FREDERICK SOULIA -CAVALRYMAN IN LOUISIANA, FLORIDA AND ALABAMA - One thousand eighthundred and ninety-four men cycled through the 2nd Veteran Cavalry.Frederick Flavian Soulia, who was noted as Frederick Soulin on theAdjutant General's Roster, was one of these men. He was on the list ofPeru men to be drafted, and on December 12, 1863, his time came toenlist. He and 42 men were enlisted in Plattsburgh that December. Mostwere assigned to Company H. The Empire Light Cavalry, as it was known,organized in Saratoga Springs and left for Washington by companies. Theystayed in the capital until March 1864, when they were sent South toparticipate in the Red River Campaign in Louisiana.From March to the end of May, they were in17 battles and skirmishes. Frederick, who five months previously hadbeen on a farm in Peasleeville, found that 77 men of the regiment hadbecome casualties in that time. From June to December the regiment had20 more engagements, all in Louisiana and mostly without casualties.Their last battle of the year on December 10th, at McLeod's Mills, LA,garnered 5 deaths and 6 injuries.In March and April 1865, still with the Department of the Gulf, they had8 more battles. This time they were in Alabama and Florida. Their lastday in the field was at Whistler's Station in Alabama on April 12th.Frederick was discharged on August 23, 1865, in Talladega, AL, and cameback to Peasleeville to farm for the rest of his life. He married andhad several children, and the 1880 Census shows that his widowed motherand two sisters were living with him and his wife, Rosalie Frenyea.Frederick applied for and received an Invalid's Pension in 1879, and in1890, the Veterans Schedules show his only ailment was a "disability inthe right elbow". He died on May 19, 1913 and was buried in St.Augustine's Cemetery in Peru with several other Civil War veterans.Rosalie started receiving her Widow's Pension on June 4, 1913 and itcontinued until she died in 1932. She and Frederick are buried under thesame stone.
