ELI JOSEPH DESCHAMPS -- 34th INFANTRYCORPORAL FROM QUEBEC - Eli (Hilaire) Joseph Deschamps was born inLacolle, Quebec, to Francois Deschamps and Esther Eus. He arrived inChamplain in April 1861, and by May 22nd had enlisted in the 34thInfantry, a new regiment, as it was recruiting. He was mustered intoCompany D as a corporal in Albany where the regiment organized.The 34th, a 2-year regiment, left for Washington in early July, theyencamped at Kalorama Heights in the northwest of the capital beforeheading west along the Potomac. In September and October, they wereengaged on the north shore of the river in Maryland and had three menkilled in three battles.The regiment remained in camp at Poolesville, MD for the winter and inFebruary marched to Harpers Ferry 30 miles upstream. By April they hadbeen ordered to the Siege of Yorktown on the southern end of theVirginia Peninsula. After Yorktown, the men started to march towardRichmond and in May had a bloody battle at Fair Oaks where they had 97casualties in 3 days including 29 deaths and 65 wounded. The Seven Days'Battles ensued in June where they had 62 more casualties.They returned to Alexandria, VA, and after a brief hiatus, were on theway to the Maryland Campaign. On September 17th they were in theirbloodiest battle. Antietam cost them another 154 casualties. The 34thgathered its resources and, with an infusion of new men, marched 20miles to the east to organize at Falmouth before crossing the river inDecember to participate in the Battle of Fredericksburg. They had 33more casualties and pulled back across the river to wait until May 1863for another attack.During the Chancellorsville Campaign where the Army of the Potomac with134,000 men met on the battlefield with the Army of Northern Virginia's60,000 men. Between April 30th and May 6th, the North suffered17,000+ casualties and the South had almost 13,000. The North had 5,919men captured or missing in action and the South had 2,000 captured ormissing.The life-span of the regiment came to its end after the battle and theywere mustered out on June 30, 1863, after two years of service.Almost as soon as Eli returned north, he moved to Massachusetts forwork. He married Olympia Letellier in Springfield in 1868 and becamenaturalized a few years later. Eli supported his family by working as acarpenter in various factories. He died in 1897 and was buried in theSt. Michael's Cemetery in Springfield. Olympia died in 1924, and theirson, Louis, lived until 1962 and died in Chicago.
