Memorial Day Remenbrance My great great grandfather Andrew McGraw and his 3 sons; Barnard, Andrew Jr., andThomas Henry enlisted 22 Sept 1861 Maine 9th Inf. Regt. Andrew died Morris Island SC 19 Sept 1863, Barnard age 24 was taken prisoner 3 Nov 1861 was exchanged in 1862 returned to unit, returned home 1864, died at age 92. Andrew Jr. age 18 my great grandfather took a 'ball' in the neck at the battle of Fort Wagner Jul 1863, re-enlisted, returned home in 1865. Thomas Henry age 16 had arm amputated at Battle for Petersburg 21 Jul 1864, returned home. My father fought in France in WWI. My brother fought in WWII. I served during Korean War and Vietnam having enlisted in 1948 and retired from Air Force in 1969. My son served the US Air Force for 4 years. Proud American -----Original Message----- From: civil-war-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:civil-war-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Ted Myers Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 9:56 PM To: civil-war@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CIVIL-WAR] Memorial Day Ken I have the honor of coming from a long line of military men in my family. From the coloniel wars to Iraq. My grandfather served in the civil war along with his four brothers. However my grandfather was a POW and died in Florence Stockade,SC..The other three made it back. I also had a cousin who died in the war. And a cousin that served in the 68th Ohio and became a Major General and had Earned the Medal of Honor, He was John Wilson Sprague. And two uncles that served in WWII one a B-17 Pilot the other fighter pilot. My grandfather served in WWI with the 28th Division and so on. As for myself I spent 10 years in the Air Force as an In Flight Refueler, and 16 years in the Army. Ted --- Kennth Russeau <KRusseau@webtv.net> wrote: > My gandfather served from 1862 to 1865 an honorable > discharge. Fought in > 13 battles. hes brother took the place of another > for pay I persume & > deserted going to camp, How d yo figure something > like that? I don't > know what hapended to him. HUmmmmmmm. > > Have a musket, " ball"! Ken. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to CIVIL-WAR-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CIVIL-WAR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

After reading the post about Don's Great Grandfather taking a ball at Fort Wagner, I had to say, that one ball may have come from the North Carolina 61st Regiment. Two of my ancestors were in the NC 61st, Major Henry Harding and Sergeant Major William H. von Eberstein. After the war, von Eberstein wrote his memoirs and told of the fight at Battery Wagner. Here are some excerpts from it. "On the 10th of July 1863 the U.S. Troops under Genl Gilmore captured part of Moris Island with the assistance of the U.S. Gun boats. On the 11" the U.S. Troops attacked Battery Wagner under Genl Gilmore. they were repulsed with very heavy loss from that time until the 18/9" of July. It was continual bombardment of the Battery. on the night of 18/9" Genl Clingman's Troops assaulted Battery Wagner after the Ironsides and the balance of the fleet and their land batteries had given us one of the heavest bombardsment on record. They repulsed with very heavy loss by our troops. as soon as we found out the attacking force were Negros the cry of no quarters was given and I assure you few escaped. There were no prisoners taken. They loss as reported by the Yankees being 700 but I am sure there were not less than 800. Brig Genl Strong of the U.S. who led them received his death wound of which he died on the 30" of the month. Our loss was very small." One note: The assault that took place on July 18th included the infamous Massachusetts 54th of which the movie "Glory" was made about. "Whilst I was on Battery Wagner I had to do the duty of several of the officers of High Rank from Genl Hagoods Staff. On one occasion I had to show the Generals Ordinance Office who was commissioned a first Lieut how to strap and fuse shell ready for use and many other parts of his duty. At another time a very important gun had been dismounted by the Yankee shot. it was the only one that could be brought to bear upon them. General Hagoods Chief of Artillery on his Staff Maj Wally(?) had reported to the Genl that it could not be mounted until night that it would take 100 men to amount it and require a gin with a fall. The South Carolina Artillerist were discussing the matter and agreeing with the Chief of Artillery. I and several officers and men of our Regt the 61st hearing them, told them that I could mount that gun in twenty minutes under the heavy fire which we were under going at the time. We were quarreling about it and the South Carolinian's saying that that was only North Carolina bragging. Lieut Coln Wm Devane, hearing them came forward and told them that it could be done for he knew me and if I said it could be done it was a settled fact. Genrl Haygood hearing the rumpus came and asked what was the matter. Coln Devane told him what had taken place. He replied & say also it can be done. He asked me if I would do it. I told him I would certainly mount it in twenty minutes if he would order me a detail of officers and men from that Charleston Artillery Company as I wished to learn them part of their duties. General Haygood gave me the Detail asked for and in 19 minutes I had the Gun mounted, Loaded with canister and fired upon the Yankees I pulling the lanyard myself." Later, von Eberstein was seriously wounded while working to set up some defenses on the island, but recovered to continue his service. Later in the war, he was wounded a couple of more times. Because of his injuries, he applied for the position of Ordinance Officer at Washington, NC as he was no longer fit for field duty. While they were in Petersburg, General Hagood wrote a letter to General Beauregard on behalf of von Eberstein and his performance in South Carolina. The letter was included with the memoirs and reads: HeadQuarters Official Haygoods Brigade Trenches before Petersburg 11 Aug 1864 Sergt Maj Wm H von Eberstein 61st N Ca Troops informs me that He is an applicant for a position in the Ordinance Department and asks for a statement of his services with me. Upon one occasion at Battery Wagner last year, An important gun had been dismounted, and the very competent Ordinance and Artillery Officers then on duty had reported to me their inability to remount it before night when gins etc could be used. Sergt von Eberstein volunteered to replace it at once if I would give him a detail and succeeded in doing it under a heavy fire & in a short time by the ingenious application of very simple means. This attracted my attention to the Sergt & during the balance of his services at the Battery he impressed me as a brave and efficient soldier. Johnson Hagood B.G. About three years or so ago, I was extremely lucky to find a signed copy of an excellent book about Battery Wagner and what happened there. The book is "Battery Wagner - The Siege, The Men Who Fought, and the Casualties" and it was written by Timothy Bradshaw, Jr. The book includes diagrams of the battery, maps, and pictures to go along with the rest of it. Something of interest is that Battery Wagner was named after Lieutenant Colonel Thomas M. Wagner of the 1st South Carolina Artillery. He was killed on July 17, 1862 from an explosion of a gun he was inspecting at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island. I hope I haven't rambled on too much but thought I'd give a bit of history from a first hand account of someone who was there. Edward

Hi Don, I've been busy and haven't been keeping up with all my Lists. I'm just finding your note and I'm pretty sure my ancestor, Joseph KIDDER, was in the "9th Maine." He fought in Fort Fernandina, FL, and was "seriously injured." He did recover and went home to Princeton, ME. I just read something, somewhere, where he once ran a silk scarf through his shoulder (?) to show where his serious injury was. Several people have told me there is a "KIDDER plot" in the cemetery in Princeton, but no one has offered to take a picture of it for me. Also, maybe 3-4 years ago there was a little ceremony in Princeton where they honored the Civil War soldiers, but no one sent me information on that, either. I wish I could travel to Calais and Princeton and visit the area and see where the KIDDER's lived (from 1830 on). Betty (near Lowell, MA) (It's ~6 am here, and, if I'm remembering wrong, I'll try to get the correct info.) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Ondracek" <dondra30@bellsouth.net> To: <civil-war@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 11:35 PM Subject: Re: [CIVIL-WAR] Memorial Day > Memorial Day Remenbrance > My great great grandfather Andrew McGraw and his 3 sons; Barnard, Andrew > Jr., andThomas Henry enlisted 22 Sept 1861 Maine 9th Inf. Regt. > Andrew died Morris Island SC 19 Sept 1863, Barnard age 24 was taken > prisoner 3 Nov 1861 was exchanged in 1862 returned to unit, returned home > 1864, died at age 92. Andrew Jr. age 18 my great grandfather took a > 'ball' > in the neck at the battle of Fort Wagner Jul 1863, re-enlisted, returned > home in 1865. Thomas Henry age 16 had arm amputated at Battle for > Petersburg 21 Jul 1864, returned home. > My father fought in France in WWI. My brother fought in WWII. I served > during Korean War and Vietnam having enlisted in 1948 and retired from Air > Force in 1969. > My son served the US Air Force for 4 years. > > Proud American