Henry Ropes

He was in the Class of 1862 at Harvard, but it's not clear if he remained in school long enough to graduate before he joined the regiment.He entered service as 2nd Lieutenant, Company K of the 20th Massachusetts Infantry in November 1861.

We have some of his letters home from the Maryland campaign in a small exhibit here.

"... At one of these times a painful accident happened to us, this morning [July 3, 1863, Gettysburg, PA]. First Lieut. Henry Ropes, 20th Mass., in Gen. Gibbon"s Division, a most estimable gentleman and officer, intelligent, educated, refined, one of the noble souls that came to the country"s defense, while lying at his post with his regiments, in front of one of the Batteries, which fired over the Infantry, was instantly killed by a badly made shell, which, or some portion of it, fell but a few yards in front of the muzzle of the gun. The same accident killed or wounded several others. The loss of Ropes would have pained us at any time, and in any manner; in this manner his death was doubly painful."
(From Haskell, Frank Aretas (1828-64); Adjutant 6th Wisc Inf, ADC to Gen Gibbon; his Account of Gettysburg, from a reprint of the Wisconsin Historical Commission)

The photo above is from a CDV sold at auction by Cowen's in 2004

7/3/1863; Gettysburg, PA