RICHARD DILLY PARKS -- 118th\MEMORIAL IN THE UNION CEMETER IN MOOERS FORKS - After his wife,Elizabeth Gaul, died in 1813, in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, JohnParks remarried and he and his second wife, Nancy Ditty, and severalchildren emigrated to Canada. By the 1820s, the family of at least tenpeople were established in Alburgh, VT. They later moved to Mooers whereRobert Parks, son of John and his first wife, had a son who was tobecome a soldier in the Civil War.Richard Dilly Parks was mustered in as a private in Captain HenryRansom's Company I on August 29, 1862. Less than two years later,Captain Ransom would lose an arm at the Battle of Drewry's Bluff. Thecompany was made up of men from Champlain, Chazy, and Dannemora as wellas Mooers.Richard participated in all the adventures and battles of the 118thuntil May of 1864 when the regiment was in the field before Petersburgand Richmond. Their first battles in May were at Port Walthall andChester station on May 6th and 7th. On the 9th and 10th, theywere at Swift Creek then the 2-day battle at Proctor's Creek two dayslater. Immediately following this battle, the 118th was at Drewry'sBluff.The regiment stood to arms at 3 o'clock in the morning in a heavy fogwhere they couldn't see more than a few paces. A few shots were made,but they were told to cease fire because they were firing at their ownpickets. Captain Ransom became impatient and jumped up on the worksfiring his pistol. He got off five shots and after his last one, fellshot through the arm and the lungs. This started rain of lead over theregiment.Soon the 118th was surrounded and 40 men were killed in action, 15 menwere mortally wounded. The men were begging not to be left on the fieldto be taken to southern prisons. Richard was one of three men fromCompany I killed in action. The others John Kennedy from Dannemora andMichael Prior from Champlain. In all, five were wounded and two wentmissing or were taken prisoner.As soon as Electa Nichols, Richard's wife, heard the news of his death,she applied for a Widow's Pension and two years later, she applied for aMinor's Pension for their daughter, Allie, who was born in April 1862when Richard was seventeen years old. In 1866, Electa married SamuelCannon and had another daughter.There is a memorial stone for him in the Union Cemetery in Mooers Forks.
