SILAS WADE -- 124th INFANTRY PRIVATE IN THE "MOOERS COMPANY" OF THE 124TH INFANTRY - In July 1862, the 124th Infantry began forming in Goshen, NY, to serve for 3 years. They were in the field, when, on September 1, 1864, Charles Gale of Mooers received authority to recruit a company, the Mooers Company, which was later assigned to this regiment. The men formed part of Company E. Eighteen of them enlisted in Plattsburgh, with Silas Wade from Mooers enlisting on September 5th. For his enlistment, he received a town bounty of $600 and a county bounty of $300. The 124th lost over 124 men to casualties in the spring and summer of 1864 and many others had been discharged because of disease, so when the new recruits arrived in September, the regiment was ready to go right back into battle. Silas' first battle was at Poplar Spring Church with no casualties. The second battle at Boydton Plank Road they had 17 casualties, but no more until the next spring when they were on the Appomattox Campaign. During that campaign in March and April, they had 32 more casualties, some after the surrender at Appomattox. The 124th mustered out on June 3, 1865. In the Mooers Town Clerk's Records of 1865, it says that Silas was born in 1835, and his parents were Vermonters, Thomas Wade and Hannah Johnsen, and he had been at the Weldon Raid and the Battle of Hatcher's Run, and returned home to Mooers Forks to live. Silas' obituary was in the Plattsburgh Sentinel on May 28, 1918 -- "Silas Wade of Hemmingford Street, Mooers, died on Tuesday evening, May 21, at the age of 82 years. The end came quietly but there has been a long spell of weakness after his recent attack of pneumonia. Mr. Wade is survived by his son, George, who lives at Atwater, SK, Canada, and by his widow, Helen. He leaves 5 sisters, Mrs. Estey of Mooers Forks; Mrs. John Coggins and Miss Hoxey Wade, both of Milford, NH; Mrs. John Cross of Des Moines, WA; and Mrs. Alford of Minnesota. The funeral services were held at the home on Thursday, May 23, at 2 o'clock, Rev. John Neil Robertson, pastor of the Mooers Presbyterian Church, officiating. Many of the local Civil War Veterans attended and a large number of appreciative friends were present to pay their respects to a neighbor and friend who was so useful a patriot and citizen. Interment took place in the Union Cemetery in Mooers Forks." Silas is buried next to his first wife, Sarah S. Wingate, who died in 1901, his parents and members of his extended family.
