The Gallant Sims: A Civil War Hero Rediscovered
- ISBN-10
- 0966343557
- ISBN-13
- 9780966343557
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2016-11-01
- Author
- Jeffrey I. Richman
Description
In April 1861, as the Civil War began, Samuel Harris Sims of Brooklyn enlisted in the 13th New York State Militia to fight for the Union. Discharged, he almost immediately re-enlisted in the 51st New York Volunteers, recruiting and commanding its Company G. For the next three years, Sims led his men into some of the major battles of the war. All the while he exchanged letters with family, friends, as well as his fiancée, Carrie Dayton, to whom he also sent flowers. These letters and his art appear in this book.On July 27, 1864, after three years of service, Captain Sims, knowing that he would soon be leading his men forward, wrote from Petersburg, Virginia, that "there will be stirring times . . . I am fully conscious of what might happen to me." Three days later, he was killed at the Battle of the Crater. His comrades soon retrieved his body; he was interred at Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery 17 days after his death. But the story of Samuel Sims was not over with his burial. Memories of him survived: soon after the Civil War ended, the men who had served with "The Gallant Sims," as they called him, took up a collection for his daughter's college education; she became "The Daughter of the Regiment." In 1880, the Confederate who had captured Captain Sims's sword when he was killed returned it to his family. In 1888, a monument to him was unveiled at Green-Wood; it described him as "The Gallant Sims" and as "Our Comrade." And this was carved in the granite: "In Life We Esteemed This Valiant Soldier, In Death We Honor Him." Two families, the descendants of his fiancée and his own, preserved many of the objects and documents that now make it possible for this book to tell Captain Sims's story. Green-Wood now owns many of these items from both collections. They tell a fascinating story of love, patriotism, art, war, camaraderie, and more. This is the story of a good and great man--"patriot, hero, martyr," Samuel Harris Sims.
