Civil War History - The Eastern TheaterDiscuss any and all battles, movements, and events occuring in the Eastern Theater here! This includes any actions in tha area east of the Appalachian Mountains in the vicinity of the river capitals of Richmond and Washington D.C.
Brian, what a great site. I sent Sam a PM thanking him for posting it out there. I think everybody has a favorite battle that they've "adopted" and have done the most reading on. Mine has always been Antietam Creek. I actually finally got to go there in June 2001. Your site is well-designed and professional. You all have done a great job. Take care.
and I agree about adopting a battle. I'm somewhat obsessed, myself. Fortunately, I live just a little over an hour's drive from Sharpsburg, so I can get there several times a year. Not enough, maybe, but there _are_ other responsibilities
This is an awesome site. I've been on it for about an hour now and the info keeps coming. Thanks for the tidbit. As far as adopting a battle, Gettysburg has always been true and blue. But the more I read about the Chattanooga campaign, the more I'm becoming intrigue by it.
Just resently learnd some info on a distant relative of mine that fought there.
Lyman H. Cone, 5th New Hampshire Co. G Enlisted: Oct. 9, '61, as pvt, Wounded: Sept. 17 Antietam, Md. Musterd out Oct . 29, '64.
Lyman was born in Claremont, NH & resided in Claremont,when he enlisted at the age of 311
During that time he may have been at Fair Oaks, Peach Orchard, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, during the peninsular campaign of 62.
Then Antietam where he was wounded. The "Fighting Fifth" was involved in the heavy fighting of "the sunken road" / "bloody lane".
In the words of Lt. Thomas Livermore, "On looking about me I found that we were in an old sunken road and that the bed of it lay from one to three feet below the surface of the crest along which it ran. In this road there lay so many dead rebels that there formed a line which one might have walked on as far as I could see, many of whom had been killed by the most horrible wounds of shot and shell and they lay just as they had been killed apparently amid the blood which was soaking the earth. It was on this ghastly flooring that we kneeled for the last struggle.
As the Rebel advance became apparent we plied the line with musketry with all our power and with no doubt with terrible effect but they still advanced. A color bearer came forward within fifteen yards of our line and with the utmost desperation waved the flag in front of him. Our men fairly roared "shoot the man with the flag!" and he went down in the twinkling and the flag was not raised in sight again.
As the fight grew furious the Colonel cried out "Put on the war paint!" and looking around I saw the glorious man standing erect with a red handkerchief, a conspicuous mark, tied around his bare head..Taking the cue somehow we rubbed the torn ends of cartridges over our faces, streaking them with powder like a pack of Indians and the Colonel, to complete the similarity, cried out, "Give 'em the war whoop" and all of us joined him in the Indian war whoop until it must have rung out amid the thunder of the ordinance."
If Lyman recovered quickly he might have been at Fredericksburg. In 1863 the 5th were at Chancelorsville, Brandy Station, Gettysburg.
With less than one hundred men present for duty after Gettysburg, the army command detached the 5th from the Second Corps and returned it to New Hampshire for recruits to rebuild their decimated ranks.
On November 9th, they arrived by steamer at Point Lookout, Maryland where they, along with the 2nd and 12fth New Hampshire, were ordered to the duty of guarding Confederate prisoners. Here they remained until May of 1864 when they were recalled to the Army of the Potomac, then engaged in the Wilderness and Spotsylvania.
then engaged in the Wilderness and Spotsylvania then Cold Harbor.
At Cold Harbor the regiment with the brigade, charged the enemy's works and carried them, capturing two guns and one hundred and twenty five prisoners which were sent to the rear. thheir casualties were very hight though. 202 killed out of 577 present for duty, & was the most costly single day in the regiments history.
In October 1864, the enlistment's of the original men were completed and many were mustered out and went home.
__________________ Steven Noel Cone Living Historian and Battlefield Preservationest
"Silver Spring Mess" ; "Citizens of the Bonnie Blue" ; "46th Tn Inf. Co. K"
Steve, that's pretty awesome that you were able to track down an ancestor who fought at Antietam Creek. Were you shocked when you found out he was a yankee? I think it's really remarkable that so many of the members on this board have been able to trace their ancestry back to someone who was involved in some way or another in the war.
I thought I had found one, but then, soon after I joined this site I received his documents from D.C., including his pension papers. The 1870 census of Saline County, Illinois, shows my great grand-dad, James, is the son of William Wise, born in 1842, who fought in the war. But when I received a copy of his application for a pension, he listed his only son as Joseph! ... not James. So, I figured William would know his own sons name and that the census report was incorrect. It could happen I suppose. I was disappointed but I couldn't really dispute Williams own handwriting.
Anyway, I was already on this board as William42, and from the rules here I gather it's pretty difficult to change your username. So, whoever William Wise was, I salute him for his service in the 6th Illinois Cavalry.
Terry continue the Search .. you can try your William Wise's brothers and Nephews if possible his fathers brothers & nephews and there is always their wifes side.
There are plenty of soldiers that have been long forgotten and even though the one you found is not related to you.. you have taken upon your self to remember him ..
I thank you for it and I'm sure some where out there he thanks you as well.
As for my relative ..
I had knowledge of LymanCone in the 5th NH Inf. but didn't know he was wounded at Antietam.
Thanks for your post Steve. I would like to continue searching for a possible ancestral link to the Civil War, but I'm not sure where to go from here, since the census I relied on was obviously incorrect.
I could maybe try some of the on-line research services like Ancestry.com, but I think they need at least a bare minimum of info to help you, and I don't think I have enough for them. But...I'm not giving up! Thanks for the encouragement.
Terry
P.S. Steve, I did find Williams tombstone in the Harrisburg, Illinois, cemetery. It was the traditional, old style head-stone used for Civil War veterans with the rounded off top, and inscribed with his regimental info, and his birth/death dates. The inscriptions had faded some, but still were very legible.
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Antietam/Sharpsburg 
I think it's really remarkable that so many of the members on this board have been able to trace their ancestry back to someone who was involved in some way or another in the war. 
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