Military Record of John Knight Bucklyn

JOHN K. BUCKLYN. Providence. Quartermaster sergeant, Sept. 30. 1861 ; Second lieutenant, March I, 1862; first lieutenant, Dec. 31, 1862; commanded Battery E from May 15, 1863, to April 26, 1864, wounded at Fredericksburg, wounded severely at battle of Gettysburg, Pa, July 2, 1863; on detached service sixth corps artillery brigade as A: D. C. [Aide de Camp], and A. A. A. General [Assistant Aide of Adjutant-General] on Colonel Tompkins' headquarters staff May 4. 1864; brevet captain, Oct. 19, 1864; captain in First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery, Jan. II, 1865; resigned Feb. 5, 1865, on account of ill health of wife.

Battery E began its service at the effective start of the military campaigns of the Civil War, and only was mustered out (in June 1865) after the final battle of the war and the surrender of Robert E. L to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. During those four years the unit participated almost continuously in battles (45 of them!) , including the bloody battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, during which Capt. Bucklyn commanded the unit.

As the Assistant Aide of the Adjutant-General (AAAGen) on the staff of Colonel Thompkins, Buckyn would have had the duty of reorganizing units to fight as battle casualties broke down the effectiveness of a fighting unit or eliminated the unit's commanding officers. The need to have a superior officer get into the front lines, to reorganize and recombine remnants of units, and issue new battle orders on the spot, during the battles of the Civil War, is why the Colonel's recommendation (following) speaks of Bucklyn's bravery and valor as the AAAGen during battles such as Cold Harbor and the Shenandoah Valley.

Bucklyn is mentioned often in the several hundred pages of the official history of Battery E of the First Regiment of Rhode Island Light Artillery. We have some notes and the entire history book of Battery E available for you.