The 15th Massachusetts was raised in Worcester and was under the command of Colonel Charles Devens. Grout, whose family called Willie, was assigned to D Company. The 15th was stationed on Harrison Island on the Potomac River facing Balls Bluff in Virginia. After news of a Confederate outpost was relayed to COL Devens he took half his regiment, 300 men, and ferried them across the river to seek out the enemy. LT Grout was part of this group.

On the Virginia side, the 15th came under fire from the 17th Mississippi. Outnumbered the 15th attempted to consolidate with more reinforcements but was quickly out positioned trapped between the rebel held bluffs and the strong river. Seeing his men in danger of being wiped out COL Devens ordered: “Throw your guns into the river and save yourself!” Over the din of retreat LT Grout shouted: “Colonel is there anything more I can do for you?” To which Devens replied, “Nothing. But to take care of yourself.”

The 15th piled into what boats that remained as most of the men attempted to swim back across. Confederate sharpshooters shot men down in the river. In the shallows LT Grout helped load his desperate men into the boats. Waist deep in the river he was struck with a mortal round. He shouted out to his men: “Tell Company D I could have reached the shore, but I am shot, I must sink!”

On November 5, 1861, William Grout’s body was discovered some 35 miles away in the Potomac in Washington DC intertangled with other Union dead floating against the Chain Bridge. Personal effects in his pockets helped identify him and ensure that his body was sent home to Massachusetts.

The Grout family began a tradition of marking William’s absence at family events by keeping his empty chair at the table. Inspired by this poet Henry S Washburn composed “The Vacant Chair” in William’s memory. It was later set to music by George F Root and it became a popular mourning song during the war.

We shall meet but we shall miss him. There will be one vacant chair. We shall linger to caress him While we breathe our ev'ning prayer. When one year ago we gathered, Joy was in his mild blue eye. Now the golden cord is severed, And our hopes in ruin lie.

We shall meet, but we shall miss him. There will be one vacant chair. We shall linger to caress him While we breathe our ev'ning prayer.

At our fireside, sad and lonely, Often will the bosom swell At remembrance of the story How our noble Willie fell. How he strove to bear the banner Thro' the thickest of the fight And uphold our country's honor In the strength of manhood's might.

We shall meet, but we shall miss him. There will be one vacant chair. We shall linger to caress him While we breathe our ev'ning prayer.

True, they tell us wreaths of glory Evermore will deck his brow, But this soothes the anguish only, Sweeping o'er our heartstrings now. Sleep today, O early fallen, In thy green and narrow bed. Dirges from the pine and cypress Mingle with the tears we shed.

In 1894, a Camp in Worcester of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was formed and named in his honor, Willie Grout Camp No. 25. His uniform and camp items can be seen at the Worcester Historical Museum