{"id":54,"date":"2020-09-17T08:36:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T15:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barrybriggs.com\/blog\/?p=54"},"modified":"2020-10-02T07:52:24","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T14:52:24","slug":"a-little-family-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.barrybriggs.com\/blog\/uncategorized\/a-little-family-history\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little Family History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story is about William Charles Newstead who was born\naround 1834 in the Norwich area of England. Sometime prior to 1840 his father, also\nnamed William, brought his family to the United States. They settled in a small\ntown called Burke, New York in Franklin County, in the very far north of New\nYork State on the Canadian border. The industries of the time, besides farming,  included<\/a> \u201conly a grist\nmill, saw mills, tanneries, asheries, starch factories, brick yards and stone\nquarries.\u201d We know the rough time of the family\u2019s arrival as the Newsteads are\nlisted on the 1840 Federal Census.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot imagine what brought them to the small village whose\npopulation at the time was about 2000 people. (Today it’s less than 300.)\nPerhaps the Newsteads had friends or relatives already there; or perhaps there\nwere the promises of land grants for new settlers. In any event the Newstead\nfamily set up as farmers in the late 1830s. \nWilliam\u2019s parents no doubt expected to raise their family in this quiet,\npeaceful town, watch them grow up and then enjoy their grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But events were about to take a turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On April 12, 1861, South Carolina militia bombarded Fort Sumter,\nnear Charleston, and the island fort  surrendered the next day. Thereafter newly\nelected President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to help put down the\nincipient rebellion. These recruits were only expected to serve for 90 days, the\nthinking being that the war against the \u201cbumpkins\u201d in the South would be over\nvery quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Battle of Bull Run<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A few months later, on\nJuly 21st 1861, when William would have been about 26 or 27, Confederate and\nUnion armies clashed at the Battle\nof Bull Run<\/a>, at Manassas Junction in Virginia, heralding the start of the Civil\nWar (or as the South calls it, the War between the States). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Bull Run, the Union forces were, to the shock of the spectators\nwho had come to witness the event, decisively defeated; both sides recognized\nthat the conflict henceforth would be a protracted affair. Calls for volunteers\nwent up on both sides, and in the North recruitment periods were adjusted to\nthree-year terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 28th<\/sup>, 1861, young William enlisted<\/a>\nin the Union Army and was assigned to the 16th Regiment in one of the\nthree-year recruitments. In those days regiments were defined by the states\nthat they were formed in so William’s regiment was known as the 16th New York.\n(There were 16th regiments from other states as well.) The 16th<\/sup> New\nYork was composed of volunteers from the most northern parts of New York State,\nincluding Franklin County, where Burke is located.  Regiments of the time comprised around 1000\nmen in 10 companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William probably underwent training, drilling primarily, for\na few short weeks before being sent off to active duty (perhaps according to\nHardee\u2019s Rifle and\nLight Infantry Tactics<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>the standard work of the time,\nironically commissioned by Jefferson Davis in 1853 and published in 1855;\nDavis, who was Secretary of War at the time, later went on to be President of\nthe Confederate States of America. Hardee himself also joined the Confederate\narmy as a lieutenant general; nevertheless the book was used by the\nUnion<\/a> as well). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did he join? Was it a sense of duty? Was it for the \u201cbounty\u201d\n(signing bonus) offered? Were all the boys of Franklin County joining up? Or was\nhe an idealist perhaps desiring to help rid the country of the scourge of\nslavery? We\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the war was<\/em> over slavery, much as the South for\nyears afterward tried to claim otherwise. Even in the late 1960s when I lived\nin the Deep South it was still taught in school that the war was about\nsocioeconomic issues or \u201cstates\u2019 rights\u201d and not about slavery (a false Yankee\nclaim, they said); such were the textbooks of the time and the prejudices of\nthe place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private\nNewstead joined his unit on\nOctober 5, 1861<\/a> a member of I Company, commanded by Captain J.J. Seaver,\npart of the famous Army of the Potomac. (Specifically<\/a>:\n\u201cit was assigned to the Second brigade (Gen. H. W. Slocum) of Gen. Franklin’s\ndivision. This brigade was composed of the Sixteenth and Twenty-seventh New\nYork, the Fifth Maine, and the Ninety-sixth Pennsylvania, and was not\nsubsequently changed during the period of service of the Sixteenth, except by\nthe addition of the One hundred and twenty-first New York early in September,\n1862.\u201d) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Soldier of the 16th; note the straw hat<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The 16th was known as the \u201cstraw hat men\u201d because alone\namong Union units its troops wore straw hats \u2013 a gift apparently from a friend\nof the regiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regiment overwintered just south of Alexandria, Virginia\nand did not see action until the spring of 1862. In April 1862 Slocum\u2019s brigade,\nincluding the 16th<\/sup>, boarded a ship and sailed to Yorktown to take part\nin the Peninsula\nCampaign<\/a>, an abortive attempt by the Union army to capture the rebel\ncapital at Richmond. On Wednesday, May 7th<\/sup>, 1862, the 16th New York\nparticipated in its first battle at Eltham\u2019s\nLanding<\/a> (also known as the Battle of West Point) — really more of a\nskirmish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The 16th retreats after the Battle of Gaines’ Mill<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

However, on the 27th of June 1862 the 16th New York was heavily engaged at the Battle of Gaines\u2019 Mill<\/a> — one of the bloodiest battles of the war yet not one of the better known. The Army of the Potomac went up against the bulk of the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of Robert E Lee and the result was a disaster for the Union forces. Private Newstead\u2019s regiment lost about 230 killed, wounded, or missing in that engagement. A few days later, the 16th<\/sup> fought an inconclusive battle at Frayser\u2019s Farm<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWhat must it have been like, leaving this idyllic village in northern New York\nState and thrust into the meat grinder where thousands of furious men in one\nuniform focused on nothing else but the wholesale slaughter of men in the other?\nWhere the wounded lay screaming in the fields,  where doctors routinely amputated arms and\nlegs in the most primitive of conditions, and where, after dark, crows, coyotes\nand wolves feasted upon the human carrion? \n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Field Hospital at\nSavage Station, June 30, 1862, following the battle
\n(Look closely to see the straw hats)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 16th New York was next engaged at the Battle of South Mountain<\/a> (Maryland), also known as the Battle of Cramptons Gap, on September 16, 1862. The 16th among other units was charged with dislodging a sizable Confederate force from one of three passes on the mountain. The 16th<\/sup> led the advance \u2013 a \u201cbrilliant dash<\/a>\u201d it was called \u2013  and suffered 63 killed and wounded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Battle of Cramptons\nGap<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

History records it thus: \u201cThough the Federals ultimately\ngained control of all three passes, stubborn resistance on the part of the\nSoutherners bought Lee precious time to begin the process of reuniting his\narmy, and set the stage for the Battle of\nAntietam<\/a> three days later,\u201d although the 16th did not participate in that bloody\nbut indecisive battle. Lincoln, claiming a \u201cvictory,\u201d announced the Emancipation\nProclamation a few days afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the mild winter of 1862 to 1863 the division\nparticipated in the famous \u201cmud march<\/a>\u201d\nin which Union troops attempted to surprise the South by crossing the Rappahannock\nRiver; however because of bad weather and disagreements between the Union\ngenerals this attack failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the conclusion of the winter the 16th moved out\nwith the rest of the division and joined General Hooker at Chancellorsville<\/a>,\none of the most important battles of the war and a decisive victory for the\nConfederates. At that battle, beginning on April 30th<\/sup>  — a Thursday \u2013  and lasting through May 6th of 1863,  the 16th<\/sup> was positioned on the\nfrontline on the right flank. At Chancellorsville the regiment lost 20 killed,\n49 missing and 87 wounded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps because of the heavy losses it had sustained, the\n16th regiment was disbanded later in May of 1863. The so-called \u201c3-year-men,\u201d\nincluding William, were transferred to the 121st New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 121st<\/sup> Infantry, under the command of Colonel\nEmory Upton, was thus known as Upton\u2019s Men. Upton, who subsequently had a distinguished\ncareer, rising to the rank of Major General, would later write a book entitled The\nMilitary Policy of the United States<\/a> <\/em>which shaped American Army policy\nfor decades: arguably, to this day. The 121st was part of the second brigade under\nBrigadier General Joseph Bartlett, of the First Division led by Brigadier\nGeneral Horatio Wright who in turn reported to VI Corps, commanded by Major\nGeneral John Sedgwick<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Monument to 121st at Gettysburg<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From June until July\nof 1863 the 121st was part of the Gettysburg<\/a>\ncampaign . On the evening of July 2nd 1863, following the heroic defense of Little\nRound Top<\/a> by Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th<\/sup> Maine — perhaps\nthe most decisive engagement of the entire war \u2013 the 121st was assigned to reinforce\nand relieve Chamberlain. It occupied the north end of Little Round Top and held\nthis position until the end of that battle. Two enlisted men were wounded.\nThereafter, from July 5th until July 24th to 121st pursued Lee to Manassas Gap\nVirginia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gettysburg\nwas the turning point of the war. Lee, forced to halt his advance into\nPennsylvania, began a retreat with his armies to Virginia. Today, on Little\nRound Top there stands a monument to the 121st . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 121st<\/sup>, pursuing Lee, subsequently took part\nin the Bristoe\nCampaign<\/a>, a series of bloody battles fought in Virginia during October and\nNovember of 1863.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere in all of these fights young William was wounded, losing a finger. Perhaps because he was no longer able to shoot — it was his right index finger — he was discharged on October 5th<\/sup>, 1863, just short of the full three years. From the gore and agony and horror of the battlefields he returned to quiet Burke, where some time later he married Amanda Esterbrook, an orphan 10 years his junior from the next town over. It\u2019s hard not to wonder how all his wartime experiences colored the rest of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

William\u2019s Record in the US Civil War Pension Index<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

William’s parents were lucky enough to see him return; indeed,\nthey did not pass away until the 1890s. William and Amanda had six children\nincluding a daughter, Eva Melinda, who moved to Boston to marry one Patrick Hansbury,\nin 1893.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Main Street,\nBurke, New York (date unknown; probably 1920\u2019s)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
William’s obituary<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

William\ndied in 1896 at age 62 of \u201cepilepsy,\u201d according to his obituary, just a few\nyears after his long-lived parents. After his death Amanda moved to New\nHampshire to live with another of her daughters, Emma. Amanda collected\nWilliam\u2019s veteran\u2019s benefits until she passed away at age 79 in 1922, in Litchfield. She\nwas survived by 18 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva and Patrick lived in Newton, Massachusetts and had a large family. The eldest, a daughter named Estella, said in later years that her father \u201ctreated his daughters like sons, taught them how to do everything.” A stableman, he died in Plymouth in 1924 during a ferocious storm trying to save the horses in his charge (eerily reminiscent of an incident a year prior, when the Newton Journal <\/em>chronicled the actions of another of Patrick\u2019s daughters, Delia: \u201cLeading ten terror stricken horses through the smoke of a burning stable, Miss Delia Hansbury early Saturday morning saved the lives of every one of the horses belonging to the riding school of her father, Patrick J Hansbury, …”) Eva died in 1939, aged 63, from complications from an appendectomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estella would grow up and marry  (on June 10th<\/sup>, 1922, in St Paul\u2019s Cathedral in Boston) Lester Briggs, himself a Purple Heart veteran of World War I and a photo lithographer. They had two children, Wilbur and Kenneth. Lester died of colon cancer in 1946; Estella lived a long and independent life — for years she ran a cosmetics shop in Milton, Massachusetts — passing in 1987 at the age of 92.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their oldest son, Wilbur, fought as a fighter pilot in World\nWar Two. Upon his return he attended college at Boston University where he met\nhis wife, Elizabeth Bowen. Wilbur and Elizabeth (\u201cBill\u201d and \u201cBetty\u201d) had two\nchildren themselves, Barry and Geoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To all the Briggs kids reading: you know the rest; and now you know where you come from \u2013  at least one small part of it.  Know, as well, that every one of these people I\u2019ve written about is proud of you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postscript:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s more to our story:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 13, 1862, a nineteen-year-old Albany man and immigrant from the Hesse-Darmstadt region of Germany named Valentin Ahlheim enlisted in the 177th<\/sup> New York Infantry \u201cto serve nine months.\u201d The 177th<\/sup> fought in the Western theater of the war, at McGill\u2019s Ferry, Pontchatoula<\/a>, Civiques Ferry, and \u201cfought gallantly\u201d in the final assault at Port Hudson<\/a> in Louisiana, the longest siege (48 days, days, called at the time \u201cforty days and nights in the wilderness of death\u201d ) in US military history to that point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 177th<\/sup> was mustered out in September 1863; somewhere\nin this time Valentin was transferred to the 21st<\/sup> Independent\nBattery NY, which was involved in the same battles; Valentin remained with the\nunit until the end of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valentin\u2019s cousin Elizabeth, a few years younger, married an\nAlbany farmer named August Meyer, also a German immigrant. They had seven\nchildren; their youngest daughter, Augusta Henrietta, married Albert Edward Bowen\non July 10, 1909. Their youngest daughter, Elizabeth, married Estella\u2019s son Wilbur\nin 1950 \u2013 and again, you know the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Sumter: Currier & Ives, https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/resource\/cph.3b49873\/<\/a>  public domain, via Wikipedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Battle of Bull Run: chromolithograph by Kurz &\nAllison, 1880 public domain, via Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Straw Hat NY 16th<\/sup> Infantry http:\/\/www.framingfox.com\/16newyoincp1.html<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retreat from Gaines\u2019 Mill https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/16th_New_York_Volunteer_Infantry_Regiment#\/media\/File:Retreat_from_Gaines’s_Mill.jpg<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field Hospital at Savage Station VA, June 30, 1862 https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/16th_New_York_Volunteer_Infantry_Regiment#\/media\/File:After_Battle_of_Savage’s_Station.png<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cramptons Gap https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/publiclands\/PublishingImages\/SouthMountain_Battle-of-Cramptons-Gap-large.jpg<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

121st<\/sup> Monument at Little Round Top https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/121st_New_York_Volunteer_Infantry#\/media\/File:121st_regiment_1.jpg<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burke, NY http:\/\/freepages.rootsweb.com\/~tollandct01\/genealogy\/gfentonancestry.html<\/a>\n(links on this page are broken but here is the direct link to the photo: http:\/\/freepages.rootsweb.com\/~tollandct01\/genealogy\/burkeny.jpg<\/a>\n)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William\u2019s Pension Record https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/imageviewer\/collections\/4654\/images\/32959_033013-00751?usePUB=true&_phsrc=hwQ403&usePUBJs=true&pId=11890614<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William\u2019s obituary, courtesy of Tammy Traster on Ancestry.com https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/mediaui-viewer\/tree\/5601189\/person\/316626918\/media\/d168aaef-778e-4307-9a00-b1306c320175<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muster record for 177th<\/sup> NY: https:\/\/dmna.ny.gov\/historic\/reghist\/civil\/MusterRolls\/Infantry\/177thInf_NYSV_MusterRoll.pdf<\/a>\nValentin listed on page 82 (about 2\/3 down the page). Also see https:\/\/dmna.ny.gov\/historic\/reghist\/civil\/rosters\/Infantry\/177th_Infantry_CW_Roster.pdf<\/a>\npage 1081.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History of the 177th<\/sup>:
\nhttps:\/\/dmna.ny.gov\/historic\/reghist\/civil\/infantry\/177thInf\/177thInfMain.htm<\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story is about William Charles Newstead who was born around 1834 in the Norwich area of England. Sometime prior to 1840 his father, also named William, brought his family to the United States. They settled in a small town called Burke, New York in Franklin County, in the very far north of New York … <\/p>\n

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