Concord
CULTURE
“Mourning Victory”
A
The Melvin Memorial
Among the luminaries buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, few made greater sacrifices for their nation than did Asa, John, and Samuel Melvin. Their story echoes down the years and reflects the courage, commitment and integrity of one of Concord’s oldest families. The Civil War began on the morning of April 12, 1861 when Confederate forces fired on the Federal-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Sumter surrendered after 36 hours of continuous bombardment. Two days later, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers to come to the country’s aid. Four years of bloodshed, in a war that would claim over 600,000 lives, had begun. Nearly 160,000 Bay Staters would serve in the army and navy, and Concord did her part by sending 450 men off to war. Fortyeight of them would lose their lives on the 34
Discover CONCORD
| Summer 2019
BY RICHARD SMITH
battlefield or from disease. Among the Concord dead were three brothers, Asa, John and Samuel Melvin. The Melvin family were longtime Concord residents and had long been involved in the town’s history. One of their ancestors, Amos Melvin, rang Before the Concord courthouse bell on that fateful morning of April 19, 1775 when Grant’s Overland Campaign needed men, Dr. Samuel Prescott warned “the British lots of them. He decided to move heavy are coming!” artillery forces out of the forts and onto Asa was the oldest and was the first the front lines in Virginia. Men who had to volunteer in April 1861. His threeseen very little fighting – including the month term of enlistment ended after three eldest Melvin brothers - would now the Battle of Bull Run, but he re-enlisted take part in some of the bloodiest battles and was joined by two of his brothers, of the war as Grant moved against John and Samuel. All three would serve Robert E. Lee and the Confederate capital in Company K, 1st Massachusetts Heavy at Richmond. Artillery. James, the youngest brother, John Melvin would be the first of the could not join the army in 1861, but three brothers to die. In fact, he never would do so in 1864. made it to the fighting, succumbing to In the spring of 1864, General U.S. dysentery at the Fort Albany military
Photos © courtesy of Concord Public Works
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