William Lincoln (Bvt Gen) 34th Mass WIA and POW New Market 5/15/64 Held at Harrisburg VALincoln escaped prison wondering for 17 days in enemy territory until reaching the Union lines. See Pamphlet (55 pages long) which comes with the ID disc. It reads Lieut. Col. W.S. Lincoln Worcester, 34th Reg. Mass Vol.
"Both colonel
and lieutenant colonel were on the field and in their proper places during the
battle of New Market on May 15, 1864. Lincoln was wounded three times, probably
in the body and arm, and was left on the battlefield when the regiment
retreated.
After lying on
the field for a night in the rain, Lincoln and the other Union wounded in his
vicinity were captured and not given prompt or adequate medical treatment.
Eventually transported to Harrisonburg, Lincoln lay on the upper-story floor of
a building across from the courthouse; blankets, cups, and canteens had been
stolen, and the wounded were often left on their own for self-care for about
ten days. The lieutenant colonel advocated for his badly wounded men whenever
he saw a Confederate doctor but had little success in bettering any of the
care. Finally, on May 25, a Union doctor arrived after passing through the
lines and was able to provide consistent care. Around early July, Lincoln
determined he did not want to be sent further south to military prison, and he
and another wounded officer decided to escape. They made it out of the hospital
and spent the next weeks roaming the Shenandoah Valley by night—lost most of
the time, hungry, thirsty, in pain and sometimes barely able to move, yet
trying to make their way north to Union lines. After several narrow escapes,
Lincoln staggered into Union headquarters in Cumberland, arriving in
mid-August. "He is looking rather thin and had a tough tramp and many narrow
escapes from being recaptured while on his journey to our lines.”
https://emergingcivilwar.com/2023/06/23/commanding-the-regiment-colonel-william-s-lincoln-34th-massachusetts-part-2/