|
GEORGE SULLIVAN BOWDOIN, A 1854.
Brother Bowdoin had quite a pedigree. Banker with Drexel,
Morgan & Co. lived at 39 Park Ave. Born, New York, Sept. 25,
1833. Member of Metropolitan, City, Union, Union League,
Knickerbocker, Century, Players, Tuxedo, and New York Yacht
Clubs, New England Society, American Fine Arts Society,
Metropolitan Museum of Arts, American Museum of Natural
History and the Patriarchs. Son of George R.J. Bowdoin and
Fanny Hamilton; grandson of James A. Hamilton and Mary
Morris; great-grandson of
Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler. Brother
Bowdoin did not reply to the 1888 Almanac but there was a
George S. Bowdoin in the 1st Regiment, Massachusetts
Infantry who volunteered as a Pvt. but left service an NCO.
SERVICE -
Battle of Bull Run, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of
Chancellorsville, Battle of Gettysburg, Battles of the
Wilderness and
Spotsylvania Court House.
Theodore
Lyman, A 1855. born in Waltham, MA, August 23, 1833;
was educated by private tutors; studied in Europe 1847-1849;
was graduated from Harvard University in 1855 and from the
Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University in 1858.
From 1863-65 he was a Lt. Col. and Aide on the Staff of Gen.
Meade, Army of the Potomac. He also served in the US
Congress as a Republican from Massachusetts. Brother Lyman
as produced a book on his wartime experiences.
Meade's
Headquarters 1863-1865. Letters of Colonel
Theodore Lyman. George Agassiz, edit.
His position gave him a unique look
at the men running the war and the decisions they made. In
his letters home, Lyman vividly described his superiors, the
conditions at the front, and the enemy.
The following are some excerpts
from his letters:
On General Ulysses S. Grant: April
12, 1864
“Grant is a man of a good deal of
rough dignity; rather taciturn; quick and decided in speech.
He habitually wears an expression as if he had determined to
drive his head through a brick wall, and was about to do it.
I have much confidence in him.”
On General Meade September 29, 1863
General Meade “is a thorough
soldier, and a mighty clear-headed man; and one who does not
move unless he knows where and how many his men are; where
and how many his enemy’s men are; and what sort of country
he has to go through. I never saw a man in my life who was
so characterized by straightforward truthfulness as he is.
He will pitch into himself in a moment, if he thinks he has
done wrong; and woe to those, no matter who they are, who do
not do right.”
On Robert E. Lee after the
Surrender: April 23, 1865
Lee is, as all agree, a
stately-looking man; tall, erect, and strongly built, with a
full chest. His hair and closely trimmed beard, though
thick, are now nearly all white. He has a large and
well-shaped head, with brown clear eyes, of unusual depth.
His face is sunburnt and rather florid. In manner he is
exceedingly grave and dignified . . . but there was
evidently added an extreme depression, which gave him the
air of a man who kept up his pride to the last, but who was
entirely overwhelmed.. . . He too is punished enough: living
at this moment at Richmond, on the food doled out to him by
our government, he gets his ration just like the poorest
negro in the place! We left Lee, and kept on through the sad
remnants of an army that has its place in history. It would
have looked a mighty host, if the ghosts of all those
soldiers that now sleep between Gettysburg and Lynchburg
could have stood in the lines, beside the living.”
Antoine Ruppaner, A 1855.
Brother Ruppaner received three degrees at Harvard and
enlisted as a Surgeon in the 13th Regiment, Massachusetts
Infantry.
George Blagden, A 1856. Enlisted
as a Lt. in the 1st Regiment, Massachusetts Cavalry and
ended the war as a Major in the 2nd Regt. at Appomattox
Court House.
Edward Swift Dunster, A 1856.
Brother Dunster received three degrees at Harvard and
enlisted as an Asst. Surgeon in the United States Army and
ended the war as a Brevet Major.
Charles LeDoux Elgee, A 1856.
Brother Elgee was President of
Hasty Pudding at Harvard and received a Law degree and
studied theology there as well. Was nominated secretary of
the legation of the United States in Mexico by President
JAMES BUCHANAN.
When the conflict began he headed south
to be an Aide to
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston 1861-63. Adj. Gen. of the State
of Louisiana, 1863 and then Aide to Gen. L. R. Taylor
1863-64. Sadly he died of a fever at Rapides Parish in 1864.
Edward Thornton Fisher, A 1856.
Brother Fisher was an engineer on the Isthmus of Panama
before the war and then volunteered as a private in the 9th
Regt. of NY Volunteers, a
Zouave Regiment, and worked his way up the ranks to 2nd
Lt. of the 139th Infantry Regt of NY Volunteers. He mustered
out due to ill health in late 1863.
John Julius Pringle Alston. A 1857.
Was a lawyer in Charleston, South Carolina before the
war and was a 1st Lt. in the 1st South Carolina Confederate
Arty who’s Colonel was Alfred Moore Rhett, A 1851.
Brother Alston was also a Lt. on the Staff of
Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard. Later he and commanded a battery
at Fort Sumter again presumably serving under Brother Rhett.
He died from typhoid fever in September of 1863. There might
be a book written about Brother Alston’s family or a darn
close relative. Mary’s World Mary Motte Alston
Pringle (1803-1884) represented the epitome of Southern
white womanhood. Her husband was a wealthy rice planter who
owned four plantations and 337 slaves. Her thirteen children
included two Harvard scholars, seven world travelers, three
socialite daughters, a U.S. Navy war hero, six Confederate
soldiers, one possible Union collaborator, a Confederate
firebrand trapped in the North, an expatriate bon vivant
in France, and two adventuresome California pioneers.
Howard Dwight, A 1857. President
of the Hasty Pudding Club went into manufacturing after
graduation. Enlisted as a 1st Lt. in the 24th Regiment of
Massachusetts Infantry then transferred to the 4th Cavalry
Regt. of Missouri Volunteers. From 1862 to 63 he was and
Asst. Adj. Gen. on the staff of his Brother General Dwight.
Brother Dwight was killed by guerillas while bearing
dispatches from his brother to Gen. Banks in May 1863.
William Henry Elliott, A 1857.
Brother Elliott received an AB from Harvard and a MD from U
Va. He enlisted as an Asst. Surgeon in the 1st Infantry
Regiment of Georgia Volunteers and served throughout the
war.
Francis Ormond French, A 1857.
Brother French received an AB and LLB from Harvard. He was
Deputy Naval Officer at the Port of Boston, MA. Brother
French’s granddaughter married an Astor and he was related
to the Amos Tuck French family of Dartmouth fame.
Samuel Breck Parkman, A 1857.
Brother Parkman studied law after Harvard then traveled in
Europe. He enlisted as a 1st Lt. in Read’s Georgia Battery
and was a major on the Staff of
Gen. Longstreet, 1861-62. He was killed at Antietam, MD
September 17, 1862.
Joseph Lewis Stackpole, A 1857.
Brother Stackpole received three degrees at Harvard and was
practicing law before the war. He was a Capt. in the 24th
Inf. Regt of Massachusetts Volunteers 18-61-62. He later
became Major and Judge Advocate of the Depts. of NC, VA and
was a Brevet Lt. Col. by 1865.
Nicholas Longworth Anderson, A 1858.
Another Psi U President of the Hasty Pudding Club,
Brother Anderson studied in Germany after graduation and was
studying law in Cincinnati prior to the start of the War. He
joined the 6th Ohio Regt. was made Lt. Col. in 1862 and
served as full Col. from 1862-65 and was Brevetted Major
Gen. at War’s end. He returned to Harvard for a law degree
and became a “K” Street lawyer. SERVICE -- At the
Battle of Shiloh, Battle of Stone's River, and
Chickamauga.
Benj. Wm. Crowninshield, A 1858.
President of the Glee Club, Brother Crowninshield studied in
Berlin after graduation. At the start of the War he joined
the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry and progressed from 2nd Lt. to
Major by 1864. He then was on the staff of
Gen. P.H. Sheridan. He engaged in “Mercantile” pursuits
in New York and Boston after the War.
The Crowninshields are an American family prominent in
seafaring, political and military leadership, and the
literary world. The family, which immigrated in the late
1600s, is one of the founding families of Boston. The
Crowninshield influence is particularly visible in Salem,
Massachusetts, where they helped settle the town and led it
to seafaring prominence. There are also Crowninshield
streets in Providence, Rhode Island; Brookline,
Massachusetts; and Peabody, Massachusetts.
James Jackson Lowell, A 1858.
Lowell was valedictorian of his class at Harvard and studied
law there as well. He became a 2nd Lt. in the 20th
Massachusetts and died from a wound received at Glendale on
June 30th 1862.
Henry Lyman Patten, A 1858.
Brother Patten taught Latin in Alabama after college and he
enlisted in the 20th Massachusetts Inf. Regt. He rose to the
rank of Brig. Gen. in 1864 and died from wounds received at
the battle of
Deep Bottom.
|
