Abraham Cohn
(1832 - 1897)
New Hampshire’s history is replete with heroes - General John Stark at the Battle
of Bennington, Captain John Paul Jones aboard the Bon Homme Richard, and Major
Robert Rogers of Roger’s Rangers to name only a few. There are others not so well
known who nevertheless unselfishly served their country at great personal risk; one such
individual was Abraham Cohn of Campton, NH.
Sergeant-Major Abraham Cohn, one of the 9,000 Jews who fought for the Union (some 2,000
Jews fought for the South), won the Medal of Honor for valor above and beyond the call of
duty at the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of the Crater in 1864. (Historical
records indicate at least six Jewish-Americans received this award during the period
1861-1865.) The record of his deeds and those of other Jewish-American participants in the
Civil War are preserved at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History in
Washington D.C. This article will focus on Sergeant-Major Cohn’s exploits during the
Battle of the Wilderness.
As is the case with so many other Civil War participants, there is little or no pre-war
evidence to indicate Sergeant-Major Abraham Cohn of the 6th NH Volunteers was
Medal of Honor material. Born in the East Prussian town of Guttentag on June 17, 1832, he
came to New York at the age of 28 during the mid-19th century flood of German Jewish
emigration. He was not a physically imposing man; his service record describes him as,
"….five feet five and ½ inches high, florid complexion, blue eyes, black hair,
and by occupation, when originally enrolled, a Teacher." Yet there must have been
something of a soldierly nature in Sergeant-Major Cohn because within 18 months of service
he rose from the rank of Private to 1st Lieutenant, fought in eleven battles, was twice
wounded, and won the Medal of Honor "for conspicuous gallantry" in the
Wilderness, May 6, 1864 and "for bravery & coolness" at The Crater,
July 30, 1864. (Cohn enlisted as a Private in Co. E, 6th NH Volunteers in
Campton, NH on January 5, 1864 and was promoted to Sergeant-Major on March 28, 1864.)
In May, 1864, the 6th New Hampshire, assigned to Major General Ambrose
Burnside’s IX Corps, was helping to guard the rebuilt Orange & Alexandria
Railroad from Manassas Junction south to Rappahannock Station. The Battle of the
Wilderness began in earnest on May 5, 1864 when the Army of the Potomac under General
Ulysses Grant tangled with General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at two
key locations: the tiny settlement of Wilderness Tavern (where Sedgwick’s Union VI
Corps and Warren’s Union V Corps faced Ewell’s Confederate II Corps) and the
junction of the Brock and Orange Plank Roads (where A.P. Hill’s Confederate III Corps
met Hancock’s Union II Corps). As the fighting intensified, Grant ordered IX Corps to
fill the gap between these forces by means of an all-night forced march that brought
Burnside’s men south of the Rapidan River and into the Wilderness. After a day of
confused fighting that ended in stalemate, The Army of Northern Virginia was facing a
critical situation. Longstreet’s Confederate I Corps, ordered to move north from
Gordonsville as quickly as possible on May 4, was still ten miles from the road junction
where A.P. Hill’s under-strength Confederate III Corps was fighting for its life.
Ewell’s Confederate II Corps, meanwhile, was heavily engaged with Sedgwick’s and
Warren’s troops. Tomorrow, Lee knew, Hancock would advance with 20,000 veteran troops
against A.P. Hill and there would be little left with which to stop him - unless
Longstreet arrived on time. (Late on May 5, the 6th New Hampshire, assigned to
Griffin’s Brigade of Potter’s Division of Union IX Corps, was ordered to
reinforce Wadsworth’s Division of Union VI Corps as Wadsworth prepared to attack A.P.
Hill’s left flank).
At 5 a.m. on May 6, 1864, Union II Corps began its expected attack on the Confederate
positions, advancing in three battle lines on a front more than a mile long. By 7 a.m.,
the Union troops had advanced more than a mile and the Confederate lines were beginning to
crumble. Soon Wadsworth’s Federals were closing in on Lee’s headquarters at the
Widow Tapp Farm; all that stood between them and a Confederate disaster were 12 guns
commanded by Colonel William Poague of Virginia. Poague’s artillery repeatedly
blasted the oncoming Union troops with cannister but they kept advancing despite their
mounting casualties. Then disorientation set in as the Federal advance (including that of
Potter’s Division) became bogged down in the thick, entangling underbrush of the
Wilderness, losing direction and momentum when they could ill-afford it.
At that pivotal moment, Longstreet’s 20,000 men arrived on the scene; four
brigades of Confederate I Corps used the bed of an unfinished railroad as a means to hit
Wadsworth’s Division at 11 a.m. with a massive counterattack. After suffering 1100
casualties in the early morning Union assault, Wadsworth’s men began to steadily give
ground in the face of the Rebel onslaught. Then, shortly before noon, disaster struck;
General Wadsworth fell mortally wounded while trying to rally his troops and his loss
caused what remained of his division to head for the rear.
It was at this time that Sergeant-Major Cohn, in the words of his Medal of Honor
citation, displayed "conspicuous gallantry in rallying and forming under heavy fire
disorganized and flying troops of different regiments." Although the historical
details of his actions that day are not available beyond what is described in the
citation, we can make several assumptions based on similar events in other Civil War
battles. The 6th New Hampshire, a battle-tested, veteran outfit with a reputation for
steadiness and courage under fire, was probably serving as a backstop for the Union
retreat from the Widow Tapp Farm. The Confederates would have advanced, shouting the Rebel
Yell as they went, steadily pushing back elements of Wadsworth’s Division until they
reached the 6th NH’s lines. The Rebels then would have opened up a heavy fire against
the Yankees. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pearson, CO, 6th New Hampshire, (who was later
killed at Cold Harbor) knowing he would need every man he could find to hold off the Rebel
attack, in all probability assigned Sergeant-Major Cohn to collect and organize whomever
he could from those fleeing the battlefield to shore up his lines. This meant Cohn had to
cajole and coerce soldiers from other units who didn’t recognize his authority (and
whose only concern at that moment was to get away from the battle as quickly as possible)
to stand and fight with the 6th New Hampshire while hundreds of Confederate .58 caliber
Minie balls were flying about. Somehow, largely through the efforts of Sergeant-Major
Cohn, the rag-tag elements of retreating soldiers were brought together and formed into a
defensive line that brought Longstreet’s counteroffensive to a standstill.
Sergeant-Major Cohn served with the 6th New Hampshire until mustered out on
July 17, 1865 as a 1st Lieutenant. He moved to New York City after the war
where he was active in business affairs. Married and the father of eight children. Cohn
died in New York City on June 2, 1897 at the age of 65. He was buried in the Cypress Hills
Cemetery.
Sources: Jewish-American History. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Author Mark Starin is a member of Temple
Beth Jacob in Concord, NH, where he teaches a seventh grade Jewish ethics class. He retired from the US Navy Reserve in 1992. He is employed by the New Hampshire Office of Emergency Management in Concord. |