PHILETUS ALONZO PHILLIPS -- 16th and121st INFANTRYSURRENDERED TO PROVOST MARSHAL - In 1860, Philetus Alonzo Phillips wasliving on his parents' farm in Saranac. Philetus was the second son bornto Jarod and Lucy Felton, whose sister, Caroline Felton, was Jarod'sfirst wife. In September 1862, this son enlisted in the 16th Infantryin Plattsburgh when he was 24 years old.By the time he enlisted, the regiment required serve for 3 years ratherthan the original 2-year term. He was among the 60 or so men who were inthe third recruitment for the regiment. They joined their regiment afterthe Seven Days' Battles and their high casualty count at Gaines' Mill --231 men. They missed the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, butwere with them when they fought at Fredericksburg in December.The regiment disbanded in May 1863 after heavy losses at Marye's Heightsand Salem Church, and the men who hadn't fulfilled their 3 years, weretransferred to the 121st Infantry who were fighting alongside them.Philetus stayed with the 121st for a while before he deserted and camehome. He surrendered to the Provost Marshal for the 16th CongressionalDistrict of northeastern New York in April 1865 under the PresidentialProclamation of March 10, 1865, which granted deserters amnesty. He wasfinally mustered out at For Columbus on Governor's Island in New YorkHarbor on May 13th.Philetus went West and lived in Michigan and Kansas. In 1889, hereceived his Invalids Pension while he was living in Kansas. In hislater years, he was in and out of several veterans hospitals sufferingfrom rheumatism, that he claimed he got near Fredericksburg, and stomachproblems. He was last released from hospital in Illinois in April 1915and returned to the East as a widower. He died in North Adams, MA, inOctober 1915 while living with relatives.
