GEORGE and KINNEAR NEWCOMB -- 2nd CAVALRYPENSIONS GRANTED FOR BOTH BROTHERS - BySeptember 8, 1862, the 2nd Cavalry included two Newcomb brothers intheir ranks. A year after George Henry Newcomb enlisted in Plattsburgh,his brother, Kinnear Samuel, enlisted in the same regiment and wasassigned to George's Company B. At his enlistment George had beenappointed corporal and Kinnear was later to achieve that rank.Just before Kinnear joined his brother, George had been in GeneralPope's month-long campaign in Virginia in August 1862 and they werepreparing to go to Maryland to meet General Lee's Army at Antietam. Thebrother's first detail together was to be the escort in the I Corps forMajor General Joseph Hooker and Brigadier General George Meade at theBattle of Antietam on September 17th. After the battle, the regimenthad 11 more engagements in Virginia before they went into winterquarters.After the roads had dried enough for travel, the 2nd Cavalry was onthe road again starting with an engagement at Rappahannock Station onApril 14, 1863. They were in about 10 more battles and skirmishes beforethey found themselves at Brandy Station on June 3rd. George wentmissing in action and his Muster Roll Abstract says he became a prisonerof war. Nothing further is reported for George. In 1890, his father,Samuel, applied for a pension based on his son's service, but it wasn'tprocessed due to his own death in 1891. Angelina Newcomb Newcomb, hismother, applied for the pension when her husband died, and she receivedit until her death in 1905 at age 91. There is a memorial bearingGeorge's name in the Union Cemetery in Morrisonville.Heavy action followed George's death in June and Kinnear continued withthe regiment through September 22 when he was captured at Liberty Mills,VA, with over 70 men from his regiment. He was in Rebel hands untilMarch 7, 1864 and released at City Point on the James River nearPetersburg.In 1864, Kinnear was transferred to Company C and promoted to corporaland spent the rest of the year near in the Richmond/Petersburg area. A4-month hiatus followed the fighting in December 1864, and they joinedthe Appomattox Campaign on March 29, 1865, following Lee to Appomattox,VA, as part of the 3rd Division of the Cavalry Corps under BrevettedMajor General George Armstrong Custer. Kinnear was mustered out on June5, 1865, at Alexandria, VA, just downstream from the capital.He returned home to Plattsburgh to resume farming. In 1870, he marriedMinta Watkins, and when she died in 1889, married Laura Emerson. Theymoved to Belleville, NY, where he died in 1911. Laura died in 1941 withthe help of her Widows Pension and was buried with him in the WoodsideCemetery there.
