Benjamin Franklin Watson, a New Hampshire native who settled in Lowell, Mass., before the war, served in the 6th Massachusetts Infantry when the regiment received orders to report to Washington, D.C., during the days following the rebel attack on Fort Sumter. The author details Watson’s rise from a respected leader in Lowell to his leadership of the regiment as it journeyed through hostile mobs in Baltimore to sleeping in the U.S. Capitol and beyond. The story is illustrated with portraits of Watson and others.
Story by Paul Russinoff
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