REUBEN F. BLY -- 5th CAVALRYENLISTMENT CREDITED TO ESSEX COUNTY - By the time Reuben F. Bly, whogave his occupation as mechanic, enlisted in the 5th Cavalry, theregiment's action in the field was over. He enlisted on March 16th andtheir last engagement was at Rood's Cross, VA, on April 7, 1865. He wasone of 54 men who enlisted in Plattsburgh that March to serve for oneyear and were assigned to various companies throughout the regiment. Thetired 3-year men were going home, and replacement troops were needed forclean-up operations, guard duties and to care for the 5th Cavalry'shundreds of horses.The men were part of the Cavalry Brigade of the Army of the Shenandoahfor 5 months and only lost one of their group to disease while they werethere. Some companies were dismissed early and others, like Reuben'sCompany I, remained until July 19, 1865, when the regiment wasdisbanded.Reuben returned to the Ticonderoga area where he was born and joined hiswife, Emma Sampson, and their first-born son, Franklin. Also waiting forhim was his newly-widowed father, Eber, whose wife had died in 1862. HisInvalid's Pension began in 1879 and when he died, Emma, applied for herWidow's Pension which she received.The Ticonderoga Sentinel of January 21, 1901, carried his obituary --"Reuben Bly, an old, native resident of Ticonderoga, aged 68, diedSunday night. He was a soldier in the civil war and drew a smallpension. Mr. Bly was not a very robust man, but he possessed a largeamount of mechanical ingenuity and was always ready and willing to doany work that he could find to do. He was a quiet man and a goodcitizen. Funeral services were held at the house Tuesday afternoon, Rev.C. L. Sleight officiating. Interment was at Mount Hope Cemetery."
