Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman
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Timothy Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman (March 18, 1845 – February 27, 1863) was an American
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 ...
soldier of
Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...
descent. Considered one of the "Hawaiʻi Sons of the Civil War", he was among a group of more than one hundred documented Native Hawaiian and Hawaii-born combatants who fought in 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 ...
while the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was still an independent nation. Born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, he was the eldest son of
Kinoʻoleoliliha Kinooleoliliha Pitman (c. 1825–1855), also written as Kinoole-o-Liliha, was a high chiefess in the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was known as Mrs. Pitman after her marriage. In the Hawaiian language, ''kino 'ole'' means "thin" and ''liliha'' can mean "h ...
, a Hawaiian high chiefess, and
Benjamin Pitman Benjamin Pitman (July 24, 1822 – December 28, 1910), also known as Benn Pitman, was an English-born author and popularizer in the United States of Pitman shorthand, a form of what was then called phonography (shorthand). He was also active i ...
, an American pioneer settler from
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
. Through his father's business success in the
whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...
and sugar and coffee plantation industries and his mother's familial connections to the
Hawaiian royal family The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent isla ...
, the Pitmans were quite prosperous and owned lands on the island of Hawaiʻi and in
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
. He and his older sister Mary were educated in the
mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
schools in Hilo alongside other children of mixed Hawaiian descent. After the death of his mother in 1855, his father remarried to the widow of a missionary, thus connecting the family to the American missionary community in Hawaiʻi. However, following the deaths of his first wife and later his second wife, his father decided to leave the islands and returned to Massachusetts with his family in 1861. The younger Pitman continued his education in the public schools of Roxbury, where the Pitman family lived for a period of time. Leaving school without his family's knowledge, he made the decision to fight in the Civil War in August 1862. Despite his mixed-race ancestry, Pitman avoided the racial segregation imposed on other Native Hawaiian recruits of the time and enlisted in the
22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry The 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. The 22nd Massachusetts was organized by Senator Henry Wilson (future Vice-President during the Ulysses Grant administrati ...
, a white regiment. He served as a
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
in the Union Army fighting in 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 ...
and the Maryland Campaign. In his company, Private
Robert G. Carter Robert Goldthwaite Carter (October 29, 1845 – January 4, 1936) was a US Cavalry officer who participated in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars, most notably against the Comanche during which he received the List of Medal of Honor recipi ...
befriended the part-Hawaiian soldier and wrote in later life of their common experience in the 22nd Massachusetts. Compiled decades afterward from old letters, Carter's account described the details surrounding his final fate in the war. On the march to Fredericksburg, Pitman was separated from his regiment and captured by Confederate guerrilla forces. He was forced to march to
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and incarcerated in the Confederate
Libby Prison Libby Prison was a Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. In 1862 it was designated to hold officer prisoners from the Union Army. It gained an infamous reputation for the overcrowded and harsh conditions. Prison ...
, where he contracted "lung fever" from the harsh conditions of his imprisonment and died on February 27, 1863, a few months after his release on parole in a prisoner exchange. Modern historians consider Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman to be the only known Hawaiian or
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
to die as a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
in the Civil War. For a period of time after the end of the war, the legacy and contributions of Pitman and other documented Hawaiian participants in the American Civil War were largely forgotten except in the private circles of descendants and historians. However, there has been a revival of interest in recent years in the Hawaiian community. In 2010, these "Hawaiʻi Sons of the Civil War" were commemorated with a bronze plaque erected along the memorial pathway at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (informally known as Punchbowl Cemetery) is a national cemetery located at Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu, Hawaii. It serves as a memorial to honor those men and women who served in the United Stat ...
in Honolulu.


Early life and family

Timothy Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman was born March 18, 1845, in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, the first son and second child of
Benjamin Pitman Benjamin Pitman (July 24, 1822 – December 28, 1910), also known as Benn Pitman, was an English-born author and popularizer in the United States of Pitman shorthand, a form of what was then called phonography (shorthand). He was also active i ...
and
Kinoʻoleoliliha Kinooleoliliha Pitman (c. 1825–1855), also written as Kinoole-o-Liliha, was a high chiefess in the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was known as Mrs. Pitman after her marriage. In the Hawaiian language, ''kino 'ole'' means "thin" and ''liliha'' can mean "h ...
. Originally a native of
Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
, Pitman's father was an early pioneer, businessman and sugar and coffee plantation owner on the island of
Hawaiʻi Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, who profited greatly from the kingdom's booming whaling industry in the early 1800s. On his father's side, he was a great-grandson of Joshua Pitman (1755–1822), an English-American carpenter on the ship ''
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
'' under Captain Allen Hallett during the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. On his mother's side, Pitman was a descendant of
Kameʻeiamoku Kameeiamoku (died 1802) was a Hawaiian high chief and the Counselor of State to King Kamehameha I. He was called Kamehameha's uncle, but he was really the cousin of Kamehameha's mother, Kekuiapoiwa II. Birth and ancestry Along with his twin b ...
, one of the royal twins (with
Kamanawa ''For other persons with this name, please see Kamanawa II.'' Kamanawa (died c. 1802?) was a Hawaiian high chief and early supporter of King Kamehameha I, known as one of the royal ''Nīʻaupiʻo'' twins with his brother Kameeiamoku. He later bec ...
) who advised
Kamehameha I Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea;  – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. T ...
in his
conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...
of the
Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...
, and also of the early American or English sea captain Harold Cox, who lent his name to George "Cox" Kahekili Keʻeaumoku II, the Governor of Maui. Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman shared his
Hawaiian name A Hawaiian name is a name in the Hawaiian language. Such names are popular not only in Hawaiian families, but also among other residents of Hawaii, and even in the United States mainland among both non-native and native Hawaiians. Meanings of nam ...
with his maternal grandfather
Hoʻolulu Hoʻolulu (1794–1844) was a member of the nobility during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was a trusted advisor to King Kamehameha I, also known as "Kamehameha the Great", and was one of the select few to know his secret resting place. ...
who, along with his brother
Hoapili Ulumāheihei Hoapili (c. 1775 – January 3, 1840) was a member of the nobility during the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was a trusted military and political advisor to King Kamehameha I, known as "Kamehameha the Great". Although trusted w ...
, helped conceal the bones of King Kamehameha I in a secret hiding place after his death. In the
Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language o ...
, the name "Hoʻolulu" means "to lie in the sheltered waters". His siblings were
Mary Pitman Ailau Mary Ann Kinoʻole Kaʻaumokulani Pitman (1838/March 1841 – February 11, 1905), later Mary Pitman Ailau, was a high chiefess of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi of part Native Hawaiian and American descent. She was raised and educated in Hilo and Hon ...
(1838–1905), Benjamin Franklin Keolaokalani Pitman (1852–1918) and half-sister Maria Kinoʻole Pitman Morey (1858–1892). Because of his father's success in business and his mother's descent from Hawaiian royalty, the Pitman family was considered quite prosperous and were host to the royal family when they visited Hilo. Besides being one of the leading merchants in town, his father also served the government as district magistrate of Hilo. Henry's mother, Kinoʻole, had inherited control over much of the lands in Hilo and Ōlaʻa from her own father, and King
Kamehameha III Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula K ...
had granted her use of the ''
ahupuaʻa Ahupuaʻa () is a Hawaiian term for a large traditional socioeconomic, geologic, and climatic subdivision of land (comparable to the tapere in the Southern Cook Islands). It usually extends from the mountains to the sea and generally includes o ...
'' of Hilo after her marriage. During Henry's early childhood, the family lived in the mansion that Benjamin Pitman had built in 1840, in an area known as Niopola, one of the favored resort spots of
ancient Hawaii Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification in 1810 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporadicall ...
an royalty. The residence also became known as the Spencer House after Pitman sold it to his business partner Captain Thomas Spencer. The property later became the site of the Hilo Hotel, built in 1888 and torn down in 1956.; ; In the 1850s the family moved to the capital of
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
where Benjamin Pitman took up banking and built a beautiful two-story house that he named Waialeale ("rippling water") at the corner of Alakea and Beretania Streets.


Education

While in Hawaiʻi, Pitman and his older sister Mary attended Mrs. Wetmore's children's school in Hilo. The school was located at the Wetmores' residence on Church Street. Taught by Lucy Sheldon Taylor Wetmore, the wife of American missionary doctor and government physician Charles Hinckley Wetmore, who had come to Hawaii in 1848 with the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...
(ABCFM), the two elder Pitman children received their education in English rather than Hawaiian. This was unusual since Hawaiian was the official language of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, and all other schools in Hilo were conducted in the Hawaiian language. Mrs. Wetmore taught the children reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic and singing, while also reinforcing the curriculum with a strong adherence to the principles of the Protestant faith. Like the Pitman siblings, many of their classmates were also of half-Hawaiian (''hapa-kanaka'') descent with a majority of them being Chinese-Hawaiians (''hapa-pake''). After the death of his mother Kinoʻole in 1855, Pitman's father remarried to Maria Louisa Walsworth Kinney, the widow of American missionary Rev. Henry Kinney. The Kinneys were part of the Twelfth Company of missionaries from the ABCFM to arrive in 1848. The marriage aligned the Pitman children with the American missionary community. They were called "cousins" by the children of the missionaries and considered part of the extended missionary family of Hawaiʻi. This first stepmother died in 1858 after giving birth to their father's fourth child, a daughter named Maria Kinoʻole (1858–1892). The Pitman family returned to Massachusetts in 1861 after his father remarried to his third wife Martha Ball, giving his four children another stepmother.; ; ; Letters by traveler Sophia Cracroft, niece of Lady
Jane Franklin Jane, Lady Franklin (née Griffin; 4 December 1791 – 18 July 1875) was the second wife of the English explorer Sir John Franklin. During her husband's period as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, she became known for her philanthropic ...
, indicated that the Pitman family left for San Francisco, on June 25, 1861, aboard the ship ''Comet'' with Cracroft and Lady Franklin and that the elder Pitman "now has a third wife with a baby harles Brook Pitman" According to an 1887 biography written by
Robert G. Carter Robert Goldthwaite Carter (October 29, 1845 – January 4, 1936) was a US Cavalry officer who participated in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars, most notably against the Comanche during which he received the List of Medal of Honor recipi ...
, a private who would later serve in the same company as Pitman, he was neglected after his mother's death by his father and stepmother, who "subjected imto neglect and treatment, that with his sensitive nature he could not bear". He continued his education in the public schools of Roxbury, where the Pitman family lived for a period of time. He have proceeded the family in leaving Hawaii. The 1860 United States Census registered Pitman under his teacher Solomon Adams as residing and presumably being educated in
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, also in the Boston area. Growing into adolescence, he was said to strongly resemble his Hawaiian mother. His enlistment card during the war noted he had a dark complexion, hazel colored eyes, black hair and stood five feet eight inches. Robert G. Carter gave a brief description of his appearance in wartime letters first published in 1897:
tall, slim boy, straight as an arrow. His face was a perfect oval, his hair was as black as a raven's wing, and his eyes were large and of that peculiar soft, melting blackness, which excites pity when one is in distress. His skin was a clear, dark olive, bordering on the swarthy, and this, with his high cheek bones, would have led us to suppose that his nationality was different from our own, had we not known that his name was plain Henry P. There was an air of good breeding and refinement about him, that, with his small hands and feet, would have set us to thinking, had it not been that in our youth and intensely enthusiastic natures, we gave no thought to our comrades' personal appearance. We can look back now and see the shy, reserved nature of the boy, the dark, melancholy eyes, the sad smile, the sensitive twitching of the lips.


American Civil War

After the outbreak of the American Civil War, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi under King
Kamehameha IV Kamehameha IV (Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku; anglicized as Alexander Liholiho) (February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863), reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title ''Ke Aliʻi ...
declared its neutrality on August 26, 1861. But many
Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...
s and Hawaiian-born Americans (mainly descendants of the American missionaries), both abroad and in the islands, volunteered and enlisted in the military regiments of various states in the
Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
and the Confederacy. Individual Native Hawaiians had been serving in the United States Navy and Army since the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, and even more served during the Civil War. Many Hawaiians sympathized with the Union because of Hawaiʻi's ties to
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
through its missionaries and the whaling industry, and the ideological opposition of many to the institution of
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
.


Enlistment and service

On August 14, 1862, Pitman left school without his family's knowledge and volunteered to serve in the
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 ...
and fight in the Civil War. He apparently never informed his family in advance about the choice to join the war, because the news of his enlistment was reported back in Hawaiʻi's American missionary community as "Henry Pitman has run away from home and gone o war" Carter described Pitman's rationale for enlisting: "In the midst of the clamor of war, when the very air vibrated with excitement, the wild enthusiasm of the crowds, and the inspiring sound of the drum, his
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
nature rose within him. His resolve was made." Pitman was a '' hapa-haole'', of part Hawaiian and part Caucasian descent. His father was white and his native-born mother was also part Caucasian from her own mother, who was the daughter of Captain Cox and a Hawaiian chiefess. Despite his mixed-race ancestry, Pitman avoided the racial segregation imposed on other Native Hawaiian volunteers in this period. Most Native Hawaiians who participated in the war were assigned to colored regiments, but Pitman's fair skin color meant he was able to serve in a white unit, indicating that unit assignment may have been influenced by how dark Hawaiians appeared. Historians Bob Dye,
James L. Haley James L. Haley is an American author who has written numerous books on Texas and Western history, as well as several novels. Haley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, attended L. D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas, and graduated from the University ...
and others claimed Pitman was placed in the colored regiments because of his mixed race, but regiment records indicate otherwise. Pitman served as a private in the
22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry The 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. The 22nd Massachusetts was organized by Senator Henry Wilson (future Vice-President during the Ulysses Grant administrati ...
, Company H. This regiment was also named the "Henry Wilson's Regiment" after Colonel and U.S. Senator
Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...
, who commanded the unit in 1861. Colonel William S. Tilton was the regimental commander during Pitman's brief term of service. The regiment was part of the V Corps 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 ...
under the senior command of
Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...
. During this period, the regiment fought in the
Second Battle of Bull Run The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate ...
and was involved in the Maryland Campaign fighting in 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 ...
, the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, and the
Battle of Shepherdstown The Battle of Shepherdstown, also known as the Battle of Boteler's Ford, took place September 19–20, 1862, at Boteler's Ford along the Potomac River, during the Maryland campaign of the American Civil War. After the Battle of Antietam on Se ...
. His regiment was on the march to the
Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsi ...
when Pitman was captured by Confederate troops.


Imprisonment and death

The most detailed account of Pitman's final fate in the war came from Robert G. Carter. In November 1862, Pitman was captured near Warrenton Junction on the march toward
Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg wi ...
, during the weeks prior to the Battle of Fredericksburg. He had fallen behind the group because his feet had blistered and swollen due to the tightness of "a pair of thin, high-heeled and narrow soled boots" he had purchased. One of his comrades temporarily stayed behind to care for him but later decided to move on with the rest of the camp for fear of disciplinary consequences of falling out without authority. He was urged to move on, but without much success. Pitman's last words to his comrade were, "I will be in camp by night, good by." His fellow soldiers never saw him again and considered him missing. Shortly after he was left, a band of Confederate guerrillas under Colonel
John S. Mosby John Singleton Mosby (December 6, 1833 – May 30, 1916), also known by his nickname "Gray Ghost", was a Confederate army cavalry battalion commander in the American Civil War. His command, the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, known as Mosb ...
captured the weary and defenseless soldier without a struggle. The inscription on his tombstone differs slightly from Carter's account, stating he was captured by J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry instead. After Pitman's capture, he was marched to
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
in a weak physical state. He was imprisoned in the Confederate
Libby Prison Libby Prison was a Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. In 1862 it was designated to hold officer prisoners from the Union Army. It gained an infamous reputation for the overcrowded and harsh conditions. Prison ...
and Belle Isle, which were notoriously harsh prisons. Pitman's letters home described his place of incarceration as the "Pen" where "the filthy meat asthrown to them as if they were dogs". The condition of his incarceration including the shortage of food, lack of sanitation, overcrowding and his physical weakness made him susceptible to virulent diseases present in the Confederate prisons. Carter described how the prisons "wore out the brave spirit". During a prisoner exchange, Pitman was released by the Confederate Army at
City Point, Virginia City Point was a town in Prince George County, Virginia, that was annexed by the independent city of Hopewell in 1923. It served as headquarters of the Union Army during the siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War. History 1613-186 ...
, on December 12, 1862, and then sent to Camp Parole,
Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
. Suffering from complications due to the conditions of his imprisonment, he contracted "lung fever", which was perhaps
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
. Carter wrote later how his friend had "linger dfeebly a few weeks, like the flickering of an expiring flame, then quietly pass daway to an eternal life". Pitman died at Camp Parole on February 27, 1863, just weeks short of his eighteenth birthday. According to historians Anita Manning and Justin Vance, Pitman "has the unfortunate distinction of being the only known Hawaiian or
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
to die as a prisoner of war in the Civil War". Considering him missing, Pitman's regiment did not discover his final fate until news of his funeral at Roxbury was received in the spring of the following year. His remains were returned to his family in Massachusetts after his death in Camp Parole. Benjamin Pitman, his father, had him buried in a family plot in
Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...
. On one side of the Pitman family grave marker was placed the inscription:
Timothy Henry Pitman
Born at Hilo, Hawaii
Mar. 18, 1845
Died at Camp Parole
Annapolis, MD, Feb'y 27, 1863
Aged 17 years 11 mos. 9 days

''A member of Co. H, 22nd Regiment
Mass. Vols., was with his Regiment in the
battles of South Mountain, Antietam and
Sharpsburg. Was taken prisoner by Stuart's
cavalry on the march to Fredricksburg ic
Imprisoned in Libby Prison, paroled and
sent to Camp Parole, Annapolis, and died in
camp of pneumonia.''


Legacy

After his death, the memory of Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman was honored by friends and family members back in Massachusetts and Hawaiʻi. During a return to Hawaiʻi in 1917, his younger brother Benjamin Keolaokalani Pitman and his wife Almira Hollander Pitman discovered a grandson of a nephew was named Kealiʻi i Kaua i Pakoma (meaning "Chief that fought the Potomac") in honor of his deceased older brother. Similarly, Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman Beckley, the second son of his Hawaiian first cousin George Charles Moʻoheau Beckley, a grandson of Captain
George Charles Beckley George Charles Beckley (March 5, 1787 – April 16, 1826) was an English captain, trader, and military adviser. He was one of the earliest foreigners to have a major impact in the Kingdom of Hawaii, where he eventually became a noble, and was o ...
, was also named after him. Shortly after his death, Pitman was eulogized back in Hawaiʻi by Martha Ann Chamberlain, Corresponding Secretary of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society:
Our cousin, Henry Pitman, the first of Hawaii's sons to fall in the war, died at Annapolis Parole Camp, Feb. 27, of lung fever, serving as a soldier in the Union army. His remains were deposited in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, near Boston, Mass. He died in a just cause. Let his memory be embalmed among our band.
After the war, the military service of Hawaiians, including Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman, were largely forgotten, disappearing from the collective memories of the American Civil War and the history of Hawaiʻi. However, in recent years, Hawaiian residents and historians and descendants of Hawaiian combatants in the conflict have insisted on the need to remember "our boys from Hawaii". Renewed interest in the stories of these individuals and this particular period of Hawaiian-American history have inspired efforts to preserve the memories of the Hawaiians who served in the war. On August 26, 2010, on the anniversary of the signing of the Hawaiian Neutrality Proclamation, a bronze plaque was erected along the memorial pathway at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (informally known as Punchbowl Cemetery) is a national cemetery located at Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu, Hawaii. It serves as a memorial to honor those men and women who served in the United Stat ...
in Honolulu recognizing these "Hawaiʻi Sons of the Civil War", the more than one hundred documented Hawaiians who served during the American Civil War for both the Union and the Confederacy. Pitman's great-grandniece Diane Kinoʻole o Liliha Pitman Spieler attended the ceremony. Pitman Spieler stated, "I'm very proud of a young man of his age – he was quite young – who served in the Civil War for his family." In 2013, Todd Ocvirk, Nanette Napoleon, Justin Vance, Anita Manning and others began the process of creating a historical documentary film about the individual experiences and stories of Hawaii-born soldiers and sailors of the Civil War, including Pitman, Samuel C. Armstrong,
Nathaniel Bright Emerson Nathaniel Bright Emerson (July 1, 1839 Waialua, Oahu – July 16, 1915, at sea) was a medical physician and author of Hawaiian mythology. He was the son of Protestant missionaries John S. Emerson and Ursula Newell Emerson, and father of artist Ar ...
, James Wood Bush,
J. R. Kealoha J. R. Kealoha (died March 5, 1877) was a Native Hawaiians, Native Hawaiian and a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, who became a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War. Considered one of the "Hawaiʻi sons of the C ...
and many other unnamed combatants of both the Union and the Confederacy. In 2014,
Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
-based author Wayne Moniz wrote a fictionalized story based on the lives and Civil War service of Hawaiian soldiers like Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman in his book ''Pukoko: A Hawaiian in the American Civil War''. In 2015, the sesquicentennial of the end of the war, the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
released a publication titled ''Asians and Pacific Islanders and the Civil War'' about the service of the large number of combatants of Asian and Pacific Islander descent who fought during the war. The history of Hawaiʻi's involvement and the biographies of Pitman, Bush, Kealoha and others were co-written by historians Anita Manning and Justin Vance.


See also

* Hawaii and the American Civil War *
Massachusetts in the American Civil War The Commonwealth of Massachusetts played a significant role in national events prior to and during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Massachusetts dominated the early antislavery movement during the 1830s, motivating activists across the nation. ...


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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitman, Henry Hoolulu 1845 births 1863 deaths American military personnel of Native Hawaiian descent Union Army soldiers People of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the American Civil War People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War American Civil War prisoners of war Union military personnel killed in the American Civil War Hawaiian Kingdom people People from Hilo, Hawaii People from Roxbury, Boston Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery