Here's the message to Vee forwarded to the group... Vee, not to worry over the order of your notes. They're fantastic. I'd love to know more about how the folks back home in NY coped during the war. I sit here today amongst many reminders of that war. I live just outside of Richmond VA, Capitol of the Confederacy. There are many reenactments of battles around in Virginia. As for the Battle of Cold Harbor, I've looked into it some since I learned that my great great uncle, Samuel Bullen of Somerset NY was in it. He was wounded in the June 3 battle and taken prisoner of war to Belle Isle prison camp in the James River, Richmond Va, where he died about 3 weeks later. Never knowing even of his existence until genealogy, I was shocked to learn that his body was taken up from its place of burial there, where it was identified, and reinterred in 1866 in Richmond National Cemetery, where it could no longer be identified and he became one of over 5,400 "Unknowns" buried, sometimes 3 to a grave. I wonder how he would have felt knowing that a great granddaughter of his older brother would one day be living where so many battles had taken place and near where he had taken that fateful bullet. I learned about what happened to him by finding accidentally that my great great great grandmother, Mary (Rathbun) Bullen had applied for a mother's widow pension for her son's service. Her own husband, father of Samuel, also named Samuel Bullen had died in 1863 but had not served to my present knowledge. I married a great grandson of one of the NC men who fought near here too. I don't think he was in the Battle of Cold Harbor though. He did fight in Petersburg, just down the road, and was present during the crater incident and was at the surrender at Appomatox, having served since 1862. He was promoted to major and ended up being the highest ranking officer of his regiment at Appomatox. I wonder if he was one of those North Carolinians who offered to continue fighting if Lee wished them to? He wrote in a diary about that fact and said that Lee just looked at them and said, a tear falling from his eye, "God bless old North Carolina." For various reasons Grant delayed the start of the Battle of Cold Harbor by a day, affording Lee an opportunity to get his men deeply intrenched. This fact did not go unnoticed by the men and they were seen pinning nametags to their uniforms the night before so that their bodies could be identified later. When the cannons exploded the next morning, they could be heard all the way in city of Richmond and window panes shook in the houses here. Some of Grant's lines experienced broken flanks and men got within a stone's throw of Lee's troops and were seen using a cup or plate or anything handy in desperate attempt to try and dig themselves some cover from the bullets of Lee's guns while Reb eyes watched. The soil here is mostly clay and hard as a rock at times. I can't imagine walking into a group of armed enemy even under cover of cannon smoke and gray dawn. Such bravery! Barb Petty >Well, I guess I posted the previous three message in the wrong order. But, >hey, I kinda indicated that I'm not in my right mind right now! :-) >Nonetheless, I hope you got the feeling of how the Civil War touched the >Town of Porter here in Niagara County. >vee >

Barb, your message touched me deeply. My great grandfather died as a result of that battle. He was 2nd Lt. Thomas L. Holt from Panola Co., Ms. We have never been able to find his burial place. He was wounded on June 25th and died July 12. If you have read very much on that battle then you know how terrible it was. Pam Holt Howard -- ----------------------------------------------------- Click here for Free Video!! http://www.gohip.com/freevideo/