New book on Wakefield’s role in the Civil War
WAKEFIELD — Greenwood native Thomas A.C. Ellis has written a new, comprehensive history of Wakefield’s role in the Civil War. It is a worthy companion to other volumes written on the history of the town.
Ellis is an independent Civil War historian who decided to write the book after he searched for information regarding Wakefield’s contribution to America’s Civil War and found it to be lacking. Further exploration and preliminary research revealed a rich history. His book, “Wakefield’s Civil War Service, A History and Roster,” focuses on the epic actions of the Town of South Reading (now Wakefield) from 1861-1865. Meticulously researched, the book chronicles the contributions of Wakefield men and women in America’s bloodiest war.
Ellis acknowledges early on that the town was called South Reading until a few years after the end of the Civil War. For the sake of simplicity and clarity, the book mainly refers to the town as Wakefield, the name the townspeople adopted in 1868 after industrialist Cyrus Wakefield donated the land and funds for a new Town Hall.
“Wakefield acted boldly and courageously in April of 1861.” Ellis writes in the Foreword to his book. “The Commonwealth organized one hundred and fourteen military organizations during the war. Wakefield served in sixty-three of them. The small town with 1,575 males of all ages paid a heavy price. There were 18 killed in battle, 11 died of wounds, 43 died of disease, 80 were wounded, 28 were taken as prisoner of war and 99 became disabled and were given disability discharges.”
Ellis breaks down Wakefield’s Civil War casualties, listing those killed in battle, those who died of their wounds, those who died of disease and those who were wounded. Also listed are those who were captured and taken as prisoners of war. He also lists fathers and sons as well as brothers from Wakefield who served, and reports each of their fates.
The author explores the histories of the various Massachusetts regiments, including Wakefield’s Richardson Light Guard, that served in the Civil War and lists the Wakefield men who served in each regiment.
Ellis writes about the town’s response in the early days of the war.
“Wakefield residents rapidly responded to the president’s call for 75,000 men for three months service on April 14, 1861,” he notes. By 2:30 on the afternoon of April 19, “eighty-five men had assembled at Wakefield’s Armory.”
Photography was in its infancy at the time of the Civil War, but Ellis has managed to find and reproduce dozens of photographs of the Wakefield men who served. Among them are familiar Wakefield names. There are Aborns, Eatons, Emersons, Hartshornes, Sweetsers. Waltons and Wileys.
One of those men was Major Horace M. Warren, for whom the H.M. Warren School (now the McCarthy Civic Center) on Converse Street was named. Major Warren died on Aug. 27, 1864, eight days after he was wounded in battle.
The book compiles a record of Civil War veterans interred in Wakefield’s Old Burial Ground and Lakeside Cemetery, as well as Wakefield veterans of the war who are buried elsewhere.
There is also a chapter in the book chronicling the contributions of Wakefield women to the war effort.
“Sorely missing in Wakefield’s history is an accounting of her women’s contributions during the War of the Rebellion,” Ellis writes. “The ladies faced their own obstacles, much different from the citizen soldier. Their fathers, husbands, sons, brothers and other family members were no longer there. The responsibilities did not disappear because the men were gone. The firewood needed to be cut and split, the gardens or fields needed to be tilled, planted and reaped. Many of the chores previously done by the men fell to the women left behind. They also had to find ways to support the men in the military; the women’s burdens were incalculable.
“In 1863, the ladies of Wakefield formed the South Reading Union Soldiers’ Relief Association,” Ellis notes. “They held subscription fairs, lectures, sewing groups and social gatherings to raise monies and goods for the soldiers’ benefit.”
Margaret Hamilton was directly involved in the war effort and is interred in Lakeside Cemetery. “She served as a nurse in the Medical Department of the US Volunteers,” Ellis writes. “She had all of the privileges of an honorably discharged soldier.” She was even awarded a soldier’s pension.
Ellis devotes more than 200 pages of his book to a Wakefield Roster of Civil War Soldiers, complete with brief biographical sketches and military record for each. It is one of this book’s most valuable contributions.
Ellis’s book will be of interest to Civil War buffs regardless of Wakefield affiliation. Included is a broader history of the war, focusing on military strategy and accounts of battles.
Tom A.C. Ellis grew up in Greenwood and lived in Wakefield until he joined the U.S. Army in 1965. Upon his discharge from the Army, Ellis attended Northeastern and Towson State University. He has written a number of books about the connections of various Massachusetts towns to the Civil War, including Marlborough, Hudson, Natick, Hopkinton, Medway and Millis.
Ellis became involved in Civil War re-enacting after his son expressed an interest at an early age. This gave Ellis the opportunity to question Civil War re-enactors on their vast knowledge of the war. He eventually became the Adjutant General of the Union and Confederate Volunteers of New England.
Now retired, Ellis finds towns with little history written about their Civil War sacrifices and commits more than a year of his time researching and writing that town’s history. His books serve as a valuable resource for that community now and in the future.
One of his books, “The Massachusetts Andrew Sharpshooters,” follows two companies from when they left Massachusetts, through their time in the seat of war, until they returned, describing their day to day activities for that period of time. There is detailed historical and genealogical information on every man that served in the Andrew Sharpshooters.
Ellis and his wife Pam currently reside in Medway.
His new book, “Wakefield’s Civil War Service, A History and Roster,” is published by Damianos Publishing, 1630 Concord Street, Framingham, MA 01701. It can be ordered directly from the publisher or from Ellis’s website.
—
[This article originally appeared in the July 28, 2021 Wakefield Daily Item.]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Feature stories, History, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: battle, book, Civil War, Confederacy, Cyrus Wakefield, History, Lakeside Cemetery, Major Horace M. Warren, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, military, Richardson Light Guard, South Reading, Thomas A.C. Ellis, Tom Ellis, union, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield’s Civil War Service, women
Search this site
Categories
Flickr Photos
Archives
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
Recent Comments
Carole Scovel on Sentimental journey Dr. Ed on High school math Dr. Ed on High school math Nancy Trimper on High school math Mario on Ox Bow Pet Shop Closing Marks… Blog Stats
- 351,637 hits
LINKS
Mark, Thanks for publicizing this book. It’s important to remember the people who sacrificed so much for union and freedom.
I wish we taught Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address at WHS…..
Yes, it’s a superb speech and there is none other like it. What other world leader, at the moment of victory, has resisted the temptation to conclude that God must have been on his side? Here, Lincoln says that the war was God’s punishment of both sides for their mutual complicity in the crime of slavery.
The two things often forgotten about a third of the dead soldiers were married, usually with young children. It left an incredible number of young widows, many still in their teens — it was not uncommon for a woman to marry at 14-15 and now she was 16-17 with a child or two.
Second, as there were nether jobs for women nor welfare back then, the young widows had no choice but to remarry — but to do that, they often had to put their infant children up for adoption first.
Older widows, who owned a farm and had older children to help, could get by — it wasnt easy but they could — not so for the teenaged widows. Hence the large number of orphans, whibh is rarely mentioned.
Also one needs to remember that we really didnt have veteran benefits of significance until after WW-II. There was a widows pension but it was a pittance.
Yes there women who served as nurses — and more than a few who served as soldiers — but the untold story is the widows.