WILLIAM WALTON -- 77th INFANTRY SAD FEW MONTHS FOR THE WALTON FAMILY - According to his Muster Roll Abstract, William Walton, was born in Bloomingdale, NY. He enlisted in the 77th Infantry in Keeseville on October 1, 1861 and was mustered into Captain Franklin Norton's Company I three days later. He joined other men who had been recruited in Keeseville, Black Brook and Saratoga who expected to serve for 3 years. After organizing near Bemis Heights on the Hudson River near Saratoga Springs, the regiment left to join Casey's Division of the Army of the Potomac on November 28th. April of 1862 found them at the Siege of Yorktown and then they began to fight their way up the Virginia Peninsula. After the Seven Days' Battle in June and July, the took a short break at Harrison's Landing before embarking on the Maryland Campaign in September under General George McClellan. On September 14th,t hey were at Crampton's Pass with no casualties and three days later, they were at Antietam, their bloodiest battle yet -- 32 casualties. They started 1863 with the Battles of Marye's Heights and Salem Church in early May and had 12 deaths, 41 injured and 30 captured or missing. Gettysburg and more fighting in Pennsylvania, Maryland and northern Virginia followed. Some time before they went into the field again in 1864, William was promoted to corporal. 1864 began with the 3-day Battle of the Wilderness, quickly followed by battles around Spotsylvania Court House. For the next 2 weeks they were in engagements in the local area and on May 10th, William, who had made every single muster since he was enlisted, was killed in action at the Landron Farm near the star in the illustration. With him were seven other men who were killed in action and 8 men who received mortal wounds. William died less than two weeks after the death of his mother, Jane Rork, who came from Ireland when she was about 2 years old. His father, Rufus was left to mourn two members of his family shortly after another son, Nathan, of the 118th Infantry, died on December 23, 1863, in hospital in New Jersey.
