My ancestor Egbert Hixon (b. Medway, Mass. 1824) was in the 1st Mass. (Andrew) Sharpshooters in 1862 during the Peninsular Campaign. According to his diary he was pretty miserable. He wrote on July 23: "Wrote a letter to [illegible] W. Fisher but it won't do any good." Maybe he was trying to get a discharge. If he was, what sort of person might he have written to -- an elected official, or a judge, or a minister? I'm trying to figure out who Fisher was. Can't tell whether the illegible word was a title or a first name. Suggestions and pointers appreciated! Carol Botteron <[email protected]> Maintainer, Civil War Units File P.S. This ancestor died in 1864 of malaria that he caught in 1862. I wish he had got his discharge.

Help me if you can, please! I am searching for a copy of General Orders, No. 189, War Department which is embodied in "Instructions for making ordnance returns, prepared by the Ordnance Bureau, Washington, D.C., 1863" Among other things, it deals with the appointment of regimental armorers. I know that it is not to be found in the O.R. However, it is referred to in an 1863 report of Horace N. Fisher in the O.R. Thanks for anything you might be able to do for me on this. JOY