“Just Like Sap – Boiling, in the Stream”

Vermont troops waited in vain for reinforcements as Corporal Alonzo Hutchinson was mortally wounded while crossing the Warwick River and died without signaling for support, and Union leaders failed to exploit the break in the Confederate lines. Brigadier General William Smith had fallen twice from his horse and was knocked unconscious, and Captain Fernando Harrington was missing from the battlefield, so Captain Samuel Pingree took command and rallied the men against a second attack. Pingree was seriously wounded in the fight and, while serving as governor of Vermont, received the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1891. Julian Scott, a 16-year-old musician, crossed the Warwick several times under fire to remove at least nine wounded comrades, including mortally wounded Private William Scott. William Scott had been caught asleep on sentry duty on August 31, 1861, and a military court sentenced him to death by firing squad, but President Abraham Lincoln pardoned the “sleeping sentinel,” who later said, “I will show President Lincoln that I am not afraid to die for my country.” He died of his wounds on April 16, 1862. For his gallantry at Dam No. 1, Julian Scott was awarded the Medal of Honor in February 1865, and after the war he put his battlefield experiences on canvas and enjoyed an art career.

Newport News, Virginia · United States