The losses of Sumner's Corps—which numbered about 18,000 men, or one-fifth of the army engaged in the battle,—was nearly thirty per cent of its men engaged, and one half of the whole loss of the Union Army in the fight; while the losses in Sedgwick's division, which numbered only about five thousand men and in which was the Nineteenth Massachusetts were 2183, or more than 45%
Col. Hinks suffered very much from his wounds received at Antietam, and for sometime was considered mortally wounded; indeed he was reported and for some days believed to be dead, and lengthy obituary notices of the most complimentary character appeared in the Boston dailies and other Massachusetts papers.
Said the Daily Advertiser, ‘He commanded the Eighth Regiment through the three-months service in 1861 with such ability and success that he was at once commissioned colonel of the Nineteenth for the war, that regiment being largely recruited from the old Eighth. In command of his new regiment, he was equally successful in securing the respect and confidence of all who came in contact with him.’
Said the Daily Journal on the same occasion, ‘Col. Hinks was a brave and valuable officer, and is a great loss to the service as well as to the state of his nativity . . . . He displayed the qualities of a soldier, as well in the care of his men as in his bravery in the field, and he will be remembered with respect by all who served under him,’ . . . . .
Dr. Alfred Hitchcock visited the field of Antietam, and in a letter to Governor Andrew, Sept. 26, 1862, this described the condition of Col. Hinks: ‘Col. Hinks, poor fellow! seemed on Monday to have symptoms of sinking. His wound is through the abdomen and back, and a miracle only can save him. I advised against his proposed removal, as lessening the only possible chance for such a miracle to be wrought by Him in whose hand our breath is’ . . . . . . . .
The following is an extract from an official letter written
