ALSON H. SEVEY -- 96th INFANTRYONE OF 11 IN THE 96th WHO DIED OF TYPHOID - During its term ofservice, the 96th Infantry had 70 men who died of wounds, 36 who diedin Southern prisons and 124 who died of other causes such as disease.One of the men who died of disease was 17-year-old Alson H. Sevey whoenlisted in Mooers on October 26, 1861. He was mustered into CaptainJoseph Nichols' Company C in Plattsburgh on November 17th.The regiment drilled at the Plattsburgh Barracks until March 1862, whenthey left for Washington. They stayed in the capital until they left bytransports for the Virginia Peninsula and the Siege of Yorktown inmid-April. Alson didn't sail to Virginia. He was left behind at theCampbell Hospital near their encampment in northeast Washington.The hospital was originally designed as a barracks for cavalry, thebuildings at Florida Avenue and Sixth Street were converted to care fora steady stream of sick and wounded. It consisted of long, low,one-story buildings made of rough boards. These structures servedprimarily as wards, but the center building housed a dining room andkitchen. Eleven wards comprised six hundred beds. The Medical Departmentinstalled ridge ventilation in which the earth was cleared away from thewalls during summer for air movement. Louvered exits were used in winterwith inlets near the stoves.Luckily, the hospital was connected to the municipal water supply. Waterfrom the Potomac River was distributed to the wards. Waste water wascarried off by drains to sewers and every other ward had a bathroom andsinks that were kept clean by a running stream.He died of typhoid fever on May 27, 1862, and was buried in Section C inthe nearby Miliary Asylum Cemetery which later became the U. S.Soldiers\' and Airmen\'s Home National Cemetery.In 1870, Lorinda Sevey, Alson's mother, applied for and received apension based on her son's service.
