Luther Ladd

157 years ago today (April 19, 1861) Luther Crawford Ladd (born December 22, 1843) became the first Union soldier to die during the Civil War. He was from New Hampshire. In April 1861, Luther left his job at the Lowell Machine Shop and answered President Lincoln's first call for 75,000 men by enlisting for three months in Co. D, 6th Massachusetts Militia. On April 19, 1861 while marching through the city of Baltimore his regiment was attacked by an angry mob of Confederate supporters during the Baltimore Riots. His injuries included a fractured skull and a fatal bullet wound that severed an artery in his thigh. He was 17 years old.