Death of a Wisconsin Officer.

This post regards Whitman’s journal article entitled “Death of a Wisconsin Officer.” from the collection Memoranda During the War.

In this journal entry, Whitman spends most of his writing admiring the pains the surgeons and nurses go through [including keeping the place quiet] to keep men alive and notes the sharp change in treatment and attention toward the patients once their [the patients'] conditions were deemed terminal.

When I first read this journal article, I realized that I didn’t even know that Wisconsin had been an active player in the “War of the Rebellion.” As it turns out, Wisconsin was very Unionist in its sentiment, having enrolled over 91,000 for the Northern Army [73 total regiments].

As you can see from this map from 1863 [the same year Whitman cites for his entry] made by Johnson & Ward, Wisconsin already existed in land-size the way we know it today. Having become a state in 1848, Wisconsin had previously been known as the Wisconsin Territory, an area that also included the present-day states of Minnesota, Iowa and parts of both Dakotas.

Whitman notes that this particular lieutenant was a casualty [nothing casual about it -- is that in bad taste??] of Chancellorsville, one of the bloodiest battles [up] to date of the war.

In this vibrant and brilliantly-colored portrayal of the Battle of Chancellorsville, we see the war raging in the background, while in the foreground, Stonewall Jackson reacts to the friendly-fire shot that would ultimately lead to his death.

Chancellorsville was a terrible defeat for the Union [including Whitman's dying Wisconsin lieutenant]; but it was not without cost also to the Confederates, who lost a greater percentage of fighters from the battle, and who also lost a top field commander in Jackson.

This post regards Whitman’s journal article entitled “Death of a Wisconsin Officer.” from the collection Memoranda During the War.

In this journal entry, Whitman spends most of his writing admiring the pains the surgeons and nurses go through [including keeping the place quiet] to keep men alive and notes the sharp change in treatment and attention toward the patients once their [the patients'] conditions were deemed terminal.

When I first read this journal article, I realized that I didn’t even know that Wisconsin had been an active player in the “War of the Rebellion.” As it turns out, Wisconsin was very Unionist in its sentiment, having enrolled over 91,000 for the Northern Army [73 total regiments].

As you can see from this map from 1863 [the same year Whitman cites for his entry] made by Johnson & Ward, Wisconsin already existed in land-size the way we know it today. Having become a state in 1848, Wisconsin had previously been known as the Wisconsin Territory, an area that also included the present-day states of Minnesota, Iowa and parts of both Dakotas.

Whitman notes that this particular lieutenant was a casualty [nothing casual about it -- is that in bad taste??] of Chancellorsville, one of the bloodiest battles [up] to date of the war.

In this vibrant and brilliantly-colored portrayal of the Battle of Chancellorsville, we see the war raging in the background, while in the foreground, Stonewall Jackson reacts to the friendly-fire shot that would ultimately lead to his death.

Chancellorsville was a terrible defeat for the Union [including Whitman's dying Wisconsin lieutenant]; but it was not without cost also to the Confederates, who lost a greater percentage of fighters from the battle, and who also lost a top field commander in Jackson.

This post regards Whitman’s journal article entitled “Death of a Wisconsin Officer.” from the collection Memoranda During the War.

In this journal entry, Whitman spends most of his writing admiring the pains the surgeons and nurses go through [including keeping the place quiet] to keep men alive and notes the sharp change in treatment and attention toward the patients once their [the patients'] conditions were deemed terminal.

When I first read this journal article, I realized that I didn’t even know that Wisconsin had been an active player in the “War of the Rebellion.” As it turns out, Wisconsin was very Unionist in its sentiment, having enrolled over 91,000 for the Northern Army [73 total regiments].

As you can see from this map from 1863 [the same year Whitman cites for his entry] made by Johnson & Ward, Wisconsin already existed in land-size the way we know it today. Having become a state in 1848, Wisconsin had previously been known as the Wisconsin Territory, an area that also included the present-day states of Minnesota, Iowa and parts of both Dakotas.

Whitman notes that this particular lieutenant was a casualty [nothing casual about it -- is that in bad taste??] of Chancellorsville, one of the bloodiest battles [up] to date of the war.

In this vibrant and brilliantly-colored portrayal of the Battle of Chancellorsville, we see the war raging in the background, while in the foreground, Stonewall Jackson reacts to the friendly-fire shot that would ultimately lead to his death.

Chancellorsville was a terrible defeat for the Union [including Whitman's dying Wisconsin lieutenant]; but it was not without cost also to the Confederates, who lost a greater percentage of fighters from the battle, and who also lost a top field commander in Jackson.