WILLIAM A. NICHOLS -- 16th INFANTRYIn 1850, William A. Nichols was living with his parents, George andSylvina Nichols, and his eight brothers and sisters on their farm inEllenburg. George and Sylvina came to Ellenburg in the late 1830s withthe first three of their children including William.Eleven years later while he was living in West Chazy, William enlistedin the 16th Infantry in West Chazy when he was 25 years on April 27,1861. About two weeks later, he was mustered into Captain WilliamWallace Wood's Company K as a corporal. The company was made up of menfrom West Chazy and Mooers. At the end of June, the regiment left forWashington from Albany where they organized.On July 16th, with 40 rounds ofammunition each and 3 days of cooked rations, the regiment formed a lineon the Alexandria and Fairfax Pike and marched to Annandale to camp forthe night before their first engagement at Fairfax Court House. Fourdays later the 16th was at the First Battle of Bull Run as part of theArmy of Northeastern Virginia under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell.The regiment made it through the rest of 1861 with only two minorbattles near George Washington's plantation on the Potomac.In 1862, they received over 300 casualties in battles such as WestPoint, Gaines' Mill and Crampton's Pass. Gaines' Mill accounted for 231of the casualties. Three days after Crampton's Pass they were atAntietam, but were held in reserve, and then they went on toFredericksburg where they were assigned to picket duty.William was promoted to sergeant while they were in camp on the northside of the Rappahannock after the Battle of Fredericksburg. Theregiment's first engagement was at Franklin's Crossing, a series ofpontoon bridges across the river facing Fredericksburg. The bridges werebuilt by the 15th Engineers, many of whom were from Clinton County.After crossing the bridges, the 16th was in battle again on May 3, 1863,just three weeks before they were scheduled to muster out. The battleson the south side of Fredericksburg at Marye's Heights and Salem Churchclaimed another 154 casualties including 36 deaths. The regiment wasmustered out on May 22nd in Albany after their two years of service.William returned to Ellenburg and, in 1870, married Eleanor Mooney. Heand his family spent a few years working in Massachusetts. He returnedto West Chazy after Eleanor's death in Massachusetts in 1912. Williamdied in 1918 and was buried in the West Chazy Rural Cemetery her andnear the grave of William Wallace Wood, his former captain.
