Stories of the Civil War Soldier

Today we honor and thank our veterans for their honored service in protection of our country. No matter the role they served, combat or none, all that matters is that you served and made that choice to lay your life on the line for us if that time came.
Thank you 🫡

“We, as did those who commanded us, surrendered for a time the independence of our citizenship to the power and influence of discipline, and gave to the world names that will forever be fadeless in the anals of war”
Cpt Gus Ford
Co A, 31st Indiana Infantry
“Midnight on Missionary Ridge”

Pictured are members of an unknown unit taken sometime around 1880 near or on the 3rd Wi******er battlefield. I was unable to read the badges but it may be a GAR Post reunion badge? Original image is up on the LOC site if you’d like to investigate for yourself.

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Sgt Llewellyn Powell Norton
Medal of Honor
April 6, 1865
Sailor’s Creek
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Sergeant Llewellyn Powell Norton of Company L, 10th New York Cavalry was a man who never backed down from a fight nor did he ever lead from behind. He enlisted on September 15, 1862 at age 25, ten months after the death of his wife and seven months after the birth of his first child with the women he would marry after his return from war. From the start he had shown his superiors great courage and determination in the face of the enemy. One such occasion occurred the previous June at St. Mary’s Church when the 10th was running low on ammunition and Norton volunteered himself procure some, saying to his captain “I know it’s risky, but I’ll chance it.” He survived the engagement but his hat, uniform, and canteen were among the casualties from the rebel lead.
Now at Sailor’s Creek, the pursuit of Lee west from Petersburg was on. Richard Ewell’s Reserve Corps and Richard Anderson’s Fourth Corps was finally held up by the federal 6th Corps and Wesley Merrit’s Cavalry Corps. They had been under significant pressure for the majority of the day. The 6th Corps had Ewell pinned down while Merrit’s men had prevented Anderson from fully connecting to Ewell’s lines. Several charges by the federal cavalry had been repulsed over and over. Finally as the sun began to set, Henry Capeheart’s Brigade, under Custer’s command, was able to break through the lines held by George Pickett’s Division. George Crook’s brigade, including Norton and the 10th New York in Henry Davies’ brigade, made an additional surprising attack on Anderson’s right against Bushrod Johnson’s Division that finished the job. At the head of the charge was Sgt Norton, his saber bright in the setting sun and his battle scarred cap flopping from the ride. He and Cpl Andrew Bringle, a 21year old hotel worker from Buffalo, New York, rode right over the rebel lines becoming involved in fierce hand to hand combat as the rebels began to flee. Several rebel artillerymen tried desperately to save their cannon from capture but Norton made it his personal objective to capture it and those around it. At sword point he did just that. Cpl Bringle led the five captured rebels away as the rest of Davies’ cavalrymen pushed on, capturing even more exhausted men while Sergeant Norton stood steadfast protecting his trophy. He was promoted Sgt Major and brevet 2nd Lieutenant for his actions. Norton and Bringle were both awarded the Medal of Honor but only Bringle would receive his formally. Llewellyn Norton’s medal was issued on July 5, 1865 but had been sent to the 9th Corps Headquarters instead of the cavalry headquarters in which he had been attached. Unfortunately his medal was stolen from there and never found. It wasn’t until May 1888, 23 years after the fact, that Norton even learned he had been awarded the medal when he read his name in Appleton’s Cyclopedia. A replacement medal was sent later that year.

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Thomas J McClure
Batteries H, A, & L 7th NY Heavy Artillery
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TJ McClure was a 22 year old store clerk from Troy, NY when he enlisted as 1st Sgt of Co H on Aug 13, 1862, with the 113th NYVI. He was originally from Keeseville, NY, and the child of 9 to live past age 18. In Dec they became the 7th NY Heavy Artillery. Batt H remained in DC for the next year without seeing any action. He was promoted 2nd Lt of Batt A on Dec 15, 1863 and just 2 months later he was made 1st Lt of the newly formed Batt L. On May 15th Gen Grant ordered the “heavies” to join the push on Richmond. The 7th entered its first major fight at the Harris Farm at Spotsylvania on May 19th as part of the 2nd Corps. At Cold Harbor on June 3rd, they were officially assigned to Barlow’s Div, 2nd Corps. Their objective was to take Edgar’s Salient ahead of the main assault while Gibbon’s Div came up as the support. The charge was brutal as the 7th was torn up with shot and shell from the rebs but they were able to overrun the salient. Their position was horribly exposed to the rebel rear though and had little support form either Div to their rear. Finegan’s FL Brig saw the opportunity and charged. Without ample time to reform, the 7th was forced back in a hasty retreat. The regt’l colors became lost in the massed hysteria as well most of Batt L. Once back to the initial lines, Cpt Kennedy began to berate TJ for losing his men. For several minutes the two seemed mere seconds aware from a full on brawl. Batt L’s Lt Mather, tried to intervene, but just as he tried a shell exploded near them sending a large piece of shrapnel into TJ’s arm, severing it entirely before smashing into his side before exiting out his chest and hitting Kennedy. Lt TJ McClure perished instantly and in nearly two parts. That night Lt Mather and a few others buried his mangled remains near the McGhee farm. A wooden plank was erected to identify his grave. His mother added a marker to her late husband’s grave in TJ’s honor. His remains were relocated in 1865 to what is now Cold Harbor Nat’l Cemetery, plot 375.

“We, as did those who commanded us, surrendered for a time the independence of our citizenship to the power and influence of discipline, and gave to the world names that will forever be fadeless in the anals of war”
Cpt Gus Ford
Co A, 31st Indiana Infantry
“Midnight on Missionary Ridge”

Today is a day to honor those who sacrificed their lives, dreams, and families and gave that last full measure of devotion to ensure the freedom of this country. The American Civil War saw the deaths of approximately 360,000 federal soldiers on American soil. It is estimated that roughly 110,000 of those died in battle or from mortal wounds and another 224,000 from disease. Though most now rest peacefully in local or National Cemeteries, many lay in marked unknown graves and even in unmarked ones on the fields of battle where they fell. The unknowns, to many, are the stories that hit the hardest for those who study this era in American History. Those graves with no name are of men who fell and left no place for family and friends to visit and honor their sacrifice. That lost story becomes harder to digest when you come across those who weren’t given a formal final resting place at all or grave marked with anything. It is for those unknown and fallen that I have decided to make this page more centered around them. Especially those whose final places are etched with the name “unknown”. I hope you do spend this day by remembering those who fell under the flag of this country. No matter the circumstances that led to the conflict, their lives lost are a sacrifice and should be honored as such. Rest easy and a salute to you, always.

Ansel Bartlett Randall
Co G 43rd Mass & Co D 56th Mass Infantries

In the early morning hours of April 2nd, 1865, Captain Ansel Randall, a dentist from Abington, Mass waited with his Co D, 56th Mass at Ft Sedgwick at the center of the 9th Corps lines south of Petersburg. Though the 56th was placed as reserves at the fort, three companies, including Ansel’s, were to lead the assault on Fort Mahone as skirmishers. Captain Randall was the youngest of three siblings and grew up in Easton, Mass. His mother had died when he was just two, though his father did remarry and had three more daughters. By the start of the war, Ansel was living in Abington at the boarding house of the widow Dorinda Shaw. He initially enlisted in September 1862 as a Sergeant in Co G, 43rd Mass, a 90-day unit during Lincoln’s second call for volunteers. The 43rd saw very limited action during its short service period in North Carolina and by July 1863, Ansel was back home. In late fall the 56th was being raised and only taking volunteers who had previously served. Ansel enlisted on November 21st and was elected 1st Lieutenant of Co D. They were attached to the 1st Div of the 9th Corps and immediately thrown into the fray as Grant kicked off his Overland Campaign. At the Wilderness he was severely wounded. He refused to leave the fight until he was ordered to be taken to a field hospital. He left the hospital two days later without being discharged for service and unrecovered. The 56th entered the Wilderness with 1000 men and crossed the James River to attack Petersburg a month later with just over 130. On July 30th, they were in the initial assaults on Petersburg in which Co D’s commander Captain Wilson Fay was captured. Ansel was promoted to Captain as a result with a back date of May 7th, the date he returned from his wounding.
With Spring now here and the fights picking up. Ansel’s men were to be some of the first to clear the rebel pickets and rifle pits while the pioneers cleared the abatis for main attack on John B Gordon’s lines. At 4:30am the assault began and completely surprised the rebels. Ansel men quickly over ran the rifle pits and Fort Mahone and continued their push forward as the main body swept over the rebel works. Though Gordon’s lines never fully broke, the federal assault captured his main works while further down the Petersburg line, AP Hill’s line suffered a breakthrough by the 6th Corps. It was the final blow for the siege and the final attack made by the 56th Mass in the war. Unfortunately, not all was joyous as the 9th Corps lost over 1,700 men with 15 being from the 56th Mass skirmishers, including Captain Randall. He had been seriously wounded in the abdomen after taking the rifle pits. This time he had to be carried off the field back to Ft Sedgwick where the wound was pronounced mortal. He lived for five more hours before passing and was buried there. His body was removed between 1866 and 1869 and reinterred at Poplar Grove National Cemetery as an unknown, his marker being lost to the elements. His father placed his name on family marker at Village Cemetery in Easton, “Thus fell a gallant young officer of Co. A. 50th Regt. M.V.M. who participated in all the battles of Gen. Grant's campaign through the Wilderness up to the enemies works before Petersburg.” His name also appears on the memorial at the Rockland Memorial Library alongside others from Abington and Rockland whose remains never returned home. Ansel wasn’t married and didn’t have any children.

Petersburg National Battlefield

James Edgar Engle, Medal of Honor-May 18, 1864

James Edgar was the 21year old 1st Sergeant from Company I, 97th Pennsylvania Infantry apart of General Benjamin Butler’s Army of the James who was currently stuck in their Bermuda Hundred Line after being stalled by defeats at the hand of General PGT Beauregard. Before the war he worked as a clerk in West Chester, Pennsylvania. His father had been a navy man and captained a Baltimore Clipper named Valparaiso that sailed to South America and the Chinese coast. The ship itself was bought by the US Navy in 1861 to be scuttled in Charleston Harbor after the fall of Fort Sumter but instead was used as a supply runner for the blockade ships. James himself had only joined the 97th in February 1864, a few months prior. He originally served as a private in the 153rd Pennsylvania being wounded and temporarily captured at Chancellorsville the year prior. The 97th was in a reserve position while to their front the 8th Maine was in their lines with their pickets in advance. In the morning hours Beauregard sent in three regiments who quickly advanced on the Mainers and forced them from their entrenchments around the Foster Plantation. With the federal line in jeopardy the 97th was rushed in to retake the works. Their counterassault worked but the rebels took cover in the ravines and buildings of the farm below and began laying a heavy fire back on the Pennsylvanians. As the fight here wore on, ammunition began to severely decline. Due to the unfortunate layout of their position, ammunition couldn’t be readily brought up to the 97th in a safe manner. Colonel Henry Guss called for volunteers to run for supplies. Sergeant Engle along side regimental musician John Parson Jr and several others volunteered for the dangerous task. A regimental historian noted the volunteered assignment as “details of men with gum blankets, into which the contents of the ammunition boxes were poured, crawled to the front dragging the supplies, which were thrown forward to those in the advanced sheltered positions, from which it was certain death to move while daylight lasted.” For nearly nine hours this work continued until night fall. The men, covered in dirt, blood, and powder, crawled back and forth as exposing even the slightest bit of yourself could be deadly. John Parsons was mortally wounded during one trip while Sergeant Engle received wounds to his face, body, and left arm which was amputated once he was ordered to retire to the rear upon his refusal to leave. Upon his recovery in August he was assigned to Company E, 16th Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps where he was promoted 1st Lieutenant and breveted Captain by the end of the war. Afterwards he worked as a clerk in the Pension Office in Washington DC until his death on November 19, 1897. He is buried in Section One at Arlington National Cemetery. On December 17, 1896 he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions and bravery on May 18, 1864. The living veterans of the 97th who were able to continue fighting that day due to his courage and actions were the ones who pushed for his recommendation. James’ son, Charles, served in the US Navy during the Spanish American War and his Grandson James (whom was named after his grandfather) served during World War 2 as a Major in the Marines.

Michael Frederick Black
Co G, 138th Pennsylvania

Michael Black was a 32 year old, 5’ 8” blacksmith from Bendersville, Adams County Pennsylvania when he enlisted on August 11, 1862 with Company G, 138th Pennsylvania Infantry. Though well below 6 feet, the man was anything but small, being a well built and stocky personality. He was decedent of early 1700’s German immigrants who had original settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania and whom appeared quite active with the efforts of the Continental Army as several family members, like his Great Grandfather Valentine Fehl, served from 1776 to 1780 in the Chester County Militia. Michael had a wife of ten years Anjuline Leiper, of Gettysburg, and five children at the time he left for war. Out of his thirteen siblings, I can confirm three registered for the draft but never served and only one volunteered, Moses Black (1844-1916), who served initially as an un-enlisted teamster in DC before joining Company H, 3rd Maryland Cavalry as a Corporal and Bugler in 1863.

The 138th Pennsylvania started off as a garrison unit in the 8th Corps around Baltimore and DC. It wasn’t until June 1863, when Robert E Lee began his campaign north into Pennsylvania that they were rushed westward and to be used as a support element at Harpers Ferry. Upon Lee’s retreat they were assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division of the 3rd Corps until the corps was dissolved after the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns. Spring 1864 brought not only a new assignment to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division of the 6th Corps but the regiment’s first true taste of war. They would see almost non-stop carnage up close and personal from the Wilderness in May to the early assaults on Petersburg in July when the 6th Corps was pulled from the trenches and sent north towards DC to aide in the repulse of Jubal Early’s advance on Washington. The next three months were spent in the lower Shenandoah Valley as part of Phil Sheridan’s army ending with a climatic engagement at Cedar Creek in October. Winter 1864 was spent in the trenches around Petersburg before the spring thaw thrust the 138th back into fray at Fort Fisher until Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. One month of garrison duty at Danville, Virginia and the review of troops in DC ended Michael Black’s service of two year, ten months, and twelve days on June 23, 1865. At some point in 1864 Michael received a wound near his right eye. The injury, though apparently minor in comparison, caused impaired sight the rest of his life but did result in a $30 pension in 1880.

After the war Michael returned home and settled a successful farm and blacksmith shop near Wenksville, Pennsylvania where he stayed for nearly 50 years and brought forth an additional six children. Sadly on August 14, 1900 is his of 47 years passed at the age of 69. With his health declining in 1914 due to heart disease, he was sent to a soldier’s home in Hampton, Virginia where he stayed briefly from July to September of that year. He temporarily returned to Wenksville before moving into the home of his son Edward in Bendersville. Michael Black spent those last years of his life there, passing on March 9, 1918 from heart disease at the age of 87. He was laid next to his wife at Bendersville Cemetery in Section C, Row 8. His descendants still possess some of his war time related affects including his discharge papers, pension papers, photograph, and the m1861 Springfield musket (d. 1862) that he carried throughout his service. His home has long been gone but its footprint and most of the original land still belong to his family today.

María K. Black

Same page. New name! Yes after almost a two year hiatus from the Civil War Soldier’s History page, I have returned with a slight revamp. I’ve decided to change the name to “Stories of the Civil War Soldier” ( ). The post style will stay the same with a focus on telling the stories of the regular soldier (private through Captain) but I am pushing more towards the stories of those who were ultimately unable to return home and continue their stories. I plan on doing at least two posts a week with a few other themes thrown in from time to time. Hope you enjoy and welcome to Stories of the Civil War Soldier!

Samuel Robinson; Company I, 3rd New Hampshire Infantry

Not much is available on Samuel Robison before the war other than he was born in or near Rochester, New Hampshire.
Samuel enlisted on July 29, 1861 with Company I, 3rd New Hampshire Infantry at age 20. His first actions came in South Carolina in the Expedition to Port Royal (Capture of Forts Walker & Beauregard, Port Royal Harbor), Affair at Hunting Island, & Recon up the Savannah River to Elba Island. On March 15, 1862 he was promoted Corporal. He continued to fight in the Expedition to Bluffton, Occupation of Edisto Island, Affair at Watts' Court, Recon of Seabrook Island, Advance on Jehossie Island, Skirmish Edisto Island, Ops on James Island, Battle of Secessionville, Evacuation of James Island & movement to Hilton Head, Affair at Pinckney Island, and the Expedition up Broad River to Pocotaligo, (Action at Caston's & Frampton's Plantations, Pocotaligo). Samuel’s bravery throughout the summer and fall of 1862 led to his second promotion on October 15, 1862 to Sergeant. The following year brought constant action around Charleston at Seabrook Island, Folly Island, Morris Island, Fort Wagner, Fort Gregg, and Fort Sumter. His ability in battle proved worthy again as he was given a 90 day furlough in September and a third promotion; this time to 1st Sergeant on February 3, 1864. In early April the 3rd was sent to Florida where it was temporarily mounted before being sent north to Virginia by the end of the month to join Butler’s Operations on the James River. Once in Virginia, Samuel fought in the capture of City Point & Bermuda Hundred, Chester Station, Swift Creek, Chester, Fort Darling, and Drewry's Bluff.

During the fighting at Drewry's Bluff on May 13, 1864 the 3rd New Hampshire was assigned to Joseph Hawley’s Brigade, 1st Division of the 10th Corps. The 10th and 18th Corps made up Ben Butler’s Army of the James whose task was to secure the Bermuda Hundred between Richmond and to take to capture the confederate defenses south of Richmond. Samuel was wounded through the abdomen during the fighting that temporarily pushed the Confederates from their works. The wound was pronounced mortal after he was taken to the army hospital at City Point. On May 24th Samuel was given an honorary promotion to 2nd Lieutenant due to his bravery during the fight. Samuel Robinson died on June 21, 1864 after suffering through the pain for 39 days. His body was sent back to Rochester where it was buried at Old Old Cemetery. He was one of the 186 men who were killed or mortally wounded.

Richmond National Battlefield Park