Howard Mather Burnham
Encyclopedia
Lt. Howard Mather Burnham (March 17, 1842-September 19, 1863), is best known for having fought and died at the Battle of Chickamauga
in Georgia
, during the American Civil War
.
and upon graduation he attended Sanborn's
school in Concord, Massachusetts
and Lawrence scientific school (now known as Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
) in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. Soon after the Massachusetts Volunteers were attacked in Baltimore, Maryland, he enlisted in the Springfield City Guards on April 19, 1861.
and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant
in command of the Fifth Artillery in the regular Union Army
. He served impatiently for several months as a Union Army recruiting officer in Towanda
, Philadelphia
, New York, and Dubuque
until he was ordered to Fort Hamilton
in New York on garrison duty. He went to Washington, DC for an assignment as Aide-de-camp
to his uncle Major General Joseph K. Mansfield
, commander of the XII Corp of the Army of the Potomac
, but before he had the chance to join his staff Gen. Mansfield was killed at the Battle of Antietam
. 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
under General William Rosecrans
. 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
.
at the Battle of Chickamauga. With Confederate
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:
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:
(1617–1688) of Hartford, Connecticut
, 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
.
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...
in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Early life
Burnham attended a military high school in Hamden, ConnecticutHamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant." Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University. The population was 58,180 according to the Census Bureau's 2005 estimates...
and upon graduation he attended Sanborn's
Franklin Benjamin Sanborn
Franklin Benjamin Sanborn was an American journalist, author, and reformer. Sanborn was a social scientist, and a memorialist of American transcendentalism who wrote early biographies of many of the movement's key figures...
school in Concord, Massachusetts
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
and Lawrence scientific school (now known as Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
The Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science , a school within Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences , serves as the connector and integrator of Harvard's teaching and research efforts in engineering, applied sciences, and technology.Engineering and applied sciences at Harvard...
) in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. Soon after the Massachusetts Volunteers were attacked in Baltimore, Maryland, he enlisted in the Springfield City Guards on April 19, 1861.
Military career
Burnham was sent to the 10th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry10th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
The 10th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment 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 Massachusetts, the regiment was mustered in on...
and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in command of the Fifth Artillery in the regular Union Army
Union Army
The 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...
. He served impatiently for several months as a Union Army recruiting officer in Towanda
Towanda, Pennsylvania
Towanda is a borough in and the county seat of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States, northwest of Wilkes Barre, on the Susquehanna River. The name means "burial ground" in the Algonquian language...
, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, New York, and Dubuque
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
until he was ordered to Fort Hamilton
Fort Hamilton
Historic Fort Hamilton is located in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Bensonhurst, and is one of several posts that are part of the region which is headquartered by the Military District of Washington...
in New York on garrison duty. He went to Washington, DC for an assignment as Aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to his uncle Major General Joseph K. Mansfield
Joseph K. Mansfield
Joseph King Fenno Mansfield 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:...
, commander of the XII Corp of the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The 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 then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
, but before he had the chance to join his staff Gen. Mansfield was killed at the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
. After several months he was promoted to First Lieutenant and joined the 5th U.S. Light Artillery, Battery H
5th U.S. Light Artillery, Battery H
Battery "H" 5th Regiment of Artillery, was a light artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The battery was attached to Artillery, 1st Division, Army of the Ohio, to May 1862. Artillery, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September 1862. Artillery,...
of the Army of the Cumberland
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:...
under General William Rosecrans
William Rosecrans
William Starke Rosecrans was an inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and United States Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War...
. 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
Absalom Baird was a career United States Army officer who distinguished himself as a Union Army general in the American Civil War. Baird received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his military actions-Early life:...
.
Battle of Chickamauga
On September 19, 1863, Burnham was overseeing the artillery on Lookout MountainLookout Mountain
thumb|right|See seven statesLookout Mountain is located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southern border of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain, along with Sand Mountain to the northwest, makes up a large portion of the...
at the Battle of Chickamauga. With Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
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
John King
-Politics:*John King, 1st Baron Kingston , Irish peer*John King, 3rd Baron Kingston , Irish peer*John King, 2nd Baron King , English MP and peer...
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 BurnhamThomas Burnham
Thomas Burnham was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. A lawyer and landowner, he arrived in the American Colonies in 1637, and lived most of his adult live in Connecticut. He was among the earliest puritan settlers in Connecticut, living in Podunk and finally settling in Hartford,...
(1617–1688) of Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, 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
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
.
- Roderick Henry Burnham (February 27, 1816 - July 18, ?), Esq. of Longmeadow, MassachusettsLongmeadow, MassachusettsAs of the census of 2000, there were 15,633 people, 5,734 households, and 4,432 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 5,879 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.42% White, 0.69% African American, 0.05% Native American, 2.90%...
, 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, MassachusettsDorchester, MassachusettsDorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
- Emily Livingston Burnham (May 17, 1849 - November 10, 1871), sister.
- Mather Howard BurnhamHoward BurnhamMather Howard Burnham , went by the name of Howard and his brother was the celebrated scout Frederick Russell Burnham. He traveled the world, frequently worked as a mining engineer and, during World War I, he became an intelligence officer and spy for the government of France...
(1870–1917), who became a spy for France in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and Frederick Russell BurnhamFrederick Russell BurnhamFrederick Russell Burnham, DSO was an American scout and world traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international Scouting Movement.Burnham...
, the celebrated scout, (1861–1947) were his second cousins.