Two Came Home

Hiram Ming and Lewis Briggs of the 2nd Wisconsin Regiment of the Iron Brigade

Hiram Ming and Lewis E Briggs of Appleton, Wisconsin. The boys were musicians in the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry of the Iron Brigade during the Civil War. The photo was taken in Fredericksburg, Va in 1862. Hiram and Lew were in all the major battles fought by their legendary brigade - the greatest fighting brigade in American History. They played their regiment into battle on the desperate morning of July 1st in the Battle of Gettysburg. The boys remained on the field as stretcher bearers, bringing water and ammunition forward and sometimes functioning as ad hoc medics. Both boys performed frequent acts of bravery under intense fire. After the Battle of Gettysburg, severe casualties (the 2nd Wisconsin suffered 77% casualties at Gettysburg alone) eventually depleted the core strength and resolve of the Iron Brigade - The 1st brigade of the 1st division of the 1st corps of the Army of the Potomac. Lew Briggs returned to Appleton in 1864. He died in 1928 and is buried at Riverside Cemetery. Upon mustering out in 1864, Hiram was given an inscribed custom-made silver drum by his fellow soldiers and was accompanied home by an honor guard. "Hi" Ming, as he was known during his boyhood years in Appleton, passed away in 1900 at the age of 54 after a varied and successful career in railroads. His famous reply to an officer who begged him to keep his head down and uttered under heavy fire, moving from wounded man to wounded man to administer water, was….“I ain’t afraid of no rebel lead”. Hi and Lew were among the lucky ones.