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TAPS
Fading light dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky,
Gleaming bright.
From afar drawing nigh,
Falls the night.
Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, From the hills,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.
Then good night, Peaceful night,
Till the light of the dawn
Shineth bright,
God is near, do not fear,
Friend, good night. |
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BORN:
June 15, 1841 at Killingly, CT
Entered Service in the US
Army from Hartford, CT
Earned
The Medal of Honor During the Civil War For heroism on June
29, 1864 at Reams' Station, VA
DIED: July
30, 1922 at the age of 81
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After raids
against Danville and Southside Railway, Union forces under
General James Wilson attempted to rejoin the Army of the Potomac
in front of Petersburg when they ran into a blockading force of
Confederate cavalry at Reams' Station, Virginia, on June 29,
1864. Further advance was impossible without support, and
General Wilson's force was already tired and battered from
previous combat actions. Captain Edward Whitaker volunteered to
raise a force of forty volunteers, with which he blitzed the
enemy line. It was a near-suicidal effort, and every volunteer
had been instructed that whoever got through should continue on
until they reached General Meade's headquarters. Several men
fell to the enemy fusillade, but Captain Whitaker and eighteen
of his soldiers broke through the enemy lines and persisted on
their desperate journey to deliver their important message.
Captain Whitaker volunteered to lead a relief force back through
the enemy's lines, but by that time General Wilson's force had
made a detour around the Confederate position. His heroism
however, in making the dangerous effort to break through an
enemy force as "strong as a stone wall" earned him the
Medal of Honor.
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