CDV 1st Lieutenant Ward Brooks Frothingham 59th Massachusetts Infantry. – SOLD

Description

CDV 1st Lieutenant Ward Brooks Frothingham 59th Massachusetts Infantry.

Ward Brooks Frothingham was from Lexington, Ma., a 33 year old farmer who enlisted into the 22nd Mass Infantry on September 6, 1861 as a corporal. He was discharged for wounds received in the battle of Gaines’ Mill, Va. on June 27, 1862 after being a prisoner for a short time.

On April 1, 1864, he was commissioned into Co. G, 59th Mass Infantry as a 2nd, then later a 1st lieutenant. Frothingham and 54 others were taken prisoner in a pre dawn attack on Fort Stedman on the morning of March 25, 1865. They were all exchanged on April 4, 1865.

 

“Near Petersburg, Virginia, in the frosty pre-dawn hours of March 25, 1865, a Union sentry in front of Fort Stedman could hear the faint rustle of dry cornstalks quite clearly. ‘I say, Johnny,’ he shouted as he brought his weapon to full cock, ‘what are you doing in that corn?’ Sharpshooters might rule the daylight hours, but at night the opposing pickets, separated by less than 500 feet, often became quite chummy.

‘All right, Yank, I am just gathering me a little corn to parch,’ came the answer.

‘All right Johnny, I won’t shoot.’

A bit later the Federal asked, ‘I say, Johnny, isn’t it almost daylight? I think it is time they were relieving us.’

‘Keep cool, Yank; you’ll be relieved in a few minutes.’

The relief the Confederate had in mind, however, was not the kind the Union private would find to his liking, for all that rustling in the corn had been caused by Rebel pioneers dragging aside sections of chevaux-de-frise — spiked wooden barriers chained end to end — to create an opening through which their infantry could attack the Federal lines…..The Southerners quickly overpowered a sentinel, who still managed to bayonet one of them before being knocked senseless, and captured most of his compatriots. One man escaped, however, firing off his rifle and yelling: ‘The Rebels are coming! The Rebels are coming!’ The sharpshooters followed the fleeing picket, who unwittingly led them back through his own obstacle field. Gordon drew his revolver and fired three quick shots — the signal for the attack…….The Union sector commander, Brevet Brig. Gen. Napoleon McLaughlen, formed his reserve regiment, the 59th Massachusetts, and double-quicked it north. Ordering the mortars in Battery XII to open up on Fort Stedman, McLaughlen sent in the 59th Massachusetts and what he could find of the 57th and 29th to retake it with fixed bayonets. The Massachusetts men went in with a will, carrying Battery XI and part of Fort Stedman as well, where they captured many sharpshooters. By now, however, the Rebel infantry columns of Grimes, Evans and Walker were beginning to arrive, lending their weight to the attack. McLaughlen entered the fort and began directing operations, only to find that he was giving orders to the wrong army. Lieutenant Billy Gwyn, commanding the sharpshooters of the 31st Georgia, appeared out of the darkness and demanded his surrender…….”  (Extract from article -American Battlefield Trust).

Photographed by A. Sorrel, Boston. revenue stamp.

Fine condition. and a super pose!