EUSEBE CAYEA -- 96th INFANTRYWE HAVE HIS BAYONET AND SCABBARD AT CCHA - The man who enlisted inDannemora in the 96th Infantry on November 20, 1861, was known as EusebeKeyea, Zebulon Cayea and Usib Kaya, among other variations. He was bornin Quebec or Canada East as they called it then, to Joseph Cayea andMary Bushy, on June 29, 1841. When he mustered in, he promised to servefor 3 years, but served for only about a third of what he promised.The 96th, known as the Plattsburg Regiment, was recruited mainly in thePlattsburgh area. Zeb was mustered in to Company B with 20 other men whoenlisted in Dannemora. They left for Washington on March 11, 1862, andwere assigned to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 4th Corps, and were soonsent to the Virginia Peninsula to be part of the Siege of Yorktown whichtook place from April 17th to May 2nd. During a 3-day period at the endof May and beginning of June, they were in the Battles of Seven Pinesand Fair Oaks and had 13 men killed or mortally wounded, 30 injured and20 who were captured or went missing.Between June 25 and July 2 in the Seven Days' Battles, the regiment had1 man killed and 80 captured by the Confederates. Zeb was in only onemore engagement at Blackwater, when they forayed out from Camp Hamilton,on October 3, 1862. Five weeks later, the 20-year-old was dismissed fordisability before the regiment went to North Carolina and came home tofarm.He married Elizabeth St. Germain and had several children. When the JohnSilas Stone G. A. R. Post opened in Saranac, he joined the organizationand attended the meetings in Pickett's Hall. Zeb is also recorded in the1890 Veterans Schedules for the Town of Dannemora, with no record of anydisabilities -- unusual for the time.Zeb and Elizabeth are buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Dannemora. Hedied on June 21, 1905 and Elizabeth died in 1924.The Clinton County Historical Association has Zeb's bayonet and scabbardin its collection.\ Share this post with your Cayea relatives and seemore Clinton County Civil War soldiers at:https://www.facebook.com/clintoncountynycivilwar/
