HENRY T. TAFT -- 153rd INFANTRYTHERE IS NO WAR IN HEAVEN -- The 153rd Infantry was formed in Fonda,NY, a year and a half into the Civil War. One of the men who wasrecruited for Company K was Henry T. Taft who enlisted in Ellenburg withthirty-nine other men. The full company of eighty-nine men was completedby men from Altona, Mooers and Queensbury under Captain Frank Chitty.When they left for Washington on October 18, 1862, they were three short-- two who didn't muster in and one who refused to be mustered.Their first duty was as provost guard in Alexandria with the MilitaryDistrict of Washington. During most of 1863 they did garrison and guardduty about the capital with the Department of Washington, DC. Henry wasdischarged for disability on November 21, 1863, before the regiment leftfor the Red River Campaign.About a month after he returned to his parent's farm in EllenburgCenter, he died on December 27, 1863, and was buried in the HutchinsCemetery. His stone bears the inscription, "There is no war in heaven."In 1891, a pension was granted to Henry's mother, Mary, based on hisservice.
