The Men and Women who give there lives up to fighting for our country are known as true heroes. Charles H. Wilson is one of the many heroes that fought in the Civil War for this country. Charles was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts, and died on May 5, 1864. He was a teenager at the time of his death, which was 18 years, 8 months, and 19 days old. He along with many others died on battlefield at the Battle of Wilderness that took place in Virginia. He was buried not in his hometown but in the state of Virginia. Private Wilson, was in the eleventh Massachusetts regiment on the Union’s side and was a part of Company C. The battle of Wilderness was the first battle of the Army of the Potomac’s six-week campaign. Three Years in the Army of the Potomac is a biography of a man that fought in the same battle that took place in Spotsylvania County and was in the same regiment as Charles. The battle took place from May 5-7 in the year of 1864. The author of the biography gives hourly details of his experiences. His experiences included "commands issued for regiments to move at half past 10pm". Also, all unusual fires were prohibited and veterans were to reserve their strength and silently follow the leader. The regiment had crossed the river at Elys Ford and at 12:30 crossed pontoon bridge. Though it was said there was obstruction in the road, troops marched rapidly until 3pm when corps halted and formed its lines upon the old battlefield of Chancellorsville. Breastworks were thrown up by both armies to hold their position while oaks and limbs were shattered, along with clothing and equipment. The 11_th Massachusetts regiment was second in line at this point. This man says that many of the union soldiers were dead and there was jaws, legs and skulls lying around. The results of the Battle of Wilderness were 9 killed, 54 wounded and 12 missing. Charles H. Wilson was among the 75 people in this company, and one of the 9 killed. Though there were no records of Private Wilson having any specific commands, he, along with the 11_th regiment was ordered to fight at the battleground of Chancellorsville. There were no records of Wilson’s family or marriage life. Charles H. Wilson, along with the hundreds of thousands of brave men that fought in the Civil war, are true heroes.

Coming from small towns all over the state of Massachusetts, soldiers during the Civil War period may have been the farmer down the street, the blacksmith, or the shoe maker; but even as small town citizens, these soldiers became the nations’ heroes. One of those soldiers willing to fight for the Union was a Milford boot maker by the name of George C. White. Officially tied to the 11^th regiment, company E of Massachusetts, White enlisted on the day of June 13^th, 1861 as a private.

As an immigrant, George C. White was born on July 2^nd, 1836 in Ireland from his British and Irish native parents. After immigrating to the United States, White married Mary, living in Milford until about 1880. Before enlisting, George worked as a laborer making boots in the town factory. Then in 1852, Mary and George had their first child, Charles H. White. About nine years later, White had then enlisted in the 11^th regiment, where he unfortunately deserted 12 days later at Camp Cameron in North Cambridge. Death was the punishment for this crime, where 1 in every 7 Union soldier deserted. Fleeing the death sentence, it is believed that George enlisted again into the 28^th regiment company K on November 11^th, 1861.

The 28^th regiment was mainly composed of men of Irish descent, carrying the nickname of “Faugh-a-ballagh”, an Irish war cry. Mustered out on December 13^th, 1861, White departed Camp Cameron and left for Fort Columbus on January 11^th, 1862. More training for the 28^th was completed here under the General, T. W. Sherman. After training, the Irish embarked to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina where the regiment joined the 1^st Brigade of Gen. I. I. Stevens’ Division. However, on June 16^th at the battle on James Island, White was wounded, along with 70 others in his regiment. Moving onto July, the Boston men then joined General Pope, fighting in the 2^nd Bull Run on August 29^th. The 2^nd Bull Run did heavy damage to the 28^th, losing 135 of their men, and later on at Antietam (September 17^th), losing 48.

After acquiring a new commander, the 28^th joined with the 116^th of Pennsylvania, along with the other Irish of the Union. The following December, at the battle of Fredericksburg, the regiment then lost 110 men where they were in constant fire. Leading up to Gettysburg on July 13^th, White was wounded and captured, while the 28^th stayed in Stevensburg Virginia until May.

Now under the reign of U.S. Grant, the Irish fought in the Battle of the Wilderness, fighting until their ammunition was gone on May 10^th. Two days later, the Irish fought again, coming in at the Bloody Angle in Spotsylvania, losing 125 men, and at Cold Harbor, 57. The regiment then suffered severely until August 25^th. Throughout all these battles and wounds, George C. was mustered out on December 19^th, 1864.

Back in his small town of Milford, the White family had another child, Katie in 1867. Pushing into the 1880’s the White family had moved to Franklin, where Katie went to school, Charles and George worked on boots, and Mary tended to the house. Dying a year later of dropsy on January 12^th 1881 (aged 45); George’s family was put onto the poor list in 1885. With the death of his wife Mary in 1904, the White family is currently marked at the Beaver Street Cemetery in Franklin Massachusetts.

A Franklin boot maker, a husband, a father, a son, George C. White was also one of the nation’s heroes, making the U.S into what it is known as today.

All that was found on Henry P. Adams was that he resided in Franklin Massachusetts at some point in his life. It is unfortunate that no more information was found then that. There was no record of birth, marriage, or death of him in Franklin. However, what is known is that he was in the 13^th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and then switched over to the 1^st Battalion Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. In the 1^st Battalion he was placed in Company C and while in the 13^th Regiment he was in Company H. Both stations he was in took part in significant battles.

The 13^th Regiment was assembled in the year 1861. They were first sent to Maryland. By the last summer and fall of that year, the Regiment had placed guards on the upper part of the Potomac River between Hagerstown and Darnestown, Maryland. The following yeah, 1862, the regiment proceeded to cross the Potomac.

When the Second Battle of Bull Run came around, the regiment took place in it. During it, they were engaged at the Thoroughfare Gap where they resisted the advancing troops of General Longstreet. That took place on August 82, 1862. Then, on August 30, General Z.B. Tower took over the brigade because there old General, General Hartsuff, had fallen ill and could no longer carry on. Once under the new command the troops were engaged near Bald Hill where they lost 36 officers and several men were either killed or mortally wounded. When this happened, the 13^th was the mixed in with the 12^th Massachusetts.

It was after that, that the regiment was engaged in the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. During this battle, the Regiment suffered numerous losses, which was a low blow to them. When the battle was over, it was the Union Army that was the victor. However, it was the bloodiest single day battle with a total of at least 18,000 men wounded. Of that 18,000 at least 21,000 of them were from the Union army, while 27,000 were from the Confederate army. After the battle, they then spent the winter of 1862 in a camp near Fletcher’s Chapel which is near Belle Plain. The regiment stayed there until the harsh winter of 1863 was over.

The 13^th then went on to fight in the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 1 through the 4 of 1863. At the battle they were under the command of General Robinson and General Leonard. The outcome of the battle was that the Confederates prevailed. However, it was a fight to the finish. With Stoneman’s Cavalry missing in action, the Union was deprived of the intelligence about the strength of the Confederate Army. It is thought that if the cavalry had shown up, General Hooker could have won the battle. Unfortunately, the Union army lost at lease 18,000 men, where as the Confederate army lost about 13,000 men. The troops only suffered a small loss at the battle of Chancellorsville which was beneficial because they would need all the men they could get for the next battle they would partake in.

On July 1, 1863, the regiment was under the command of only General Robinson. It was on this day that they became engaged in the Battle of Gettysburg. They were posted on the right of the troops near Oak Hill. During the course of the battle, the 13^th lost many men, and even more prisoners. The 13^th, despite there heavy losses, faired quite well. Once the battle had ended, General Robert E. Lee gave up all hope of trying to invade the North, and most people consider this the turning point of the whole war. At lest 30% of all the men involved in the battle were dead by the end of it. The Union army suffered a loss of 23,000 men either killed or wounded severely. The Confederate army, however, suffered a loss of 28,000 men who were either killed or wounded. The Battle of Gettysburg was the last major battle that the 13^th Regiment took part in.

The 13^th Regiment’s active duty ended on July 14, 1864 after thee three year service was up. The re-enlisted men were sent to the 39^th Regiment, which was not the case Henry P. Adams. The regiment reached Boston on July 21, 1864, and it was there that they were furloughed until August 1. On that particular day, the members of the 13^th Regiment came together on the Boston Common and their service was officially ended.

Henry P. Adams then went on to join the 1^st Battalion Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. The 1^st Battalion was organized in April of 1865. There were Companies A through F, and Adams was placed in Company C. Company C was on duty at Fort Warren which was in Massachusetts. The fort was a training center for several regiments. It was also a detention site for prisoners of war. The whole fort was commanded by Colonel Justin Dimick. The Company stayed at Fort Warren until October of 1865. The troops that Adams was mixed in with were mustered out on October 20, 1865.

Presuming that Adams survived the whole war, it is most likely that he went back to Franklin. However, since not much is known about Adams and whether he lived through the war, it is not fair to make a set conclusion on his life after the Civil War. Regardless of whether he survived the war or not, his placement in the war partook in several big battles, and played an important part in the war itself.

William H. Jackson fought in four important battles. He took part in Antietam, Fredericksburg, Suffolk and Plymouth. He fought with generals George B. McClellan, Robert E. Lee, Ambrose E. Burnside, John Peck, Lt. James Longstreet, Col. Henry W. Wessells and Maj. Gen. R.F. Hoke. William H. Jackson is from Connecticut and he was from the 16th Regiment. William H. Jackson was a true hero for fighting in these battles and risking his own life for others.

Antietam is also known as Sharpsburg in Washington Country. William H. Jackson fought with Major General George B. McClellan and General Robert E. Lee in this battle. This battle took place September 16-18 in 1862. In this battle, armies fought and fought and by the end, there was 23,100 total people dead. On September 17, Hooker’s corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee’s left flank. This resulted in the single bloodiest day in American military history. Fights were swept across Miller’s cornfield. Although they were outnumbered two to one, Lee and Jackson were not going to give up. At the end, Lee ordered Jackson and the rest of the army to withdraw across the Potomac into Shenandoah Valley.

In December of 1862 on the 11th thru the 15th, Andrew Jackson fought in Fredericksburg, otherwise known as Marye’s Heights. This took place in Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg. The principal commanders Jackson was with were Major General Ambrose R. Burnside and General Robert E. Lee. On December 13th, Burnside mounted a series of futile frontal assaults on Prospect Hill and Marye’s Heights that ended up resulting in many deaths. There were 172,504 forces engaged in this battle and 100,007 of them were from the United States. 13,353 people from the United States ended up losing their lives in this battle. Meade’s division, on the Union left flank, penetrated Jackson’s line for a small amount of time but was driven back after counterattack. The result of this battle was a confederate victory.

The third important battle William H. Jackson was a part of was at Suffolk, also known as Fort Huger, Hill’s Point. From April 11th to May 4th in 1863 is when this battle was being fought. General John Peck of the United States and Lt. General James Longstreet were the principal commanders. Divisions were the forces engaged in this battle and there were 45,000 of them total. Only 152 died. The force that were fighting were very ambitious. Towards the end of it, however, on April 19, 1863, General Robert E. Lee directed Longstreet to disengage from Suffolk and rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg. By May 4, 1863 the last of Longstreet’s command crossed the Blackwater River on their way to Richmond.

Plymouth was the fourth important battle William H. Jackson fought in. It was on April 17th thru the 20th in 1864 when he fought. The principal commanders were Colonel Henry W. Wessells and Major General R.F. Hoke. There were four infantry and artillery units for Plymouth Garrison. Although 2,834 people were killed, this battle was a confederate victory. Confederate forces captured Fort Comfort, which resulted in driving defenders into Fort Williams. On the twentieth of April, garrison surrendered.
William H. Jackson from Connecticut was a brave, strong soldier. The battles he took part in were not an everyday thing unless made that way. Because of him being a strong soldier, half of these battles were confederated victories.

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William White was born in Medway Massachusetts, July 29^th 1845. As an only child, He lived a normal childhood with his parents Nancy N. White, and Adam H. White. His father, Adam, supplied the family’s income with his boot-making job. William White continued to live in Medway until he came to the realization that he needed to support his country in the Civil War. William White was drawn into the Civil War, most likely due to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address of November 1863. Only at the age of 18, William White enlisted in the Union army. He traveled many miles to join April 4^th 1865 in Readville Massachusetts. He was mustered in at Camp Meigs, a training camp for soldiers. That was where he learned to shoot a gun, and learned the basics of war. He was put into the 16^th Light Artillery Independent Battery of Massachusetts. His service would extend from April 4^th 1864 to July 13 1865, a relatively short 1 year and 3 month service, although he proclaimed himself as being in the military for 3 years. After his training, he was sent out to Washington DC. His job was to protect his stationed fort. William was part of the bigger plan to prevent the Confederates from moving the war North. Jumping from Fort to Fort, William eventually ended up in Fort Kearney. He was brought in because of General Early’s attack on Washington. From July 11^th to the 12^th. William White was working under DeRussy’s division, the 22^nd corps, an army corps mainly consisting of sharpshooters, and soldiers specializing in guns. Their training fended off Early’s attack, which prevented the confederates from taking over the capital. Although several units were inexperienced, the Union’s soldiers were able to win a key battle. If General Early was able to take over Washington DC, the Union’s approaching victory would be pushed even further into the future, and it might have been possible for other countries to support the Civil War on the confederate side. After the two-day battle, William White’s division was sent out around Virginia for the last few months of their campaign to keep protecting the North. He would eventually go to Fairfax, Vienna, and Station, Virginia forts. After the 15-month service, the 16^th Light Artillery Independent Battery of Massachusetts was mustered out in Massachusetts on July 13^th 1865. Although no one in William White’s division was shot or killed in battle, a total of 6 men died from diseases. Thirty-six years later, 1901, William White ended up with a respectable combined wealth of 1600 dollars. He took up his father’s job as a boot-maker too. He also married to Anna B. White. Although William White never died for his country, and he only served for fifteen months, he did what he felt was best for his country. William White followed his values and volunteered to become a soldier to preserve the Union.

During any war, there are hundreds, upon thousands of men who fight to protect their nation, but not everyone goes down in the history books as a hero. Horace B. Wood was one of those many heroes that got denied the chance of a spotlight. Horace was born in 1838 and his parents were Alonzo Hills Wood, and Abigail Glidden-Wood. Like his father, Horace grew up in Massachusetts with his family living on a cotton farm. Horace probably would have grown up to be a farmer or work in a factory, but that all changed the day the south seceded from the Union.

Like a lot of young men during the mid-to late 1800s, Horace wanted to protect his country, so he joined the Union Army during the Civil War. It all began on June 29^th, 1861, when the 16^th regiment, Company E, Massachusetts Infantry, recruited at Camp Cameron in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This was the day Horace began his journey that ended everything. Being in this regiment, Horace took part in many of the battles that dealt with the part of the Anaconda plan that was to march down the Mississippi River and cut supplies to the Confederate states off from the west. After a long march, Horace arrived at Fortress Monroe in Virginia on September 1^st, 1862. After that was his first big battle, the Second Bull Run. He fought the last day, August 30^th, under the command of John Pope. On this day, Pope attacked Robert E. Lee’s army, but sadly the victory was not in favor of the north. Fortunately, Horace had a break from fighting any major battles, until December 12^th when he partook in the Battle of Fredericksburg. This time he was lead by General Ambrose Burnside, who decided to attack Lee again in Fredericksburg, Virginia. But, once again the Union army did not come out very victorious. The Battle of Chancellorsville was next on Horace’s list, and the Union army once again had to retreat after being outmaneuvered by Lee, but there was a speck of hope because the south lost Stonewall Jackson, an important General and Lee’s right-hand man. That tiny speck of hope must of given the men enough stamina because the next battle was Gettysburg and it started on July 1^st. This was a three-day battle under the command of many generals, such as General George Meade, and John Buford. It looked as if the north would actually win because they had control of the high ground and were able to stop the south from taking it over each day. In the end, Lee retreated back to Virginia, and it was the Union’s first major triumph that was involved in the part of the Anaconda plan to split and cut off supplies to the south. In the final year of the war, 1864, Horace fought in two battles: “Wilderness” in Fredericksburg, Virginia and Spotsylvania at Cold Harbor. During this time, Horace was under the authority of General Ulysses Grant. This was the period of time when Grant was throwing his troops in battle after battle because the south was weak and the north could not ease up when they were so close to winning. It was the final push from Grant that resulted in the Union winning the war and now that all the fighting was over, all the soldiers would go home as local heroes.

Now, even though Horace’s regiment and company fought in all of those battles, that does not mean Horace was present for all of them. This is because records say Horace Wood died in battle, but there is no specific date when. But, that does not imply that Horace was not a hero because he fought just as hard, maybe even harder to have died for his country. Everyman, who went into that war as a nobody, came out as a hero to their family, town, and the entire country.

There were many Civil War heroes that, today, aren’t known about. But as patrons of this Country, the United States, those heroes are owed gratitude. John S. York was a man from a large family who, later in life, joined the 17_th Massachusetts Infantry. He was born in New Hampshire in 1824, and in 1860, moved to an area around Haverhill or Essex, MA. He had three sisters, Sarah, Sarah F., and Mabel, 38, 11, and eight, and a brother Joseph, 10 years old. His parents were unknown and John was 36 when he entered the war. He then became interested in serving for his country, and so he did.

In 1860, John joined the 17_th Mass. Infantry, Comp. D, as a private. As war proved to his end, he would rank out as a private as well. The Infantry gathered at Lynnfield, MA, and then traveled to Baltimore, Maryland where they met up with Dix’s Command and General Burnside’s Expeditionary. Burnside was very successful commander drilling and fighting with the North Carolina Expeditionary Corps. From there the three groups traveled to New Berne, North Carolina where they would be most needed. When in North Carolina, John journeyed back and forth between Lenoir County and Wayne County, NC.

John S. York’s infantry played an important role in the Anaconda plan, blockading the coast. His company traveled from coast, inland, and back to the coast. They had to protect the south from other country reinforcements, importing and exporting goods, etc. The first battle that John specifically fought in was the Battle of Kinston in Lenoir County. He was commanded by Brigade General John G. Foster where, on their way to Goldsborough, they were disrupted by Brig. Gen. Nathan Evans on December 14. The Confederates were outnumbered so they retreated and Foster overtook the River Road. The next battle, on December 16 in Wayne County, was the Battle at White Hall. Confederate Brig. Gen. Beverly Robertson had control over the north bank of the Neuse River. The Federals fought for the bank while the other part of the Union troop moved towards the railroads, their initial endeavor. Their next stop was the Battle of Goldsborough, commanded by Foster still, in Wayne County. December 17 was the day that the troop reached the tracks and started destroying them. Confederate Brig. Gen. Thomas Clingman slowed the destruction a little, but it didn’t stop Foster’s men. They pushed forward, finishing their job and returning to New Berne. The final fight that John would take part in was the Battle at Wyse Fork in Lenoir County in March of 1865. Lead by Major General John Schofield versus General Braxton Bragg, the Confederates stopped the Union on their way inland. The Confederates won the first shot, but were then halted and two days later, on the ninth, the Union counterattacked. Making Bragg and his troops retreat, the fall of Kinston was to come on the 14_th. John S. York died sometime during that battle, was brought back to Franklin, MA, and is now remembered on a monument on the Common across from St. Mary’s Church. John S. York was around the age of 41 when he passes away while in action.