ALVAH S. HOWES -- 60th INFANTRY RETURNED TO ELLENBURG TO BE BURIED - During the last week of September in 1861, seven men enlisted in the 60th Infantry in Ellenburg. As soon as the regiment organized in Ogdensburg, they left for Washington on October 30, 1861. All the men were mustered into Captain James Ransom's Company H, with Alvah Howes as the wagoner. Alvah was born in East Beekmantown but was living in Ellenburg when he enlisted. At first the regiment guarded the railroads just south of Baltimore as part of General Dix's Division of the Army of the Potomac. In May 1862, they were in Harper's Ferry with the Department of the Shenandoah. Three months later, they joined General Pope's Campaign and then, at Antietam in September, they had their first four men killed. Their first battle was at Chancellorsville in May, and they suffered 66 casualties. Two months later they received 52 more casualties at Gettysburg defending Culp's Hill. After Gettysburg, the 60th went on the Chattanooga and Rossville Campaign under General Grant in Tennessee and Georgia and 50 more casualties ensued. In December 1863, Alvah re-enlisted for a bonus of $200 in Wauhatchie, TN. They were with the Atlanta Campaign when it started in May 1864. After the defeat of Atlanta, still with General Sherman, the regiment went on the March to the Sea. The regiment wintered near Savannah and then, in January 1865, joined the Campaign of the Carolinas to its conclusion with the surrender of General Johnston near Raleigh on April 26th. Alvah returned to Ellenburg to his wife, Betsy Vanarman, who he had married in 1863. He supported his family by working as a teamster. Later in life, the family moved to New Hampshire for work. The couple died there -- Betsy in 1913 of chronic nephritis, and Alvah of senile debility in 1918. Both are buried in the Ellenburg Corners Cemetery under one stone.
