DOB/DOD: March 15, 1834 (Foster Creek, RI) – May 15, 1906 (Mystic, CT); 72 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Mary McKee Young (1841-1907) on January 9, 1864, in Providence, Rhode Island.
CHILDREN: Two sons, John Jr. (1865-1925) and Frank A. (1867-1918).
ENLISTMENT: September 30, 1861, at Providence, Rhode Island.
DISCHARGE: Mustered out February 2, 1865.
FAMILY: Born to Jeremiah P. (1800-1841) and Abigail “Abby” Potter Bucklyn (1798-1880). Four brothers, Jeremiah K. (1821-1888), Albert (1823-1888), Henry (1832-1838), and Jeremiah (1821-). Four sisters, Caroline (1825-1831), Abby A. (1827-1869), Elizabeth “Betsey” F.K. Bucklyn Cooper (1830-1894), and Alma F. (1836-1838).
MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING: Civil War
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Army
UNIT: Battery E, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery
DATE OF ISSUE: July 13, 1899 (33 years later)
AGE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: 19
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant (Field Artillery) John Knight Bucklyn, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 3 May 1863, while serving with Battery E, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, in action at Chancellorsville, Virginia. Though himself wounded, First Lieutenant Bucklyn gallantly fought his section of the battery under fierce fire from the enemy until his ammunition was all expended, many of the cannoneers and most of the horses killed or wounded, and the enemy within 25 yards of the guns, when, disabling one piece, he brought off the other in safety.
John Knight Bucklyn was graduated with honors in the class of 1861 at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. He served three years in the Civil War as a private, sergeant, Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and Captain of Battery E, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery. Served one year on the staff of the 6th Corps and was wounded three times. He was a member of the Loyal Legion Commandery of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and was Past Department Commander of the Connecticut Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R); he was president of the Mystic Valley E and C Institute for thirty-six years. He was an author and a lecturer. (The Coggeshalls in America)
Rhode Island’s 1st Regiment Light Artillery’s Battery E had three sections, each with two cannons. Bucklyn was in charge of one section.
“Lieutenant Bucklyn, although one of the sections had been engaged less than his, was ordered by Captain Randolph to return up the road in the face of the enemy and check the advance. Lieutenant Bucklyn remarked, ‘whoever goes up there will not live to return.’ Captain Randolph replied, ‘I think likely they will not; I must have someone who will stay.’ Lieutenant Bucklyn called for volunteers, and every man of his section volunteered although believing he was going to certain death.”
An entire Mississippi infantry brigade stormed the line where Bucklyn’s section of Battery E was positioned. Bucklyn ordered that the two cannons of his section fire canister shells (shells that were like giant shotgun shells in their action). Half of the men in the section were killed, and most of the others were wounded by the Confederate direct fire into their position.
Twice, Bucklyn had horses shot from under him as he moved rapidly among the cannons to direct their fire. As he mounted the third horse, the horse was hit with a Confederate artillery shell, and a piece of shrapnel went into Bucklyn’s left lung, filling the lung with blood and making him unable to breath effectively. Yet still, Bucklyn fought Battery E both bravely and effectively.
As the Confederate infantry brigade closed on his position, and with no Union infantry supporting Battery E, he successfully maintained maximum firepower from his section of the battery. He moved the two cannons to various positions even though most of the horses were dead. The two cannons fought by him to the last possible moment, as described in the commendation for the Congressional Medal of Honor described at the top of this page. At the last moment possible, he had the remaining horses remove one of the cannons to a point of safety behind Union lines, and he remained to disable the other before leaving the field.
Stephen Usler, of Warwick, RI, is writing a biography of John Knight Bucklyn and has said the following regarding the treatment of Bucklyn’s wounds at Chancellorsville:
Bucklyn “was taken to a hospital in Georgetown. It was the same hospital described by Louisa May Alcott in her “Hospital Sketches, written while she was a nurse, although she and Bucklyn were not there at the same time. Bucklyn’s description of the place and her description corroborates that the conditions were pretty bad.
A soldier of Bucklyn’s unit, named Slocum, fed Bucklyn milk with a spoon, and a surgeon dressed his wounds. Bucklyn determined that he was not going to stay at the hospital in Georgetown. Slocum put Bucklyn in a boxcar, on a stretcher on top of some coffins of Union soldiers being shipped home. There was a deserter hiding out in the boxcar, and he threw Bucklyn off the stretcher and used it to sleep on himself while Bucklyn spent the journey on the floor of the boxcar.
There was nobody helping him. He ended up in a train station in New York all by himself and described having to beat off pickpockets. About six or eight weeks later, he was back at the front with his battery.”
Bucklyn voluntarily returned to military service with his unit after only about two months for recovery. When Bucklyn returned to service, his demonstrated bravery and intelligence earned him the job of Assistant Aide of the Adjutant-General (AAAGen) on the staff of Colonel Thompkins. In that job, Bucklyn had the duty of getting into the thick of battle in the front lines, reorganizing units to fight as battle casualties broke down the effectiveness of a fighting unit or eliminated the unit’s commanding officers, reorganizing and recombining remnants of units, and issuing new battle orders on the spot.
During the bloody battle of Shenandoah, in recognition of extreme bravery and effectiveness in battle, he was promoted in the field to the rank of brevet captain on the 19th of October, 1864, “For gallant and meritorious and ofttimes distinguished service before Richmond and in the Shenandoah Valley.”
During the latter part of the Civil War, Bucklyn, as a Lieutenant (brevet rank of captain), was moved to replace the commander of Battery E, even though on paper, the former commander was moved to a general staff position. Because Bucklyn did not have an actual Congressional commission of a rank needed to command an entire battery, the former Captain remained nominally The Battery E commander on the tables of organization of the artillery.
Rhode Island’s Battery E fought continuously in battles from the start to the end of the Civil War. At Gettysburg, Battery E was stationed first at Cemetery Ridge and later at the Peach Orchard, scenes of perhaps the most intense fighting of the Civil War; his command was exemplary. The appreciation his men had for Bucklyn as their commander on that bloody battleground was illustrated in 1886 when a monument was erected on the Gettysburg battlefield, to mark where Battery E had fought. After the service of dedication, several of the soldiers asked for permission and were granted permission to chisel at the bottom of the monument for Battery E’s position the additional words: “Lt. J. K. Bucklyn Commanding.” (bucklinsociety.net)
From The Day (New London, CT) July 28, 1899
Captain J.K. Bucklyn of Mystic received a Medal of Honor several days ago from the Secretary of War for exceptional gallantry on the memorable battlefield of Chancellorsville in 1863. The Captain was sent on a forlorn hope expedition against the Confederates, and in the encounter, every horse or man was killed or wounded.
From The Day (New London, CT) May 16, 1906
DIABETES FATAL TO PROF. BUCKLYN
WELL KNOWN EDUCATOR SUMMONED BY DEATH VILLAGE BRIEFS COLLECTED
Mystic, May 16.
Professor John K. Bucklyn, past Commander of the Connecticut Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), died at his home here Tuesday, aged 72 years. The cause of death was diabetes. For many years, he conducted the Mystic Valley institute.
John Knight Bucklyn was a native of Rhode Island, in which state he was born on March 15, 1834. He was educated at the Smithville Seminary and Brown University. Most of his life has been spent as a teacher, preacher, and lecturer. A part of his early manhood was passed in the machinist business. Professor Bucklyn graduated from Brown University in 1861 and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society while in college. Immediately after
graduating he enlisted in Battery E, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, and was mustered in September 1, 1861, and won an honorable record In the war. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant on March 1, 1862, and First Lieutenant in December of the same year. October 19, he was made Captain by brevet for “gallant, meritorious and often distinguished services before Richmond and in the Shenandoah Valley,” and received a full commission as Captain in 1865. He participated in 45 battles and was wounded at Fredericksburg. He was also shot while commanding his battery at Gettysburg. In 1864 to 1865, he was on staff duty at the headquarters of the Sixth Corps, Army of Potomac, which was commanded by Connecticut’s most distinguished soldier, General Sedgwick.
After returning from the war, he became the principal of the public school in Mystic and remained in that position until 1868. In that year, he founded the Mystic Valley institute and has since been principal of the school,
which has attained a decided success in its field. The institute was chartered in 1880. During that year Professor Bucklyn traveled in Europe extensively. He had also spent considerable time visiting the states of the union east of the Rocky Mountains, acquiring material for his profession and work. He is a past commander of Williams Post G.A.R., a member of the New London County Historical Society, also of the Rhode Island Historical Society of Soldiers and Sailors, and of the Loval legion. He was a member of the Baptist church and has been a superintendent of Sunday school work for 20 years. He has held the office of school visitor and was a notary public. In politics, he was a Republican. Principal Bucklyn was married by Rev. Dr. Swaine—in the Central Congregational church — in Providence on January 9, 1864. His bride was Miss Mary McKee Young, daughter of Edward R. Young. He has two sons, John K., Jr., and Frank A. Bucklyn, both of whom are graduates of the Mystic Valley Institute and the New York Medical College. Both are practicing [doctors].
Buried in Lower Mystic Cemetery, 122 New London Road, Groton, Connecticut. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
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