(Generals, Admirals and other officers, laymen, engineers ...)
Generals, Admirals and other officers, laymen, engineers and others discuss their experiences during the Civil War. These essays/articles were drawn from a magazine series run by Scribners and The Century Company that became wildly popular at the time resulting in the 4 Volume set "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War" where these first hand accounts are reprinted in a roughly chronological order with a multitude of illustrations. This is Volume 3. Volume 4 will be ready in mid 2016.
https://www.amazon.com/Battles-Leaders-Civil-War-Vol-ebook/dp/B015HZYK44?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B015HZYK44
Joseph Hamblin was born on January 13, 1828, in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, United States. He descended from James Hamblen who came from London and settled in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1639, was the son of Benjamin and Hannah (Sears) Hamblin. In his childhood the family spent four years in Boston where his father was connected with the Boston Daily Advertiser, and after Benjamin Hamblin’s death in 1837 the widowed mother and her four children returned to that city.
Joseph was educated in the Boston public schools.
Joseph Hamblin was employed by a firm of engine builders in Boston and then in New York, and in 1854 became an insurance broker in New York City under the firm name of Rathbone & Hamblin. His interest in military pursuits began about 1851, when he joined the 7th Regiment of the New York National Guard, and was continued during his residence in St. Louis, 1857-1861, when he was connected successively with two military organizations.
With the outbreak of the Civil War he returned to New York and entered the military service of the United States, April 22, 1861, as adjutant of the 5th New York Volunteers, known familiarly as Duryee’s Zouaves. He received his commission as lieutenant on May 10, 1861, and served under General Butler at the battle of Great Bethel, Virginia. On August 10, 1861, he was commissioned captain and ordered to duty at Baltimore, where he engaged in erecting fortifications. His work excelled, and promotion came rapidly. He was made a major on November 4, 1861, and was transferred to the 65th New York Volunteers, or 16t United States Chasseurs. During the next seven months, he participated in the battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Glendale, and Malvern Hill, and on July 20, 1862, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel for meritorious services. He took part in the important battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, and for meritorious services was commissioned colonel on May 26, 1863.
Hamblin commanded his regiment under General Meade in the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 and in 1864 was with Grant’s forces in Virginia, at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor. Later in that year he was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, serving at Winchester, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek. Up to this time, he had led a charmed life, escaping uninjured on several occasions when his horse was shot under him, but at Cedar Creek he received a bullet in the right thigh which confined him to the hospital for three months. With this one exception he was constantly on duty from the beginning to the end of the Civil War. On Sheridan’s recommendation he was made brevet brigadier-general of volunteers on October 19, 1864. After returning from the hospital, he took part in the battles of Hatcher’s Run, Petersburg, and Sailor’s Creek. His conspicuous gallantry at Sailor’s Creek, April 6, 1865, won for him the commission of brevet major-general, which he retained until he was mustered out of service.
Returning to New York City after the war, he again entered the insurance business as a member of the firm of Rathbone, Greig & Hamblin, and resumed military life in 1867 as adjutant-general of the New York National Guard and chief of staff under General Shaler, his old comrade in arms. Only about a week before his death, he met with his former regiment at the occasion of their anniversary. At the time of his death he was superintendent of agencies for the Commonwealth Fire Insurance Company.
(Generals, Admirals and other officers, laymen, engineers ...)
Hamblin had a commanding presence physically, being nearly six and a half feet in height and well proportioned.
Hamblin was married on October 15, 1868, to Isabella Gray.
