Civil War Women

Lucretia Douglas Kershaw

2009-11-28T14:17:00.004-05:00

Wife of Confederate General Joseph Brevard Kershaw

Lucretia Ann Douglas was born on August 27, 1825, the daughter of James and Mary Martin Douglas of Camden, South Carolina. Joseph Brevard Kershaw was born on January 5, 1822, son of John and Harriet DuBose Kershaw, also of Camden. His maternal grandfather, also named Joseph Kershaw, served on Francis Marion's staff during the Revolutionary War. His father, who died when he was seven years of age, was several times mayor of Camden, a Judge, a Legislator, and a member of Congress. Kershaw attended first a school in Camden; he was sent at the age of fifteen to the Cokesbury Conference school, in Abbeville District.

General Joseph Kershaw

Leaving school, after a short visit home, Kershaw went to Charleston, SC, where he became a clerk in a dry goods store. Unhappy with that life, he returned to Camden and entered as a student in the law office of John DeSaussure. Kershaw was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one, and soon afterwards formed a partnership with James Pope Dickinson.

Joseph Kershaw married Lucretia Douglas in November 1844, and they had nine children.

Kershaw joined the Palmetto Regiment in the Mexican War, and was elected First Lieutenant of the Camden company, known as the DeKalb Rifle Guards. His law partner, James Dickinson, was subsequently killed at the battle of Cherubusco in the war with Mexico, gallantly leading the charge of the Palmetto Regiment.

Kershaw contracted a fever and returned home to Camden a very sick man. He resigned his commission and Lucretia nursed him back to health. Upon the recovery of his health, he resumed the practice of law in Camden. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1852 and 1854, and became active in the Militia in 1859; he was a member of the Secession Convention from his district, which led to South Carolina seceding from the Union.

The Civil War
Joseph Kershaw was the embodiment of the Confederate gentleman-turned-soldier ideal, a lawyer from the Cradle of the Rebellion, South Carolina. He was intelligent, literate, and dignified, a man of high character. Blond, with refined features and a resolute expression, he was clean-shaven except for a drooping blond mustache. He had the bearing of command and a clear voice that seemed to inspire courage.

Kershaw stood about 5'10" with posture as straight as an arrow. His chief physical characteristics that his contemporaries commented upon were his beautiful deep blue eyes and a clear voice that he understood how to use effectively. When he went off to war, Lucretia made herself a necklace and bracelet woven from locks of his hair.

Early in 1861, by command of Governor Pickens, Kershaw led his unit to Charleston, and they were on Morris Island during the siege of Fort Sumter. There they remained until called to go to Virginia to enter the Confederate Army. They were joined by other companies which offered their services, and the new regiment, now known as the Second South Carolina Volunteers, proceeded to Richmond.

Kershaw's regiment was assigned to General Milledge Bonham. They fought on Henry House Hill at First Manassas, and played a major role in breaking the Union lines and chasing the Yankees back to Washington. After General Bonham resigned in a huff over a seniority dispute, Kershaw was appointed Brigadier General and took command of Bonham's brigade.

On the Peninsula the next summer, Kershaw led his brigade in action at Williamsburg, Malvern Hill, and Savage Station during the Seven Days' Battles. In division commander General Lafayette McLaws' official report after those battles, he wrote: "I beg leave to call attention to the gallantry, cool, yet daring, courage and skill in the management of his gallant command exhibited by Brigadier General Kershaw."

Thus there was already much expected of Kershaw and and his men before the Maryland Campaign in September, where Kershaw's men forced Union soldiers off the critical Maryland Heights before the capture of Harper's Ferry. There, some of the men had to load and fire from positions where they had to use one arm to keep from rolling down the mountainside. After the Battle of Sharpsburg, Kershaw was again highly praised by McLaws.

Valor in Gray
Kershaw's Brigade at Fredericksburg December 13, 1862
Mort Kunstler, Artist
General Joseph Kershaw is seen in the painting, mounted on horseback between two of his aides. Advancing in battle lines up the hill toward them was the mighty Army of the Potomac – more than 115,000 strong – composed of courageous, well-trained combat troops under the command of General Ambrose E. Burnside. Despite their numerical superiority, Kershaw held his brigade steady and poured forth a terrible fire from behind the stone wall.

At Fredericksburg, Kershaw had his finest hour, reinforcing General Thomas Cobb's brigade behind the Stone Wall on Marye's Heights and taking command when Cobb was mortally wounded. Leading his brigade on horseback, Kershaw emerged on the crest of the hill a conspicuous and defiant target. It was said later that when he reined in his horse, the Yankees withheld their fire as if out of respect, and that Kershaw took off his cap in acknowledgment before he disappeared behind the bastion of the Stone Wall. At Chancellorsville, Kershaw was not heavily engaged.

Battle of Gettysburg
By the summer of 1863, General Kershaw, forty-one years old, had been a brigadier for a year and a half, and had distinguished himself in almost every battle General Lee's army had fought. Kershaw showed an ability for quick rational decisions. His brigade was always well put in, and he never endangered his men rashly. General McLaws had complete faith in him and his brigade, and he was much admired by his South Carolinians. The official reports Kershaw wrote are graceful, literate, and restrained. He was a man who passed among the whistling bullets and shrieking shells with a calm center, never losing his dignity.

General Kershaw at the Rose Farm
General Lafayette McLaws arranged his division on Warfield Ridge — two lines of two brigades each: left front, facing the Peach Orchard, the brigade of Brigadier General William Barksdale; right front, Brigadier General Joseph Kershaw; left rear, Brigadier General William Wofford; right rear, Brigadier General Paul Jones Semmes.

The area known as the Wheatfield had three geographic features, all owned by the John Rose family: the 20-acre wheatfield, Rose Woods bordering it on the west, and a modest elevation known as Stony Hill, also to the west. Thirty cannons of the Union III Corps and the Artillery Reserve were tasked with holding this section and were positioned along Wheatfield Road.

Around 5:00 pm, CSA General James Longstreet ordered McLaws to send in Kershaw's Brigade, with Barksdale's to follow on the left, beginning an en echelon attack — one brigade after another in sequence — which would be used for the rest of the afternoon. Nearly 2200 South Carolinians stepped out of the woods on Warfield Ridge.

After taking losses from the Union batteries along Wheatfield Road while crossing the fields, the South Carolinans crossed the Rose Farm, and headed toward the Union troops on Stony Hill. By 5:30 pm, when the first of Kershaw's regiments neared the Rose farmhouse, Stony Hill had been reinforced by two Union brigades. Kershaw's men placed great pressure on them, but they continued to hold.

The fighting swelled to a crescendo and raged steadily for an hour, when the Union troops began to pull out. One division was withdrawn about 300 yards to the north to a new position near the Wheatfield Road. The second Union division followed suit, and the Confederates seized Stony Hill and streamed into the Wheatfield.

Pride of Erin
Dale Gallon, Artist
At less than fifty yards, the men of Colonel Patrick Kelly's famed Irish Brigade prepare to fire their first volley into the South Carolinians of Brigadier General Joseph B. Kershaw's Brigade at the Rose Farm.

While the right wing of Kershaw's brigade attacked in the Wheatfield, its left wing wheeled left to attack the right flank of USA General David Birney's line, where thirty guns from the III Corps and the Artillery Reserve attempted to hold the sector. Suddenly someone unknown shouted a false command, and the attacking regiments turned to their right, toward the Wheatfield, which presented their left flank to the batteries. Kershaw later wrote, "Hundreds of the bravest and best men of Carolina fell, victims of this fatal blunder."

A determined Kershaw threw his men back into the attack, reinforced with a Georgia Brigade under Brigadier General Paul Semmes. Semmes led two of his regiments into a gap on Kershaw's right in the lower part of the wheatfield, where General Semmes was mortally wounded, and his men were counterattacked by a fresh Union brigade under Colonel John Brooke. At the point of the bayonet, Brooke's small regiments drove Semmes' men back to the Rose Farm orchards south of the house, and the two sides fought it out in a seesaw struggle.

At about 7:30 pm, the final Confederate assault through the Wheatfield continued past Houck's Ridge. The brigades of Anderson, Semmes, and Kershaw were exhausted from hours of combat in the summer heat and advanced east with units jumbled up together. As they reached the northern shoulder of Little Round Top, they were met with a counterattack from the V Union Corps, which drove the Confederates back beyond the Wheatfield to Stony Hill.

The fighting was hand to hand for awhile and very intense, and involved numerous confusing attacks and counterattacks over two hours by eleven brigades. Veterans compared it to a whirlpool - a stream of eddies and tides that flowed around the Wheatfield, which changed hands six times that afternoon.

Charge and counter charge left the Wheatfield and nearby woods strewn with more than 4000 dead and wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. The bloody Wheatfield remained quiet for the remainder of the battle, but it took a heavy toll; the Confederates suffered 1394 casualties, and the Union 3215. Some of the wounded managed to crawl to Plum Run but could not cross; the stream ran red with their blood.

Confederates Seize the Wheatfield
Gettysburg, July 2, 1863

General Kershaw's Description of July 2, 1863
Twenty years after the battle, there was an ongoing debate as to why the Confederacy had lost at Gettysburg. In reply to the many critics and notions of military mismanagement, an aged Kershaw wrote a brief article for Century Magazine on his brigade's participation in this monumental battle - a bit difficult to follow at times, but well worth the read:

My brigade, composed of South Carolinians, constituted, with Semmes's, Wofford's, and Barksdale's brigades, the division of Major General Lafayette McLaws. About sunset on the 1st of July, we reached the top of a range of hills overlooking Gettysburg, from which could be seen and heard the smoke and din of battle then raging in the distance. We encamped two miles from Gettysburg, on the left of the Chambersburg Pike.

On the 2d [of July], we were up and ready to move at 4 am in obedience to orders, but, owing as we understood at the time to the occupancy of the road by trains of the Second Corps, did not march until about sunrise. With only a slight detention from trains in the way, we reached the high grounds near Gettysburg and moved to the right of the Third Corps, [my] brigade being at the head of the column.

At length, General McLaws ordered me to move by a flank to the rear, get under the cover of the hill, and move along the bank of Marsh Creek toward the enemy, taking care to keep out of their view. In executing this order, we passed the Black Horse Tavern and followed the road leading from that point toward the Emmitsburg Pike, until the head of the column reached a point where the road passed over the top of a hill, from which our movement would have been plainly visible from the Federal signal station at Little Round Top.

Here we were halted by General McLaws in person, while he and General Longstreet rode forward to reconnoiter. Very soon those gentlemen returned, both manifesting considerable irritation, as I thought. General McLaws ordered me to countermarch and in doing so we passed Hood's division, which had been following us. We moved back to the place where we had rested during the morning and thence by a country road to Willoughby Run… and down to that school house beyond Pitzer's [farm].

General Longstreet here commanded me to advance with my brigade and attack the enemy at the Peach Orchard, which lay a little to the left of my line of march, some six hundred yards in front of us. I was directed to turn the flank of that position, extend my line along the road we were then in beyond the Emmitsburg Pike, with my left resting on that road. At 3:00 pm, the head of my column emerged from the woods and came into the open field in front of the stone wall which extends along by Flaherty's farm and to the east past Snyder's [farm].

Here we were in full view of the Federal position. An advanced line occupied the Peach Orchard, heavily supported by artillery, and extended from that point toward our left along the Emmitsburg Road. The intervening ground was occupied by open fields, interspersed and divided by stone walls. I immediately formed line of battle along the stone wall... done under cover of my skirmishers, who engaged those of the enemy near the Emmitsburg Road.

The Rose Farm
Photo taken from the Wheatfield Road

In the meantime I examined the position of the Federals with some care. I found them in superior force, strongly posted in the Peach Orchard, which bristled with artillery, with a main line of battle in their rear... and extending to if not upon, Little Round Top. I placed my command in position under cover of the Stone Wall, and communicated the condition of matters to Major General McLaws.

The division was then formed on this line, Semmes's brigade two hundred yards in rear and supporting Kershaw's; Barksdale's on the left of [mine] with Wofford's in Barksdale's rear supporting him. Cabell's battalion of artillery was placed along the wall to [my brigade's] right, and the 15th South Carolina Regiment, Colonel [William] de Saussure, was thrown to their right to support them on that flank.

In the meantime General Hood's division was moving in our rear to the right, to gain the enemy's left flank, and I was directed to commence the attack as soon as General Hood became engaged, swinging around the Peach Orchard, and at the same time establishing connection with Hood on my right, and cooperating with him.

In my center-front was a stone farmhouse [Rose Farm] with a barn also of stone. These buildings were about five hundred yards from our position and on a line with the crest of the Peach Orchard hill. The Federal infantry was posted along the front of the orchard, and also on the face looking toward Rose's.

Six of their batteries were in position, three at the orchard near the crest of the hill, and the others about two hundred yards in rear... Behind Rose's was a morass and on the right of that, a stone wall running parallel with our line, some two hundred yards from Rose's. Beyond the morass was a stony hill covered with heavy timber and thick undergrowth, interspersed with boulders and large fragments of rock extending some distance toward the Federal line... [by] which a narrow road led in the direction of [Little Round Top]. Looking down this road from Rose's, a large wheatfield was seen. In rear of the wheatfield... a heavy force of Federals [were] posted in line behind a stone wall.

About 4 o'clock, I received the order to move, at a signal from Cabell's artillery. They were to fire for some minutes, then pause, and then fire three guns in rapid succession. At this time, I was to move without further orders. I communicated these instructions to the commanders of each of the regiments in my command, directing them to convey [these orders] to the company officers. They were told, at the signal, to order the men to leap the wall... and to align the troops in front of it.

The Stony Hill
The 3rd and 7th South Carolina took this position from General Barnes' Federal Division. Barnes felt at the time his position was about to be turned, and fell back to the Wheatfield Road. In turn, Federals counterattacked with forces that included the famous Irish Brigade to wrestle the hill back, if only temporarily.

Accordingly, at the signal, the men leaped over the wall and were properly aligned; the word was given and the brigade moved off... with great steadiness and precision, followed by Semmes with equal promptness. General Longstreet accompanied me in this advance on foot as far as the Emmitsburg Road. All the field and staff officers were dismounted on account of many obstacles in the way.

When we were about the Emmitsburg Road, I heard Barksdale's drums beat the assembly, and knew then that I should have no immediate support on my left. The 2nd and 8th South Carolina regiments and James's [Third] Battalion constituted the left wing of the brigade and were then moving majestically across the fields to the left of the lane leading to Rose's with the steadiness of troops on parade.

They were ordered to change direction to the left and attack the batteries in rear of the Peach Orchard, and accordingly moved rapidly on that point. In order to aid this attack, the direction of the 3rd and 7th regiments was changed to the left so as to occupy the Stony Hill and Wood.

After passing the buildings at Rose's, the charge of the left wing was no longer visible from my position; but the movement was reported to have been magnificently conducted... when the order was given to 'move by the right flank,' by some unauthorized person, and was immediately obeyed by the men. The Federals... opened on these doomed regiments a raking fire of grape and canister at short distance, which proved most disastrous, and for a time destroyed their usefulness. Hundreds of the bravest and best men of Carolina fell, victims of this fatal blunder.

While this tragedy was being enacted, the 3rd and 7th regiments were conducted rapidly to the stony hill. In consequence of the obstructions in the way, the 7th regiment had lapped the 3rd a few paces, and when they reached the cover of the stony hill, I halted the line at the edge of the wood for a moment, and ordered the 7th to move by the right flank to uncover the 3rd Regiment, which was promptly done. It was, no doubt, this movement observed by some one from the left, that led to the terrible mistake which cost so dearly.

The Peach Orchard
Rose farmhouse in the background

The... 7th and 3rd regiments advanced into the wood and occupied the stony hill, the left of the 3rd Regiment swinging around and attacking the batteries to the left of that position. Very soon, a heavy column moved in two lines of battle across the wheatfield to attack my position in such manner as to take the 7th Regiment in flank on the right. The right wing of this regiment was then thrown back to meet this attack.

I then hurried in person to General Semmes, then 150 yards in my right rear, to bring him up to meet the attack on my right and also to bring forward my right regiment, the 15th, commanded by Colonel W. deSaussure, which... was cut off by Semmes's brigade. In the act of leading his regiment, the gallant and accomplished commander of the 15th had just fallen when I reached it. He fell some paces in front of the line, with sword drawn, leading their advance.

General Semmes promptly responded to my call, and put his brigade in motion toward the right, preparatory to moving to the front. While his troops were moving, he fell, mortally wounded. Returning to the 7th Regiment, I reached it just as the advancing column of Federals had arrived at a point some two hundred yards off, whence they poured into us a volley from their whole line and advanced to the charge. They were handsomely received and entertained by this veteran regiment, which long kept them at bay in front.

One regiment in Semmes's brigade came at a double quick as far as the ravine in our rear, and checked the advance of the Federals in their front. There was still an interval on a hundred yards… between this regiment and the right of the 7th, and into this the enemy was forcing his way, causing my right to swing back more and more; still fighting, at a distance not exceeding thirty paces, until the two wings of the regiment were nearly doubled on each other.

The enemy… swung around and lapped my whole line at close quarters, and the fighting was general and desperate all along the line, and so continued for some time. These men were brave veterans who had fought from Bull Run to Gettysburg, and knew the strength of their position, and so held it as long as it was tenable. The 7th Regiment finally gave way, and I directed Colonel [David] Aiken to re-form it at the stone wall about Rose's. I passed to the 3rd Regiment, then hotly engaged on the crest of the hill, and gradually swung back its right as the enemy made progress around that flank.

Semmes's advanced regiment had given way. One of his regiments had mingled with the 3rd and amid rocks and trees, within a few feet of each other, these brave men, Confederates and Federals, maintained a desperate conflict. The enemy could make no progress in front, but slowly extended around my right.

Separated from view of my left… the position of the 15th Regiment being wholly unknown, the 7th having retreated, and nothing being heard of the other troops of the division, I feared the brave men around me would be surrounded by the large force of the enemy constantly increasing in numbers and all the while gradually enveloping us.

The Wheatfield
Gettysburg National Military Park

In order to avoid such a catastrophe, I ordered a retreat to the buildings at Rose's. On emerging from the wood as I followed the retreat, I saw Wofford riding at the head of his fine brigade then coming in, his left being in the Peach Orchard, which was then clear of the enemy. His movement was such as to strike the stony hill on the left and thus turn the flank of the troops that had driven us from that position. On his approach, the enemy retreated across the Wheatfield, where, with the regiments of my left wing, Wofford attacked with great effect, driving the Federals upon and near to Little Round Top.

I rallied the remainder of my brigade and a portion of Semmes's at Rose's, with the assistance of Colonel [Moxley] Sorrel of Longstreet's staff, and advanced with them to the support of Wofford, taking position at the stone wall overlooking the forest to the right of Rose's house. Finding that Wofford's men were coming out, I retained them at that point to check any attempt of the enemy to follow.

It was now near nightfall, and the operations of the day were over. That night, we occupied the ground over which we had fought, with my left at the Peach Orchard, on the hill, and gathered the dead and wounded - a long list of brave officers and men. Captain Cunningham's company of the 2nd Regiment was reported to have gone into action with forty men, of whom but four remained unhurt to bury their fallen comrades. My losses exceeded 600 men killed and wounded - about one half the force engaged.

The next day, July 3, Kershaw's men were withdrawn to the wall in Biesecker's Woods, where they had formed for the attack the afternoon before. They saw no action during the final day of battle, and retreated with the remainder of Lee's army on July 4, and crossed the Potomac River on July 14. Kershaw deservedly appeared on Longstreet's list of those "most distinguished for the exhibition of great gallantry and skill" at Gettysburg.

After Gettysburg, Kershaw went west with General Longstreet, and at Chickamauga, Kershaw was given command of the brigade of General Benjamin Humphreys, in addition to his own brigade. On foot instead of horseback, in the dense woods on Snodgrass Hill, Kershaw could not possibly control eleven regiments. Repeated attacks failed, until the Federals slipped away under cover of darkness.

The brigade participated in the Knoxville and East Tennessee Campaigns before going into winter camp. General Longstreet brought court-martial charges against General McLaws for a fiasco which had occurred at Knoxville on November 29, 1863. Kershaw was in a tough position because he was friends with both of his superior officers. His written depositions reflect his support for McLaws in this affair. Although the charges were found to be false, McLaws was transferred, elevating Kershaw to the command of McLaws' division.

Kershaw's division, one of the best in the Army of Northern Virginia, consisted of his old South Carolina brigade, General Benjamin Humphrey's Mississippi Brigade, and two fine Georgia brigades commanded by William Wofford and Goode Bryan.

Kershaw was made major general in May 1864, and was given permanent command of McLaw's old division, which he commanded for the rest of the war, a proud exception - with Major Generals Wade Hampton and John Brown Gordon - to General Lee's rule that a division commander must be a professionally trained soldier.

In 1864, Kershaw fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. He was with Longstreet when he was wounded by his own troops at the Wilderness, when Longstreet's party were mistaken for Union cavalry. Kershaw's cry of "Friends!" probably saved the lives of several of the commanding general's staff.

He led his division during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign to the final battle at Cedar Creek, Virginia, in October 1864. The general rallied and withdrew his shattered command from the battlefield, and returned to the Richmond defenses in early December 1864. He remained in the Richmond area until Lee's army withdrew on April 2, 1865.

At the disastrous Battle of Saylor's Creek on April 6, 1865, three days before Lee surrendered at Appomattox, six Confederate generals - Lieutenant General Richard Ewell, Major Generals Kershaw and Custis Lee, Brigadier Generals D.M. DuBose, Semmes, Hunter, and Corse - were surrounded and captured with their respective commands, after a desperate struggle against immense odds. Kershaw's division numbered in all about 6000 men. The captured officers were sent to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor, where they remained in prison until some time in August 1865, when they were allowed to return to their respective homes.

Kershaw had been captured by General George Armstrong Custer's cavalry who took him to their chief. The Yankee general treated Kershaw kindly and that night shared blankets with the captured general. Eleven years later, upon learning of Custer's death at the Little Big Horn, Kershaw wrote a lengthy account of his capture as a tribute to the fallen cavalry leader. Kershaw called news of Custer's demise "heart rendering."

After the fight of Saylor's Creek, when General Kershaw and his companions were being taken back to Petersburg and thence to City Point to be shipped North [to prison], he spent a night at a farm house, then occupied as a field hospital and as quarters by the surgeons and attendants. They were South Carolinians, and were anxious to hear all about the fight. In telling of it the pride and love which he reposed in the old brigade received a wistful testimonial. It was then confronting Sherman somewhere in North Carolina. Its old commander said in a voice vibrant with feeling: "If I had only had my old brigade with me, I believe we could have held these fellows in check until night gave us the opportunity to withdraw."
Source: History of Kershaw's Brigade, by D. Augustus Dickert

After being paroled, General Kershaw returned to Camden, where he resumed his legal career, and enjoyed a large and lucrative practice for many years. He was elected to the State Senate in the fall of 1865, and was later chosen President of the Senate. He was appointed Judge of the Fifth Circuit in 1877, a position which he held with distinguished honor for sixteen years.

Kershaw resigned his judgeship in 1893, as his health began to fail. The splendid health he had enjoyed for many years had been undermined slowly and insidiously by disease incident to a life that had borne the burdens of others, and had spent itself freely and unselfishly for his country and his fellowman, and it was evident to all that his days were numbered.

At his retirement party, some of his former soldiers as well as associates in the legal profession paid tribute to him. Three members of Kershaw's 2nd South Carolina were also lawyers, and used the occasion to speak in glowing terms of Kershaw's abilities as a military officer, his efforts to help the state during Reconstruction, and his integrity as a judge.

In his message to the General Assembly in 1893, Governor B.R. Tillman proposed Kershaw as the proper person to collect the records of the services of South Carolina soldiers in the Civil War, and to prepare a suitable historical introduction to the volume. The Legislature promptly endorsed the nomination and made an appropriation for the work. To this he gave himself during the two succeeding months, collecting data, and preparing to write the proposed introduction, but he would never complete it.

In the latter part of March 1894, he became alarmingly ill. All was done for his relief, but to no avail. Among his last words to his son were these, spoken when he was perfectly conscious of what was before him: "My son, I have no doubts and no fears."

General Joseph Brevard Kershaw died just before midnight on April 12, 1894. He is buried in Camden's Quaker Cemetery along with many of his soldiers from Kershaw County.

At his funeral, there was a general outpouring of people from the town and vicinity for many miles, who sincerely mourned the departure of their friend. The State was represented by the Governor and seven members of his official family.

General Joseph Brevard Kershaw Gravesite
Quaker Cemetery
Camden, South Carolina

Lucretia Douglas Kershaw died on April 28, 1902.

Lucretia Douglas Kershaw Gravesite
Quaker Cemetery
Camden, South Carolina

SOURCES
Joseph Brevard Kershaw
History of Kershaw's Brigade
Battle of Gettysburg, Day 2
Wikipedia: Joseph B. Kershaw
Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day
Joseph Brevard Kershaw Biography
Brigadier General Joseph Brevard Kershaw
General Joseph Kershaw's Brigade at the Rose Farm

Martha Helen Foster Caldwell

2009-11-21T11:31:00.002-05:00

Wife of Union General John Curtis Caldwell

Martha Helen Foster was born on August 12, 1838, the daughter of Jeremiah Foster of East Machias, Maine. John Curtis Caldwell was born in Lowell, Vermont, on April 17, 1833, the son of George M. and Elizabeth Curtis Caldwell. Lowell was some fifteen miles south of the Canadian border in northern Vermont. He graduated from Amherst College in 1855 and moved to Maine, where he was the principal of the Washington Academy in East Machias. He continued in this position for about five years until war broke out in 1861. While there, he met Martha Foster.

Brigadier General John Curtis Caldwell

Martha Helen Foster married John C. Caldwell on May 15, 1857, at Machiasport, Maine. Their three children were: Charles S. Caldwell; b. January 21, 1858; Harriet Caldwell (married to Henry S. Murchie), Calais, Maine; Harry C. Caldwell, b. August 16, 1866.

Caldwell in the Civil War
Twenty-eight-year-old John Curtis Caldwell was mustered into service as Colonel of the newly formed 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry on November 12, 1861, and departed for Washington, DC, the next day. After stopping in Portland and Boston, the regiment took a steamer to New York City; from there they took the cars to Philadelphia. The regiment arrived at Washington on the evening of November 15, then set up camp at Camp Knox on Meridian Hill overlooking the capital city, where they spent the winter perfecting drill and discipline and learning the art of war.

On March 30, 1862, Colonel Caldwell and his regiment, part of the Third Brigade of Casey's Division of the IV Corps, Army of the Potomac, departed with McClellan's army for the Peninsula Campaign. On June 1, 1862, Caldwell was promoted to Brigadier General and assumed command of the First Brigade, First Division, II Corps, after General Oliver O. Howard fell wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines. From this point onward, General Caldwell participated in every battle of the Army of the Potomac until the reorganization of the army in the spring of 1864 – always as part of the elite II Corps.

Caldwell soon proved his worth as a brigade commander during the subsequent Seven Days' Battles on the outskirts of Richmond, turning in a number of creditable performances particularly at Glendale on June 30, where he displayed "personal gallantry" in coming to the aid of the beleaguered Union division led by General Philip Kearny.

General Israel Richardson, First Division commander, in a postscript to his official report on July 6, 1862, stated: "…I cannot too much commend the admirable manner in which my three brigadier-generals – French, Meagher, and Caldwell – have done their duty with their brigades… If anything can try the patience and bravery of troops it must be their fighting all day for five consecutive days and then falling back every night."

Earning praise for his conduct and skill on the field of battle, Caldwell retained command of his brigade throughout the summer of 1862, and as the Army of the Potomac set out after General Robert E. Lee's invading army in western Maryland in early September 1862.

At the Battle of Antietam, on September 17, 1862, at twenty-nine years of age, Caldwell was the youngest general officer in the Army of the Potomac. Caldwell was wounded in the battle, and he received criticism that he handled his brigade poorly in the assault on the Sunken Road (or Bloody Lane) in the center of the Confederate line. One allegation related that Caldwell disappeared while his brigade was waiting for orders to go into battle, and his men would not advance without him.

Caldwell's brigade was engaged in the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. While preparing his brigade to assault the stone wall on Marye's Heights against the entrenched Confederates, General Caldwell received a wound to his left side, but refused to leave the field, and continued to urge his men forward. Soon another shot struck him in the left shoulder, and he was forced to seek medical attention, at which time he turned over command to one of his colonels.

Caldwell's brigade was among the commands with the highest number of casualties. During their fruitless assault, they lost nearly 1000 of the 1800 men that went into battle that day. One of his regiments broke and ran during the assault, damaging his reputation. As for Caldwell, it was two months before his wounds healed sufficiently to return to duty.

By May of 1863, the division under General Winfield Scott Hancock had already earned an unenviable reputation for their combat record. As new army commander, General Joseph Hooker, began his spring campaign at Chancellorsville in early May 1963, the II Corps troops were not in his initial plans. But pressure mounted on General George Sykes' division of General George Meade's V Corps, and the call went out for support. Hancock answered, with Caldwell's brigade taking the lead.

After digging in around the Chancellor House, Caldwell's men performed well under difficult circumstances, enduring several days of fighting back-to-back on two fronts, in opposite directions. As Hooker made the decision that his army would retreat, Hancock's Division was ordered to cover the army's exodus. Here Caldwell's brigade and the rest of the division played a major role in saving the Union army, plugging gaps in the line, changing fronts as necessary, and the supporting artillery.

Three weeks after the battle, on May 22, 1863, John Caldwell was given command of the First Division, II Corps when General Hancock was promoted to the command of the II Corps. This was a quick advancement for Caldwell considering that he lacked any kind of formal military training and had no experience in even a state militia unit. His division command would last until the Army of the Potomac was reorganized in March 1864.

140th Pennsylvania Infantry Monument
Part of Caldwell's First Division, II Corps
Gettysburg National Military Park

General Caldwell at Gettysburg
As the II Corps was put on the road to Gettysburg, Caldwell's division included the brigades of Edward Cross, Samuel Zook, John Brooke, and the Irish Brigade under Patrick Kelly. Arriving early in the morning of the second day of the battle, July 2, 1863, by way of the Taneytown Road, with the lines of engagement already drawn, this would be Caldwell's first test as a division commander, and it would be a ferocious one.

That afternoon, as the powerful assault from CSA General James Longstreet's Corps struck the Union III Corps, Hancock ordered Caldwell to reinforce the III Corps at an area of the Rose Farm that would forever be known as the Wheatfield, and to report to General George Sykes of the V Corps, who was operating nearby, for instructions on where to place his troops. Realizing that time was of the essence, Caldwell had all four of his brigades moving within minutes.

Approaching the field from the north, Caldwell delivered the largest Union assault in all three days at Gettysburg. The attack was handled expertly: within ten minutes, in unfamiliar terrain with nothing to guide them but the sound of the heaviest fighting, three of Caldwell's brigades were surging in unison against the enemy. The sudden attack threw three Confederate brigades back in disorder and gained ground beyond the original Union line. A short time later, however, CSA General Lafayette McLaws rushed forward with two fresh brigades and attacked Caldwell's exposed right flank.

When his attack stalled, Caldwell continued to be active and alert, riding in person (essentially acting as his own staff) to ask for the support of nearby brigades when it became evident that no higher officer was coordinating the Union effort in this critical part of the battlefield.

While he was thus occupied, McLaws' brigades had already started his division tumbling back, causing great confusion and a general retreat back across the Wheatfield. Remnants of Caldwell's division were sent flying pell-mell to the rear, and couldn't be rallied until after dark. For their efforts at restoring the left flank, Caldwell's Division lost forty percent of its men.

General Caldwell's Description of the Wheatfield:

The position assigned me was on the right of the Fifth and the left of the Third Corps, and I was ordered to check and drive back the enemy who were advancing at that point. I ordered Colonel Cross, commanding the First Brigade, to advance in line of battle through a wheatfield, his left resting on the woods which skirted the field. He had advanced but a short distance when he encountered the enemy, and opened upon him a terrific fire, driving him steadily to the farther end of the wheat-field.

In the meantime, I had put the Second Brigade in on the right of the First, and they advanced in like manner, driving the enemy before them. The Third Brigade I ordered still farther to the right, to connect with the Third Corps, while I held the Fourth Brigade in reserve. The First, Second, and Third Brigades advanced with the utmost gallantry, driving the enemy before them over difficult and rocky ground, which was desperately contested by the slowly retreating foe.

The First Brigade, which had been longest engaged, had expended all its ammunition, when I ordered Colonel Brooke (Fourth Brigade) to relieve it. He advanced with his usual gallantry, and drove the enemy until he gained the crest of the hill, which was afterward gained by the whole of my line. In this advantageous position I halted, and called upon General Barnes, who was some distance in the rear, to send a brigade to the support of my line. He readily complied, and ordered the brigade of Colonel (Sweitzer) forward into the wheatfield.

I then galloped to the left to make a connection with General Ayres, and found that I had advanced some distance beyond him. He, however, gave the order to his line to move forward and connect with my left. Thus far everything had progressed favorably. I had gained a position which, if properly supported on the flanks, I thought impregnable from the front.

General Ayres was moving forward to connect with my left, but I found on going to the right that all the troops on my right had broken and were fleeing to the rear in great confusion. As soon as they broke, and before I could change front, the enemy in great numbers came in upon my right flank and even my rear, compelling me to fall back or have my command taken prisoners. My men fell back under a very heavy cross-fire, generally in good order, but necessarily with some confusion. I reformed them behind a stone wall until relieved by the Twelfth Corps.

Second Delaware Infantry Monument
Part of Caldwell's First Division, II Corps
Gettysburg National Military Park

After the battle, General Caldwell was criticized by General Sykes, the Fifth Corps commander, who reported to Hancock that the division had "done badly." As a result, Caldwell lost Hancock's confidence - this was, after all, Hancock's old division. He withheld praise from Caldwell after the battle, and ordered an investigation of the July 2 conduct by the First Division. Lieutenant Colonel C.H. Morgan of Hancock's staff, who himself had come upon Caldwell's division in full flight to the rear, wrote "[the investigation] showed that no troops on the field had done better."

The investigation vindicated Caldwell, but he was overlooked for promotion. It was obvious that General Hancock had lost confidence in Caldwell, and his reputation in the Army of the Potomac was damaged. A recent writer on Gettysburg has blamed Sykes for giving sketchy instructions to Caldwell.

On July 3, Hancock placed Caldwell in temporary command of the Second Corps, but Army Commander George Meade, who favored West Pointers, ordered that John Gibbon, although inferior in rank to Caldwell, be given the command. After both Gibbon and Hancock fell wounded while helping repulse Pickett's Charge later that afternoon, Caldwell was once again elevated to corps command. Less than a week later, however, Meade once again relieved Caldwell and appointed William Hays, an 1840 graduate of West Point, who was was also inferior in rank to Caldwell.

General John Caldwell continued to serve with distinction during the actions of the fall of 1863 and early 1864, receiving high praise from General Gouvernour Warren, then commander of the V Corps. All the while, Caldwell continued to praise his subordinates and recommend promotions for them.

With the attrition it had suffered in its many campaigns, the Army of the Potomac underwent a major reorganization in the spring of 1864, consolidated from five corps to three. Caldwell lost his command and was replaced by General Francis Barlow. Caldwell saw no further combat service; he spent the final year of the war behind a desk, serving on a number of military boards in Washington, DC.

Caldwell received an honor of sorts in April 1865, when he was one of eight general officer assigned as an honor guard in Abraham Lincoln's funeral train as it made its way on the long journey from the nation's capital to Springfield, Illinois. On January 15, 1866, Caldwell was mustered out of service.

Returning to his home and family in Maine, Caldwell went on to enjoy much success in a number of post-war careers. Upon his return, the thirty-two-year-old entered the legal profession, passing the bar exam and opening his own practice. He served for a brief stint in the Maine legislature, and from 1867 until 1869 was the Adjutant General of the state militia.

He then entered the diplomatic service with several consecutive diplomatic posts: United States Consul to Valparaiso, Chile, from 1869 to 1874; US Minister to Uruguay and Paraguay, 1874 to 1882, under Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, and Chester A. Arthur.

Caldwell took a break from his diplomatic career in 1882 and settled in Topeka, Kansas, where he resumed his law practice from 1882 to 1885. While there, he also served as Chairman of the Kansas Board of Pardons from 1885 to 1893 and again from 1895 to 1897.

With the inauguration of President William McKinley in 1897, Caldwell was once again tapped for a position in the State Department, becoming US Consul to San Jose, Costa Rica, a position he held from 1897 to 1909. Here he remained for the next dozen years serving under both McKinley and his successor Theodore Roosevelt.

In 1909, Caldwell retired at the age of seventy-six. He returned to Topeka and spent the remaining years of his life living with one or another of his children.

Brigadier General John Curtis Caldwell died on August 31, 1912, at his daughter's home in Calais, Maine. He was buried in the St. Stephen Rural Cemetery in New Brunswick, Canada.

General Caldwell may be the only Civil War general buried in Canada. Reenactors of Company H, Fifth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, based in Canada's Atlantic Provinces are dedicated to caring for General Caldwell's final resting place, and each year conduct a graveside service to honor him. James Garrett played the role of General John Curtis Caldwell in the movie, Gods and Generals.

Brigadier General John Caldwell Gravesite
St. Stephen Rural Cemetery
New Brunswick, Canada

SOURCES
John Curtis Caldwell
A General Without His Due
Wikipedia: John C. Caldwell
General John Curtis Caldwell
Brigadier General John C. Caldwell
Brigadier General John Curtis Caldwell
The Irish Brigade & 5th New Hampshire in the Wheatfield

Blanche Butler Ames

2009-11-14T11:08:00.004-05:00

Wife of Union General Adelbert Ames

Blanche Butler was born on March 2, 1847, in Lowell, Massachusetts. Her mother, Sarah Hildreth Butler, had been a Shakespearean actress before marrying Blanche's father, Union General Benjamin Franklin Butler, a Massachussetts politician who became a controversial officer during the Civil War. Blanche attended local public school until age thirteen, when she was sent to be educated at the Academy of the Visitation in Washington, DC, where she described the sectional tension affecting northern and southern students on the eve of the Civil War.

Blanche Butler Ames
From Butler's Book by Benjamin F. Butler
(Boston: A.M. Thayer & Co., 1892)

Adelbert Ames was born on October 31, 1835, in the town of Rockland, Maine, to Martha Tolman Ames and Jesse Ames, who were descended from both the Pilgrims and the Puritans. His father was a sea captain, and Adelbert also grew up to become a mate on a clipper ship, and also served briefly as a merchant seaman on his father's ship. On July 1, 1856, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Ames in the Civil War
Adelbert Ames graduated from West Point on May 6, 1861, fifth in a class of 45. On that same day, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery in the Army of the Potomac. Eight days later, he was promoted to first lieutenant and was assigned to the 5th U.S. Artillery.

During the First Battle of Bull Run in July, Ames was badly wounded in the right thigh, but refused to leave his guns. He was promoted to the rank of major on July 21. In 1894, Ames received the Medal of Honor for his actions during that battle..

Returning to duty the following spring, Ames fought in the Peninsula Campaign, and saw action at the Yorktown from April 5 to May 4, the Gaines' Mill on June 27, and the Malvern Hill in July. Ames was commended for his conduct at Malvern Hill by Colonel Henry Hunt, chief of the artillery of the Army of the Potomac, and he received a promotion to Lieutenant colonel.

Although Ames was becoming an excellent artillery officer, he realized that significant promotions would be available only in the infantry. He returned to Maine and received a commission as a regimental commander of infantry and was assigned to command the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment on August 20, 1862.

The 20th Maine fought in the Maryland Campaign, but saw little action at the Battle of Antietam on September 17. During the Union defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862, Ames led his regiment in one of the last charges on December 13 against Marye's Heights. During the Chancellorsville Campaign in May 1863, Ames volunteered as an aide-de-camo to General George G. Meade, commander of the V Corps.

Ames was promoted to Brigadier General on May 20, 1863, relinquishing his command of the 20th Maine to Lt. Colonel Joshua Chamberlain in order to become the commander of the Second Brigade, First Division, XI Corps, on the march north, and led it in the first day's fight at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1, 1863.

At Gettysburg, Ames performed well under difficult circumstances. During the massive assault by CSA General Richard Ewell on July 1, 1863, Ames' division commander, General Francis Barlow, moved his division well in front of other elements of the XI Corps to a slight rise that is now known as Barlow's Knoll. This salient position was quickly overrun, and Barlow was wounded and captured. Ames took command of the division as they retreated through the streets of Gettysburg to a position on Cemetery Hill, and led them through the rest of the battle.

On July 2, the second day of battle, Ames' battered division bore the brunt of the assault on East Cemetery Hill by CSA General Jubal Early, but was able to hold the critical position with help from surrounding units. At one point, Ames himself took part in the hand-to-hand fighting. After the battle, the men of the 20th Maine presented Ames with their battle flag as a token of their esteem.

General Adelbert Ames Report of Gettysburg
Report of Brig. Gen. Adelbert Ames,
U.S. Army, commanding Second Brigade and First Division
Col. T. A. MEYSENBURG,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Eleventh Corps

COLONEL: I have the honor to submit the following report of the action of the troops under my command at the battle of Gettysburg.

Early in the morning of July 1, my brigade left Emmitsburg, Md., and immediately upon its arrival at Gettysburg, Pa., it was pushed through the town and took a position near the pike leading toward Harrisburg. My brigade was ordered to a number of different positions, and finally it formed in rear of some woods, near a small stream some half a mile from town. From this position we were driven, the men of the First Brigade of this division running through lines of the regiments of my brigade (the Second), and thereby creating considerable confusion.

At this time General Barlow was wounded, and the command of the division devolved upon me. The whole division was falling back with little or no regularity, regimental organizations having become destroyed. An order was received from General Schurz, or one of his staff, to occupy the outskirts of the town, but soon after the order came to fall back through it. In this movement many of our men were taken prisoners. The hill in rear of the town was occupied after passing through the town, and in this position the division remained during the two following days, the 2d and 3d.

On the evening of the 2d, an attempt was made to carry the position we held, but the enemy was repulsed with loss. Colonel Carroll, with a brigade from the Second Corps, rendered timely assistance. The batteries behaved admirably.

I discharge a duty in calling attention to officers whose conduct is deserving the highest praise. Capt. J. M. Brown, my assistant adjutant-general, rendered most valuable services during the three days' fighting. With great coolness and energy he ably seconded my efforts in repelling the assault made by the enemy on the evening of the 2d.

Colonel Harris, of the Seventy-fifth Ohio Volunteers, took command of the Second Brigade soon after I assumed command of the division. With courage, he displayed ability in the discharge of his duties. The adjutant of the One hundred and seventh Ohio Volunteers, Lieutenant Young, attracted my attention by his coolness and bravery.

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. AMES,
Brigadier-General, Commanding Second Brigade

After the battle, General Ames reverted to brigade command and his division, under the command of General George Gordon, was transferred to the Department of the South, where it served in actions in South Carolina and Florida.

In August 1863, Ames was sent with his command to join forces besieging Charleston, SC. He remained there and in Florida until April 1864, when his unit became part of the X Corps in the Army of the James under General Benjamin F. Butler at Fortress Monroe, Virginia. With that army, Ames took part in the operations before Petersburg and Richmond, VA, being engaged in the action at Port Walthall Junction in May, Cold Harbor in June, and Darbytown Road in October 1864.

In December, 1864, Ames was selected to command the Second Division in the XXIV Corps in an expedition against Fort Fisher, North Carolina. The following month, during a second assault, Ames accompanied his men into that formidable coastal fortress. Most of his staff were shot down by Confederate snipers, but that attack resulted in the capture of Fort Fisher.

He was promoted to major general in the Union Army (and brigadier general in the regular army) on March 13, 1865, for his role in that battle, and was then assigned to the command of territorial districts in North and South Carolina until April 30, 1866, when he was mustered out of the volunteer service.

General Adelbert Ames

Ames in Mississippi
On July 15, 1868, General Adelbert Ames was appointed provisional Governor of Mississippi, under acts of Congress providing for such temporary government; on March 17, 1869, his command extended to include the 4th Military District, which consisted of Mississippi and Arkansas. The former Confederate states had been divided into five such districts, each with a general officer in command, and a military force at his disposal.

Mississippi was among the last of the states to comply with the conditions of Reconstruction, and in the interval the area drifted into a state bordering upon anarchy. Under Ames' direction, an election was held November 30, 1869, and on January 11, 1870, the new legislature was convened. After Mississippi was re-admitted to the Union in 1870, the legislature appointed Ames to the U. S. Senate.

In 1873, he was elected Governor by a popular vote, and was sworn into office on January 4, 1874. Ames was known as a carpetbagger, a term that referred to northerners who held office in the South after the Civil War. Because Ames was a highly vocal advocate of black suffrage, he became enormously popular among Mississippi's former slaves and emerged quickly as the leader of the Radical wing of the state's newly established Republican Party. During his administration, he appointed the first black office-holders in state history.

His administration was so repugnant to the Democrats, the white population, that between them and the Republicans, mostly blacks, a feeling of hostility arose so bitter that it culminated in a serious riot in Vicksburg, December 7, 1873, and this was followed by atrocities all over the state, consisting for the most part in the punishment, often in the murder, of obnoxious Republicans, white and black.

In the fall elections of 1875, more violent disturbances occurred and Governor Ames called out the state militia to maintain order. His use of the militia incited more unrest and there was widespread violence, fraud, and voter intimidation during the election. The Democratic Party secured a large majority in the state legislature and regained control of most county governments.

Governor Ames said that this election was largely carried by intimidation and fraud, and vainly sought to secure Congressional interference. Soon after the Democratic legislature convened in January 1876, impeachment charges were brought against him and several other Republican officials. The machinery of state government was nearly at a standstill. In most cases, the charges were politically motivated and were used to drive the Republicans from office.

When it became apparent that Ames would be convicted and removed from office, his lawyers arranged a compromise with the state legislature. Governor Ames resigned from office, and the impeachment charges were dropped. After his resignation on March 29, 1876, he moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he lived the remainder of his life.

Marriage and Family
After the war, in Washington, DC, General Ames became acquainted with Blanche Butler, daughter of his former Civil War commander, and now US Representative, Benjamin Butler.

Blanche Butler married Adelbert Ames on July 21, 1870, and they had six children: Butler, Edith, Sarah, Blanche, Adelbert, Jr., and Jessie.

During their time in Mississippi,Blanche's letters to her family detail the first-hand experiences of life as a Northern woman living in the South during Reconstruction.

In 1898, when the Spanish-American War began, Ames was appointed brigadier general of volunteers again, and took part in the siege of Santiago, Cuba. Several years later, Ames retired from business pursuits in Lowell, but remained alert and active for the remainder of his life. He spent his summers in Massachusetts and his winters in Florida, where he lived next door to the estate of his friend, John D. Rockefeller.

General Adelbert Ames died in his winter home at Ormond Beach, Florida, on April 12, 1933, at the age of 97. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving general of the Civil War. Ames was buried in the Hildreth Family Cemetery - the family of his mother-in-law, Sarah Hildreth Butler - behind the main cemetery in Lowell. A Medal of Honor plaque for Ames' gravesite was dedicated at a ceremony honoring Benjamin Butler's 191st birthday.

General Ames was portrayed by Matt Letscher in the movie adaptation of Jeffrey Shaara's Gods and Generals.

Among the Ames children were the noted scientist Adelbert Ames, Jr. and Blanche Ames Ames (she married Oakes Ames, no relation), suffragist, inventor, artist and writer. The mansion she designed and had built is now part of Borderland State Park in Massachusetts.

Adelbert Ames was also the great-grandfather of George Plimpton. John F. Kennedy, through George Plimpton, is indirectly responsible for a full-length biography of General Ames. In Profiles in Courage, Kennedy relied on Jim Crow-era historical texts to produce a brief but devastating portrait of Ames' administration in Mississippi. Ames' daughter Blanche, a formidable figure in Massachusetts, bombarded the then-senator with letters complaining about the depiction, and continued her barrage after Kennedy entered the White House.

President Kennedy then turned to his friend Plimpton to tell Blanche, Plimpton's grandmother, that she was "interfering with state business." Her response was to write her own biography of her father, Adelbert Ames, which was published in 1964. In the years since Profiles in Courage was published, historical opinion has shifted, and Ames' role as a politician in Mississippi is viewed far more favorably.

Blanche Butler Ames did extensive genealogical research on her family, and the portion of the Ames Family Papers pertaining to her life includes a great deal of historical and genealogical information. She was also a gardener and a sculptor known for her fanciful creations. In 1935, she compiled a collection of letters that the family published in 1957 as Chronicles From the Nineteenth Century: Family Letters of Blanche Butler and Adelbert Ames.

Blanche Butler Ames died in Ormond Beach, Florida, on December 26, 1939.

General Adelbert and Blanche Ames Gravesite
Hildreth Family Cemetery
Lowell, Massachusetts

Medal of Honor Plaque

SOURCES
Adelbert Ames
Ames Family Papers
Blanche Butler Ames
Wikipedia: Adelbert Ames
Biography of Adelbert Ames
Report of Brig. Gen. Adelbert Ames
Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames
Adelbert Ames: Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth Governor of Mississippi