The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1897-05-28
STRANGE WAR MYSTERY.
The Unacconntable Disappearance
Of Harvey B. Wentworth.
He Was Probably Lost and Buried in
One of the Labyrinthine COrri-
doris In the Basement of
the Capitol.
Especial washington letter.


Especial Washington letter.
There is nothing more mysterious in
fiction than 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, a Sun
cook, n. H., and went to the front with
his regiment. He was typical farmer
lad of the Granite state, and was only
20 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
tc 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 %,
1862. the sergeant of company D, Nine
teenth New Hampshire, reported Pri-
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 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, 1863
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 months.
The third headstone contains the fol-
lowing:
Erected to the memory of Harvey B.
, Wentworth, private in company D, Nine
teenth New Hampshire volunteers, who
mysteriously disappeared from the knowl-
edge of men at Washington. D. c., in July,
1862.
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 H. Webster, of the navy,
who closely investigated the circum-
stances; and he reached the conclusion
that Wentworth was lost and died liz
one of the labyrinthine corridors down
deep in the subbasement 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
anee, that the Nineteenth New Hamp-
shire regiment marched up Pennsyl-
vania avenue from the Baltimore & Ohio
depot, having but just arrived from the
Granite hills, fresh in military harness
and eager for the fray. Continuing the
route usually followed by the incomin 6
soldiers, the regiment, about 4:30 p. m.
arrived at the farther or Virginia end
of the old Aqueduct bridge. and en-
camped for the night on the sloping
hills lying between Fort Corcoran and