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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC03915.02 |
| From Archive Folder | Unassociated Civil War Documents 1861 |
| Title | Special order of General Benjamin Butler |
| Date | 7 June 1861 |
| Author | Winthrop, Theodore (1828-1861) |
| Document Type | Military document |
| Content Description | Written 3 days before Winthrop famously became the first Union officer killed in the Civil War. Winthrop was an aide de camp to General Benjamin Butler at Fortress Monroe in Virginia. Document marked "Special order." Winthrop wants this order posted for the "so-called Naval Brigade" to see. Says the Naval Brigade will be inspected. Says each man that passes will be formed into companies for a regiment. Will be given clothing and equipment and be allowed to elect their officers. All those who do not want to enlist will be sent back to New York. Before the war Winthrop was a novelist, lawyer, and world traveler. At the Battle of Big Bethel on 10 June 1861, he volunteered for General Ebenezer Pierce's staff and drew up a crude plan of battle. After a Federal attack to the enemy right flank was foiled, Winthrop lead an ill-fated assault on the Confederate left held by four companies of the 1st Regiment North Carolina Infantry, under the command of Colonel (later Lieutenant General) Daniel Harvey Hill. In the heat of battle, Winthrop leapt onto the trunk of a fallen tree and reportedly yelled, "One more charge boys, and the day is ours." Soon thereafter, he was killed by a musket ball to the heart and became the first casualty for the northern side in what history regards as the first pitched land battle of the Civil War. Ironically, ardent abolitionist Winthrop was shot by a Black Confederate soldier -- Private Sam Ashe of the 1st North Carolina. |
| Subjects | Civil War Military History Union Forces Navy Military Supplies Military Uniforms Clothing and Accessories |
| People | Winthrop, Theodore Woolsey (1828-1861) Ashe, Sam (fl. 1861) Butler, Benjamin Franklin (1818-1893) |
| Place written | Fortress Monroe, Virginia |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Naval & Maritime |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | Before the war Winthrop was a novelist, lawyer, and world traveler. At the Battle of Big Bethel on 10 June 1861, he volunteered for General Ebenezer Pierce's staff and drew up a crude plan of battle. After a Federal attack to the enemy right flank was foiled, Winthrop lead an ill-fated assault on the Confederate left held by four companies of the 1st Regiment North Carolina Infantry, under the command of Colonel (later Lieutenant General) Daniel Harvey Hill. In the heat of battle, Winthrop leapt onto the trunk of a fallen tree and reportedly yelled, "One more charge boys, and the day is ours." Soon thereafter, he was killed by a musket ball to the heart and became the first casualty for the northern side in what history regards as the first pitched land battle of the Civil War. Ironically, ardent abolitionist Winthrop was shot by a Black Confederate soldier -- Private Sam Ashe of the 1st North Carolina. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Civil War: Theater of War | Main Eastern Theater |