Frederick W. Chesson                                              AMC-CW.HTM
144 Fiske Street,    				
Waterbury. CT  O671O                            
    
   
    
	          My Civil War Ancestor, Andrew McClintock:    
            Color Sergeant, Company D, First Connecticut Infantry     

                                      by 
                                 F. W. Chesson 
 
     ANDREW McCLINTOCK was born in New York City in March of 1833. As his 
name implies, he was of Scotch ancestry, though it is believed his parents 
came from Ulster in Northern Ireland, where many Scotts had migrated, or 
had been forceably relocated, after the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie 
in 1746.  Clan McClintock's home area was originally west of Glasgow.
     He had a married sister Annie, Mrs. Godfrey Schultze, living at 104 
Division Street in New York City. In Waterbury he had a sister Jane (Jennie),
to whom his surviving twenty war letters were written. There also was a third
sister, Nellie, of whom little is known, though presumably they also exchanged
letters.

     It is not known when he came to Waterbury, but he seems to have had 
relatives here, as he referes to "Aunt" and "Uncle" in several of his letters.
     In 1860 he was a machinist at the American Cap and Flask Company, one of
Waterbury's largest brass manufactories. Its products, as the name implies, 
were mainly percussion caps and powder flasks, made from copper stampings.
However, large quantities of dress and corset fittings were also turned out. 
     Andrew lived at Mrs. Bronson's Boarding House.  He was acquainted with
with fellow employee Walter Cooke, whose brother-in-law he would one day 
become.

     At the start of the Civil War, Andrew McClintock was a corporal in 
the Waterbury City Guard, captained by John L. Chatfield. Upon hearing of 
Lincoln's call to arms, the City Guard held a War Meeting, at which patriotic 
oratory and serious military matters were aired. At its climax, Andrew arose 
to deliver an emotion-charged patriotic speech and then proposed a motion
that the unit offer its immediate services to the nation. After an unanimous
vote a telegram was dispatched to Governor Buckingham in Hartford. Their speedy
action gave them the honor of the first company accepted for Federal Service.
  
     By April 22nd., the Waterbury troops went into camp at Brewster's Park, 
in what is now Westville, and were re-designated Company D of the newly raised 
First Volunteer Infantry.  Andrew McClintock was promoted to Color Sergeant.
     On May 8th, former Lieutenant Governor Julius Catlin presented the First  
with its Regimental Colors.  Andrew McClintock received the National Colors,
while the regimental flag, a variation of the state emblem, was presented to
Color Sergeant Frank Carter of Meriden's Company E.    
     On May 9th, the regiment embarked on the steamer Bienville, for a 60-hour
voyage to beleagured Washington.

     While in training at Washington and at Camp McDowell, Falls Church, VA,
he wrote many letters home to his Sister, Jennie. He also became an uncle on 
June 26, when his sister Annie gave birth to a daughter, in New York City.

     In the Battle of Bull Run, Andrew McClintock escaped the shots aimed at 
him and the flag he carried, though Color-Sgt. Carter was slightly wounded.

     The First Connecticut returned to New Haven on July 28th by water, as 
McClintock had predicted.  Thousands welcomed them as they disembarked on Long
Wharf from the steamer Elm City.  Their term of enlistment had expired on July
22nd.  Most of their shoddy uniforms had also expired, a sight which moved 
Governor Buckingham to tears.  
     Nevertheless, they had fought well at Bull Run, and could look forward to
an honorable Muster-Out on Wednesday, July 31st., 1861
    
     While there were many re-inlistments from the men and officers of the 
First, there is no record of further military service by Andrew McClintock.

     On September 27, 1862, Jane McClintock, married Walter Harte Cooke, a 
photographer and book-keeper. Shortly thereafter, Andrew McClintock wed Mary 
E. Osborn of Plymouth, Connecticut. No children are known from of this union.  
     In 1880, Andrew McClintock joined Wadhams Post No. 49 of the Grand Army 
of the Republic, so named for three brothers, all slain in the Bloody June of 
1864, and was a member for many years.  He also was an active Master Mason.
     As the years rolled by, he saw his former comrades of the Old First leave 
this earthly battlefield, one by one, until, on December 29th, 1905, former
Color Sergeant Andrew McClintock answered his own Last Roll Call.  His widow
passed away in 1941.  Both are interred in Evergreen Cemetery, Watertown, in 
the Osborn Family plot.

     My connection to Color-Sgt McClintock is via his sister, Jane, who wed
Walter Cooke. They had two children; Clara Whiting, born November 24, 1866 in
Reynolds Bridge, Conn. and Frederick Scoville Cooke, born October 22, 1872.
     Clara married Frederick W. Chesson (born in London in 1864) on Sept. 29,
1887.  Their first-born, Frederick, Jr., was my father, born in June, 1888. 
Three other boys followed, Walter, Robert and Sterling. Fred, Sr. was Secretary
of the American Ring Company, another of Waterbury's brass industries. He died
December 20, 1905.  Clara passed away in August of 1949. They are interred, as
are my parents and Walter, in Riverside Cemetery, not far from from Colonel 
Chatfield's bronze statue and resting place.
								F. W. Chesson