Let me try to explain this web of confusion before moving onto his Military Service Records (see below). Also, I think Daniel’s fellow soldier of Company B, David Lincoln, needs mentioning here because I feel that Lincoln was probably assigned one of Daniel’s dates of death by mistake.
A few documents, such as the Company Muster Roll, along with Daniel’s gravestone itself list his date of death as December 17, 1862 (which would be four days after he was wounded).
However, the Corporal (and later 1st Sergeant) for Company B, Elnathan Tyler, says Daniel died “one or two days later.” (see footnote below)*
The Surgeon General’s Office—Records and Pension Division, and the personal Surgeon of the 14th Connecticut, P.G. Rockwell—who would have attended to Daniel himself—list him as dying on December 16, 1862 (which would be three days later, which is pretty close to Tyler's "....two days later"). (See the page “Registers of Deaths of Volunteers 1861-1865”)
Also, Daniel’s date of death is listed as December 20, 1862 on the Soldier’s Monument from 1874 in Middletown. This is incorrect, and I have yet to figure out where the town got that date from. Also, several historical rosters—which just parrot one another, along with the History of the 14th Regiment (by Charles D. Page), have Daniel listed as being wounded on December 13, 1862 and dying December 13, 1863! Yes, 1863. Typo perhaps?
If things couldn’t get any more confusing—and mysterious, David Lincoln (who was mortally wounded by the same artillery shell as Daniel) is listed as being wounded on December 13, 1862 and dying on December 17, 1862! This date of death for Lincoln is found in the same sources as for Daniel: monument, rosters, and regimental history. On the other hand, Corporal Elnathan B. Tyler confidently wrote* that Lincoln “died the same evening”—which would be December 13, 1862.
Could David Lincoln’s and Daniel Otis’ dates of death have been entangled and confused somehow? I think this may be the case.
So who died when, and on what day?
As to Lincoln, I tend to trust what Corporal Tyler said, making his date of death, December 13, 1862.
And Daniel?
Well, that’s a bit trickier. However, we can weed out the other dates, and what is left are two dates in question: December 16, 1862 and December 17, 1862.
So which day did Daniel die, then?
I'm not 100-percent sure, but this is just a theory: what if Daniel did die on December 16th, as 14th CT Surgeon P.G. Rockwell notes in his records, yet it was later in the day, and just too late (or too dark out) to bury him at that time? Therefore, he was buried the next day on December 17th, and those that buried him, which would be his fellow soldiers, and not the Surgeon, assumed that was the day he died. Not bothering to confirm the date with the Surgeon, they recorded December 17th in the Company records as Daniel’s date of death. It seems as if the mix up in death dates was nothing but a case of good old-fashioned miscommunication—or lack of it! Hell, the military was full of miscommunications between individuals—case-in-point: Burnside’s pontoon debacle at Fredericksburg!
But, based on the research, it seems that Daniel's date of death leans more toward the 16th, than not—at least that is what the final record says in the form of a "Casualty Sheet" (see service records below). Working with such old documents, that have different dates, and from different sources, makes pinning down an exact date a real challenge—for example: all the mess of dates above!
Below, I went record-by-record, discussing the details of this correspondence. I also transcribed the letters and then commented on the pertinent points.
***
Footnote:
*Transcribed from “History of Company B,” by Corporal Elnathan B. Tyler, page 13 (emphasis is mine): “The Reb shell that burst on the little bridge crossing the canal on Prussian Street near the old depot just as Co. B was crossing, deprived us of 2 good men. D.B. Lincoln and D.H. Otis. Both were terribly mangled, and Lincoln died the same evening while Otis lived a day or two longer. He was one of the youngest and one of the best members of Co. B.”
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| Document #1 |
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| Document #2 |
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| Document #3 |
The following is a transcription of "Document #3," above.
Adjutant General’s Office
Washington May 8, 1873
Sir:
I have to inform you that Daniel H. Otis, Pvt, Co. B, 14 Regt. Conn. Volunteers, is reported on the muster out roll of that company for the months of, dated May 31, 1865, as follows: “Killed in action Dec. 13, 1862.”
Reg. Ret. for Dec. 1862, reports him “Died Dec 17, 1862 of wounds recd in the battle of Fredericksburg” and to request that you furnish this Office with such information relative to this soldier as the records of your Office may afford.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant
J.P. Martin
Assistant Adjutant General
To Surgeon General
U.S. Army
Washington, D.C.
My Comments: This letter is dated May 8, 1873 and is being sent FROM J.P. Martin, the Adjutant General, TO the Surgeon General in Washington, D.C.
For some reason, Mr. Martin is informing the Surgeon General that the Muster Out Roll for Company B reports Daniel as “killed in action December 13, 1862," and the Regimental Register reports him as “died December 17, 1862.”
Mr. Martin wants the Surgeon General’s Office to furnish him with information relative to Daniel’s death. There must be a reason that the Adjutant General’s office is questioning these dates, seeking to validate Daniel's date of death. I wonder why? Why 11 years later?
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| Document #4-A |
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| Document #4-B |
The following is a transcription of "Document #4-A," above.
War Department.
Surgeon General’s Office
Record and Pension Division
Washington, D.C. June 10, 1873
[Certificate from Records]
It appears from the “List of Casualties” accompanying the “Monthly Report of Sick and Wounded,” of the 14th Reg’t Conn. Vol. 2, for the month of December, 1862, that Pvt. Daniel H. Otis, Co. B, of that Regiment, died December 16, 1862 of gunshot wound.
The station of the Regiment at the end of that month was near Falmouth, Va. and the above report was furnished by Surgeon P.G. Rockwell.
Remarks: the Regt. Registers prior to 1863, are not on file.
By order of the Surgeon General
J.J. Woodward
The following is a transcription of "Document #4-B," above.
Surgeon General’s Office
Record and Pension Division
Washington D.C. June 10, 1873
Respectfully returned to the Adjutant General, U.S. Army, with report enclosed.
By order of the Surgeon General
J.J. Woodward
Entered in Register as having died Dec. 16, 1862
Room 2. Reg. Div.
a.g.o. July 10, 73
Note that the "Registers of Deaths of Volunteers 1861-1865" also lists Daniel as dying December 16, 1862.
For some reason, the documents mentioned by the Surgeon General—the ones that reflect the December 16th date—seem to carry more weight than the ones mentioned by the Adjutant General that reflect the December 17th date.
Why is that?
Is it because those documents that reflect the December 16th date are on file and the documents that reflect the December 17th date are not? After all, the Surgeon General remarks in his report that the “Regt. Registers prior to 1863, are not on file.” Surely, he is commenting on the “Reg. Ret.” (a.k.a: Regimental Register) the Adjutant mentions in his original letter—the same register that the Adjutants says reports Daniel as “Died Dec 17, 1862 of wounds recd in the battle of Fredericksburg.”
If it's "not on file" then where did the Adjutant get his info?
Just a thought...
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| Document #5 |
The following is a transcription of "Document #5," above.
CASUALTY SHEET
Daniel H. Otis
Private of Company B
14th Regiment of Conn. Vols.
State Volunteers
NATURE OF CASUALTY.
Died Dec. 16, 1862
War Dept. A.G.O.
July 11, 1873
This man “died Dec. 16, 1862 of gun-shot wound.”
See enclosed report from Surgeon General.
J.P. Martin
Assistant Adjutant General
My Comments: Now we are back to J.P. Martin, the Adjutant General, who creates a “Casualty Sheet” for Daniel, with his date of death reflecting the December 16th date. This seems to be the final, official report for the cause, and date of death for Daniel Otis. Notice how the "16th" is underlined twice for emphasis.
I’m very curious as to how the December 17th date got back to the Otis family, thus ending up on Daniel’s gravestone. Was December 17th the date written in a letter to the family, informing them of Daniel’s death, and by whom? And why was the December 16th date not considered?
If the attending Surgeon (P.G. Rockwell) said Daniel died December 16th, then where did the December 17th date come from, and how did David Lincoln get it? Also, why would one regiment (the 14th CT) have TWO different dates of death for the same person (Daniel) down in their own records?
Sloppy record keeping? Indifference? Incompetence? Miscommunication? Simple human error from being battle-weary, exhausted, and hungry? Take your pick...
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| Document #6 |
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| Document #7 |
Daniel Otis' Military Service Records are housed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
