THOMAS S. GRAY -PROMOTED COLONEL AT 23 YEARS, 6 MONTHS, 1 DAY - The PlattsburghRepublican of March 31, 1888, carried the death notice of General ThomasS. Gray – “Gen. Thomas S. Gray, a former resident of Warrensburg, and ofthe firm of Burhans & Gray, leather manufacturers, died Monday atHudson, his home for many years. Since the death of his son, Col. C. O.Gray, who was killed at the head of his regiment, 96th N. Y. Volunteers,at Kinston, NC, in December 1862, Gen. Gray had been subject tomelancholia, which in later years, much impaired his usefulness. Theremains were buried in the family ground in Warrensburg.”Thomas Gray rose to the rank of general in the New York State Militia.It is probably because of his influence that his eldest and onlysurviving son was enrolled in the 96th Infantry in Plattsburgh as alieut. colonel. At 23 years old, Charles Osborne Gray joined theregiment on March 5, 1862, promising to serve for 3 years.The 96th fought in April, May, June and July of 1862, and received about130 casualties during that time – 100 of them were captured and takenSouth.After the Seven Days’ Battles, Charles was promoted colonel on September25, 1862. The regiment had one more engagement in October, before takingpart in the Expedition from New Bern on the coast to Goldsboro, NC, 60miles inland. Union General John Foster was leading the men to try todisrupt the Wilmington and Welden Railroad at Goldsboro. ConfederateGeneral Nathan Evans’ 4,000 met the 96th who were part of a 10,000-manforce at the 35-mile mark of the expedition. They engaged at KinstonBridge which crossed the meandering Neuse River. It was here thatCharles was killed in action on December 14, 1862 - the only Union deathon the 96th’s journey inland.Charles was brought home and buried under a magnificent stone in theWarrensburg Cemetery near his infant brother who died in 1842. Theirfather joined them in 1888 and their mother in 1902. Charles’ stone hasthe notation, “Col. Gray fell at the head of his regiment while bravelyand splendidly leading it to a successful charge.”
