Fellow Sharpshooters

Buried in the Michigan Soldier’s Home cemetery, lies a Vermont sharpshooter buried far from home. He is Sargent Lewis J. Allen. Although born in Michigan, Allen’s family (unusually) moved east to return to their native state. On September 2, 1861, Lewis Allen was one of the earliest recruits to enlist in Company F with the rank of corporal.

Brian White’s most recent blog (https://civilwarsharpshooters.blog/2025/05/21/lewis-j-allen/) displays a pair of photos of Allen, the first one in a private purchase coat, likely taken shortly after his enlistment. The coat’s loose fit and unusual features (breast and hip pockets) closely match those of New Hampshire sharpshooters in the October 5, 1861 edition of Harper’s Weekly Illustrated (see link in “images” section below).

Allen’s most terrifying wartime experience was during the disorganized retreat after the Pitzer’s Woods skirmish with Maj. General Cademus Wilcox’s Alabama/Florida brigade. Seized with a disabling cramp in his right side, Allen stumbled through the gate of the C. Schafer house and collapsed to the ground. As he was gasping for air, a pair of women emerged from the house and thinking him wounded, one told her companion to “grab the butcher knife”. Allen stared in horror as the woman sliced off his knapsack, cartridge and waist belts. Before she could go any further, Allen gasped out that he wasn’t wounded. Motivated by her diatribe (while waving, what to Allen looked like a pirates cutlass), and closing CSA skirmishers; he recovered enough strength to grab his kit and ‘beat feet’ for the safety of the Emmitsburg road.

That Fall, Sgt. Allen circulated a petition among the Company F veterans seeking promotion to (Second) Lieutenant. In his diary, Charles B Mead wrote: “Nov. 22 Sunday; Had the usual inspection. Chinked and mudded some. Reports of recruiting the regiment…In the evening Lt. Merriman received a letter from E.W. Hindes saying that he was discharged on the 6th. Drew up a petition to the Governor for the promotion of Merriman and Kinsman to defeat the workings of Sergeant Allen. Allen acts like a fool. Mike Cunningham and myself went around to the boys tents to get their signatures - we got 40 names out of 46. Went to the Div. H'd. Q'rs. with Peck and put the petition into the Div. mail”.
Cpl. Mead served as Merriman’s clerk until being killed in action before Petersburg on June 17, 1864.

On January 22, 1864, Charles D. “Merrimac” Merriman was promoted Captain of Company F. Mead: “Sun. Feb. 21 - Inspection A.M. by Brigade Commander….Merriman came back from his leave of absence P.M. looking more like a soldier in his new suit.” On the same date, (Jan 22nd), Henry Kinsman was elevated to 1st Lieutenant, and Lewis Allen commissioned 2nd Lieutenant. However, due to the decreased ranks, Allen wasn’t mustered and remained First Sargent. On April 9th Mead wrote: “Rainy nearly all day and night….Allen at work to get a comish in the Corps D'Afrique - BULLY for that”.

On Allen’s “Find a Grave” webpage is a CDV of him attired as a commissioned officer. Likely the image was taken in Vermont when he was on leave after reenlisting. The Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers shows Lewis Allen’s Second Lieutenant commission was submitted on Nov 5, 1863 and approved on Jan 22, 1864.

Captain Merriman was the last commander of Vermont Company F, serving from January until their muster out in September, 1864. Interestingly, when I visited the Bentley Library (at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor), to research the Charles D. Merriman collection, I discovered a letter by Merriman to the Governor of Vermont, apologizing for the delay in submitting the Company F records and muster out rolls.

I always wondered how that was possible until discovering First Sargent Eli Cook (Co. I, 1st-Regt) had retained the company records (or made copies), that he used years after the War to provide affidavits to old comrades applying for pensions. Possibly, like Cook, Allen kept one or more company books after being discharged, and it took time for Merriman to locate, transcribe and forward the information.

Based on Brian’s research, Sargent Allen sustained two and possibly three head injuries during his service with the Sharpshooters. The acute and chronic effects of brain trauma associated with concussion (professional football players) and blast trauma (GWOT military personnel) has only recently been recognized; thanks to advances in neuroscience, imagining (PET/CAT) and sophisticated screening/diagnostic protocols. Today, soldiers exposed to blast or similar trauma are quickly diagnosed and prescribed treatments that speed recovery or rehabilitation. Unfortunately, this medical knowledge was unknown and unavailable to Civil War veterans. The extent of how the traumas (both blast/concussion and likely, PTSD) affected Allen during his post-war life is suggestive at best. Likewise, it is not known what role they may have played in his admission to the Soldier Home and eventual death.

My first “event” as a U.S. Sharpshooter was the annual Sons of Union Veterans memorial service at the Michigan Soldiers Home cemetery. The high point of the ceremony, called for a representative from each “regiment” (or Camp) to place a wreath or flag honoring a veteran buried there. Noticing my green uniform, an official handed me a flag as the announcer read the deceased’s name. I stepped forward and placed the flag alongside the others. But instead of turning ‘about face’, I took three steps back, unslung and brought my Sharps to present arms; a silent tribute to Green Mountain Boy turned U.S. Sharpshooter, Sargent Lewis J. Allen.

Sources & Image links:

Sargent Lewis J. Allen:https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14623137/lewis-j-allen)

Captain Merriman: https://www.loc.gov/item/2021630257/)
Charles D. Merriman collection, Bentley Library (U of Michigan) website: (Charles D. Merriman papers, 1862-1864 - University of Michigan William L. Clements Library - University of Michigan Finding Aids)

Lieutenant Kinsman: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86225473/henry-edwin-kinsma)

New Hampshire Sharpshooters at Weehawken: https://www.ebay.com/itm/126152784376

Rutland Historical Society website (Charles B. Mead Civil War diaries)https://archive.org/detailsRutandHistoricalSocietyQuarterlyVol.28No.11998/page/n15/mode/1up

Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Revised_roster_of_Vermont_volunteers_and_lists_of_Vermonters_who_served_in_the_army_and_navy_of_the_United_States_during_the_war_of_the_rebellion%2C_1861-66_%28IA_cu31924080774148%29.pdf

Bill Skillman
Berdan Sharpshooters Survivors Association