Easton And The Civil War

"Some of you young men think that war is all glamour and glory, but let me tell you, boys, it is all hell!"

GENERAL WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN

Anniversaries concentrate our minds nicely. I also think, in many ways, we care too much about anniversaries. Especially in journalism, we care too much about anniversaries.

We are always concerned about the “hook” of a story.  I mean, let’s say that today, I ran across a great story of courage and human fortitude that played out in the Battle of the Bulge in January of 1945, many editors (but not Easton Patch Editor Patrick Maguire) would want me to – if I chose to write the story – wait until January to have it published; then again, I might need wait until January of 2020 to have it published – because that would be the 75th anniversary of the event.

Please – a good story need not wait for an anniversary "hook" to get published. 

But I will concede that anniversaries can be valuable – if we put them to use.

Tomorrow marks the sesquicentennial anniversary – that would be the 150th anniversary – of the start of the Civil War. America’s bloodiest war, the one that pit brother against brother – the one that resulted in the deaths of close to 700,000 Americans – commenced in the early hours of April 12, 1861 when a provisional  Confederate force fired on the Union garrison at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.  The attack came after a Confederate demand for the surrender of the fort was refused by the Union commander. 

Let’s put to use the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War to focus our minds, to inspire us to learn, and to reflect on just how awful is war.

It had been building since the start of the republic, an inevitable fight that would either sustain or abolish slavery. Yes, state rights were the crux of the catastrophe – and slavery was the primary crux of the state rights issue.

Within days of the outbreak of war, sons of Easton were on the way to engage in the fight to save the Union. Men from Easton would fight throughout the theater of the conflict. 

Two-hundred-and-seventy-seven men from Easton served the Union cause.  Forty-seven men from Easton perished in the war. 

Every year, during the Memorial Day ceremony here in town, Easton veterans read the roll of those from Easton who died in the military service of their nation in the Civil War.  A veteran reads the roll during the portion of the ceremony held at the Civil War Monument at the intersection of Center Street and Depot Street.  The names of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice during the war are inscribed on the monument. 

As I related in this space back in January ), one Memorial Day, standing next to me during the ceremony was the the late State Rep. Barbara Hyland, a Foxboro resident.  As the names continued to be read, she turned to me and said, “That is a lot of people from one town.” 

On the cusp of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, here are the names (pulled from Rev. William Chaffin's History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts) of those men who died to hold the Union together and preserve a promise to posterity:

Charles Bellows: died on a steamboat near New York City, April 19, 1861.

Charles L. Britton, Jr.:  died from wounds, July 9, 1864, in Washington D.C.

Major Crockett: died in New Orleans, following being discharged for disability on November 16, 1863.

Martin Cunningham: killed at the Battle of Bull Run, August, 30, 1862.

George H. Davis: a former prisoner of war, he was freed in a prisoner exchange; he was very ill and died in Annapolis, Maryland, March 19, 1865.

Daniel Donovan: killed in the Wilderness campaign, in Virginia, May 6, 1864.

Henry T. Drew: died, Fort Royal, South Carolina, November 15, 1863.

John Duffy: killed, Fort Hadson, Louisiana, June 14, 1863.

Thomas Duffy:  killed at Cedar Mountain, Virginia, August 9, 1862.

Seth T. Dunbar: killed, Cold Harbor, Virginia, June 12, 1864.

Jason F. Eldredge: died, Bellevue Hospital, Virginia, August 27, 1862.

Samuel H. Gilmore: died in Easton, January 4, 1863.

Franklin M. Godfrey: died, Richmond, Virginia, January 23, 1864.

John Goulding: died, Alexandria, Virginia, March 22, 1864.

John D. Haney:  killed, Cold Harbor, Virginia, June 4, 1864.

Edward W. Hansell:  died in Stoughton, following discharge by order of the War Department.

Mason A. Hill: killed, Spottsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, May 8, 1864.

Elijah Howard: died, New Orleans, May 27, 1863.

James A. Humphrey: died, David’s Island Hospital, in New York City Harbor, September 30, 1862.

Addison A. Lothrop: killed, Winchester, Virginia, September 19, 1864.

William A. Lothrop: died, Andersonville Prison Camp, Georgia, September 15, 1864.

Patrick McCourt: killed, Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 3, 1863.

James McCullough: died from wounds, Fredericksburg, Virginia, May 15, 1864.

Calvin A. Marshall: died, White House Landing, Virginia, June 10, 1864.

Michael Milric:  died, Brashear City, Louisiana, June 21, 1863.

Theodore Mitchell:  died of scurvy, New Orleans, July 5, 1862.

John Mullen:  died of wounds, Camp Parole, Maryland, February 5, 1863.

Hosea S. Packard:  killed, May 30, 1862, on railroad in Trenton, New Jersey.

William M. Packard:   died, July 12, 1862, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

John Phillips:  died in a camp near Fairfax Station, Virginia, March 1, 1863.

Minot  E. Phillips:  died July, 1862, Belle Isle, Virginia.

Horace F.  Poole:  taken prisoner; died in Salisbury Prison in North Carolina, March 1, 1865.

Seth Ramsdell:  killed, Cold Harbor, Virginia, June 18, 1864.

Ansel B. Randall:   killed, Hatcher's Run, Virginia, April 2, 1865.

John M. Randall:  died, Salisbury, North Carolina, January 10, 1865.

Peleg F. Randall:  died of wounds, Washington D.C., June 7, 1864.

Phineas A. Randall:  died from fever, New Orleans, July 6, 1862.

John Richards: died at U.S. Hospital, Albany, New York, August 31, 1863.

Michael E. Roach:  died from wounds, New Orleans, Louisiana, July 5, 1863.

Richard Seavers:  killed, Battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.

Cornelius Slattery:  killed, December 13, 1862, Battle of Fredericksburg.

Albert Tilden:  died from wounds, October 21, 1862, Cedar Creek, Virginia.

George A.  Tilden:  died, Port Hudson, Louisiana, July 30, 1863.

Jason M. Tinkham:   died, August 22, 1864, Washington D.C.; from wounds sustained in Battle of Petersburg. 

Charles  Torrey:  died, August 17, 1864, Andersonville Prison Camp, Georgia. 

Charles H.  Willis:   died, Fort Monroe, Virginia, October 10, 1862.

Charles E. Williams:  missing, June 20, 1861.

These are the men from Easton who fell while serving in uniform during the war.  It is impossible to accurately estimate the entirety of suffering that befell this community because of the conflict.

For example, not  included in the names above is John Murphy, whose arm had to be amputated because of a bullet he took in his arm at the Battle of Resaca, or that of Timothy Murphy, who lost an arm at the Battle of Winchester. 

Not included among the names of Easton war dead is James McEvoy, the great-great grandfather of my good friend, John McEvoy.  James McEvoy was seriously wounded in the head during a battle, and was discharged.  (I remember, as a kid, in the McEvoy home, framed and hanging on the wall was James McEvoy's Union Army discharge paper.)

Emotional anguish?  We can't even begin to start. 

General Sherman was right about war:  it is all hell.