Alpheus Bowen was a farmer from Bureau County Illinois who enlisted in the 31st Illinois Infantry, I believe, but was later attached to the 15th Connecticut. He was killed at Wyse''s Fork in March 1865. There is a gravestone in his honor at the family cemetery in rural Walnut, IL, but I believe he may be buried as one of the 55 nameless dead marked and buried at the New Bern, NC National Cemetery in the 15th Connecticut section.

No comments

I have in my possession thirty long letters in fairly elegant copperplate script sent from the field covering the time from 1862, when the unit was formed, to 1865. These have been transcribed several times but not published as of 2020. Twenty letters are to his first wife, Fannie Wolcott Farnsworth (and infant daughter), living in Meriden, Connecticut, and eleven letters are to his brother, Henry Farnsworth, living in New York City, with whom he was very close.

An eleventh letter, not in my personal possession, to Henry was forwarded to and published by the New York Times, as it was current news in 1865 and gives a vivid account of the Battle of Wyse's Forks, North Carolina, one of the last major battles of the Civil War, which had very nearly cost Horace his life. A rich modern discussion of this battle is now available in the recently published researches of Wade Sokolosky.


H.F. Farnsworth enlisted rather precipitately (his only daughter by Fannie, Henrietta, was born December 25, 1862; his only son by Frances, Whitcomb Horace, was not born until well after the war, on January 16,1869) and was enrolled in Company A--all of whom were from Meriden--of the 15th Connecticut Volunteers ('Casey's Pets') as a Private. By the end of the war he was acting as the Company Clerk. Almost all of the letters are very circumstantial and provide very good background information. Most of them are quite intimate appraisals of soldiering and of the camp life, including the observations and opinions of himself and his fellow soldiers. He was comfortable with writing, quite literate, and usually wrote four pages of narrative and description on the lined, folded letter paper of the time.


He returned at the end of the war and lived until September 2, 1920. His beloved second wife survived him by eleven years. There is some collateral material as well--two envelopes, one of which is a 'patriotic cover,' photographs of husband and wife, a photograph of Etta as a child, two of him marching in uniform with the G.A.R., a wedding announcement for Etta.


He was my maternal great great grandfather, and the letters descended to me through my mother.

The death of Ebenezer K. Davis, of 74 Perkins street, serves to recall to many veterans of the Fifteenth regiment his zealousness on an important occasion in which he saved the lives of the entire command. The regiment had orders to proceed north to be mustered out, and in June, 1865, the command, numbering between 300 and 400 men, embarked on a schooner at Newberne, N. C. After proceeding out by Hatteras a severe storm broke and the captain was at his wits' end to navigate the ship, which was pitching in the great seas in a threatening manner and it seemed as if she would founder with all on board. Finally the colonel of the regiment, perceiving the great peril, called, the captain and asked what he proposed to do. The navigator replied that he had done all he could and could suggest nothing further. The colonel then called for volunteers to navigate the ship, and Ebenezer Davis was one of the first to respond. He said he had had experience at sea and offered to take command of the imperiled schooner. He was placed in charge, and, with his volunteer assistants, the ship was made as snug as possible and was enabled to ride out the terrible storm with better prospect of surviving. The schooner was successfully navigated up the coast and came into New York harbor on the morning of the Fourth of July, 1865. The remnant of the Fifteenth regiment was brought to New Haven on a special train drawn by two locomotives, landed at Belle dock and the soldiers marched up town and were given a reception by the citizens at the old state house in the evening. Mr. Davis was a member of Company B, to which several Fair Haven members belonged. He was a painter by trade and had been employed for several years by the Jefferson company. In winter he opened oysters and was working for Lancraft Brothers only a few days ago. He was seventy-eight years of age and was uncommonly active for a man of his years. He leaves a widow and two daughters.
Funeral services will be held this afternoon at 2 o'clock In the Memorial chapel of the Fair Haven cemetery and Rev. E. W. Stone, of the Grand avenue Baptist church, will officiate. A delegation from Admiral Foote post, G.A.R., of which the deceased was a member, will have charge of the burial services.


The daily morning journal and courier. [volume LXVIII. No. 7], Wednesday, January 08, 1902, Page 5, Image 5
About The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907

No comments

Thomas' diary for March - September 1865 in in the special collections department at University of North Carolina
www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/c/Carey,Thomas_J.html Relatives are currently working on a full transcription.

Alvah J Cook was born about 1839 in Connecticut. He was the son of Sylvester Cook and Marietta (Hall) Cook. He enlisted August 15, 1862 and died October 13, 1864 (presumably from sickness or from wounds incurred from a previous battle) and is burried at Old Cemetery, Newbern, North Carolina.

Fought at:

12 Dec 1862 at Fredericksburg, VA.
13 Dec 1862 at Fredericksburg, VA.
24 Apr 1863 at Suffolk, VA.
24 Apr 1863 at Edenton Road, VA.
3 May 1863 at Suffolk, VA.
3 May 1863 at Providence Church Road, VA.
4 May 1863 at Suffolk, VA.
15 May 1863 at Providence Church Road, VA.
25 May 1863 at Suffolk, VA.
18 Apr 1864 at Plymouth, NC.
20 Apr 1864 at Plymouth, NC.
21 Apr 1864 at Plymouth, NC.
30 Jul 1864 at Petersburg, VA.

william jones was my greatgrandfather enrolled on 20th of aug 1862 discharged 27th june 1865 new bern nc by reason of general order no.73

No comments

Died at Andersonville Sept. 2, 1864. Has anyone more info?