Standing Proud

Pea Ridge Park Displays Bullet, Coat With Bullet Hole

STAFF PHOTO JASON IVESTER Troy Banzhaf, park ranger and interpreter at Pea Ridge National Military Park, describes the Civil War frock worn by Lt. William B. Chapman during the Battle of Pea Ridge. The park recently obtained the coat via auction and put it on display in the museum last week.
STAFF PHOTO JASON IVESTER Troy Banzhaf, park ranger and interpreter at Pea Ridge National Military Park, describes the Civil War frock worn by Lt. William B. Chapman during the Battle of Pea Ridge. The park recently obtained the coat via auction and put it on display in the museum last week.

"Only think of Artillery charging Infantry!" reads an interpretive panel at Pea Ridge National Military Park, quoting a March 12, 1862, letter from J.R. Green of the 2nd Ohio Light Artillery to his father from a camp near Sugar Creek. "We drove them upwards one half mile when they made a stand in a piece of woods and opened a tremendous fire upon our battery and the gallant 2d (2nd Missouri Infantry).

"Lieut. Chapman received a ball in his thigh, and he was carried off the field in an ambulance. The shower of bullets at that time was at its height, and the brave Lieutenant sang out as he left us, 'Do the best you can, I can't help you anymore.'"

Go & Do

Pea Ridge National Military Park

Where: 15930 E. U.S. 62 near Garfield

When: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily

Cost: $5 for adults, or $10 per carload

Information: 451-8122 or nps.gov/peri/index.…

"The battery was under attack, and he participated in the charge," Troy Banzhaf said last week, telling the story of William Chapman of Conneaut, Ohio, who was wounded March 8, 1862, at the Leetown Battle, part of the larger Pea Ridge campaign which put the state of Missouri in Union control. Banzhaf works as interpreter and park ranger at Pea Ridge National Military Park.

Despite the frightening scene in Green's letter, Chapman survived his wounds, Banzhaf said. A shot entered his left hip and exited his stomach in the battle -- tearing a hole in his coat on entry and blowing off a button on exit.

The park's museum now owns that bullet and that button -- along with the coat. Banzhaf recently obtained the artifacts for the park at auction, and they went on display last week.

The blue wool coat stands as if at attention in a display case -- crisp and clean, in perfect condition, except for the quarter-size rip on the left side. Documents accompanying the coat in the sale prove that Chapman wore the coat during the Leetown battle, Banzhaf said.

"The only major battle he ever fought was Leetown," Banzhaf said.

Prominent Citizen

"William Chapman was born in 1826 in Cleveland, Ohio," Banzhaf said. "He was a prominent lawyer in Conneaut: He argued cases in the state Supreme Court. He served as the grand master for the Masonic Lodge."

In July 1861, Chapman enlisted in the Union's 2nd Ohio, a cannon battery, Banzhaf continued. And because Chapman was so well-liked, the citizens of Conneaut purchased the coat and presented it as a gift.

"It's wool, fully lined with silk," Banzhaf described. He also noted the shoulders of the coat bear captain's ribbons, which Chapman did not have during the battle.

After being wounded at Leetown, Chapman stayed in the battle until he was too weak to fight, Banzhaf reported. Chapman was promoted from first lieutenant to captain by the governor of Ohio on July 19, 1862, but was forced to resign his commission in October 1862. "He never fully recovered from his wounds," Banzhaf said.

During his recovery, Chapman wrote a letter home: "When the first Charge was made I was shot with a round ball on the left hip, which came out about six inches from where it entered. I have the ball and will bring it home when I come, which will be as soon as I can ride."

Chapman's wound came from a Confederate round ball, shot from a smooth-bore musket, Banzhaf said. Probably the shot was made from more than 100 yards, for two reasons: Those muskets shot accurately only to about 40 or 50 yards. And the wound would have been more dire if the ball were traveling at full speed. "Typically, these kind of wounds killed you," Banzhaf said.

It's a mystery how Chapman kept the ball and button, Banzhaf said. "Maybe they were stuck in his coat."

"Chapman went home and picked up his law practice," Banzhaf continued. The family later moved to Erie, Pa., and Bradford, Pa., in 1876.

Here, "he continued work as an attorney, was active in the Republican party, the Union Veteran Legion, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Masonic order," reads information accompanying the museum display.

"In 1895, Chapman was accidentally run over by a passenger carriage," Banzhaf said. "He was mortally wounded and died a week later. He was buried in Conneaut."

The surviving members of the 2nd Ohio Grand Army of the Republic renamed their chapter after William B. Chapman and held a reunion that year at his daughter Sarah Chapman Hayward's house in Conneaut, Banzhaf continued. A picture from the 1897 reunion is on display with the coat.

Career Highlights

Obtaining the coat is one of two career highlights for Banzhaf. Two years ago he obtained the 1826 West Point diploma of Gen. Samuel Curtis, commander of the Union Army of the Southwest, who led troops at Pea Ridge.

Banzhaf registers on several auction websites, which look worldwide for items, he explained. The auction service notifies him when items related to the Battle of Pea Ridge become available.

"So several thousand dollars later, the coat is back where it is supposed to be," Banzhaf said.

He explained the funds for the purchase of the coat came from Eastern National, a nonprofit organization that works with and supports the National Park Service.

Founded by park rangers in 1947, Eastern National -- formerly known as Eastern National Park and Monument Association -- currently works with more than 150 national parks and since 1948 has donated over $100 million to the National Park Service, in the form of direct donations and grants, according to its website, easternational.org.

Through the years, Eastern National funds have purchased land, artifacts, media for park libraries, period costumes for living history demonstrations and reenactments, signage and exhibits, facility renovations and upgrades, interpretive tools and programs, staff training programs, and much more. Donations have also funded archeological, historical and cultural research programs which have had a direct impact on the parks and their interpretive programs.

In addition to the coat, the round ball and the button, the park received many documents about Chapman, including copies of letters, Army muster rolls, his 1847 marriage certificate, his death certificate and his wife Cynthia's application for a widow's pension of $17 a month, pictures of his grave and pictures of his home in the 1970s.

The Army report for February 1862 lists Chapman as "absent, injured in the battle of Pea Ridge," Banzhaf quoted. June 30, 1862, records he was "wounded, sick at home on extended leave." The rolls note his resignation was accepted on Oct. 11, 1862.

Chapman's coat will be on temporary display for one year, Banzhaf said, then it goes to the parks service's conservation lab in Harper's Ferry, Va.

Chapman's coat is important to the park because it does not hold too many artifacts of the battle. The collection consists of mostly bullets, pieces of glass and nails found on the battlefield site.

NAN Life on 07/23/2014

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