subject index to the William Boston Diary
Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections
| William L. Clements Library
The University of Michigan Schoff Civil War Collection Diaries & Journals 11.1 |
Boston, William, 1837-1915 Rank: Cpl. Regiment: 20th Michigan Infantry Regiment. Co. H (1862-1865) Service: 1862 August 19-1865 May 13
William Boston of Ann Arbor enlisted in Company H of the 20th Michigan Infantry, a company recruited mainly in Ann Arbor and Lodi and officered by graduates of the University of Michigan. The regiment was rushed to Maryland shortly after the Battle of Antietam, and was assigned to Willcox's Division, 2nd Brigade, IX Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Seeing minor action during the Blue Ridge Campaign of October and early November, 1862, Boston received a baptism of fire at Fredericksburg, when his regiment crossing joined in on the disasterous assault on Marye's Heights. In the battle, Boston lost a half-brother, John A. Sutton, who was serving in the 1st Michigan and his regiment sustained several casualties, but no deaths.
After suffering through the cold and disillusionment of the winter of 1862-63 at Falmouth and the frustration of Burnside's mud march, the 20th Infantry were transferred to Kentucky to face John Morgan. They participated in mop up operations after several engagements, including at Jamestown (April 30) and Monticello (May 2), and were engaged in a minor battle at Horseshoe Bend on May 10th, where they were one of 10 regiments pitted against three regiments led by Morgan. They lost 20 men, five of whom were killed in action. On June 7th, Boston's regiment was again reassigned to join in the post-Vicksburg campaign against Johnston's forces in Mississippi. Boston, however, was incapacitated with illness during most of the months of June and July, and was not completely better until after his regiment had been returned to Kentucky in August. From January through March, 1864, Boston was confined to the hospital a second time, this time suffering from erysipelas.
Once again transferred to the eastern theatre, the 20th Michigan served as support to an artillery battery during the Battle of the Wilderness. Boston was shot in the heel and wounded in the face with shrapnel and was left on the field. According to a family legend, Boston and several other wounded soldiers were overtaken by a Confederate cavalry unit, but when Boston flashed a Masonic sign to the Captain leading the unit, he turned away and ordered his men to follow. He was then able to crawl back to his lines and was sent to a hospital in Fredericksburg to recover. Boston's wounds were light enough that by May 16th he was serving as a nurse, and was able to leave hospital, though without rejoining his regiment, by the 22nd. While Boston lay at City Point, the 20th Michigan took part in the Siege of Petersburg and the Battle of the Crater. In mid-August, he finally rejoined his comrades at Petersburg and was present for the Battle of Weldon Railroad and the heavy fighting on the Petersburg front during the final two weeks of that month.
The 20th remained stationed near Petersburg over the winter, frequently exposed to Conferedate shelling and sharpshooters. On March 25th, the regiment's positions at Fort Stedman came under assault by Confederate forces, but the 20th, in Boston's eyes, provided their best acquittal in battle to date, repelling the assault and capturing 300 prisoners of war, and nine days later, they entered the city when the Confederate defences finally collapsed. The regiment remained in Petersburg until the middle of May, and were among the regiments that paraded in the Grand Review in Washington on May 23rd. Their last act as soldiers, on May 31st, was to intervene to break up a "fuss" among some of Sherman's soldiers.
The diary consists of brief entries written almost daily during Boston's service in the 20th Michigan Infantry. While he is not prone to lengthy descriptions, introspection or detailed observations of his activities or emotions, the diary does provide a useful record. Early on in the war, Boston looked favorably upon the regiment's colonel, but was not as enamored of other officers, writing that "[t]he boys were glad to see him [Col. Williams] and cheered him lustily. Most of the officers looked sober" (1863 April 26). His comments on routine daily life, though, tend to be very brief and only occasionally useful.
During his western service, Boston's diary is fairly thin, with perhaps longest and best description relating to a trip taken to some caverns in southern Kentucky (1863 May 27). The writing improves, however, following Boston's second tour in Virginia, and includes a good account of battles in the Petersburg Campaign from late August through November, 1864, as well as descriptions of life during the siege in the late fall 1864 through Spring, 1865. Boston's best description of an engagement is that for the desperate Confederate assault on Fort Stedman. His entries from the Appomattox Campaign are lengthier than average and provide a very good account of the regiment's activities.
Berry, Chester D. Loss of the Sultana and reminiscences of survivors... (Lansing, 1892)
A typescript of William Boston's diary was donated to the Clements Library by his son, Orlan W. Boston of Ann Arbor, on January 15th, 1938.
subject index to the William Boston Diary
Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections
 Homepage |
 Manuscripts |
 Collections |  Staff |
 Hours and policies |
|---|