GEORGE AUGUSTUS McKEE -- 77th INFANTRYSURVIVED THE 77th INFANTRY UNSCATHED - George Augustus McKee, was theson of Irish immigrant John McKee and Flavilla Brewster, a directdescendant of William Brewster who came to North America on theMayflower. The couple were married in Plattsburgh in 1825 and their son,George, was born in 1836. The family settled on a farm in FranklinCounty and John died in 1851.George enlisted in the 77th Infantry in Keeseville on October 1, 1861.During the life of the regiment 1,541 men cycled through it, and duringthe three and a half years of its service, they suffered 481 casualties-- a 31.2% casualty rate -- including 110 men killed in action ormortally wounded.Fortunately, George who had mustered in as a corporal in SaratogaSprings, was not on any casualty list. The regiment was first in thefield at the Siege of Yorktown and was in most of the major battles inthe Eastern Theatre -- the Seven Days Battles, Antietam, Fredericksburg,Marye's Heights and Salem Church, Gettysburg, the Mine Run Campaign, TheWilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, many battles before Petersburgand in the Shenandoah Valley. They ended up their war on the AppomattoxCampaign.During his time with the regiment, he was promoted to sergeant and thento sergeant-major and re-enlisted for a bounty of \$300 in December1863.The 77th mustered out in June 1865, and George returned to FranklinCounty then moved to Rhode Island, married in 1881 and died there in1905.
