GILBERT MARVIN SHEDD BIGELOW -- 96th INFANTRYON THIS DAY IN 1862 -- 157 YEARS AGO - Gilbert Marvin Shedd Bigelow wasdischarged for disability.He enlisted as Gilbert N. Biglow, in the 96th Infantry on February 3,1862, in Plattsburgh, was mustered into Captain Darius Parsons' CompanyB three weeks later and, under Colonel James Fairman, left forWashington by train on March 11th.Gilbert's first engagement was at the Siege of Yorktown with the Army ofthe Potomac in April and the regiment fought on the Virginia Peninsulathrough the summer and fall of the year. Their bloodiest single battlewas that of Fair Oaks in May where they had 58 casualties. In June,during the Seven Days' Battles, they had 1 man killed in action and 80men captured by the enemy.Just before the 96th was to go on the Expedition from Goldsboro to NewBern in December, Gilbert was discharged for disability on November 28,1862, at Suffolk, VA.He returned home to his wife, Matilda Cooley, who he had married inSaranac in 1856, and their two children. In June of 1863, his motherLouisa Shedd, died in Gilbert's home state of Vermont, leaving hisfather, Marvin, a widower for the next forty years until he died in 1902at 96 years of age.On December 18, 1865, Gilbert applied for an Invalid's Pension andreceived it until he died. By 1870, he and his family, which includedtwo more children, moved to Newport, MN, with some members of the Cooleyfamily. He farmed for the rest of his life near the Mississippi Riverjust a few miles south of Minneapolis.He and Matilda are buried in the small Red Rock Cemetery in Newport, MN.Unfortunately, his gravestone says he was with the 96th Cavalry ratherthan the 96th Infantry. New York sent only 35 cavalry regiments towar.
