Harrison Jeffords (August 21, 1834 – July 3, 1863) was the
colonelIn the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, Colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and just below the rank of Brigadier General. It is equivalent to the naval rank of Captain in the other uniformed services...
of the
4th Michigan Volunteer Infantry RegimentThe 4th Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 4th Michigan Infantry was organized at Adrian, Michigan and mustered into Federal service for a three year enlistment on June 20, 1861...
in the
UnionThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
Army of the PotomacThe Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
. He was noted for his heroism at the 1863
Battle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg , fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of...
, in which he gave his life while protecting the United States flag.
Jeffords was born in
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and educated in the common schools. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 4th Michigan and became captain of Company C.
Harrison Jeffords (August 21, 1834 – July 3, 1863) was the
colonelIn the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, Colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and just below the rank of Brigadier General. It is equivalent to the naval rank of Captain in the other uniformed services...
of the
4th Michigan Volunteer Infantry RegimentThe 4th Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 4th Michigan Infantry was organized at Adrian, Michigan and mustered into Federal service for a three year enlistment on June 20, 1861...
in the
UnionThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
Army of the PotomacThe Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
. He was noted for his heroism at the 1863
Battle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg , fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of...
, in which he gave his life while protecting the United States flag.
Jeffords was born in
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and educated in the common schools. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 4th Michigan and became captain of Company C. He later rose to the command of the regiment as its colonel. He saw action in several of the major battles in the
Eastern TheaterThis article presents an overview of major military and naval operations in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.- Theater of operations :...
while serving in the
Army of the PotomacThe Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
.
While Colonel Jeffords was back in Michigan on a recruiting trip, the ladies of
Monroe, MichiganMonroe is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 22,076 at the 2000 census. It is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but both are politically independent. The city is located approximately north of...
, presented him with a new national flag to replace the regiment's original flag, which had been badly damaged in recent battles. Jeffords stated that he would defend the flag with his life.
During the
second day at GettysburgDuring the Second Day of the Battle of Gettysburg, on July 2, 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee attempted to capitalize on his first day's success. He launched the Army of Northern Virginia in multiple attacks against the flanks of the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General...
, the color-bearer of the regiment dropped this flag, and Jeffords advanced to retrieve it. He is reported to have shot a
ConfederateThe Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America during its brief existence from 1861 to 1865. It was established in two phases with provisional and permanent organizations, which existed concurrently....
soldier who had seized the flag and grasped them himself. In the ensuing melee, another Confederate soldier bayonetted him, mortally wounding the 28-year-old officer. Soldiers in the regiment, including Lt. Michael Vreeland and Jeffords' brother, rushed to his service and successfully carried both the flag and their fallen commander out of the Wheatfield. As his life slowly drained away, his finally words were reportedly "Mother, mother, mother." Jeffords became the only commissioned officer in the Civil War to die of a bayonet wound.
After the war, the regiment erected its monument on the battlefield near the point at which the colonel fell. Despite a regulation against the representation of any individual soldier on regimental monuments, Harrison Jeffords is supposedly depicted on the side of the monument, holding the flag for which he died.
See also
External links
Retrieved on 2008-10-30