Help finding a Union soldier

David Ireland

Corporal
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
We are trying to find my partner’s relative, who we believe was killed in the Battle of Snicker’s Gap and buried somewhere in the area.

Below is a memo written by one of her uncles which is questionably reliable.

Can anyone help me figure out where and when he fought, died, and was buried? Also was he at Antietam, and if so, where?

He was from Amsterdam or Gloversville, NY, his name was Warner Brown, and we think he may have been in either the 14th US or the 14th NY.

Any info is appreciated .


Chasing Warner Brown

I was in the Washington DC area last week to visit some old friends
connected to an Amsterdam family. I scheduled some extra days to visit a few
Civil War battlefields in Virginia. In order to give it some pertinence, I
decided to connect my travels to Warner Brown's experience. I did quite a
bit of research before going there. I wanted to see & experience the
locations where Warner served.

I knew I would need help from the Park Service guides to do this, which
meant having detailed information on his unit. For the record, at the time
of his wartime action, he was in Company E, 2d Battalion, 14th U.S.
Regiment, General Sykes' Division. From Warner's letters, I know he was in
action at the 2d battle of Bull Run, (sometimes called the battle of 2d
Manassas) on August 28-30, 1862. Three weeks later, he was caught up in the
battle of Antietam, Sept.17, 1862.

Both battles were major actions, with Bull Run accounting for 14,462 Union
casualties, killed, wounded or missing in three days and Antietam
numbering12,410 casualties in one day, the bloodiest single day encounter in
the Civil War.

Armed with this unit information, the Park Service was wonderfully
cooperative. Using their detailed unit maps, they were able to translate
Warner's location during the battles to the location as it exists today.
Unfortunately, his spot at Antietam is now heavily forested and on private
land and can't be visited. At Bull Run, however, his location is within the
dedicated park and I was able to stand pretty close to where Warner was when
engaged. It is a strange and emotional experience, seeing what he saw and
wondering what it was like for him.

The most important and emotional visit was my return visit to Snickers Gap,
the spot where Warner was mortally wounded on August 3. Snickers Gap is also
called Castleman's Ford, so-called because the river is narrow & shallow
there and can be crossed on foot. It is not on most maps. It is on the banks
of the Shenandoa River, just south of where the Rte.#7 bridge now crosses
the river, about one mile west of the small village of Bluemont, VA. which
is about 50 miles west of Washington DC. On Rte.7.

Warner's wounding and death was not really a battle. It was a tragic error
resulting from a spurious order. Their mission was to conduct a
reconnaisance, not to engage the enemy. His unit advanced thru the woods
toward the ford and stopped while still hidden in the woods. Ahead of them
was a wide, open area, then the river. There were Confederate troops on the
west side of the river. Some fool, forever unknown, issued an order to
advance into the open slope down to the river. As soon as they left
concealment, the enemy opened fire and decimated Warner's unit.

There was much recrimination by the officers in immediate command of
Warner's unit. They knew it was an unauthorized order, but were unable to
find out who called for the advance. This kind of thing happens in battle
and it blew over. Warner was taken back to Bluemont where the local church
was being used as a hospital. He died there the next day, August 4, 1862.

I have visited this site three times. It looks almost unchanged from the day
of the skirmish and is easily identifiable. A visitor is able to walk toward
the river virtually in Warner's footsteps. It is affecting and I like to
think that being there and thinking of him is the only way we have to honor
him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

In conversations with park officials I may have found the reason for the
discrepancy in his Memorial headstone in Amsterdam identifying his unit as
the 14th NY Regiment, when his unit at the time of death was the 14th U.S.
Regiment. They tell me that he may well have joined the 14th NY at his time
of enlistment and was later transferred to the 14th US. This was then not
uncommon.

Bob”
 
Hello @David Ireland
It looks like your Warner Brown of E 2nd Battalion 14th US Infantry was actually killed (or mortally wounded) at a Monday, November 3, 1862 engagement at Snickersville - not the 1864 battle near the same location. According to the newspaper article and other sources I consulted, the engagement at this location evidently involved the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, 6th, 7th, and 14th US infantry regiments. Im sorry I dont really know much about that particular engagement, but perhaps someone else here does?

Here's a newspaper article from November 1862 which describes the action and lists your Warner Brown of E 2nd Battn 14th US Infantry as killed.
1572309969878.png

1572310155503.png

The New York Herald., November 08, 1862, page 1, column 3. Link
 
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As
Hello @David Ireland
It looks like your Warner Brown of E 2nd Battalion 14th US Infantry was actually killed (or mortally wounded) at the October 22, 1862 Battle of Snickersville - not the 1864 battle near the same location. According to the newspaper article and other sources I consulted, the October 1862 engagement at this location evidently involved the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, 6th, 7th, and 14th US infantry regiments against Mosby’s irregular forces? Im sorry I dont really know much about that particular engagement, but perhaps someone else here does?

Here's a newspaper article from November 1862 which describes the action and lists your Warner Brown of E 2nd Battn 14th US Infantry as killed.
View attachment 331591
View attachment 331592
The New York Herald., November 08, 1862, page 1, column 3. Link
Always nice work
 
We are trying to find my partner’s relative, who we believe was killed in the Battle of Snicker’s Gap and buried somewhere in the area.

Below is a memo written by one of her uncles which is questionably reliable.

Can anyone help me figure out where and when he fought, died, and was buried? Also was he at Antietam, and if so, where?

He was from Amsterdam or Gloversville, NY, his name was Warner Brown, and we think he may have been in either the 14th US or the 14th NY.

Any info is appreciated .

<snip>

Hi again, @David Ireland I did not find a Warner Brown in the NY State roster for the 14th New York Infantry.

He did enlist in the US Army, though, in Company E, 2nd Battalion, 14th US Infantry on 19 March 1862 in Binghamton, NY by Captain [Henry] Clay. He was a 19 year old miller born in Canandaigua, NY and was 5' 6-3/4" tall with blue eyes, brown hair, and fair skin.

Died Nov 4 /62 of wounds rec'd in action near Snicker's Gap, Va, a Pvt.

Here are all those details (he's at row 253):

brown_warner_enlistment.jpg

(from the Registers of Enlistments in the United States Army, 1798-1914, Vol. 54, pg. 103)

I don't have any information that specifically puts Private Brown at Antietam, but his unit was there. Right in the middle of the Federal line above the Middle Bridge over the Antietam. Captain McKibben, commanding.

I hope this helps!

... edited to add his burial place (via Findagrave) in Green Hill, Amsterdam, NY - his stone has him in the 14th NY, which seems to be an error.
 
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I have attached copies of Warner Brown's enlistment (about 1/2 way down page) and death (3rd name in 2nd group) registers downloaded from Ancestry.com. It appears Brown enlisted directly into Company E, 14th United States Infantry. There is no record of him in the 14th New York or the 14th Brooklyn. The 14th United States was at Antietam, the 2nd Battalion (incl. Company E) under the command of Captain David McKibbin serving in 1st Brigade (Lt. Col. Robert Buchanan), 2nd Division (BG George Sykes), V Corps (MG Fitz John Porter). V Corps served as the AoP's reserve with few units engaged. The 14th U.S. did cross the Antietam during the afternoon of the 17th in support of Pleasonton's artillery batteries. See link for McKibben's report. http://antietam.aotw.org/exhibit.php?exhibit_id=160
MIUSA1798_102934-00422.jpg


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//
 
Can anyone help me figure out where and when he fought, died, and was buried?
According to the information posted by @Brian Downey Warner Brown must have been mortally wounded on Monday, November 3, 1862 and died the next day. Do descendants of Warner Brown believe that the headstone at Amsterdam, NY is a cenotaph - ie. a marker placed there while he is actually buried elsewhere? I ask because the newspaper article indicates that all the killed and wounded were brought back when they withdrew.

The newspaper article also says, "Our wounded were brought to the stone church in Snickersville, and are now well cared for."

I checked out the "stone church" in Snickersville - which is the Bluemont Methodist Church, built in 1851, located at 33843 Snickersville Turnpike, Bluemont, VA 20135. It is still in use. The church website says that the land behind the building was used as a burial ground during the Civil War. http://www.bluemontumc.org/ I wonder if they know that the church was used, at least temporarily, as a hospital?

Those who were killed and brought back when the troops withdrew, as well as those who died of their wounds, would likely have been buried in the church yard, at least temporarily. Their graves would have been marked with a wooden headboard, probably with their name, company and regiment carved into it. Unfortunately, the situation was chaotic. Removal of remains and transport home was very difficult. It is possible that Warner Brown's family had his remains removed to Amsterdam later, perhaps even after the war. If so, then the headstone at Amsterdam may be marking where his remains were eventually re-interred.

However, if descendants believe that the headstone is a cenotaph, and if he was not later removed to a National Cemetery, then my best guess is that his remains lie in a long-forgotten, now unmarked, grave on the grounds of the Bluemont Methodist Church in Snickersville, VA.
1572314760131.png
 
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I have attached copies of Warner Brown's enlistment (about 1/2 way down page) and death (3rd name in 2nd group) registers downloaded from Ancestry.com. It appears Brown enlisted directly into Company E, 14th United States Infantry. There is no record of him in the 14th New York or the 14th Brooklyn. The 14th United States was at Antietam, the 2nd Battalion (incl. Company E) under the command of Captain David McKibbin serving in 1st Brigade (Lt. Col. Robert Buchanan), 2nd Division (BG George Sykes), V Corps (MG Fitz John Porter). V Corps served as the AoP's reserve with few units engaged. The 14th U.S. did cross the Antietam during the afternoon of the 17th in support of Pleasonton's artillery batteries. See link for McKibben's report. http://antietam.aotw.org/exhibit.php?exhibit_id=160
View attachment 331610

View attachment 331611//
Thank you for your help
 
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