"I am tired of curing wounds...I now prefer to make them."

The Life & Death of Lucius Manlius Sargent, 1st Massachusetts Cavalry.

It is not often that one can chronicle the life of a Civil War officer with such a varied and encompassing career as that of Lucius Manlius Sargent. His accomplishments were legion. As a student, he mastered art, then pioneered medical illustration. A successful physician and surgeon, he left his practice in time of war and rose through the ranks to heroically command a cavalry regiment, only to be killed while leading an assault at Bellfield, Virginia in 1864. Dr. Sargent's story illustrates the duty, courage, and valor exhibited by many officers and men fighting for the Union cause.

Lucius Manlius Sargent, Jr. was born on September 15, 1826 in Boston. The son of a prominent businessman and author/essayist, Lucius entered Harvard College in 1844. Taking "a fancy for the sea," he left school and "went before the mast to Liverpool in the ship Anglo Saxon and returned as a steerage passenger in another vessel."

Sargent later enrolled with Mr. H. Vantin to undertake the study of fine arts, planning to enter an artistic career like his uncle, Henry Sargent, whose mural "The Landing of the Pilgrims" is on display at Plymouth. Lucius attended anatomy classes at Harvard Medical School to improve his understanding and technique of life-drawing. His mastery of the art of anatomical drawing came to the attention of the staff of Massachusetts General Hospital and in 1855 he was appointed Medical Artist for the Department of Surgery at that institution. He was the first professional medical illustrator in the United States. His anatomic dissection set, made by Tiemann c. 1855, still survives. Inscribed "L. M. Sargent, Jr.," it was the autopsy and dissection set he used for his prosections for artistic interpretation as well as his medical school anatomy classes.

Finding medicine interesting, he enrolled as a full time medical student, and was graduated in 1857. Harvard College then granted him his undergraduate degree retroactive to the class of 1848. During his training, he was appointed House Surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Dispensary Physician.

"Few of his colleagues considered themselves his equal in wit, literature, and science, and after graduation, he soon became one of the most prominent physicians in the section of the city where he located, and a brilliant future seemed opening before him. To great physical strength, he added the most delicate touch with the pencil, and the tenderest manipulation of the sick." While building a successful practice in Boston, he continued to illustrate his patients and their medical conditions.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Dr. Sargent offered his services to Governor Andrew. He was commissioned Surgeon (Major) of the Second Massachusetts Infantry and was the first man commissioned in that capacity in Massachusetts. He served faithfully with his regiment in Virginia, but found the duty monotonous.

Sargent's Medical Staff sword was preserved by his family and is shown here. Produced by the Ames Manufacturing Co. of Chicopee Falls in 1861, it is a regulation Model 1840 sword with silver "M.S." in the center of the shield and a crisp "U. S. Medical Staff" etched on the blade.

Dr. Sargent carried this sword for only three months. Bored with his assignment, he wrote to his family, "I am tired of curing wounds and I now prefer to make them." The physician resigned his commission and accepted a reduction in rank to Captain to serve in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment. This assignment was assisted by Dr. Sargent's half brother, Colonel Horace Binney Sargent, who commanded the 1st, and later the 2nd, Massachusetts Cavalry. Horace Sargent would himself be seriously wounded, but survived it to rise to the rank of Brigadier General.

L. M. Sargent saw action with his cavalry regiment initially at Hilton Head, South Carolina and the James Island campaign. Transferred to Alfred Pleasanton's Cavalry Corps in the Army of the Potomac on September 3, 1862, Sargent served at South Mountain, Antietam, Shephardstown, Fredericksburg, Kelly's Ford, Chancellorsville, and Rapidan Station.

During the campaigning, Sargent took time to write to his son George. He whimsically illustrated his letters with wonderful drawings of camp life. One view imaginatively portrayed him entering Richmond!

THE FIGHT AT ALDIE

On June 17, 1863, just prior to Gettysburg, at the battle of Aldie, Virginia, Captain Sargent was grievously wounded by a gunshot, initially thought to penetrate through his chest and lung. In fact, the ball fractured his collar bone and made a subcutaneous circuit of nearly one-third of his chest wall, exiting at his back, and finally coming to rest in his boot.

The battle of Aldie is described by a Washington correspondent in a June 20th letter to the Roxbury Journal: "The exact whereabouts of Lee has not been well understood. Day before yesterday, Pleasanton, with his cavalry, undertook to find out. He advanced Kilpatrick toward the Aldie gateway, which was guarded by rebel cavalrymen. Kilpatrick had the 1st Mass., 1st Rhode Island, 4th N.Y., and 6th Ohio. They went up from the old Bull Run battleground nearly due north. They came upon the enemy's pickets. The 1st Mass. and 1st R.I. were thrown out as skirmishers. Capt. Lucius Sargent, with a squadron of the 1st Mass. were placed in position to support a battery, but eventually they were deployed in a field to the left of the turnpike. While reconnoitering, [Sargent saw an enemy column.] 'They are coming down the hill; get into the road, and meet them as quick as possible,' was the order."

"Down came a couple of lengths of fence, and the squadron with horses leaping, swept like a whirlwind along the turnpike, with sabres flashing in the sunshine. The rebel column suddenly halted. 'Come on!,' shouted Captain Sargent. The rebels broke and fled in all directions, with the main body sweeping into a field to gain the shelter of a piece of woods. Capt. Sargent, with a half dozen men, kept along the road, firing their pistols into the fugitives, while the main portion followed hard after the force in the field."

"On, on they went, with shouts, hurrahs, pistol and carbine firing, cutting and slashing, horses tumbling, men falling, till [the Confederates] gained their reserves. Halting, they faced about. Capt. Sargent, seeing two troopers near by, dashed upon them and took one prisoner. He had a hand to hand conflict with the other -- had nearly disarmed him -- when a third came up and gave him a blow which stunned, but did not seriously wound. Sargent retreated, firing at his pursuers with his revolvers till he met Major [Henry Lee] Higginson, who had called off the squadron."

As the Yanks withdrew, the Southern cavalry followed, but not for very long, and as soon as the Confederate riders broke off their pursuit, Sargent reined his horse on the crest of a hill. There he turned in his saddle to antagonize the enemy with rude gestures with his fingers. The Confederates immediately resumed the chase.

The Roxbury Journal correspondent resumes his account: "Down came a rebel Colonel and eight or ten men. Major Higginson called to the troops ahead of him to right about for another charge. Supposing the others were at hand, the Major, the Captain, and Fisk dashed upon the ten [Rebs] in front.

The rebel colonel [Thomas L. Rosser, later Major General], shot Fisk dead with his self-cocking pistol. Another shot disabled Major Higginson, and the third went through Captain Sargent's kings, coming out at his back."

"This was the beginning of the fight. The men were enraged at the loss of two of their brave officers. All through the afternoon till past Sundown the fight went on, Charges, counter charges, skirmishing, close hand to hand thrusts and cuts, pistol shooting at 5 paces distance, and a grand hurly burly -- Our ground persistently held, but carried at last by Kilpatrick, who drove the rebels past Aldie, returning after dark."

It was a bold, terrible conflict, attended with heavy loss on both sides. We found the enemy and took the gateway. All honor to the brave cavalrymen at Aldie."

Captain Sargent was left where he fell. The surging Confederates stripped him of his sword and pistol and left him for dead. He remembered a wounded rebel lying nearby who asked him "Have you had enough yet?"

Picked up at the end of the day, Sargent passed up through the hospital system. Eventually he came under the care of his Harvard mentor, Dr. G. H. Lyman. The Boston Post of July 1, 1863 reported "Capt. L. M. Sargent is in a fair way to entirely recover from the severe wounds he received in the recent cavalry fight. The gallant officer was at first reported as 'shot through the lungs,' but fortunately the lungs escaped, though the ribs were damaged by the ugly looking ball which struck them. Capt. Sargent's dauntless courage has extorted unqualified admiration. He is the beau ideal of a cavalry officer -- a bold rider -- cool, quick and endowed with rare presence of mind in an emergency. The accounts of his impetuous charge, his cheering on his men, and his fearless exposure of his life in that terrible cavalry conflict will not surprise those who know him. It would be just recognition of eminent good conduct if the pain of the soldier could be ameliorated, and sick, suffering hours forgotten by the prompt discrimination of the War Department in awarding instant promotion."

Promoted to Major on January 2, 1864 after returning to his regiment, Sargent participated in the 1864 cavalry campaign with the Army of the Potomac. These battles included Todd's Tavern, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Sheridan's raid to the James River, North Anna, Yellow Tavern, Cold Harbor, Weldon Railroad, Deep Bottom, and Hatcher's Run. On September 30th, he was promoted to Lieut. Colonel.

Attempting to break the siege of Petersburg, the Union forces moved to the extreme left and attacked the railroad lines at Weldon. The infantry was left behind, and the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry approached entrenched Confederates at Bellfield on December 9, 1864.

According to the Roxbury Journal, Sargent "lost his life while gallantly leading his men, under orders, had charged up close to the rebel works in a gallant manner, with knitted brow and lifted blade, and, just wheeled his horse to order his command to retire when a shell struck him on the breast. He lived three hours, but in so low a state as to prevent his communication."

Benjamin Crowninshield's History of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry describes the scene further: "Hit by a piece of shell in the shoulder, which ranged down through the chest, a very severe wound, of which he died in a few hours. Himself a surgeon, he was aware of the nature of his wound, stating 'this is the last of me.' He was a most accomplished man, and a very versatile one. A surgeon of distinguished accomplishment, fond of athletic sports, he excelled in all; a remarkable draughtsman, his surgical drawings are still admired at Mass. General Hospital. He was a good Shakespearean scholar. In conversation, he was witty, and would often entertain a tent full of officers for hours by his brilliant talk and curious stories of which he had an inexhaustible supply of all kinds. His body was sent back to Boston, and funeral at Jamaica Plain was largely attended."

General Henry Davies described Sargent's action as "a most gallant charge, contributing greatly to the success of the late movements [against Petersburg]. Certainly to fall thus, sword in hand and in the face of the enemy, was the very death which Sargent's impulsive and daring nature would have chosen." Colonel Robert Williams wrote, "Had he lived, I am sure that he would have added many additional laurels to those he had already gained."

And so, Dr. Lucius Manlius Sargent returned to Boston and was buried at Jamaica Plain. His funeral was attended by Governor Andrew, General Reed, Surgeon General William J. Dale, Assistant Surgeon General A. P. Hooker, and Surgeon McLaren, Osborn, Ainsworth, Stedman, and many other officers. He was interred at Forest Hill Cemetery.

Perhaps Sargent's best epitaph was his own response in childhood when asked by his clergyman what he wanted to be when he grew up. "I don't know, sir, whether to be a minister, or a highwayman, but I shouldn't like to be anything halfway." Indeed, he was not.

Dr. Paul Johnson is a contributing editor for MI. Dr. Samuel Burgess is a descendant of Dr. Lucius Manlius Sargent.

Sources

Transcribed notebook-journal of Lucius Manlius Sargent, Sr., courtesy Dr. S. Burgess.

Harvard Memorial Biographies, 1848, pp. 142-146 (quote of Dr. B. E. Cotting, Sargent's Medical Instructor.)

Roxbury Journal, June 20, 1863 and December 17, 1864.

The Cavalry Battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville, June 10-27, 1863, by Robert O'Neill, Jr., 1993.

Boston Post, July 1, 1863.

Benjamin Crowninshield, History Of The First Massachusetts Cavalry, Boston, 1891.

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