“Henry Pitman, the first of Hawai‘i’s sons to fall in the war, died at Annapolis Parole Camp, Union army. His remains were deposited in Mt Auburn Cemetery, near Boston, Massachusetts, his memory be embalmed among our band. … He died in a just cause.” (HMCS)
Timothy Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman, born March 18, 1845, in Hilo, was the eldest son of High Chiefess Kinoʻole-o-Liliha (Kinoʻole) of Hilo and Benjamin Pitman, originally from Boston (his siblings were Mary and Benjamin.)
“(Kinoʻole) was a daughter of Hoʻolulu, a famous chief in the time of Kamehameha the Great. Hoʻolulu and Ulumāheihei (afterwards converted to Christianity and renamed Hoapili-Kane by the missionaries, and first governor of Maui) took the body of Kamehameha at his death and hid it in the caves at Kaloko fish ponds, according to Hawaiian custom with great chiefs.”
“The Chiefess Kinoʻole who married Benjamin Pitman, senior, lived for many years in a mansion on the spot where the Hilo Hotel now stands. Pitman, is a first cousin of the late George Beckley, for many years purser and director with the Inter-island Steamship Company. Beckley’s mother was Kinoiki, sister of Chiefess Kino‘ole.” (Star-Bulletin, December 26, 1916)
His father “came here in about 1833, and ran a general merchandise store on one corner of the present Hotel grounds, the family homestead being located where the Hotel is now located.” (Hilo Tribune, February 14, 1905)
Henry’s father, “ became very wealthy out of the then flourishing whale business, which was centered around the Islands, and … (became) the king’s representative on Hawaii, having charge of all the royal, crown and public lands here.”
“He acquired considerable property, owning the whole of the Puueo tract of 2,500 acres, and also about 300 acres of the Ponohawai tract, commencing just above Pleasant Street and running 2 miles up the Kaumana Road.”
“As Pitman’s business increased he built a new store on the comer of Front and King Streets, where the Ick Sing Company is now located, and continued in business there until 1861 when he sold to Capt. Spencer.”
“His store and that of Geo. More, located where the Coney House now stands, were the only two stores in the village during the lava flow of 1840, when night was as bright as day in Hilo.”
“Pitman Street (what is now the segment of Kinoʻole Street between Waianuenue Avenue and Haili (then called Church) Street, where the Hotel is located is named after this early pioneer.” (Hilo Tribune, February 14, 1905)
Henry Pitman’s mother died in 1855; “His hair was jet black, his eyes large and lustrous, his face swarthy, and from the ambrotypes shown us of the princess, his mother, he strongly resembled her whom he mourned”. (Parker)
His father later married Maria Louisa (Walsworth) Kinney, widow of missionary Henry Kinney. She died in Hilo on March 6, 1858.
His father decided to leave the islands and returned to Massachusetts with the children around 1860. Henry continued his education in the public schools of Roxbury, Boston, where the Pitman family lived for a period of time. Then, the Civil War.
“His resolve was made. He would enlist.” (Carter) On August 14, 1862, Pitman left school without his family’s knowledge and volunteered to serve in the Union Army and fight in the American Civil War.
A member of Co. H, 22nd Regt. Mass. Vols., he was with his Regiment in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam and Sharpsburg. (Pitman Gravestone)
“Among our number, however, we had noticed a tall, slim boy, straight as an arrow. His face was a perfect oval, his hair was as black as a raven’s wing, and his eyes were large and of that peculiar soft, melting blackness, which excites pity when one is in distress.”
“His skin was a clear, dark olive, bordering on the swarthy, and this, with his high cheek bones, would have led us to suppose that his nationality was different from our own, had we not known that his name was plain Henry P– .” (Carter)
“There was an air of good breeding and refinement about him, that, with his small hands and feet, would have set us to thinking, had it not been that in our youth and intensely enthusiastic natures, we gave no thought to our comrades’ personal appearance.”
“(T)he tears trembled upon his long, dark lashes, and rolled down the swarthy cheeks of the boy soldier. As we hastened along the hard Warrenton turnpike, on this 18th day of November, on our march to the ‘Spotted Tavern,’ every step seemed accompanied by a groan of fatigue or exhaustion, from the worn and weary men.” (Carter)
“It was long and terribly exhausting march. It rained nearly every day. In vain did the water-soaked, drowned-out men try to dry out their clothes and cleanse the mud from their persons, now filthy from long neglect.”
“We wallowed and floundered along the boggy roads the wagons stalled the mules, no longer able to scarcely drag the wagons, lay down in their harness, many of them to die. The teamsters cursed and swore, and the columns staggered along.” (Parker)
“Private Henry Pitman, Company H, asked member of the company if he would fall out with him as he was sick, and his feet, from wearing tight boots, were blistered and unfit for marching, and his comrade consented to do so.”
“A fire was started, coffee put on to boil, and the rear of the column had nearly passed, when it was decided that without authority to fall out, even to care for sick man, arrest or disastrous consequences might result, and the comrade determined to move on.”
“Pitman was urged to make further effort and go into camp, but he positively refused to budge until his poor sick body was rested from the exhausting efforts of the day’s march.”
“Leaving him as comfortable as possible, his comrade joined the rear of the column, and struggling to the head joined the Twenty-second, and went into camp an hour later. Pitman was never heard from, and was always borne upon the rolls as missing.” (Parker)
Pitman was taken prisoner by Stuart’s cavalry on the march to Fredricksburg. “He was sent to Libby Prison, and not being strong, contracted still further the chronic disease”. (Parker)
He was part of a prisoner exchange and paroled to a camp in Annapolis, Maryland. “The men who arrived there from Southern prisons ‘were in pitiable condition of mind and body, having experienced extreme suffering.’” (Dye)
“(H)e was confined in a place he called the ‘Pen’ which undoubtedly refers to the Andersonville Stockade where thousands of Union soldiers were starved to death while under gard. In one of his letters Henry Pittman tells of the filthy meat thrown to them as if they were dogs.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 28, 1910)
Then, the sad news … “We regret to learn by the last mail of the death of Henry Pitman, son of Benj. Pitman, Esq formerly of Hilo. He died at the Annapolis Parole Camp, Feb. 27th, of lung fever, having been serving as soldier in the Union army.”
“He was about 20 years of age (17-years, 11-months and 9 days,) and his remains were deposited in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, near Boston Mass.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 28, 1863)
Follow Peter T Young on Facebook
Follow Peter T Young on Google+
Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn
Follow Peter T Young on Blogger
