Lieut. C.M. Kingsbury - North East, PA - Graves Mentioning a Cause of Death on Waymarking.com

The grave of Lieutenant Caspar M. Kingsbury is located at North East Cemetery in North East, Pennsylvania. According to the grave stone, Kingsbury died on May 3, 1863 at the age of 24 at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia during the American Civil War. The stone states that he was "killed instantly by a fragment of shell."

The book Soldiers & True: The Story of the 11th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865 by John R. Boyle notes that Kingsbury was promoted from Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant on February 14, 1863. It also describes his death at Chancellorsville, along with the suffering of his comrades, stating, "The Third Corps was suffering severely, reinforcements were called for and refused, although Meade and Reynolds were only one mile distant and were not engaged, and Meade earnestly desired to strike Stuart's flank with the Fifth Corps. At eight o’clock, exhausted of men and ammunition, Sickles began to retire. The enemy pressed forward and captured his works, enfilading Geary’s position from the right. Musketry fire blazed down the line. Shells plowed through the ranks. Fire came up from the left. Lieutenant C. M. Kingsbury was shot through the chest with an unexploded shell. Heads and limbs were blown off. The trenches became untenable, and our men leaped the breastworks, preferring the enemy’s side to their own. Never had the command seen such a withering artillery fire. Hancock stood fast on the left, but Geary was practically left alone on his line. Hemmed in on three sides, he obeyed an order to bring off his men at nine o’clock, and retired in good order to the rear of the Chancellor House, which was in flames, where he threw up new rifle pits in a woods. The smoke and heat of the field were stifling, and in it many of the dead were consumed and not a few of the wounded perished. The Bullock clearing over which the command passed was strewn with the victims of the day and the previous evening. The men were suffering for water and were beginning to want for food, their eight days’ rations being exhausted" (pp. 98-99 - emphasis added).

Source: (visit link)

Type of Death Listed: War related (Killed in Action) Cause of death inscription on headstone: Killed by a fragment of shell Website (if available): [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
When posting a visit to an unusual grave, please include the minimum of one picture of your visit as proof that you were there in the flesh.

Although not required, please include your personal experience of this location.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.