JOHN DOUGLAS and CHARLES D. MORTON -- 96th INFANTRYOVER 50 YEARS OLD WHEN HE ENLISTED - On December 18, 1861, two menenlisted in the 96th Infantry in Black Brook -- John Douglas and CharlesD. Morton. They were assigned to Company H when they mustered in on thesame day. Only Charles returned. John died of disease in Washington onMay 2, 1862, at 20 years old. Charles, who was born in Canada, was over20 years older than John. His Muster Roll Abstract gives his age as 44,but his gravestone in the Redford Cemetery says he was born in 1810,making him over 50 years old.Company H's Captain was David Dobie who later became the Warden ofClinton Prison. Under the Captain, they didn't leave for Washingtonuntil March 11, 1862, to join the Army of the Potomac. Less than a monthlater, they were a disgruntled regiment at the Siege of Yorktown. Johnhad stayed in hospital in Washington while Charles went forward with theregiment. In, "The Military and Civil History of the County of Essex,NY," which can be found in Google Books, the author, Winslow Watson,says that the 96th was hurried into the Peninsula Campaign "before thehabits of the troops were adapted to field duty, and while they were yetunacclimated."Charles didn't fare much better than John. They left the Siege ofYorktown on May 4th, on May 5th, they were at Williamsburg, and by theend of the month, had been in 3 more battles. At Seven Pine, there were5 casualties, at Fair Oaks, 58 casualties and through the Seven Days'Battles in July and August, had 81 more casualties, including 79 whowent missing or were captured.After the last battle of the Seven Days' Battles, at Carter's Hill, VA,the regiment went into hiatus, and were transferred to the Department ofVirginia. On October 3rd, they had an engagement at Blackwater, VA, andthen, before they went on the Expedition from New Berne to Goldsboro,NC, in December, Charles was dismissed for disability on October 18th,at Fort McHenry in Baltimore Maryland, where he had been assigned.He returned home. In 1883, Charles applied for an Invalid's Pension, andin 1892, was living in Saranac. When he died in 1893, Julia, his wife,started receiving a Widow's Pension. He is buried in the RedfordCemetery.In 1900, a notification in the Plattsburgh Sentinel shows the approvalof an expenditure of \$15 for each deceased soldier's gravestone - 7years after his death The paper also shows that burials for old soldierswere \$35. Read about it on column 5 about ¾ of the way down, in theJanuary 12, 1900, Plattsburgh Sentinel -http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/\.../1900-01-06/ed-1/seq-1/
