Remembering American Civil War Soldier 1st Lieutenant William Kirkland Bacon

An annual Memorial Day visit to pay respects to American war veterans found those hero's gravestones bathed in the warm afternoon sun. The unadorned, seemingly forgotten gravesite of twenty-year-old 1st Lieutenant William Kirkland Bacon was discovered during a pre-Memorial Day visit in late May 2008 to Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, NY. Barely visible, the monument inscription reads: “William Kirkland Bacon: Late Adjutant of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment of New York State Volunteers, slain at Fredericksburg, December 16, 1862.”

Adjutant William Kirkland Bacon was affectionately known as “Willie” to his family and friends. Willie’s military life can be summarized by stating that in late April 1861, as he finished his sophomore year at Hamilton College--and following the attack on Fort Sumter--he answered his country’s call by enlisting as a private with Company A of the notable Fourteenth Regiment of New York State Volunteers (NYSV). Company A was the first contingent of Central New York Oneida County residents to volunteer for Union Civil War military service. The Fourteenth New York was first posted to protect and defend Washington D.C., where the regimental officer community recognized Willie’s quick intelligence, attainments, and talents. Later in 1861, Willie accepted a transfer to the Twenty-Sixth Regiment NYSV as Military Clerk. A vacancy occurred several weeks later and Willie was offered an officer’s promotion and assignment as the Twenty-Sixth New York Regimental Adjutant. Now a commissioned officer, Willie engaged in several skirmishes and a couple of major battles leading up to December 1862 at Battle of Fredericksburg. In combat during the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas), August 30, 1862, Willie was wounded-in-action to the left leg. Confederate fire hit him just above the heal while leading a party of Company F fighting men. The shot's impact knocked him from his wounded horse, and Willie struggled to painfully walk from the battlefield with aid provided by a few of his “Boys.”  Unable to walk without assistance, he eventually made his way to an Alexandria, VA Union Army hospital. Willie’s father, William Johnson Bacon of Utica, found him in Alexandria about a week later and accompanied him to his boyhood home in Utica for convalescent leave. In October 1862, after six weeks rest and medical recuperation, Willie returned to his regiment with his painful Bull Run combat wound still not fully mended.

Then, at mid-afternoon, Saturday, December 13, 1862, during savage combat at the Battle of Fredericksburg--and while leading front-line Union fighting men from General John F. Reynolds' Corps--Willie was mortally-wounded-in-action by Confederate fire to his upper left leg. With his leg shattered, and under heavy fire, two of his men removed Willie from the battlefield. There a wagon ambulance delivered him and other wounded soldiers to a rear medical facility. His left leg was amputated later that evening (very high on the leg near the pelvis). Willie was likely drugged with available painkillers, and probably never regained a fully conscious state. He died early Tuesday morning on December 16, 1862, just two months short of his twenty-first birthday.

Family History:

Adjutant William “Willie” Kirkland Bacon was born to a prominent Utica, New York Family, where his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were lawyers and all served in elected state office in Massachusetts and New York and as U.S. Representatives. Willie’s father, The Honorable William Johnson Bacon, served nearly two decades as an elected New York State Supreme Court Judge. Willie was the only son of Judge William and Mrs. Eliza Kirkland Bacon. Adjutant Bacon’s middle name--Kirkland--honors his beloved mother’s family name. Mrs. Bacon’s father was the Honorable General Joseph Kirkland, a well-known Utica-area lawyer, the first mayor of the new city Utica, and a New York State and federal elected politician. The Bacon family was emotionally crushed by Willie’s Civil War combat death at Fredericksburg, and never fully recovered from their deeply shared grief on his passing. No military medals were evidently ever awarded to recognize Adjutant Bacon’s heroism. Medals of Honor were awarded to enlisted personnel only at the time of Willie’s 1862 Civil War combat death. Furthermore, it was rare that medals for heroism were awarded to officers posthumously. In fact, many senior Union generals--including then Union Army Commanding General Burnside--felt that medal awards emulated too strongly the practices of European aristocrats. A 1932 congressional award re-authorization, The Purple Heart, recognizes combat-related wounds or death for military service on or after April 5, 1917--and just in this new millennium finally recognizes those who perished as POWs. Published words in letters and books seems to be the preferred method to recognize officers killed-in-action during the American Civil War. One such letter, as sent to Willie’s father from Brigade Commander, General Zealous B. Tower states “…My short acquaintance with Adjutant Bacon prepossessed me greatly in his favor. It is a pleasing duty to inform you that in this battle your son was distinguished for gallant services at the head of his regiment. At Fredericksburgh he was conspicuous for manly bravery and cool determination, till he fell mortally wounded on that never to be forgotten battle-field.”

Bacon Post No. 53 of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was chartered in Utica, NY, October 24, 1867. G.A.R. Post 53 was named to honor the memory and Union Civil War service of 1st Lieutenant William Kirkland Bacon. Medal of Honor (MOH) recipient Joseph Keene—who won the MOH for valor fighting with Wille Bacon at the Battle of Fredericksburg––annually joined former comrades from the 26th New York Infantry Regiment for many years following the Civil War on "Decoration Day" (aka Memorial Day), holding memorial exercises at the grave of William Kirkland Bacon. His comrades still holding a fond recollection and warm affection for Willie Bacon…"their Little Adjutant."

***********************************************************************
A memorial book authored by Willie’s father Judge Bacon, "Adjutant Bacon: Memorial of William Kirkland Bacon, late Adjutant of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment of New York State Volunteers" served as a major reference for this log-of-remembrance. Judge Bacon’s work is preserved by Goggle digitizing and is available by Internet search.

This edited and updated article was originally written and posted to Ancient Geek Fumes on 24 January 2009.

On GETTYSBURG -- The Turner Movie

The four-hour+ Turner classic movie GETTYSBURG was viewed again two days ago.  In the late afternoon that day July 2, 1863, Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's 20th Maine Regiment made their successful downhill bayonet charge off Little Roundtop just outside Gettysburg, PA.  The 20th Maine's exploits that day crushed a nearly successful left flank attack by rebel army units on the Union line.  And it was on this day July 4, 1863, that Union Commanding General George Meade allowed the rebel troops under Confederated States of America (CSA) General Robert E. Lee to complete their escape across the Potomac River back into the safety of their home ground in Virginia.  A supermajority of folks who study the American Civil War perhaps agree that General U.S. Grant would have followed the retreating rebel forces to re-engage them -- and perhaps ending that bloodiest of all American wars then in that hot summer of 1863.  How many thousands of casualties would General Grant's leadership have saved?         

General Robert E. Lee in no way accepted the premise that the Confederate Rebellion was lost following those bloody first three days in July 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania -- one hundred and sixty years past.  More Civil War causalities occurred following the Battle of Gettysburg than were suffered before this American Civil War fight.  General Lee does not appear to be a broken man as he writes this August 1863 letter from Richmond to his second-in-command top general and his most trusted  right-hand man Lieutenant General James Longstreet:

"GENERAL, I have wished for several days past to return to the army, but have been detained by the President. He will not listen to my proposition to leave to-morrow. I hope you will use every exertion to prepare the army for offensive operations, and improve the condition of our men and animals. I can see nothing better to be done than to endeavor to bring General Meade out and use our efforts to crush his army while in its present condition."

Very respectfully and truly yours,

R. E. LEE
General.

Our Distant Cousin Private Jay Cady Stanton --RIP

 

Remembering our distant cousin and the American Civil War Veteran, Private Jay Cady Stanton, late of Middleburgh, Schoharie County, New York. On 15 Oct 1861, aged 33 Jay Stanton enlisted as a private soldier in the union military with the New York State Volunteers, Captain Swan's Company H, 76th Infantry Regiment. As a direct-combat infantry union soldier (not serving "in-the-rear-with-the-gear"), Jay was mortally wounded in action (MWIA) as his unit engaged against rebel forces during the Battle of Gainsville, Virginia, on 28 August 1862.  Private Jay Cady Stanton is interred at his hometown's Middleburgh Cemetery.  RIP, your gallant services should long be remembered. 

 

“Killer Angels” and “Gettysburg” Fiction and Myths

Southern Ridge of Little Round Top
The novel “Killer Angels” and the related movie “Gettysburg” offer several heroic acts intended to demonstrate typical examples of warrior action during the Rebellion. The acts cited in these works are at times embellished historical fiction meant to suggest how it may have been across the general American Civil War combatant population. The movie "Gettysburg" selects one significant combat event as a representative action on each of three days July 1-3, 1863 during The Battle of Gettysburg:

· Day One, July 1st, 1863 - Union General John Buford’s courageous action to stand-and-fight a greatly superior Confederate Force with his dismounted cavalry,
· Day Two, July 2nd, 1863 - The Union defense of Little Round Top by the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment, and,
· Day Three, July 3rd, 1863 - Confederate General George Pickett’s Charge against the center of Union position on Cemetery Ridge.

One of the distressing late Twentieth Century revisions in American Civil War history is the extraordinary recognition now bestowed on Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain and the honorable 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment regarding the Union defense of Little Round Top. This recent revisionist history is in no small part rooted in Michael Shaara’s novel and in Ted Turner’s movie production, perhaps an unintended consequence of using singular exploits to represent typical action over the combatant general population. Some historians suggest that the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg might have been won by the Confederacy if the Rebels had taken Little Round Top in the late afternoon of July 2nd. Other historians have expressed a certain amount of skepticism concerning Colonel Chamberlain’s extraordinary contribution to the defense of Little Round Top – and to the larger question regarding the far-reaching importance of Little Round Top to the outcome at Gettysburg and to the Civil War. This analysis is not intended to diminish the heroic action of the valiant 20th Maine or their fascinating commander Joshua L. Chamberlain. Rather, the goal here is to cite and exalt the heroism of other military officers and men who are now nearly forgotten and did not survive their July 2, 1863 struggle on that rocky hill.

Had Confederate troops of the gallant Texas 4th and Texas 5th Infantry Regiments (i.e., General John Hood’s famed Texas Brigade) broken-through to the summit of Little Round Top on the Union left – as they almost did in the afternoon of the second day – Little Round Top would near certainly have been captured by the Rebel troops.
It was West Point graduate Colonel Patrick Henry O'Rorke and his 500 courageous Monroe County soldiers of the noble 140th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment who joined to the right of the nearly beaten 16th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment, filling weakened gaps in a near broken Union line and to eventually turn-back that bold assault on Little Round Top by the Texas Brigade. It is important to note that this later afternoon struggle between the Union 140thNY & 16thMI Regiments and the Texas Brigade took place some amount of time (perhaps more than a half-hour) before General Hood’s 15th Alabama Regiment engaged Colonel Chamberlain’s 20th Maine Regiment. A successful Texas Brigade would have held the high ground atop Little Round Top and to the right of Harvard graduate Colonel Strong Vincent’s undermanned 3rd Brigade - the brigade that included the 20th Maine troops. Coupled with General Hood’s 15th Alabama uphill attack on the Union extreme left flank – the small Union 3rd Brigade, the 20th Maine and Colonel Chamberlain likely would have been crushed – sandwiched between Confederate Forces from both high right and low left by General Hood’s Rebels. No amount of 20th Maine heroics would make much difference had the gallant Texas Brigade secured the high ground summit of Little Round Top. This critical afternoon engagement, but a subset of July 2nd fighting, is not reported in the book “Killer Angels” or presented in the movie “Gettysburg.”  So why do these works of historical fiction overlook the heroism of these two young Colonels O'Rorke and Vincent? No doubt this is because Commander of 140th New York Colonel Patrick Henry O’Rorke was killed in action in the afternoon struggle against the Texas Brigade. And after issuing battle orders to Colonel Chamberlain, the Union 3rd Brigade Commander Colonel Strong Vincent was mortally-wounded-in-action just moments before Colonel O’Rorke’s combat death – Colonel Vincent then departing this life five days later. Both of these articulate Union officers were aged but 26-years when killed at Gettysburg. Whereas, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain survived for more than a half-century following the Battle of Gettysburg to write, speak, and promote his personal wartime endeavors – and those courageous acts of his 20th Maine Regiment. In fact, the many post-war writings of General Joshua L. Chamberlain and those of Confederate Corps Commander General James Longstreet significantly influenced Shaara’s book and Turner’s movie. Click here to review my July 2009 posting relating to the life and times of Patrick Henry O’Rorke.

Furthermore, if the Confederate rebels had captured Little Round Top, they would likely have had a clear shot to Union supply lines and to the rear of many Union forces – together with a more direct road to Washington. At a minimum, Confederate Forces would have been better positioned on July 3rd to assist with General George Pickett’s Charge and with General J.E.B. Stewart’s unsuccessful cavalry attack on the Union rear and to those important Union supplies. Many significant historians speculate that another Union defeat at Gettysburg might have won the Rebellion for the Confederacy. This logic follows that a Union loss on Little Round Top would directly lead to a Union loss at the Battle of Gettysburg – and the Union defeat at Gettysburg would lead to Federal capitulation in the American Civil War and victory for the Confederate States. For me, it seems there are too many "ifs" presented by this argument – but plausibly – it just might have happened. I'm not at all sure that a victorious Confederacy in the War of the Rebellion would have been all that bad for the Greater North American population, particularly in view of the direction America presently tends. Many northern-region residents of North America might perhaps find life more fit for human habitation somewhere in the Confederate States Of America - perhaps bathing in far less federalism.

A closing observation follows: CSA Commanding General Robert E. Lee in no way accepted the premise that the Confederate Rebellion was lost following those three days in early July 1863 at Gettysburg. More Civil War causalities occurred following the Battle of Gettysburg than were suffered before the Gettysburg battle. General Lee does not appear to be a broken man as he writes this August 1863 letter from Richmond to his second-in-command & right-hand man Lieutenant-General James Longstreet:

GENERAL, I have wished for several days past to return to the army, but have been detained by the President. He will not listen to my proposition to leave to-morrow. I hope you will use every exertion to prepare the army for offensive operations, and improve the condition of our men and animals. I can see nothing better to be done than to endeavor to bring General Meade out and use our efforts to crush his army while in its present condition.

Very respectfully and truly yours,

R. E. LEE
General.

References cited:

Michael Shaara, “The Killer Angels” , Random House Inc., New York. 1975.

Ronald F. Maxwell, screenwriter & director of movie “Gettysburg”, Turner Pitchers Inc., Atlanta. 1993. Included on this DVD are valuable comments by the noted Civil War historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson and beneficial comments by Craig L. Symonds, professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy and noted military historian.

An example of numerous website references:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg

A Stanton Family Combat Death 158 Years Past

   

Remembering today the loss of a military hero and gallant American Civil War Veteran, our distant cousin Private Jay Cady Stanton. Jay was born March 23, 1828, in Middleburgh, Schoharie County, New York, the third son of eleven children to the prominent Middleburgh farm family of Mr. Freeman and Mrs. Maria (Lawyer) Stanton. Jay apparently never found the right lady to marry.

On October 15, 1861, Jay was moved to answer President Lincoln's call for Civil War federal military volunteers to help suppress the expanding southern state's rebellion. The aged 31 Jay Stanton enlisted in the U.S. Army, with Captain A.L. Swan's Company H, 76th Infantry Regiment of the New York State Volunteers. The 76^th New York is also remembered as the Otsego County Regiment, the Cherry Valley Regiment, or the Cortland Regiment, and was officially mustered into federal service on January 16, 1862. The regiment was first commanded by Colonel Nelson W. Green of Cortland, New York.

As a union combat infantryman, Private Jay Stanton was mortally-wounded-in-action (MWIA) on August 28, 1862, when his unit engaged rebel forces during the Battle of Gainsville, Virginia. The 76^th New York Regiment was then assigned to the 2^nd Brigade, 1^st Division, 1^st Corps, Army of the Potomac. The Gainsville fighting is the leading-edge action of the poor union generalship (General Pope's Campaign) and significant rebel victory during the larger Second Battle of Bull Run fiasco.

Jay died shortly after that August 28^th day in a Union field hospital. It was not uncommon for MWIA or KIA Civil War soldiers to be buried in shallow graves near locations where they fell. Dealing with deceased soldiers after one of these Civil War battles had to be tragically overwhelming -- and national cemeteries were only an afterthought early in that war. But Jay's remains were brought home by his loving family and interred in September 1862 at his hometown Middleburgh Cemetery, Middleburgh, New York, USA.

Rest In Peace Private Jay Cady Stanton,

New York State Volunteers.

Battle of Antietam

On the 155th Anniversary of the Bloodiest Single Day in American military history -- September 17, 1862 -- please take a few moments to view this interesting web site:

Click -- Antietam Battlefield--by Civil War Trust

Our Gallant American Civil War Veterans,A "Decoration Day" Salute

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Service Medal

The first Union "Decoration Day" (now called Memorial Day) was held in May 1866 by the caring residents of the tiny Finger Lakes village Waterloo, New York.  This remembrance movement aimed to decorate graves with flower arrangements, those the grave-sites of many local military veteran causalities of the late War to Preserve the Union.  Any revisionist claim otherwise by residents of Georgia are false, since Georgia was not readmitted to the Union until 1868... and then tossed out again when Georgia failed to recognize blacks as citizens... and then again readmitted to the Union in 1870 only after finally endorsing the U.S. Constitution 14th Amendment.

The two grandfathers of our paternal Grandmother Elizabeth Rosella (Moegling) Paul were deceased when Elizabeth was born 13 April 1896. These two men are our generation's Great-Great-Grandfathers Private Albert G. Odell and Corporal William Moegling. Both men are military veterans of the American Civil War, gallantly serving to preserve the union with the U.S. Army Infantry.

Private Albert G. Odell (about 1839 - 10 Mar 1892) was born in Schoharie County, New York. His occupation as a young man was farm labor and work as a barrel-maker (a cooper) at his uncle Isaac L. Odell's local cooperage in Summit, Schoharie County, NY. In 1864, Albert enlisted as a U.S. Army private soldier with Schoharie County Company B, 91^st Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers. His Civil War service with the 91^st New York include engagements against rebel forces during the Petersburg Campaign and the Appomattox Campaign. Private Albert Odell's ancestry includes many cousins who are military veterans of the Civil War and over three-dozen Revolutionary War Veteran ancestors.  Grandpa Albert is interred at Bath National Cemetery, Bath, Steuben County, NY. From the official roster of the 91^st New York Infantry Regiment:

“ODELL, ALBERT.— Age, 25 years. Enlisted at Albany, [NY] to serve one year, and mustered in as private, Co. B, September 5, 1864; mustered out with detachment; June 10, 1865, near Washington, D.C.”

Click here for 91st New York Volunteers Roster

Corporal William Moegling (about 1812 - 23 Nov 1869) was born in Stuttgart, Germany. William emigrated from Germany to the USA in June 1847, and was almost immediately recruited as an armed service private soldier with the U.S. Army during the Mexican War. His lifelong occupation was as a scourer and dyer, the period process for cleaning garments in what we today call professional dry-cleaning. In 1861, William enlisted in the U.S. Army as a Corporal with Oneida County Company H, 97^th Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers. His Civil War service include engagements against rebel forces at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, General Pope's Northern Virginia Campaign, Second Battle of Bull Run, Battle of South Mountain, and the Battle of Antietam. Although injured, William remained with his regiment, but likely not directly involved in the mid-December 1862 fighting at the Battle of First Fredericksburg, this due to his documented wounds suffered in previous battles. He received an honorable Disability Discharge from the U.S. Army in early 1863 and was later released from a military hospital near Belle Plain, Virginia. William is interred in a mass-grave at Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, NY, where in 1916 the remains of nearly all exhumed skeletons were placed following the total removal of Utica's former municipal burial grounds at Potter Street Cemetery. From the official roster of the 97^th New York Infantry Regiment:

“MOEGLIN, WILLIAM—Age, 43 years. Enlisted, November 30, 1861, at Utica, [NY] to serve three years; mustered in as corporal, Co. H, December 11, 1861; returned to ranks, no date; discharged for disability, June 11, 1863, at hospital, as Moegling.”

Click here for 97th New York Volunteers Roster

P.S. New York State Department of Military and Naval Affairs official Civil War record errors are often noted.  Surname spelling, age at enlistment, and discharge dates are frequently wrongly recorded.  Such is the case with Corporal William Moegling.  William's birth year is variously recorded in several non-military official documents between 1808-1815. Seems likely that William may have intentionally under stated his physical age at enlistment,  his age likely being about 49 or 50 in 1861. Furthermore, it is likely that no official birth certificates were recorded for the vast majority of Civil War enlisted men.          

Corporal William Moegling Awarded A Presidential Memorial Certificate

 

 

General Ulysses S. Grant was then President of the United States when American Civil War Veteran Corporal William Moegling, late of the 97^th Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers died, 23 November 1869. An unsolicited Presidential Memorial Certificate was received last Saturday regarding the military service of our Great Great Grandfather William Moegling. Receipt of this Presidential Memorial Certificate is strongly appreciated. Certificate production must be an automatic process initiated by the U.S. Veterans Administration when a federal memorial headstone is processed, approved and presented. The Memorial Certificate is signed by President Barack Obama by facsimile, unstated but probably on behalf of the late American President and Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant. Our family extends very sincere thanks for this very fine gesture and gratefully accept the Presidential Memorial Certificate on behalf of our late Great-Great Grandfather William Moegling.

 

Remembered Among His Comrades At Last

 

 

 

 

Section 42 is the original Civil War Veteran burial ground – Forest Hill Cemetery, Oneida Street, Utica, NY. German emigrant Corporal Wilhelm "William" Moegling had no gravestone. If a gravestone did sometime exist following his untimely 1869 death, it was probably a wooden grave marker as many there were, destroyed or weathered by the ravages of time or perhaps vandalized at his first burial site in Utica's single municipal internment ground at Potter Street Cemetery, then located at Water and Potter Streets in downtown Utica. Potter Street Cemetery was totally exhumed and removed in late 1916 by City of Utica administrators, as permitted under a May 1916 Act of New York State Legislature. We know from local period newspaper reports that many unclaimed grave-markers were removed and likely destroyed by city-contracted cemetery sexton Mr. Henry Hartman in June 1917.  This unclaimed monument removal followed the mass cemetery exhumations at Potter Street Cemetery completed in late December 1916. A large percentage of the skeletons removed Potter Street Cemetery were re-interred in a presently unmarked mass grave at Forest Hill Cemetery, where over eighty percent of these skeletons then classified as unidentified.  The remains of Corporal Moegling are certainly one of these "unknown" persons.  As a U.S. Army Veteran of two U.S. wars, Corporal William Moegling rates a memorial headstone. And in early 2015 this memorial headstone was furnished by the fine people at the Memorial Programs Office of the U.S. Veterans Administration to honor Corporal Moegling's memory.  Perhaps the bones of as many as 10,000 early Utica residents were reinterred in this aforementioned unmarked mass grave at Forest Hill Cemetery.  This mass grave, otherwise known as Section 58B, is located about 250 yards southeast of the site where Corporal Moegling's Memorial Headstone is now installed -- honored here at last among his Civil War comrades at the Forest Hill Cemetery Section 42.    

 

 

 

The bright white headstone just to the right side of Section 42 Flag Pole is the Memorial Headstone of Corporal William Moegling, late of Company H, 97th Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers (a/k/a “The Conkling Rifles” or “The Third Oneida”), an American Civil War Union Fighting Unit directly engaged at many Civil War battles including, but not limited to: The Second Battle of Bull Run, The Battle of Antietam and The Battle of First Fredericksburg.

Corporal William Moegling was here with his regiment:  Click The Battle of Antietam 



When Did The Civil War End?

 

In April 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was Commanding General, Army of Northern Virginia and General-In-Chief of the Armies. General Lee was not supreme military officer of The Confederate States of America, a position equivalent today being Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Jefferson Davis was Commander-In-Chief of ALL Confederate military forces, a supreme military command position Davis never relinquished. More simply put, on April 9, 1865, when Rebel General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, that tragic and costly American Civil War was not ended.  The fighting continued.

 

The Confederacy had other armies with other general officer commanders. And periodic battles and skirmishes continued between Yankees and Rebels. For example, take a quick look at the engagement in Texas at the Battle of Palmito Ranch, May 12-13, 1865, where more than 125 United States citizens became causalities. See reference:  Battle of Palmito Ranch

 

This date might better express the end of the American Civil War. On June 2, 1865 Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, Commander of Confederate Forces west of the Mississippi, signs the surrender agreement offered by Federal negotiators. General Smith’s surrender marks disestablishment of the last recognized Confederate army, thus bringing a formal end to the historical most bloody and destructive four+ years in United States history.  Now the enlisted cannon fodder can finally go home.  But even then, some minor skirmishes continue where men and animals became casualties of this divided conflict of unspeakable horror. If the American Civil War was ended April 9, 1865 with General Lee's surrender, then why was it necessary in early June 1865 for another surrender agreement by Confederate General Smith?

 

Corporal Wilhelm William Moegling

The Biography of Corporal Wilhelm "William" Moegling is a work in progress. Most of the words are here, but
sometimes just in the wrong order. Reader comments
and suggestions are encouraged and welcome.

 

He is the paternal grandfather of our paternal Grandmother Elizabeth Rosella (Moegling) Paul.  Otherwise stated, he is a Second Great Grandfather of our family's living senior generation.  Wilhelm “William” Moegling's age is variously reported in official records, including an immigrant ship manifest, federal and state census records, Zion Lutheran Church records, and U.S. Army Military Service Records.  These several records indicate his year-of-birth range from 1805-1816. Also, there are at least six different spellings of the Moegling surname. Moegling is his correct surname spelling, but other surname spellings written in official records include: Mougling, Mogling, Moeglin, Maegling, Maglin, and Magling.  Sloppy handwriting by clerks, officers, and census takers is no doubt somewhat responsible for recording errors.  Perhaps in other cases the root source of record error is Corporal Moegling's marginal command of written English.  That U.S. Army Combat Veteran Corporal Wilhelm "William" Moegling lived, prayed, worked, and died in downtown Utica, Oneida County, New York is certain and a matter of official record.  And proof that Wilhelm held some command of written English is copied here from his Mexican War enlistment papers.

   

Wilhelm "William" Moegling was born in Stuttgart, Wurttemberg, Germany on June 10, 1810. The life and times of Wilhelm's mother and father Mr. and Mrs. Moegling are presently unknown, but logic dictates his parents lived and died in the Stuttgart, Germany area. Wilhelm's June 10, 1810 date-of-birth (DOB) is taken from Zion Evangelical German Lutheran Church Funeral Records, now renamed Zion Lutheran Church and relocated to the corner of French and Burrstone Roads, New Hartford, NY, USA. No formal birth certificate is found. This church record birthday seems creditable, falling near the mid-point of his cited birth year range.  Little is known about Wilhelm's life in Germany, or why he decided to remove to the United States. Logic suggests his near thirty-five early years in Germany must have produced some interesting facts that are presently left to imagination.  Perhaps there is a first marriage in Germany as suggested by the 1865 record of New York State Enumeration of Inhabitants.  If this census is correct, no record is found that cites where the marriage was performed or naming his first wife. Wilhelm's siblings, if he has any, also likely remained in Germany.  Related facts about Wilhelm's early life outside the United States might certainly kindle an interesting and yet undiscovered family story.  Wilhelm arrived June 9, 1847 in New York City, NY aboard the immigrant ship SS Burgundy, sailing several days earlier from Le Havre, France. The ship manifest cites Wilhelm's age at 42 and he evidently traveled alone.  His given name in this manifest is recorded as "Wilhelm.” A common trait among arriving U.S. immigrants is to "Americanize" their given and family surnames. By family tradition, many first-generation families held a compelling desire to be rapidly viewed as American. No case is found where he ever again uses the German form given name Wilhelm.  And after all, the English translation of German language name Wilhelm is William.  This biography will hereafter use William as the subject's preferred given name.

A phone conversation with genealogical researchers at the National Archives in Washington DC confirms that U.S. Army recruiters manned recruitment offices very near the immigrant ship piers in New York City. This done for the purpose of recruiting poor immigrant men as enlisted soldiers to fight America's latest approved land-grab – the infamous Mexican War (1846-1848). William soon found his way to Philadelphia, PA, and on July 31, 1847 enlisted as a volunteer Private Soldier in the Army of the United States of America. Signed enlistment documents are held as received from the National Archives showing William Moegling, age 34, occupation "dyer," of Wirteinburg [Sic], Germany. William received an initial enlistment bounty of $6.00 (about $150.00 in 2014 inflation adjusted funds), received a clean uniform, and was then assigned to U.S. Army Company H of the 2nd Infantry Regiment. Presumably a few days of very basic military training was typically provided new Mexican War recruits. William eventually makes his way to Mexico with the U.S. Army, where he was discharged early in 1848 at "City of Mexico" (location is now renamed Mexico City). No combat record exist, but William was perhaps engaged in late 1847 fighting. Very few personal written records were kept during this short duration war, a common occurrence in particular for activities of enlisted soldiers. Military generals usually receive their acclaim, but acts of the cannon-fodder enlisted soldiers usually go unrecognized. One other record regarding William's enlistment provides positive proof of his U.S. Army Veteran service during The Mexican War.
Reference: see Mexican War Enlistments

No record is found documenting William's early 1850's activity in the United States following his discharge from service in The Mexican War. He evidently is not counted in the 1850 U.S. Census. No records seem to exist until William finds the young lady Rosella "Rosa or Rose" Jaekel in Utica, NY. The couple subsequently marry in about 1856 (no formal church record has been found to document their marriage). The year of marriage is a logical assumption based on the arrival of their first child Sophia, born 12 Apr 1858 in Utica, NY. Genealogy experts agree that the first child born in this era to a capable child-bearing couple typically arrives about eleven months following a marriage.  William's young wife Rosella (b. 14 Feb 1839 in Switzerland) was only about age 17 when they marry, William being over twenty-five years her senior. No photos are known to exist giving the family some idea of how William and Rosella appeared.  The couple's introduction was likely made via Zion Evangelical German Lutheran Church social circles, a German language Church they both regularly attended then located on Fay and Cooper Streets in downtown Utica, NY, USA.

William and Rosella "Rosa" (Jaekel) Moegling had three children, all born in Oneida County, NY, USA:

• Sophia Moegling, b. 12 Apr 1858 in Utica, NY, d. 31 Mar 1913, m. Jacob Looft (1847-1917) abt 1874 in Utica, they had three children: William (b. 1875), Frederick (b.1878) and Ella Looft (b. 1885).
• Edward William Moegling, b. 23 Apr 1860 in Utica, NY, d. 23 Apr 1921, m. Effie Julia Odell (1862-1924) 4 Jul 1889 in Utica, they had two children: Edna Mae (b. 1893) and Elizabeth Rosella (b. 1896).
• Louise Moegling, b. 10 Feb 1862 in Stittville, NY, d. 26 Dec 1922, m. Herman Carl Frederick Peter (1859-1941) 1883 in Utica, they had three children: Bertha Helen (b. 1884), Lillian Louise (b. 1886), and Leona Adelaide (b. 1903).

The New York State Census dated June 16, 1865 records an age 49 William, his age 26 wife Rosella with their three minor children age 6 Sophia, age 4 Edward and age 3 Louisa resident in the 2nd Ward, Utica, Oneida County, NY.  This census further reports William was married twice, is a naturalized citizen of the USA, a U.S. Army Veteran, and his occupation is "dyer."  An interesting family observation is that William and Rosella had no additional children following William's Civil War military service, strongly suggesting his service-connected war injuries had a disabling impact on their family married life. Wife Rosella was a relatively young woman just past her thirtieth birthday when William died. And Rosella later gave birth to three more children with her second husband Mr. W.H. Stressel.

William Moegling Volunteers For Civil War Military Service

In late 1861 William felt moved to answer President Lincoln's call for men to help preserve the Union. The majority of the 97th Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers (a/k/a: "The Third Oneida" or "The Conkling Rifles") was recruited from areas located in northern Oneida County Townships, with Company H recruited in the city of Utica, NY. A few companies in the 97th New York were also recruited from townships in neighboring Herkimer County. From the official record unit roster, 97th Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers, American Civil War:

Reference see:  97th New York Roster

“MOEGLIN, WILLIAM—Age, 43 years. Enlisted, November 30, 1861, at Utica, to serve three years; mustered in as corporal, Co. H, December 11, 1861; returned to ranks, no date; discharged for disability, June 11, 1863, at hospital, as Moegling.”

Zion Evangelical German Lutheran Church records are assumed valid, from these records it is concluded that Corporal William Moegling was age 51, not 43 as reported in his Civil War enlistment record. This is just one more case where William's age was incorrectly reported, or he may have intentionally misstated his age at enlistment. Our travels to Sharpsburg, MD in mid-September 2012 for the 150th anniversary activities of the Battle of Antietam (17 Sep 1862) were highly instructive. That fateful day near Antietam Creek, Sharpsburg, Maryland remains the bloodiest single day in American history. Several presentations were viewed, and early Monday morning 17 Sep 2012, we walked with thousands of visitors around "The Bloody Cornfield" where the 97th Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers fought that foggy early morning. We know from official regimental and company attendance records that Corporal William Moegling was present and assigned to the 97th New York on 17 Sep 1862, but we may never know with absolute certainty if Corporal William Moegling was actually on the field that awful morning. Just over 200 of the 500+ 97th Regimental Soldiers were actually engaged this day. It was common that many members of Civil War regiments would be detailed for other battle support duties (e.g., duty with ambulance wagons, field hospitals or ammunition & supply wagons), or themselves previously incapacitated resulting from a forced march and/or some common soldier sickness or wounds. By this mid-September 1862 time at the Battle of Antietam, many of our Upstate New York union soldiers had already been killed, wounded or captured, and many others were in hospital recovering from various sicknesses contracted as part of a soldier's life. We know William was released from an Army Hospital near Belle Plains Landing, Virginia and discharged from the Army for some service-connected disability on 11 June 1863. One of these official records cites his gunshot wound received during the Battle of Antietam and another official record states that part of a leg was amputated. Scanned copies of the many documents received from the National Archives in Washington DC relating to William's Mexican War and American Civil War military service are uploaded to the public Ancestry.com "DJ Paul Family Tree."

The average Union soldier in the Civil War was 25.8 years old, and it is believed the maximum recruitment age for an enlisted soldier in 1861/1862 was about age 45. But it is likely a recruit's age was not proved by a legal birth certificate, so the military recruiter would typically simply take the stated sworn word of a recruit's age. And William's enlistment paper age is likely intentionally misstated, he was a service volunteer who wanted to serve. Most townships in New York State election districts would also pay a significant recruitment "bounty" to men enlisted for military service, what today is commonly called a recruitment bonus. This cash bounty acts as a very significant enlistment motivation to recent immigrants and dirt-poor farm boys. Reference: See “For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War” – by James M. McPherson. Oxford University Press, New York. 1997.

Civil War Activities of 97th Infantry Regiment
of New York State Volunteers

Note: This portion is a collage from various sources including, but not limited to, various Antietam Battlefield publications, the written works of a favored author the famed Civil War authority James M. McPherson, and many public web sites including americancivilwar.com (American Civil War), history.com (The History Channel), dmna.ny.gov (NY State Department of Military and Naval Affairs), aotw.org (Antietam on the Web), civilwar.org (Civil War Trust), and several other web sites easily discovered by Google search.  The 97th New York Regiment was engaged in the follow major Civil War battles while Corporal Wilhelm "William" Moegling was attached:

• Battle of Cedar Mountain (9 Aug 1862)
• Gen Pope's Virginia Campaign-Rappahannock, etc. (16 Aug 1862 – 2 Sep 1862)
• Battle of Second Bull Run (28-30 Aug 1862)
• Battle of South Mountain (14 Sep 1862)
• Battle of Antietam (17 Sep 1862)

97th New York Infantry Regiment was assigned in Brigadier General Abram Duryea's (a/k/a Duryee) 2nd Brigade of Major General Ricketts 2nd Division in General Hooker's First Corps, Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Antietam, 17 Sep 1862.  Here the regiment suffered injuries more severely than in any other war engagement. More than one half of the regiment were killed and wounded in less than a half hour, just after the sunrise engagement as they commenced moving south over the "Bloody Cornfield." Yet men never displayed more coolness and determination. Not a man was captured; and, when relieved, though under a galling fire, the Regiment retired in good order. A map displayed at link that follows shows the 97th New York position at 7:00 a.m.  (note: this is EST, since no daylight savings existed in 1862).

see: Battle at 0700

A second map at 7:20 a.m. does not show the regiment on the field, so an assumption can be made the regiment has already withdrawn and sent to the rear to reorganize.

See: Battle at 0720

A summary of General Duryea's Brigade Battle of Antietam action on 17 Sep 1862 follows (personally copied from signage located at the Antietam Battlefield):

"Early in the morning Duryea's Brigade moved from its bivouac in the Poffenberger Woods, on the Smoketown Road. Forming in column of Divisions it obliques right until near J. Poffenberger's when it marched south through the North Woods, passed the right of Hartsuff's Brigade and between Pennsylvania Light Battery F (Matthews') and Pennsylvania Light Battery C (Thompson's), in position on the high ground between D. R. Miller's and the East Woods. Arriving at the Cornfield fence the Brigade deployed and moved through the Cornfield to its south edge (75 yards distant) when it encountered the Confederate line, which was about 145 to 160 yards south of this. In less than a half hour the left of the Brigade was withdrawn, the right remained a few minutes longer when it fell back. Portions of the Brigade rallied and made another advance part way through the Cornfield, but fell back as Hartsuff's Brigade came into action."

The 97th Infantry Regiment of NY State Volunteers at the Battle of First Fredericksburg (13 Dec 1862): It is believed that Corporal Moegling remained assigned to the 97th New York, but was likely in an army field hospital on 13 Dec 1862, so he was likely not engaged at the Battle of First Fredericksburg. Since Corporal William Moegling was discharged from an Army hospital on 11 June 1863, the presumption is he was wounded during one or more the battles cited above (most likely at the Battle of Antietam). Two National Archives documents state he suffered a gunshot would at Antietam, and another official document states that William had part of a leg amputated. There is also a significant chance that he contracted one of the serious sicknesses of unsanitary soldier's life and was unable to continue the duties of an enlisted soldier. William applied for an Invalid Disability Pension on 18 Jul 1863, but it appears the pension application had not been granted by his untimely death in Nov 1869. Strangely, his remarried wife Rosella (now Mrs. “Rosa” Stressel) also files for a widow's pension in 1879 under her remarried surname as Rosa Stressel. Federal legislation enacted about 1879 allowed widows to claim the retroactive pensions of Civil War Veterans, apparently even if the woman had remarried. No proof has been found that either of these disability pension applications (William's invalid or Rosa's Widow pension) was ever approved or received.

From Utica City Directories, Joseph Arnott, Publisher, it is recorded that William Moegling lived in Utica, NY, appearing in three different City Directories as follows:

• 1865 - living at 129 Water Street in rented housing, a location that is presently just northeast of Utica Memorial Auditorium.
• 1866 - Occupation is listed as "Dyer at McLean's." Home is at 129 Water Street, Utica, NY
• 1869 – Residence on corner of Fayette and Varick Streets. Occupation "dyer." Also named in Business Directory of this volume under "Scourers and Dyers" as Wm. Moegling, corner Fayette and  Varick Streets.

William Moegling's Utica, NY employer as listed in ad published in 1869 City and Business Directory:

Mrs. A McLean's

CITY STEAM DYE WORKS.

26 Hotel St., Utica, N.Y.

"All Kinds of Goods Dyed and Dressed to look equal to New."

"Ladies' Crape, Broche and Paisley Shawls Cleaned."

"GENTLEMAN'S WEARING APPAREL CLEANED."

William Moegling died on 23 Nov 1869 of "Lung Congestion." This is reported in Schedule 2, p 120, line 2, of 1870 US Census, Mortality Schedule of those persons who died in the year prior to 1 Jun 1870. This Mortality Schedule referenced Schedule 1, Family 21, page 3 of 1870 US Census, Ninth Ward, City of Utica, Oneida County, NY. Family 21 is found on lines 7 through 13 of Schedule 1, and lists Henry Stressel, Rosa Stressel, Sophia Moegling, Edward Moegling, Louise Moegling, Bertha Stressel and Charles Stressel. This census confirms church records that Henry and Rosa married in April 1870. Census further confirms Henry Stressel and his two children Bertha and Charles from his prior marriage moved in to the same home where William resided on his untimely death. Indeed, an interesting twist about a century before the famed "The Brady Bunch" story.  It is strongly suspected the introductions of Henry and Rosa were through the Zion Evangelical German Lutheran Church. Following William's death, Rosa needed support for her and their three minor kids.  And new husband Henry Stressel, an apparent 1866 immigrant from Germany, needed a caregiver for his two minor kids while he was at work. A probable arranged marriage by the Zion Lutheran Church Pastor Andrew Wetzel, a marriage of perhaps great necessity for both Henry and Rosa Moegling Stressel. There were few public safety nets to assist a family in need in these earlier days.

The Funeral Records of Zion Evangelical German Lutheran Church, Utica, NY (now Zion Lutheran Church, New Hartford, NY) report the William's death on 23 Nov 1869, with funeral service following on 25 Nov 1869. The church record is handwritten written in German Script as entered by Church Pastor The Rev. Andrew Wetzel. The date 25 Nov 1869 is also mentioned, probably the date of burial.  Unfortunately, it was the practice of Pastor Wetzel to not record the burial location.  An accurate English translation of the Church funeral record remains needed.

Interment was logically at Potter Street Cemetery (a/k/a: Utica's city-owned municipal cemetery), but currently, no positive proof of this burial location exists. Interment at Potter Street Cemetery is a strong circumstantial probability, really a strong hypothesis that awaits someone to disprove. Potter Street Cemetery was a municipal burial site and Utica's first cemetery, then located at Potter and  Water Streets, and on the northern side of the city of Utica just south of the Mohawk River. For many years the city of Utica Administration allowed Potter Street Cemetery to go unattended -- perhaps for decades -- exposed to the ravage of time both natural and unnatural.  Then in 1916 using the disagreeable state of the cemetery as justification to completely exhume and remove Potter Street Cemetery. Thousands of burials at Potter Street Cemetery were exhumed starting in September 1916, some removed and reburied at the direction of the family to other area cemeteries.  However, the vast majority of these exhumed skeletons taken to Forest Hill Cemetery for re-internment. Less than nine hundred of these near 5,000 skeletons were identified, with over 4,000 thousand skeletons simply listed as unknown persons. The bones of known and unknown persons were packed in small two-foot basswood boxes and taken to Forest Hill Cemetery for reburial in a mass grave, frequently with multiple skeletons in a single box as a stated project cost saving measure.

More Details On Wilhelm “William” Moegling's Burial

A four-year search for 2nd Great Grandfather Wilhelm "William" Moegling is now suspended, this pending the highly unlikely discovery of new firm and valid related data. Potter Street Cemetery (a/k/a: Potter's Field) seems logical and likely as Grandpa Moegling's most probable temporary resting place. It is further likely his grave marker at Potter Street Cemetery, if any, was a wooden marker (as many there were). By the time of cemetery removal in 1916, the grave marker was lost, decayed and/or vandalized when the 1916 removal of Utica's Potter Street Cemetery took place. And since eighty percent of the unknown skeletons exhumed from the cemetery were taken in small basswood boxes to Forest Hill Cemetery, most of Grandpa's remains were likely boxed with other unknowns and disposed of in this 100' x 100' mass grave at Forest Hill Cemetery (Section 58B). This mass grave site was purchased by the city of Utica in 1916 for Potter Street Cemetery re-burials. Grandpa Wilhelm and his wife Rosella ("Grandma Rosa") Moegling had three minor kids at his untimely1869 death, were financially not well off (perhaps even considered working poor), lived in rented housing on the corner of Varick and Fayette Streets in downtown Utica, attended the original Zion Evangelical German Lutheran Church on Fay and Cooper Street in downtown Utica, and he was employed in his lifelong occupation as a "dyer" at Mrs. A. McClean's "City Steam & Dye Works" business on 26 Hotel Street, downtown Utica, NY. William's home, his Church & his workplace essentially border the city-owned municipal Potter Street Cemetery. The evidence is strong that Grandpa's Civil War Army Veteran Disability Invalid Pension application had not been approved at his untimely death 23 November 1869. He submitted this Military Disability Pension Application in July 1863, following his Civil War U.S. Army Discharge For Disability and U.S. Army release in early-to-mid 1863.

The mass grave at Forest Hill Cemetery where the bones from Potter Street Cemetery removal were re-interred is nearly centered between cemetery Section 58 and 58A roadside signs on the lower southern perimeter road. Forest Hill Cemetery Superintendent Mr. Gerard Waterman refers to this area as Section 58B, but no observed 58B signage appears here). Section 58B is directly south from the small roadside gravestone of Mary M. (d. 1937) and Edward R. Stramm Sr. (d. 1926), the Stramm gravestone no more than five feet from the south side of this perimeter road, and has a couple large tree surrounding. Further, Section 58B essentially borders Forest Hill Cemetery heavy gauge wire south perimeter fence. Superintendent Waterman explained his crew was once digging a grave near this 1916 city-owned 100'x100' mass grave site and several old bones were dug up, causing him to research and discover that this unmarked location is where the bones of mainly unknown persons from Potter Street Cemetery were placed. No honorary markers are present citing Section 58B as the re-burial ground for "Unknown Souls" removed from Potter Street Cemetery. This unmarked mass grave burial ground for several thousand early Utica residents is now a colossal disgrace that requires remedy. Some form of a memorial monument is required here to formally mark this ground.

Some Recent Good News

The U.S. Veterans Administration, Memorial Programs Service at Nashville, TN has approved a Memorial Headstone for Corporal William Moegling.  VA Representatives explained in a phone conversation that this Memorial Headstone should be delivered to Forest Hill Cemetery about the first of April 2015. Superintendent Gerard Waterman of Forest Hill Cemetery will receive the Memorial Headstone and has agreed to place the stone in Forest Hill Cemetery Section 42, this being the burial grounds originally set aside for Civil War Veteran Burials. Obviously, William's remains will not be buried in this location; whereas, the preponderance of research evidence and fundamental logic show that his remains were almost certainly exhumed as an unknown person when Potter Street Cemetery was removed as then located in downtown Utica at Water and Potter Streets. His exhumed remains almost certainly now rest at Forest Hill Cemetery Section 58B (a/k/a: "City of Utica Public Burial Grounds"), centered between two other public burial grounds called "The Tiers", re-buried there in late 1916 with the remains of nearly 5,000 other early Utica, New York residents.  About eighty percent of these re-burials were then classified as unidentified skeletons. This 100' x 100' mass grave-site was purchased earlier by the city of Utica as required in terms of Potter Street Cemetery removal authorization specified by a May 1916 Act of the New York State Legislature.  Click HERE for an update on William's Memorial Monument.

A Request For Genealogical Help

Please refer to my "Corporal Wilhelm 'William' Moegling" blog post made yesterday.

Click Here to review this posting.



"BOXES OF BONES"

So here is my thought and request for help this day. Will somebody – anyone at all – please come forward with significant key facts showing that one of these exhumed “Boxes Of Bones” on display for a Utica Sunday Tribune photographer is NOT 2nd Great Granddad Corporal Wilhelm “William” Moegling. These two skeletons are but two of the thousands of persons dug up from their "final-resting-place" at Potter Street Cemetery -- essentially because those great thinkers in Utica, New York let their earliest municipal burial ground fall victim to neglect and probable vandalism.  These great thinkers in Utica now wanted these hallowed cemetery lands for a playground.  Look at these lands today and you find a highway, a parking lot, a plumbing dealer, a drug rehab & counseling house, and a sports bar. Urban renewal... really nice going Utica, New York!

No monument is present today to the memory of this once active municipal cemetery or to honor the dust of those many thousands souls who yet remain spread in the grounds at this former cemetery site.

Corporal Wilhelm "William" Moegling, late of the 97th Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers is missing. Please show our family that this wounded and disabled Civil War Soldier who lived, who attended church, who worked, and who died in 1869 in Downtown Utica, Oneida County, New York is not one of these skeletons on unceremonious and disgraceful display in this September 1916 photo.

Thanks very much.

DJ --- out

Reference: A news article as published 1 Oct 1916 in The Utica Sunday Tribune.



Our Grandfather Corporal William Moegling

My four-year search for the remains of Great-Great Grandfather Wilhelm “William” Moegling is continuing. But the discovery of new firm and valid related data relating to Potter Street Cemetery seems unlikely.  This Utica, NY municipal cemetery was unfortunately sometimes called “Potter’s Field,” so named to acknowledge the original Potter Family property owners who conveyed the three plots of land that became this city municipal cemetery.  The cemetery was not a burial ground reserved exclusively for the poor, as the name potter's field usually implies.  Many prominent early citizens of the Utica, NY area were interred at Potter Street Cemetery over the 122 year span of active use.  According to researchers with Saint Agnes Catholic Church in Utica, NY, as many as 10,000 persons were likely interred at Potter Street Cemetery.

It seems highly likely that Potter Street Cemetery was Grandpa Moegling's logical and probable temporary resting place. Further, it is probable his grave marker, if any, was a wooden marker design (as many there were), and by 1916 was lost, decayed and/or vandalized when the 1916 destruction of Utica's Potter Street Cemetery took place. We know from Corporal William Moegling's Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR), as received from National Archives and Records Administration that Grandpa did not receive his earned government-furnished headstone following his untimely 1869 death.  And about 80% of the several thousand late 1916 exhumed souls at Potter Street Cemetery were classified as unidentified persons, several skeletons grouped together in a single small boxes for "cost savings" and taken to Forest Hill Cemetery on Oneida Street, Utica, NY.  Most of Grandpa's remains were likely placed in one or more of these small containers with the remains of other unidentified persons and unceremoniously reburied in a 100' x 100' hollow purchased by the city of Utica as a mass grave site for unidentified Potter Street Cemetery souls. This Forest Hill Cemetery mass grave burial site is now defined as Section 58B (a/k/a: "City of Utica Public Burial Grounds"), a site purchased by the Utica city authorities in 1916. Any bureaucratic suggestion that absolutely none of the unidentified persons exhumed in 1916 from this 122-year old Potter Street Cemetery were U.S. Military Veterans of the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, The Mexican War, The American Civil War or even the Spanish-American War simply won’t pass a smell test. My Grandpa, Corporal Wilhelm “William” Moegling was a Military Veteran of both The Mexican War and The American Civil War.

Grandpa Moegling and his wife Rosella ("Grandma Rosa") Moegling had three minor kids at Grandpa’s death in late November 1869, they were financially not prosperous (perhaps considered today as working poor), they lived in rented housing on the corner of Varick and Fayette Streets in downtown Utica, NY, they attended the original Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Church at Fay and Cooper Streets in downtown Utica, and Grandpa was working in his lifelong occupation as a "dyer" at Mrs. A. McClean's Scourer and Dyer Shop on 26 Hotel Street in downtown Utica. His home, his Church and his workplace essentially border the 1869 city-owned Potter Street Cemetery (all within a half mile radius). Grandpa had submitted a Military Disability Pension application in July 1863, this following his U.S. Army Civil War Discharge For Disability in early 1863. Official papers from the National Archives in Washington DC document he suffered several war-related disabilities including a gunshot wound received during the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862. His veteran's invalid pension application also states he has a service-connected double hernia. Strong evidence is that Grandpa's Civil War Army Veteran Disability Pension application had not yet been approved by his death 23 Nov 1869.

There is a spot in Forest Hill Cemetery nearly centered between cemetery Section 58 and 58A roadside signs on the lower southern perimeter road that Forest Hill Cemetery Superintendent Gerard Waterman called Section 58B (but there was no observed 58B signage here). Section 58B (a/k/a: "City of Utica Public Burial Grounds") is directly south from the small roadside gravestone of Mary M. (d. 1937) and Edward R. Stramm Sr. (d. 1926), the Stramm gravestone no more than five feet from the south side of this perimeter road, and has a couple large trees surrounding. Furthermore, Section 58B essentially borders the Forest Hill Cemetery heavy gage wire south perimeter fence. Superintendent Waterman told me his crew was digging a grave near this 1916 city purchased 100'x100' site and several bones were unintentionally dug up, causing him to research and discover that this location is where the bones of unknown souls from Potter Street Cemetery were re-buried in a mass grave. No honorary markers are present to flag Section 58B as the location for mass re-burials of those several thousand "Unknown Souls" exhumed from Potter Street Cemetery. This unmarked mass burial ground for the several thousand Potter Street Cemetery unknown disinterred is a colossal disgrace. Some form of significant memorial monument is required here to formally mark this ground. Section 58B is the same location where the majority of the identifiable disinterred Potter Street Cemetery skeletons were re-buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in a place between two other public burial grounds called “The Tiers."

The contempt we presently hold for our post Civil War federal government -- delay and more delay for those Civil War disability pension applications -- so therefore perhaps the pension applicant will die first as Grandpa Moegloing surely did. A contempt is growing for those period leaders of the City of Utica who allowed the city's first municipal burial ground Potter Street Cemetery at Potter and Water Streets to fall victim to the natural and unnatural ravage of time. 

But Would They Fight Now?

Recent personal study of several New York State Volunteer U.S. Army Regiments during the Rebellion has caused some among us to rethink the fundamental validity of that "War to save the Union." Two separate and equal countries––perhaps not a bad idea that arrives 150 years too late. Two countries in what is now called the USA, call them the United Confederation of American States (holding strong state's rights in a pro-business conservative land); and the other––an imperial federal government United Federal Socialist States of America (a strong federalism nanny state and liberal leftist “progressive” land). And slavery would have turned to dust under its own weight––been gone for many decades in both of these two new republics. The abomination of slavery would have soon failed without fighting that terrible War of the Rebellion that may have cost over 800,000 American lives and unknowable American treasure.

Many, perhaps most, union military recruits in 1861 and 1862 did not sign-up to free the slaves––or even to save the union. These Private Soldier Volunteers were mainly farm boys––boys who essentially became mere cannon fodder in the view of so many incompetent union colonels and generals. They went to this fight largely because they were told it was the manly thing to do... coupled with very strong feelings of military rage spewing from pulpits and political stages. And this Rebellion was certain to be a very short anyway. Volunteer recruits received an enlistment "bounty" of perhaps $100-$300, an enlistment bonus supported in Upstate New York by the various townships. The bounty given to some late war recruits was even higher at $500 for enlistments as short as one year. In 2012 dollars, that cash enlistment bounty is in the $2500-$7000 range. And tax-free dollars too! I suspect this tidy sum was very attractive to most of those relatively poor Upstate New York farm boys.

AMENDMENT X to the United States Constitution (part of the Bill Of Rights) should be more prominently cited in a new United Confederation of American States Constitution: “The powers not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”  This God given right, and the other nine vital God given rights specified by the Bill of Rights, shall not be infringed. And there would be no such necessary provision set forth in the new national supreme United Federal Socialist States of America Constitution. The corrupt United States liberal federal judiciaries today seem committed to increased Federalism and largely ignore the clear and expressly written Bill of Rights Amendment X. Liberal left progressiveness can take full control with this socialist form of activist judiciary.  And we conservatives will sharply disallow such unelectable judicial activism. 

So my basic thought today is really a couple of simple questions. With complete knowledge of the present state of the union, who among us truly thinks that massive number of farm boys a century and a half ago would volunteer to fight this “War To Save The Union?” If those volunteers could entirely understand and grasp the full impact of how this country has morphed into the liberal socialist society in those future 21st Century days––would they choose to fight and die to preserve this union of increasing liberal progressivism? Perhaps likely not.

Old 34th New York Remembrance

34th NY Infantry Regiment Monument at
Antietam Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Maryland

Spend some time this month in remembrance of those fallen boys from the “Herkimer Regiment”, those forty-three souls of the Old 34th Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers (NYSV) who were killed the morning of September 17, 1862 at the American Civil War Battle of Antietam. Three-Hundred & Eleven men of the 34th NYSV were engaged that day – men who hailed from upstate New York – and most of them Herkimer County residents. The Herkimer boys were engaged in a brutal fight -– perhaps better described as an ambush -- with well hidden Confederate forces for about one-half hour just after 9 o’clock that morning. The majority of these honored dead were fighting in the “West Woods” section of the Antietam Battlefield, slightly northwest of the now famous Dunker Church. An impressive monument was dedicated in 1902 to the valiant officers and men of the 34th New York Infantry Regiment, standing guard on the exact battlefield location where they struggled that truly longest day. This 34th NY Infantry tribute is displayed in the above photo.

I’ve been doing some research on the 34th NYSV for several months now – and can truthfully report that the real story remains unknown (maybe always will due to conflicting reports). But I strongly tend towards very bad leadership at all levels of federal command that day…of course starting right at the top of Union command with the cautious, ineffective, even incompetent leadership of commanding General George McClellan. The carnage inflicted this day by both Blue and Grey, the bloodiest single day battle of the rebellion and in American history, was nearly too awful for words. I’ll relate just one moving report quoted from the notes made during the Antietam Battlefield 34th monument dedication on September 17, 1902:

“The writer at the dedication related the following incident of the battle: Milford N. Bullock, of Company K, was found dead on the field after the battle. The position in which he was lying indicated the painful circumstances of his death. He was lying on his back, his rifle by his side. The ramrod of his gun was in his hand, the lower end against the trigger of the gun, and the muzzle of the gun at his head. It appeared at the time that the wound he had received had not been sufficient to cause instant death; but, being in mortal agony, he had contrived to end his sufferings by taking his own life. He had placed the gun by his side; the muzzle at his head, and by means of the ramrod had succeeded in discharging it. The circumstances were all so painful, that his comrades, at the suggestion of Captain Northup, agreed that they would not mention them in their letters home. But now, after forty years, there is no harm in referring to them. Young Bullock was from Stratford, Herkimer County, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. His courage, his fidelity to duty were always unquestioned. His grave is not at home among his kindred, but far away, like that of so many others. He sleeps among the many unknown dead, in the great National Cemetery at Antietam; but we have never walked down those beautiful shaded aisles without feeling that we were again very near to our beloved comrade of those far-off days.” --Lt. L. N. Chapin


But today let’s just remember those forty-three men of the gallant 34th Infantry Regiment NYSV who made the supreme sacrifice the morning of September 17, 1862. Twelve of these 34th NYSV soldiers are buried with fellow New Yorkers in marked graves at the Antietam National Cemetery, the grave number is indicated following the soldier's name. Several more unidentifiable 34th NYSV soldiers rest in unknown graves in this hollowed ground. Here are the names of those killed-in-action or mortally-wounded-in-action on this single mid-September day:

· Adle, John H. C. -- Grave #826
· Allen, William G. -- Grave #834
· Armour, David C.
· Ashley, Sergt. Jacob J. C.
· Bailey, Henry C. -- Grave #845
· Beardsley, John G. -- Grave #524
· Bramley, Henry D.
· Buck, Martin A.
· Bullock, Milford N. K.
· Carey, Corp. David A.
· Cool, Stephen B.
· Coon, James E.
· Coonan, Patrick D.
· Crouch, Corp. David F.
· Dickson, John F.
· Donohoe, James A. -- Grave #832
· Easterbrook, Albert G. G.
· Eldridge, William E. G.
· Gadban, Lewis D.
· Gillman, Henry A. -- Grave #831
· Greek, Ezra I.
· Hartley, Robert H. A.
· Hawley, George A. E.
· Hayes, Dennis D.
· Helmer, Sergt. Aaron G.
· Hill, Second Lieut. Clarence E. H.
· Hicks, Lawrence G.
· Hubbell, Henry D.
· Jolly, Peter D. -- Grave #593
· Lewis, William K. -- Grave #844
· Ladew, Warren C. B.
· Lyon, First Sergt. Henry C. I.
· Mead, Sergt. Garland W. G.
· Murphy, John A.
· Mycue, John D.
· Keef, Corp. Arthur B.
· Orcutt, Alvin E. -- Grave #825
· Rhodes, Color Sergt. Chester S. H. -- Grave #828
· Rubbins, William G. -- Grave # 829
· Salisbury, William A. C. -- Grave #827
· Sashagra, Anthony D.
· Walby, Ralph B.
· White, Daniel E.

Note: the letter following the named dead is the Company within the 34th New York Infantry Regiment to which the man was assigned during the Battle of Antietam.


Another seventy-four men of the 34th New York were wounded-in-action on the morning of September 17, 1862 in their bloody engagement during the Battle of Antietam. Nine troops remain missing-in-action (MIA). Many of the MIA are no doubt buried in unknown graves at Antietam.