The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-06-26
STRANGE WAR MYSTERY.
The Unaocountable Disappearance
OF Harvey b Wentworth
ne Was Probably Lost and Buried an
One OF the Labyrinthine COrRi-
doris an the Basement of
the Capitol.
[special washington Letter.l

SkGSA&a
There ia nothing more mysterious In
fiction thai the sudden and %unaccount-
able disappearance Of Harvey b. Went
worth.
He enlisted and was enrolled in com-
pany D, Nineteenth New Hampshire
volunteer infantry, in May, 1862, at Sum
cook, N. H., and went TO the front with
his regiment. He was a typical farmer
lad of the Granite state. and was only
30 years Of age.
During the entire period Of the civil
war all the troops from the common
wealths along the Atlantic coast passed
through Washington city, on their way
to the armies in the field. Consequently
the national capital was always full Of
soldiers, a continually changing kalei-
doscope of uniformed humanity.
Every morning, after reveille, the SER
geant of each company made a report
showing that the members of the COM
pany were ''all present or accounted
for" But on the morning OF July 20,
1862, the sergeant of company D, Nine
teenth New Hampshire, reported Prt-
vate Harvey B. Wentworth mot pres
ent;" and his name was thus borne on
the rolls Of the company until the close
of the war, when the regiment was mus
tered out of service. Then, opposite his
name, the entry was made: "Mysteri-
ously disappeared"
In those days many soldiers were
wounded, killed, died in hospital, de-
serted or otherwise left the service
daily, but they were usually borne on
the rolls accounted for" in some way.
How Harvey B. Wentworth disappeared
nobody has ever definitely ascertained.
Within q year Of his disappearance his
mother died, and in the following year
his father passed away. In the little
cemetery near Suncook, N. H, three
gravestones bear the following inscrip-
tons:
Sacred to the memory of Martha Went
worth. daughter of Emory L Hill, and
wife Of Nathan w. Wentworth. Died Au-
gust q. 1865.
The second stone bears the legend:
Here lies the body of Nathan w. Went
worth, who departed this life October l.
1864. aged 81 years and I months.
The third headstone contains the fol-
lowing:
Er6CIeu 70 the memory or harvey %.
Wentworth. a private In company D, Nine
teenth New Hampshire volunteers, who
mystertously disappeared from the knowl-
edge OF men at Washington d. c.. in July,
1852.
No doubt was ever cast upon the
character or honor of the lost soldier.
On the contrary, a court of inquiry
placed upon record the conclusion that
"Harvey B. Wentworth, of the Nine
tenth New Hampshire volunteers, did,
on or about the 21st day Of July, 1862,
disappear from mortal ken; but in view
of his character and antecedents we
clear him from the charge of ~desertion,
and recommend that his military record
be regarded as without STAIN
The history of the mystery was once
prepared by II. Webster, of the navy,
who closely investigated the circum-
stances; and he reached the conclusion
that Wentworth was lost and died il
one of the l~abyrinthine corridors down
deep in the endorsement of the capitol
building, which was then being pushed
to completion. He says that it was in
July, 1862, during one of the hottest
periods of that momentous summer,
and when, in the minds of many, the
fate of the republic hung in the bal
ance, that the Nineteenth New Hamp-
shire regiment marched up Pennsyl-
vania avenue from the Baltimore & Ohio