Touch the Elbow - Blogging the Civil War

We sent the following to the editors on July 5th in responsed to their article on Samuel Jordan - as of today, it has not been published.

Good Evening,

We read Mr. James Buckley's article titled Civil War took arm of a Franklin Man (June 30, 2006) with interest. The three of us have been researching the 18 th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry for some combined 50 years, have run a website for the unit for 10 years, run a daily blog on the Civil War, wrote "The Civil War Research Guide" based upon our experiences, and more importantly, Donald is a descendant of Stephen Jordan, the soldier in question.

We would have been glad to have helped Mr. Buckley in this article if he had only asked. Because of the extensive research, we could have offered a biography written by Donald, pension and military records as well as family history. Instead it seems Mr. Buckley used standard resources that only scratched the surface and didn't dig any deeper to reach his conclusions.
Although the fight where Stephen lost his arm may have been deemed indecisive, that does not mean it was in vain as Mr. Buckly asserts. United States soldiers never fight in vain when they fight for our country, this as true today as it was in the Civil War. What might have happened if Mr. Jordan and the rest of the Union soldiers who were injured or killed had not fought? At that point, it could very well have been a Confederate victory – much worse than indecisive. In our eyes, the worst part of the battle is not the outcome between the two sides that bloody day so long ago but that the battlefield has been lost to the world, paved over by progress.

Because of our extensive research that we have collected, we could have also helped by providing a better conclusion to the article. Since we knew of Stephen's fiery temper, it is doubtful that he sat around in self pity as Mr. Buckley puts forward. Instead he could have told of how he got on with his life and started his own teamster company and later bought his family homestead and farmed, just like he did before he went to war.

But we weren't asked and couldn't provide anything until now, so we offer Mr. Jordan's biography as written by Donald and a picture of Stephen after the war. We will also ask that if any reader is a descendant of a soldier from the 18 th or has any information about the unit to contact us at http://www.18thmass.com.

Tom Churchill
Steve McManus
Donald Thompson

Co-Authors – "The Civil War Research Guide"
18th Massachusetts online – www.18thmass.com
Touch the Elbow – Blogging the Civil War – www.18thmass.com/blog
Biography on Samuel Harris Jordan (great-great-grandfather of Donald L. Thompson):



Born in Franklin, MA on October 14, 1845, he was the son of Alfred and Sarah L. (Pitcher) Jordan. He enlisted in the 45th Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteer Militia, "The Cadet Corps" on September 10, 1862, one month shy of his seventeenth birthday, for a nine month enlistment. He was assigned to Company C and was mustered at Camp Meigs, Readville, MA on Sept. 26, 1862.

The Regiment embarked in the steamship Mississippi and sailed to Beaufort, NC on November 5, where they were assigned to Amory's Brigade, Foster's Division. Their first action was at Kingston , NC, where they lost 15 killed and 43 wounded. On Dec. 16, 1862 at Whitehall the loss was 4 killed and 16 wounded. On April 23, 1863 the regiment assaulted and captured a Confederate position astride a railroad near Goldsboro, losing one killed and four wounded. The regiment performed guard duty in several cities and then embarked for Boston, where they arrived on June 30, 1863 and were disbanded on July 8, 1863.

Again with parental consent, he re-enlisted as a Veteran Recruit with the 18th Massachusetts, receiving a bonus of $325. Family tradition holds that he was recruited by his future father-in-law, George Washington Thompson, a Sergeant in Company I.

On June 1, 1864 the regiment engaged in a fire fight at Bethesda Church, VA, where Samuel suffered a wound in the left fore arm, a minnie ball penetrating and shattering the arm. He was removed to a medical aid station, with the assistance of William F. King, of Company I, and at the aid station had his arm amputated.

His records reflect that on October 21, 1864 he was transferred to Co. G of the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry, where the first entry on the Company muster roll indicated he was "Absent Wounded." On February 1, 1865 he was recorded as being wounded sick in the Army Hospital, Broad St., Philadelphia. He was later transferred to Dale Army Hospital in Worcester from which he was release on April 20, 1865. He received a disability discharge from the Army on May 12, 1865.

Following his discharge from military service he married Alice Jane Thompson in Woonsocket, R.I. on Sept. 15, 1865. She was the daughter George W. and Joana C. (Keen) Thompson and 15 years of age at the time of the marriage. George Thompson was a sergeant in Co. I, 18th Massachusetts Infantry, and was responsible for the re-enlistment of Samuel Jordan in the 18th Mass. This couple had nine children, including Henry Lincoln, born Oct. 20, 1867; Frank A., born Oct. 10, 1869; William Warren, born April 24, 1875; Ethel Zeolide, born June 6, 1878; Alfred Almond, born March 4, 1880; Roscoe Alton, born Oct. 6, 1881; Eva Fostina, born March 28, 1884; Irvin Forest, born March 28, 1884; and Clara Etta, born Feb. 22, 1892.

Samuel Jordan purchased land in Wrentham, MA on Dec. 17, 1867, in an area now incorporated into Norfolk, MA. During this period he began his own teamster business, hauling produce from the woolen mills in Norfolk and Franklin, MA to the railroad. Considering the disability of having one good arm he was a hardy, independent person to be able to handle situations involved in such a business. After the death of his brother John Warren Jordan in 1891, he evidently purchased the family homestead in Franklin and returned to farming, where he remained until his own death in 1898. From Franklin town reports he owned a horse, two cows, and a heifer. He was a resigstered voter, being listed as having paid a poll tax.

He is reported by his children to have had a fiery temper. He was a member of George Maitland Post, Grand Army of the Republic in Franklin and participated in Memorial Day parades. A photograph, taken about 1895 depicts a serious man with either light or gray hair, a drooping mustache, and wearing an old uniform coat with a medal pinned on the left breast. He applied for a disability pension on June 20, 1865 and received the pension, amount unknown, on certificate 68225.

Samuel Jordan died at his home in Franklin, MA on Dec. 29, 1898 of Bright's disease and was buried in the Union Street Cemetery. Alice Jane Jordan applied for a widow's pension on March 14, 1899 and was granted a pension under certificate 487993. She died in Wrentham, MA on April 17, 1917.