Over forty New Hampshire men, whether a native son, a resident, or a volunteer accredited to the state, earned a Medal of Honor for their actions during the Civil War. Here is one story:
NATHANIEL C. BARKER
Sergeant, Co. E, 11th New Hampshire Infantry
Place/Date of action: Spotsylvania, VA, 12 May 1864
Date of issue: 23 Sept 1897
Citation: Six color bearers of the regiment having been killed*, he voluntarily took both flags of the regiment and carried them through the remainder of the battle.
Sergeant, Co. E, 11th New Hampshire Infantry
Place/Date of action: Spotsylvania, VA, 12 May 1864
Date of issue: 23 Sept 1897
Citation: Six color bearers of the regiment having been killed*, he voluntarily took both flags of the regiment and carried them through the remainder of the battle.
Nathaniel Churchill Barker, a Piermont, New Hampshire native, left home at age sixteen, moving to Manchester, NH, where he worked at a cotton mill. He enlisted on 21 Aug 1862, and was mustered into Co. E, 11th NH Infantry as a corporal on the 29th. He was promoted to sergeant on 30 Aug '63.
With the 11th NH, Barker participated in numerous engagements, including White Sulphur Springs, Fredericksburg, Siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, Miss., Siege of Knoxville, Fort Sanders, and the Wilderness. The Battle of Spotsylvania, on 12 May 1864, fell next in his record of battles.
The regiment,in the Second Brigade of Gen. Potter's 2nd Division in Burnside's IX Corps, held the Union's left flank when the battle commenced in the early morning of the 12th. His obituary, printed in the Boston Evening Transcript on March 8th, 1904, described the event, in part: "...six color bears were shot down. As the last bearer of the Stars and Stripes staggered from a rifle ball, Sergeant Barker sprang from his cover and seized the falling colors...the State's flag also fell, and this, too, was taken by the brave sergeant, who bore both flags through the remainder of the battle".
With the 11th NH, Barker participated in numerous engagements, including White Sulphur Springs, Fredericksburg, Siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, Miss., Siege of Knoxville, Fort Sanders, and the Wilderness. The Battle of Spotsylvania, on 12 May 1864, fell next in his record of battles.
The regiment,in the Second Brigade of Gen. Potter's 2nd Division in Burnside's IX Corps, held the Union's left flank when the battle commenced in the early morning of the 12th. His obituary, printed in the Boston Evening Transcript on March 8th, 1904, described the event, in part: "...six color bears were shot down. As the last bearer of the Stars and Stripes staggered from a rifle ball, Sergeant Barker sprang from his cover and seized the falling colors...the State's flag also fell, and this, too, was taken by the brave sergeant, who bore both flags through the remainder of the battle".
The following month, at Cold Harbor, Sgt. Barker was wounded in the hip, and spent the remainder of his service in several hospitals, until being discharged on 25 May 1865.
After the war, Nathaniel took a job at the County Jail in Manchester, and later at the Amoskeag Locomotive Works. In 1870, he removed to Somerville, Mass, where he was employed as a carpenter. He joined Ladder No. 1 of the city's fire department, was soon promoted to foreman, until reaching the assistant chief position in 1877.
Nathaniel Barker died in Somerville, MA on 7 March 1904, aged 67 yrs, from cancer of the liver and kidney. His body was sent to Merrimack, NH, where he was buried on the 11th in Last Rest Cemetery.
Nathaniel Barker died in Somerville, MA on 7 March 1904, aged 67 yrs, from cancer of the liver and kidney. His body was sent to Merrimack, NH, where he was buried on the 11th in Last Rest Cemetery.
Barker Plot - Last Rest Cem, Merrimack (photo taken 5/19/2019)
Links:
A History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Volunteers: The Color Guard
Boston Evening Transcript, 8 March 1904 (pg 2)
Medal of Honor, 1863 - 1968: pg 25
Note:
* While the citation claims that six color bearers were killed, only James K. Lane of Co. G was mortally wounded on that day, while the others in the guard fell wounded. A total of 19 men of the 11th NH were killed that day, with over a hundred twenty-five wounded.
A History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Volunteers: The Color Guard
Boston Evening Transcript, 8 March 1904 (pg 2)
Medal of Honor, 1863 - 1968: pg 25
Note:
* While the citation claims that six color bearers were killed, only James K. Lane of Co. G was mortally wounded on that day, while the others in the guard fell wounded. A total of 19 men of the 11th NH were killed that day, with over a hundred twenty-five wounded.
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