RUSSELL D. BARBER -- 169th and 175th INFANTRYUNLUCKY IN LOVE - There are two Muster Roll Abstracts for Russell D.Barber both showing enlistment in Plattsburgh. The first, for the169th Infantry, shows that he got to the Draft Depot on Hart's Islandin Long Island Sound off the eastern coast of the Bronx, and that henever joined Company H, to which he was assigned. His second abstractshow he enlisted on September 17, 1864, and was assigned to Company A.Although the enlistments were done on the same day, his age was given as32 on the first abstract and 40 on the second. He was closer to 40,having been born in 1823.Russell left his wife, Caroline Arnold, who he had married in 1857, athome in Washington County with 5 children. Four of the children werefrom his first wife, Rebecca, who had died in 1855.The 175th had been in Louisiana for most of its service and had beenrecalled to northern Virginia in the summer of 1864 to protect thecapital. They had fought 2 battles there before Russell joined them --Opequan and Fisher's Creek, and luckily, had no casualties. Russell'sfirst battle was at Cedar Creek on October 19th.After the close of the campaign against General Early, the regimentproceeded to Savannah in March 1865. Russell wasn't with them however,he had been sent to the Ward U. S. General Hospital in Newark, NJ, inearly 1865 from where he was discharged for disability on June 26th.Tragedy struck again when he got home, his second wife had died. Twoyears later, in 1867, Russell married for the third and last time, to awoman called Lucinda with whom he had another child -- a son, afterhaving had 5 daughters. Sadly, little Stanley, who was born inMinnesota, died in 1880 when he was 8 years old -- two years after hisfather.In the 1890 Veterans Schedules, Lucinda gave Russell's information tothe enumerator. He had died in 1878 and was buried in Rochester, MN. Therecord shows that he was in the military for 9 months and 9 days.
