behind AotW

From the New York Daily Herald of Thursday, 25 September 1862. Parked here for reference and as yet another go-back-and-check project: a list of those killed, wounded, and missing among the soldiers of the 42nd New York Infantry – the Tammany Regiment – at Antietam in September 1862.

(touch for the full list)

First on that list is the Adjutant, Lt Patrick James Downing. He’s seen below, at left, in a photo taken later in 1862 or early in 1863 with his brother Denis (1841-1871).

The picture, of unknown provenance, was shared online by the American Fenians blog in 2017.

Seen here with Captain Louis Schaffner of Company A is 2nd Lieutenant Poinsett Cooper (standing) of Company G, 82nd New York Infantry (formerly 2nd New York State Militia), in a photograph probably taken soon after their respective commissioning in September and October 1861.

Poinsett was First Lieutenant of Company D, 42nd New York Infantry when he was wounded in combat at Antietam in September 1862.

Here’s Cooper again, a little older and wiser, probably in mid-1863, by which time he had been promoted to Captain and assigned as acting Assistant Inspector-General on the staff of Brigadier General Alexander Webb. They saw action together at Gettysburg.

Cooper was wounded 3 more times but survived his tour of duty and returned to his native Brooklyn in 1864, where he married and later opened his own express business.

The 1861 image at the top is from the Medford (Mass.) Historical Society Civil War Photograph Collection, shared online on the Digital Commonwealth.

The later picture, a carte-de-visite, was among a set of Webb and his officers sold by Heritage Auctions in December 2014.

On 12 October 1862 the New York Times printed lists of soldiers who died at several field hospitals near the battlefield in the 2 weeks immediately after Antietam. They contain some excellent detail I’ve not seen elsewhere, and I’m saving them here [PDF] for current and future reference.