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- Aug 6, 2016
July 11, 1863 - Norfolk, Virginia
1st Regiment U.S. Colored Troops drill in Washington, D.C.
just before July 1, 1863 arrival in Hampton Roads
Library of Congress
just before July 1, 1863 arrival in Hampton Roads
Library of Congress
Well-known and beloved Norfolk physician, Dr. David M. Wright is taking a morning walk down Main Street. A fervent "southerner" husband and father to 3 daughters, the friendly doctor is known as a wonderful, Christian man that loves his family and treats his slaves kindly. Today he hears the beating of drums as a regiment approaches in their march. They are a newly recruited regiment and they are the 1st Regiment of U.S. Colored Troop under the command of a white Lieutenant, A. L. Sanborn. As the story was reported - - -
"Resentment in Norfolk was then running high against the presence of black troops, and as Dr. Wright shared that feeling, he approached Sanborn with clenched fists, saying, "Oh! You coward!"
Sanborn halted his troops, turned to Wright, and said, "You are under arrest." At that point the soldiers moved in to apprehend him. Maddened at the thought of being seized by the black soldiers, the doctor did a rash thing, two versions of which have been reported. One says he pulled a pistol from an inner coat pocket and fired twice at Sanborn. The other says the pistol was handed to him by a spectator. Be that as it may, Sanborn was wounded, staggered into Foster & Moore's Drug Store, and died, after which Wright was arrested and charged with murder." {1}
The Trial
Dr. Wright was brought to the Provost Officer by the black troopers that he despised so much. Every effort was made to give him a fair trial. He was given counsel of the United States District Attorney Mr Chandler. There was no doubt as to his guilt and therefore he was found guilty before a military commission and was sentenced to "death by hanging" on the 16th of October, 1863.
The pressure began immediately for a pardon or computation of sentence reaching the highest levels in Washington. The Confederates boasted that he would never be hanged as a rescue operation was planned. Dr. Wright was reportedly a Freemason, and pressure came from the organization to demand his release.
There was a report that Dr. Wright nearly did escape in the disguise of a woman. His wife and 3 daughters were allowed to visit him in his cell, and Captain Belden and Lieutenant Cook were on duty. One daughter remained in the cell wearing her father's boots and the rest of her body covered with a blanket. The doctor was walking away in her clothing. He had his head down and covered with a shawl. There was much crying and weeping as the "ladies" walked toward the main gate and the Union soldiers had been touched by the sight.
The group had reached the street, the smell of freedom in the air, when the outer sentinel noticed - - -
"the feet of a man below the skirts of the middle mourner, and, quickly bringing his musket to bear, halted the party on the very threshold of escape, shouting for the '' corporal of the guard," which outcry for once was not a vain clamor."
After this incident - - -
"The provost guard and our patrols kept the city under continual surveillance, and it was said to be " impossible for a rebel to wink " without attracting notice." {3}
The Final Say
"I Cannot Interfere"
Photo - Library of Congress
Photo - Library of Congress
The Execution of Dr. David Wright
As told by the 21st Regiment
Connecticut Volunteer Infantry {3}
As told by the 21st Regiment
Connecticut Volunteer Infantry {3}
"The next morning at nine o'clock the stern procession set out for the scaffold. We all remember the wailing and screams which greeted us from behind the closed window shutters as we slowly marched through the principal streets. On reaching the scaffold, the prisoner was assisted to mount the platform, where he stood, calmly surveying the soldiers, arranged on three sides of the square about him.
Suddenly, his face lit up with eagerness, as he saw a cloud of dust in the distant road. Many of us at first thought of the rescue for which he evidently hoped. But soon we perceived that the dust was raised by a heavy column of infantry. and that it was the colored brigade to which the murdered Sanborn belonged.
The clerical friends of the prisoner then repeated a brief prayer, after which they embraced him and withdrew. Captain Shepard next read the sentence of death and took his leave. Dr. Wright now advanced to the edge of the platform, and in a clear, firm voice spoke as follows :
'For myself I have very little to say. As to the deed for which I am now about to suffer the extreme penalty of the law, I will say that it was done without malice and without a half hour's premeditation.'
He then knelt down and repeated the Lord's Prayer, adding a short petition for mercy on his own soul. The fatal noose was then adjusted, the signal was 'given, and the next instant he was in eternity. His death was evidently painless, his neck being broken by the fall, and after sixteen minutes had elapsed, the body was cut down and given to his friends. The coffin was peculiar. At the head it was raised, as if a box four inches high were fastened to the top. Around the sides of this upper rim were hung the photographs of his family.
The entire event made a most profound impression on the community, and, at least for a time, completely crushed the disloyal element in the two cities, which up to this day had been quite bold in the display of hatred toward the Union. Much as we sympathized with the sorrows of the doctor's family and with his manly bearing on the scaffold, yet we could not but feel that justice had triumphed and that his pardon would have been a grievous mistake."
Following the execution, this notice was sent - - -
"Fort Monroe, Va., October 23, 1863
Major General H. W. Halleck,
General-in-Chief:
Dr. Wright was executed this morning at Norfolk, according to orders. Everything passed off very orderly.
J. G. Foster,
Major-General, Commanding" {4}
Sources
**https://civilwartalk.com/threads/civil-war-story.95142/#post-801364
1. https://www.historicforrest.com/norfolkHistoricalSociety/highlights/47.htm
2. https://www.dailypress.com/features/family/dp-nws-civil-war-black-troops-1-20140202-story.html
3. "The story of the Twenty-first regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War. 1861-1865", by United States. Army. Connecticut Infantry Regiment, 21st; Hubbell, William Stone, 1837-1930; Brown, Delos D., 1838- [from old catalog]; Crane, A. M. (Alvin Millen), b. 1839
4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106787812/david-minton-wright by P.J. Horn
Bringing the