FRANKLIN RICHARD BENTLEY – 10th INFANTRYGOT A TOTAL OF $600 FOR ENLISTING - Franklin Richard Bentley enlisted in the 10th Infantry in Plattsburgh on August 18, 1864, for a bounty of $300. In addition, he also received $300 for being a substitute for Hiram M. Cool from Glens Falls. Frank and 20 other men from the Plattsburgh area were sent to the Petersburg area to be with the Army of the Potomac. Of that group two were killed in action, two were wounded, one deserted and one died of disease at the Soldiers Home in New York City while the regiment was on its way home from the war.Frank’s first battle was at the Boydton Plank Road where they fought on October 27th and 28th receiving eight casualties. One more battle was fought that year – Hatcher’s Run – and they had two casualties out of about 300 men they had in the field.The 10th came out of winter quarters in 1865 for the Battle of White Oak Ridge at the end of March. Two days later, they were at the Fall of Petersburgh which was followed by the Appomattox Campaign in which they had two men injured.Franklin returned to Warren County where he was living in Queensbury. In later life, he moved to Glens Falls and supported his family as a carpenter. He married Marietta Carpenter in 1893, and she died in 1929. He spent some time in the newly-built Old Soldiers Hospital in Marion, IN, in the 1890s. At the time he was receiving a pension of $12. He was released on his own recognizance in February 1893. The buildings are very similar to those at the Plattsburgh Barracks.Hiram Cool, for whom he was a substitute, died in 1904 and was buried in the Glens Falls Cemetery. Franklin died at ninety-seven years old in Glens Falls in 1943 and was buried in the same cemetery.
