Napoleon Bonaparte Clarke (1842-1914)

Napoleon Bonaparte Clarke, born in 1842, was mustered into military service on Tuesday, August 13, 1861. He served in the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery as a corporal in Battery B of the regiment during the Civil War. Just over one year later, on September 7, 1862, Clarke was replaced and demoted to the ranks when he and another corporal in the battery committed a “breach of discipline.” The following July, Clarke fought in the ranks of Battery B at Gettysburg, initially under Lieutenant T.F. Brown. Brown, however, was injured some time into the battle, and was relieved by First Lieutenant W.S. Perrin, under whom Clarke and his comrades continued to fight. Several members of his battery were wounded, killed or taken prisoner, including Joseph S. Cassen, with whom Clarke shared a muster date, and later, a final resting place in the North Burial Ground. In fact, Battery B’s losses during the Battle of Gettysburg were so heavy that it was temporarily combined with Battery A, and then marched with that battery for some time. Clarke, however, remained free and unscathed, and went on to complete an additional year of military service with the Union Army. Battery B participated in a number of campaigns and battles within this year, and it is likely that Clarke fought in most, if not all, of these. There is no record of Clarke having received any sort of injury at Gettysburg or in battles preceding or succeeding it.

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After three years of service, Napoleon Clarke was mustered out on August 12, 1864, just before the Second Battle of Deep Bottom, along with several other relieved comrades. The group nearly missed the mail boat which was to take them to Washington, D.C. due to complications with their release paperwork. Upon receipt of their papers, the soldiers left by boat for Washington, and arriving there they received their pay. They then traveled by train and arrived at Exchange Place in Providence, Rhode Island on August 17, 1864. They were received with an abundance of both ceremony and celebration. Clarke later married Harriet N. Wood, with whom he had four children: Marion H. Clarke, born in 1881, Walter E. Clarke, born in 1886, Erle M. Clarke, born in 1894, and Leroy G. Clarke, born in 1990.

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In 1913, Clarke and many other veterans (from both sides) travelled to Gettysburg for the50th anniversary of the battle. He was photographed along with several other veterans of the 1st RI. Napoleon Bonaparte Clarke passed away on November 17, 1914, was survived by his wife and children, and was laid to rest in the North Burial Ground.

 

Katelyn St. George, student at Rhode Island College

 

Further Reading:

Rhodes, John. The History of Battery B, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery, in the War

to Preserve the Union, 1861-1865. Providence: Snow and Farnham, 1894.