JOHN O'CONNELL -- 60th INFANTRYSPENT ALMOST 4 YEARS IN THE WAR - While travelling along what is nowRte. 3, on September 21, 1861, the recruiter for the 60th Infantry,enlisted 6 men in the hamlet of Elsinore on the Saranac River on thesoutheastern edge of the Town of Saranac. John O'Connell, a sawyer, wasone of the men. He was born in Cohoes, NY, on September 29, 1838, toMichael O'Connell and Catherine Carroll.On October 30th, John was mustered into the regiment in Ogdensburg andthey left for Washington on the same day. In May 1862, they were atHarper's Ferry and then, a few miles to the north, they were atAntietam, MD, on September 17th, and had 22 casualties. In 1863, theyhad over 150 more casualties at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and LookoutMountain.The regiment spent most of 1864 in Georgia and received over 80casualties. Starting in May, the 60th were in the Atlanta Campaign, andbefore they went into winter quarters, they were in the March to the seawith Sherman. They ended up in Savannah in December where here-enlisted. Starting in January 26, 1865, they were on the march againthrough the Carolinas and were at the Bennett Farm in North Carolina forthe surrender of General Johnston to General Sherman on April 26th.On July 5, 1865, he was promoted corporal just before he mustered out onJuly 17, 1865, in Alexandria, VA.When he returned to Saranac, he gave the Town Clerk a list of theengagements he'd been in - Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville,and Gettysburg, Wauhatchie, TN, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge,Ringgold, GA, Wausaca, Dallas, Eight Days, Peach Tree Creek, Siege ofAtlanta, Siege of Savannah, Bentonville, and Raleigh, NC.John died in 1895, and is buried in St. James Cemetery in Cadyville.
