To Secure the body of his Captain: Nelson Ward’s Medal of Honor
The summer heat took its toll on the blue-clad troopers for another day as they took to their mounts to continue the monumental task of destruction. One of those men affected by the oppressive elements was Nelson Ward, of the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Despite his illness, and ignoring his health, a decision made by Ward on the evening of June 25, 1864, landed him in a very precarious and tight spot.
Born November 20, 1837, Nelson Ward grew up in Columbiana County, Ohio. The close proximity to the Pennsylvania line might indicate why Company M, 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry recruited men from the greater Columbus area. On August 5, 1861, Nelson entered into service with the new cavalry company as a private and started off for Philadelphia. Naturally, for all new recruits, the fresh troopers received instructions in all things military. How to dress, how to set up camps, and, most importantly, how to ride and fight, all by the army’s standard.
Nelson took to the new life well and gained promotions throughout his time with the regiment. By early 1865, Nelson Ward attained the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant for his company, where he had the all too important task of seeing to the equipping of his men from the clothes on their back to the shoes on their feet. Until that time, Private Ward fell in when called to do his duty and follow his orders, as a good soldier must in any circumstance.
By 1864, the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry served with the 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, Army of the James, under Brigadier General August V. Kautz. In the late spring and summer of that year, the 11th saw action with the Army of the James in its operations around Bermuda Hundred and took part in the June 9 engagement at Petersburg, Virginia. That fight became known as the first, or “other,” battle of “Old Men and Young Boys,” named for the primary Confederate defenders of aged or youthful Virginia Reserves. Those types of troops, ill-suited or too young for active military service with the Army of Northern Virginia, would later play a role later against the same 11th PA Cavalry.
**By late June, 1864, the armies of Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee began the long, arduous task of siege operations around the City of Petersburg. Grant held several pieces in play to make Lee’s position untenable. While the Army of Northern Virginia had their backs pinned to Petersburg in the east, General Philip Sheridan’s cavalry tied down the bulk of Lee’s cavalry north of Richmond. General David Hunter’s Union forces trekked up the Shenandoah Valley with the intention to sever western lines of supply by the conquest of Lynchburg. The last element for Grant’s strategy rested in severing Lee’s ties to the south. A cavalry raid in force could do the trick.
On June 22, Brigadier General James Wilson, division commander of the 3rd Division, Army of the Potomac’s Cavalry Corps, set in motion Grant’s orders to “sever the lines of communication to the South.” Falling into the raiding column, Kautz’s division and the troopers of the 11th PA set out first for their first objective, while Wilson’s division covered the rear.
The primary target was the crucial rail junction in Burkeville, Virginia where the South Side Rail Road and the Richmond and Danville Railroad intersected. Kautz’s men arrived there on June 23, and began their work of burning and tearing up track. Soon, every building of logistical and military importance was in flames and miles of tracks were torn up stretching in all directions. Soon after that, and after Wilson’s delaying fight at Blacks and Whites Station, the two columns joined at Meherrin Station and set their sights on the next target, Staunton River Bridge.
Upon reaching the bridge on June 25, General Wilson determined that it must burn, to further add to the destruction of Robert E. Lee’s lines of communication to the south, and make this raid a firm Federal success. However, other than instructing General Kautz to take his division and fire the bridge, no other strategy was implemented. Seeing the futility of an attack on the fixed Confederate position, Kautz pleaded with Wilson to reconsider. Despite those pleas, Wilson remained determined the attack would proceed. Kautz carried out his orders and set his regiments in motion.
Occupying the Federal left and the East bank of the trestle, Spear’s Brigade, the 11th Pennsylvania, including the men of Company M assembled under the cover of Federal artillery. Prior to stepping off, Private Ward, without regard to his debilitating health, voluntarily took the place of another sick comrade from his company. As Federal artillery attempted to best the Confederate defenders, Kautz’s men launched their attack. Advancing across the open river bottom, tall grass and wheat afforded the only cover for the blue-clad troopers. Never with the intent to capture and hold the bridge, the troopers attempted to charge forward with enough force to dislodge the Confederate defenders for the purpose of firing the bridge. Once they completed that task, the troopers could retire to the safety of Roanoke Station and leave as quick as they came.
When Ward and the rest of the Federals got within one hundred yards of the bridge, they found in their front the only true cover in the entire assault, a simple drainage ditch in which to lay down. Once they received the order to advance, the troopers surged forward into a maelstrom of shot and shell, peppered briskly by the “Old Men and Young Boys.”
At some point in the battle, which would prove to be four separate assaults, Private Ward found himself and Captain Reynolds the only men of rank anywhere to be seen. Ward remarked to his captain regarding orders from Colonel Spears, without hesitation, Captain Reynolds shouted, “Forward men, forward!” With those words and a lunge forward, Captain Reynolds lay dead. Ward, hunkered down with his fellow troopers, was asked by a comrade what they were to do. Ward, slinging his carbine over his shoulder, cried out “Follow me boys,” as he led his men towards the bridge. All were shot down but Ward and one other man.
On their return, Ward noticed the body of his beloved Captain Reynolds. Ward, ever acting the part of a good soldier, paused under fire and directed men to assist in the removal of his chieftain’s body. Receiving no aid, and finding no comfort in the position he was in, Ward calmly gathered the personal belongings, a spur, watch, money, and revolver, of Captain Reynolds so that a grieving family might have something to remember their slain hero. While tending to Reynolds, a bullet struck Ward’s boot heel and another passed through the skirt of his blouse.
For those actions, Nelson Ward was awarded the Medal of Honor on September 10, 1897, at the age of 59. After the issue of the nation’s highest award, Ward enjoyed another 31 more years until he died peacefully on February 5, 1929 at his home in California. He was laid to rest in Sunnyside Cemetery, in Long Beach.