JAMES WILSON -- 16th INFANTRY and 153rd INFANTRYDIED IN MICHIGAN A FEW YEARS AFTER THE WAR - In the book, "From Bull Run to Chancellorsville", the history of the 16th Infantry, Newton Martin Curtis claims two things. The first is that James Wilson was wounded in the Battle of Gaines' Mill and was discharged with a disability shortly thereafter. The second was that, in the Regimental Roster at the end of his book, James W. Wilson re-enlisted as Albert A. Wilson who mustered out on October 7, 1865, at the Soldiers' Home in Leavenworth, KS.The Adjutant General's Report of 1865 says that James, who was known as John in some records, enlisted on May 2, 1861, in East Chazy and was mustered into Company E as a private on May 15th to serve for 2 years. It also says he was dropped from the 16th on October 15, 1862, with no further record. This would fit the timeline of being injured at Gaines' Mill which was on June 27th and where they had 173 men injured. They could have lost track of James through some clerical omission in a hospital. Family history also notes that while he was with the 16th, he contracted smallpox. Did he stay in the capital area while he was recovering from his wounds and his disease?James second Muster Roll Abstract shows he enlisted in the 153rd Infantry in Washington, DC. On February 3, 1864 and was mustered into Company I on February 4th. During that same month, he was promoted to corporal possibly because of his previous service in the 16th. There is a separate Muster Roll Abstract for Albert A. Wilson, but he was only 5' 4" while James was over 5' 10", so it looks like Curtis combined the two men.Our soldier was born in Peru, the son of William Wilson and Hannah Staves. He mustered out of the 153rd Infantry on October 2, 1865, at Savannah, GA, and came home. James moved to Michigan with his family shortly after the war and a sister, Elizabeth, was born there in 1868. He married Ellen Dunning in Hartford, MI, in 1871. A daughter, Mattie Mae, was born to the couple in 1873 and, a year after that, James died in St. Joseph, on the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan about 90 miles from Chicago. Both his parents died in 1901. One of Mattie Mae\'s daughters lived until 1999.The book, "From Bull Run to Chancellorsville." Can be found in Google Books.
