Osgood Towns Hadley

Defending the Colors Under Fire at Pegram House

Osgood Towns Hadley was a Union Army soldier and recipient of the United States Medal of Honor whose courage during the American Civil War earned him recognition for protecting his regiment's colors under enemy fire. Serving as a corporal in Company E of the 6th New Hampshire Veteran Infantry, he distinguished himself near Pegram House, Virginia, on September 30, 1864. During fierce fighting outside Petersburg, Hadley defended the regimental flag and brought it safely from the battlefield. His extraordinary conduct earned him the Medal of Honor on July 27, 1896.

Hadley was born on January 19, 1838, in Nashua, New Hampshire. He later lived in Peterborough, New Hampshire, the community from which he entered military service. Although details of his childhood, education, and early occupation remain limited, his surviving military records provide a substantial account of his service with the Union Army.

Before entering the army, Hadley married Susan F. Carter of Peterborough on November 14, 1860. Their marriage was brief, as Susan died on September 17, 1861, shortly before Hadley began his military service.

On October 9, 1861, Hadley enlisted in the 6th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. He was formally mustered into federal service as a private in Company E on November 28, 1861.

The regiment was organized at Keene, New Hampshire, during November 1861. Its soldiers assembled at Camp Brooks before departing for Washington, D.C., in December.

The following month, the 6th New Hampshire joined Major General Ambrose E. Burnside's expedition to North Carolina. The regiment served in coastal operations before being transferred to Virginia and assigned to the IX Corps.

During 1862, the regiment participated in several important Union campaigns. Its documented engagements included the Second Battle of Bull Run, Chantilly, Antietam, and Fredericksburg.

At the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 29, 1862, the 6th New Hampshire suffered severe casualties during an attack against Confederate positions. The regiment's official history records that 210 of approximately 450 officers and men engaged were killed, wounded, or reported missing.

The regiment subsequently participated in the Maryland Campaign, including the fighting at Antietam on September 17, 1862.

By December, the 6th New Hampshire had returned to Virginia and was preparing for the Union assault against Confederate positions at Fredericksburg.

On December 13, 1862, the regiment advanced against the defenses at Marye's Heights. Confederate forces occupied a strong position overlooking the attacking Union infantry, and the assault resulted in heavy casualties.

Hadley's individual military roster confirms that he was wounded during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Although the record does not establish the precise nature or severity of his injury, it provides direct evidence that he personally participated in the fighting.

Hadley recovered sufficiently to continue his military career. During his service, he received appointment as a corporal, reflecting his advancement from the rank of private.

The 6th New Hampshire subsequently served in Kentucky and participated in military operations associated with the Vicksburg Campaign during 1863.

The regiment's history records its movement westward with the IX Corps and its participation in operations around Jackson, Mississippi, following the Confederate surrender of Vicksburg.

Later in 1863, the regiment returned to Kentucky, where portions of the unit performed garrison and provost duties.

On December 30, 1863, Hadley reenlisted as a veteran volunteer, extending his military service beyond his original enlistment.

His reenlistment placed him among the experienced soldiers who continued serving as the Union Army prepared for another major campaign in Virginia.

In the spring of 1864, the 6th New Hampshire rejoined the Army of the Potomac as part of the IX Corps.

The regiment participated in the Overland Campaign, during which Union forces under Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant engaged General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in a succession of battles.

Its documented operations included the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna, and Cold Harbor, followed by the advance toward Petersburg.

During the summer of 1864, Union forces established an extended military front around Petersburg, Virginia.

Petersburg was a strategically important railroad and transportation center supplying the Confederate capital at Richmond. Grant sought to stretch Confederate defenses and cut the routes through which Lee's army received supplies.

The prolonged fighting developed into the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign, involving repeated attacks, counterattacks, and movements against fortified positions.

By September 1864, the 6th New Hampshire was serving southwest of Petersburg, where Union commanders prepared another attempt to extend their lines.

The resulting operation became known as the Battle of Peebles' Farm, also called the Battle of Poplar Springs Church.

The engagement began on September 30, 1864, and continued through October 2.

Union forces under Major Generals Gouverneur K. Warren and John G. Parke advanced against Confederate positions protecting important roads southwest of Petersburg.

The operation was designed to threaten Confederate communications and increase pressure on the defenses of Petersburg.

On September 30, Federal troops advanced through the area around Poplar Spring Church and Peebles' Farm.

The Union attack initially succeeded in capturing Confederate defensive works, but additional Confederate troops arrived and launched resistance against the advancing formations.

The fighting placed portions of the IX Corps under heavy pressure.

The 6th New Hampshire participated in the engagement near Pegram House, where Confederate attacks threatened the Union infantry positions.

It was during this action that Corporal Osgood Towns Hadley performed the deed for which he received the Medal of Honor.

Serving as his regiment's color bearer, Hadley faced the responsibility of protecting the military standard amid the fighting.

Regimental colors were essential symbols of military identity during the Civil War. They also served a practical battlefield function by helping soldiers locate their units and maintain their formations in confusing conditions.

The men entrusted with these flags frequently faced exceptional danger because the colors remained highly visible even when enemy fire forced soldiers to seek cover.

At Pegram House, Hadley defended the flag with extraordinary courage.

His official Medal of Honor citation records that he protected his regiment's colors and brought them safely out of the action.

The citation does not specify the exact movements he made, the number of enemy soldiers he encountered, or whether the original color bearer had been wounded. Its central finding is that Hadley personally defended the colors and preserved them during the engagement.

The importance of the act lay in his determination to protect the regiment's standard while the fighting endangered the men carrying and defending it.

The 6th New Hampshire suffered substantial losses during the fighting around Poplar Springs Church.

Its official regimental history records approximately 125 officers and enlisted men killed, wounded, or captured during the engagements of September 30 and October 1.

Despite these losses, Hadley succeeded in bringing the colors safely from the action.

His conduct became the defining moment of his documented military career.

The broader Battle of Peebles' Farm ultimately resulted in a limited Union victory. Federal forces extended their siege lines westward and gained additional ground south of Petersburg.

Although the engagement did not immediately end the Confederate defense of the city, it contributed to the gradual tightening of Union pressure around Petersburg.

Hadley remained in military service during the final months of the Civil War.

The 6th New Hampshire continued operations near Petersburg and participated in the final offensive against Confederate defenses in April 1865.

Hadley's individual records do not establish his presence in every subsequent engagement, but they confirm that he remained with the regiment until its formal muster-out.

During his service, he attained the rank of sergeant, the highest rank identified in his surviving military record.

On July 17, 1865, Hadley was mustered out of federal service, concluding nearly four years of Union Army service.

His military record reflected both his wound at Fredericksburg and the courage he demonstrated while protecting the regimental colors at Pegram House.

Following the war, Hadley returned to civilian life.

Biographical accounts record that he married Sarah Naomi Ball on September 22, 1865. Their marriage ended with her death on July 4, 1867.

He subsequently married Lucy H. Brown on November 25, 1868. Their son, Willis Osgood Hadley, was born in 1870. Lucy died on January 15, 1871.

Hadley eventually settled in Southborough, Massachusetts, where he spent his later years.

More than thirty years after the fighting near Pegram House, his Civil War bravery received formal national recognition.

On July 27, 1896, Osgood Towns Hadley received the United States Medal of Honor for his actions on September 30, 1864.

The award recognized his exceptional gallantry in defending his regiment's colors and bringing them safely from the battlefield.

His recognition preserved the memory of an achievement that had taken place during one of the difficult operations of the Petersburg Campaign.

Hadley lived for another eighteen years after receiving the Medal of Honor.

He died on October 5, 1914, in Southborough, Massachusetts, at the age of seventy-six.

He was buried at Southborough Rural Cemetery in Worcester County, Massachusetts, where his grave commemorates his service as a sergeant in Company E of the 6th New Hampshire Infantry.

His connection to the community has also been preserved through the Osgood T. Hadley Memorial Bridge, named in his honor in Southborough.

Osgood Towns Hadley's military legacy rests upon his service through multiple Civil War campaigns, his documented wound at Fredericksburg, and his extraordinary courage at Pegram House.

On September 30, 1864, while Confederate forces challenged Union positions outside Petersburg, he protected his regiment's colors and carried them safely from the fighting.

His Medal of Honor remains a lasting tribute to that act of bravery and to his service with the 6th New Hampshire Infantry during the American Civil War.