123rd NY Infantry - Act of Kindness at Gettysburg

lelliott19

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Sergeant Henry C Morhouse
Company C, 123rd New York Infantry

McDougall’s Brigade, Williams’ Division, Twelfth Corps, Army of the Potomac.


"The morning of July 4th dawned bright and beautiful. There being no evidence of the enemy in front the boys went over the works in quest of the wounded. Wesley P. Huntington of Co C was brought in dead. They buried him on the field beneath the shade of a large oak tree, there to remain until the roll-call of that day when all shall assemble at the order of the Great Commander. Among the many wounded Rebels brought in was one South Carolinian who was wounded severely. The boys did everything they could for him, - brought him hot coffee and the best of what they had to eat, and a doctor to dress his wounds. He received these acts of kindness with seeming astonishment, and with tears running down his face thanked them, and said he did not expect such kindness from the "Yanks." He expected to be treated with roughness and perhaps cruelty, and had tried to crawl away but was unable to do so. He said if he could only live to get home to his wife and children he should never raise a hand against the Yankees or the dear old flag again."
Final Report on the Battlefield of Gettysburg, Volume 2, By New York Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg and Chattanooga, William Freeman Fox, p.860.
https://books.google.com/books?id=JQYTAAAAYAAJ&dq=inauthor:"New York (State). Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg and Chattanooga"&pg=PA443#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Sgt Henry C Morhouse http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10038501
 
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The boys did everything they could for him, - brought him hot coffee and the best of what they had to eat, and a doctor to dress his wounds. He received these acts of kindness with seeming astonishment, and with tears running down his face thanked them, and said he did not expect such kindness from the "Yanks." He expected to be treated with roughness and perhaps cruelty, and had tried to crawl away but was unable to do so.

Thanks, Laura, for posting this. It's important to remember this stuff. My grandmother's granddad left a written account of being shot, in 1864. He went down on the field at Darbytown Road outside of Richmond and was captured by Union forces who carried him to a field hospital and amputated his leg. He might have died otherwise but said he was cared for by "good, kind nurses" during that time. There's tons of stories on both sides about this sort of thing. Let's not forget them.
 
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