Men from Massachusetts

Men from Massachusetts (HM1HHG)

Location: Doswell, VA 23047 Hanover County
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Country: United States of America
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N 37° 53.181', W 77° 29.701'

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Inscription

May 24, 1864, 6:45pm

The crack of thunder and ﬂash of lightning echoed across the ravine before you, as the men of Ledlie's Brigade struggled to survive the relentless Confederate riﬂe and cannon ﬁre which targeted them with fatal precision. The low ground offered some cover to the desperate men from Massachusetts, who paid a deadly price for their attack. The open ground ahead proved impossible to move through, but to withdraw meant falling back without orders.

The sight of the 12th Mississippi Infantry coming over the Rebel earthworks ahead of them decided the matter, and Ledlie's soldiers began the sprint back to safety. Lieutenant Colonel Chandler, leading the 57th Massachusetts, halted the nearby commander of the 56th Massachusetts, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Weld, shouting, "Weld, what are you going to do?" Weld responded, "I don't know." Chandler replied, "I am going to rally my men and try to make a stand." Weld fatefully answered, "I will join you."

However, before Chandler and Weld could rally more than sixty men individually, Colonel Merry B. Harris' men ﬁxed a volley from only 40 yards away, sweeping away the remaining fragments of the Union defense. Chandler sank into the mud, mortally wounded, while Weld was wounded in the side. The Federal survivors ran for the woods behind them, chased by the howling soldiers from Mississippi.

(captions)
(left) Lieutenant Colonels Charles Chandler and Stephen Weld
(center) Colonel Merry B. Harris

Presented to the people of the United States by Colonel and Mrs. Benjamin C. Buckley of Virginia.

Details

HM Number	HM1HHG
Tags	US Civil War
Historical Period	Civil War, 17th Century
Historical Place	Battlefield
Marker Type	Other
Marker Class	Historical Marker
Marker Style	Interpretative Marker / Sign
Marker Number	Stop 1
Year Placed	2014
Placed By	Blue & Gray Education Society, Hanover County Parks and Recreation Department.
Marker Condition	No reports yet
Date Added	Sunday, October 12th, 2014 at 3:20am PDT -07:00

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Locationbig map

UTM (WGS84 Datum)	18S E 280589 N 4196140
Decimal Degrees	37.88635000, -77.49501667
Degrees and Decimal Minutes	N 37° 53.181', W 77° 29.701'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds	37° 53' 10.8600" N, 77° 29' 42.0600" W
Driving Directions	Google Maps
Area Code(s)	804
Can be seen from road?	No
Is marker in the median?	No
Which side of the road?	Marker is on the right when traveling West
Closest Postal Address	At or near 11530 Verdon Rd, Doswell VA 23047, US
Alternative Maps	Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap