John Breen

Gravestone of John Breen in Gettysburg National Cemetery

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Significance:

1st Light Artillery, Battery B

Place of Birth:

Cumberland, Rhode Island

Date of Birth:

1825

Place of Death:

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Date of Death:

July 16, 1863

Place of Burial:

Rhode Island, Row A, Site #5

Cemetery Name:

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Rhode Island, Row A, Site #5

John Breen (records indicated the last name of Greene) was born and lived in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Working as a manufacturer until February 1862 when he enlisted with the Rhode Island 1st Light Artillery. During the battle of Malvern Hill, John, after being hit with a glancing blow from a shell fragment (the second wound sustained that day), remarked - along with a string of profanities - "the damn rebels has got the dead range on me sure". This proclamation followed him, with his battery mates, during later engagements, poking fun at him saying, "look out John, the rebels has got a dead range on you!"Lamentably, all jesting stopped on July 3, 1863 when John was wounded in the leg during a cannonade duel, requiring amputation. John dies 13 days later on 16th.

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