ELI, MARSHALL, OCTAVIUS and TUFFIELDRACETTE -- 91st INFANTRYFOUR BROTHERS WENT TO WAR - On August 19, 1864, three brothers enlistedin the 91st Infantry -- Eli, Marshall and Octavius Racette. Two weekslater, a fourth brother enlisted, Tuffield. They were the sons ofTheophile Racette and Rosalie Doucet, however, they were recorded asRassetts. The first three brothers received \$500 each for theirenlistment and Tuffield got \$800.They were recruited after the regiment got back from Louisiana wherethey suffered 149 casualties in the Siege of Port Hudson.In the fall of 1864, a number of the regiment's 3-year men re-enlistedand with the infusion of new recruits, including 131 men who enlisted inPlattsburgh with the brothers. They were assigned to Baltimore and then,in March 1865, the regiment except for one company, removed toPetersburg where they took part in the closing operations of the war --the Battle of Gravelly Run on March 31st, Five Forks on April 1st, MapleGrove on April 2nd, and the Surrender of General Lee on April 9th.The brothers made it safely through the Surrender, however, while theywere encamped near Arlington waiting to return home, Eli became ill anddied at the Lincoln Hospital about a mile north of the capitol and wasburied in the Soldiers Cemetery in Washington. Twelve other men diedwhile with the regiment.According to the Saranac Town Clerk's Records of 1865, Marshall,Octavius and Tuffield returned to Saranac. In 1871, Theophile, Sr.applied for and was granted a pension based on his dead son, Eli's,service. Tuffield, Jr. later named one of his sons Eli after his fallenbrother.
