AMOS COLLINS -- 118th INFANTRYDIED IN RICHMOND AS POW - When he was nineteen years old, Amos Collins,the son of Samuel Collins and Mary Ann Perkins was living of thefamily's 50-acre farm in Saranac. He enlisted in the 118th Infantry onNovember 11, 1863, in Plattsburgh and received a county bounty of \$400.He met up with his regiment while they were in winter quarters atNewport News, VA.In January 1864, the regiment was on the march to Williamsburg abouttwenty miles to the north and, after a minor battle, returned to NewportNews to get on transports to go upriver. By May 4th they were encampedat Yorktown. They got on transports again and arrived at Bermuda Hundredand fought and skirmished their way north until, on May 15th, they wereholding the captured works near Fort Darling on Drewry's Bluff.The next day the 118th was engaged in the Battle of Drewry's Bluff. Theseverest fighting was early in the morning and by evening, as it said inthe regiment's history, Three Years With the Adirondack Regiment, "theywere a benumbed remnant of what they were in the morning. Many weresuffering from wounds too slight to justify going to the rear orhospital...Ours is a solemn, sad and silent camp."During the battle, Amos received a gunshot wound in the arm and wascaptured by the enemy. His arm was amputated, and he died as a result ofhis wound in Richmond, less than ten miles to the north of the battle.He was buried in Richmond, and supposedly, there is a plot for him inRichmond National Cemetery, although the site is listed as "unknown."
