ca. 1861-1900
Guide to the Photograph Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of four carte de visite albums and 84 loose photographs compiled by Henry I. Bowditch to commemorate his son's death in the Civil War.
Biographical Sketches
Henry Ingersoll Bowditch (1808-1892)
Henry Ingersoll Bowditch was a Harvard-trained physician, the son of mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch. Horrified by the mob attack on abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison in 1835, Bowditch pledged his “whole heart to the abolition of that monster slavery.” He became actively involved in aiding the cause of fugitive slaves and was a founding member of the Latimer Committee and organizer of the Anti-Man Hunting League. On 17 March 1863, Bowditch’s only son Nathaniel was gravely wounded on the battlefield at Kelly’s Ford, Virginia, succumbing to his wounds a day later at the age of 23. After learning the details of his son’s suffering, Bowditch lobbied Congress to establish an ambulance service to transport wounded soldiers, publishing a pamphlet entitled A Brief Plea for an Ambulance System for the Army of the United States as Drawn from the Extra Sufferings of the Late Lieut. Bowditch and a Wounded Comrade within days after bringing his dead son home. As a way of dealing with the grief of losing his son, Bowditch created a “memorial cabinet” of manuscripts, photographs, artifacts, and books, of which this collection is a part. His aim, as stated in the preface to “Our Martyr Soldiers of the Great Rebellion,” was “For the sake of those who are to come after me, as well as for my own satisfaction, I have gathered these photographs of some of our precious New England youths, who have cheerfully and bravely given up their Lives upon the Battlefield, at their Country’s Call. May the sight of these features of Our “Noble Army of Martyrs” be as grateful to the hearts of others as their collection has been to my own.”
Nathaniel Bowditch (1839-1863)
Nathaniel Bowditch was the only son of Henry Ingersoll and Olivia Jane Yardley Bowditch. The first grandson of the family, he was named after his grandfather, the famed mathematician. “Nat” had an unremarkable childhood and at the outbreak of the Civil War was studying medicine with Jeffries Wyman, having earlier attended Lawrence Scientific School where he studied under Louis Agassiz. After the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, where many Boston acquaintances had been either killed or taken prisoner, Nathaniel decided to join the Army. On November 5, 1861, he received his commission as Second Lieutenant in the First Massachusetts Cavalry, departing for Port Royal, S. C., in January of 1862. He was promoted to First Lieutenant and was the Assistant Adjutant General on the staff of Col. Alfred Duffie when the First Massachusetts was called into action at the Battle of Kelly’s Ford, Virginia, in March of 1863. According to his father’s Memorial, Bowditch was leading a cavalry charge when Confederate troops rushed in and surrounding him, shot his horse, and wounded Bowditch with the blow of a sabre to the head. As he lay on the battlefield next to his dead horse, he was shot multiple times before rallying Union troops drove off the Confederates. Some hours later, a passing Union officer carried Bowditch off the battlefield to safety, but he succumbed to his wounds the next day.
Sources
Bowditch, Henry I. Memorial [of Lt. Nathaniel Bowditch]. Boston: John Wilson & Son, 1865.
Folsom, Charles F. "Henry Ingersoll Bowditch." In Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 28 (May 1892-May 1893), p. 310-331.
Collection Description
Collection of photographs compiled by Henry I. Bowditch in memory of his son, Nathaniel Bowditch, who was killed at Kelly's Ford, Virginia, during the Civil War. Volumes 1-2, entitled "Our Martyr Soldiers of the Great Rebellion," contain carte de visite photographs of men, chiefly from Massachusetts, killed during the Civil War. Volume 3 is an album given to the Bowditch family in 1901 comprising carte de visite photographs of Civil War generals and political figures including Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, George McClellan and "Parson" Brownlow. Volume 4 is a carte de visite album carried by Nathaniel Bowditch while in the Army and contains pictures of his friends and family including Katharine Putnam, his aunts Eliza Dixwell and Harriette Houghton, and Professor Louis Agassiz. The collection also contains a series of photographs of Union soldiers in Folly Island and Morris Island, South Carolina, taken by Lt. Philip Haas and Washington Peale, as well as a number of copy photographs related to Abraham Lincoln. Massachusetts photographers represented in the collection include John Adams Whipple, James Wallace Black, Allen & Horton, Black & Case, G. W. Kendall, and F. L. Lay, among many others.
Acquisition Information
Deposited by Nathaniel Bowditch, March 1930.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Our Martyr Soldiers of the Great Rebellion
Arranged according to original order within each volume.
Our Martyr Soldiers, vol. 1
Caption: "Abraham Lincoln Washington. Our Martyr-President April 14, 1865."
Caption: “Lieut. Nathaniel Bowditch, March 17, 1863 Kelly’s Ford Va. Æt. 23”
Caption: "Col. Robert G. Shaw Fort Wagner 54 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Robert G. Shaw, July 18, 1863 ‘They buried him under his niggers’."
Caption: "Capt. William N. Simpkins, Fort Wagner, July 18, 1863 54 Mass. Inf.”
Caption: "Capt. Cabot Jackson Russel, Fort Wagner, July 13, 1863 54 Mass. Inf."
Caption: “Lieut. William L. Putnam Ball’s Bluff, 20th Mass.”
Caption: "Lieut. Henry May Bond, Wilderness, 25 Mass. Inf.”
Caption: “Capt. Thomas B. Fox, Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, 2d Mass. Inf.”
Caption: "Robert H. Ives Jr. Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. Vol. Aid to Genl. Rodman, 2d Rhode Is. Inf.”
Caption: "Dr. Robert Ware, Washington, NC April 10th 1863, 44 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. Philip D. Mason, Gardensville, June 11, 1864. U.S.Art."
"Col. Fletcher Webster, 2d. Bull Run, Aug. 29, 1862, 12th Mass. Inf. Æt. 49."
Caption: "Maj. Genl. Sedgwick, Spottsylvania, May 9, 1864 Æt. 53."
Caption: "Commodore Foote, Mississippi June 26 1863 Æt. 57."
Caption: "Col. William M. Rodman, Port Hudson May 27, 1863, 38 Mass. Inf. Æt. 40.”
Caption: "Brig. Gen. Thomas G. Stevenson, Spottsylvania May 1864, 24th Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Col. Charles Griswold, Wilderness May 6, 1864 56 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Col. Paul Revere, Gettysburg, July 4th 1863, 20 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Dr. Edward Revere, Antietam Sept. 17, 1862 20th Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Col. Charles R. Mudge, Gettysburg, 2d Mass."
Caption: "Col. George L. Prescott, Petersburg, June 18, 1864, 32 Mass."
Caption: "Col. Blaisdell, 11 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. Col. James Savage, Cedar Mountain, Aug. 9, 1862."
Caption: "Maj. Sydney Willard, Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862 35 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Maj. William D. Sedgwick, Antietam. Sept. 17, 1862 2d Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Maj. Sydney Coolidge, Chickamauga Sept. 19, 1863 16 U.S."
Caption: "Col. Wilder Dwight, Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862 2d. Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. Howard Dwight, Courtableau May 7, 1863 Æt. 26 24 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. Richard Cary Cedar Mountain, Aug. 9, 1862 2d Mass. Inf."
Caption; "Lieut. Arthur Dehon, Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862 Æt. 21, 12 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. Ed. G. Abbott, Cedar Mountain Æt. 22 2d Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Maj. Henry L. Abbott Wilderness, May 6, 1864 Æt. 22 20 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. James J. Lowell, Glendale, June 30, 1862 Æt. 25, 20 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. Richard C. Goodwin Cedar Mountain, Aug. 9, 1862 Æt. 29 2d Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Cedar Mountain Aug. 9, 1862 Æt. 24 12 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. Sewall Reed Drainsville, Feb. 22, 1864 2d Mass. Cav."
Caption: "Capt. William B. Williams, Cedar Mountain, Aug. 9, 1862 2 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. Charles R. Johnson Gettysburg, July 2, 1863."
Caption: "Capt. William Rockwell Baton Rouge, Dec. 1863."
Caption: "Capt. George W. Batchelder, Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862 Æt. 24 19 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Charles J. Batchelder Baton Rouge Sept. 9 1862."
Caption: "Capt. Thomas R. Robeson Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 2nd Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Adjut. Henry W. Hall, Kenesaw Mountain, June 27, 1864 51 Illinois Inf."
Caption:"Adjut. Stearns, Newberne Mar. 14, 1862."
Caption: "Capt. James A. Perkins, Morris Island, Aug. 26, 1863. Æt. 27, 24 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. Wm. Greenough White, Antietam Sept. 17, 1862."
Caption: "Lieut. Horace S. Dunn, Yorktown, May 22, 1862 Æt. 20, 22 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. Sumner Paine Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 Æt. 18, 20 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. Henry Ropes, Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 Æt. 24, 20th Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Col. Serg. Theodore Parkman, Whitehall."
Caption: "Lieut. Edgar M. Newcomb, Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862 Æt. 22. 19 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Col. Serg. Roland B. Morris, Gettysburg, July 1, 1862."
Caption: "Samuel D. Phillips St. Helena Island, Dec. 5, 1862."
Caption: "Lieut. Joseph P. Burrage Look Out Mountain, Oct. 28, 1863 Æt. 21 33 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. Leonard C. Alden, Hilton Head, Oct. 5, 1863 55 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Priv. John F. Goodrich, Vicksburg, June 4, 1863 Æt. 37 23 Iowa Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. Edward B. Mason, Readville, Sept. 14, 1863 Æt. 26 2nd Mass. Cav."
Caption: "Capt. Goodwin A. Stone, Aldie Va. July 18, 1864 Æt. 23, 2nd Mass. Cav."
Caption: "Capt. Joseph S. Hill, Wilderness, May 6, 1864."
Caption: "Lieut. Col. John G. Chambers, Drury’s Bluff, Petersburg, Sept. 15, 1864."
Caption: "Lieut. Col. John Hodges, Petersburg Mine, July 31, 1861 [sic], Æt. 22, 59 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Maj. Henry L. Patten, Deep Bottom, Sept. 10 1864, Æt. 28, 20th Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. Albert Dodd Gaines Mills, June 27 1862."
Caption: "Maj. Henry J. Haven, Petersburg, July 14, 1862."
Caption: "Brig. Gen. James S. Wadsworth, Wilderness, May 6, 1864, Æt. 57."
Caption: "Brig. Gen. Lyon, Wilson Creek, Missouri, 1861."
Caption: "Col. C. R. Lowell, Cedar Creek, Oct. 19 1864 Æt. 29, 2d Mass. Cav."
Caption: "Col. Everett Peabody, Shiloh, April 6, 1862, Æt. 32, 25 Missouri Inf."
Caption: "Priv. Ed. M. Schneider, Coal Harbor, June 17, 1864."
Caption: "Priv. John Henry Tucker, Port Hudson, May 27, 1863."
Caption: "Lieut. Mason A. Rea, Drury’s Bluff, May 16, 1864 Æt. 27, 24th Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. G. F. Boynton, New Berne, Jan. 17 1863."
Caption: "Capt. L. E. Munroe Petersburg Mine July 30, 1864."
Caption: "Capt. Albert Dodd, Gaines Mills, June 27, 1862."
Caption: “Maj. Edward D. [sic] Park.”
Caption: "Col. Thomas J. C. Amory, New-Berne, Feb. 6, 1864 3d U.S. Art."
Caption: "Gen. Charles R. Lowell, Cedar Creek, Oct. 12, 1864, Æt. 29, 2nd. Mass. Cav."
Caption: "Col. George D. Wells, Cedar Creek, Oct. 12, 1864. Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Col. Lucius M. Sargent, Weldon NC Dec. 10 1864 Æt. 38, 1st Mass. Cav."
Caption: "Lieut. Josiah H. V. Field, Lynchburg, July 14, 1864."
Caption: "Lieut. G. F. Weston, Rappahannock St., Jan. 5, 1864 Æt. 24, 18 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. Warren D. Russel [sic], 2d Bull Run, Aug. 30, 1862, 18th Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. F. D. Russell, 4th U.S.Art."
Caption: "Lieut. Gorham P. Stevens, Harrison’s Landing, Aug. 12, 1864 Æt. 21."
Caption: "Lieut. Stephen G. Perkins, Cedar Mountain, May 9, 1862 Æt. 27, 2nd Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. W. D. Crane, Honey Hill, Nov. 30, 1864 Æt. 24, 55th Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Col. P. S. Davis, Petersburg, July 12, 1864, 39 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Maj. Wallace A. Putnam, North Anna, May 24, 1864 56 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Surgeon Samuel S. Haven, Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862 Æt. 31, 15 Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. Shear [sic], Weldon R[ail] Road."
Caption: "Lieut. Arthur Courtland Parker, Bristow Station, Aug. 24, 1863 Æt. 23."
Our Martyr Soldiers, v. 2
Photos. 235.157-235.194 are photographs that were added to the end of volume 2 at a later date. They have been removed from the album and moved to Box 2 (Series II. Miscellaneous carte de visite albums and loose photographs).
Caption: "President Lincoln & Tad, Washington, D. C."
Caption: "John Brown executed at Charleston, Va."
Caption: "Maj. Charles J. Mills AAG, 2 Mass Inf. Hatchers Run Va. March 31 1865 Æt. 24."
Caption: "Lieut Samuel Storrow, 2nd Mass Inf. Averyboro N.C. March 16 1865 Æt. 21."
Caption: "Lieut Boynton (W.P.) 55th Mass Inf. Honey Hill, Nov. 30 1864 Æt. 23."
Caption: "Capt. Dryer [sic], 20th Mass. Inf. Ball’s Bluff."
Caption: "Major Henry Kemp [sic] 10th Conn. Inf. Darbytown Oct. 16 1864 Æt. 25."
Caption: "Nathl. Bowditch AAG, First Mass Cav. Kelly’s Ford Va. March 17 1863 Æt. 23."
Caption: "Serj. P. W. Freeman 45th Mass. Inf. Boston July 3 1863 Æt. 18."
Caption: "Capt. Montgomery Ritchie ADC First Mass. Cav. On Maj. Gen. Augur’s staff at Port Hudson Nov. 7, 1864 Æt. 38."
Caption: "John L. Fox, Surgeon in chief of Admiral Porter’s Fleet. Dec. 17 1864 of disease from labors in the service."
Caption: "Col. Theodore Winthrop."
Caption: "Lieut. F. H. Webster 54 Mass. Inf. Beaufort S. C."
Caption: "Lieut. T. Jefferson Spurr 15 Mass. Inf. Antietam Sepr 27 1862."
Caption: "Col. Stark Fellows."
Caption: "H. Thurston 64th [sic] Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. J. G. Thayer First Mass. Cav."
Caption: "Capt. Markland Gettysburg."
Caption: "Stedman."
Caption: "Lieut. Col. Tileston 11th Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Lieut. J. Quincy Burrill 1st Mass. Inf. Gettysburg July 4, 1863 Æt. 23."
Caption: "Maj. H. T. Lawson Newbern N.C. In 17 battles & finally died of fever. 7 March 1865."
Caption: "Harris 45 Mass. Inf. Newbern, NC."
Caption: "Dr. Revere & Paul Sept. 16, 1862 Antietam July 2d 1863 Gettysburg."
Caption: "Capt. H. J. Doolittle Racine Wis. Aug. 10, 1862."
Caption: "Lieut. E. B. Hill, 55 Mass. Inf. Honey Hill Dec. 1864."
Caption: "Gould Gettysburg Æt.23."
Caption: "(Field) Serj. John P. Healy, 30th Mass. Inf. Winchester Sept. 19, 1864 Æt. 24."
Caption: "Major H. W. Pratt, 24 Mass. Inf. Fishers Hill, Oct. 22."
Caption: "Lieut. [Joseph] Baxter Wilderness."
Caption: "Priv. Stephen Emerson, 1st Mass. Inf. Chancellorsville May 3, 1863."
Caption: "Lieut. Thomas J. Leavitt 6th Iowa Cav. White Stone Hill [illeg.] Sept. 1863."
Caption: "Edward P. Light First Mass. Cav. Wilderness May 1864 Æt. 25."
Caption: "Lieut Wm. Foye Smith First Mass. Cav. Chelsea."
Caption: "Frank C. Adams, Exec. Off. U.S.N. Florida. May 22 1865."
Caption: "Surgeon Luther V. Bell."
Caption: "Surgeon W. H. Heath, 2 Mass. Inf. Chatanooga, Aug. 27, 1864 Æt. 36."
Caption: "Lieut. C. E. Hammond, 6th Conn. Inf. Bermuda Hundred, June 17, 1865."
Caption: "Serjeant Wilder Freeman, 44 Mass. Inf. Boston, July 3 1863."
Caption: "Serg. William M. Rodgers 18 Mass. Inf. Savage’s Station Va. June 1862 Æt. 24."
Caption: "Col. Ellsworth Alexandria."
Caption: "Maj. Charles Jarvis 9th New Ham. Inf. Newbern Dec. 3, 1863."
Caption: "Lieut. H. F. Wolcott, 2d Mass Cav. Boston June 9, 1865 Æt. 19."
Caption: "Col. Francis Washburn, 4 Mass. Cav. Highbridge Va. April 22, 1865."
Caption: "Lieut. Ezra Ripley, 29 Mass. Inf. Helena Ark. July 28 1863."
Caption: "Lieut. W. C. Howes, 162 New York Inf. Pleasant Hill, Red River, May 29, 1864."
Caption: "Lieut. Wm. Little Gerrish, Maine Inf. Petersburg, Va. Feb. 11, 1865."
Caption: "Col. H. W. Keyes Mass. Inf."
Caption: "Capt. James I. Grafton, 2d Mass. Inf. Averysburg NC March 16, 1865 Æt. 24."
Caption: "Lieut. Charles F. Williams, 35 Mass. Inf. South Mountain Sept. 14. Died 23."
Caption: "Priv. G. Foster Hodges, 5th Mass. Hall’s Hill, Jan. 31, 1862 Æt. 25."
Caption: "James F. Kimball Christian Commission."
Caption: "Martha Sever Volunteer Nurse."
Caption: "Dr. Grymes, Washington, D.C. Died at his post (vide Memorials)."
Caption: "Pickering D. Allen."
Caption: "Capt. Francis W. Crowninshield 2d. Mass. Albano, Italy, May 26, 1866."
Caption: "Lieut. Tucker Deland."
Caption: "George W. Thatcher, 6th Mass. Vol. Fort Delaware, Sept. 13."
II. Miscellaneous carte de visite albums and loose photographs
Haas and Peale photographs of Union soldiers
Morris Island South Carolina First Parallel.
Carte de visite album of Civil War figures
Carte de visite album belonging to Nathaniel Bowditch
Caption: "Nat's Katie"
Caption: "E. B."
Caption: "My cousin Frank."
Caption: "Prof. Agassiz."
Caption: "Esther."
Caption: "Carrie Emmons."
Caption: "Dr. Huntington."
Caption: "Aunt Eliza."
Caption: "Dear Aunt Harriette Houghton."
Loose copy photographs related to Abraham Lincoln
Preferred Citation
Nathaniel Bowditch memorial photographs, Massachusetts Historical Society photo archives.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.