On August 30, 1862, First Sergeant William S. Morse of Company C, 24th New York Infantry, was wounded during the Second Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia. The injury came during the battle’s final phase, as Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet struck the Union left and helped force the Army of Virginia into retreat.
The 24th New York—an Oswego County regiment—fought amid artillery fire, dense smoke, and close-range infantry combat during one of the war’s most costly and confused engagements. Morse survived his wound and later returned to military service. In 1864, he was mustered in at Elmira as captain of Company B, 184th New York Infantry.
The surviving photograph of Morse in officer’s uniform, sword at his side, records the later chapter of a soldier whose service bridged two very different moments of the war: the Union defeat at Second Bull Run and the renewed campaigns of 1864. His career illustrates the experience of volunteers who endured combat, injury, and recovery before returning to the army in positions of greater responsibility.
