Historical Commission’s Monthly Tales of Our Town
Historical Commission’s Monthly Tales of Our Town
Eben Stanwood: West Newbury’s highest ranking Civil War vet, Town statesman, husband
December’s story is about Ebenezer (Eben) Stanwood, who, due to a battlefield promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, became West Newbury’s highest ranking Civil War soldier. Letters preserved at the G.A.R. Library between Eben and his wife Mary Noyes Stanwood offer a view into lives of a soldier and those left behind. Eight months after his marriage and five months into Mary’s first pregnancy, Eben enlisted as a Captain in the Massachusetts 48th Volunteer Infantry Regiment on August 30, 1862. The 48th was to become part of the expedition to control Port Hudson, LA, and thus the upper Mississippi River—a slow-going venture that entailed months of waiting in camp. In an era when childbirth was as dangerous as soldiering in wartime, Eben left for New Orleans three days after his daughter’s birth. At the same time he wrote that life in camp was “a pretty good time,” she was experiencing pain, fever, debilitation, and likely depression, while also coping with a demanding baby and difficult mother-in-law. After the war, the Stanwoods remained in West Newbury for almost all their lives, where he served as state representative, Town clerk, library trustee, and for 25 years as commander of the Major Boyd G.A.R. Post.
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