“Sir,—The following is a correct list of the wounded of said Forty-Second Regiment at the battle of Galveston, January 1st, 1863:
| Name. | Co. | Rank. | How Wounded. | Result. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francis L. Nott. | G. | Private. | Shell in left side of bowels. | Died in 17 hours. |
| Jos. W. D. Parker. | G. | “ | Ball in arm. | Recovering. |
| Edmund B. Doubel. | G. | “ | Ball in left hand, severe. | “ |
| George R. Dary. | G. | “ | Ball in left arm, above elbow. | “ |
| Thos. T. Sweetser. | G. | “ | Buckshot in chin, slight. | “ |
| James L. Davis. | G. | “ | Splinter in face, slight. | “ |
| John M. Barnard, Jr. | G. | “ | Spent ball in left leg, slight. | “ |
| John T. Cook. | G. | “ | Splinter in leg, slight. | “ |
| David L. Wentworth. | Act-Ord. Sergt. of regt. | Shell in leg. | “ | |
| Wm. H. Cowdin. | D. | 1st Lieut. | Ball in back. | “ |
| Francis L. Morrill. | D. | Private. | Minnie ball in hand, severe. | I fear loss of arm. |
| Tobias Enslee. | D. | “ | Splinter in head, slight. | Recovering. |
| Edwin F. Josselyn. | D. | “ | Shell in head, severe. | “ |
| Daniel J. Sullivan. | D. | “ | Minnie ball in hand, severe. | “ |
| Jas. O’Shaughnessy. | D. | “ | Shell in both legs, right leg amputated. | “ |
“These are all the casualties in our regiment in the late severe battle, in which the only wonder is that one of us lived to tell the story. It seems indeed providential that so few are wounded and none killed on the spot. We have to mourn the loss of one noble fellow, Nott of Company G, a brave soldier and an excellent man, and to regret the loss of a leg of Company D, O’Shaughnessy, who is recovering rapidly. I amputated his leg just below the knee, in order to give him the benefit of the joint, which was not injured.
“I have the honor to be, dear sir,
“Yours faithfully, “A. I. CUMMINGS, “Surgeon 42d Mass. Regt. Vols.”
Besides the above, there were wounded, who did not report to the surgeon: Private John Barnes, Company D, slightly in leg; and Private James W. Vinal, Company G, slightly in hip.
Quartermaster-Sergeant Foster was standing by the breastwork in conversation with Private Hersey when the first shot was fired, glanced on the breastwork and passed into the building. In a moment of excitement Foster fell wounded, so Hersey thought, but on an examination of a wound he received, a bad cut of a thumb, it proved to have been made by oyster shells upon which he had fallen. It was jocularly reported Foster had received a shell wound in the action.
Private Nott was wounded during the first hour. He had got behind a hawser-post, where Colonel Burrell found him moaning faintly, with a terrible wound in the side and bowels. He was not apparently suffering any intense pain. To the question, if he was badly hurt, he replied, “Yes, in the side,” and begged for water. Private Hersey went into the building and got it, which appeared to revive him somewhat from a state of apathy. When the surgeon got an opportunity to examine his case, Nott was told he could not live many hours, as he was bleeding internally, and any message for home had better be given then.
Private O’Shaughnessy was wounded during the first half hour. He yelled like an Indian on the war-path, and was carried into the hospital-room, where the surgeon remained at his post the entire time that the enemy’s fire was concentrated upon it.
Privates Enslee and Josselyn were wounded at the commencement, while standing ready to fire before the order was heard to lie down. A solid shot, or a shell, struck and crashed through the breastwork, splinters wounding Enslee in the head. A fragment of shell ruined Josselyn’s musket, knocked it overboard, then glanced to his head. The wound bled profusely, but Josselyn did not know he was hit until blood was running down his face. Upon reporting at the hospital he was so covered with blood Surgeon Cummings was unable to recognize him. Binding his head up with a handkerchief, Josselyn returned to his post.