, by 
 
 " That monarch whose ' well done ' confers a more than mortal fame." 
 
15 
 
 First Lieutenant THEODORE A. STANLEY, was born 
 July 22d, 1833, at New Britain, Conn., being the son of Mr. 
 Henry Stanley, one of a family who have been for years among the 
 most prominent manufacturers of that progressive-in-all-good-works 
 little city. After completing his education, he went to New York, 
 where he remained learning the mercantile business, until the age of 
 twenty-three, when he returned to his home to take a position in an 
 important manufacturing business to which he devoted his entire time 
 and energy, up to the date of his enlistment, July 15th, 1862. 
 Nothing but an earnest conviction of his duty impelled him to enlist 
 at the sacrifice of most promising business interests, but he unflinch- 
 ingly chose the path of duty, and throwing his whole energy into the 
 organization of the New Britain Company, in the 14th, was chosen 
 2d Lieutenant thereof. His health and physical condition were illy 
 suited to the hardships he was to undergo, but he bore his part 
 quietly and nobly to the end. His captain (Blinn), falling at Antie- 
 tam, where Stanley distinguished himself by his coolness in discharge 
 of his duties, Lt. Moore was promoted Captain, and Stanley was com- 
 missioned 1st Lieutenant, with rank from the day of the battle, Sept. 
 17th, 1862. 
 
 At the battle of Fredericksburg, he was in command of his com- 
 pany (the captain being on detached service at the time), and led his 
 men in that grand charge on the rebel batteries on Marye's Heights, 
 when the storm of shot, shell, grape, and cannister, blackened the air 
 for hours. In this charge Lieutenant Stanley fell mortally wounded 
 by a musket ball through the lungs. While being carried back to 
 the city in expectation of immediate death, he told his comrades to 
 leave him on the field, and take care of themselves. But he sur- 
 vived to be removed across the river, and afterward to Armory 
 Square Hospital, at Washington, where, after eighteen days of suf- 
 fering, much of which was intense, yet which could not shake his 
 trust in the Saviour in whom he believed, his life ebbed out with the 
 dying year, on the 31st December, 1862. His body was removed 
 to New Britain, where he was buried with military honors. The 
 funeral services were held from the South church, which was filled 
 to its utmost capacity by his friends and fellow-citizens, mindful of 
 his worth and services. Lieutenant Stanley was very quiet and re- 
 ticent with strangers, and was not well known to many in the regi- 
 ment, but his Colonel truly said : " He was always found to the front," 
 and the officers and men of his own company testify to his uniform 
 regard for their comfort and welfare. 
 
16 
 
 Captain ISAAC R. BRONSON was born at Middlebury, Conn., 
 Mav 22, 1826. His father was Hon. Leonard Bronson, a prominent 
 citizen of that town. Isaac early left his home and was engaged as 
 a clerk, 6rs1 in Watertown, then Guilford, and later in Rochester, 
 N. Y. In 1849, he removed to Waterbury, where he was engaged in 
 the book Belling and book binding business. In 1856, he removed to 
 New Haven, where he was extensively engaged in the manufacture 
 of daguerreotype case*: At the outbreak of the war, he was anxious 
 to enlist at once, but his duty to his wife and young family of children 
 caused him to defer the duty until the disasters of the Peninsular 
 campaign satisfied him that to go was his highest duty. He threw 
 his whole soul into the organization of Co. I of the 14th, and suc- 
 ceeded after much difficulty. He was commissioned captain August 
 19, 1862. At Antietam and Fredericksburg his company suffered 
 severely, but their captain won a reputation for devotion to his duty 
 that earned him the respect of the regiment. In the retreat after the 
 fruitless bloody charges up Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg, Capt. 
 Bronson stopped to give water to the wounded and to help remove 
 them to less exposed positions under the terrific fire that was rag- 
 ing. Tims engaged, he came upon Capt. Gibbons, who, lying on the 
 field with a broken thigh, asked his assistance. In company with 
 Lieut. Canfield, the captain undertook to carry him off, when Canfield 
 was ^hot through the head and fell dead. Capt. Bronson called two 
 men to help him, and they had just resumed their burden when one 
 was shot and the other ran. Seeking for others, Capt. Bronson 
 himself received a slight wound across the lower part of the bowels. 
 In this fight he had fifteen bullet holes in his clothes. 
 
 In April, 1863, Capt. Bronson had a ten days' leave and visited 
 his family returning in time for the battle at Chancellorville, May 1st, 
 2d, and 3d. In this battle a bullet struck his right shoulder, shatter- 
 ing the bone into fragments. Our devoted Surgeons (and as a regiment 
 we were very fortunate in the Surgeons of our staff) did all in their 
 power for him. He was conveyed on a litter to the hospital at Po- 
 tomac Creek, where he lingered till June 2d, 1863, when he breathed 
 his last with wife and brother by his side, and in a triumphant hope 
 for thi' hereafter. His last connected words were: "Death is nothing 
 to the glory beyond.*' His body was embalmed, and in accordance 
 with Ins last request conveyed to Middlebury, bis native place, where 
 it was interred. 
 
 His funeral was held with military honors, a very large concourse 
 being in attendance. Rev. S. W. Magill of Waterbury preached the 
 
17 
 
 memorial sermon, a remarkably able and appropriate one. The no- 
 tices in the Waterbury American and the resolutions passed by the 
 officers of the 1 4th were deeply sympathetic, but perhaps the best 
 tribute to his memory was that of his old Lieutenant, Capt. Samuel 
 Fi.-kc, who in one of bis letters to the Springfield Republican, now 
 published on page 1G.3 of the book entitled "Dunn Browne in the 
 Army," sums up the career of Capt. Bronson in words that honor 
 both the dead soldier and the writer so soon to follow his friend. 
 Capt. Bronson was very nervous and impulsive, and not a man that 
 w r ould be always popular. Yet I doubt if any man in the 14th was 
 more truly a Christian than he. The very day of the Chancellor- 
 ville battle, when he had been repeating numerous tales of disaster 
 with flushed cheeks, I said : " Captain, I wonder you, with such a keen 
 sense of peril, are not a coward ; but the past has shown me that you 
 are not. What is it that sustains you ?" His reply was slowly and 
 solemnly uttered : " It is nothing on earth but my faith in Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 Next morning I saw him leading his men gallantly in the strug- 
 gle in that vast wilderness. The same afternoon I spoke to him as 
 he lay wounded in the hospital when he exclaimed: "I would give 
 this shattered arm to be leading my men once more." 
 
 Looking back at his life at this distance of time, when nine sum- 
 mers have gone by, I am impressed by the memory of his dying 
 words to think that our whole army experience should solemnly re- 
 echo in our hearts those words : " Death is nothing to the glory be- 
 yond." 
 
 Second Lieutenant EDWARD W. HART, was born at 
 Madison, Conn., October 2d, 1844. He was educated at that town 
 except that he spent a single year at the celebrated Williston Semi- 
 nary, Eastbampton, Mass. His home life in Madison was quiet and 
 uneventful, as he was hardly free from school when he enlisted. Yet 
 in the delightful home circle of which he was a member, his tender 
 amiability and Christian principle made him, the only son, very dear 
 to his parents and sisters ; and the people of his town have most 
 pleasant recollections of the brave yet gentle lad. Enlisting August 
 18th, 18G2, in Company G, of the 14th, he was made a corporal and 
 3 
 
18 
 
 mustered into service as such. He followed the fortunes of the regi- 
 ment through its long and weary marches, and the battles of Freder- 
 iekslnuy, (liancellorville, Gettysburg, Bristoe, Auburn, and Mine 
 Run. The only battle he missed was Antietam, he having been left 
 on a sick bed at Fort Ethan Allen a week before. He was made 
 sergeant February 1th, 1863, and November 5th of the same year 
 commissioned second Lieutenant. When the regiment went into camp 
 at Stevensburg, Virgin ; a, he was taken ill, of diphtheria, and removed 
 to the regimental hospital, where, after a short illness, his delicate 
 constitution gave-way to the disease, and he died Jan. 2d, 18G4. His 
 remains were removed to Madison, and buried there on the 11th of 
 the same month. His fellow soldiers passed appropriate resolutions 
 of respect to his memory, and brief memorials by comrades were 
 published in the New Haven papers, and Brooklyn (N. Y.) Union, 
 and Conn. War Record. 
 
 It was my fortune for some time to command the company to 
 which Lieut. Hart was attached, and I can most cheerfully testify 
 that he was ever brave, prompt, and faithful in his duties as an officer, 
 a soldier, a gentleman, and a Christian. Incidents of his gallantry, of 
 his tenderness for his men, of his loathing for meanness of any kind, 
 rise up in my thoughts as I write, but his memory needs no pean 
 from me to be dear to his comrades. I last saw him New Year's 
 day, 1864, when I found him in the bleak tent that was then our hos- 
 pital. I said, " "Well, Eddy, I hope you will be at home soon." He 
 replied, with a sad, sweet smile, " I do not think I shall ever be able 
 to reach Connecticut." I little dreamed that he was then so near the 
 home for which he was so well prepared, and to which his spirit so 
 soon fled. And so we drop a tear on the grave of 
 
 " The youngest, the noblest, the bravest of us all." 
 
 Fikst Lif.it, NANT FREDERICK E. SCIIALK, was born 
 January 6th, 1888, at Monsheim, Hesse Darmstadt, Germany. The 
 date of his removal with his parents to America, we do not learn, 
 but only know that it was at an early age ; that prior to his residence 
 in Norwich, he lived for a time at Dncasville, in the same county, 
 For some years before (he war he lived in Norwich, as a clerk in a 
 
19 
 
 grocery store. At the outbreak of the war, he enlisted with young 
 Nickels, of whom he was ever a close friend, in Capt. (now Gen.) 
 Ilarlaud's company of the 3d Connecticut. He served very credita- 
 bly in the three months' campaign, and then returned to his old em- 
 ployer in Norwich. Soon after his return he joined the Broadway 
 Congregational church, in Norwich. He was one of the first to enlist 
 in the 14th — May 27th, 1862 — still accompanying Nickels, who came 
 into the same company — E. Just before the regiment marched he 
 was married to a lady in Lebanon, Conn. He was made a sergeant 
 before the company left the State, promoted to be second lieutenant 
 May 16, 1863, and to a first lieutenancy, November 5th. 
 
 In all the battles, skirmishes, and marches of the regiment, he bore 
 his part honorably and well, never flinching from any post of honor 
 or danger. Of vigorous constitution and energetic yet cheerful dis- 
 position, he was ever ready for duty, for danger, or for fun and frolic. 
 These cmalities made him a great favorite, and somehow it seemed 
 as if harm could never come to him. Yet in the terrific carnage of 
 Spottsykania, where the dear old 2d Corps, to which the 14th was 
 attached, covered itself with glory by its brilliant charges, Schalk was 
 stricken down by a bullet. He was removed to the 2d Corps hos- 
 pital, at Fredericksburg, where, in plain view of the old battle-field 
 of Dec. 13th, 1862, he ebbed away his life-blood and died, May 21st, 
 1864; dying cheerfully and calmly, despite the absence of the dear 
 ones at home for whom he longed. Perhaps, as he heard the little 
 birds singing in the beautiful May morning, and looked out upon that 
 bloody battle-field of six months before, where the rapidly springing 
 up green grass showed that Nature speedily repaired man's devasta- 
 tions, the roll of the guns of the contending armies a few miles 
 away ceased to echo in his ears, and with the recollection of those 
 divine words, " Not even a sparrow falleth to the ground without his 
 knowledge," fears for the future of his dear wife passed away, and 
 his spirit fled to the land " where the wicked cease from troubling, 
 and the weary are at rest." 
 
 The remains were taken home and the funeral held from the Baptist 
 church in Lebanon, on Sunday, June 5th. There was a very large at- 
 tendance from the town, the surrounding country, and from Norwich, 
 including some of the officers of his regiment. The funeral sermon 
 was delivered by Rev. Mr. Cunningham, from Genesis v. 24, and 
 was pertinent and applicable. The remains having been embalmed, 
 his friends were enabled to gaze upon the face of the young hero ere 
 his coilin was closed. His sword rested upon the coffin, surmounted 
 
20 
 
 by wreaths of flowers. The body was escorted to the grave by the 
 Norwich Light Infantry, his fellow-officers acting as bearers. The 
 farewell volleys having been fired over the grave of him who had 
 given his life so cheerfully for the cause of freedom in an adopted 
 country, we left him 
 
 " With his vounjr fame about him for a shroud." 
 
 Captain SAMUEL FISKE. Born in Shelburne, Mass., July 23d, 
 1828, and dying at Fredericksburg, Va., May 23d, 18G4, Samuel 
 Fiske lived a life so full of valuable lessons and so replete with 
 stirring action, that it is simply impossible to begin to do him justice 
 in the brief limits assigned to each of our fallen comrades. Hence I 
 can but give the dry dates of the events thereof. A bright, lively, 
 restless, loving and beloved lad, he entered Amherst College in 1844. 
 The youngest and smallest of his class, he at once sprang to its 
 head as a scholar. He graduated in 1848, with the second honor — the 
 Salutatory — his Professors saying that he only lost the first honor by 
 the necessity which comp lied him to labor outside during the whole 
 course to earn the wherewithal to pay for his education. In his 
 Sophomore year he became interested in religion, and made a public 
 profession of his faith. After graduation he taught two years, 
 and then became a Tutor at Amherst for three years. During 
 this time he was licensed to preach. In 1855 he resigned his tutor- 
 ship, and spent a year in Europe and the East. He traveled in com- 
 pany with a party of educated professors, and chronicled the journey 
 in the Springfield Republican, under the non de plume of " Dunn 
 Browne," which he ever afterward retained. These letters were af- 
 terward published in book form, as were later those that he wrote to 
 the same newspaper during the war — and delightful volumes are they 
 both. 
 
 Soon after his return from Europe he was called and settled over 
 the Congregational church at Madison, Conn. His ministry was 
 marked by the same originality and independence of action that al- 
 ways characterized him, and his people were at first surprised at his 
 ready wit and humor, but soon found out that beneath it all lay a 
 willingness for earnest work, and a desire for their greatest real good, 
 with a true consecration to his work. In a seven years' pastorate he 
 won the affection of his people, so that when the earnest patriot re- 
 
21 
 
 solved that his duty to his country in peril was even higher than that 
 to his people at such a time, it wrung their hearts to part with him. 
 
 Enlisting as a private in Company I of the 14th, the Company in 
 organizing elected him 2d Lieutenant, and he was commissioned as 
 such, August 19th, 1862. He passed safely through Antietam, 
 bearing the baptism of fire with perfect calmness. He rose from a 
 sick bed to take part in the battle of Fredericksburg, but was pre- 
 vented from reaching it in time. Dec. 20, 18G2, he was commissioned 
 1st Lieutenant, and January 19, 18G3, Captain of Co. G, from his 
 own town of Madison. At the battle of Chancellorville he was cap- 
 tured while serving on Gen. Carroll's Staff, and taken to Libby 
 Prison. He was released in time to take part at Gettysburg, where 
 he did gallant service in his Staff position. He was in all the battles 
 of the corps in 18G3, and returning to the line of his Regiment that 
 fall, had the pleasure of a visit from his family in his winter-quar- 
 ters — procuring a leave to escort them home to Madison. Returning 
 to the Regiment he declined the Chaplaincy, preferring to share all the 
 possible perils to come to his own townsmen in their immediate com- 
 pany. He foresaw the probable bloodshed of the opening campaign 
 of 18G4, and his last act ere crossing the Rapidan, was to partake of 
 the Communion service with his fellow disciples. A sadness unusual 
 to him marked his demeanor in the march, and in the first great 
 struggle in the AVilderness he was mortally wounded while standing 
 in the very fore front of the fray. Suffering severely in the removal, 
 he was taken to the hospital at Fredericksburg, where all that could 
 be was done. His family were summoned and were with him to the 
 end, which came at last, May 23d, 1864. The whole story of that 
 last fortnight of his life is as impressive a sermon as I ever read. 
 His cheerful disposition, genial humor, earnest patriotism, and religious 
 enthusiasm, all continued to the very last, and leads us to fully un- 
 derstand how Gen. Carroll, tearfully bewailing him, could say that if 
 all Christians were like him, few could resist the claims of religion. 
 
 The body was taken to Madison by a committee of his parishioners. 
 Here a funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Win. T. Eustis, of New 
 Haven. Thence the remains were removed to Shelburne Falls, his 
 native place, where on the Sunday eve one week from his death they 
 were buried. Professor W. S. Tyler, of Amherst, preached a sermon 
 tender with personal grief. Many memorials have been published, 
 and his own books perpetuate his memory. That our loss was great 
 we know, for I think I say that in which our comrades will all agree, 
 when I say, that among all our dead officers and men, not one was 
 
22 
 
 more missed or mourned than the self-made student, the Christian 
 clergyman, and fearless soldier, Samuel Fiske. 
 
 " There gleams a coronet of light around our hero's brow, 
 But of far purer radiance than monarch can bestow ; 
 He takes his place among' his peers. His peers ! And who are they? 
 Princes of yon celestial spheres, whom angel-hosts obey. 
 The heralds have made search, and found his lineage of the best, 
 He stands among the sons of God, a son of God confessed." 
 
 First Lieutenant HENRY W. WADHAMS, was one of the 
 three stalwart, manly sons of Edwin Wadhams, of Litchfield, Conn., 
 all of whom enlisted in the struggle for our nation's life when it was 
 assailed by the demon of secession, and to all of whom applied the 
 grand old epitapli of La Tour DAuvergne, " Died on the field of 
 honor," as all three of them were shot in battle. Sergeant Edward 
 Wadhams, of the 8th Connecticut, was killed in the assault on Fort 
 Darling, May 16, 1864. Capt. Luman Wadhams, of the 2d Connec- 
 ticut artillery, was mortally wounded at Cold Harbor, February 2d, 
 1864, and died two days later. 
 
 Our comrade, Henry W. Wadhams, was born August 14, 1831. 
 The war found him a machinist, at Waterbury, where he enlisted 
 July 4th, 1862, in company C of the 14th. He was made Sergeant 
 Aug. 4th, commissioned 2d Lieutenant Dec. 25th, and Nov. 5th, 1863, 
 promoted to be 1st Lieutenant. He passed through all our engage- 
 ments unharmed, until May 26th, 1864, he was called upon to lead 
 his last charge, when four small companies of the regiment assailed an 
 angle of the enemy's works on the south side of the North Anna river. 
 While gallantly cheering on his men he fell mortally wounded inside 
 the rebel works. After dark he was borne inside our lines, where, 
 after a few hours of great suffering, during which he complained not 
 for himself but mourned for his wife and child ; he died and was 
 buried near the river. 
 
 It is the universal testimony of all who knew Sergeant Wadhams, that 
 he enlisted simply and solely from convictions of duty. Of strong 
 domestic feeling, it was very hard for him to sunder home ties, but he 
 did it when duly called him. And his whole military career was marked 
 by the same loyal devotion to duty that marks all lives of which in 
 the end it can be said that they were worth the living. The love for 
 
23 
 
 freedom that he drew in, with the fresh inspiring air of the Litchfield 
 hills, carried him through, unflinchingly, to his grave by the Virginia 
 river side. A noble granite monument to the three brothers has heen 
 erected in the Litchfield Cemetery, and the simple name "Wadhams" 
 inscribed thereon is a nobler heritage to their children than that em- 
 blazoned in many a book of heraldry. 
 
 Captain WILLIAM II. HAWLEY was born at Bridgeport, 
 Oct. 5th, 1840. He resided in Bridgeport until July, 1862, when he 
 threw up an excellent position as a book-keeper to enlist as a private 
 in Co. A of the 14th, in which his brother, Lieut. F. B. Hawley, was 
 then orderly sergeant. He was speedily made a sergeant, and 
 thrice in the same year promoted, to 2d lieutenant May 16, 1863 ; 1st 
 lieutenant, Sept. 27 ; and captain, Nov. 16. His ability and soldierly 
 bearing attracted the attention of his general officers, and he was de- 
 tailed first upon Col. Carroll's staff, then as brigade inspector upon 
 the staff of Gen. Thomas A. Smythe, 2d brigade, 3d division, 2d 
 corps, the 14th regiment being one of the brigade. Always faithful 
 and efficient when with the regiment, Capt. Hawley won further dis- 
 tinction as a staff officer, and a promising career seemed opening be- 
 fore him, when, in the severe engagement at Reams' Station, on the 
 Weldon railroad, August 25th, 1864, he Avas shot through the head 
 while directing the skirmish line. He fell from his horse, breathed 
 two or three times and expired. His body was embalmed and sent 
 home to Bridgeport. The city government passed appropriate reso- 
 lutions, and assumed the arrangements for the funeral. The services 
 were held from the South Congregational Church (of which he was 
 a member,) conducted by Rev. Dr. Hewitt and Rev. Alexander R. 
 Thompson, of New York. A military escort was in attendance, min- 
 ute guns were fired, and all the church bells tolled. 
 
 From a letter, from a dear friend of Capt. Hawley, I make the 
 following extracts : 
 
 "His chief characteristics were an even, unruffled temper, a noble, 
 generous spirit, unspotted integrity, bravery and fearlessness in duty." 
 * * * " His was a whole hearted consecration, and had he known to 
 a certainty that he would be killed I think he would not have hesitated 
 a moment at the sacrifice." Two incidents of his career here nar- 
 
24 
 
 rntcd mark these qualities : " Col. Carroll being wounded was released 
 from duty and went to his home in Philadelphia. lie wanted Capt. 
 Hawley to go with him, and he was at liberty to go and thus have an 
 opportunity of visiting his much loved home, but he declined the 
 tempting offer feeling that he was more needed at his post of duty 
 and danger. On another occasion he declined an honorable but less 
 dangerous position than the one he held, being unwilling to even ap- 
 pear to shrink from duty." That the writer has not over-praised him 
 We all know, and the resolutions passed on his death by his brother 
 officers testify that he died as he had lived, "An heroic Christian sol- 
 dier." 
 
 Second Lieutenant JAMES M. MOORE, was born in Ver- 
 mont, in 1831, 1 judge, from his reporting himself to be thirty-one 
 years old at first muster. He early removed to Massachusetts and to 
 Vernon, Conn., finally settling in the village of Broadbrook, in the 
 town of East Windsor. He worked at farming and in a mill, but 
 winters devoted his time to teaching, being one winter Principal of 
 the East Windsor Academy. In East Windsor, he seems to have 
 gathered from the strongly orthodox seminary influences that made 
 his character firm and true. Enlisting in Co. E of the 14th, he was 
 made a corporal. For a long time he was detailed in the Commis- 
 sary Department. June 1G, 1864, he was recalled to the regiment 
 and commissioned second lieutenant. At the battle of Ream's Sta- 
 tion, Virginia, August 25, 1864, he was reported " missing in action," 
 and has never been seen since. For a long time his fate was in 
 doubt, and not till after the war was it ascertained certainly. 
 
 A letter from his brother-in-law states that since the war a prisoner 
 wrote his family that he, with Lieut. Moore and some others, went a 
 little in advance of the company to look over a hill and learn the 
 enemy's position, when they were fired upon from the rear by a party 
 of the rebels whose position had been concealed, and Lieut. Moore 
 and all but the writer, fell dead. 
 
 His Bible was sent his family by the U. S. Christian Commission. 
 
 Of quiet but serious temperament, Lieut. Moore's life was upright, 
 and conversation pure. Like Canfield and Bartholomew, he lies in 
 an unknown grave, but no member of the old 14th, living or dead, 
 can ever be " unknown " to us. 
 
25 
 
 First Lieutenant PERKINS BARTHOLOMEW, was born 
 at New London April 23d, 1841. He resided in that city, employed 
 as a carpenter, until his enlistment in Co. H of the 14th, July 11th, 
 1862. He was at once made a corporal, then a sergeant, and March 
 19th, 1864, commissioned as second lieutenant. His promotion to a 
 first lieutenancy came June 16, 1864. He was in every march and 
 engagement of the regiment from the time of his enlistment to his 
 death, which occurred at the battle of Boydton Plank Road, Oct. 27, 
 1864. 
 
 From a sister of the gallant young soldier, we learn that he en- 
 listed from a conviction of duty, and that he was naturally a mild, 
 timid youth. We all know that his courage was proven on so many 
 fields that this revelation of his character shows him to be one of 
 those true heroes who, knowing danger, face it. Lieut. Bartholomew 
 always felt that success would crown our arms, and looked forward 
 hopefully. When mortally wounded and lying in the rifle-pits, where 
 the regiment was compelled to leave him in its rapid movements, he 
 gave his accoutrements to a comrade, requesting him to "keep them" 
 unless " they should engage in a fight the next day. If so, not to 
 encumber himself, but to throw them away." This touching thought- 
 fullness for others in his own distress, marks the true unselfishness of 
 an heroic life, and makes us realize how much the war cost humanity. 
 The last words of the young lieutenant were, " Tell my mother I die 
 like a true soldier, fighting for my country." The officers of the 
 regiment, in which he was on the eve of promotion to a captaincy, in 
 their resolutions on his death, tenderly spoke of him as " a generous 
 and noble comrade, a gallant and faithful officer, a devoted and self- 
 sacrificing patriot, who fell at the head of his command, fighting in 
 defence of the flag he loved." 
 
 His remains were left upon the field and buried by the enemy. 
 
 Captain FRANKLIN A. BARTLETT was born June 21st, 
 1845, in Bridgeport, Conn. He resided in his native town attend- 
 ing school till the outbreak of the war found him a clerk in a store. 
 Always fond of military life, and anxious to serve his country, he 
 4 
 
26 
 
 enlisted in Co. A of the 14th, on his 17th birthday, June 21st, 1862. 
 Tlie writer well remembers him as one of the first men on the camp- 
 ground at old Camp Foote, in Hartford, where despite his extreme 
 youth (he was the youngest officer we ever had), his attention to, and 
 interest in his duties at once made him a favorite with his superior offi- 
 cers. Captain Merritt at once made him a sergeant, and he left the State 
 as such. He was with the regiment in all its campaigns, and despite 
 his slight figure, bore his part unflinchingly. March 19th, 1864, his 
 promotion to a 2d Lieutenantcy came to be speedily followed by his 
 commission as 1st Lieutenant, July 21st, 1864. 
 
 February 5th, 1865, he was killed outright, in the first battle of 
 Hatcher's Run, Va. He had been recommended for promotion to a 
 Captaincy, and the commission was issued, dated Feb. 7, 1865, but 
 of course did not reach him living. 
 
 Funeral services were held in the Beacon Street Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church, at Bridgeport, Feb. 27th, 1865, Rev. Mr. I. Sim- 
 mons conducting the service. The body was interred in Mountain 
 Grove Cemetry, having been born to the grave by six commissioned 
 officers, including Lieuts. Hawley and Knowlton, of the 14th. The 
 funeral was very largely attended, the city authorities and a military 
 company being in the procession. Captain Bartlett was a young 
 officer of great promise, and had he lived to enter the regular army 
 as he purposed, would doubtless have won distinction therein. But 
 though he lived but nineteen years and seven months, he lived a life 
 that many who reach their three score and ten never attain, a life 
 unstained by meanness, selfishness, or hypocrisy — a life of loyal and 
 successful endeavor to be of use to his comrades and his country. 
 Who dares tell us that such lives are brief, for 
 
 We live in deeds, not years; in thought, not breaths ; 
 In feelings, not in figures on a dial, 
 We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives 
 Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 
 
 Captain JAMES R. NICKELS, was born in the town of Cherry- 
 field, Maine, July 14th, 1843. Left an orphan at an early age, he 
 removed to Norwich, to reside with an aunt, and that most picturesque 
 and beautiful of New England cities "Was thenceforward his home. 
 Here he made hosts of friends among the young lads of his age, and 
 here was laid the foundation of a friendship toward young Nickels 
 
27 
 
 by the writer, that grew with his growth, and which makes him feel 
 this brief memorial to be a most paltry tribute to one of the most 
 generous and noble hearts that ever beat. Completing his school 
 studies, Nickels entered the crockery store of R. M. Haven and be- 
 came a member of his family. At the outbreak of the war he en- 
 listed in Captain Harland's Company of the 3d Connecticut Regi- 
 ment, with which he passed creditably through the three months 
 campaign, being particularly remarked for his coolness at the 1st Bull 
 Run, where his company was one of the few from Connecticut that 
 suffered any casualties. 
 
 Returning home at the close of the campaign, he resumed his former 
 avocation, devoting his spare time to the study of military tactics. 
 His patriotism and adaptation to a military career were such, however, 
 that he could not remain quietly at home, but on the President's call for 
 50,000 men, in May, 1862, he again enlisted as a private in Co. E of 
 the 14th. He was speedily made 1st sergeant, and left the state as such, 
 Aug. 23d, 1862. In less than four weeks he passed with his regiment 
 through the bloody fight of Antietam. At Fredericksburg, where 
 fourteen out of eighteen officers were killed or wounded, Nickels 
 escaped with his clothes riddled with bullets. Dec. 20th, 1862, he 
 was commissioned 2d Lieutenant of Co. I, and in less than a month, 
 Jan. 19th, 1863, promoted to be 1st Lieutenant of Co. K. That 
 year he passed unscathed through the engagements of Chancellbr- 
 ville, Antietam, and Bristoe station. On the 5th of November he 
 was commissioned Captain of Co. I. In the campaign of 1864 he 
 was with the regiment in the terrible carnage of the Wilderness, 
 and Spottsylvania, the numerous minor engagements on the North 
 and South Anna River, and at Cold Harbor. At the battle he com- 
 manded the regiment, and led it in a brilliant charge for which he was 
 highly complimented by his brigade commander — the fearless Colonel 
 Smyth. Through the constant fighting and perilous picket duty of 
 that summer, in front of Petersburg, Nickels was ever at the post of 
 duty, but never was scratched. But his hitherto uninterrupted career 
 of success was terminated August 27th, 1864, in the struggle for the 
 possession of the Weldon Railroad, known as the battle qf Ream's 
 Station. Here he was severely wounded in the leg, and left on the 
 field, where he was' stripped by the rebels, who left him, not dream- 
 ing that he would survive the night. During the night his casualty 
 was reported to the Regiment, when Adjutant Hincks, and Privates 
 GofF and Rigney sought him out on the abandoned field, and bore 
 him through the darkness eight miles into our lines. Such was the 
 
28 
 
 love he inspired, and such the devotion of the brave boys who risked 
 their lives for him. Taken to City Point, he was removed to Armory 
 Square Hospital, at Washington, where, after lingering six months, 
 he died, Feb. 20th, 1865. Many times his prospects of recovery were 
 deemed very fair, but the long confinement at last broke down his 
 constitution — and with his faithful aunt and brother by his bed side, 
 he quietly pined away, saying to his aunt, who told him of his situation, 
 and pointed him to Christ, " It is all right with me." 
 
 Connecticut lost no nobler son in the war — a genial companion, 
 a thorough officer always remarkable for his knowledge of and at- 
 tention to his duties, loved and respected by his brother officers and 
 men. He had won high encomiums from his superiors of all grades, 
 and bid fair in time to have acquired more than a local reputation. 
 His perfect coolness under fire, and his cheerfulness and freedom 
 from despondency or irritability during his long and weary confine- 
 ment to a hospital bed, show the prominent traits in his character — 
 intrepidity, trustfulness, and amiability. 
 
 Into twenty-one short years Capt. Nickels crowded a lifetime of 
 noble deeds, and dying he left no enemy but mourning friends 
 among his soldier comrades, school mates, and his townsmen. It was 
 granted to him to live long enough to see the impending triumph of 
 his country's cause, and to leave an untarnished name — 
 
 "And so he laid his laurels down at his great Captain's feet." 
 
 Second Lieutenant JOHN T. BRADLEY, was another of 
 Madison's offerings through the 14th on our country's altar. Born 
 in that town, April 28, 1827, he resided there until three years prior 
 to the war when he removed to McGregor, Iowa, where he engaged 
 in mercantile business with an uncle. The news that a company was 
 organizing for the war at his old home, sent him speedily back to 
 New England, and he at once enlisted as a private under his brother- 
 in-law, Capt. S. F. Willard. He was by that officer's side when he 
 fell, and bore his body from the field. He was with the regiment in 
 all its campaigns, and in the battle of the "Wilderness in 1864 was 
 one of three who manned a rebel gun captured in the great charge of 
 the 2d corps, and turning it on the rebels, gave them back their own 
 shot and shell. Having long been a non-commissioned officer, he 
 
29 
 
 was commissioned January 3, 1865, as Second Lieutenant. In the 
 second battle of Hatcher's Run, March 25, 1865, Lieut. Bradley 
 was mortally wounded in the arm. He was removed to City Point, 
 Va., where he died on the 28th of March, only a fortnight before 
 Lee's surrender. 
 
 Having almost seen the final lifting of the dark war cloud that had 
 so long rested over the country, he was the last of our officers that 
 died ere it rose. His funeral occurred at the Congregational Church 
 in Madison, April 11, 1865, the services being performed by Chap- 
 lain Morris of the 8th regiment. Amid the excitement and rejoicino- 
 of the last week of the war, his body was committed to its native 
 dust, by tender hands of those who loved him. 
 
 A letter from an old friend says of Lieut. Bradley, that "in 1854 
 he became hopefully pious," uniting with the First Congregational 
 Church in Madison. After he removed to McGregor, he was super- 
 mtendant of a Sabbath School in which he became much interested. 
 He had many friends, and was beloved by all who knew him. Upon 
 hearing of his death at McGregor, an appropriate service was held, 
 and an address to the Sunday School was read that he had written 
 for them a few days before his death. 
 
 Captain (afterwards Colonel) THEO. F. BURPEE was born 
 February 17, 1830, at Stafford, Conn. His residences prior to the 
 war, were Stafford, Somers, Ellington, and Vernon. In July, 1862, he 
 gave up his business — finisher in a woolen mill— to organize a com- 
 pany in Vernon. This he speedily did, and the company came into 
 the 14th with full ranks as Company D. Capt, Burpee was rapidly 
 showing himself a capable officer, and earning the esteem of his com- 
 rades, when, to his own surprise, and to the regret of the whole regi- 
 ment he was promoted to the Majority of the 21st Connecticut, Aug. 
 23, 1862, just before we left the State. Reluctantly leaving us. he 
 threw his whole energy into the 21st, and before they left, the State 
 (Sept. 3, 1862) was promoted to be its Lieut. Colonel. • As such he 
 was in all the battles in which his regiment was engaged up to the date 
 of his death, and much of the time was in command, owing to Col. 
 Dutton having a Brigade. Col. Dutton was mortally wounded in 
 front of Petersburg, and dying June 8, 1864, Lieut. Col. Burpee was 
 promoted to the Colonelcy with rank from that date. The very next 
 
30 
 
 day, June 9th, he too was mortally wounded like Col. Dutton, by a 
 sharpshooter's bullet, and died on the 11th. His hody was taken 
 home to Rockville, where funeral services were held June 19th, 1864. 
 An interesting memorial of Col. Burpee was published in the Con- 
 necticut War Record, Oct., 1864, and republished in the Soldier's 
 Record of March 27, 1869. It shows him to have been a man of 
 earnest piety. 
 
 Capt. ROBERT H. GILLETTE was born in Bloomfield, Aug. 
 1st, 1842. His father, Hon. Francis Gillette, was an original Free 
 Soiler and a man of distinction in his State which he represented one 
 terra in the United States Senate, where his fearless avowal of his 
 principles made him a conspicuous man in those old pro-slavery days. 
 The f ither still resides in Hartford, where he tenderly cherishes the 
 memory of his darling boy who gave his life in defence of the prin- 
 ciples he learned from his devoted father. "When Robert was fifteen 
 years of age the family removed to Hartford, whence the lad tried a 
 trip to China as sailor boy on a merchantman. Disgusted with this 
 life, he abandoned it in China and sailed to California seeking an 
 elder brother, who, however, died ere his arrival. Tarrying a year in 
 the land of gold, the wanderer came home bringing with him the body 
 of his lost brother — the most precious gift his parents could then de- 
 sire. Robert then devoted himself awhile to study, but the war-cry 
 of the nation in its peril aroused his ardor for freedom, and in July, 
 1862, he assisted in recruiting a company for the 16th regiment. 
 
 By an act of singular injustice on the part of the Adjutant Gen- 
 eral of the State, young Gillette was prevented from securing a com- 
 mission in the 16th, and to his own surprise, as well as that of the 
 regiment, commissioned as Captain of Co. K of the 14th, September 
 6, 1862. The regiment had left the State, and young Gillette at 
 once started to join them. He found us the night of September 18th, 
 lying upon the battle field of Antietam, and took command of his 
 company at once. Both of his Lieutenants lay wounded, one mor- 
 tally, the other dangerously in the regimental hospital, where he vis- 
 ited them. A day or two later, he marched with us in command of 
 his company to Bolivar Heights at Harper's Ferry. It was on this 
 toilsome march over the mountains that the writer made his acquaint- 
 ance, and was indebted to him for acts of courtesy and kindness that 
 
31 
 
 he has never forgotten. The impression he created was that of a 
 man of pure character and honorable ambition, of culture and real re- 
 finement. Almost immediately after arriving at Harper's Ferry, he 
 was taken ill of fever caused by the unusual exposure, that so shat- 
 tered his health as to compel his return home in a few weeks, where 
 he remained for some time in a critical condition and finally resigned 
 his commission in the 14th, December 20th, 1862. 
 
 From what I knew of Capt. Gillette I feel assured that in addition 
 to his poor health, his resignation was inspired by a self-sacrificing 
 spirit on his part which led him to give up a position that personally 
 suited him, rather than stand in the way of the Lieutenants who had 
 recruited and led the Company into battle ere he joined it. His fu- 
 ture career proves his unabated patriotism, and we to-day rejoice to 
 claim him as one who served with us. Recovering his health, he en- 
 tered the U. S. Navy in 1863, as Acting Asst. Paymaster, and was 
 assigned to the Nansemond, Lieut. Com. R. H. Lamson command- 
 ing. This vessel proved one of the most efficient of the blockading 
 squadron off Wilmington, N. C. Among her captures was the fine 
 steamer which we re-named the Gettysburg, and to her Gillette was 
 transferred with Capt. Lamson, and on her did most excellent 
 service. 
 
 Sunday, January 15th, 1865, his vessel took part in the bombard- 
 ment of Fort Fisher, and some of her officers and crew were in the 
 Sailors' Brigade that assisted the army in charging and finally cap- 
 turing the fort. Gillette volunteered for the same duty, but his ser- 
 vices were felt to be more needed on this ship. During the charges 
 Gillette stood upon the deck as signal-officer of the Gettysburg, and 
 with tears rolling down his cheeks as he saw his men falling under 
 the murderous fire from the Fort, exclaiming, " It is too bad — awful ! 
 We must go and help them ! We must go and save them !" That 
 night he wrote a happy letter to his parents, rejoicing in the victory 
 and the promise it gave of the end being near. The end to him was 
 nearer than he dreamed. The morning after the letter was written 
 he went with another officer to look after the missing from his own 
 ship and to inspect the captured fort. He ascended the parapet with 
 other officers, and one last glimpse of him presents his tall manly 
 figure erect and full of joy in the cool of the early morning, wdien the 
 magazine explodes and he is instantly killed. 
 
 His remains were brought home and deposited in the family burial 
 lot at Farmington, January 24th, 1865, Rev. Dr. Porter, of Farm- 
 ington, officiating at the grave. On the 29th of the same month a 
 
32 
 
 beautiful and touching memorial address was delivered by Rev. N. J. 
 Burton, at the Fourth Church in Hartford. In alluding to Capt. 
 Gillette's religious character Dr. Burton states that during his naval 
 life his faith ripened into a triumphant belief. He adds lhat he "was 
 unquestionably helped to be the man he earnestly and religiously 
 longed and prayed to be by a new and precious affection which filled 
 the last years of his life." But as in many another instance during 
 our war, the only earthly bride vouchsafed our hero, was the grave. 
 
 Captain FRANK E. STOUGHTON was born at South Wind- 
 sor, Conn., January 10th, 1834. His life prior to enlistment was 
 spent mainly in this town, in Bristol, and in Vernon, though he was 
 for three years an overseer in the State Reform School. The war 
 found him overseer of a weave room in a Vernon mill, whence he en- 
 listed into Co. D of the 14th, Aug. 20th, 1862. He was at once 
 made 1st Sergeant of the company, and left the State as such. Bear- 
 ing his part well at Antietam, at Fredericksburg he had command of 
 his company in the absence from sickness of the commissioned officer. 
 For his good conduct here and at Chancellorville, he was, May 1 6th, 
 1863, promoted to a 2d Lieutenantcy of Co. H. A month later he 
 led that company in the battle of Gettysburg, where he received 
 several wounds, one passing through his body from his left side to 
 his back, affecting his lungs and spinal column. But partially recov- 
 ering he rejoined his regiment in November, and at once took part 
 in the Mine Run campaign. During the winter of 1864 he was de- 
 tailed on recruiting service. In the summer campaign of that year 
 he was again at the front, and March 19th was promoted to be 1st 
 Lieutenant, and was in several battles. July 21st he was promoted 
 to be Captain of Co. G, succeeding the lamented Fiske, and led that 
 company at Hatcher's Run, Ream's Station, and all the contests that 
 followed up to December 30th, when he tendered his resignation and 
 was honorably discharged. 
 
 In the summer of 1864 he was attacked by chronic diarrhoea, 
 which with the debility already derived from his wounds, reduced him 
 to a skeleton. This it was that forced his resignation, long after most 
 men would have given up the service. 
 
 He retired to his home in Rockville, but never regained his health, 
 though his cheerfulness he never lost, as those of the officers who re- 
 
member him at the officers' re-union at New Haven in 180") will re- 
 member. Slowly but surely the body wasted away from the brave soul 
 that would not flinch, and on January 1st, 1866, with the Happy New 
 Year greetings of his townsmen echoing in his ears, the weary contest 
 was over and his soul was free. His funeral was held with Masonic 
 services at the Congregational church at Wapping, South Windsor, 
 January 3d, 1866. 
 
 A local obituary notice truly said of him, " Possessing bravery, 
 fortitude, and endurance to an eminent degree, he forgot self entirely 
 in his devotion to the Union." 
 
 Captain GEORGE N. MOREHOUSE, was born in Fairfield, 
 Conn., March 27, 1825. His residence prior to enlistment was 
 mainly in Bridgeport, though he spent seven or eight years at the 
 south, at Wilmington, N. C., and Huntsville, Ala. Returning to 
 Bridgeport in 1854, he located there as salesman in a boot and shoe 
 store. 
 
 He first enlisted in the 9th Regiment Conn. Vols., and was commis- 
 sioned second lieutenant in Co. D therein, October 30, 1861. He 
 went with the 9th on Gen. Butler's expedition to Ship Island, where 
 he remained seven or eight months. While there he contracted dis- 
 ease from the bad water and unusual exposure, and his health became 
 so poor that he resigned and came home, in April, 1862. After a 
 few weeks at home, his health was so much improved that he deter- 
 mined it should not deter him from serving his country, hence he ap- 
 plied and obtained by special favor of Secretary Stanton, permission 
 to be re-commissioned. This was the first case in which that bluff 
 old secretary permitted the overruling of his own order that resigned 
 officers could not receive new commissions. He joined Capt. Merritt 
 in recruiting Co. A of the 14th, in Bridgeport, and August 12th, 
 1862, was commissioned first lieutenant therein. He served with the 
 14th (a portion of the time as acting adjutant) until his health again 
 failed, just after he had been commissioned as captain. His old trou- 
 ble contracted in the 9th (Bright's disease) re-appeared, and he had 
 to be sent to general hospital at Georgetown, where he remained 
 until the surgeons pronounced him disabled from further service, and 
 he resigned, and was honorably discharged Dec. 5th, 1862. 
 
 5 LOf 
 
34 
 
 He returned to Connecticut, but never regained his health, his dis- 
 ease terminating in consumption, of which he died at Stratford, April 
 20, 1866. The funeral services were held there according to the 
 rites of the Methodist church, of which he had been a member for 
 some years. 
 
 Capt. Morehouse was with us but a short time, but it was not his 
 fault, for no man struggled harder to keep in service than he, and his 
 bearing at Antietam showed that he was not afraid of death, but in- 
 sidious disease bore him down and he had to give up his cherished 
 desire. Knowing his history now, I wonder not that he was some- 
 times depressed, but that he could usually be so cheerful. He leaves 
 a widow and four children, thrown by his death entirely upon their 
 own resources. This is not the place to discuss the subject, but it 
 seems that we, the living, should know about and do something for 
 the destitute families of any and of all of our comrades, rank and file. 
 
 First Lieutenant IRA A. GRAHAM, was born in Berlin, 
 Conn., August 14th, 1843. Before the war he had resided in Deer- 
 field, Mass., engaged in farming, but the President's call for "Three 
 Hundred Thousand More," in 1862, found him in Durham, Conn. 
 He at once enlisted in Capt. Gibbons' company, then being recruited 
 in Middletown, and served with the 14th faithfully and well all 
 through the war. Enlisting as a private, and a stranger to the cap- 
 tain, he speedily became a non-commissioned officer, and July 21, 
 1864, was commissioned as second lieutenant. January 3, 1865, he 
 was promoted to a first lieutenantcy. At the second battle of Hat- 
 cher's Run, Virginia, March 25, 1865, he received a gun-shot wound 
 through the right breast. May 31st, 1865, he was mustered out of 
 service with the regiment. He then returned to Durham and en- 
 deavored to work in the tin-shop there, but finding his strength une- 
 qual to the task, forsook it and went again to Deerfield as a farmer. 
 But the effects of the Hatcher's Run wound upon his lungs told upon 
 him with more and more severity, and finding himself quite ill, he 
 returned once more to Durham, where, after much suffering, he died, 
 July 16, 1869. 
 
 His funeral was held in Durham, Sunday, July 18th. A delega- 
 
35 
 
 tion from the Middletown Post, Grand Army of the Republic, were 
 present, and the Middletown Masonic Lodge, of which he was a 
 member, turned out and performed their impressive service on the 
 occasion. Rev. Mr. Taylor of the South Church, Middletown, 
 preached a memorial sermon. Appropriate resolutions of respect to 
 his memory were passed by his Masonic brethren August 4th, 1869, 
 and at the nnnual re-union of the members of his regiment, held that 
 year at Bridgeport, Sept. 17th. Some loving friend has also published 
 a few memorial verses that tell the story of the triumph over suffer- 
 ing and death of the soldier who had served all through the long and 
 bloody war, to die at last by lingering disease in his own fair mead- 
 ow lands of Durham. From this memorial we learn that though his 
 earthly ties were strong and hard to sunder, he in dying was vouch- 
 safed a gleam 
 
 " Of heavenly glories from afar." 
 
 that led him to depart in peace, urging his friends to live so as to 
 meet him hereafter. 
 
 Captain HENRY LEE, was born at New London, Conn., April 
 17th, 1836. The son of Mr. Daniel Lee, an esteemed citizen, he 
 was sent to school till he was 16 years of age. He then learned the 
 trade of a carpenter, tried clerking for a while, but returned to his 
 trade where the war found him. He responded to the first call for 
 troops, and May 7th, 1861, enlisted in Co. C of the 2d Conn, (three 
 months) Regiment. He was made a corporal, and as such served 
 with credit through the Bull Run campaign, and was mustered out 
 with his regiment, August 7th. Early in 1862 he commenced re- 
 cruiting, and May 14th was commissioned 1st Lieutenant of Co. H, 
 of the 14th, composed mainly of New London men. He left the 
 State in this capacity. May 16th, 1863, he was promoted to a cap- 
 taincy. For some time in 1864, he was ranking captain, and thus at 
 times the command of the regiment fell upon him. In one of the 
 battles of that year (Ream's Station, Aug. 25th, 1864, if I am not 
 mistaken), he was captured and taken to Libby Prison. After a brief 
 confinement he was paroled, and then exchanged. January 20th, 
 1865, he resigned on account of sickness, and was honorably dis- 
 charged. He engaged in different pursuits after the war, and finally 
 
36 
 
 settled in Meriden, where he was suddenly killed at Parker Brothers 
 gun factory, on the 16th of August, 1869. While engaged in sawing 
 gun stocks at a buzz saw, the saw caught and threw a piece of wood 
 against his stomach, with such a force as to cause instant death. His 
 body was removed to New London, and buried Aug. 19th, from the 
 house in which he was born, by the Masonic body of which he was 
 a devoted member. Rev. Abel P. Buel conducting the services. 
 
 Captain Lee was a genial, companionable young man, and left many 
 friends in New London to mourn his loss. He was always in at- 
 tendance at the reunions of the regiment since the war, and an 
 earnest advocate of keeping up the old fellow-feeling between com- 
 rades-at-arms. At the re-union in Bridgeport, Sept. 17th, 1869 
 resolutions of respect to his memory were passed, and ordered to be 
 transmitted to his young and heart-broken wife. Never seriously 
 injui'ed in the war, he was instantly taken from us long after its ter- 
 mination. Surely " The days of our life are as a tale that is told." 
 
 Second Lieutenant GEORGE AUGUSTUS FOOTE, Jr., 
 was born in Nut Plains, Guilford, May 7th, 1835. He is said to 
 have been the' first man in his native town to enlist, after Lincoln's 
 first call for volunteers, and was in the 3d Connecticut Regiment, in 
 the first Battle of Bull Run. He re-enlisted in the 14th Conn., Aug. 
 7th, 1862, and with but a few weeks' training, the regiment went into 
 battle on the terrible field of Antietam. Once during the fight, his 
 company having become somewhat disorganized, Capt. Bronson, in 
 his efforts at reforming the line, called upon him by name to assist, 
 when he, holding up his gun, called upon the men to " form around 
 old Foote's musket," which so amused the men that they cheered and 
 quickly formed again. On this day, the color-sergeant of the 14th 
 was -hot down — then a second one — and the flag was on the ground. 
 Lt. Col. Perkins rode up and called for volunteers to take the flag. 
 Foote answered by taking it up, and carrying it all the rest of the day. 
 
 .In common with a large majority of the regiment, while at Bolivar 
 Heights, Foote broke down in health, owing to the terrible exposure, 
 and was never as well afterward. In marching from there to Acquia 
 Creek, he fainted, and had to be carried in a baggage wagon, and even 
 when he reached the battle field of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13th, he was so 
 11 that his captain, who had a great regard for him, advised him not to go 
 
37 
 
 into the fight. He replied, " there are skulks enough without me," and 
 he and his friend Dudley "went in," as cheerful and cool as if it were 
 a breakfast at home. Who shall tell the story of one, in that awful 
 day, when regiment after regiment of brave men climbed Marye's 
 Hill, " smiling at death," their ranks ploughed through and through by 
 rebel batteries, even while they were forming, and reaching the top 
 only to charge on the rebels posted behind a solid stone wall four feet 
 in height. Of course the 14th shared the fate of others, and was 
 soon cut up. The color sergeant fell, terribly wounded, but as the 
 regiment had been ordered to fall back, Foote stopped and tried to 
 pick up the flag. The brave old sergeant held on to it, saying, " I 
 will take care of it," and rose suddenly to his feet, but instantly fell 
 back, dead. As Foote stooped to pick it up, he was shot in the leg, 
 and fell. After lying on the field a short time, he tried to rise, but 
 was instantly fired upon again by the rebels, wounding him slightly 
 in the head and the hip. All the rest of that awful day, he lay still 
 where he had fallen. Three times our men charged over him, of 
 course trampling on his wounded leg, while he, half delirious, begged 
 them to kill him to end his sufferings. But no one had time then to 
 attend to one poor wounded fellow. That night, he managed to 
 crawl off to a little hut near the field, where some other wounded 
 men had hung out a yellow flag. Here they lay with a little hard 
 tack, and still less water, till the third day after the fight, when they 
 were visted by a rebel officer, with a few men. He spoke roughly to 
 them, asking, "what they were here for?" and two or three began 
 whining, and saying, they "did not want to fight the South, but 
 were drafted and obliged to come," when Foote cooly lifted his head 
 and said, "/came to fight rebels, and I have found them, and if ever 
 J get well, I will come back and fight them again." " Bully for you," 
 said the officer, " you are a boy that I like," and at once gave him 
 some water out of his own canteen, sent one of his men for more water, 
 washed his leg and foot, and bound it up as well as he could, paroled 
 him, and helped him across the river to the Lacy-house hospital. In 
 fact, he and his men gave him a blanket, and cheered him as the wagon 
 drove off. 
 
 Foote said, afterward, " I did not know but he would blow my 
 brains out on the spot, but I did not mean he should think we were 
 all sneaks." He was soon removed from the Lacy-house to Armory- 
 square hospital, where his leg (which had been hastily amputated at 
 the Lacy-house) was again operated upon, Dr. Bliss finding it neces- 
 sary to cut the bone still shorter. His sufferings were thus protracted 
 
38 
 
 and very terrible, although, he had the constant care of a devoted 
 brother, who left home to find him the moment he heard that he was 
 " missing," as he was at first reported. As soon as it was possible 
 this brother brought him home, stopping by the way at Philadelphia, 
 at the " Soldiers' Home," where he was so kindly and tenderly cared 
 for by the ladies there on duty, that it actually brought the tears into 
 his eyes. After he reached home he slowly recovered some portion 
 of strength. On the recommendation of his captain he was sent a 
 commission as 2d lieutenant, bearing date Dec. 24th, 1862. But he 
 was never mustered in, and was discharged as a private soldier, July 
 31st, 1863. After a time, as he grew stronger, he attempted to carry 
 on his farm again, of which he was very fond, but was not able to do 
 it. Then he went into the" mercantile business, but in a year was 
 obliged to give that up also. A cold brought on symptoms of con- 
 sumption, and he spent a winter in Florida, hoping that a mild 
 climate might benefit him, but long suffering had shattered his con- 
 stitution beyond human help, and he gradually declined until he died, 
 Nov. 14th, 1869. 
 
 An unusually strong and healthy man, attached to life, to his 
 friends, to his chosen pursuit, farming, and to his dear old home at 
 " Nut Plains," he yet never regretted for a moment that he had 
 given himself for his country, but said to his mother, even in his last 
 days, that " he would do it all over again, for the same cause." God 
 grant that we remember such men. He was buried November 16th, 
 under the old trees he loved so well, Rev. Dr. Bennet officiating, and 
 six of his comrades, of the 14th, acting as pall bearers. 
 
 First Lieutenant IRA EMERY, was born at Bow, N. H., Oct. 
 25th, 1826. His residence for many years was at Rockville, Conn., 
 where he was in business as a baker. He was very active in enlisting 
 men for Co. D of the 14th, and was elected 1st lieutenant of the Co. 
 'at organization, Aug. 7th, 1862. Capt. Burpee's promotion from the 
 regiment left Emery in command of the company when it left the 
 State. He was with the regiment at Antietam (Captain Hammond 
 assuming command two days before the battle) and bore himself gal- 
 lantly therein. He was taken sick with chronic diarrhoea, on Bolivar 
 Heights, at the time when so large a proportion of the 1 4th was ill 
 from the exposure, bad water, and lack of proper clothing. In the 
 
39 
 
 hope of recovery Lieut. Emery held on to his position and did partial 
 duty till Jan. 23, 1863, when his health, steadily failing, he resigned 
 and was honorably discharged. 
 
 Returning home, he tried various residences, Meriden, Hartford, 
 Eockville, and Bricksburg, N. J. At times he appeared to be recov- 
 ering but never for any lengthened period, and growing weaker and 
 weaker his health gave way entirely, and on the 28th April, 1871, he 
 died at Bricksburg, N. J. His remains were removed to Eockville 
 and buried there April 30th. 
 
 Lieut. Emery was a faithful soldier, a good citizen, and an earnest 
 patriot. His constant ill health made him at times gloomy, and, 
 though present at some of our re-unions, and expressing a warm in- 
 terest in the old 14th, he never seemed to look forward to much hap- 
 piness here, yet never regretted that he had given his life to his coun- 
 try. 
 
 The Bricksburg local journal, in an obituary notice of him, says he 
 was " A very industrious and upright man. * * * * He contracted 
 the disease of which he died in his country's service, and deserved 
 well of the Government, better than the Government deserved of 
 him, inasmuch as his application for a pension, to which he was enti- 
 tled, has been persistently withheld." « 
 
 Of the truth of this last assertion I know nothing, but those of us 
 who knew Lieut. Emery do not believe that he would for a moment 
 claim what was not his just due, and if our aid should be needed it 
 would be freely granted. The last one that has dropped out of our 
 circle is not so easily forgotten. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 In closing this memorial of our dead, now that ten years have flown 
 since that sunny August afternoon when with glistening bayonets, the 
 Fourteenth, a thousand strong, issued forth from Camp Foote, with 
 its glorious colors flying, marched clown the streets of Hartford to the 
 music of its own splendid band and filed on board the steamers that 
 bore us down the beautiful Connecticut on our way to the front, the 
 memory of the two years and nine months that followed rises like a 
 vision before me. Marches, bivouacs, and battle-fields, crowd fast 
 upon each other until they culminate in that happy April day at 
 Appomatox, when the war was finished and the handful left of the 
 
40 
 
 dear old Regiment witnessed the fruition of all our hopes, in the sur- 
 render of the Army of Northern Virginia to the patient, long-suffer- 
 ing, persistent Army of the Potomac. 
 
 In this review the faces of our dead lads, for in the main they were 
 but youths, come up in silent sadness, and as they pass in succession 
 it is hard to think of the lives so full of hope and promise so sudden- 
 ly cut short. Yet as we reflect upon what they accomplished in their 
 lives and by their deaths for country, for freedom, and for God, we 
 can in these bright days of peace and plenty take heart again and re- 
 member that while their work is done, their record finished, the world 
 lies all before us, their survivors, and that whatever of happiness or 
 of suffering, of prosperity or adversity, of successful achievement or 
 disappointed hope, time has brought us in these quick-passing years 
 there is work to be done, hard earnest work upon the battle-field of 
 life for all who will be loyal to the old watchword of duty. Hence 
 we may rather rejoice than mourn that these brave ones have fought 
 their battle, winning the victory. 
 
 " What is worth liviug for is worth dying for too, 
 And therefore all honor brave hearts unto you 
 Who have fallen, that Freedom, more fair by your death, 
 A pilgrim may walk where your hlood on her path 
 Leads her steps to your graves."