Person Record
Images
Metadata
Name |
Ingalls, Albert S. |
Born |
1831 |
Deceased |
11 Aug 1862 |
Deceased where |
Annapolis, MD |
Notes |
Albert Sherwin Ingalls was born in Rindge, N.H. in 1830. We and Dartmouth educated. A high school teacher for a number of years in Massachusetts, he then read for the law, joining a firm in Fitchburg. He came to West Cambridge in 1859 to practice, and became a member of the local Shakespeare Club. In mid-April 1861, shortly after the first gunfire of the Civil War, West Cambridge selectmen authorized the popular young lawyer to form a military company to serve in the United States Volunteer Army. Captain Ingalls recruited, drilled, and oversaw the transfer of his West Cambridge neighbors to Yonkers, New York, where they joined with other volunteer units from Newburyport, Lawrence and Milford and men from Pennsylvania, as well as two companies from New York, to form the Mozart Regiment. While in winter quarters in 1862 Captain Ingalls proposed the troops build a "log theater" for theater performances. A most successful venture—officers’ wives traveled out to attend the performances--Ingalls starred as Cox, a journeyman hatter in the farce, "Box and Cox." During the Peninsula Campaign in Virginia in late June 1862, as a recently promoted major, Albert Ingalls went out to check the night picket lines. A recently arrived "raw recruit" fired at Major Ingalls, mistaking him for a rebel soldier. Ingalls's shattered right leg was amputated at mid-thigh. In the hospital in Annapolis for weeks, he was in good spirits, expecting to recover and return to command of his unit. The inhabitants of West Cambridge, assembled in town meeting, sent an official message to Ingalls at the hospital, conveying their praise for his courage and wishing him a full recovery. However, internal damage possibly from an undiscovered bullet in his abdominal cavity resulted in Ingalls’s death, August 11, 1862. The body of Ingalls was returned to West Cambridge (Arlington), where it was met by town officials, citizens, and his Masonic brothers for ceremonies to honor his sacrifice. Businesses were closed and flags flown at half-mast. From West Cambridge, the body was conveyed to Fitchburg for additional honors, before being returned to his birthplace of Ringe, N.H. for burial in the Meeting House Cemetery. Years later the brother of Ingall's sister donated funds for the construction of the Ingalls Memorial Library that continues to serve the people of Ringe, N.H. |
Occupation |
Mozart Regiment, Civil War |
Related Records
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1913.8.3 - Drawing
Oval portrait of Major Albert S. Ingalls. Drawn in pencil, depicting only head and shoulders. Ornate wood frame with carved leaves and engraved garlands. 11X13 framed
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Part Taken by the Women of West Cambridge During the Civil War
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2003.11.13 A-E - Manuscript
The Part Taken by the Women of West Cambridge During the Civil War
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