GenMassachusetts-L Archives

Archiver > GenMassachusetts > 2007-12 > 1198278276


From:
Subject: [GENMASSACHUSETTS] A Prescott & Farnsworth - cousins - die in theCivil War
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:04:36 EST


Two blood cousins died in the Civil War - Prescott shot in both legs didnt
survive the amputation of both
legs - and Farnsworth died on the battlefield of five mortal wounds to his
chest. They descended from
founding families of Massachusetts.

C. W. Eustis Prescott & Mary A. Calkins.

"The sum of their being may set in the grave, The light of their glory
remains."

Source: The Prescott Memorial by Dr. William H. Prescott, 1870.
p.164
The issue of C. W. Eustis Prescott and his wife, Mary A. Calkins:

1. Maria Arabella Prescott b. Jan 23, 1818; died of scarlet fever Dec. 5,
1833.
2. Frederick Thomas Prescott b. Nov 2, 1820, died March, 1844 at Jamaica,
West Indies.
of consumption, where he had gone for the restoration of his health. He was
educated in
Paris, France, for the mercantile profession and his loss was keenly felt.
Henry Clay,
in a speech, soon after, said he considered Mr. Prescott a public loss.
3. Ann Elizabeth Prescott b. April 25, 1827, m. July 3, 1848, the Honorable
James M.
Bullock of Shelbyville, Kentucky, born Aug 6, 1806 - a lawyer of eminence.
He read law
and settled in Shelbyville - was four years Secretary of State, when in
consequence of
the ill health of the Governor, his duties wre arduous. He was offered the
office of
Judge but declined. Subsequently he wa appointed a commisioner to negotiate
for the sale
of the State bonds of Kentucky in New York, which he affected with much
credit to himself
and the advantage to the State. But a few years since, he fell and injured
his hip to
such a degree that he was prostrated ever since. Ann E. Prescott Bullock
was afflicted
with a disease of the heart and during the rebellion (her husband being a
Union man)
they were frequently annoyed and at time greatly excited by the incursion
and the out-
rages of the guerrillas, which increased Mrs. Bullock's condition and one
night, when Mr.
and Mrs. Bullock were in bed, and alone in the house, a band of guerrillas
broke into
their home - but Mr. Bullock calling aloud for his pistol, they left -
otherwise they
would both have been murdered. This frightened Mrs. Bullock to such a
degree she died
very suddenly - soon after, on January 8, 1865 in her 38th year. A beautiful
tribute
to her memory was published at that time in one of the public papers. She
was an
educated and highly accomplished and intellectual lady. She left an only
son, Frederick
Prescott Bullock b. April 11, 1849.

p.165
4. Joseph Prescott son of C. W. Prescott and his wife, Mary A. Calkins, was
born June
27, 1829; died of brain fever, January 1831, aged 19 months.

CHARLES R. PRESCOTT - CIVIL WAR HERO.

5. Charles R. Prescott b. Feb 22, 1836, died at Richmond, Virginia Hospital
of wounds
received at the first battle of Bull Run on August 16, 1861 - aged 25 years,
5 mos. and
25 days. He was educated first at the Groton Academy, Groton, Mass. and then
at Cambridge
as a civil engineer. We extract the following, from an obituary notice of
him in a New
York newspaper:

"Charles R. Prescott, the only surviving son of the late Eustis Prescott and
the grandson
of Doctor Joseph Prescott, a surgeon of the Army of the Revolution from
Ticonderoga to
Yorktown; by inheritance, a member of the Society of the Cinncinnati - he
was of slender
frame, but determined, resolute and brave. He was favored with superior
advantages of
education, which he judiciously improved and became a competent civil
engineer.

When the French and Austrian war was raging upon the plains of Italy, he
became strongly
interested in the cause of Italian liberty, and despite all opposition,
determined to
join the Foreign Legion of France. His friends endeavored to dissuade him,
but these
being unavailing, as a last resort he was introduced to an old officer
formerly of the
French army, then residing in Brooklyn, New York, who used his influence to
discourage
him but not succeeding, he boldly said to him, "If you go, you will be
shot." Young
Prescott mildly replied - "I have thought of this; I have considered it well
- and I
am ready to take the risk." The old soldier could oppose him no longer, but
said,
"Go and the glory of the army of France awaits you."

Charles Prescott immediately joined the Foreign Legion of
France.
He was soon enrolled but before his regiment reached Italy, the peace of
Villafranca
ws declared and his regiment was sent to Africa. There he served for about
two years,
and was promoted to Corporal. Through the agency of his widowed mother,
whose heart
clung to her only son, he was relieved from the service and returned to his
home in
Brooklyn, New York. Here he followed mercantile pursuits, and seemed to
have abandoned
his military spirit; but no sooner had President Lincoln issued his
proclamation for
volunteers to protect our government in the hour of its peril, then he again
flew to his
arms and he who had travelled to a foreign land to serve the cause of
liberty, was prompt

to offer his services to a higher and nobler cause - that of the salvation
of a
country bequeathed to him by the long and laborious services of an honored
and patriotic
grandsire.

He joined the 55th Regular New York Volunteers. (the LaFayette Guards), but
they, not
being ordered to the seat of the war so soon as he desired, he became
impatient and with
about sixty of his company, joined the 14th Regiment of Brooklyn, New York -
who had re-
ceived marching orders. In this regiment he proceeded to Washington. In a
letter to his
mother, written at that time, he announces his satisfaction in the prospect
of rendering
essential aid and service to his country. On the 21st of July, 1861, he
entered that
bloody field of Manasses, and with a coolness and bravery which elicited the
encomiums
of his comrades, he nobly performed his duty in that terrible struggle. He
was wounded
in both legs and lay helpless on the battlefield. In the retreat, a comrade
endeavored
to remove him - but the enemy being in hot pursuit and being satisfied that
both would
be captured, Charles R. Prescott, at his own risk, was left behind.

p.166
He then fell into the hands of his country's enemies, and nothing was heard
of him until
the 8th of August, when a letter was received, dated at Manassas, July 28 -
in which he
wrote: "I was severely wounded at the battle last Sunday, but after two
amputations, I
am doing well." But notwithstanding the encouragement and hope which this
letter inspired
he died in the hospital at Richmond, Virginia on the 16th of August. He
acted well and
nobly, his part, and gave his life for his country, of whom it may be said,
though

"The sum of their being may set in the grave, The light of their glory
remains."
End.

Note - his Farnsworth cousin, Brevet Brig. General Elon John Farnsworth,
also died a
hero in that war. The Charge and Death of Brevet Brigadier General Elon John
Farnsworth.
He and his Prescott cousin (above) were both 26 years of age.

_http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/sidebar/farnsworth.htm_
(http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/sidebar/farnsworth.htm)
(aged 26) at Gettysburg.






**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes
(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)


This thread: