Thursday, July 4, 2013

The Road to the Death Strewn Slope: Part Nine


The last of a nine-part series about the journey of Benjamin Franklin Heald and Llewellyn Heald to Gettysburg with the Twentieth Maine Regiment, June 29-July2, 1863.


In the aftermath of the battle, Frank’s cousin Llewellyn was brought by ambulance to the field hospital of the Fifth Corps on the farm of Michael Fiscel, a mile and a half southeast of Little Round Top. On June 20, he was transferred to the US General Hospital in York, Pennsylvania, where he remained until late October. He was promoted to corporal in November, 1863, for “gallantry in action” and to sergeant in July, 1864, for “gallant and meritorious service.” After the war, he went home to Sumner where he married twice and had four daughters. He was a leading citizen of the town. The effects of his Gettysburg wound were ongoing—he walked with a limp and suffered chronic pain throughout his life. He returned to Gettysburg in 1889, where on Oct. 3 he was present for the dedication of the Twentieth Maine monument on Little Round Top. A photograph shows him alongside many of his comrades, among them Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Photo: Llewellyn B. Heald, wearing his Grand Army of the Republic uniform, sometime after the war. 

1 comment:

Deb said...

Thank you for the tribute to my grt-grt-grandfather Llewellyn Benjamin Heald! His daughter Estella Jane Heald m. James Bradley Cobb of East Sumner, my grt-grandparents, & their only son Horace Llewellyn Cobb m. Lola Arabella Merrill, my grandparents who also resided in East Sumner across from the church. My brother Charles Llewellyn Tripp & cousin Llewellyn Cobb are namesakes:) Deborah Tripp Probert