- Joined
- Feb 27, 2017
- Location
- Ohio
The story that follows is based on Corporal George Kimball's reminiscences (A Corporal's Story). As it is a rather long story, I will break it up into several parts.
Kimball served in Company A, 12th Massachusetts, which fought and mostly died in the Cornfield. The story concerns Lieutenant William Greenough White, 22 years old from Boston. White was the son of Ferdinand Elliot and Dorothy Whiten. Ferdinand was a prominent Boston merchant. William grew up the youngest of seven siblings. Unfortunately I have not yet found a whole lot about White, but as Kimball later wrote, "He was a Latin School boy and resigned a desirable position in the office of a prominent State Street banking firm when the war came. Everything that life seemed worth living for appeared to be opening up before him, but he sacrificed all."
There are countless stories like this one from both sides and in any battle I have ever read about. Still, this particular story caught my attention and so I decided to share as emblematic of the courage and sacrifice of the men who fought in the Civil War.
Part 1:
Brigadier General George L. Hartsuff's brigade bivouacked in the fields near the Samuel Poffenberger farm on the evening of September 16. They knew a major battle was imminent, and that it least some of their friends and comrades would not be with them by the end of the next day. "Now and then a lurid flash and a screaming shell tell us we are very close to the enemy," Kimball recalled, "while the crash of rifles in front shows that the pickets are already at it."
"The company in which I was serving numbered at this time forty men," Kimball wrote. "We had borne our full share of the hardships and losses of Pope's ill-starred campaign. Our Captain had been killed at Bull Run on the 30th of August. Our First Lieutenant, William Greenough White, a noble fellow, had been stricken down with slow fever early in Pope's campaign." White had been left behind as the regiment went into action at Cedar Mountain in early August. "He would gladly have gone with us," Kimball wrote, "but was too sick, and reluctantly entered the brigade hospital tent. We bade him an affectionate good-by, for we all loved him."
Confined to a cot, the hospital nurses had a difficult time keeping White in bed while his regiment was fighting without him. Then the Confederates launched the great turning movement which resulted in the battle of Second Manassas. "The sound of the guns came nearer and nearer the tent where our Lieutenant lay," Kimball wrote. "After a while he heard it, and his keepers could keep him no longer. He rose like a lion from his lair. Demanding his uniform and sword he left while the other sick ones were being hurriedly loaded into ambulances for transportation to Washington. He started in the direction from which the firing came. Alone and unassisted he hurried forward. His desire to be with us, his love of country, his manly pride, and the heavy roar of the guns, every moment sounding louder and nearer, nerved him on and gave him unnatural strength. When he came up we gave him a cheer, and he wept like a child, so glad was he to be with us once more."
On August 28, the division was sent to Thoroughfare Gap in an attempt to keep Longstreet's command from coming through and reuniting with Jackson's wing. They marched all day, although they did not reach the gap in time to prevent Longstreet from taking possession of it. "Our Lieutenant had been as active as any of us, and we all felt his influence and loved him more than ever," Kimball wrote. "But the poor fellow's strength began to leave him in a few hours after we set out, and finally he fainted and fell in the road. The surgeon took him from us again and sent him to the rear in an ambulance. In a Washington hospital he had a relapse of the fever." White missed the fighting at Second Manassas and the march through Maryland.
As the men of the 12th Massachusetts tried to get some sleep, there was a stirring in the camp, "with hand-shakings and God bless yous," as Lieutenant White appeared. "He has again broken away from his keepers, but is no more fit to endure the rigors of campaigning than before," Kimball wrote. "His face is pale, his eyes are sunken, his limbs weak, but his soul is on fire. News of an impending battle has taken him from his bed and brought him to us again in spite of the protests of doctors and nurses. We share our rations with him, for he has none, and roll him up in blankets and overcoats, and he sleeps between two comrades as peacefully as a child."
Kimball served in Company A, 12th Massachusetts, which fought and mostly died in the Cornfield. The story concerns Lieutenant William Greenough White, 22 years old from Boston. White was the son of Ferdinand Elliot and Dorothy Whiten. Ferdinand was a prominent Boston merchant. William grew up the youngest of seven siblings. Unfortunately I have not yet found a whole lot about White, but as Kimball later wrote, "He was a Latin School boy and resigned a desirable position in the office of a prominent State Street banking firm when the war came. Everything that life seemed worth living for appeared to be opening up before him, but he sacrificed all."
There are countless stories like this one from both sides and in any battle I have ever read about. Still, this particular story caught my attention and so I decided to share as emblematic of the courage and sacrifice of the men who fought in the Civil War.
Part 1:
Brigadier General George L. Hartsuff's brigade bivouacked in the fields near the Samuel Poffenberger farm on the evening of September 16. They knew a major battle was imminent, and that it least some of their friends and comrades would not be with them by the end of the next day. "Now and then a lurid flash and a screaming shell tell us we are very close to the enemy," Kimball recalled, "while the crash of rifles in front shows that the pickets are already at it."
"The company in which I was serving numbered at this time forty men," Kimball wrote. "We had borne our full share of the hardships and losses of Pope's ill-starred campaign. Our Captain had been killed at Bull Run on the 30th of August. Our First Lieutenant, William Greenough White, a noble fellow, had been stricken down with slow fever early in Pope's campaign." White had been left behind as the regiment went into action at Cedar Mountain in early August. "He would gladly have gone with us," Kimball wrote, "but was too sick, and reluctantly entered the brigade hospital tent. We bade him an affectionate good-by, for we all loved him."
Confined to a cot, the hospital nurses had a difficult time keeping White in bed while his regiment was fighting without him. Then the Confederates launched the great turning movement which resulted in the battle of Second Manassas. "The sound of the guns came nearer and nearer the tent where our Lieutenant lay," Kimball wrote. "After a while he heard it, and his keepers could keep him no longer. He rose like a lion from his lair. Demanding his uniform and sword he left while the other sick ones were being hurriedly loaded into ambulances for transportation to Washington. He started in the direction from which the firing came. Alone and unassisted he hurried forward. His desire to be with us, his love of country, his manly pride, and the heavy roar of the guns, every moment sounding louder and nearer, nerved him on and gave him unnatural strength. When he came up we gave him a cheer, and he wept like a child, so glad was he to be with us once more."
On August 28, the division was sent to Thoroughfare Gap in an attempt to keep Longstreet's command from coming through and reuniting with Jackson's wing. They marched all day, although they did not reach the gap in time to prevent Longstreet from taking possession of it. "Our Lieutenant had been as active as any of us, and we all felt his influence and loved him more than ever," Kimball wrote. "But the poor fellow's strength began to leave him in a few hours after we set out, and finally he fainted and fell in the road. The surgeon took him from us again and sent him to the rear in an ambulance. In a Washington hospital he had a relapse of the fever." White missed the fighting at Second Manassas and the march through Maryland.
As the men of the 12th Massachusetts tried to get some sleep, there was a stirring in the camp, "with hand-shakings and God bless yous," as Lieutenant White appeared. "He has again broken away from his keepers, but is no more fit to endure the rigors of campaigning than before," Kimball wrote. "His face is pale, his eyes are sunken, his limbs weak, but his soul is on fire. News of an impending battle has taken him from his bed and brought him to us again in spite of the protests of doctors and nurses. We share our rations with him, for he has none, and roll him up in blankets and overcoats, and he sleeps between two comrades as peacefully as a child."