George E. Waldo
It was May 5, 1861 when George Edward Waldo, a 27 year old Manitowoc lawyer, enlisted in the army to fight in the Civil War. A New York native, Waldo was eager to assist with the war effort and joined Company K of Colonel John C. Starkweather’s First Wisconsin Volunteers.
In July Waldo was at the Battle of Bull Run in which he and a fellow Manitowoc layer, Don Shove, were noted in the Manitowoc Herald as being “themselves good soldiers, brave and true men”. After a three month enlistment Waldo and Shove returned to Manitowoc to help recruit a new infantry company. Waldo was promoted to Captain of the new company and by early October the men began drilling in what today is Union Park. It was on November 22, 1861 when Waldo and his new company left Manitowoc on the steamship Comet.
Under Waldo’s command, the group became known as Company E of the Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. The company stayed in camp until March of 1862 when the group began their way to Tennessee. Just after sunrise on April 6 the company heard gunfire and was brought into the Battle of Shiloh. During the battle, Waldo was hit in the chest. George Waldo, a promising young man, had died on April 7, 1862 on a Tennessee hillside less than a year after he enlisted.
News did not reach Manitowoc until April 17. In the Friday, April 18 edition of the Pilot it reads “... our citizens were astounded by the sad announcement in the Milwaukee papers that George E. Waldo, late of this Village and Captain of Co. E. 14th Wisconsin Regiment, had fallen in the battle of Pittsburg, another martyr to the cause of his country. …” The city raised $100 to send Rev. George Engles to bring Waldo’s body home.
The May 1, 1862 issue of the Manitowoc Herald stated “The remains of Capt. Waldo were brought to this place on the Comet on Saturday morning and the funeral ceremonies took place on Sunday.”
“Upon arrival of the body it was taken to the Masonic Hall, where it remained until 2 p.m. Sunday, the time appointed for the funeral. … The procession moved to the Episcopal Church and after reading of the burial service, was reformed in the same order and moved to solemn music by the Manitowoc Band to Evergreen Cemetery, where the impressive funeral service of the masonic order was completed.”
To honor Manitowoc’s first Civil War casualty many plans were made for a memorial but most never became a reality. Waldo Boulevard was constructed in 1927, between North 18th Street to North 11th Street. Until the year 2000, not even a headstone marked the spot of Waldo’s grave when the Manitowoc Civil War Roundtable along with other area organizations dedicated a marker.
As the Manitowoc Herald described the details of Waldo’s funeral, it went on to state what one speaker said: “‘a man hath but a short time to live. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower. He fleeth as it were a shadow.’ No truer words were spoken as Manitowoc’s first son was laid to rest.”