Bartlett, Joseph

Joseph Bartlett was born in Binghampton in 1834 in the family of the gunsmith Joseph Bartlett Sr. He studied at the local academy, then studied law in Utica and in 1858 was allowed to practice law. He worked as a lawyer in Binghampton for a while, and before the outbreak of the Civil War he moved to Elmira.

On May 21, 1861, when the Civil War broke out, Bartlett signed up as a volunteer in the company of the 27th New York Infantry Regiment , which was being formed in Elmira. He was elected captain of company C (recruited at Binghampton), and a little later he became a regiment major under the commander Henry Slocame . July 10, the regiment was sent to Washington, where he camped at . On the 16th the offensive of the army on Manassas began; The regiment’s participation in the offensive was in question, so Slokam and Bartlett personally agreed with the military department that the regiment should be included in the army ^[1] .

As a result, the regiment participated in the advance to Manassas and took part in the first battle of Bull Run . When Colonel Slokam was wounded, Barrlettt took command of the regiment. During the retreat of the army, he competently led the cover, which attracted the attention of the command. On September 21, 1861, General MacDowell conferred on him the rank of colonel and he headed the 27th New York after the promotion of Slocam to general.

In the spring, Bartlett commanded a regiment as part of the Slokam brigade in Franklin's division. On May 18, the VI Corps was formed, led by Franklin. Slokam became the commander of the division, passing the brigade to Bartlett. At the end of May, his brigade consisted of four infantry regiments:

• 5th Mans Infantry Regiment , Regiment.
• 16th New York Infantry Regiment , Regiment. Joseph Howland
• 27th New York Infantry Regiment Alexander Adams
• 96th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment , Regiment.

Maryland Campaign

Overland Campaign

In early May 1864, Bartlett began to command the 3rd Brigade in the Griffin Division, which consisted of eight regiments ^[2] :

• 20th Mans Infantry Regiment ,
• 18th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment
• 29th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment
• 1st Michigan Infantry Regiment
• 16th Michigan Infantry Regiment
• 44th New York Infantry Regiment
• 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
• 118th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment

On May 4, General Grant launched the Overland campaign and crossed the Potomac. On the morning of May 5, Griffin's division unexpectedly met in units of the Confederate Second Corps. Griffin did not immediately believe that he was facing serious enemy forces, and instructed Bartlett to conduct reconnaissance in battle. Bartlett sent forward the 18th Massachusetts and the 83rd Pennsylvania regiments, which discovered large enemy forces turning around in a battle line across the road at the far edge of the clearing known as Sanders Field. The shelves came under fire and retreated. In this brief shootout, Private Charles Wilson was killed, who was thus the first soldier to die during the Overland Campaign ^[3] . General Grant ordered an immediate attack on the enemy and Griffin, after some hesitation, gave the order to attack. Bartlett's brigade was advancing through the Sanders field, south of the Orange-Tenpike road. Ahead was the 1st Michigan Regiment, deployed in a line, followed by three regiments: the 83rd Pennsylvania and the 18th Massachusetts under the command of Joseph Hayes and the 44th New York Regiment. Behind them was the second line: the 118th Pennsylvania and the 20th Mans . Their attack fell on the position of the Virginia brigade of John Jones . This brigade was connected by the left flank to the Stuart brigade, but its right flank was covered only by a small detachment of dismounted cavalry. The feds easily threw back the cavalry and fired on the flank of the Virginians. The first volleys killed John Jones and his adjutant, Captain Robert Earley. Left without a commander, the Jones brigade began to withdraw, mingling with the ranks of the Battle brigade, which stood in the second line. In confusion, someone shouted that he had received an order to retreat to the Main-Run river line. Bartlett's brigade continued the offensive, breaking through to a small clearing, where it stopped to restore order in the ranks ^[4] .

The 20th Mansky took a position on the right flank of the brigade, and at that moment she was under fire from the rear. The northerners at first decided that it was Ayrs’s people who were shooting at their own people, but it turned out that Ayrs’s brigade had retreated, opening Bartlett’s right flank. Bartlett ordered to depart. The retreat began in an organized manner, but it soon became clear that the brigade was almost surrounded, and even veteran regiments panicked. The retreat turned into a chaotic flight. Bartlett himself lost his headquarters, and during the retreat his horse was killed on a gallop, so that Bartlett barely survived. The losses were serious: the 20th Mansky lost 85 out of 400 people, the commander of the 146th New York was killed, and the commander of the 83rd Pennsylvania was seriously wounded ^[5] .

He was the US ambassador to Sweden from 1867 to 1869 and the deputy commissioner for pensions under President Grover Cleveland ^[6] .

He died in Baltimore, Maryland, January 14, 1893 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

• Bartlett, Joseph J., "Crampton's Pass," National Tribune, December 19, 1889.
• Carman, Ezra A. The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Volume 1, South Mountain. - Savas Beatie, 2010 .-- 576 p. - ISBN 978-1932714814 .
• Rhea, Gordon C. The Battle of the Wilderness May 5 - 6 1864. - Baton Rouge and London: Luisiana state University Press, 1994. - 512 p. - ISBN 0-8071-1873-7 .
• Sears, Stephen W. Chancellorsville. - Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996 .-- 221 p. - ISBN 0-395-87744-X .

• Information on the Arlington National Cemetery website
• Gettysburg Report Bartlett
• Appomattox Report Bartlett