Richard Kirtland Woodruff
Richard Kirtland Woodruff was born on November 1, 1840, in Westbrook, Connecticut, to Richard Woodruff and Mariah D. Kirtland. His father was a minister. Woodruff attended Hartford High School before enrolling at Yale College in 1859. He left college in 1862 after his junior year in order to enlist in the Union army. He enlisted on August 25, 1862, and mustered in as a corporal in Company I of the 15th Connecticut Infantry on August 25. The regiment took part in the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862 and the Siege of Suffolk in early 1863 before being stationed in Portsmouth, Virginia. On March 23, 1864, he became a captain in the 30th Connecticut Colored Infantry, which eventually became the 31st USCT Infantry. He was placed under arrested on April 30 for an unknown offense, but he was released on June 2, 1864. He was wounded in the left arm on July 30, 1864, during the Battle of the Crater. According to one writer, the “wound disabled him from further service, but was not thought to be of a serious character, and he proceeded towards home as far as the hospital on Davids Island, N.Y.” While he was there, however, he contracted tetanus, and he died on August 11, 1864.
487
DATABASE CONTENT
(487)Woodruff, Richard Kirtland1840-11-011864-08-11
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Corporal
  • Rank out: Captain
  • Rank highest: Captain
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 21

  • (1287) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Alice R. Upson, 19 August 1855
  • (1288) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 5 February 1858
  • (1289) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Alice R. Upson, 6 May 1858
  • (1290) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 3 February 1861
  • (1291) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 8 November 1861
  • (1292) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 18 May 1862
  • (1293) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 20 June 1862
  • (1294) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 27 June 1862
  • (1295) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 12 September 1862
  • (1296) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Alice R. Upson, 1 October 1862
  • (1297) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 19 November 1862
  • (1298) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 26 January 1863
  • (1299) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 26 February 1863
  • (1300) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 1 April 1863
  • (1301) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Alice R. Upson, 27 April 1863
  • (1302) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 1 September 1863
  • (1303) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Alice R. Upson, 29 September 1863
  • (1304) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 19 October 1863
  • (1305) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Alice R. Upson, 8 November 1863
  • (1306) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 10 January 1864
  • (1307) [writer] ~ Richard K. Woodruff to Frances M. Upson, 10 October 1862

People - Records: 2

  • (488) Upson, Alice Rachel is the [cousin of] (487) Woodruff, Richard Kirtland
  • (489) Upson, Frances M. is the [cousin of] (487) Woodruff, Richard Kirtland

Places - Records: 2

  • (288) [birth] ~ Westbrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut
  • (289) [death] ~ Davids Island, Westchester County, New York

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Regiments - Records: 3

  • (120) [officer] [I] ~ 15th Connecticut Infantry
  • (121) [officer] ~ 31st USCT Infantry
  • (122) [officer] ~ 30th Connecticut Colored Infantry
SOURCES

Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863-1865, available from Ancestry.com; A History of the Class of 1863, Yale College (New Haven, CT: The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company, 1905).