Struck in the left hip and wrist during the fight in the West Woods at Antietam, Lt. Col. Wilder Dwight, who was in so many ways and heart and soul of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, knew he was dying. Chaplain Alonzo Quint was in the midst of performing his solemn duties when news of Dwight's condition reached his ears. By the time he reached the fallen man's side, Dwight was already deathly pale from the loss of blood:

"As I kneeled down beside him he opened his eyes, and smiled, as he took my hand. 'Is that you, Chaplain?' said he. I expressed my sorrow for his wounds, and doubtless he saw my deep feeling in my face, for he immediately added, in a coaxing tone, 'Don't feel bad,' and with a firm look and natural smile, said, 'It is all right, all right.' I replied, 'I thank God you feel so cheerful.' When he added, 'Now, Chaplain, I know I'm done for, but I want you to understand I don't flinch a hair. I should like to live for a few days, so as to see my father and my mother; they think a good deal of me; especially my mother; too much (this was said smilingly), but apart from that, if God calls me this minute I'm ready to go."

Soon afterwards Col. Andrews came and, according to Quint, "yielded to the grief which overwhelmed him." The dying man did his best to comfort his friend. "Don't take it so hard, dear fellow," he chided. "Don't take it so hard. Think how much better it is that I should be lying here than you, who have a wife and children at home." Dwight went on to say, "I want it distinctly understood that, in dying, I have no personal regrets; my only regret is that I cannot longer serve the cause."

As soon as his duties as acting Division commander permitted (having assumed this role after Crawford was wounded during the battle), BG Gordon hurried over see Dwight:

"As I reined in my horse his eye met mine & he, almost exultantly, saluted me... I sprang from the saddle, knelt by his side, grasped his hand, saying, 'My dear fellow, I am sorry for this.' He instantly replied, 'Of course you are,' but, I added, 'I expect it is not serious, do you think the bone is broken?' Said he, 'I don't know. I fear it is. I've tried to--' At this moment bullets whistled over our heads, shot & shell crashed through the trees. The wood was no longer a safe place for the wounded. I said, 'I must have you removed immediately from here.' He replied, with heroic firmness, 'Never mind me--only whip them."

Gordon ordered a half dozen men to carry Dwight to the rear and rode off, never to see him again. Quint remained with Dwight near a make-shift hospital after the colonel sent Dr. Stone away to care for the wounded lying all about and directed the enlisted men waiting to place him in an ambulance (there were none immediately available), to give water to all those calling for it. Quint was appalled by the behavior of the surgeon in charge, who he condemned as "utterly unfit to be in charge of wounded men" and "unfit to be in the army."

"Some men of ours, detached for that purpose, were waiting to help while all was quiet save the groans of sufferers covering the ground. Suddenly a harsh voice insisted upon turning out all our men. I found a pompous surgeon angry and furious. I informed him why the men were there, assured him of their perfectly good behavior, and requested permission fo them to remain, as we were momentarily expecting the ambulance. It was all in vain. Col. Dwight himself was treated most harshly, although of higher rank than the brute himself, and although I told the surgeon that it was a man mortally wounded. He ordered the guard to turn them out at the point of the bayonet, and to prevent their return even to move Col. Dwight."

But when Dr. Leland located a nearby farmer named Thomas who was agreeable to taking the dying officer in, Dwight was removed from the hostile environment of the indifferent surgeon. Since no ambulance was at hand, a 12-man detail of the regiment's new recruits, under the supervision of Lt. James Kent Stone, carried him the three miles on a stretcher. Dwight himself divided them into six parties, who relieved wach other by turns.

"At one time one of the third relief carelessly stumbled. It jarred him very much, and he said, 'Third relief to the rear! Now boys, put on my best team.' We were obliged, in one place, to ford a rapid stream about two hundred feet broad. It must have caused the Colonel great pain in crossing but he did not show it at all outwardly. He was generally silent, but he now and then spoke pleasantly to the men, asking them their names and occupations. Once he asked us if we had had any breakfast. Upon our answering no, he said, 'Ah! young soldiers. An old soldier would never have left his wagon-camp with his haversack empty."

The party passed through a strip of woods and came upon the drummers and fifes of the regiment. Dwight ordered a halt so that he might hear the "Star Spangled Banner" one last time. By the time he was placed in a comfortable bed at the Thomas house, it was clear to all that he was failing. When Col. Andrews sent him word of the Union army's success in the battle, Dwight exulted, "It is a glorious time to die!"

Along with Dwight's faithful servant, John, Chaplain Quint sat vigil through the night. The colonel drifted in and out of consciousness. The next morning, Lt. Stone returned and noted Dwight's rapid decline during the night. "He was very much exhausted from the severe pain, and felt that his end was near at hand. He remained in this condition till about half ten, hardly willing that Mr. Quint or myself should leave the room for a moment. If we did so, he sent for us immediately."

Dwight's hopes that he might survive until the arrival of his brother, General William Dwight, grew dim. He summoned Stone and dictated some final wishes to him. Around noon, Dwight called Quint to his side:

"'Chaplain,' said he, 'I cannot distinguish your features; what more you have to say to me, say now.'...'Colonel, do you trust in God?' He answered with ready firmness and cheerfulness, 'I do.' 'And in the Lord Jesus Christ, your Savior?' 'I do.' 'Then,' said I, 'there is no need of saying more.' I said a few words of prayer, and he added audibly, 'Amen.' Then I said, 'Now what shall I say to your mother?' He answered, with his whole face lighted up, 'My mother! Tell her I do love my mother...Tell her I do trust in God, I do trust in the Lord Jesus. Nothing else.'"

At 12:30 p.m., Wilder Dwight slipped away, "so peacefully that we could hardly tell the time." His last words were, "O, my dear mother." Quint could hardly imagine what the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry would be without him. "He died as he had lived, a brave, gallant, noble man, a hero and a Christian; cheerful to the last, considerate, happy. When he breathed his last, every face of soldiers as well as officers, was wet with tears."

Alerted to the gravity of Dwight's condition. Col. Andrews hurried to the Thomas house, but arrived half an hour too late. "So died one of the most faithful, brave, unselfish and devoted officers of our army," the West Pointer wrote to his wife. "But I trust he has gone to a better world, and no one could have desired a more glorious death." To Daniel Dwight, the fallen hero's brother, he wrote, "I need not tell you how deeply I feel his loss. My relations with Wilder were, from the first, more intimate than with any other officer in the regiment. His friendship I valued most highly. I loved & respected him."

Lt. Col. Wilder Dwight's body was sent home to Brookline, Massachusetts for burial. His funeral was attended by Governor John A. Andrew.

BACK TO ANTIETAM VIGNETTES
BACK TO 2ND MA ANECDOTES & STORIES
BACK TO HARVARD MEMORIAL BIOGRAPHIES
HOME

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page