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

If he died at 18,then this picture is him just before then at the oldest.

He was commissioned in the 15th on July 12, 1861, 13 days shy of his 18th birthday. This so picture is sometime in the later summer or early fall of 1861.

pretty sweet 'stache for such a young man.

i often think about these old timey young people and how differently a crowd of them would behave compared to modern teens. the differences in maturity, life experiences, expectations, etc.

i look at his picture and wonder what kind of sense of humor he had. did he dance when he was alone? was he a lady's man? what were his dreams and aspirations? he died in war at an age where i was playing drunken laser tag at the arcade while my countrymen were across the globe getting blown up for nonsense.

love the pic and the story.

Your comment about the maturity of a civil war soldier, the same could be said about WWII. I had a lot of family who served and developed an interest. Every book I've read on the subject have astonishing stories about young men who at 18 or 19 sacrificed themselves to turn the tide of battle. Nowadays a lot of young men live in mom's basement and occupy themselves with video games and porn.

If you watch Ken Burns The War it was very common to denigrate the Greatest Generation as lazy, entitled and wasting their time on frivolity on the verge of World War II.

Another revisionist liberal asshole who makes up shit because he's too lazy to do the heavy lifting of research. He has a staff that does that. They provide the real facts and he colors it with bullshit leftist claptrap. How could anyone who survived the depression be entitled and exactly what sort of frivolity could they afford? Both of my parents served in WWII and said it was the first time in their lives that they owned more than one pair of shoes and two changes of clothes. Before the war they said things were lean and they never had enough to eat which was the case for the majority of Americans. It was a real party. i paid to see this jerk speak at Sturbridge Village. I couldn't take more than a few minutes of his magical bullshit so I left, what a waste of money.

Every generation since the dawn of man has talked down to the generation that followed it. You are keeping with that tradition while also demonstrating the unique ideological safe space Boomers have carved out for themselves in their twilight.

Wow that’s a wild story and a moving song. Thanks for sharing

Yes, and you demonstrate that you don't know shit about anything but the dystopian world you and your lot are carving out for yourselves. I'm glad I'm a boomer, I got to experience a normal sane world before you geniuses with all the fucking answers came along. I'm glad I'll be gone before you really fuck things up.

This is an extremely well-crafted burn.

I’m sorry but Ball’s Bluff? That’s comical

Can I get a TL;DR?

Seriously! I was gonna say "if he died at 18, then who is the 30 old man in the picture?"

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Pulled that one out of your ass. Wow. (said in my best Mike Ehrmantraut voice.) Yeah but we didn't have a government that exposed us to pathogens to sell dangerous untested vaccines. Are you up to date on your boosters? Better hurry, Pfizer wants to increase the cost of a jab by 400%. Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. (said in my best Gomer Pyle voice, you might have to look that up too, it's a boomer thing.) This is fun, got any more genius?

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Unionforever? I didn't know McDonald's had a union. Is that the BFL (Burger Flippers of America?)

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And your generation has accomplished what????? (crickets) Oh yeah, you rocket scientists discovered hundreds of new genders, that men can get pregnant and menstruate and say that with a straight face. You're the ones I see masked up while alone and out doors or in you car, you're fucking amazing!! You're the ones that discovered the green miracle that is going to replace petroleum. Oh, it's electricity, isn't that generated by burning fossil fuels, hmmmm. You geniuses managed to destroy everything the Civil Rights Movement accomplished with your imaginary institutionalized racism, CRT, white privilege and racists under every rock. Fortunately older blacks aren't buying it. It's astounding the great leaps you've made. Why you've even made America a safer place by defunding the police because they're the problem not the criminals, right???? Brilliant, you guys amaze me. Is there anything I forgot? C'mon dazzle me you Mensan.