THADEUS WILKINSON -- 16th and 3rd PROVISIONAL CAVALRY IN THE ARMY FROM MARCH TO SEPTEMBER 1865 - Thadeus Wilkenson enlisted in the 16th Cavalry on March 20, 1865, under the name F. E. Wilkenson or Wilkinson. By the time he got to the field in Virginia, the war was over. All that was left was the relief of men whose 3-year terms were up and provost, guard and clean-up duties such as making sure the horses were returned to Clinton County or were left with the Army. The 16th Cavalry, which was formed in the late summer and early fall of 1863, remained in the northern Virginia counties on the south side of the Potomac and was considered part of the Defenses of Washington. Thadeus remained with the 16th until August 17, 1865, when, due to consolidation of forces, the 13th and the 16th Cavalries werec ombined and renamed the 3rd Provisional Cavalry remaining with the 22nd Corps of the Department of Washington DC. Thadeus was mustered out with his company on September 21, 1865, at Camp Barry in the District of Columbia. The former temporary artillery camp was used for the dispersal of home-bound troops. On April 3, 1865, when Richmond, Virginia, was captured by the Union Army. The Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, received a telegraph informing him of the news. The news spreads all over Washington, DC, and Battery H of the 14th PA Artillery, which was stationed there at the time, started firing one hundred guns at the camp.
