Corporal Isaac Henry Chandler

Corporal Chandler was born on January 13, 1846 to Isaac Washington Chandler, a shoemaker and mariner, and Catherine C. Benson. He was their first and only child. The birth was recorded in Salem, MA, though in his enlistment papers he stated he was born in Norwich, CT. Sadly, his father would drown in 1847 when he was struck by the boom of a ship during a thunderstorm off Cape Ann. He was only 24. His mother married stone mason Thomas Heard the following year.

Before the War Isaac sold newspapers for the Chandler family and worked seasonally as a mariner like his father.

He enlisted in the 50th Massachusetts Regiment Company K as a Private on October 30, 1862. On February 4, 1864 he joined the 59th Massachusetts Regiment, and was assigned as a Corporal in Company E. During his service he saw action at the siege of Fort Hudson, Battle of the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. His enlistment paperwork gives the following description: 5 feet 5 inches tall, dark complexion with blue eyes and brown hair.

Corporal Chandler was mortally wounded at Spotsylvania when a miniball shattered his thigh and both bones in his left leg. He remained stranded on the battlefield for almost two weeks before he was located and taken to the Armory Square Hospital in Washington, DC where he succumbed to his wounds on June 20, 1864.

He was brought home and laid to rest in the Soldiers Lot at Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem, MA.