behind AotW

Samuel Hodgman was First Lieutenant of Company I of the 7th Michigan Infantry at Antietam on 17 September 1862. He was wounded in both legs there and spent more than two months in hospitals recovering.

He wrote his father Moses (1804-1881), back in Michigan, from the US Army General Hospital in West Philadelphia, PA on 17 November 1862 with the latest news, including the recent history and whereabouts of many of the men of his Company.

This is fabulous material. See a list of his men …

This stunning work is by William Sadler II (c. 1782—1839). His father, an English portrait painter and engraver, brought him to Ireland as a boy.

William’s son Rupert (c. 1810-1892), also an artist, took his family to America from Ireland in about 1845 and worked in Boston.

Rupert’s son Rupert J Sadler (Ireland 1842-Gettysburg 1863) – not an artist – was acquitted on a charge of manslaughter sometime between 1857 and 1861, defended by Boston lawyer Wider Dwight. Young Rupert was a machinist in Boston when he enlisted in the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry in October 1861 and at Antietam in September 1862 helped bring mortally wounded Lt. Col. Wilder Dwight off the field.

He wrote home about that in a letter now in the Massachusetts Historical Society.

William II painted Waterloo in oil on canvas (32 × 70 inches) in June 1815. It was offered by Pyms Gallery, London in 1999. I do not know where it is now.

Private James Davis of the famed Irish Brigade was wounded at Antietam on 17 September 1862. His leg was amputated by his regimental surgeon the next day.

This photograph is in the National Museum of Health and Medicine’s Otis Historical Archives (posted to their Flickr account). Thanks to John Banks for the pointer to it.