The Mystery of William Hampton

Last May I received a phone call from Trooper Joe Cullura in Bucks County, Pa. A homeowner in Middletown had trimmed his overgrown bushes and found a headstone resting underneath. The Trooper wanted to return the gravestone to its resting place and enlisted my help as a member. 

Its inscription reads: William Hampton (Augustus) Company B 41st Regiment, Mass b.1844 d.1922.

The 41st Regiment was stationed at Camp Stanton in Lynnfield. It joined the 1st, 2d and 3d Cos. Unattached Cavalry to form the 3rd Mass. Cavalry. The 1st Co. Unattached Cavalry, organized as 1st Co. Mounted Rifle Rangers, was recruited in Boston during September 1861 and completed its organization in November with the 2d Co. Mounted Rangers and the 3d Co. Unattached Cavalry.

They left Boston Harbor in January, 1862 for Ship Island, Mississippi. The 41st Mass. Infantry was recruited at Lynnfield and Boxford  under Col. Thomas E. Chickering of Boston. They left in November, 1862 for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While at Opelousas, the 41st Regiment was mounted and became commonly known as the 41st Regiment Massachusetts Mounted Infantry.

Camp Stanton, originally Camp Schuyler, was renamed in 1862 and became Camp Houston in 1917. It served as the general rendezvous and training camp for recruits from Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Nantucket, Plymouth, and Suffolk counties. Located on both sides of the Newburyport Turnpike, it was a short distance from the old Lynnfield Hotel on Suntaug Lake.

The encampment was divided into streets with the tents and cook houses on either side from the highway to the lake. Lynnfield supplied 67 men ages 18 to 43 years old, both married and single. They were mostly shoemakers and farmers, plus a clergyman. They joined many of the 50 or so regiments and companies including Sharpshooters 2nd Co., Rifle Rangers, Heavy Artillery Co., Infantry, the First, 3rd and 4th Regiment Calvary, and First Battalion H.A.

Nine died, two were wounded, five discharged disabled, one lost an arm, one lost an eye, one was held prisoner, and one deserted.     

Although unable to find any listing in the 3rd Calvary, a possible William Hampton was born in Chelsea, February 1846 (Suffolk County), of parents Levi and Ann. He would have been 16 years old in 1862 and lied about his age to enlist.  In the meantime, Officer Cullura found a headstone with the right shape and break to match William's in the Quaker Cemetery, Bristol, PA. Most likely it's the one.

For a complete bibliography and a link to the journal of Henry Tisdale while at Camp Stanton please visit the webpage of the Lynnfield Historical Commission at the town website.