Lt. Howard Mather Burnham (March 17, 1842 – September 19, 1863), is best known for having fought and died at the

Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between United States, U.S. and Confederate States of America, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union Army, Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Early life

Burnham attended a military high school in

Hamden, Connecticut Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant". The population was 61,169 at the 2020 census. History The peaceful tribe of Quinnipiacs were the first residents of the ...

and upon graduation he attended

Sanborn's Grupo Sanborns is a retailing arm of the Carlos Slim-run Grupo Carso that includes the namesake Sanborns chain, Mixup music stores, iShop electronics stores, Saks Fifth Avenue and Sears department stores in Mexico, and other formats. The name ...

school in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the conflu ...

and Lawrence scientific school (now known as

Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is the engineering school within Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, offering degrees in engineering and applied sciences to graduate students admitted ...

) in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. Soon after the Massachusetts Volunteers were attacked in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, he enlisted in the ''Springfield City Guards'' on April 19, 1861.

Military career

Burnham was sent to the

10th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry The 10th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was a regiment of infantry in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Organized at Hampden Park in Springfield, Massachusetts in the early summer of 1861 and consisting mostly of men from western Mas ...

and received a commission as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in command of the Fifth Artillery in the regular

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. He served impatiently for several months as a Union Army recruiting officer in Towanda,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

until he was ordered to

Fort Hamilton Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which is ...

in New York on garrison duty. He went to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

for an assignment as Aide-de-camp to his uncle Major General

Joseph K. Mansfield Joseph King Fenno Mansfield (December 22, 1803 – September 18, 1862) was a career United States Army officer, civil engineer, and a Union general in the American Civil War, mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam. Early life Mansfield was ...

, commander of the XII Corp of the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

, but before he had the chance to join his staff Gen. Mansfield was killed at the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

. After several months he was promoted to First Lieutenant and joined the 5th U.S. Light Artillery, Battery H of the

Army of the Cumberland The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio. History The origin of the Army of the Cumberland dates back to the creation ...

under General

William Rosecrans William Starke Rosecrans (September 6, 1819March 11, 1898) was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was t ...

. Shortly after taking command of Battery H, he had been appointed Chief of Artillery of the 1st division, 14th army corps and placed on the staff of Gen.

Absalom Baird Absalom Baird (August 20, 1824 – June 14, 1905) was a career United States Army officer who distinguished himself as a Union Army general in the American Civil War. Baird received the Medal of Honor for his military actions. Early life Baird was ...

Battle of Chickamauga

On the morning of September 19, 1863, Burnham was overseeing his artillery battery in the thick woods near Jay's Mill at the Battle of Chickamauga. With

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

troops charging his position, he attempted to bring his horses forward to haul off the guns, but alert Confederates shot the animals as soon as they were within sight. With no chance of escape, he ordered his gunners to load their four 12-pound Napoleons with double-shotted canister. Battery H opened up as soon as the 18th Infantry skirmishers were clear, causing the Confederates to take cover. The 16th Infantrymen in front of the guns occupied a slightly lower elevation and saw the shells flying over their heads. But Battery H did not have much infantry support and enemy fire quickly shot down their gunners. Burnham was shot in the chest, mortally wounded. When his second in command, Lt. Joshua A. Fessenden, asked Burnham if he was hurt, he responded: "Not much, but save the guns!". Lt. Fessenden had the following to say about the battle that day:

During the morning, after an all night march, we were ordered forward by General King. The battery was hardly in position before the troops on the right gave way and it was exposed to a most terrific fire of musketry from front and flank. General King ordered us to limber to the rear, but it was impossible to execute the order, since many of the cannoneers were either killed or wounded, and the horses shot at the limbers. At the first fire, Lieut. Burnham fell mortally wounded; Lieut. Ludlow was also wounded and fell into the enemy's hands, and myself slightly wounded in the side. The battery was taken by the enemy, after firing sixteen rounds of canister.

Lt. Fessenden had himself been shot in the hip, but he assumed command. Battery H was overrun but Lt. Fessenden successfully rallied his troops, recaptured his artillery, and even took one gun of the Confederates. Lt. Fessenden kept the field and brought off the pieces but without their caissons as these had to be abandoned through lack of horses. While the battle ranged on Burnham survived for another two hours. In addition to Burnham, 42 men in his unit were either killed or wounded and more than one-third of the horses were shot that day. Gen. John King dispatched the following in his report:

I take this occasion to speak in the highest terms of the officers of Battery H, 5th Artillery, 1st Lieut. H. M. Burnham and 2d Lieutenants Israel Ludlow and J. A. Fessenden. The officers of this battery, finding it impossible to retire, remained with their pieces, firing, until they were forcibly taken from them by the enemy.

Family

Burnham was a descendant of

Thomas Burnham Thomas Burnham (1617 – June 24, 1688) was a lawyer and colonist, who was born in England and migrated to the American Colonies sometime prior to 1645. He lived most of his adult live in Connecticut where he was a lawyer and a landowner. He was ...

(1617–1688) of

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, the first American ancestor of a large number of Burnhams. The descendants of Thomas Burnham have been noted in every American war, including the

French and Indian war The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

. * Roderick Henry Burnham, Esq. (February 27, 1816 – July 18, ?) of

Longmeadow, Massachusetts Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,853 at the 2020 census. History Longmeadow was first settled in 1644, and officially incorporated October 17, 1783. The town was originally farm ...

, a member of the Massachusetts Legislature from (1861–1862) and Justice of the Peace, father * Katharine Livingstone Burnham (May 8, 1822 –?), daughter of Samuel Mather of Connecticut, a descendant of Rev. Richard Mather of

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

* Emily Livingston Burnham (May 17, 1849 – November 10, 1871), sister. * Mather Howard Burnham (1870–1917), who became a spy for France in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and

Frederick Russell Burnham Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teach ...

, the celebrated scout, (1861–1947) were his second cousins.

Notes

Bibliography