The book, “MEMORIAL OF GENERAL MANSFIELD, UNITED STATES ARMY” was printed in Boston in 1862. It contains the addresses at the funeral of General Mansfield on September 23, 1862 by a Mr. Taylor, Mr. Jackson and Mr. Dixon. Following this is the discourse given by Rev. Mr. Taylor. The appendix is a detailed description of the funeral.

The “TRIBUTE TO GEN. MANSFIELD” was printed in Middletown CN in 1862. It is a discourse on the death of General Mansfield which was preached in the South Congregational Church in Middletown, CN on the Sabbath evening of September 28, 1862 by Rev. John L. Dudley, the pastor of the church. It was printed at the request of the friends of General Mansfield. It gives a wonderful testimony to the patriotism and Christian character of General Mansfield.

Lithograph CDV is a waist-up view of Mansfield. He is wearing a dark colored double breasted frock coat with epaulettes. Bottom of mount is marked with Mansfield’s signature, “JOS. K.F. MANSFIELD”. The reverse does not have a photographer’s or seller’s imprint. Image is clear and the contrast is good. Surface has some light dirt from age. Image has yellowed with time.

Joseph King Fenno Mansfield (December 22, 1803 – September 18, 1862) was a career United States Army officer, civil engineer, and a Union general in the American Civil War, mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam.

He entered the United States Military Academy when he was fourteen and graduated second in a class of forty in 1822. He then became a resident of Middletown, Connecticut before and during his military career. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Advancement came slowly in the peacetime Army and he was promoted to first lieutenant in 1832, captain in 1838. In the Mexican-American War, he received a brevet promotion to major for the action at Fort Brown, Texas, on May 9, 1846. He was wounded in the leg at the Battle of Monterrey, and he received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel for his actions there. He was appointed a brevet colonel for the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847. After the war he was promoted to colonel and Inspector General of the U.S. Army on May 28, 1853.

At the start of the Civil War, Mansfield commanded the Department of Washington (April 27 - August 17, 1861) and was promoted to brigadier general on May 6, 1861. He was stationed at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, in October, following the battle fought there by Benjamin Butler in August. He was a brigade commander in the Department of Virginia from March to June 1862. His only combat activity during this period was the firing of coastal batteries from Hampton Roads against the ironclad CSS Virginia in its naval battle against the USS Monitor on March 9, 1862. Until the fall of 1862, Mansfield commanded the Suffolk Division of the VII Corps of the Department of Virginia in the vicinity of Suffolk.

During the Maryland Campaign, when Confederate General Robert E. Lee invaded the North for the first time, Mansfield was given command of the XII Corps of the Army of the Potomac, as of September 15, 1862, two days prior to the Battle of Antietam. On the morning of September 17, 1862, the I Corps under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker attacked from the north, parallel to the Hagerstown Turnpike, smashing into the Confederate left flank. Mansfield's corps came immediately behind. Mansfield personally led troops on his left flank, from the brigade of Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Crawford, in the East Woods. He returned to the rear to bring up more troops, and when he reached the line again he saw soldiers from the 10th Maine Infantry regiment firing into the woods. Mansfield, assuming that men from Hooker's corps were in the woods, rode down the regimental line crying out, "You are firing on our own men!" The soldiers convinced Mansfield that in fact they were not and were receiving heavy fire from the woods. Mansfield replied, "Yes, yes, you are right," and just then his horse was hit and a bullet caught him squarely in the right chest. He was taken to a field hospital at the George Line farm in Sharpsburg, where he died the next morning. He is buried in Indian Hill Cemetery, Middletown, Connecticut, and received a posthumous promotion to Major General, backdated from July 18, 1862, for his gallantry at Antietam.   [sm]

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