0:00:04 > 0:00:07Hollywood and Broadway actor Matthew Broderick
0:00:07 > 0:00:08found fame at the age of 24
0:00:08 > 0:00:11when he starred in the cult movie classic
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15Since then, he's appeared in over 40 films,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18including the Civil War epic, Glory,
0:00:18 > 0:00:19The Producers and Godzilla,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22as well as winning many awards on Broadway.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28He's lives in New York with wife Sarah Jessica Parker,
0:00:28 > 0:00:29son, James Wilkie,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32and twin daughters, Tabitha and Marion.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Family has always been important to him.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38I was very, very attached to my parents.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41My mum was raised in New York as well.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44She died in 2003.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47That side of the family I knew and I love,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51but my dad's side is the biggest mystery.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54My father died when I was 20.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56So I didn't have all that long with him,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58but I adored him.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03'When my son asked me about my father's side of the family,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06'I've realised I know so little.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11'I want to use this opportunity to try and learn more about my father,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13'to learn something about his family
0:01:13 > 0:01:16'that will help me understand him and myself,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19'so that when my kids ask me where we come from, I can tell them.'
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Dad was in the Navy during World War II and then he became an actor.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07In fact, I think I became an actor because I grew up watching him.
0:02:07 > 0:02:12I was as happy as anywhere, for me, was to just be in a dressing room
0:02:12 > 0:02:13while he was getting ready.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18'It is strange not to know who he comes from.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22'You know, I mean, what made him the way he is.'
0:02:22 > 0:02:24He was, uh, he was quiet about some things.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28I think his father was extremely quiet with him.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35'I'm going to visit my older sister, Janet, in Jersey City,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38'to see if she knows anything that can get me started on this journey.'
0:02:53 > 0:02:57'My sister remembers my dad's parents, May and Joe,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00'but I never met them. They were gone by the time I came around.'
0:03:00 > 0:03:03It's all filled with newspaper stuff and everything.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08- Wow.- I know. It's great. You won't believe it.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10It's a gold mine. Look at this.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14- That's me and you.- Yeah.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19- Oh, wow. That's cute.- And that's, remember when I was sleeping in your room because...
0:03:19 > 0:03:22- ..I was too scared to sleep alone down the hall.- Exactly.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25- This is your room.- Yeah.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27What do you want to know?
0:03:27 > 0:03:28Really a big black hole, I think,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31is our father's... I don't know anything about that,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33- that line of our family.- Absolutely.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37I think that's our grandfather. And that's our father.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41Look how little he is.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44- His mother's name is May? - Yeah, May.- Martindale?
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Martindale was her maiden name.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51I remember that May was, seemed strict.
0:03:51 > 0:03:52She was very Catholic.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55- Born in Connecticut? - In Connecticut.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58- And this is May. - And that's May looking happy.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00But I have no idea who her parents were,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02- what her whole line was. - Yeah.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05And what hardships did she have?
0:04:05 > 0:04:09I'd like to know how his parents turned into the people they were.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12If Joe was quiet, why was he quiet?
0:04:12 > 0:04:15I know. I think he was... I heard he was quiet,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19that he could be bad-tempered, and that when he played cards,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23if he got a bad hand, he said, "This is not a hand, it's a foot."
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Which Mum thought was an incredibly dumb joke.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28But used it her whole life.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31- Her entire life, she used it, yeah.- So that's Joe.
0:04:31 > 0:04:32That's Joe holding me.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36You see, that's a Broderick nose and a Broderick forehead.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38- Right?- Yep.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43- Totally, with the little bulbs and everything.- Yep. And big feet.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Yeah, that's right. It's true.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48- Joe was a postman.- Yeah.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50He was in the First World War,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53and he apparently did something with Germans.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56- Either captured them, or... He got gassed.- Gassed?
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Mum said he got money because he'd been gassed.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Wow, that's incredible. Did he... I never knew anything about him.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Yeah. Right. Yeah.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Well, this I have to find out about. I am very curious about that.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12I know. I know. He's a veteran of a foreign war
0:05:12 > 0:05:14- and we know it's the First World War.- Yeah.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18We can contact the Veterans Administration
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and tell them that our grandfather, here's his name,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24and we'd like to know if they can find out about that.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26We have to put some pressure on our congressman,
0:05:26 > 0:05:31that's the only way to get answers on this kind of thing!
0:05:31 > 0:05:37My best hope... You know, I hope there's nothing really embarrassing,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40but I'm very open to learning anything.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42I hope it's a good story.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47But where it leads to, I am... I'm ready for anything.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Matthew has returned to New York. He's come to the National Archives
0:05:55 > 0:05:59to look for his grandfather James Joseph Broderick's military service record,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03which should contain details of where he was posted during the First World War.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08James Joseph Broderick, Private, First Class.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10102 Infantry.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12MD.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17His occupation before is a conductor, a train conductor.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23Enlisted on June 1916.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27Embarked from Montreal, September 26, 1917,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30and arrived at Le Havre.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32Well...
0:06:32 > 0:06:33So he was in France.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38Transferred to medical, I think, department.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40That I didn't know.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45102 Infantry, 26th Division, March 1918.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50And, uh, now, what happened there?
0:06:50 > 0:06:52It doesn't say.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Did he fight or see action? I don't know what he did over in France.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58This is my father's father,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01so it's extremely close.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03So I'm dying to know what happened.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Matthew's heading to the battlefields of Northern France,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12in search of some record of his grandfather's active service there.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15The United States entered the First World War
0:07:15 > 0:07:17on 6th April 1917.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Within weeks, American troops started to arrive in France.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Although initially small in numbers,
0:07:23 > 0:07:27their presence provided a much-needed morale boost
0:07:27 > 0:07:29for the exhausted British and French soldiers
0:07:29 > 0:07:33who'd been fighting on the Western Front for almost three years.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Among them was Matthew's grandfather, James Joseph Broderick,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44who arrived in France in October 1917.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Matthew knows his grandfather served in the medical department.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57He's come to Verdun to meet First World War expert Taff Gillingham.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00- Matthew.- Hello.- Good to meet you. - Nice to meet you too.- Great.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Well, here we are.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05This is where the American army first found itself in France.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10So my grandfather, I guess, would have come here for the Medical Corps?
0:08:10 > 0:08:12And to begin with, he's attached to a field hospital,
0:08:12 > 0:08:17so that's a big organisation in preparation for the casualties that are going to come,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20and all the standard medical training.
0:08:20 > 0:08:26The fighting on the Western Front had produced casualties on an unprecedented scale.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33By 1917, over a million men had been killed and wounded.
0:08:36 > 0:08:42In this industrialised warfare, medics like Joe Broderick had to deal with horrific injuries.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47The kit that they had to carry in combat, very little compared to the infantry soldier,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50but it was enough to do the job. The very basics of it.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52This set of equipment here,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55each of these ten pouches would have had bandages in them.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58- I see. They would wear this on their arm or something?- Yes.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01The medics, it's the only protection they had, really.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04- And this would hopefully keep him from being a target.- Yeah.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08That was the idea. But the only thing they've got to protect them is a Red Cross armband.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13- Right. And he had to deal with gas probably too?- Yeah.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16- So he would have had one of these exactly like that. - To protect himself.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20- So they'd have to bandage a person while wearing all this stuff. - Exactly.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23It's one thing to say, "I've managed to do that."
0:09:23 > 0:09:26But by the time you've spent several hours wearing one of these,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30everything becomes more difficult. You can't see very well.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- So he went from being a 22-year-old conductor to this?- Yes.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36So how do they get him ready for that?
0:09:36 > 0:09:39I don't think any of that really prepared them for
0:09:39 > 0:09:43the whole business of going over the top and getting into no-man's land,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46- all around you, soldiers are getting killed.- Jesus.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49And you've got to say, "My job is to save the men who will survive."
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Oh, my God, what a terrible thing.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00After his training, Joe saw action at the Meuse-Argonne Offensive,
0:10:00 > 0:10:06an important part of the final push by the Allies to break the German lines on the Western Front.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08The fighting lasted for six weeks
0:10:08 > 0:10:13and was the largest and deadliest battle that the American forces took part in,
0:10:13 > 0:10:19resulting in 26,000 deaths and tens of thousands wounded.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Matthew is meeting World War One historian Peter Barton
0:10:25 > 0:10:28to find out what happened to his grandfather during this battle.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Come into the woods over here.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34The moment you step off the track, into the woods, you're stepping back in time.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36- These are shell holes.- Oh, my God.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40One of the German lines actually ran through here.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45The headquarters of your grandfather's battalion
0:10:45 > 0:10:50was actually in this wood. They would have attacked through these woods, just wipe these trees away.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54They didn't exist. It was just splintered stumps and undergrowth.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57- You can see the trenches everywhere. - I sure can.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00So you're on the spot where your grandfather was...
0:11:00 > 0:11:0291 years ago.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Wow.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11Your grandfather's 26 Division arrived here on the 18th of October, 1918.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16- Wow.- It was their job to take the German defences on the top of this ridge here.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18They were formidable defences.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21The Germans knew this attack was coming and they concentrated...
0:11:21 > 0:11:26- So they dug in?- Yeah. It was a devastating attack for them,
0:11:26 > 0:11:30because they had machine gun fire coming from the hills over here,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33and machine gun fire coming from the hills over there.
0:11:33 > 0:11:39And this is converging and crossing these fields. So, in order to reach the German trenches,
0:11:39 > 0:11:43you have to walk through a stream of bullets.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46So if we have a look at your grandfather's duties...
0:11:46 > 0:11:47Mm-hm.
0:11:47 > 0:11:53He'd follow the infantry into battle and he would be the first man on the scene
0:11:53 > 0:11:56of an injury, with the shells and machine guns.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59You wouldn't be able to hear yourself scream.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01He couldn't hear the men shouting for help,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04he would have to see that. He is totally exposed
0:12:04 > 0:12:08and his job is utterly, utterly critical,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12because he had to stop haemorrhage, from bullet wounds or shrapnel wounds,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16- and splint people if they had badly shattered legs or arms.- God...
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Before the stretcher-bearers came,
0:12:19 > 0:12:21it was a position of huge responsibility.
0:12:21 > 0:12:27The thing you have to know, Matthew, is that every single man in that Company
0:12:27 > 0:12:30would have totally depended upon your grandfather,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32to save their lives.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36And this is where certain things happened to your grandfather,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40which probably affected him for the rest of his life.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45I've got something else to show you here,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48which I suspect you might not have seen before.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Oh.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Purple Heart.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56- Is that right?- Yep.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Wow. I... This is incredible.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02So this is... He was wounded?
0:13:02 > 0:13:06That's right. It's this document that tells us where he was wounded
0:13:06 > 0:13:09and that's how we can place him here, by the date of this document.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14- Because you know where his group was on 10-27-18.- That's right.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Wounded on 27th October 1918,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Joe Broderick was decorated with a Purple Heart,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25the American military medal given to soldiers who are either wounded
0:13:25 > 0:13:26or killed in action.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33"Broderick, James J. Wounded in action, Private, Medical Department.
0:13:33 > 0:13:39"Awarded Purple Heart. Wounded in action October 27th, 1918."
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Boy, this is no small thing, you know?
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Well, bless his heart.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50I wonder how bad it was.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56There's a rumour it may have been gas but here, it's more likely to be shell-fire or bullet wound.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Amazing, it's incredible.
0:13:59 > 0:14:00Yeah.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02Wow.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06I never would have known.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13Well, I found out, I guess, quite a bit about his experience in World War One and what it was like.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16He was this very brave man who never spoke about it.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21I didn't even know he had this Purple Heart. It's shocking to me.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24And I'm very proud of it.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34Matthew and Peter are going to the Meuse-Argonne cemetery,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38the final resting place for over 14,000 American soldiers,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40most of whom died during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Amongst these men are the dead from the battlefield.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54And here's some of them. These are all from your grandfather's Division.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Same infantry regiment,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01102, 26 Division and you can see the date - October 24th.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03And he's from Ohio.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06So, this man here was serving with your grandfather.
0:15:06 > 0:15:12The key thing here is, these men could have been men who your grandfather treated
0:15:12 > 0:15:15- but who didn't make it.- Right.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20- Here's a man, John Corder... - Same day.- Same day.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25So he was not as lucky as James Joseph Broderick.
0:15:25 > 0:15:26That's right.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30That's right, he was very, very lucky to be wounded on that day.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33That's probably what saved his life.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40I just can't imagine how it would have felt to be in his position,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44to be responsible for so many lives and at risk at the same time.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50- I've got something here for you to have a look at.- Uh-huh.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52See what you find.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56"Recommendations for Distinguished Service Cross,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58"Private First Class James Broderick,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01"being attached to Company K as first aid man
0:16:01 > 0:16:05"performed his duties to the upmost, giving first aid to the wounded,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08"under heavy shell and machine gun fire,
0:16:08 > 0:16:13"fearlessly and with absolute disregard for personal safety."
0:16:14 > 0:16:18Wow. Distinguished Service Cross?
0:16:18 > 0:16:21That's a big medal. It's the second-highest award for gallantry
0:16:21 > 0:16:23you can receive.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25My God.
0:16:27 > 0:16:28That's amazing.
0:16:30 > 0:16:31Wow.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Noble act and probably a very noble man.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Yeah.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38It's my father's name.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I always thought of him as Joe.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Joe the postman.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51'After hearing all my grandfather went through,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54'I can see why he didn't like to talk about it with my dad.'
0:16:54 > 0:17:00I'm very impressed... that he would even be there.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04So close to the front lines was enough but that he's...
0:17:07 > 0:17:11"Performed his duties to the upmost, giving first aid to the wounded,
0:17:11 > 0:17:13"under heavy shell and machine gun fire,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16"fearlessly and with absolute disregard for personal safety."
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Which is a really lovely sentence, too.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25So I will cherish having that, you know?
0:17:25 > 0:17:31This was six days of absolute bravery in the worst possible conditions.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35He didn't talk about it, but I now know about it.
0:17:35 > 0:17:40It's been found out and I'm enormously proud of him.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49'I have to take some time with this because it's...'
0:17:49 > 0:17:52It's like learning that you're a different...
0:17:53 > 0:17:57There's something different in your being than what you always thought.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Something has been filled in that I didn't know was blank.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Now Matthew wants to learn about his grandmother,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Joe's wife, Mary Martindale.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15So he's heading to her home state of Connecticut.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25He's starting at the state archives, where he's meeting the head of the History and Genealogy Unit,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Richard Roberts.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32How would I find more out about Mary Martindale?
0:18:32 > 0:18:35This is a listing of various censuses down here.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38So we're going to be looking for the 1910 census.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39Martindale.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42And then we know she's in Connecticut,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45so for residence, put Connecticut.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47So if you click on search,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- and if we scroll down... - Hope I don't faint.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Keep going down...
0:18:53 > 0:18:55And we keep going down...
0:18:55 > 0:19:00- Keep going down. - Oh. Mary Martindale.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03- Yeah.- Yep.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05This is saying she's single,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07she's white and she's female.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09- Yes.- We've got her age.- Yeah.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12- And who's under it?- N-E... Nellie.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14- Nellie.- Nellie?- Nellie.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16- So, would that be a sister? - That could be a sister...
0:19:16 > 0:19:19- It can't be a daughter, she's a teenager.- Too young,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22but it could well be a sister. Look at their ages.
0:19:22 > 0:19:2415 and 12.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Yep. Right ages for sisters.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Mary Martindale.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Household members, that many? Look at that.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Why would there be that many people in a house?
0:19:35 > 0:19:40Let's see. Let's scroll back up to the top again and see what this is about.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45This is a bunch of kids living in a home for...children, does that say?
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Yes. The New Haven County Temporary Home For Children.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54This was like a county orphanage, back at that time.
0:19:54 > 0:19:55So she was an orphan?
0:19:55 > 0:19:59It looks like she and then all these kids are living in the temporary home,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01as orphans.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Wow, that's amazing.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08So we don't know when the parents left the picture...
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Actually, we do have some clues. In order to do that,
0:20:11 > 0:20:13we have to look at a few other things.
0:20:13 > 0:20:20- You have clues to that?- We do. If you want to follow me, we can go into the vaults...
0:20:20 > 0:20:22I do want to follow you, yes.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38"New Haven County Temporary Home.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41"Record Of Children, Volume Two."
0:20:45 > 0:20:51"Mary Martindale. June 15, 1895."
0:20:51 > 0:20:54So right now she's 15.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58So she's actually been admitted to this orphanage on this date here.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01On April 2nd, 1910, and then what is this?
0:21:01 > 0:21:04"Particulars to first family home"?
0:21:04 > 0:21:10- "Michael F Grove. Name of person taking child."- Taking child.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13- So, she was adopted.- Not adopted,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15but she goes out with this family for a little bit.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19"Child is returned to Temporary Home and transferred to..."
0:21:19 > 0:21:24This is the second family, so she went away twice and kept going back.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27And here's Nellie, and somebody else.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30- Somebody else picked up her sister...- Oh, they got separated.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Her little sister must have been petrified.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36Matthew's grandmother, Mary, and her sister, Nellie,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39were sent to live with families as servants.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41It was a common practice at the time.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45The families received free child labour and the state saved money
0:21:45 > 0:21:48from bringing up poor children like Matthew's grandmother.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54- These are hard, hard times. - Very hard times.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Dickens-type times.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00I'm particularly disturbed that they ended up in different towns.
0:22:00 > 0:22:06You somehow like to think of them going through the ordeal together.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08- Clearly they didn't.- No.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15Matthew wants to know why his grandmother Mary Martindale was an orphan.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23The mother of Mary Martindale is Mary Martindale.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27- She is not alive. - From a liver ulcer.- Wow.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33So, um, William Martindale, her father,
0:22:33 > 0:22:39uh, West Haven, same man, and it says he's killed in 1908.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44"Deceased was employed by
0:22:44 > 0:22:50"the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54"There was a spill of...ten timbers.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57"Fell over onto him."
0:22:57 > 0:23:03- Is that what that says?- That's what it says.- So he was crushed by timber.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09I've read novels where little girls go to the state home and stuff,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12but it's my grandmother. It's sort of amazing.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17It's a very hard, unimaginably hard, life.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25What it does is that these cold little facts I guess, you could say, get more and more human,
0:23:25 > 0:23:32as you... As you put them together, you get a story of a life of a human being.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35It's fascinating.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40My father was so close to such a hard life,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42I wonder if he knew all this, too.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Did she tell him about the Temporary Home For Children,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47because I've never heard it before.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Matthew's curious about Mary's whole family line.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03He's starting with Mary's father, William Martindale.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06He was killed in a rail accident in 1908.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12He's meeting Mel Smith, an expert in the History and Genealogy Unit
0:24:12 > 0:24:13at the Connecticut State Archives.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17This is the 1870 census.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20We're trying to find William Martindale as a child,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22living in the New Haven area,
0:24:22 > 0:24:30- perhaps with his family, brothers, sisters...- So it might list his father...- Exactly.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32- There's a whole family here.- OK, OK.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34- Is that William?- That is William.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36- William Martindale.- Yes.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Along with his mother and all his brothers and sisters.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41Wow.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44And now I know his mother is Charlotte Martindale.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46And does it have his father?
0:24:46 > 0:24:49It does not list his father.
0:24:49 > 0:24:50Hmm.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52But once again, using the census records,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55perhaps we can leapfrog back in time
0:24:55 > 0:24:57to see if we could find the father.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Here's the 1850 census.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05And once again, we're looking in the New Haven area.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08There's a Robert Martindale.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11And Charlotte. Wow.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Now, wait a minute.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17- This man is 27?- Yes.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22- So Charlotte, that's his wife? - Correct.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26She's 22, which works out properly, because it was 42 in the other one.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30- That's right.- There's a one-year-old, two-year-old, five-year-old kids.
0:25:30 > 0:25:31They have them very quickly.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37- He's my great-great grandfather. - Yeah.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40- Wow.- That's a lot of greats.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Yeah! OK, so...
0:25:43 > 0:25:48The entire family is missing from the 1860 census.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53But by 1870, the rest of the family, including five children, is back,
0:25:53 > 0:25:55only without Robert.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59So what was going on he could potentially be involved with?
0:25:59 > 0:26:02- Civil war, is that...?- Exactly.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Oh, my God.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08In the spring of 1861,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10America was in turmoil.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14The northern and southern states were in direct opposition on the issues of slavery,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17liberty, and states' rights.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860,
0:26:21 > 0:26:2511 southern states broke away from the union in the north
0:26:25 > 0:26:28and formed the Southern Confederate States of America.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32In response to the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36President Lincoln called for volunteers to suppress the rebellion.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38This marked the beginning of the Civil War.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42which turned into the most devastating conflict on American soil.
0:26:42 > 0:26:48We do have an index here. Individuals that served in the war,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51the Civil War, by town.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53J, K, L...
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Lee.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58Oh, I just saw it.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Robert Martindale. Wow.
0:27:00 > 0:27:06Private Company B, 20th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08So what happened to him there?
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Well, we have some, um, Civil War records here for you to look at.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Oh, my God, that's amazing. What are these things?
0:27:15 > 0:27:19These are enlistment records.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Yep, Robert Martindale.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25- 1862, that's when he went in to sign up?- Yes.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28This is the actual document that when he walked into a room somewhere,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30and said, "I want to be in the Civil War."
0:27:30 > 0:27:32That's the actual document.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35"I, Robert Martindale, do solemnly swear
0:27:35 > 0:27:37"that I will bear true faith and allegiance
0:27:37 > 0:27:39"to the United States of America.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42"Sworn and subscribed to, at Ansonia
0:27:42 > 0:27:46"this fifth day of August 1862."
0:27:46 > 0:27:49That's his writing, I bet, right?
0:27:49 > 0:27:50- That's his signature.- Wow.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54- That's his very signature. - Robert Martindale.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57That is absolutely fantastic.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02"This soldier has grey eyes, brown hair,
0:28:02 > 0:28:07"dark complexion, is 5'5" tall."
0:28:07 > 0:28:12And so we know a lot more about him than we did.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13Absolutely.
0:28:13 > 0:28:19- We know a little bit what he looked like.- It's a lot to take in.- Wow.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24And, uh, so... I am astounded that I have a relative
0:28:24 > 0:28:26who was in the Civil War.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29- I'm just... I'm shook up.- Yeah.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32A lot of Americans, if they were able to look back,
0:28:32 > 0:28:35would find they had relatives in the Civil War.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39But I never, for some reason, dawned on me that I was one of them.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42I did a movie, had a Civil War uniform on.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45So to find that I had a great-great grandfather in the Civil War,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48I should have thought of it, but I never did.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52The character I played in Glory was from a New England regiment as well,
0:28:52 > 0:28:55and his name was Robert. Robert Shaw.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57He was a colonel.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01And, uh, apparently my grandfather was just a private.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05So I imagine they had very... That's the end of their similarities.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09Is there a way to find out anything about his record during the war?
0:29:09 > 0:29:13There is. These are muster rolls.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17- And "mustered" means gathered and counted...- Exactly.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21So this shows the strength of a company at a given time,
0:29:21 > 0:29:24and it follows the regiment throughout the war,
0:29:24 > 0:29:28- each company.- So each one of these should have him in it?- Correct.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30Let's take a peek.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34July through August of '63.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37And now are these... Oh, there's Martindale.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39- Robert Martindale.- So there he is.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Something area... Gettysburg.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46Oh, my God. Um...
0:29:46 > 0:29:48"And placed..."
0:29:48 > 0:29:50"And placed in the line of battle."
0:29:50 > 0:29:52- They fought in Gettysburg? - He was at Gettysburg.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56- He survived Gettysburg, more importantly.- Good.
0:29:58 > 0:29:59In July 1863,
0:29:59 > 0:30:01Confederate General Robert E Lee
0:30:01 > 0:30:03decided to invade northern territory,
0:30:03 > 0:30:09believing a victory there would pressure the union to end the war.
0:30:09 > 0:30:14Lee's plan brought his army to Gettysburg in south central Pennsylvania.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18After three days of battle and 50,000 casualties,
0:30:18 > 0:30:20the Confederate army was defeated.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24It was a turning point in the Civil War
0:30:24 > 0:30:27and the battleground became the future site
0:30:27 > 0:30:30of President Lincoln's historic Gettysburg Address.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36So we know they're in Gettysburg. Where are they going next?
0:30:36 > 0:30:39This is June '64.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42OK.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44OK, 22nd.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48"Joined in pursuit of the enemy to within three miles of Atlanta."
0:30:48 > 0:30:50In Atlan... In Atlanta?
0:30:50 > 0:30:54- Atlanta, Georgia.- Yeah. - Far from home.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57So I could probably, if I wanted, find out more about that battle.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00I might find a little more detail about what kind of fighting it was.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03Absolutely. Absolutely.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06The muster rolls show that Robert's regiment
0:31:06 > 0:31:10moved through the south from Tennessee to Savannah, Georgia
0:31:10 > 0:31:12and the city of Atlanta.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Matthew's on his way there to meet Gordon Jones,
0:31:19 > 0:31:23curator of the Atlanta History Centre's Civil War exhibit.
0:31:23 > 0:31:28Matthew, what I have here is an original .58 calibre
0:31:28 > 0:31:33US issue rifle musket that was used in Atlanta campaign.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37- I want you to hold that.- It would have to be fired right-handed.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39- That's right.- Which is like that. - Yep.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42And a good soldier would be able to fire that
0:31:42 > 0:31:43about three times a minute.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Wow. He must have been a tough, tough dude.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48He was.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54This is an original Civil War, what they called a mini-ball.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56Made of lead.
0:31:56 > 0:32:01- And here's one...- That's already hit something.- ..impacted somewhat.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04This is from hitting a person? Oh, my.
0:32:08 > 0:32:13So, he would have been in the fight for about two years by now, when he got here?
0:32:13 > 0:32:16- That's right.- So what sort of state do you think he might be in?
0:32:16 > 0:32:18He'd be a hard, tough man.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21He had seen all kinds of hardships,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24he had lived on half-rations, he had seen all the horrors of war.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28- Right.- And the longer the guys were in the army, the more battles they saw,
0:32:28 > 0:32:32the more that things like seeing bloody wounds
0:32:32 > 0:32:36and arms and legs amputated and parts of bodies all over the battlefield,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39- the less they noticed it. - Yeah. Yeah.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43So would Robert Martindale have been fighting up here?
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Not actually right here. We're at Kennesaw Mountain,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50which is about 15 miles north west of Atlanta.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Union army is attacking here from the north,
0:32:53 > 0:32:55this is the way they get to Atlanta.
0:32:55 > 0:33:00You got to have Atlanta because it is this critical railroad junction.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04We have four railroads that converge right here in Atlanta.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08And here's where your ancestor, Robert Martindale, comes in.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11Right up here at Peachtree Creek.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14So the Confederates are attacking this way,
0:33:14 > 0:33:20as the Union is crossing down here. So it was a very intense fight.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23The Federal army continues its advance on Atlanta
0:33:23 > 0:33:27and on the 23rd of July, Robert Martindale
0:33:27 > 0:33:31is detailed as a skirmisher.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33Now, a skirmisher is basically like a guard.
0:33:33 > 0:33:39I have a document here that will tell us what happened
0:33:39 > 0:33:41on July 23rd.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45"Inventory of the effects of Robert Martindale,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48"Company B of the 20th Regiment, Connecticut.
0:33:48 > 0:33:55"He died on skirmish line in front of Atlanta, Georgia,
0:33:55 > 0:33:59"on the 23rd day of July 1864
0:33:59 > 0:34:02"by reason of musket ball through the head."
0:34:05 > 0:34:09That would have been a very violent, bloody wound.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11But it would've been quick.
0:34:11 > 0:34:12Yes.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15It probably would have been painless.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Right.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22If you were going to get it, that's the way you'd want it to happen.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26So, that's it. That's very, um, very final.
0:34:26 > 0:34:27Damn.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31I was... I was, uh, pulling for him.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34'He had survived Gettysburg and all these horrible battles
0:34:34 > 0:34:39'and then just took a shot in the head.'
0:34:39 > 0:34:43It's sad, but to follow in my own flesh and blood's footsteps
0:34:43 > 0:34:45through, you know, this very field,
0:34:45 > 0:34:49it's amazing, it's wonderful.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52What would have happened to him, to his body?
0:34:52 > 0:34:57I don't know that for sure but I know a guy who does.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04Robert Martindale, died on the 23rd of July, 1864.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08It was another six weeks before Union forces won Atlanta.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12By the end of the war in April 1865,
0:35:12 > 0:35:16over 600,000 Americans had died.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21Matthew's on his way to downtown Atlanta to meet Brad Quinlan,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24who has spent years studying Civil War burial grounds.
0:35:24 > 0:35:25- How are you?- Good, you?
0:35:25 > 0:35:27Where we're sitting right now,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30the original trenches are to our left.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34And when Robert was put out on picket duty,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38on July 23rd, he would be in this vicinity,
0:35:38 > 0:35:42- within a few hundred yards of where we're at right now.- Wow.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46- His friends would have retrieved his body.- Yeah.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50His body was just taken and buried right on the battlefield.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55- Just where it was safe behind the Union lines.- Yes...- That's where they would do it.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00They were taken there and then... It's not very far from here.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04- I'd like to take you to that area where I think he was buried. - I would love that.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15The men that were killed on this line, they were brought back to this area,
0:36:15 > 0:36:20and taken to a section of ground that was open,
0:36:20 > 0:36:25- and buried in makeshift graves.- Uh-huh.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27So this, this is... Here?
0:36:27 > 0:36:31Right around here is where they would...would take him?
0:36:31 > 0:36:34Right. Right in here is where he was buried.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38- So... - Immediately after he was killed.
0:36:39 > 0:36:40Wow.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44- But this is not the end of the line. - No?- For Robert.
0:36:44 > 0:36:45- It isn't?- No.
0:36:45 > 0:36:46Why is that?
0:36:46 > 0:36:50In 1866 and 1867,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52over the entire area of the Atlanta campaign,
0:36:52 > 0:36:57men came down and they very carefully
0:36:57 > 0:37:01and very meticulously went to these makeshift cemeteries.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05They would take these men and reinter them.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07Is that right? So he might have been moved?
0:37:07 > 0:37:12He might have been moved from this area and placed into a national cemetery.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14Where, in Washington or something?
0:37:14 > 0:37:18About 20 minutes up the road is where many of these men were taken.
0:37:18 > 0:37:19Is that right?
0:37:19 > 0:37:21The Marietta National Cemetery.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23- Can we go there?- We sure can.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25- Oh, my God.- I know.
0:37:27 > 0:37:32Wait, I'm going to take, silly as it is, a rock or something.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37So I can...remember I was here.
0:37:37 > 0:37:38I'll take two rocks.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41Is that allowed?
0:37:41 > 0:37:43Well, I'm not going to tell anybody.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45- OK.- So...
0:37:45 > 0:37:47- Yeah.- Yeah.- OK.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02Established after the Civil War, the Marietta National Cemetery
0:38:02 > 0:38:06is the final resting place for around 10,000 Union soldiers
0:38:06 > 0:38:08killed during the conflict.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13Although great care was taken in moving the bodies,
0:38:13 > 0:38:173,000 graves remain unidentified.
0:38:18 > 0:38:23When they came back in 1866 and 1867 to reinter these men,
0:38:23 > 0:38:27they documented every grave they went to.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30and then when they brought them here and reinterred them,
0:38:30 > 0:38:32they put all the documentation together,
0:38:32 > 0:38:35and they are in books in the national archives.
0:38:35 > 0:38:36OK.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40Now, this morning we talked about Robert being buried in a cemetery downtown.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43- Near the train track.- Yes.- Mm-hm.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47And I've compiled a complete listing of every single man
0:38:47 > 0:38:51who was killed with the 20th Connecticut in the Atlanta campaign.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56The next thing we had to do is we had to prove, one at a time,
0:38:56 > 0:38:59all the burials of the 20th Connecticut.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02- So you're trying to eliminate the ones that you know?- Yes.- Right.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05We've only one man we have not accounted for 100%.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07- Robert Martindale.- OK.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11This is the documentation that shows the men
0:39:11 > 0:39:14who were pulled up from that cemetery and brought here.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17- Wow. Uh-huh.- OK.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20We're looking for a 20th Connecticut.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23You might, take a look, this says...
0:39:23 > 0:39:25Oh, my gosh. Yep. "Unknown."
0:39:25 > 0:39:26OK.
0:39:26 > 0:39:32"Supposed to be a member of 20th Connecticut..."
0:39:32 > 0:39:36"Buried two miles north of the car shed down at the Marietta Road."
0:39:36 > 0:39:38Where we were this morning.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Yes, and he was brought here into this cemetery.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44- Into where we're sitting now. - Exactly.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47So we have eliminated every single man
0:39:47 > 0:39:50in the 20th Connecticut except for...
0:39:50 > 0:39:51- Robert Martindale.- Yep.
0:39:51 > 0:39:56We've proved that that grave today
0:39:56 > 0:40:00is section D, grave 2469.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03Wow. Good job.
0:40:03 > 0:40:04Good job.
0:40:04 > 0:40:05- Pretty amazing.- Yeah.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08That the documentation still exists.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12Yeah, and the, uh, and the smarts to know how to use it. Yeah.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15- He's just down the hill. - Let's go see him.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17OK, let's go.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21I am speechless. I am gobsmacked.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29It's nice that somebody bothered to find
0:40:29 > 0:40:34and make unanonymous Robert Martindale.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37Section D in front of us.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40Section D. We are looking for 2469.
0:40:40 > 0:40:41Yes.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45- So we just start looking? Is that what you do?- Just start looking. Yes.
0:40:45 > 0:40:4672.
0:40:54 > 0:40:55Is that a 6?
0:40:58 > 0:41:01- I think that's it.- 2469.
0:41:08 > 0:41:09Amazing.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13- Just an ordinary soldier, you know?- Mm-hm.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17Simple little stone after a long journey.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21- That's a nice little stone.- Yeah.
0:41:21 > 0:41:22I kinda like it.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28Well, that is great to have.
0:41:31 > 0:41:32It's a great thing to have.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39Yeah, I wish my father was...
0:41:39 > 0:41:42I wish my whole family was here.
0:41:44 > 0:41:495'5", brown hair...grey eyes.
0:41:51 > 0:41:52Well, bless his little heart.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57- It will be noted, what you came up with?- It is going to be noted.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01- Wow.- I'm going to submit all the paperwork to the VA and the cemetery
0:42:01 > 0:42:05and it will be noted for all future generations.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07He deserves it.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09I'm amazed...
0:42:09 > 0:42:14what a complete journey it turned out to be.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18It all gets to here, you know, and now to have his great-great grandson
0:42:18 > 0:42:21stand on his grave.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23I'm overwhelmed.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28'I've been lucky enough to be born in a time
0:42:28 > 0:42:31'where I didn't have to make these sacrifices myself
0:42:31 > 0:42:33'and I hope my son doesn't, or my daughters.'
0:42:34 > 0:42:40I can't even express how much I admire people brave enough to do that.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43I think my grandfather and great-great grandfather
0:42:43 > 0:42:47helped make a world that my kids can be so comfortable in now.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52We're all related to the generations that happened before us,
0:42:52 > 0:42:56what they went through shapes our time.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd