Massachusetts. First Call Medal (Corthell, 6th Regt)

Massachusetts. First Call Medal, impressed “Washington I. Corthell, Corpl, K, 6th Reg”.

On 19 April 1861, the 6th Regiment boarded trains for Washington, DC. The car containing Company K was stopped and derailed by an assembling mob of Confederate sympathizers. The cars were attacked with stones and bricks. The regiment reassembled and marched through Baltimore, during which one of its men was killed by an object thrown from a rooftop. In spite of the difficulties, the 6th Regiment became the first volunteer unit to reach Washington in response to President Lincoln’s call.

Corthell later served in the 22nd Massachusetts Infantry, which saw action in Virginia and at Gettysburg.