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Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet

Posted August 2nd, 2009 by ancestralheroes NATHANIEL BRADSTREET SHURTLEFF. Captain 12th Mass. Vols. (Infantry), June
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26, 1861; killed at Cedar Mountain, Va., August 9, 1862. "NATHANIEL BRADSTREET SHURTLEFF, JR. was born in Boston, March 6, 1838. His father, Dr. Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff, was the son of Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff, who for many years was an eminent physician of Boston, but originally from Plymouth County, where his ancestors, as well as those of his wife, Sally (Shaw) Shurtleff, had dwelt since the earliest days of the Colony, having crossed in the first Pilgrim vessels. His mother, Sarah Eliza (Smith) Shurtleff, was the daughter of Hiram Smith, Esq., of Boston. At the age of not quite four and a half years, Nathaniel entered his first school, and in two years was admitted to one of the public grammar schools of the city. His early boyhood was that of a bright and happy child, roguish and playful, yet withal well behaved, intelligent in mind, and sunny in disposition. He was exceedingly fond of reading, even before he was seven years old, finding pleasure in very mature books, and undoubtedly laying the foundation for much of his unusual command of language in later life. He received at the Adams School a Franklin Medal in July, 1850, at the age of twelve years. He entered the public Latin School in the following September. Nathaniel was marked among his classmates even from the start by the individuality of his character. He was most decided in all his prejudices and feelings, fluent of speech, combative in disposition, though more inclined to argument and the ready retort than to physical encounter; by no means lacking in courage, however, but relying more on his adroitness of speech, on his power of sarcasm, of ridicule, and of specious logic, than upon mere bodily strength. One of his schoolmates says that he once saw him struck a challengeblow fair in the face by the most athletic boy in the class, who had been taunted and provoked to the assault by others. He received the blow without flinching, though his face became crimson and his eyes nearly closed with passion and struggle of feelings; but though his voice quivered a little, yet with a few adroit words he saved his reputation from reproach, himself from a beating, and made the other ashamed of his assault. Though a city boy, he was very fond of pet animals and of country life; and a letter written during a vacation at Wareham, when he was but thirteen years old, is comical from the earnestness with which he remonstrates against returning "to the gloomy, dull, and pleasureless Boston, leaving the land of promise for the land of woe, a paradise for a desert, the country for the city, in short, Wareham for Boston." In truth the boy was full of spirit, life, and frolic, keenly enthusiastic in all his pleasures and plans, having already a warmth of expression, half fun and half earnest, that contrasted strongly with the staider style of ordinary New England boys; - there was nothing commonplace about him. His disposition was affectionate and yet obstinate, hard to be driven, but easily influenced by any show of kindness. At school he was a good scholar in a good class, was gifted with a remarkably retentive memory, took prizes for a translation from Ovid, for a Latin Essay, for Declamation, - a " third prize," followed the succeeding year by the highest, - and for the second time received on graduation a Franklin Medal. But that for which he was really famed at school was his talent for extemporaneous speaking. His instructor, Francis Gardner, Esq., whose experience of boys runs back over thirty-four or more successive classes, says, that not only for fluency, but for power as an impromptu speaker, for the ability to identify himself with his subject, and carry into it all the enthusiasm of his warm nature, Nathaniel excelled any one that he has ever known. It is the usual custom at the Latin School to have upon "Public Saturdays" what are termed debates, - original discussions previously prepared by the boys, and spoken before the audience. Nathaniel created a sensation at the school by his oratory, and on one occasion, at least, electrified his auditors by a burst of genuine eloquence. Not only was his command of language large, his perception of the ludicrous keen, and

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his powers of sarcasm and ridicule strong, but he had a fire and passion in his speaking that came from natural intensity of feeling. Well prepared; and with this school reputation, he entered Harvard College in July, 1855. While at Harvard, his estimate of college rank was not sufficiently high to secure very patient and constant application to the studies of his Class; he was a quick and bright scholar, with a thorough foundation well laid, but he trusted much to his ability to use his powers on the spur of the call to recite. With a mind more than usually logical and analytic, with a strong love for argument, he yet was less apt at mathematics, and, perhaps, as suggested by a classmate, his characteristic temperament " could not take interest in anything so wanting in novelty, and the result of which was so predetermined." He was very fond of the debates in the " Anonyma" and the " Institute," and noted as a keen and telling speaker. He was also eminent among his classmates, and upon the scale of marks, for ability as a writer. His reputation in college was a marked one, but for some causes to be presently mentioned, not so distinguished as his friends had anticipated. He was very influential during the early part of the course; his fluency of speech and ardor and mobility of nature rendering him a very attractive companion. But later in his college life he became more and more absorbed in anxieties, pursuits, labors, and pleasures other than those of college. His inclinations and his sense of duty led him more and more away from college scenes and associates, and his purely scholastic acquisitions and distinction were in consequence not what they otherwise would have been, and were expected to be, by those who best knew his abilities. In the winter of 1854, while a boy yet under sixteen years of age, his attention was drawn by apparently slight causes to an investigation of the Roman Catholic belief. He attended Father Gavazzi's lectures in Boston, and heard the doctrines of purgatory, the intercession of the saints, transubstantiation, the infallibility of the Church, etc., explained, and then attacked by the reverend lecturer. With the boy listener, the explanations had more effect than the subsequent attempted refutation of the doctrines. He had never, up to this time, read a Catholic book, entered a Catholic church, or spoken to any Catholic of the state of his mind. Soon after, however, he obtained a Catholic Prayer-Book, and commenced its use, and about the end of the spring began to attend the Franklin Street Church, kneeling in the back part among the laborers, but never having spoken to a priest or educated Catholic. His summer vacation he spent in Maine, taking with him Cumming's "Lectures on Romanism," and, while reading it, very naturally for him, with his habitual love of argument, constantly espoused the opposite side. During his visit in Maine he was examined by Rev. John Bapst, a Jesuit clergyman, and baptized at Bangor, August 19, 1854. Thereafter he was a Catholic from the heart, and, as he matured in years, with all the enthusiasm and strength of his nature. More particularly during the last two years of his college life, absorbed by religious investigation and religious interests, he kept in a manner aloof from his classmates, from whom he could have had but little sympathy, and devoted himself to controversial reading and discussion, and to active labors in Boston among the Catholic youth of the city. He consecrated himself to a religious life with sincere intent, according to his faith, dedicated himself to the work of the priesthood, and in the closing years of his life at Cambridge, looked forward with much longing to that which should be to him a quiet retreat from all conflicts, with entire abnegation of personal aims and ambitions,-the Novitiate of the Order of the Jesuits. His inward experiences in regard to this important religious change may best be learned through an extract from his autobiography in the Class-Book, written at the time of graduation: "The most important event in my past life is my conversion to the Catholic religion, which was brought about by the lectures of Gavazzi and by the Know-Nothing calumnies of 1854, which inspired me with a spirit of inquiry, and ended in forcing my reason to accept and submit to the teachings of that Church which I had always been taught to despise. In August, 1854, after about eight months' reflection, I was received into the bosom of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church, at the age of sixteen years, by the Rev. John Bapst of the Society of Jesus. This step I have never regretted, although it has changed all my prospects in life. "In reply to those who ignorantly or maliciously impugn my motives, I shall merely point to my future life; and if by becoming a Catholic I become richer, or attain a higher position in the world, than I should have done by remaining a Protestant, then let them judge my motives, but not till then. Meanwhile I shall console myself under their false judgments and detractions by the thought that it is not to them, but to God, that I am one day to answer for my motives and my acts. He knows my heart, and he knows if I have sacrificed liberty, position, the ties of family and friendship, to become an humble priest of the Catholic Church, in the Society of Jesus, where I shall be bound by perpetual vows of absolute poverty, chastity, and obedience to the will of my superiors: He knows if I have done this for any motive but to secure the salvation of my soul, and to do good to my neighbor. Conscia mens recti famce mendacia ridet. " My plans in life are evident from the above. I intend, immediately after graduating, to enter the Novitiate of the Jesuits, either in this country or in Europe, there to obliterate the past and prepare myself for a life of future usefulness. All I ask of my classmates is, that they will not judge my future by my past life, but will show towards me that charity which they all desire for themselves." Within a few days from his" graduation at Harvard (in 1859), he left Boston for the Novitiate in Frederick City, Maryland. During his stay at the Novitiate, his frequent letters were very happy and affectionate. On the way, while in Philadelphia, he writes to his parents as follows: "To-day the Gospel at mass struck me forcibly: 'Unless a man

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hate father, mother, brother, sister, house, and lands for my sake, he cannot be my disciple. And unless he bear his cross he cannot be my disciple.' Then comes the glorious promise of a hundredfold in this world and eternal life in the next. What had St. Peter left?-a few fishing-nets. He had nothing else, yet what a glorious destiny was reserved to him, - to shed his blood for Christ! " About three weeks after his arrival at the Novitiate, he writes to his mother:" In my meditation yesterday I considered how our blessed Lord left his dear mother, whom he had obeyed and comforted for thirty years, that he might do the will of his eternal Father. I thought of how much Mary, that most amiable mother who loved her Son not only as the 'blessed fruit of her womb,' but also as her Creator and Redeemer, I thought how that most tender mother must have suffered on parting with such a son. Is there not much comfort in this consideration? For how can it be thAt a God who, to save sinners, left a mother like Mary, will not console and bless those mothers who, in imitation of his own dear mother, resign their children to ' do the will of their Father in heaven,' and to follow Jesus in preaching salvation to the nations? But it is unnecessary for me to write thus; for I am sure that you have resigned your Isaac cheerfully, and do not begrudge to God your first-born whom he has demanded from you for a while, to return to you, if we serve him faithfully, for eternity." A month later he writes: "You will this month, the first time for twenty -one years, pass your Thanksgiving day without me. Thank God on that day that he has dealt so mercifully with us all; and that, instead of calling me out of the world to expiate my sins in eternal torments, he has sweetly called me from it to the society of his dear Son, to be one with him as he is one with the Father. And so you will not have to mourn, as will some of your dearest friends, by a desolate hearthside, but you will rejoice that 'whereas your son was dead, now he lives,' - as he was once dead in sin, now he lives in Christ. "The three months allowed me in which to get tired of the religious life have expired, and still I am here. 0 my dear mother, you must give up all hopes of my ever returning to the world, for I am assured that 'neither life, nor death, nor any created thing' shall separate me from Jesus Christ. Since I have been in this paradise, not only have I not had a moment of unhappiness, but not even of sadness. Those little fits of melancholy and sadness which even the happiest are wont to have in the world have not once troubled me. Not even the memory of my ingratitude towards our good God makes me unhappy, for all sadness is banished by joy, beholding what a Redeemer my sins have gained for me, and knowing, too, that 'there is more joy in heaven before the angels of God over one sinner doing penance, than over ninety-and-nine who need no penance.' " The following is an extract of a letter written during Christmas week: "If I reject the luxuries of the world, it is not, I trust, like Diogenes, with greater pride than that with which the world makes use of them, but because I feel that they are not for me, though, perhaps, very well in their place. We celebrate this week the birthday of Him who, born in a stable, died upon a cross, and as he has left us no other model than himself, his poverty is as much a matter of imitation as his other virtues. Ought we then, who are named after him, Christians (and much more Jesuits), to aspire to a higher station than that of our Lord?" From these letters we see the devout channel in which his thoughts flowed while at the Novitiate, and the earnest sincerity with which he had devoted himself to his work. In the month of February (1860) his health failed, in consequence of his severe personal discipline, the deprivation of the comforts to which he had been accustomed, and his hard labors and studies. By the advice of his spiritual counsellors he abandoned his purpose, at least for a time, and returned to Boston, to his father's house. He then entered the office of William Brigham, Esq., as a student at law, and took up again the threads of his former life. He resumed his very active labors with the Sabbathschool children, and among the poor of the city, and was especially interested in St. Mary's Catholic School in Endicott Street. Among other efforts in this cause, he delivered two lectures, - one at the Tremont Temple, on the education of Catholic children; and another at the Music Hall, on the history of the Society of Jesus. During this year he took an ardent interest in the state of the country, and in the political campaign, and worked zealously for the election of the late Hon. William Appleton as member of Congress from the Fifth District. The following extract from an extemporaneous speech made in Faneuil Hall, at the great Union meeting held in February, 1861, will give some idea of his fervid oratory: - "Virginia, startled by the guns of Lexington, gave us Washington; and shall we now say to Virginia, ' Begone, we have no part with you!' Never! while Concord and Bunker Hill remain on Massachusetts soil, never will we consent to part with the birthplace and home of Washington. Our Washington looks down upon us and approves our action this night. From yonder painted canvas he speaks to us. And he, brave John Hancock, whose name stands so boldly prominent on the Declaration, - he says to us, citizens of Massachusetts, 'Thirteen States signed that Declaration of your liberties. Will you consent that of those thirteen States, seven shall no longer have any part with you?' Go on, citizens of Massachusetts, and show that the old Bay State has still the spirit of '76, and knows that liberty without Union is an impossibility and a delusion! What can protect our liberties? Look at ancient Greece. The elegance and grace of Athens, the wealth of Corinth, and the strength of Sparta might have made one of the most glorious nations of antiquity; and yet, one by one, they fell victims to a monarch's sceptre. What would be our fate, - whether we should perish by intestine strife, or, one by one, fall victims to some foreign power, or a prey to the most powerful of our own number, - none can tell; but, sooner or later, we should find that, having thrown aside our Union, our

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liberty had followed. Webster demonstrated the impossibility of a peaceable secession, much more of a peaceable dissolution. He, though dead, still liveth! Yes, and until that canvas crumbles into dust, until these walls shall decay and perish, the noble form of Webster says to us, ' Preserve the Union for which I toiled and wept and prayed! Preserve the Union, and do not, do not disgrace my image, which has proclaimed it forever!' We can do little more. We can, by all the means in our power, try to induce our Congress to submit to us, the people, a plan of compromise. We shall have ample time to decide upon its merits, and to express that decision at the ballot-box. This is the last cry raised up by old Faneuil Hall, protesting against an involuntary exile. We do our best. We appeal to the hearts of men. But finally, we shall have to appeal to Him who has raised us up from thirteen small colonies to one of the greatest and proudest nations of the earth, who, for eighty-six years, has protected, strengthened, and blessed us. We must turn to Him, and with our good old city of Boston cry, ' God of our fathers, as thou wert to them, so be to us! ' We can do no more." Early in 186o he had joined the Independent Company of Cadets; and on the day after the attack by the Baltimore mob upon the Massachusetts Sixth Regiment, determined to serve his country in the field, he tendered his services to Fletcher Webster, Esq., to assist in enlisting the Twelfth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers for three years' service, and opened recruiting papers for that purpose on the morning of April 22, 1861. In three days the list was closed, and in sixteen days the regiment was full, officered, and in camp. On the 25th of April he was elected by Company D as its Captain. The regiment remained in camp at Fort Warren nearly three months, constantly improving in drill and discipline. It arrived at Harper's Ferry, July 27th, and was placed in General Banks's division. They soon proceeded to Hyattstown, Maryland, where Captain Shurtleff was taken dangerously ill with malarious fever, and was brought home on sick-leave early in September. He returned to duty on the 14th of October, and devoted himself to the care of his company with all his natural energy. On the 26th of January, 1862, he was detailed as Divisionary Judge Advocate, and performed the duties of his office to the entire satisfaction of his commanding general until his regiment was transferred to Major-General McDowell's division. On the 11th of March, 1862, he was sent to Boston to recruit for the regiment, and returned in the latter part of April. But as he enlisted the first in his regiment, so was he the first to fall. The sad circumstances of his death are best given in letters from Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan, at the time in command of the regiment, and from Lieutenant J. Otis Williams, of the same company:" On the night of Saturday, the 9th instant (August, 1862), the Third Brigade, General Hartsuff commanding, was ordered to take a position on the extreme right of General McDowell's corps. Whilst the Twelfth (the left regiment of the brigade) was crossing an open field but a few yards distant from some woods, which Generals Pope, McDowell, and Banks, with their escort, were on the point of entering, the enemy, seeing and hearing the horses, opened a sharp fire upon them. We happened to be immediately in the line of that fire, and, returning it at once, covered the retreat of our generals." Lieutenant Williams adds, that the regiment was then ordered to lie down upon the ground, and that Captain Shurtleff " had just raised himself on his elbow to see that his men were protecting themselves," when a second volley came from the enemy concealed by a thick wood in front, and he received a ball in the neighborhood of the heart. He said, "I am shot! Mary! pardon! " He was tenderly raised by three of his men, but before they reached the rear he was dead. " His loss to his company and the regiment is almost irreparable. As brave an officer as ever drew the breath of life, a true soldier and gentleman, he fell as falls the truly brave, patriot hero, shedding his life's young blood in defence [sic] of that sacred boon bequeathed him by his fathers." His body was conveyed to Washington, there embalmed, and thence transported to Boston. He was buried (in accordance with his own request, made in anticipation of such an end) from the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in Boston, on the 16th of August, 1862, with a high mass of requiem, and was laid to rest at Mount Auburn with a soldier's honors and with heartfelt grief. That the death of this young man, of but twenty-four years, was esteemed no common bereavement, was manifested in a public meeting of sympathy by the citizens of the ward, by the adjournment of the Superior Court until after the funeral, and by the numerous letters to his parents from distinguished and eminent citizens, expressive of the general sorrow at his sudden and early death. Perhaps this record cannot better close than with the following extract from a letter by Hon. Robert C. Winthrop: "His name is now enrolled where it cannot be forgotten on earth, and it will often be called up to inspire our American youth with ardor and heroism in the service of their country. I know how poor a consolation this is for the first sorrows of a father's and a mother's heart. God alone can supply strength for such an hour of anguish. Yet the time will come, when you will look back on such a death for your boy as better than any life which even his rich promise and accomplishments could have realized." Massachusetts, Hero Record, Civil War, Harvard Memorial Biographies Vol 2 1867, Suffolk Co MA Printer-friendly version Add new comment

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