Fourth of July appeal to Lincoln | General James S. Wadsworth’s Widow
On the Fourth of July 1864 – 150 years ago – Mary Wadsworth sat down in her Washington, D.C., home and began writing to Abraham Lincoln. With thoughts of Gettysburg and another, more recent Civil War battle, she wanted a favor, and her appeal included references to her late husband and the U.S. flag.
Mary’s spouse was General James S. Wadsworth, who was born into wealth in New York State in 1807, attended both Harvard and Yale, and became a lawyer to better manage the massive tracts of land he inherited.
He gave up that life and entered the Army a month after the outbreak of the war, declaring that his decision was “a religious duty.” He led his troops into many battles, including Gettysburg and the Wilderness. Of the former, he wrote: “The severity of the contest…will be indicated by the painful fact that at least half of the officers and men who went into the engagement were killed or wounded.”
During the Wilderness campaign in early May 1864, Wadsworth was slain by Confederate fire. Two months later, his widow penned her note to President Lincoln.
“I am very anxious that one of the new Forts now being erected in the harbour of New York should be named after my beloved husband,” she wrote. “It would be very gratifying to me & to his children. I believe you fully appreciate his noble patriotism, & devotion from the moment our great struggle began.”
Mary also referenced Old Glory: “He gave up allfor his Country, & died for that Flag which he loved so dearly.”
She added, “In life he asked for no honours, & now that he has gone, it strikes me that it would be but a just tribute to the memory of such a patriot, to give his name to one of the Forts.”
The letter didn’t have to go far to reach the Great Emancipator’s desk; Mary lived just blocks from the White House. There, the president read her plea and doubled her request. Two forts were named for her gallant spouse: Fort Wadsworth in South Dakota and Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. (For good measure, a city in Nevada also bears his name.)
No longer an active installation, Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island still plays a conspicuous part in a major sporting event: It is the flag-bedecked starting point of the annual New York City Marathon.