The regiment was
attached to General Sherman's Division, Department of the Gulf, until January,
1863 and then attached to the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 19th Army Corps,
Department of the Gulf, until August 1863. The 26th Regiment took part
in the Siege
on Port Hudson, Louisiana, which was considered the longest siege in
American military history and one of the bloodiest battles for the Union
during the Civil War. The 26th Regiment Conn. lost a total of 145 men, 55 of
whom were killed in action or mortally wounded, 90 of whom died from disease.
Horace and William are listed in their service records as having been
honorably discharged on August 17, 1863, however they died shortly after this
date. According to Horace's gravestone inscription at Ames Cemetery in
Lisbon, Connecticut, he died on August 5, 1863, which is actually one week prior to his
honorable discharge. William Palmer's gravestone inscription states that
he died August 25, 1863. I plan to obtain the Civil War service
records of both Horace and William Palmer to see if the records yield any
indication of injury or disease upon their discharge.
Horace Palmer is buried at the Ames
Cemetery in Lisbon, Connecticut near his parents, his brother William and
other family members.
You are listening to the Civil War tune, "Somebody's
Darling" sequenced by Jack
Kyrieleison, used with his kind permission from his
wonderful website,
REUNION - A Civil War Musical
Epic in Miniature
MIDI files created by Jack Kyrieleison and
© 1999 by Jack
Kyrieleison and Michael O'Flaherty.
All rights reserved.
Lyrics
Somebody's Darling
Into the ward of the clean
white-washed halls,
Where the dead slept and the dying lay;
Wounded by bayonets, sabres and balls,
Somebody's darling was borne one day.
Somebody's darling so young and so brave,
Wearing still on his sweet yet pale face
Soon to be hid in the dust of the grave,
The lingering light of his boyhood's grace.
Somebody's darling, somebody's pride,
Who'll tell his Mother where her boy died?
Matted and damp are his tresses of gold,
Kissing the snow of that fair young brow;
Pale are the lips of most delicate mould,
Somebody's darling is dying now.
Back from his beautiful purple-veined brow,
Brush off the wandering waves of gold;
Cross his white hands on his broad bosom now,
Somebody's darling is still and cold.
Somebody's darling, somebody's pride,
Who'll tell his Mother where her boy died?
Give him a kiss, but for somebody's sake,
Murmur a prayer for him, soft and low,
One little curl from his golden mates take,
Somebody's they were once, you know,
Somebody's warm hand has oft rested there,
Was it a Mother's so soft and white?
Or have the lips of a sister, so fair,
Ever been bathed in their waves of light?
Somebody's darling, somebody's pride,
Who'll tell his Mother where her boy died?
Somebody's watching and waiting for him,
Yearning to hold him again to her breast;
Yet there he lies with his blue eyes so dim,
And purple, child-like lips half apart.
Tenderly bury the fair, unknown dead,
Pausing to drop on this grave a tear;
Carve on the wooden slab over his head,
"Somebody's darling is slumbering here."
Somebody's darling, somebody's pride,
Who'll tell his Mother where her boy died?
SOURCES
Information
on the Twenty-Sixth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers from the following
sources:
Lawrence Matthew's wonderful website for the
Twenty-Sixth
Connecticut Volunteer Infantry
26th
Connecticut Volunteer Infantry website
Information on the Siege on Port Hudson came from the
following sites:
The
Siege of Port Hudson:
"Forty Days and Nights in the Wilderness of Death"
The
Siege of Port Hudson
Port
Hudson State Historic Site
Photo of Horace Palmer
in the possession of me, Sally Russell Cox.
Please do not copy or reproduce without my permission.
The background paper for this page is from Ender
Design's Realm
Graphics collection.