My Uncles, Pliny and John

Assault on Battery Wagner
(Source)

Now I've written about my great-granduncle Pliny before, he was (I think) my maternal grandmother's uncle, so I think great-granduncle is the more proper term, though I suppose great-great-uncle fits as well.

We always just refer to him as "Uncle Pliny," everyone in the family gets that, Pliny isn't such a common name anymore, even still, there was only one Pliny on my Mom's side of the family tree.

Uncle Pliny served in the 7th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry about which this source says -

Mustered into the service of the United States October 29 to December 15, 1861, at Manchester, by Haldimand S. Putnam, 1 Lt. U.S.A. Organization completed December 15, 1861. The original members who had not re-enlisted were mustered out December 27, 1864, at Concord, by Ai B. Thompson, Capt. U.S.A. (retired). The re-enlisted men and recruits were mustered out July 20, 1865, at Goldsborough, N.C., by William H. Pierpont, Capt. 7 Conn. Inf.

That source noted above has a fairly complete roster of the men who served in the 7th, a few of whom were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the war, a topic for another post someday, perhaps. Another thing worth noting is that 1LT Putnam who mustered the regiment into service, rose to the rank of Colonel and commanded the regiment in the second assault on Battery Wagner outside Charleston, SC.

Colonel Putnam was killed in action during that assault, and my Uncle Pliny was wounded. My uncle later returned to the regiment and served throughout the war. My research also indicates that the 7th was in action at the siege of Petersburg in '64. Another vicious fight.

This entry on the 7th NH has the following listing -

Gammell, Pliny F. Co. A; b. Hillsborough; age 19; res. Hillsborough; enl. Oct. 25, '61; must. in Oct. 29, '61, as Priv.; wd. July 18, '63, Ft. Wagner, S.C.; re-enl. and must. in Feb. 29, '64; app. Corp. Dec. 17, '64; must. out July 20, '65. P.O. ad., Lowell, Mass.

My Mom's side of the family has another soldier named Gammell. My grandmother's brother John, or Uncle John as we boys called him.


Soldiers in the Hürtgen Forest, November 1944
(Source)

I suppose, technically speaking, he was my granduncle, sometimes called great-uncle. All I know is that he was a pretty cool guy. Born in 1916 he was older than many infantrymen in World War II. Nevertheless, he served in the infantry, 4th Infantry Division to be precise.

Somewhere at Chez Sarge is a suitcase with letters home from him, I also have his Purple Heart medal, which he received for wounds suffered in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest.

Uncle John's outfit came over the beaches at Normandy later than the rest of the 4th, parts of which landed on D-Day on Utah Beach. He might have been a replacement, I need to dig deeper into those letters. The 4th was heavily involved in the campaign in France.

I do know that Uncle John remembered well the horror of the Hürtgen Forest, wet, cold, and heavy fighting. When I was in Germany, my grandmother asked me if I was near enough to that area to perhaps go take some pictures so her brother could see what it looked like in modern times.

Of course, it was a beautiful summer day when we headed down there, about an hour and change from where we lived. Beautiful country, but knowing the weather in that area in the fall, I can well imagine what it was like in November of '44.

Uncle John's war ended in that dark, wet Hell. A German bullet went through the top of his helmet, just grazing the helmet liner and my uncle's head. He lived, but he was evacuated back to England (I think). By the time he had recovered, the war was over in Europe.

That would definitely get your attention!

War, there ain't no glory in it.

But in my family, we remember those who served.

Uncle John passed back in 1998, just before I retired from the Air Force. It would have been nice to have talked with him one more time. Ah, perhaps when I too reach the clearing at the end of the path, we can have that chat.