WATERLOO'S FALLEN
ALL DREADED IT, ALL SOUGHT TO AVERT IT . . . AND THE WAR CAME. Lincoln
The Waterloo Fallen ~ 1861- 1865
Fifty-eight men from Waterloo died in the Civil War. An extensive research project was undertaken in 2007 and 2008 with the goal of writing a short biography for each of the men. The biographies are posted below.
In Waterloo, American Civil War Committee members Caren Cleaveland and Dale Theetge, and volunteer David Calabro, worked with primary and secondary documents to authenticate the lists of the fallen. The Waterloo Military Record Book 1861-1865 was the primary source for authentication. Also available to the Committee were the Roberta Halden Newspaper Article Collection 1859-1866, Adjutant General Reports and the Betty Auten Research Book of Civil War Soldiers of Seneca County, NY.
Frank Varney, who completed his Ph.D. in Civil War History at Cornell in 2008, worked with his students to gather additional information. Frank taught at William Paterson University (NJ) from September 2007 to May 2008 and is currently a professor at Dickinson State University (ND). His book, General Grant and the Rewriting of History, was published in 2013.
Erin Byrne, an art student of Pietro del Fabro, was a junior at the Stuart School in Princeton when she reviewed the military service and pension records in the National Archives (Washington, DC) relating to the Waterloo Fallen. Erin graduated from Princeton University in 2013.
In October of 2010, Pietro del Fabro contacted Anne Blumenschine at the Petersburg National Battlefield in search of the graves of the Waterloo Fallen that remained unknown. The American Civil War Memorial research project had located the graves of 18 of the 58 Fallen prior to that date. The vast majority of Civil War soldiers that died in combat were buried in unmarked graves. As a result, although we knew where almost all of the 58 Fallen died, less than a third had an identifiable grave. After a careful search through local records, Anne identified graves for four more of our Fallen and took photographs of three of them: Private Henry Parker and Private John Leon of the 148th Regiment and 1st Lieutenant Martin Van Buren Stanton and Private John Kiley of the 126th Regiment. Anne also directed us to Robbie Smith, Interpretation Ranger at Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, Virginia. She was able to locate the graves of Pvt. Anson Coryel and Pvt. John Leon of the 148th and very kindly sent us photographs of their stones. We are deeply appreciate Anne's help.
The following men were citizens of Waterloo who died during the American Civil War 1861-1865. These are the men who were remembered in Waterloo on the first Memorial Day, then known as Decoration Day, May 5, 1866.
1st Lieutenant Martin Van Buren STANTON ~ Company G, 126th Regiment
1
Martin, born in 1836 in Prattsburg, N.Y., enrolled at Waterloo on July 6, 1862 in the New York Volunteer Infantry for a three year term. His Company was mustered in on August 22, 1862 in Geneva, NY. Martin was captured soon after, then paroled on September 15, 1862 at Harpers Ferry. On January 6, 1863, 1st Sgt Stanton was promoted to 2nd Lt and on March 4, 1863 to 1st Lt at Centerville, Virginia. On August 14, 1863 Martin was issued a Surgeons certificate of disability arising from illness and granted leave to return to Waterloo. On February 6-7, 1864, Martin was wounded at Mortons Ford. Due to illness and wounds he was absent with leave at various times between July 1863 and March 1864. On April 29 1864, he was placed in command of Company B, 126th NY Vols., 1st Division. Martin was injured at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6. He was wounded again on June 16 at Petersburg. The II Corps was fighting just to the east of Petersburg that day. He was likely transported by train to one of the hospitals at City Point and died of his wounds on June 18, 1864. 1st Lt. Stanton is buried at City Point National Cemetery. His grave is located in section D, site 281. He was 28 years old.
5th Sergeant Tyler J. SNYDER ~ Company G, 126th Regiment
2
Tyler was born in Bethel, N.Y. on April 20, 1840. He enlisted in Waterloo in the 126th Infantry at 21 years of age. He was the son of Hamilton J. Snyder, and had worked as a farmer and a teacher before enlisting. Tyler was 6’ 1” tall with gray eyes and brown hair. As with many other members of his Regiment he was captured then released from POW camp at Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862. He was promoted to Corporal on November 11, 1862 as a replacement for Jorl Burch who deserted. Later, on March 4, 1863, he was promoted from 2d Corporal to 5th Sergeant. Not long before he fought at Gettysburg, he was promoted to 4th Sergeant. He received his last pay on April 30 in the amount of $40.44. Tyler was wounded on July 2, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg and succumbed to his wounds on July 3, the day of Picketts Charge. Tyler, 23 years old at the time of his death, was buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
Private Charles D. WALTERS ~ Company J, 126th Regiment
3
Charles was born in Waterloo, two days after Christmas, in 1841. He enlisted in Waterloo, at age 20 on August 11, 1862. He was mustered in with his Company in Geneva on August 8. Charles, a laborer and miller, had a swarthy complexion, stood 5’7” tall and had brown hair and blue eyes. Charles and Mary Walters were his parents. Captured by the Confederates in Harper’s Ferry, Charles was paroled with others of his unit on September 15, 1862. On the second day of fighting at Gettysburg Private Walters was wounded in the head and died on the battlefield. On the day of his death, July, 2, 1863, Charles was 21. He was laid to rest in the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
Brigadier General Edward Payson CHAPIN ~ 116th Regiment NY
4
Edward was born in Waterloo on the sixteenth day of August, 1831. He was working as an attorney in Buffalo when the Civil War began. Edward also played for the Niagaras, a semipro baseball team in Buffalo. At the end of August, 1861 he joined Company A of the 44th NY Volunteer Infantry. By January 2 Edward had been promoted to Major. The Regiment saw its first action in May at Hanover Court House, Virginia where Chapin was seriously wounded. He returned to Buffalo to recover and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Edward was instrumental in raising a new Erie County regiment, the 116th, which left Buffalo on September 5 with nine companies. Chapin selected two of his Niagaras teammates, George M. Love (Lieutenant Colonel) and John Higgins (Major) to assist him with command of the regiment. Edward was promoted to full Colonel on the day the 116th departed Buffalo for Baltimore. Two months later the regiment was sent by ship to Mississippi, then New Orleans where they arrived at the end of December. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he was assigned to command of the Ist Brigade, Ist Division, 19th Army Corps, Department of the Gulf. The 116th routed a rebel force (Miles' Legion) at Plain Store, Louisiana on May 21, 1863. This was a preparatory action preceding the attempt to take Port Hudson on May 27. Port Hudson was not a major engagement on the scale of Shiloh, Antietam or Gettysburg, but was a mid-scale battle and a very tough one. The Union attack on Port Hudson involved a difficult advance which crossed over more than a mile of obstructions while under devastating artillery fire. Edward was hit in the knee early in the battle, then as he approached the Confederate line he was struck in the head by a minie ball and was killed. His military service record reports that "he was killed in action while gallantly leading his men in the assault of Port Hudson." Edward died exactly one year after his Virginia wounding. His father Ephraim, the Presbyterian pastor of Waterloo, was sent Edward's posthumous promotion to Brigadier General by Abraham Lincoln (effective May 27, 1863, the day of his death). Edward was buried in Waterloo's Maple Grove Cemetery (#258) at 31 years of age. Chapin Parkway in Buffalo was named in his memory.
Private Martin V. LAMPHERE ~ Company E, 126th Regiment
5
Martin, born in Junius, New York on June 13, 1835 was a marble cutter by trade. He enlisted for a three year term on August 7th of 1862. He was 5’5” tall with black hair and eyes and a dark complexion. He was released from POW camp at Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862. Martin died from disease on January 19, 1863 in the 3d Brigade Hospital, Casey’s Division near Union Mills, Virginia. His effects and remains were returned to Geneva. Martin was buried in Waterloo's Maple Grove Cemetery (#400) at twenty-seven years of age. His tombstone is beautifully carved white marble, perhaps a tribute from the marble cutters he worked with. His wife had this passage inscribed on the stone:
Dearest husband thou hast left me
Tis thy loss I deeply feel
But tis God that hath bereft me
He can all my sorrows heal
Private Franklin WILLIAMS ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
6
Franklin was born in Lodi, NY in 1829. He joined Company H on it’s original organization at Waterloo, and enrolled in it at the muster into the service of the United States at Geneva on September 14, 1862 for a term of three years. He received a bounty payment of $100 from Waterloo and $10 from Seneca County. Franklin, a laborer by trade, was 5’ 10” tall with dark eyes and black hair. His mother’s name was Nancy. He was sent to the General Hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia on March 26, 1864 and died in the General Hospital, Hampton, Virginia on April 10 of chronic diarrhea. He was 35 years old.
Private Enoch D. TOWNSEND ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
7
Enoch was 44 when he mustered in for a three year term in the 148th Regiment, New York Infantry, in Geneva on August 30, 1862. By September 14th he was serving as a regimental hospital nurse. He was detailed for duty as a nurse at the regimental hospital until July, 18, 1863 when he died of fever at Balfour Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia. He was 45.
Captain Robert H. BRETT ~ Company K, Ist Regiment, New York Veterans Cavalry
8
Robert was a gardener. He was born on May 17, 1829 in Yorkshire, England, the son of Robert Brett and Rose Brooks. He mustered in as a private on April 24, 1861, then as a First Lieutenant on May 11 for a two year tour of duty. On June 2, 1863 the Regiment returned to Geneva and on September 18, 1863 he reenlisted as a Captain for three years. According to his military record he was killed just after his 35th birthday by a shot in the lungs in Newtown, Virginia on May 30, 1864. Captain Brett was buried in Waterloo in Maple Grove Cemetery (#416). The Waterloo Military Record Book lists his date of death as May 29 while his stone lists it as June 6.
Sergeant Charles H. FARNSWORTH ~ Company G, 126th Regiment
9
Charles H. Farnsworth was the middle of seven children born to Oren and Lucinda Farnsworth. He was born in Waterloo, Seneca County, New York where his father was probably working as a shoemaker at the time. His year of birth per the 1850 and 1860 censuses and Civil War Records appears to have been 1830, possibly on April 15, 1830. The Waterloo Military Record Book 1861-1865, lists his birthdate as April 15, 1839. Charles was 5’ 8” tall with blue eyes and dark hair. By the time of the 1850 US Census in Waterloo, Charles H. Farnsworth appears to have been married to the English-born Elizabeth and was making his living as a shoemaker, while living with his widowed mother and numerous siblings. Based on the place of birth of his second son in April 1853, Charles and Elizabeth lived for a period of time in the 1850's in Pennsylvania, but returned to Waterloo. By the time of the 1860 census taken in Waterloo, Charles (a shoemaker) and Elizabeth Farnsworth, had two sons (George Orin and Charles F. Farnsworth) and a sister Jane Farnsworth living with them. He joined for duty in Waterloo on August 7, 1862 and was mustered in as a Corporal on August 22 in Geneva. He was captured by the Confederates then released on September 15, 1862 in Harpers Ferry. On November 1 Charles was promoted by Major Ruse from Corporal to Sergeant in place of James Holenbeck who was reduced to the ranks for drunkenness. He was wounded at Gettysburg on July 2 or 3 and died several days later on July 9, 1863. His Company G Muster Role lists his date of death as July 5. Sergeant Farnsworth was buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery (Gravesite D-56 NY plot) at age 33 (or 24).
Elizabeth Ann Farnsworth, lived for nearly another fifty years after her husband's death. His widow could still be found living in Waterloo at the time of the 1900 Federal Census. She died on May 16, 1912 and is buried beside her son Charles F. Farnsworth in the Lynn Haven Cemetery in Bay County, Florida. Charles F. Farnsworth (1854 – 1925), son of Charles H.Farnsworth, was a merchant in Waterloo, New York until sometime between 1900 and 1910 when his wife Cornelia Farnsworth died. He then moved to St. Louis and retired in Lynn Haven, Florida.
The American Civil War Memorial was contacted by David E. Farnsworth of Bismarck, ND in early 2011. Charles H. Farnsworth is a relative of his, but not his direct great-great grandparent. He also has a relative, Elon Farnsworth, who was a Union cavalry General who was killed on the third day of the battle at Gettysburg. David also had another relative who fought with the Iowa regiments at the Battle of Shiloh. He was captured when he ran out of ammunition, and died in a Confederate Georgia prison in January 1863. David has been so kind as to share with us his research and it has been incorporated into our original biography above.
Private John KILEY ~Company G, 126th Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry4
10
“Kiley, John. Age, 35 years. Enlisted, July 18, 1862, at Waterloo. To serve three years; mustered in as Private, Co. G, August 22, 1862; surrendered, September 15, 1862, and paroled, September 16, 1862, at Harper's Ferry, Va.; Killed in action June 16, 1864, at Petersburg, Virginia.”
FOR A LIFE STORY, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW, "SEEKING JOHN KILEY."
Rick Kiley, Great Great Grandson of Private John Kiley, attended the restoration & rededication of the
Poplar Grove National Cemetery, April, 2017.
Private Henry PARKER ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
11
Henry was born in Westfield, New Jersey, in 1841. He joined and enrolled in Waterloo on August 27, 1862, for a three year term and received a bounty of $100 from the town and $10 from the county. Henry was a carpenter by trade. He stood 6’ 3” tall and had dark hair and dark eyes. Henry mustered in at Geneva on September 14, 1862. By May of 1864 the 148th had moved south of Richmond along the Appomattox River. They had been involved in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign (May 5-31). On the morning of May 25 they were camped between Port Walthall and City Point, river towns just north of Petersburg. They were ordered to go out on picket duty, so they marched out early on the 25th to set up near Port Walthall which was located at the end of a branch of the Richmond/Petersburg R.R. along the Appomattox River. The next day they moved out on a reconnaissance mission along Bake House Creek where they found the rebels dug in near a mill on the creek. The 148th engaged the enemy in a day long fire fight and suffered three fatalities including Henry Parker. On the day of his death Henry was 23 years of age. It was just after this that the Eighteenth Army Corps was ordered to move to Cold Harbor where forty-one of the men of the 148th were killed in the ensuing battle. Private Parker was buried in City Point National Cemetery.
Private Patrick MORAN ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
12
Patrick was a farmer, born March 16, 1828, in Ireland. He enlisted for a three year term in Waterloo on August 21, 1862 and received a bounty payment of $100 and $1 relief from the town for his family. He was the son of John Moran and Mary Flood. He mustered in at Geneva on August 28. It was around that time that the regiment's officers were being selected and John B. Murray was given the rank of Major in the 148th. Murray was later to become famous as one of the founders of Memorial Day (Decoration Day). These formative days of the regiment were a period of intense activity including some celebrating. Patrick was the first man killed in the 148th when he was involved in a railcar accident in Geneva on the day he mustered in. He was thirty-four years of age.
Private Jacob MATTELL ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
13
Jacob was born in Germany in August of 1817. He listed his occupation as a laborer and joined up in Waterloo on the 22nd of August 1862 for a 3 year term. He received bounty payments of $100 from Waterloo and $10 from Seneca County. Jacob, a married man, mustered in on September 14, 1862 in Geneva. He was 5’ 4.5” tall with dark hair and eyes. In July and August of 1864 the muster roll reports Jacob absent in the hospital. Jacob was in Yorktown, Virginia before transfer to the hospital ship Baltic. When the ship arrived in Philadelphia on Aug 11, 1864 Jacob was dead of dysentery. Waterloo granted $2 of relief to his family. Jacob Mattell, 47 years of age, was buried near Philadelphia.
Private John LEON ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
14
John was born in Germany in 1826. He enrolled in the service for three years on August 30, 1862 in Waterloo and received bounty payments of $100 from the town and $10 from the county. John was married and stood 5’ 6” tall. He died on February 15, 1864 at the regimental hospital in Yorktown, Virginia of typhoid fever. John was 38 years old. Waterloo granted a $2 relief payment to his family. He is buried in tomb #1173 at Yorktown National Cemetery.
Private Joseph LEHMAN ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
15
Joseph was born in Switzerland on September 16, 1843. He was the son of Jacob and Mary and had a brother George. Joseph and George enlisted together for 3 year terms on August 28, 1862 and each received bounty payments of $100 from Waterloo and $10 from Seneca County. Joseph, who was only 19 when he enlisted, was a farmer and stood five and one half feet tall. Both brothers were married. George a year older than Joseph, was taken prisoner at Fair Oaks, Virginia on October 27, 1864 and spent time in a military hospital but survived the war. He was discharged August 25, 1865 in Elmira. Joseph died in the Battle of Cold Harbor, the one battle that General Grant wished he had not launched due to the great number of Union casualties. Joseph was killed in action on June 3, 1864, at the age of 20. The Union Army lost almost 7,000 soldiers at Cold Harbor that day. After this terrible defeat the Confederates controlled the battlefield and gave the Union soldiers quick burials in unmarked graves.
Private William EDWARDS ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
16
William, a skinner by trade, was born in North Wales on April 30, 1838. He was single when he enlisted for a three year term on August 27, 1862 in Waterloo. He received bounty payments of $100 from the town and $10 from the county. William was 5’ 6” tall with gray eyes and dark hair. Waterloo granted a $2 relief payment to his family. William was wounded in the back near Swift Creek, just north of Petersburg, Virginia on May 9, 1864. By August the 148th found itself in the trenches before Petersburg. The conditions were very difficult and it was here that William was shot in the head. He died in a field hospital near Petersburg on August 16, 1864. William was buried in Marcellus, New York at the age of 26.
The following is taken from THEY MARCHED ON RICHMOND by George Shadman, P. 181: "Poor Bill Edwards, I never think of him but I feel sad. He was a good boy and a firm friend but he was stricken down before Petersburg. It was his wont to toast his bread. This seemed to him a luxury; he would take a slice and stick his knife in it and stand it before the fire, and would squat in front of it and when it was done brown would put sugar on it. This with a cup of coffee was his meal. Now one Richard Edwards conceived the idea of throwing a cartridge in front of the bread...causing bread and all to disappear. Bill clenched the first one he came to, who happened to be John Larzalere. It was lively times for a few minutes, but it ended up with a laugh as usual, nobody hurt...I don't think Bill ever knew who the guilty party was. And so it was, all these little things helped pass away the time when we were in camp in Dixie."
Private Anson CORYEL ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
17
Anson was born in Germany in 1819 and was a cooper by trade. He joined Company H on its original organization at Waterloo and enrolled in it at the muster into the service of the United States at Geneva on September 14, 1862 for the term of three years. Anson was married and received bounty payments of $100 from Waterloo and $10 from the Seneca County. In December of 1863 he was listed as on duty as a woodchopper at the regimental barracks. He died of typhoid fever at the regimental hospital in Yorktown, Virginia on March 1, 1864. Anson was 45 years old. He is buried in tomb #1163 at Yorktown National Cemetery.
Private George HILL ~ Company G, 126th Regiment
18
George, a laborer, was born in Waterloo on January 7, 1832. He enlisted for three years on August 7, 1862. He was single, 5’ 9” tall and had a dark complexion with blue eyes and black hair. He was the son of Caleb and Hannah. On September 15, 1862 he was captured at Harpers Ferry then released. On December 4 he was detached as a Pioneer. Near Petersburg, Virginia he was taken prisoner on June 22, 1864 and never returned. He was 32 when he was captured.
Private Winfield Scott DEY ~ Company I, 126th Regiment
19
Winfield was born in Varick, New York on May 1, 1844. The son of Peter and Sylvia he was single when he enlisted in Waterloo on August 7, 1862 for a three year term. He received bounty payments of $100 from Waterloo and $10 from Seneca County. Winfield was a farmer. He stood six feet tall with blue eyes and black hair. He was captured at Harpers Ferry then released a month after he enlisted. In December he fell sick and entered a military hospital. He died of pneumonia at Union Mills, Virginia on January 15, 1863. According to Waterloo records Winfield was 18 years old when he was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery (#110). His stone records his age as 19.
Private John MARTIN ~ Company K, 100th Regiment
20
John was born in Waterloo in April of 1834. He was single when he enlisted for three years in Company H of the 148th Regiment in Fayette in 1863. He received a bounty payment of $300. He was a mason and his parents names were Joseph and Mary. John was six feet tall with blue eyes and black hair. He was transferred to Company K, 100th Regiment, N.Y. Infantry on December 29 1863. At some point during his service he was also with the 11th Heavy Artillery. John was taken sick at the Battle of the Wilderness. In the Company Descriptive Book John was reported “Absent in Hospital. Wounded June 3, 1864”, then in a roll dated June 22, 1865, the remarks read “Sick in Hospital. Last heard from at Yorktown, Virginia.”
Corporal James O. ORMAN ~ Company E, 126th Regiment
21
James was born in Waterloo in 1840. He listed his occupation prior to the war as a farmer. He mustered in on Aug 7, 1862 in Geneva for a three year term. James was 5’ 10” tall with gray eyes and black hair. He was a prisoner of war at Harpers Ferry on September 15 but later released. James died in the hospital at Union Mills, Virginia of typhoid fever. He was 23 years old on the date of his death, March 9, 1863. His remains were returned to Waterloo.
Private Frank LAMMEL ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
22
Frank, originally Franz, was born in Germany in 1832. He enlisted in Waterloo on August 22, 1862 for a three year term and received bounty payments of $100 from Waterloo and $10 from Seneca County. Frank was a laborer and married. He stood 5’ 3” tall and had blue eyes and dark hair. Waterloo granted a $2 relief payment to his family. Frank was present at every muster roll until his death at Cold Harbor, Virginia. He was killed in action on June 3, 1864.
Along Cemetery Ridge looking North ~
The Plum Run Swale is to the left ~ Gettysburg ~ April 2008
Private Albert Henry PIERSON ~ Company I, 126th Regiment
23
Albert, a farmer, was born in Waterloo one day before Independence day 1842. He was 5’ 7” tall with blue eyes, light hair and a sandy complexion. He enlisted at age 21 in Waterloo on August 10, 1862 for a three year term. His mother’s name was Elizabeth and he was single. Albert was captured then paroled at Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862. He was severely wounded in the right leg at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863 and spent over a year (July 1863-October 1864) in the hospital at Sandy Hook, Maryland and later at Fort Schuyler near Kings Point, New York. He reenlisted on Christmas Day 1864 and was transferred to Company B. Albert was wounded again near Petersburg and died of his injuries on March 31, 1865. At the age of 22 he was buried in Waterloo.
Albert and the 126th were involved in two actions at Gettysburg that were influenced by their experience at Harper’s Ferry. Albert was part of the “Harper’s Ferry Brigade” also known - unfairly - as the “Harper’s Ferry Cowards.” The unit had been surrendered at Harper’s Ferry due to the incompetence (one historian says treason) of a superior officer; the men themselves had nothing to be ashamed of. Nevertheless, the brigade believed that they had something to prove at Gettysburg, and they did just that. Their primary action at Gettysburg came on the second day of the battle (July 2, 1863) when the 3rd Corps - stationed to their immediate left - collapsed. At that point, the 2nd Corps Commander, Winfield Scott Hancock (aka “Hancock the Superb”) ordered Albert’s brigade to counterattack the advancing rebels. They slammed into William Barksdale’s advancing Mississipians (one of Lee’s best brigades, commanded by a ferocious leader) in the Plum Run Swale. The rebel advance was halted, and the charismatic Barksdale (visible in battle due to his long, white hair) was killed. In the charge the men went forward shouting “Remember Harper’s Ferry!”, and to make it better, the Mississippi brigade they rocked back was the very same rebel brigade that had captured them at Harper’s Ferry. The 126th and its sister regiments swept onward, and began to threaten the right flank of the next Confederate brigade to their south, forcing it to fall back to the Emmitsburg Road. At that point E. Porter Alexander, Chief of Artillery for Longstreet’s Corps, opened fire on the Harper’s Ferry Brigade, which pulled back. It’s commander, George Willard, was killed by an artillery projectile which carried away much of his head. This action took place roughly at the same time as, and just to the left of, the famous charge of the doomed 1st Minnesota.
The next day (July 3), when Albert was severely injured, the 126th was moved to the extreme right end of the line on Cemetery Ridge where they faced Pettigrew’s and Brokenbrough’s brigades advancing as part of Pickett’s Charge. A number of enthusiastic men of the 126th moved out of the lines and took positions on the flank of the rebel column. The 8th Ohio was already out there, having been on advanced skirmishing duty, and the men of the 126th advanced, apparently without orders, to lend support. They poured a withering fire into the rebel flank, Brokenbrough’s Virginians broke, and that helped lead to the unraveling of a portion of Pickett’s Charge.
Monument to the 126th at Gettysburg,
located on the extreme right end of the line on Cemetery Ridge
where PVT Stevenson was injured.
Private James Gardner STEVENSON ~ Company G, 126th Reg.
24
James was born in Waterloo January 6, 1842 and was a farmer before he enlisted on August 6, 1862 for a three year term. The son of James and Matilda, he was 6’ 3/4” tall with gray eyes and dark hair. James was captured and paroled at Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862 then wounded at Gettysburg on the third day of the battle, July 3, 1863. He died of his injuries on July 5 at the age of 21 and was buried in Waterloo.
Sergeant Wyman James JOHNSON ~ Company G, 85th Regiment
25
Wyman, a farmer, was born in Enfield, New Hampshire on the first day of 1835. When a recruiting officer came to Waterloo in the Fall of 1861 he was joined by the Reverend Samuel H. Gridley, Pastor of the Presbyterian church. They announced that there would be a recruiting meeting at the Vail District School House and Wyman attended. Wyman was so impressed by the words of Gridley that he enlisted on October 29, 1861 in Waterloo for a three year term. Before he left he hung his scythe in the crotch of a cottonwood tree and said, “Leave the scythe in the tree until I return.” James, the son of James and Elizabeth was single. He had blue eyes and brown hair and stood 5’ 10” tall. He was promoted from 3d to 2nd Corporal on March 6, 1862, to 1st Corporal on July 5, 1862 and to 4th Sergeant on April 13, 1863. On December 31, 1863 in Plymouth, North Carolina he was discharged in order to reenlist on his birthday as a Veteran Volunteer for a three year term. He received $13 advance pay for Veteran enlistment from Major Crane. He was wounded at Plymouth and taken prisoner on April 20, 1864. James was moved to the hospital in Raleigh where he died of his wounds on May 22, 1864. He was buried in Raleigh at the age of 29. Wyman’s parents doubted the report of his death and left the scythe in the tree awaiting his return. The scythe remains in the tree to this day, now deeply embedded along with two more left by brothers, Raymond and Lynn Schaffe during World War One.
Private Patrick ROACH ~ Battery D, 3rd Regiment, N.Y. Light Artillery
26
Patrick enlisted for a three year term in Varick, New York, on February 26, 1864 and received a $600 bounty payment. He was 48 years old and employed as a farmer when he mustered into the service in Auburn on March 9. He was originally assigned to Battery A but switched to Battery D on April 12. Patrick, born in Ireland on August 1, 1815, had dark hair and eyes and stood 5’ 5” tall. He was married and was the son of Joseph and Julia. Patrick was sick in North Carolina during the summer of 1864. He was admitted to the post hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina with dysentery on May 18,1865 and died there on May 23. Patrick is buried in Raleigh.
Private Mark ROBERTS ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
27
Mark was born in England in 1839. He enlisted in Waterloo on April 30, 1861 for a two year term and was mustered in May 22 in Elmira. By July of the following year he was reported sick in the hospital at West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he died on August 19, 1862. The death certificate was signed by Dr. K. Cassel of Scatterlee USA General Hospital who noted that Mark was single and died of chronic diarrhea. The certificate notes the following “clothing belonging to deceased: knapsack, great coat, uniform coat, trowsers, shirts, bootees and stockings...” Mark was 23 years old.
Private George ROGER ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
28
George was a laborer born in Germany in August of 1844. He was the son of Henrietta and George and single. He enlisted in Buffalo on February 1, 1862 for a two year term. George was killed in action in Fredericksburg on May 4, 1863 at 18 years of age.
Private Peter RILEY ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
29
Peter volunteered in Waterloo on August 25, 1862 for a three year term and received a bounty payment of $25. He was born in Oswego in 1828 and was a boat builder by trade. Peter was married and had blue eyes, sandy hair and stood 5’ 5” tall. He was mustered in September 11 in Albany. Relief of $2 was granted to his family by Waterloo. Peter was killed at Maryre’s Heights (Fredericksburg), May 3, 1863. He was 35 years old.
Sergeant Vinton F. STORY ~ Company K, 1st Regiment, N.Y. Veteran Cavalry
30
Sergeant Story was born on August 29, 1841 in Coolville, Ohio. He enlisted for a two year term in April 1861 with the 19th Regiment, 3rd Light Artillery then reenlisted on September 8, 1863 and mustered in on October 10 in Geneva with the New York Veteran Cavalry. He was single and listed his occupation as a teacher. His mother’s name was Martha. Vinton was in the post hospital in Beverly, Virginia on June 15, 1864 as the result of wounds received in action. He died after an amputation on July 12. Vinton was buried in Beverly at the age of twenty-two.
Private Lewis WITT ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
31
Lewis, a married man, enlisted on April 24, 1861 in Waterloo for a two year term and mustered in on May 22, 1861 in Elmira. Waterloo granted $2 relief to his family. Private Lewis, born in 1838 in Germany, was killed in action at Antietam on September 17, 1862 and was buried on the battlefield. He was twenty-four years old.
Sergeant John Bernard STEWART ~ Company G, 126th Regiment
32
John was born in Waterloo on July 24, 1841 and was a boat builder by trade. He enlisted for a three year term on August 11, 1862 in Waterloo and joined Company G on its original muster into the service of the United States at Geneva on August 22. John, the son of Elizabeth and John, had blue eyes, brown hair, stood 5’ 8” tall and was single. A $2 relief payment was granted to his family by Waterloo. Promoted to 8th Corporal in place of Charles Farnsworth, he was captured and paroled at Harper’s Ferry on September 15. On November 1 he was promoted to Sergeant. In July and August of 1863 he was sick in the hospital in Washington. John was wounded in action near Bristoe Station, Virginia on October 14 and placed in an ambulance where he died. Sergeant Stewart was buried in Fairfax Station, Virginia at 22 years of age.
Abraham Lincoln wrote the following letter to Major General Rosecrans on October 19:
There has been no battle recently at Bul-Run. I suppose what you have heard a rumor of was not a general battle, but an “Affair” at Bristow-Station, on the Railroad a few miles beyond Manassas-Ju[n]ction towards the Rappahannock, on Wednesday the 14th. It began by an attack of the enemy upon Gen. Warren, and ended in the enemy being repulsed, with a loss of four cannon & from four to seven hundred prisoners. A. Lincoln
Private Edward RICHARDS ~ Company L, 16th Reg’t N.Y.H. Art’y
33
Edward was a Private in the 16th Regiment of the New York Heavy Artillery. He was born in Waterloo in 1845 and volunteered in the town of Lodi on December 3O, 1863 for a three year term. He listed his trade as teamster and received a $3OO bounty payment. Edward had blue eyes, red hair and a sandy complexion. He stood 5’ 7” tall and was single. His parents names were Edward and Melinda. He joined Company L on its original organization at Auburn and enrolled in it at the muster on the 26th day of January, 1864. Regimental records report that Private Richards died of disease on September 13, 1864 at the Regimental Hospital, Fort Magruder, Virginia. The Waterloo Military Record Book records that he was killed while on picket duty in Waverly, Virginia and was buried there at nineteen years of age. Waverly is near Petersburg and Edward was a member of a heavy artillery unit. Those units were called up during the Petersburg campaign (the seige of Petersburg lasted from June of 1864 to April of 1865), to replace battle losses since the heavy artillery units were substantially larger than the standard infantry regiments, anywhere from 20% - 50% bigger. The brief description of his death in the Waterloo Military Record Book also fits with him being the victim of a sniper, which was not at all uncommon during that period of the war. Since the two armies had settled down into static trench warfare which presaged the Western Front during WWI, both sides employed snipers to a degree not seen earlier in the war.
Corporal Charles P. WILSON ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
34
Charles was born in Waterloo on July 22, 1835. He enlisted for a three year term on August 27, 1862 and received bounty payments of $100 from Waterloo and $10 from the county. John was single and was a laborer. He had blue eyes and dark hair and stood 5’ 4.5” tall. He mustered into the service on September 14 and was promoted to Corporal immediately. He reenlisted in April 1863 for $2 per month. Charles was killed in action at Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864. He was twenty-eight years old.
Private John MALONE ~ Battery D, 3rd Regiment N.Y.L. Art’y
35
John was born in Ireland in 1835 with blue eyes and black hair. He was 5’ 9” and worked as a laborer. He enlisted in Waterloo on February 6, 1864 for a three year term and mustered into Company D, 3rd Regiment N.Y. Light Artillery at Auburn on February 3, 1864. He received a $600 bounty payment. John was married and his family received a $2 relief payment from Waterloo. He was admitted to the hospital in New Berne, North Carolina on September 10, 1864. John died of yellow fever in Foster’s General Hospital, New Berne on September 26. He was buried in New Berne and is listed as #301, Grave #19, East Row, 3rd N.Y. Artillery Soldiers’ Cemetery, Hospital # 4253. He was twenty-nine years old. Just days before John’s death, Lincoln ordered a one hundred gun salute commencing at noon on Wednesday September 7 to be fired in New Berne... in honor of the brilliant achievements of the army under the command of Major General Sherman, in the State of Georgia, and the capture of Atlanta.
Private James KEILY ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
36
James was born in Ireland in 1818 and was single. He enlisted on August 30, 1862 in Waterloo for a three year term and received a bounty payment of $10 from Waterloo and $10 from the county. Relief granted to the family by Waterloo was $2. He mustered into Company H in Geneva on the fourteenth day of September. James had blue eyes, was 5’ 8.25” tall and was a laborer. He was killed in action at Drury’s Bluff, Virginia on May 16, 1864 in his forty-sixth year. Drury's Bluff is on the James River, seven miles downstream from Richmond. There was an engagement there on May 16, 1862 when Union warships (including the ironclads Monitor and Galena) attempted to fight their way past Confederate artillery - and failed. There was also a sharp fight there in May 1864 when the Union Army of the James engaged Confederate forces during the Richmond/Petersburg campaign. It was one of the first recorded uses of wire as a defensive measure, presaging the widespread use of it during WW1. In this case, though, it was not barbed wire, but telegraph wire, which was staked out in a grid pattern several inches above the ground in order to trip attackers. Most Union soldiers killed at Drury's Bluff on May 16,1864 would not have been identified. The Confederate soldiers controlled the battlefield after the fight and would have buried the Union soldiers in unmarked graves on the site. The Burial Corps, which was developed in 1866, visited almost 100 different battle sites to exhume bodies so they could be given proper burials. Nearly all of the Union soldiers exhumed from Drury's Bluff were taken to City Point National Cemetery. Most remain unknown.
Private William Henry DAY ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
37
William, born and raised in Waterloo, was one of the town butchers. His birth date was March 28, 1844. His younger brother Francis, also a butcher, mustered into Company H with him on September 14 in Geneva. Francis enrolled as a musician. They both were single and signed up for three year terms, each receiving $100 and $10 bounty payments from the town and county, respectively. Francis was wounded in the hand in January of 1863 but lived to serve though the campaign and moved to Iowa after the war. William's Military Casualty Sheet records that he died of fever in Macon Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia on January 24, 1863. He was buried in Waterloo in Maple Grove Cemetery (#417). His stone reads: "aged 18 years. 9 Mo. & 26 D's."
Sergeant Mark D. PULVER ~ Company K, 1st Regiment, New York Veterans Cavalry
38
Sergeant Mark D. Pulver was born March 24, 1839 in Gorham, New York and enlisted at Waterloo on April 24, 1861 for a two year term. On May 1 he mustered into the 33rd Regiment. He was the son of Martin and Mary and the husband of Catherine. He listed his occupation as a farmer. He was discharged with the 33rd at a general rendezvous in Geneva on June 2, 1863 and reenlisted for three years in Waterloo on August 6, 1863 in the New York Veterans Cavalry. He died at Baltimore on August 6, 1864 of a gunshot wound to his right thigh received in action on July 24 at Winchester, Virginia. He had been admitted to the U.S. Army General Hospital, 94 Camden Street, Baltimore, on July 30. His effects were turned over to his wife on August 7. He was buried in Gorham at 25 years of age. His wife made application for a pension (#63869 NY, certificate 39603) as did as his mother (#472787).
Winchester was the scene of much fighting and elicited many telegrams from Lincoln: To Maj Gen. Hunter (7.27.64) “.... Please send any recent news you have - particularly as to movements of the enemy.” A. Lincoln. To Lincoln - “Earlys force is still near Winchester....” General Hunter. To Isaac Arnold (8.8.64) ” ...I send you by mail today, the appointment of Col. Mulligan to be a Brevet Brigadier General...for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Winchester, Virginia.” A. Lincoln
Sergeant James MARTIN ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
39
Martin was born in Waterloo the day after Christmas 1838 and worked as a mason. His parents’ names were Joseph and Mary. He enrolled on May 22, 1861 for two years and mustered in at Elmira two days after Independence Day. He was promoted to 2nd Corporal on June 30 and to Sergeant on October 17, 1862 by Colonel Taylor. He was reported missing in action at Fredericksburg on May 4, 1863 and never heard from again. Martin was twenty-four years old.
Corporal Albert V. STALEY ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
40
Albert was born in Montgomery, New York in 1834. He lived with his wife Mary on Laure Place in Waterloo. Albert, a laborer, joined for duty and enrolled in Waterloo on August 28, 1862, for a three year term. He stood 5’ 10” tall and had blue eyes. He was promoted to Corporal on September 14. On August 14, 1863, at Camp Nagle, Norfolk, Virginia, he wrote a letter to Col. William Johnson of the 148th: “Sir, I respectfully ask a furlough for ten days to go to the Village of Waterloo...for the purpose of visiting my son now dangerously ill at that place, and of visiting my family whose circumstances are such, as to require my immediate attention. Your Obedient Servant, Albert V. Staley.” In October 1863 Albert was reported in the General Hospital. On November 20 of 1864 he was attached to Grant U.S.A. General Hospital, Willet’s Point, New York Harbor (hospital # 3428) and listed as absent on furlough. He died in Waterloo of chronic diarrhea on January 10, 1865, at thirty-one years of age. He is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery (GAR plot; rb-1903).
Private Thomas CONDON ~ Company H, 22nd New York Cavalry
41
Thomas was born in Ireland in 1834, exact date unknown. He lived in Waterloo and enlisted in Rochester in 1864, receiving a bounty payment of $300. Thomas was married and was the son of Patrick. He spent time in the hospital in Rochester with the measles and came down with dysentery while stationed at Camp Ellison in Washington, D.C. The regiment served in the 4th Division, 9th Corps, at Alexandria, Virginia until May when they were shuffled into the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. Thomas saw action at Ellis Ford, Virginia on January 12, 1864, and at the Battle of the Wilderness May 5-7 (part of Grant’s Overland Campaign). He was taken prisoner on May 8, probably during skirmishing when calvary commander Philip H. Sheridan attempted to obstruct Lee’s march to Spotsylvania Court House. He was shipped to Andersonville Prison and died there on July 18, 1864. He was very likely a victim of malnutrition and disease. Thomas was 30 years of age and his final resting place is unknown.
Private Ezra ODELL ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
42
Ezra (John), a laborer and native of Waterloo, was born in 1828. He enlisted April 26, 1861 for a two year term. Ezra was the son of Archibald and Elizabeth. His family received a $2 relief payment from Waterloo. John Olds, a fellow soldier in Company C reported on June 23,1864 in a sworn statement that he saw Ezra at Savages Station, Virginia in June of 1862 where “...he was suffering severely from diarrhea with which he had been afflicted for a considerable time...that he was so feeble he could speak only in whispers and was exhausted...so as to be unable to help himself and was apparently near death...he could survive but a few hours. About this time the Federal Forces were leaving Savages Station and Ezra besought his comrades not to leave him there to fall into Rebel hands, but circumstances compelled them to leave him...and he believes he died at that place” on June 29, 1862 after being taken prisoner. He was 34 years old. The Union dead at the field hospital were buried unmarked where they were found by the Confederates. After the war 269 bodies were moved from unidentified graves at Savages Station to the newly established Seven Pines National Cemetery. Seven Pines National Cemetery is approximately eight miles southeast of Richmond. The cemetery is located on a portion of the site where the Battle of Fair Oaks (also known as the Battle of Seven Pines) took place. Almost all of the Civil War interments at Seven Pines were unknowns (1216) compared to 141 known dead. The 1862 dead were far harder to identify than those of 1864-65.
John Olds was wounded in the head at Antietam on September 7 but survived and mustered out with the regiment on June 2, 1863.
The Battle of Savage's Station took place on June 29, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as the fourth of the Seven Days Battles during the Peninsula Campaign. The Union Army of the Potomac had started a withdrawal toward the James River when the Confederates under Brigadier General John B. Magruder attacked Major General Edwin Vose Sumner's II Corps near Savage's Station. Union forces, in the withdrawal, abandoned more than 2,500 wounded soldiers in a field hospital. The field hospitals during the Peninsula Campaign were extremely primitive, open-air facilities. Even by Civil War standards they were horribly understaffed, and wounded men often went without treatment and food and water. There were approximately two ambulances assigned per division, one "surgeon" per brigade, and a handful or orderlies per regiment - most of them unwanted soldiers who were assigned hospital duty to get them out of the way of their company commanders.
Private Pierre OUTRINE ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
43
Pierre Outrine (aka Peter Audry, Perrie Outry) was born in Germany in 1824. He enlisted on Independence Day 1861 for a two year term. Less than six months later he was reported sick with disease at Camp Griffin and died there February 10,1862. He was buried at Fort Ethan Allen at thirty-eight years of age. Camp Griffin was near Lewinsville, Virginia, in Fairfax County while Fort Ethan Allen was in the Alexandria/Arlington area and was part of the defenses of Washington.
Private Christopher PFLURESTEN ~ Company G, 8th N.Y. Calvary
44
Christopher (aka Christian F. Flukefeller), a married resident of Waterloo, was born in Germany on February 26, 1814. He enlisted in July of 1861 for a two year term. He was killed by a cannon on Independence Day 1863 in Washington, D.C., and was buried between Washington and Baltimore. He was forty-nine years old.
Private Andrew Jackson HENION ~ Company F, 14th Regiment
45
Andrew was single and enlisted for three years on June 13, 1862. He was named after the seventh President of the United States. Andrew was killed in action at Bull Run on August 30. He was in the service only two months and 18 days and never received any pay. His mother, Jane Henion, a resident of Waterloo, applied for his back pay and a Mother’s Pension in October 1864 to support herself and Andrew Jackson’s brother. Her husband John died in Waterloo in 1853. On March 14, 1865, Jane was awarded a pension of $8 per month commencing August 30,1862.
Corporal George A. LANGDON ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
46
George mustered into Company C in Elmira two days after Independence Day of 1861. He was a resident of Waterloo, born August 23, 1838, and signed up for a two year term. The 33rd Regiment, nicknamed the Ontario Regiment, was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Corning, and was part of the Third Brigade, Second Division, of the 6th Corps. George was promoted to 1st Corporal on June 30, just after enrolling for duty. According to Waterloo records he died of disease at Camp Griffin, Virginia on February 24, 1862 and is buried in Waterloo in Elisha Williams Cemetery (tier-5). He was twenty-three years old. The site where Camp Griffin was located is now part of the CIA property in Langley. His Company Muster-out Roll shows his date of death as February 5 while his Regimental Return and grave marker records the date as February 23. The NY State Military Museum records that he died at Camp Ethan Allen, Chestnut, Virginia, somewhere between November, 1861 and February, 1862.
Private Andrew L. HERMANCE ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
47
Andrew was born in Claverack, New York March 24, 1821. He enlisted February 10, 1862 for a three year term and was a married resident of Waterloo. Andrew was a butcher. He had gray eyes and brown hair and stood 5’ 3.75” tall. He was wounded at Mayres Heights during the Battle of Fredericksburg on May 3rd and died May 10, 1863. He was forty-two.
Corporal Samuel White PEARCE ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
48
Samuel was a native of Waterloo born on March 13 of 1841. He enlisted on August 16, 1862 for three years and mustered in on September 11 at Albany. He was one of about 400 men known as the “three year team.” They were replacements for the 33rd which had lost many soldiers in battle during the previous year. This was relatively unusual, since in most cases state governors preferred to send recruits into newly formed regiments rather than using them to replace losses in existing regiments. This enabled governors to increase the number of political patronage assignments, since new colonels and lieutenant-colonels were needed to lead the new regiments. Samuel was a carpenter with blue eyes and black hair and stood 5’ 9.75” tall. He was single. His parents names were Benjamin and Caroline. In June of 1863 he was stationed in Manchester, Maryland, then Warrentown, Virginia in July and August. Samuel was promoted to Corporal on August 6, 1863. He saw action at Antietam and Fredericksburg. At that point the 33rd had taken such heavy casualties that the men of the original enlistment muster were discharged; the second-year men like Pearce, were transferred to Company D on June 2, 1863 then attached to the 49th Regiment in October 1863 by order of Major General Leozwarck. Samuel was one of 36 men from his regiment killed or wounded during the fight around Spotsylvania. He was wounded at Drury’s Bluff, Virginia on May 15, 1864 and died of his wounds in a Washington hospital at twenty-three years of age.
Private William Oliver PEASLEY ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
49
William, a resident of Waterloo, was born in Canada on December 12, 1840. William, a farmer, was married to Angeline and his father’s name was Hiram. The 33rd fought their first battle on July 25,1861 near Chain Bridge, Virginia. It was the first of many actions, including skirmishes at Lewinsville, Watt’s and Young’s Mills, the Siege of Yorktown and the more significant Battle of Williamsburg. After the battle General McClellan claimed that the 33rd was a major contributor to the victory. McClellan said, “Officers and men of the 33rd: I have come to thank you in person for gallant conduct on the field of battle on the 5th instant. Those on your left fought well; but you won the day! You shall have Williamsburg inscribed on your banner.” On May 3, 1863 the 33rd led their brigade in an attack against Mayres Heights in Fredericksburg during the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was there that William was wounded severely in the lung. He was transferred to Douglas Hospital (ward 4, bed 331, # 2920) in Washington on May 8th and died on the 19th. William was buried the next day in the Soldiers Home burial ground (# 34-1-6) in Washington at twenty-two years of age. Walt Whitman wrote this of his many visits to care for the wounded in Washington hospitals: “I go around among these sights, among the crowded hospitals doing what I can, yet it is a mere drop in the bucket. . . the path I follow, I suppose I may say, is my own."
Private Thomas MURPHY ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
50
Thomas, a resident of Waterloo, enlisted there on April 30, 1861 and mustered into the Army on May 22 in Elmira for a two year term. He was born in Ireland in 1824. His family received a $3 relief payment from the town. Thomas, a married farmer, was the son of Ann and Thomas. In October of 1862 he was listed on the Regimental Return as absent in the hospital. The Company Muster Roll shows that he died of dysentery in the hospital at Clear Springs, Maryland on November 2, 1862. Thomas was buried in Clear Springs at thirty-eight years of age.
Private William MORRIN ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
51
Private William Morrin (Moran) was a laborer and resident of Waterloo. He was born in Ireland in 1825 and mustered into the 33rd Regiment on July 6, 1861 for two years. William, the son of Patrick and Catherine Higgins, was single. Company C, also known as the “Waterloo Wright Guards,” was led by Captain John F. Aikens and later by Captain Chester H. Cole. The 33rd was an active regiment. It participated in the advance on Manassas on March 23, 1862; Malvern Hill on June 20, 1862; Antietam, September 17-18, 1862; Fredericksburg on December 11-15, 1862 and Fredericksburg again on May 3, 1863. The last action was the most costly for the 33rd. At Mayres Heights the regiment sustained casualties of 27 men killed, 120 wounded and 74 missing or captured. According to the Geneva Gazette of May 8, 1863, William was slightly wounded in the head while storming the heights of Fredericksburg. He was attempting to capture the elite artillery unit known as the Washington Battery of New Orleans. He died a few months later on November 21 and was buried in Waterloo in Elisha Williams Cemetery (tier-15) at thirty-eight years of age. The 33rd Regiment’s two year enlisted men were honorably discharged at Geneva, NY on Independence Day weekend 1863. Men of the 33rd who had enlisted for 3 year terms were transferred to the 49th NY on May 14, 1863.
Private Irving Thompson SMITH ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
52
Private Smith, a Waterloo resident, was born in Ontario County on September 19, 1841. He enlisted in Waterloo on August 30, 1862 for three years. His first muster roll was September 11 in Albany. Irving was a machinist with blue eyes and brown hair and stood 5’ 5.25” tall. He was the son of Aaron and Matilda and was single. Irving was discharged in February 1863 with chronic diarrhea. Captain Coles of Company C wrote that Irving “joined his Regiment in October and has not been able to do three weeks duty since.” At the time of his discharge (February 20) he had been at camp near White Oak Church, Virginia and in the hospital near Falmouth, Virginia. He died in Waterloo on April 2, 1865 of bowel consumption contracted in the service. Irving was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery (#394). His stone is inscribed “OUR IRVING....AGED 23 YRS. 6 MO. 18 DS. He was a good boy and died as a Christian.”
Private Willard C. STANTON ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
53
Willard was born in Potter (Yates County, NY) on June 21, 1826 and was a farmer. He enlisted in Waterloo on August 30, 1862 for 3 years, received a bounty payment of $25.40, then mustered in at Albany on September 11. Willard, a resident of Waterloo, stood 5’ 9” tall and had blue eyes and brown hair. He was single and his parent’s names were Rufus and Effer Serven. He was later transferred to Company D then attached to the 49th Regiment. On July 19, 1863 he was reported in the U.S. General Hospital, Division No. 1, Annapolis, Maryland and returned to duty on October 19. On February 8, 1864 he was admitted to U.S. General Hospital, Armory Square, Washington, DC (Ward D, Bed 42). He listed Adaline Stanton of Waterloo as his nearest friend and returned to duty on February 11. He died in the hospital near New York Harbor on September 10, 1864 and was buried at Cypress Hill National Cemetery, 625 Jamaica Ave., Brooklyn New York. He was thirty-eight years old.
The following comes from a Cypress Hill National Cemetery publication: “Despite the early optimism of both the Union and Confederacy, by summer 1862, it was increasingly evident that the Civil War would be both long and costly. It was also apparent that additional burial grounds would be needed to accommodate the growing number of Union soldiers who died from battle injuries and disease. While New York City and its outskirts were outside the area of military conflict, numerous hospitals were set up here to care for wounded Union troops. Cypress Hills began as a zone of the Interior Military Cemetery and was located within the boundaries of the large and private Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn. Almost three acres were set aside for the burial of Civil War dead in what became known as Union Grounds. In 1870, the Cypress Hills Cemetery Corporation deeded the property to the United States for a consideration of $9,600. An inspection report of September 1870 indicates that 3,170 Union soldiers and 461 Confederate POWs were already buried there. Most of the interments came from military hospitals in the area.”
Private David THOMAS ~ Company H, 148th Regiment
54
David, a married resident of Waterloo, was born in Germany but his birth date is unknown. He enlisted in Waterloo for a three year term on August 22, 1862 and mustered in on September 14. A $100 bounty payment was paid by the town and $10 by the county. He was killed on October 27, 1864 at Fair Oaks, Virginia. In this action Major General Benjamin Butler attacked the Richmond defenses along Darbytown Road with the X Corps while the XVIII Corps marched north to Fair Oaks (Henrico County) where it was driven back by Field's Confederate division. The rebels then counterattacked, taking over 500 prisoners. The estimated casualties at Fair oaks were 1,750 men.
Private Truman WOOLEDGE (Woolidge) ~ Company C, 33rd Regiment
55
Truman was born in Martinsburgh on August 24, 1832. He enlisted for a two year term on April 24, 1861 in Waterloo and mustered in on May 1. Truman was a bricklayer and his father’s name was William. Truman was single. He died in the General Hospital, Philadelphia on September 6, 1862 of chronic diarrhea and is buried in Waterloo’s Maple Grove Cemetery (#399). His stone reads: "AGED 30 Y'rs and 11 D's ~ He Sleeps his last Sleep, He has fought his last Battle."
Private Patrick MCDONALD ~ Company D, 3rd Regiment, N.Y. Light Artillery
56
Patrick, a married resident of Waterloo, was born in Ireland in 1827. He enlisted in Fayette on August 22, 1864 and received a bounty payment of $1,100 from the town. Patrick mustered in on September 2. He was a laborer and his father’s name was David. He was killed in Newbern, North Carolina on November 18, 1864 while blowing up a building. He was buried in Newbern at thirty-seven years of age.
Private Richard GREGORY ~ Company K, 76th Regiment
57
Richard was born in Seneca Falls on December 4, 1843 and was taken into the service in the first draft at Waterloo in July of 1863. The son of Patrick and Margaret, he was a boatman in his hometown of Waterloo. He was killed at Spotsylvania on May 19,1864 and buried one mile south of the Court House at twenty years of age.
Private Andrew HARMON ~ 6th Regiment, NY Heavy Artillery
58
Andrew Harmon was born in Ireland on April 24, 1827. His parents were John Harmon and Bridget Doyle. Andrew emigrated from Ireland with his father John and sisters, Bridget, Christina and Janis on the ship Ann, out of Drogheda, arriving in New York on April 6, 1848. Andrew married Ann Grimes in old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC on April 13, 1848, and arrived in Waterloo in time to be listed in the 1850 Federal Census. Andrew and Ann had 7 children, Frank, Bridget (died at 5), John, Catherine, Andrew, James and Bridget. He enlisted in the 16th New York Heavy Artillery on December 31, 1863 in Waterloo, and was mustered in at Auburn on January 2, 1864. This unit was later absorbed into Company D, 6th New York Heavy Artillery. The 6th was redeployed as infantry to replace the tremendous losses incurred during the Virginia Campaign of May-June 1864. Andrew was wounded in the ankle on May 30th, 1864 in the third battle of Bethesda Church, and was taken prisoner at that time. Records show he was taken to Hospital 21 in Richmond on June 1st 1864 (part of the Libby Prison complex). Andrew succumbed to dysentery while a prisoner of war on August 6th 1864. He was 37 years old. His gravesite is unknown.
WE ARE PROUD TO WELCOME THIS NEWLY PROVEN SOLDIER TO OUR HONOR ROLL
Private Patrick MORRIN ~ 3rd Regiment, NY Light Artillery
59
Private Patrick Morrin joined the 3rd Regiment, Battery D, New York Light Artillery in February, 1864. The military records indicate that he died from battle wounds April 1865 in a hospital in Newark, New Jersey. Morrin was laid to rest in Waterloo, New York where his extended family still resides.