Colonel Henry Shaw Briggs (USV)

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Colonel Henry Shaw Briggs (USV)

Henry Shaw Briggs was born in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, on 1 August 1824. He graduated from Williams College in 1844 and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1848. He took an interest in military affairs and became captain of a company of state militia in Pittsfield, Massachusetts known as the "Allen Guards". In 1856, he served as a member of the Massachusetts Legislature.

Following Fort Sumter, Briggs's company became Company K of the 8th Massachusetts. After reaching Maryland, Company K was detached and assigned garrison duty at Fort McHenry near Baltimore. The company eventually rejoined the rest of the regiment and labored to repair and guard the railroads in the vicinity of Baltimore.

On 21 June 1861, Briggs was detached from service with the 8th Massachusetts, promoted to colonel and place in command of the newly formed 10th Massachusetts. The regiment reached Washington, D.C., on 28 July and spent the remainder of 1861 in camp near Washington, drilling and preparing for the spring campaign. The regiment was eventually attached to the IV Corps.

In March 1862, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan commenced his Peninsular Campaign. As the Army of the Potomac moved by water to the Virginia Peninsula, Col. Briggs was placed in command of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division of the IV Corps on 13 March 1862. He served in this capacity until May when he was replaced by Brig. Gen. Charles Devens and returned to command the 10th Massachusetts. He saw his first major action at the Battle of Fair Oaks on 31 May. The regiment suffered severe casualties and Briggs was shot through both legs.

Briggs returned home to recover. For his "gallant conduct on the field," Briggs was promoted to brigadier general on 17 July 1862. In September, Briggs was assigned to command Camp Chase on Arlington Heights just outside Washington. This was a training camp for new regiments arriving in Washington from across the country. During the Maryland Campaign in September 1862, Briggs was briefly assigned to command the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division of the V Corps taking several fresh regiments to reinforce McClellan's Army of the Potomac. Briggs, however, was not fully recovered and was unable to take the field.

In February 1863, Briggs was assigned to the Army's Middle Department, commanding a brigade in the VIII Corps serving guard duty in Maryland. For two weeks in the latter part of July 1863, during the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg, Briggs was placed in command of a brigade of the 1st Division, I Corps but did not see any significant action. He was then placed in command of another training camp in Alexandria, Virginia, until July 1864. He served the rest of the war on court-martial boards in Washington.

Briggs returned to a political and law career after the war. From 1865 to 1868, he served as Massachusetts Auditor. With the establishment of the District Court of Central Berkshire in 1869, Briggs was appointed a standing justice of that court in recognition of his law career and his duty on court-martial boards during the war. Briggs resigned from the bench in 1873. He died in Pittsfield on 23 September 1887.