A visit to Wellington Bridge

By T.J. Mathews

 

When Dorrie and I were married, she handled most of the wedding planning leaving me to arrange the honeymoon. I was born in Washington DC and have always had an appreciation for history so I decided that we should visit Washington, Colonial Williamsburg, Harpers Ferry and the Civil War battlefield of Antietam in Sharpsburg, Md. At Sharpsburg we stayed in a quaint little bed & breakfast on Shepherdstown Pike, right next to the Antietam National Cemetery. I didn’t know it then, but we were honeymooning right next door to my great-great grandmother’s baby brother.

My great-great grandmother, Albina Bridge Campbell, was born August 9, 1838, in Garland, Maine. She was the first of four children born to Samuel Bridge and Mary Bickell. Both Samuel and Mary were born in England and had married and settled in Maine by 1830. Samuel came of age during a tumultuous era that climaxed with the defeat of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. It is little wonder that he would choose to give his youngest son a name that commemorated the victorious commander of that battle, Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.

George Wellington Bridge, Wellington for short, was born in Garland May 3, 1844. Two years later the Bridge family pulled up stakes and moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where Samuel built the city’s first sawmill at the mouth of the Fox River. At age eleven, young Wellington was helping out in the sawmill. By the time he turned seventeen he considered himself a full-fledged lumberman.

On June 15, 1861, two months after the bombardment of Fort Sumter and six weeks after his 17th birthday, Wellington lied about his age and joined the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. After seeing action at Blackburn’s Ford and the 1st battle of Bull Run the 2nd Wisconsin joined with the 6th and 7th Wisconsin and the 19th Indiana Regiments to form the Iron Brigade, a unit whose exploits prompted General George McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, to say of it, “They are the equal to the best troops in any army in the world”.

Over the next 15 months Wellington also saw action at the battles of 2nd Bull Run, Beverly Ford, Gainesville (aka Brawner's Farm) and South Mountain. At the latter, official accounts reported his death in battle but these reports, to paraphrase Mark Twain, were greatly exaggerated.

Three days later, on September 17, 1862, Wellington and his regiment marched into a cornfield outside of Sharpsburg, Md., just as the sun was rising on what would be the bloodiest day in American history. This time Wellington did not march out. He was 18 years old.

There are thousands of cornfields all over this country but there is only one 'The Cornfield'.

Eighteen years after our first visit, we revisited Sharpsburg. Accompanied by our two teenage daughters, we visited the place where Wellington died. Natasha, our oldest, is already older than Wellington was when he enlisted. As we gazed out over a small parcel of farmland, a park ranger described what happened on this spot.  "There are thousands of cornfields all over this country but there is only one 'The Cornfield'. On this spot, over 10,000 Americans fell in only four hours, many before they took their second step onto the field. That's more than double the casualties suffered on D-Day."

After leaving The Cornfield, we drove to Antietam National Cemetery where Wellington and thousands of his fellow soldiers lie. After the relentless heat on the battlefield, the cemetery was cool and shady. Wellington's grave was clean and well-tended, as were the graves of all of the Wisconsin fallen.  We all sat with him for a while, reflecting on the life he had and the one he missed out on. I took some comfort in the knowledge that his sacrifice was not made in vain.

Five days after the battle President Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation that all slaves in states that were still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, would be freed. Lincoln had been waiting some time for General McClellan to deliver a victory resounding enough to dissuade England from entering into a trade agreement with the Confederacy. England took note, no agreement was signed, and the Confederacy’s fate was sealed.

***

Nine days after the battle, 'E' Company clerk William P. Taylor wrote the following letter to the Bridge family.

Washington D.C.

Sunday eve. Sep 28^th, 1862

 

Mr. & Mrs. Bridge & family,

I have neglected writing you much longer than I had any idea of, when I find how the time has flown since this terrible battle of the 17^th , in which poor Wellington died a soldier’s death. I scarcely know how to word a letter of such a saddening kind – if I may so term it – or one which is intended to convey such saddening intelligence - but as you have, before this, been notified of his death through the papers, and by letters of his comrades, it will not shock you so terribly. We all, as a company, and, individually, sympathize with you in your loss of a kind hearted son & affectionate     brother – and we will miss his companionship; hear his voice no more; his name at ‘roll call’ will be omitted; his form will no more be seen among the ranks. Be assured that the memory of Wellington Bridge will ever be cherished by the surviving members of E Company, as of a dear friend – a true and faithful soldier, agreeable companion – and a man, in every sense of the word – We have to mourn the deaths of others of our brave comrades, who now lie with Wellington – mouldering in the dust from which they came, but we are aware that we cannot feel the loss so sensibly, and consequently cannot mourn the loss so deeply, as does a Mother, Father, Sister or Brother. Much consolation can be found however in the knowledge of the fact that Wellington and all with him, who fell on that memorable day, died with their faces toward the enemy; and that his comrades had the mournful satisfaction of having it in their power, to lay his body with fifteen others of the gallant 2^nd in a grave, such as it was, and marking their resting place with boards on which were engraved (rudely though) the name of each man & the company to which they belonged – the date on which they were slain & around this hallowed and blessed spot, they constructed a rude fence, of rails of which they nailed a board, with the following carved into it with a penknife – “2^nd Wis. Dead – Sharpsburg, Md. Sep. 17^th 1862”. I stood by and witnessed the burial of four of the others, among whom was Wellington, ____ had been interred before I reached the graves, and one of those detailed by ‘E’ Co. (either Ed. Moscrip or Gr. Carwardine) had, most thoughtfully, cut a lock of hair from the head of poor Wellington, and took from his pocket a ___ of _____ _____ now mourn his fate – Father – Mother – all of which was handed to me and is now in my possession. I will take especial care of them, and on the first opportunity offering, I will send them to you. Some one will be going to Wisconsin soon, no doubt.

I am now a kind of Post Master for our Brigade, and am permitted to pass at any and all times from Washington to the Regiment – therefore I will, with pleasure, attend to any business you may wish – answer any enquiries, etc.. I offer my services because, should you direct your letters to the Regiment it might not reach it for weeks – I have, necessarily, to stay in the city from two or three days, to ten days, as I am especially detailed to see to the mail for the sick and wounded in all the Hospitals, and as the Hospitals contain those very persons which whom enquiry would most likely be made for, I am, particularly the person to write to – Please let all know this who have friends in the Company – Assure them at the same time they need have no scruples as to my being likely to . I’ll never tire doing anything for ‘E’ Co. or the friends of its members – Remember me kindly to all my acquaintances, and write me when you can – My address will be “329 New York Avenue, Washington D.C.”

Affectionately Yours                 

Wm. P. Taylor

 

I will leave on Tuesday morn to rejoin the regiment – will be back in a few days – If I find any letters for me on my return I will answer at once.

W.P.T

Wm. P. Taylor[i]
                               329 New York Avenue
                                Washington
                                D.C.

 

I thought it

best to enclose this

lock of hair now.

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[i] William P. Taylor was listed in the regimental roster as musician for E Company.