John Lyman Chatfield was a Union Colonel in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. He was mortally wounded while assaulting Fort Wagner

Fort Wagner

Fort Wagner was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston harbor...

.

American Civil War

Chatfield was made a Colonel in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 at the start of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. He was made commander of the 6th Connecticut Regiment

6th Connecticut Regiment

The 6th Connecticut Regiment was raised on May 1, 1775, at New Haven, Connecticut, as a provincial regiment for the Continental Army. It then became a regiment of the Continental Line on January 1, 1776, designated the 10th Continental Regiment, and a regiment of the Connecticut Line on January 1,...

. In July 1863, he was ordered by General George Crockett Strong

George Crockett Strong

George Crockett Strong was a Union brigadier general in the American Civil War.-Biography:Strong was born in Stockbridge, Vermont, and attended Williston Seminary but left after 1851. He attended Union College, but left for the U.S. Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1857...

 to attack Fort Wagner in co-operation with Haldimand S. Putnam

Haldimand S. Putnam

Haldimand Sumner Putnam was a brevet colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was killed at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner.-Early life:...

, Quincy Adams Gillmore

Quincy Adams Gillmore

Quincy Adams Gillmore was an American civil engineer, author, and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was noted for his actions in the Union victory at Fort Pulaski, where his modern rifled artillery readily pounded the fort's exterior stone walls, an action that...

, Robert Gould Shaw

Robert Gould Shaw

Robert Gould Shaw was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. As colonel, he commanded the all-black 54th Regiment, which entered the war in 1863. He was killed in the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina...

, and Truman Seymour

Truman Seymour

Truman Seymour was an a career soldier and an accomplished painter. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of major general. He commanded the Union troops at the Battle of Olustee, the largest Civil War battle fought in Florida.-Early life and career:Seymour...

. While leading his men in an attack on the Fort's front, he was mortally wounded. He was pulled out of action, and returned home to Connecticut. Unfortunately, he died of gangrene that was developing in his wounds, after arriving on August 9.