JOSEPH WILKINS -- 83rd, 94th and 97th INFANTRYTRANSFERRED POSTHUMOUSLY TO THE 94th INFANTRY - Joseph Wilkins was drafted when he was 26 years old. He enlisted in the 83rd Infantry in July 1863 as a substitute for Halsey Rogers of Black Brook. He joined his regiment in Virginia just after they had suffered more than 80 casualties at. Gettysburg. Everything went well for Joseph though the winter of 1863-64 and into the spring when the regiment was at The Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor in June.The 83rd mustered out at the end of their 3-year term and Joseph was transferred to the 97th Infantry on June 7, 1864. Almost as soon as he was transferred, he became ill and died in hospital on July 23, 1864. He was buried in Alexandria National Cemetery which was first known as Soldiers\' Cemetery. This military burial ground was designated by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. The first burials were soldiers who died in and around Alexandria. By 1864, the cemetery was near capacity, leading to the construction of Arlington National Cemetery. The cemetery contains some 3,500 graves of Civil War soldiers, including members of the U.S. Colored Troops, as well as four men who lost their lives pursuing President Lincoln\'s assassin.One more transfer was in store for Joseph after his death. He was transferred administratively on August 10th to the 94th Infantry. All three of his regiments were in the V Corps of the Army of the Potomac.In 1870, his mother, Amy, applied for and received a pension based on his service.Halsey Rogers, for whom Joseph substituted, was an attorney who became the Town Supervisor for the Town of Black Brook. He died in 1871 at 28 years of age and was buried in the Fairview Cemetery in Au Sable Forks with his mother and several siblings.
