William James Babcock was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor as a member of the Second Rhode Island Volunteers Infantry Regiment on April 4, 1865 at the pivotal Battle of Petersburg in Virginia. His brief Medal of Honor citation (common for the time) reads:

“Planted the flag upon the parapet while the enemy still occupied the line; was first of his regiment to enter the works.”

William was born in Griswold, New London County, Connecticut, one of eight children — 6 boys and 2 girls – to Caroline D. (nee Carter) and Gideon Babcock on April 8, 1841. The Babcock family came to live in South Kingstown, Rhode Island when William was a child and resided in Wakefield.

Babcock was one of the first men to volunteer when Captain Issac Peace Rodman (son of Mary Peace Hazard for whom the Village of Peace Dale, Rhode Island is named; Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame 2003) was organizing the Second Regiment of the Rhode Island Volunteers. He enlisted on June 6, 1861 and was mustered into Company E on the same day. The Second Regiment departed Rhode Island for Washington, D.C. on June 19, 1861 and saw its first combat at the First Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia on July 21, 1861. This was the Union Army’s first major battle against the Confederate Army.

Throughout the entirety of the American Civil War (1861- 1865), the Second Regiment and Babcock participated with distinction in virtually every major battle of the conflict including Bull Run, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg (both battles), Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Appomattox Courthouse and was known as one of the Union Army’s best trained, best led and most distinguished combat units. Babcock was promoted to corporal on November 14, 1862. On December 26, 1863 he signed the paperwork to reenlist in the Second Regiment after his current enlistment expired the following June. He was slightly wounded three times during the war. In one instance a rebel bullet struck a testament and tintype (a metal photo image) which he carried in his pocket, saving his life.

From February through April 1864, Babcock returned to Rhode Island on furlough during which he married Phebe Ester Gould, four years his younger, at North Stonington, Connecticut. Following the war, the couple had eight children – 6 boys and 2 girls — the last of whom died in 1956.

After returning from furlough, Babcock was promoted to sergeant on June 5, 1864. On January 2, 1865, the Second Rhode Island was presented with a new set of National and Regimental Colors on behalf of Rhode Island’s Governor James Y. Smith. Sergeant Babcock was selected as a member of the regiment’s Color Guard, an extraordinary distinction and honor, by the Second’s commanding officer, Major Elisha Hunt Rhodes (Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame 2003) with the words, “Sgt. Babcock, you have been selected as the bearer of our National Flag as a reward for your gallantry in many battlefields…” His gallantry would continue again at Petersburg on April 2, 1865.

Babcock was awarded his Congressional Medal of Honor at the discretion of President Grover Cleveland for his actions at the Third Battle of Petersburg. The Second Rhode Island was assigned to the Army of the Potomac when the siege of Fredericksburg began. The Union Army under the command of General-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, launched an assault on General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s trenches and fortifications during which Babcock would receive recognition for his valor. The American Civil War would end five days later on April 9, 1865 with the surrender of Confederate forces at the Appomattox Courthouse. The Rhode Island Second Regiment was mustered out of military service in Providence on July 13, 1865.

Sergeant William James Babcock waited almost thirty years to be presented with his Medal of Honor on March 2, 1895 after his and many other Medals of Honor awarded during the Civil War underwent intense scrutiny by the War Department. There were 1,522 Medals of Honor awarded to Union troops in the Civil War. The number represents 42% of the 3,597 Medals awarded since its inception – originally for enlisted sailors and Marines only — on December 21, 1861. Throughout all the scrutiny, examinations and reexaminations, Sergeant Babcock’s award stood as proper and clearly deserved.

Babcock died from a lingering illness at his residence in South Kingstown on October 29, 1897 at the age of 56. His funeral service was held on Sunday, October 31, 1897 with his casket borne by six veteran comrades of the Second Infantry Regiment. He was laid to rest in the Riverside Cemetery, South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island.

LEGACY:

• Prior to April 2023, the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame (RIHHoF) did not automatically induct Medal of Honor recipients whose awards were achieved prior to the First World War when standards became more stringent and witnesses more important in the process. It was believed that many of the Medals awarded in the conflicts prior – especially in the American Civil War – were improperly awarded. Such was the case when the Town of South Kingstown was celebrating its 300th Anniversary with a special ceremony honoring her native sons awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and those Missing in Action. When the town’s recognition of Sergeant William Grant Fournier, United States Army (posthumous WWII recipient) and Corporal David Bernard Champagne, United States Marine Corps (posthumous Korean War recipient) were honored, they were simultaneously inducted into the RIHHoF. Were it not for the extensive efforts of Sharon K. Henderson, Military Recognition Project Chair, South Kingstown 300th-Anniversary Committee, Messrs. Benjamin Frail, Matthew McCoy and Joe “Tiger” Patrick of the South Kingstown Committee along with Mr. Frank Lennon, United States Army Vietnam veteran, Veterans Affairs coh1mnist of The Providence Journal, President of the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame and distinguished historian and researcher in his own right, the Heritage Hall of Fame would not have received the abundant documentation to honor Sergeant Babcock with a special vote of its Board of Directors in September of 2023. Much of the information in the preceding biography can be attributed to the individuals recognized here. Thank you.
• William Babcock was a founding member of the Major General John (“Big John”) Sedgwick Post of the Grand Army of the Republic in Peace Dale/Wakefield, Rhode Island. The Post was chartered on April 18, 1884 where Babcock was known as a brave soldier, a good citizen and was esteemed by his comrades. General Sedgwick was the highest-ranking Union officer killed during the Civil War at the Battle of Spotsylvania in Virginia on May 9, 1864.
• Prior to Babcock’s induction into the RIHHoF, South Kingstown was successful in arranging with the State of Rhode Island to dedicate three bridges in honor of the town’s Medal of Honor recipients. The Sgt. William J. Babcock Memorial Bridge formerly was The Stone Arch Bridge on Kingstown Road in Peace Dale, Rhode Island and is now part of an official Medal of Honor Town. Descendants of William Babcock still reside in the South Kingstown area as of this writing.

For further reading:

Rhodes, Elisha H. The First Campaign of the Second Rhode Island Infantry. (Personal Notes of the Battles of the Rebellion 1:1). Sidney S. Rider. 1878.

Rhodes, Elisha H. The Second Rhode Island Volunteers at the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia (7: 1 OJ. Rhode Island Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Historical Society. 1915.

Rhodes, Robe1i H. All for the Union: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes. Andrew Mowbray. 1985.

Rhodes, Robert H. Elisha Hunt Rhodes: Soldier, Citizen and Man of Faith. Rhode Island Publications Society. 2024.

Note:

Elisha Hunt Rhodes (Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame 2003) of Cranston, Rhode Island, with his mother’s permission, enlisted in the Union Army on June 5, 1861 at the age of 19 and was made a corporal in the Second Rhode Island Volunteers Infantry Regiment. He would serve with the Second in the Union Army of the Potomac for the duration of the American Civil War steadily rising through the ranks to attain the rank of colonel by war’s end. His remarkable, illustrative diary and letters throughout the war provided inspiration to historical documentarian Ken Bums for his award-winning The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns released by the Public Broadcasting Service in 1990.

Rhodes went on to live a remarkable public life in Rhode Island following his Civil War service. His diary reflects his unwavering belief the Union must be preserved as well as his Christian faith and belief in God. He died in Providence on January 14, 1917 at the age of 75.