a companion to Antietam on the Web
George H. Good served in three Pennsylvania units during the war: the 19th, 90th, and 202nd Infantry regiments, rising to 2nd Lieutenant in September 1864. He was Sergeant, Company C of the 90th Infantry when he was wounded in his left thigh at Antietam on 17 September 1862.
After the war he was one of the first letter carriers in Allentown and was a salesman at the C. A. Dorney Furniture Company for 30 years. The sales piece seen here is typical of the period of George’s employ with them.
James Grant of the Christian Commission was on the field after the battle of Antietam …
While moving around amongst the wounded … my attention was called by a disabled officer to a friend of his, badly wounded in the face, and lying out somewhere without a covering. Following his directions, and throwing the rays of my lantern towards the foot of a wooden fence, I soon discovered the object of my search … The ball had entered one side of the cheek and passed out at the other, grazing his tongue, and carrying away several of his teeth. His face was horribly swollen, and he could not speak. On asking him if he was Lieut. M. [Morin], of Philadelphia, he assented by a nod of his head.
During the next two days, the Surgeons were all so busy, that his wound, which had been hurriedly dressed on the field, remained untouched; yet he showed no signs of impatience. In the inflamed, wounded condition of his mouth, nothing could be passed down his throat. On the third day, as the Surgeons still had more to do than they could manage … [w]ith some hesitation, I took the Lieutenant’s case in hand, and, after two hours’ labor, succeeded in cutting away his whiskers and washing the wound pretty thoroughly, both inside and outside the mouth. This done, and all the clotted blood and matter cleared away, the swelling abated, and he began to articulate a little. A day or so afterward, he could swallow liquids; and being carefully washed daily, in less than a week he was able to travel to Philadelphia …
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Notes
This excellent photograph of First Lieutenant Anthony Morin of Company D, 90th Pennsylvania Infantry is from the collection of Scott Hann.
The quotes here from Edward P. Smith’s Incidents among Shot and Shell (1868), online from the Hathi Trust.
William H Paul was a 17 year old Private in Company E of the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry when he fought to protect and carry his unit’s colors at Antietam on 17 September 1862. His actions are described in his own words on this page from Beyer & Keydel’s Deeds of Valor: How America’s Heroes Won the Medal of Honor (1901) – he was awarded the Medal in 1896.
15 year old Willie Evans fought at Sharpsburg in September 1862 with Captain Parker’s Richmond Battery – “the youngest of all, and the cheeriest and pluckiest of all.” After the war he was an accountant in Richmond and died at age 92 in 1939 – the last surviving member of the battery. His portraits here are from William E. Mickle’s Well Known Confederate Veterans and their War Records (1915).
It’s turning out to be another productive year for Antietam on the Web.
Soldier profiles I added today for Parker’s Richmond Battery put the total number of individuals in the database over 19,000.
More tomorrow.