John Shiel: Ignored Bullets to Rescue a Comrade
The Battle of Antietam, Maryland, proved to be the bloodiest day of the Civil War, and Union General George B. McClellan had failed to immediately pursue Confederate General Robert E. […]
In late spring and early summer of 1864, Union troops under General U. S. Grant fought a series of battles known as the “Overland Campaign” as they made their way southward toward Richmond, Virginia. Grant had managed to gain control of much of northern Virginia, but at a heavy cost of some 50,000 casualties. By late May, both armies had reached a small crossroads named Cold Harbor. The roads that formed this crossroads led to Richmond. They also represented critical supply routes for the advancing Union army. Thus, Cold Harbor was important to both sides, and both were determined to control it.
On May 31, Union General Phil Sheridan’s cavalry clashed with Confederate counterparts enforced by infantry. After a fierce fight, Sheridan’s men drove the Southerners beyond the crossroads, gaining control of the critical juncture. The Confederates, however, stop and throw up an intricate system of trenches that will play an important role in the coming days.
Fighting continued on June 1 and 2, and by June 3 some 170,000 troops are involved: 108,000 on the Federal side, 62,000 for the Confederates. The Union Second, Sixth, and Eighteenth Corps launched a pre-dawn attack that fell apart as the participants lost contact with one another in the fog, swamps, and heavy underbrush. Confederate troops used the angles in their trenches to great advantage, delivering a withering enfilading fire onto the Northerners. More than 7,000 Union casualties are taken in the first 30 minutes.
Caught in a crossfire in the ravines that made up the area’s terrain, the Union troops were mowed down in a bloodbath. By early afternoon, Grant finally calls off the assault, but minor skirmishes continue for the next nine days. On June 7, the two sides call a two-hour truce to allow the Union army to retrieve their wounded. Very few wounded are found in the carnage.
The final tally of casualties shows an overwhelming slant in the Confederates’ favor. Union casualties total 12,737, including 1,844 killed, 9,077 wounded, and 1,816 missing or captured against the Confederate army’s 83 killed, 3,380 wounded, and 1,132 missing or captured, for a total of 4,595.
Grant orders his men to abandon Cold Harbor and continue their advance toward Petersburg. He later lamented his decision to attack at Cold Harbor, saying, “I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made. No advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained.”
By James Gindlesperger, historical author
Eugene Tinkham was born April 19, 1842, in Sprague, Connecticut, to parents Welcome Eddy and Sarah (King) Tinkham. One of 12 children, Eugene enlisted with the 148th New York Infantry at age 20, mustering in on August 28, 1862. He spent his first year of soldier life as a guard in the Norfolk area.
Tinkham and his comrades finally saw action in Virginia, at Drewry’s Bluff, followed quickly by more fighting at Bermuda Hundred throughout May 1864. On June 1, 1864, the regiment moved to Cold Harbor, where they would see enough bloodshed to last them the rest of their lives.
On June 3, 1864, the third day of fighting at Cold Harbor, Company H of the 148th New York Infantry was sent out as skirmishers. Tinkham and Company H, under the command of Colonel George M. Guion, moved slowly but steadily through a patch of woods before being ordered to halt and prepare for a charge.
When the order came to charge, the company and the rest of General Isaac J. Wistar’s brigade bolted across an open field. Opposition was heavy and casualties were high. Soon it became apparent that the charge was doomed to failure, and the 148th New York dropped back across the same field that they had advanced across just minutes before. Already the field was strewn with the prone bodies of the wounded and the dead. In the retreat, Tinkham received a wound of his own.
Reaching the wooded lot, Tinkham asked for permission to go back to the open field and bring some of the wounded back to the line. Having received the permission, Tinkham began a slow and laborious return on his hands and knees, hoping the smoke of battle would conceal him sufficiently to keep him from becoming one of those he had set out to rescue.
After crawling through brush for several yards he came upon a man he knew, Private Andrew Grainer, whose ankle had been shattered by a minie ball. Unable to walk, Grainer was still conscious as Tinkham rolled him onto a rubber blanket. With Grainer pushing with his good leg, Tinkham was able to get him to a place of safety with the rest of the regiment. Returning to the field, he came across another friend from Company H, Private John Bartl. Bartl, who was badly wounded in the head, arms, hip, and leg, was unconscious and had been lying in a small depression. Not seeing his friend through the smoke and underbrush, Tinkham had passed him on his first foray to the scene of unbelievable carnage.
With the unconscious Bartl unable to assist, Tinkham wrestled his friend onto the rubber blanket but found he was too heavy to drag. After struggling for several minutes, Tinkham found that he could dig small depressions with his heels that gave him enough leverage to slowly pull Bartl back. He finally reached the stretcher bearers, who saw Tinkham struggling and raced to assist.
Unfortunately, his heroics were not enough. Both Grainer and Bartl died three days later. After recovering from his wound, Tinkham would take part in the Siege of Petersburg, the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm, and the Battle of Fair Oaks before mustering out at the end of the war as a sergeant.
He returned home to Connecticut, marrying Anna Jordan in 1874, and working for the United States Armory. He also became a city council member in Springfield, Connecticut. On April 5, 1898, Eugene M. Tinkham received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Cold Harbor. His citation read, “Though himself wounded, voluntarily left the rifle pits, crept out between the lines and, exposed to the severe fire of the enemy’s guns at close-range, brought within the lines two wounded and helpless comrades.”
On October 2, 1909, Tinkham died at age 67 in Wesson Memorial Hospital in Springfield. He was buried in New Hanover Cemetery, in Hanover, Connecticut.
Further Reading:
About the Congressional Medal of Honor Society
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Medal of Honor, inspiring America to live the values the Medal represents, and supporting Recipients of the Medal as they connect with communities across America.
Chartered by Congress in 1958, its membership consists exclusively of those individuals who have received the Medal of Honor. There are fewer than 70 living Recipients.
The Society carries out its mission through outreach, education and preservation programs, including the Medal of Honor Museum, Medal of Honor Outreach Programs, the Medal of Honor Character Development Program, and the Medal of Honor Citizen Honors Awards for Valor and Service. The Society’s programs and operations are funded by donations.
As part of Public Law 106-83, the Medal of the Honor Memorial Act, the Medal of Honor Museum, which is co-located with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s headquarters on board the U.S.S. Yorktown at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was designated as one of three national Medal of Honor sites.
Learn more about the Medal of Honor and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s initiatives at cmohs.org