Trivia 8-19-15 Sniper

[sarladaise]

Sergeant Grace, Co.B, 4th Georgia Infantry

 

[hoosier]

One person who claimed to have fired the fatal shot was Benjamin M. Powell of the 12th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry.

http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/robert1613/B/2/9/2/powell-benjaminm1841.html

 

[ErnieMac]

Benjamin Medicus Powell, 12th South Carolina Infantry.

 

[lelliott19]

Oh boy! Another of those questions with multiple possibilities! But it was fun to try and unravel the mystery. Good Q @TinCan

According to the inscription on the monument honoring Sedgwick at Spotsylvania, "The identity of the marksman who fired the fatal shot remains a mystery, although at least five Confederate soldiers later claimed responsibility."

I believe that unless some new information becomes available, it is not possible to determine the identity of the shooter with 100% certainty. But here are some of the possibilities and if I have to choose ONE answer, I guess I'll go with #1 "Kansas Tom" Johnson of the 10th Georgia.

Possibility #1: Kansas Tom Johnson, 10th GA
"While it isn't known for sure which Confederate sharpshooter actually killed General Sedgwick, the most likely to me seems to be "Kansas Tom" Johnson, who himself died a few days later in battle. But the question has never been wholly resolved, partly due to the reluctance at the time for anyone to claim credit for it." http://www.civilwarbattlefields.us/john-sedgwick/

The quote above references a 1901 account of Colonel A. J. McBride, 10th Georgia (Bryan's Brigade), who described "a band of sharpshooters composed of the best shots in the [First] corps." McBride credits "Kansas Tom" Johnson" with shooting Sedgwick, but omits any detail. If Johnson was in that unit of sharpshooters, he probably had a Whitworth and would have been in the right area.
Conclusion: I'll classify Johnson as "definitely possible."

Possibility #2: Benjamin Medicus Powell, 12th SC
"Benjamin Medicus Powell is believed by many to be the man who fired the fatal shot." http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/robert1613/B/2/9/2/powell-benjaminm1841.html

Powell was originally in the 5th SC but, after the Seven Days battles, was transferred to the 12th South Carolina. There exists one minor discrepancy in Powell's account. Powell says that Sedgwick was using field classes when he shot him. Another problem, Dunlop's sharpshooter battalion (of which Powell was a member) was not documented to be near the location of Sedgwick's mortal wounding.
Conclusion: I'll classify Powell's claim as "questionable."


Possibility #3: Sgt Charles D Grace, 4th GA
According to the history of the 4th Georgia (page 76) of the Doles Cook Brigade it was Sergeant Charles D. Grace of company B who shot General Sedgewick with a Withworth rifle. According to the author of the 4th Georgia section of Henry W. Thomas's 1903 History of the Doles-Cook Brigade, "Sergeant Grace was a fine shot and was armed with one of the few Whitworth rifles in our army, which made the deed not only practicable but simple." http://www.cfspress.com/sharpshooters/articles.html#killing_of_uncle_john

The problem with Grace's claim is that Doles brigade was not in the area and belonged to another corps......The location where they were was about a mile from Sedgwick and separated by densely wooded terrain. I suppose it is possible that a bullet fired from there could have traveled the distance, but it seems unlikely that it would have missed all the trees and found its mark.
Conclusion: I'll call his claim "unlikely."

Possibility #4: Thomas Burgess, 15th SC
Another possibility is Thomas Burgess of the 15th South Carolina (Jenkins' Brigade). According to an article in the Confederate Veteran (1908) V.M. Fleming accurately describes the terrain at Laurel Hill. The brigade commanded by Bratton would have been on the left. According to Fleming's account, Burgess was a picket who fired at a group of mounted men who rode out in front of the Federal lines, killing one of them. Burgess himself was always reluctant to claim having killed Sedgwick—like many other men in the 19th century he regarded this method of warfare as "something akin to murder." http://www.cfspress.com/sharpshooters/articles.html#killing_of_uncle_john

The type of weapon Burgess was armed with is unknown. His position should have put him in the right place at the right time to have shot Sedgwick. However, the account is second hand and the person he claims to have killed was mounted. This description fits for Morris, but Sedgwick was on foot at the time.
Conclusion: I'll classify Burgess as "doubtful."

Possibility #5: Abram Crabill, 33rd VA
Mr Crabill is not listed among the others in Fred Ray's article (cited above) but I felt the need to include him here to demonstrate the sheer number of claimants. According to a newspaper obituary printed in the Shenandoah Herald, Woodstock, Shenandoah Co., VA, 8 October 1897, pg. 3, col. 4, "Death of a Gallant Confederate Soldier".

"Mr. [Abram] Crabill went through the war as a member of Co. B, 33rd Va. Regiment, Stonewall Brigade, and was a gallant and faithful soldier. That he killed Genl. Sedgwick, one of the ablest corps commanders of the yankee army, hardly admits of the slightest doubt. It was during an interval of the hard fighting of Grant's Wilderness compaign [sic]. Mr. Crabill was on the line of sharpshooters when Sedgwick rode up to a battery that the enemy were putting in position. He dismounted and was giving the gunners instructions when Mr. Crabill took careful aim and fired and the general fell mortally wounded. His was the only shot fired just at that time, and was unquestionably the one that hit Sedgwick."

Obviously, the writer believed the story to be true, but this is again a second hand account after the claimants death.
Conclusion: Ill classify Mr Crabill as "unable to verify."

 

[R. Alex Raines]

According to one source, http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/robert1613/B/2/9/2/B292-sedgwick-gen-john-monuments.html, at least five different Confederate soldiers later claimed credit for the shot. That being said, I like to think it was 'Kansas Tom' Johnson, who was been credited with it by some sources, although it doesn't appear Johnson lived long enough to make such a claim. He was in Company E, 10th Georgia. http://www.civilwarbattlefields.us/john-sedgwick/. That will be my answer for the contest. But given the circumstances of Uncle John's death, we will never be able to answer definitively, unlike say, Who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

Benjamin Medicus Powell, CSA 12th SC volunteers
But did he shoot General John Sedgwick?

http://www.cfspress.com/sharpshooters/articles.html#killing_of_uncle_john

(T)he 1901 account of Colonel A.J. McBride, an officer in the 10th Georgia (Bryan's Brigade) . . .described "a band of sharpshooters composed of the best shots in the [First] corps." McBride credited one of these men, "Kansas Tom" Johnson [[10th Ga.]](who was himself killed a few days later), with shooting Sedgwick. McBride gives no details, but if Johnson was in such a "band" he probably had a Whitworth and would have been in the right area.

Another man said to have shot Sedgwick was Thomas Burgess of the 15th South Carolina (part of Jenkins' Brigade). In a 1908 article in Confederate Veteran, V.M. Fleming gave an accurate description of the terrain at Laurel Hill, where the brigade commanded by Bratton would have been on the left. Burgess, according to the account, was a picket who fired at a group of mounted men who rode out in front of the Federal lines, killing one of them. Burgess himself was always reluctant to claim having killed Sedgwick—like many other men in the 19th century he regarded this method of warfare as "something akin to murder." Burgess, whose weapon is unspecified, was certainly in the right place at the right time to have shot Sedgwick. However, the account is second hand and the victim a mounted man, which would fit for Brig. Gen. Morris but not Sedgwick, who was on foot.

The writer of the section on the 4th Georgia in Henry W. Thomas's 1903 History of the Doles-Cook Brigade gave credit to Sergeant Charles Grace of that regiment. "General Sedgewick [sic] was superintending the construction of some redoubts, and, as he was more than half a mile from our picket line, considered himself perfectly safe. Sergeant Grace was a fine shot and was armed with one of the few Whitworth rifles in our army, which made the deed not only practicable but simple." While there is ample evidence of Grace's service as a sharpshooter, his regiment was part of Doles' Brigade, which was with Rodes' Division of the Second Corps. On May 9, the Georgians were at the base of what came to be called the Mule Shoe, separated from Sedgwick's position by roughly a mile of densely wooded terrain. While a shot from a Whitworth might have accurately traversed that distance, it seems unlikely that it could have avoided the trees.

A final claimant was Ben Powell, a sharpshooter with the 12th South Carolina in McGowan's Brigade. Powell's service as a sharpshooter is well attested, as is the fact that he was one of the unit's two Whitworth marksmen. Powell made his claim personally in a 1907 letter to his wife, and both his fellow sharpshooter Berry Benson (in a 1917 article in Confederate Veteran) and the former commander of his sharpshooter battalion, Major William Dunlop, backed him up.

 

[greenreb]

Benjamin Powell
12th South Carolina Vol.

 

[ShenValleyGray]

Benjamin M Powell, 12th South Carolina

 

[Mary Beth Crips]

The identity of the marksman who fired the fatal shot remains a mystery, although at least five Confederate soldiers later claimed responsibility. Benjamin Medicus Powell is believed by many to be the man who fired the fatal shot.

Edit - Unit not specified.

Hoosier

 

[chellers]

I found several answers.

General Sedgwick's monument at Spotsylvania claims " The identity of the marksman who fired the fatal shot remains a mystery, although at least five Confederate soldiers later claimed responsibility."
http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/robert1613/B/2/9/2/B292-sedgwick-gen-john-monuments.html#spots

"a sharpshooter's bullet"
National Park Service
http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc/2014/spotmarker5.jpg

Sgt. Grace of the 4th Georgia Infantry
http://www.snipercountry.com/sniphistory.asp

Ben Powell of the "battalion of sharpshooters of McGowan's South Carolina Brigade."
http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/robert1613/B/2/9/2/powell-benjaminm1841.html#augusta

Benjamin Medicus Powell of Co. 2, 12th South Carolina Vol in letter to wife
http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/robert1613/B/2/9/2/powell-benjaminm1841.html#bmpletter

Ben Powell of 12th South Carolina, according to Confederate Major William Dunlop and Georgia sharpshooter Benson
https://books.google.com/books?id=P...vil war fired the fatal shot Sedgwick&f=false

 

[Montana Territory]

possibly Benjamin Medicus Powell of the 12th South Carolina Infantry

 

[ami]

Answer: Sgt. Charles D. Grace, 4th Georgia Infantry

This is the answer I was given, but it doesn't seem so cut and dry. I defer to hoosier.

Edit - In addition to the official correct answer, Sgt. Charles Grace of the 4th Georgia, the following three answers are supported by sources presented by various players and will be accepted as correct answers:

Kansas Tom Johnson of the 10th Georgia;

Benjamin M. Powell of the 12th South Carolina; and

Benjamin M. Powell of the Battalion of Sharpshooters in McGowan's South Carolina Brigade.

Note, however, that the question clearly asked not only for the name of the shooter but also for the unit to which he belonged. Therefore, answers which only specify the name of the shooter will not receive credit as correct answers.

Hoosier