Lieutenant William Palmer was a twenty nine year old bootmaker when he enlisted in the Thirty Fifth Massachusetts Regiment, as were many of the men who joined him in the ranks of Company E. While he was in training camp at Lynnfield, Massachusetts, he and Lieutenant J. W. Ingell were presented with what the Randolph Transcript described as "a regulation sword, sash, belt, & c." from their friends in Randolph. Wearing these accouterments, Lt. Palmer led the second platoon of Company E into action on the afternoon of September 17, 1862, being posted to the left of Capt. Niles' platoon as they advanced up the hill beyond "Burnside Bridge." Late in the afternoon, with the arrival of Gen. A.P. Hill's Confederate division on their left, and running out of ammunition, the 35th Massachusetts was forced to withdraw back across the bridge to the other side of Antietam Creek. It was around this time that Lt. Palmer received a severe wound in the groin, and was taken off the field. He was visited in the hospital at Keedysville by the delegation sent from Randolph to tend to the town's wounded soldiers, and appeared to be holding his own until the beginning of October, when began to decline and died on October 13th. George Johnson arranged for Lt. Palmer's body to be embalmed and it was returned to Randolph via Adams Express (the 1862 version of FedEx). His sword and other personal items were returned with him. After the war his sword was given to the G.A.R., and it is currently in the G.A.R. Collection of the Randolph Historical Commission.
Contributor: Lynn Feingold (47470086) •

Lieutenant William Palmer was a twenty nine year old bootmaker when he enlisted in the Thirty Fifth Massachusetts Regiment, as were many of the men who joined him in the ranks of Company E. While he was in training camp at Lynnfield, Massachusetts, he and Lieutenant J. W. Ingell were presented with what the Randolph Transcript described as "a regulation sword, sash, belt, & c." from their friends in Randolph. Wearing these accouterments, Lt. Palmer led the second platoon of Company E into action on the afternoon of September 17, 1862, being posted to the left of Capt. Niles' platoon as they advanced up the hill beyond "Burnside Bridge." Late in the afternoon, with the arrival of Gen. A.P. Hill's Confederate division on their left, and running out of ammunition, the 35th Massachusetts was forced to withdraw back across the bridge to the other side of Antietam Creek. It was around this time that Lt. Palmer received a severe wound in the groin, and was taken off the field. He was visited in the hospital at Keedysville by the delegation sent from Randolph to tend to the town's wounded soldiers, and appeared to be holding his own until the beginning of October, when began to decline and died on October 13th. George Johnson arranged for Lt. Palmer's body to be embalmed and it was returned to Randolph via Adams Express (the 1862 version of FedEx). His sword and other personal items were returned with him. After the war his sword was given to the G.A.R., and it is currently in the G.A.R. Collection of the Randolph Historical Commission.
Contributor: Lynn Feingold (47470086) •