JOSEPH WELLS -- 124th INFANTRYSERVED 9 MONTHS OF HIS PROMISED YEAR - Joseph Wells was more than 15 years older than the average Civil War soldier when he enlisted in the 124th Infantry in Plattsburgh -- 44 years of age. He and 17 other men enlisted in September 1864 and expected to serve for 1 year -- 2 never returned. On September 1, 1864, Charles Gale of Mooers, had received authority to recruit a company, the Mooers Company. The men later were assigned to this regiment and became part of its Company E.The 124th was in Virginia when Joseph and his comrades joined them, and they saw their first casualties in the battle at the Boydton Plank Road on October 27th and 28th -- 4 killed, 11 injured and 2 who went missing.Early in 1865 they were active at Hatcher\'s run, Fort Stedman and the final assault on Petersburg. They then entered on the Appomattox Campaign, and were engaged at White Oak Ridge, Deatonsville Road, Farmville and Appomattox Station.In reporting the action of March 25, near Watkins\' house, Lt. Col. Weygant, commanding the regiment, says that his men charged in gallant style a force of the enemy composed of the 42nd, 59th and 60th Alabama regiments, \"capturing the battle flag of the 59th Alabama, 6 officers and 159 men, about 20 of whom were wounded, including Lieut. Col. Troy of the 60th Alabama. The enemy being completely dispersed I returned to my former position, leaving between 20 and 30 of their dead upon the field. At 11:30 p. m. I received orders to withdraw and return to camp, which I did, bringing with me about 75 stands of arms. All this, I am happy to say, was accomplished without the loss of a man, either in killed, wounded or missing.\" The regiment was mustered out on June 3, 1865, near Washington, DC.Joseph returned to Mooers Forks and resumed his life. He was a member of the Samuel B. Cannon Post, No. 374, of the Grand Army of the Republic in town.According to the Plattsburgh Daily Press of January 19, 1899, Joseph and over 100 other people in the Mooers Forks area were very sick with grip and pneumonia, including the following: Mr. John Collins and sister, Fred Gadway, Sr., and family, Arthur Boas, Dolphus Barcomb's family, Cyrel Barcomb's family, Benjamin Lavalley, wife and children, Mrs. Emerson and daughter...Joseph didn't recover and, in the Plattsburgh Sentinel of April 14, 1899, this notice appeared: Mooers Forks -- \"On April 12, Mr. Joseph Wells, an old veteran of the War of the Rebellion was buried Tuesday. After a long term of suffering, he is now at rest.\" He is one of the over 60 Civil War veterans buried in the Union Cemetery in Mooers Forks.Sarah, Joseph's wife, applied for a Widow's Pension on April 22, 1899. On June 22, 1900, this notice was on the front page of the Plattsburgh Sentinel: Pensions Allowed -- Frederick F. Wilder of Plattsburgh, Spanish American War soldier; Sarah Wells, widow of Joseph Wells, Mooers Forks; Catherine Manor, widow of William Manor, Plattsburgh; Paul Cartier, West Chazy. Congressman Louis Woodward Emerson was given credit for arranging for the pensions to be paid in a speedy manner.
