This photograph is from the Library of Congress website, and is titled:
​"Privates and twin brothers Bartlett and John Ellsworth with brother Samuel Ellsworth of Company A, 12th New Hampshire Infantry"

The brothers Ellsworth were all born and living in Wentworth, Grafton County, New Hampshire when the call for 300,000 troops went out in July 1862. The 12th NH Infantry was quickly raised, primarily in Belknap County, beginning in August, with neighboring towns of other counties adding their volunteers. The town of Wentworth contributed 27 men to the 12th NH, 8 of those having the surname Ellsworth. Four of them went into Co. A, while the others were assigned to Co. K.

About the brothers in the photograph:
Samuel Ellsworth, at age 42, enlisted on 7 Aug 1862, and was mustered in on 15 Sept as a private. Captured at Chancellorsville on 5/3/63, he was paroled twelve days later. He was transferred to the 5th Company, 1st Battalion, Invalid Corps (later the Veteran Reserve Corps) on 15 Jan '64, and to Co. D, 1st V.R.C. He deserted in Albany, NY on 15 Oct 1864, and returned to his wife and children in Wentworth. He died in Plymouth, NH on 22 Aug 1895, aged 75.

Bartlett Ellsworth, age 39, enlisted on 26 Aug 1862, and was mustered in on 24 Sept, a private. He would die of typhoid fever near Falmouth, Virginia on 22 Dec 1862. He is buried in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery. His widow, Nancy M (Batchelder), filed for, and received a pension. They had four children.

John Calvin Ellsworth, age 39, enlisted on 30 Aug 1862, and was mustered in as a private on the 15th of Sept. Listed as missing following the Battle of Chancellorsville on 3 May '63, he would later return to his unit. He received a disability discharge on 7 Sept 1864, in Concord. He was married and would live the remainder of his life in Wentworth, dying there on 9 Oct 1881.

Link to original digital scan:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.37120/

It was the first weekend of October and, as they have for fifteen years past, the men of Company A, 12th New Hampshire Infantry, gathered in the field behind the Cullimore Farm on New Durham Ridge for a living history Civil War encampment. I joined them again, this my 7th year.

Begun in 2003 as a fundraiser to place a Civil War monument in town [see New Durham Monument page], the money now being raised through the bake sale held by members of the co-hosting New Durham Historical Society during the two-day event goes towards the Civil War Memorial Scholarship Fund [Attn: The 2019 application is up, if you're a graduating New Durham senior and plan on attending college].

In recent years, the group has been portraying a camp of the "Provost Guard", a unit of men detached from the 12th NH to guard the vital railroad station and powder mill in town, as well as arrest any deserters finding their way back home. This camp would have served as the quarters for those members of the unit who were off-duty.

There is more to read about the Provost Guard and the Eureka Powder Works on the 16th Annual Encampment page.

​​While some of the participants have come and gone over the years, and the displays have been changed at times to add variety, the overall outcome of this gathering remains the same: to give the visiting public a chance to see the daily life and routines of a Civil War soldier. It also gives us reenactors the ability to "walk in their shoes" and relive the 1860's, if just for one weekend. For those of us who had ancestors that served, having such an opportunity to spend this time as they may have, is an experience like no other.

See you in October 2019!

The Battle of the Crater, aka "Burnside's Mine", took place on the 30th of July, 1864, near Petersburg, Virginia. With a siege of the city having just begun, a plan was devised to break through the Confederate lines by mining under a section of their defenses, and blowing it up with explosives.

The attack began at 4:44 am, when the mine exploded, leaving a 200 foot long, 50-60 foot wide crater in the line, some 25 to 30 feet deep in places. A division under General Ledlie led the attack, and marched straight into the hole in the line. They were to continue on towards Cemetery Hill, but were bogged down within the crater. Two other divisions followed them in, to occupy the grounds on both flanks of Ledlie, while he continued forward.

Several New Hampshire regiments were a part of the 2nd Division, 2nd Brigade, of the IX Corps: the 6th, 9th and 11th Infantry Regiments. They followed the 1st Division into battle, and went to the right of the crater, in an attempt to reach the high ground of "Cemetery Hill" (Blandford Cemetery). 

It did not take long before the Confederates were able to recover from the explosion, and attacked the Union forces. With many of the troops still within the crater, and more marching into it, the soldiers were caught in a crossfire, with nowhere to go. Shortly after noon, the order was given to fall back to the Union lines. The losses for the day were around 4400 dead, wounded, and missing, all but 100 of them from the IX Corps. 

​Aylings Revised Register listed the number of killed and mortally wounded of the NH units as follows:
6th NH Infantry: 1 officer and 8 enlisted men
9th NH Infantry: 1 officer and 22 enlisted men
11th NH Infantry: 22 enlisted men

The 4th NH Infantry, which was part of the X Corps (attached to the XVIII), suffered 13 dead in the battle.

Further reading:
​Jackman, Lyman and Hadley, Amos. History of the Sixth New Hampshire Regiment in the War for the Union. Concord, NH: Republican Press Association, 1891.
Lord, Edward Oliver. History of the Ninth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion. Concord, NH: Republican Press Association, 1895.
Cogswell, Leander W. A History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment, Volunteer Infantry in the Rebellion War, 1861-1865. Concord, NH: Republican Press Association, 1891.

Websites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Crater​
​http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/the-crater.html?tab=facts
​