Andrew Willson enlisted in the 17th N.Y. Vol. Inf. at Newark, N.Y., an Erie canal town in the western part of the state. on May 10, 1861, just a month after the fall of Ft. Sumter. Although only twenty-four-years old, Willson was already a respected attorney and was mustered in as a captain.It seems Captain Willson was a young man of great promise. his sensitivity and keen sense of humor would have served him well in the bright future that lay ahead for him.
It is sad to consider Willson never lived to fulfill his promise. He died leading his company in a charge upon Confederate lines at second Bull Run, on August 30, 1862. In a letter he wrote April 21, 1862, he said he hated the idea of being killed by artillery. Ironically, on the field at Bull Run he was mortally wounded in the head by a shell fragment precisely what he had feared. But in a regimental report of the action Major William T.C. Grower lamented:"Captain Wilson[sic]was conspicuous for valor."
It is sad to consider Willson never lived to fulfill his promise. He died leading his company in a charge upon Confederate lines at second Bull Run, on August 30, 1862. In a letter he wrote April 21, 1862, he said he hated the idea of being killed by artillery. Ironically, on the field at Bull Run he was mortally wounded in the head by a shell fragment precisely what he had feared. But in a regimental report of the action Major William T.C. Grower lamented:"Captain Wilson[sic]was conspicuous for valor."
Andrew Willson enlisted in the 17th N.Y. Vol. Inf. at Newark, N.Y., an Erie canal town in the western part of the state. on May 10, 1861, just a month after the fall of Ft. Sumter. Although only twenty-four-years old, Willson was already a respected attorney and was mustered in as a captain.It seems Captain Willson was a young man of great promise. his sensitivity and keen sense of humor would have served him well in the bright future that lay ahead for him.
It is sad to consider Willson never lived to fulfill his promise. He died leading his company in a charge upon Confederate lines at second Bull Run, on August 30, 1862. In a letter he wrote April 21, 1862, he said he hated the idea of being killed by artillery. Ironically, on the field at Bull Run he was mortally wounded in the head by a shell fragment precisely what he had feared. But in a regimental report of the action Major William T.C. Grower lamented:"Captain Wilson[sic]was conspicuous for valor."
It is sad to consider Willson never lived to fulfill his promise. He died leading his company in a charge upon Confederate lines at second Bull Run, on August 30, 1862. In a letter he wrote April 21, 1862, he said he hated the idea of being killed by artillery. Ironically, on the field at Bull Run he was mortally wounded in the head by a shell fragment precisely what he had feared. But in a regimental report of the action Major William T.C. Grower lamented:"Captain Wilson[sic]was conspicuous for valor."
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