LOYAL GODFREY CORNELL -- 192nd INFANTRY22 DAYS IN THE ARMY - The 1860 Census shows that Loyal Godfrey Cornellwas living with his sister and his widowed mother on a farm in Peru. In1863, he was placed on the Draft Registration Roll, but it wasn't untilApril 13, 1865, that he was mustered into the 192nd Infantry as aprivate. He and 35 other men enlisted in Plattsburgh and were sent toHart Island in Pelham Bay in the Bronx. They were part of theProvisional Division of the Army of the Shenandoah.At the time, the Island was being used as a prisoner of war camp. Theconstruction started in November 1864 with room for 5,000 prisoners. Thecamp was only used for 4 months in 1865 and housed 3,413 Confederatesoldiers and it was here that many of the 192nd's soldiers were sentfor guard duty.Two hundred and thirty-five of the 3,413 died there, 7 percent, and wereburied in the Cypress Hills National Cemetery on Long Island. One of thegroup with whom Loyal mustered in also died of disease on the island andwas buried in Cypress Hills after 17 days in the service. After the war.indigent veterans were buried on the island in soldier\'s plots but, by1941, were all reinterred in Cypress Hills. In later years, the islandhas been used as a reformatory, a missile base, and a burial field forthe Department of Corrections. Even in 2020, over 1,000 people are stillburied on the island every year. Take a tour or this island with aheartbreaking history at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLamATLFBAcAfter the Rebel soldiers were released, Loyal and his companions weremustered out on May 4, 1865, and returned to Clinton County.In 1870, Loyal was living in Peru again with his mother, Clarissa, whosemaiden name was Baker, and his sister, Mary. Clarissa is listed as aweaver and Mary was a schoolteacher, while Loyal was working as a tinpeddler. Ten years later, after the death of his mother in 1877, he wasworking as a clerk in Plattsburgh and living in a boarding house at 80Cornelia Street. Loyal died intestate on January 1, 1883, and hissister, Mary inherited all his worldly goods.
