BTWhite61
Private
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2014
- Location
- Charlotte, Mich.
Another "get" this year during shutdown, and one that I have been looking for since studying this sharpshooter's original frock coat 16 years ago. Another collector here in Michigan found it at an antique shop around 30 minutes before I arrived at the same place, then posted it to Facebook as an unidentified soldier. I knew who he was immediately, having seen a signed duplicate as well as an 1870's oil portrait made using the same image. Several years later the owner agreed to sell the cdv to me.
Corporal William A. Henderson, Co. K (Michigan) 1st U.S. Sharpshooters. Around 16 years ago I was able to study Henderson's surviving frock coat, the shell fuse that wounded him at 2nd Bull Run, and the bullet that wounded him at Kelly's Ford in November 1863, among other items kept by his descendants. The Gettysburg National Military Park purchased the Henderson frock a few years ago and it is now on display. This undated cdv shows him wearing the exact same coat.
Henderson was a 22-year old farmer from Lapeer County, Michigan when he enlisted with Berdan's Sharpshooters on January 12th, 1862. His company, known at the time as "Mather's Co. Sharpshooters," with another called "Willett's" arrived at the sharpshooters' training camp in Washington in mid-March. At first they joined the 3rd U.S. Sharpshooters then being raised by Col. Hiram Berdan in his bid to command a brigade and gain a commission as general. When the organization of the 3rd USSS failed, Willett's and Mather's companies were transferred into Berdan's own 1st USSS as companies I and K. The Michiganders spent only four days in camp between their arrival and the departure of the regiment for the Peninsula Campaign.
After his very quick introduction to warfare Henderson was at some point promoted to corporal. At 2nd Bull Run in August, 1862, the sharpshooters were advanced through an open field to an uncovered dry creek bed several hundreds yards in front of Stonewall Jackson's corps sheltering in a deep railroad cut. During the running advance Henderson suffered a wound to his knee from a chunk of CS artillery shell fuse. Fortunately the wound was slight and after a short hospitalization he returned to his company later that year. At Chancellorsville in May 1863 Henderson volunteered to scout ahead of the 1st USSS right flank and helped uncover the position of the 23rd Georgia Infantry. Ironically, the 23rd GA was part of Stonewall Jackson's corps (which was itself flanking the Federal right) and had again sheltered within a railroad cut. The 1st and 2nd USSS sharpshooters re-positioned and advanced on the Georgians, trapping them in the cut and captured nearly the entire regiment. On July 2nd at Gettysburg Henderson's company was deployed as skirmishers 300 yards in front of the Codori Farm where they lost three men wounded before retiring from the field. The following day the three Michigan companies of the 1st USSS (C, I, & K) were sent to Little Round Top to protect Federal artillery being fired upon by CS sharpshooters positioned among the rocks of Devil's Den. After conducting what the men termed an "Indian rush" they captured 20+ of the enemy in Devil's Den.
On November 7th, 1863, the 1st and 2nd USSS were hand-picked by General Philippe Regis DeTrobriand to lead the Third Corps' advance on the CS-held Rappahannock River crossing of Kelly's Ford. While the 2nd USSS held a commanding position on heights overlooking the ford, several 1st USSS companies were deployed as skirmishers and engaged rebels in earthworks across the river. The order to charge was given and the sharpshooters forded the river under a galling fire "until within six feet" of the earthworks, eventually routing the enemy and capturing between 200 and 500 men (accounts are greatly conflicting). During the charge across the river, Henderson was shot in the upper right shoulder and had to be helped to a field hospital where a surgeon quickly excised a portion of shattered bone. He eventually arrived at Douglas Hospital in Washington where he remained until being discharged on May 3rd, 1864 "with a very good arm." Company muster rolls show Henderson still absent throughout 1864 so while he was no longer hospitalized he must have been recovering at home in Michigan. He was eventually discharged due to the expiration of his enlistment on March 4th, 1865.
Following the war Henderson could no longer do farm labor and took a job as a stagecoach driver. The "very good arm" he left the hospital with had since deteriorated and led to a series of other operations which excised 3" inches of cracked and broken bone that the Federal surgeons had failed to remove themselves. Reports from these same surgeons frustrated Henderson's efforts to receive a pension for his wound. At some point in the 1870's he sat for a photograph, shirtless and wearing a vest, showing off his debilitated arm with a 3" section of missing bone. I have not yet learned if Henderson ever received a pension. The former sharpshooter died on Jan. 12th, 1908 at the age of 68 and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Hadley, Michigan.
Henderson is seen here wearing the surviving frock coat that is now housed at Gettysburg National Military Park & Museum. It is a product of Schuylkill Arsenal in Philadelphia, entirely hand sewn, with rubber "I in shield" eagle buttons, faded emerald green trim and chevrons, pockets added to the interior chest linings, and a collar lowered and crudely sewn perhaps by Henderson himself. Henderson's commercially-made cap bears stamped brass or silver letters "USSS" mounted on the chinstrap and a square Third Corps badge on the crown. His surviving frock coat is pictured below courtesy of the Gettysburg NMP.
Corporal William A. Henderson, Co. K (Michigan) 1st U.S. Sharpshooters. Around 16 years ago I was able to study Henderson's surviving frock coat, the shell fuse that wounded him at 2nd Bull Run, and the bullet that wounded him at Kelly's Ford in November 1863, among other items kept by his descendants. The Gettysburg National Military Park purchased the Henderson frock a few years ago and it is now on display. This undated cdv shows him wearing the exact same coat.
Henderson was a 22-year old farmer from Lapeer County, Michigan when he enlisted with Berdan's Sharpshooters on January 12th, 1862. His company, known at the time as "Mather's Co. Sharpshooters," with another called "Willett's" arrived at the sharpshooters' training camp in Washington in mid-March. At first they joined the 3rd U.S. Sharpshooters then being raised by Col. Hiram Berdan in his bid to command a brigade and gain a commission as general. When the organization of the 3rd USSS failed, Willett's and Mather's companies were transferred into Berdan's own 1st USSS as companies I and K. The Michiganders spent only four days in camp between their arrival and the departure of the regiment for the Peninsula Campaign.
After his very quick introduction to warfare Henderson was at some point promoted to corporal. At 2nd Bull Run in August, 1862, the sharpshooters were advanced through an open field to an uncovered dry creek bed several hundreds yards in front of Stonewall Jackson's corps sheltering in a deep railroad cut. During the running advance Henderson suffered a wound to his knee from a chunk of CS artillery shell fuse. Fortunately the wound was slight and after a short hospitalization he returned to his company later that year. At Chancellorsville in May 1863 Henderson volunteered to scout ahead of the 1st USSS right flank and helped uncover the position of the 23rd Georgia Infantry. Ironically, the 23rd GA was part of Stonewall Jackson's corps (which was itself flanking the Federal right) and had again sheltered within a railroad cut. The 1st and 2nd USSS sharpshooters re-positioned and advanced on the Georgians, trapping them in the cut and captured nearly the entire regiment. On July 2nd at Gettysburg Henderson's company was deployed as skirmishers 300 yards in front of the Codori Farm where they lost three men wounded before retiring from the field. The following day the three Michigan companies of the 1st USSS (C, I, & K) were sent to Little Round Top to protect Federal artillery being fired upon by CS sharpshooters positioned among the rocks of Devil's Den. After conducting what the men termed an "Indian rush" they captured 20+ of the enemy in Devil's Den.
On November 7th, 1863, the 1st and 2nd USSS were hand-picked by General Philippe Regis DeTrobriand to lead the Third Corps' advance on the CS-held Rappahannock River crossing of Kelly's Ford. While the 2nd USSS held a commanding position on heights overlooking the ford, several 1st USSS companies were deployed as skirmishers and engaged rebels in earthworks across the river. The order to charge was given and the sharpshooters forded the river under a galling fire "until within six feet" of the earthworks, eventually routing the enemy and capturing between 200 and 500 men (accounts are greatly conflicting). During the charge across the river, Henderson was shot in the upper right shoulder and had to be helped to a field hospital where a surgeon quickly excised a portion of shattered bone. He eventually arrived at Douglas Hospital in Washington where he remained until being discharged on May 3rd, 1864 "with a very good arm." Company muster rolls show Henderson still absent throughout 1864 so while he was no longer hospitalized he must have been recovering at home in Michigan. He was eventually discharged due to the expiration of his enlistment on March 4th, 1865.
Following the war Henderson could no longer do farm labor and took a job as a stagecoach driver. The "very good arm" he left the hospital with had since deteriorated and led to a series of other operations which excised 3" inches of cracked and broken bone that the Federal surgeons had failed to remove themselves. Reports from these same surgeons frustrated Henderson's efforts to receive a pension for his wound. At some point in the 1870's he sat for a photograph, shirtless and wearing a vest, showing off his debilitated arm with a 3" section of missing bone. I have not yet learned if Henderson ever received a pension. The former sharpshooter died on Jan. 12th, 1908 at the age of 68 and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Hadley, Michigan.
Henderson is seen here wearing the surviving frock coat that is now housed at Gettysburg National Military Park & Museum. It is a product of Schuylkill Arsenal in Philadelphia, entirely hand sewn, with rubber "I in shield" eagle buttons, faded emerald green trim and chevrons, pockets added to the interior chest linings, and a collar lowered and crudely sewn perhaps by Henderson himself. Henderson's commercially-made cap bears stamped brass or silver letters "USSS" mounted on the chinstrap and a square Third Corps badge on the crown. His surviving frock coat is pictured below courtesy of the Gettysburg NMP.
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