DISAPPEARED AFTER THE WAR - The 118th or the \"Adirondack Regiment,\"was recruited in Clinton Essex and Warren Counties. It organized inPlattsburgh in the summer of 1862 and was mustered into U. S. service toserve for three years. The regiment left Plattsburgh by boat with acomplement of 1,040 men including Thomas Willson, who was born in 1839in County Tyrone, Ireland.Thomas was mustered in as a private in Captain William Bailey's CompanyH on August 12th, and was promoted to corporal on August 30th, twodays before they were to leave for the capital. There were eleven Wilsonmen in the regiment, but only William had the double "l", although invarious records he used Wilson.Before the 118th got to Washington they spent a couple of monthsguarding railroads near Baltimore then, shortly after arriving, theywere put on a flotilla of ships and spent April 0f 1863, at the Siege ofSuffolk in the reserve brigade of the VII Corps of the Army of theDepartment of Virginia.From May to the end of July, the regiment was in Virginia and saw theirfirst blood at South Anna Bridge on July 4th -- 11 casualties. Theyperformed garrison and guard duty for several months at Yorktown,Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Newport News, VA. Thomas spent a couple ofmonths in the hospital at Fort Monroe at the end of 1863 but recoveredto go the field in the spring.In 1864, they took part in the campaign against Richmond with Gen.Butler\'s Army of the James, being engaged at Port Walthall Junction,Chester Station, Swift creek. Proctor\'s creek, and Drewry\'s bluff. Inthe last-named battle, it lost 199 in killed, wounded and missing. Itfought gallantly at Cold Harbor in June, when it lost 32 in killed andwounded. In the first assaults on Petersburg, it lost 21 killed andwounded. It was next severely engaged at Fort Harrison, where it lost 67killed and wounded, and during the advance on Richmond by the Darbytownroad in October its ranks were once more fearfully depleted, 111 beingkilled, wounded and missing.Still with the Army of the James in 1865, they were engaged without lossat the fall of Petersburg on April 2, 1865. It was on the skirmish lineof the 3rd Division when Richmond was finally occupied.Thomas was mustered out at Richmond on June 13, 1865, as a sergeant andreturned to Plattsburgh only to merge into the several hundred ThomasWil(l)sons who were Union veterans of the Civil War.
