[APG Public List] Civil War question

[jyoung6180 at aol.com]

My 2nd great-grandfather volunteered to fight in the Civil War. While his  
age isn't precisely known, he was born about 1803 and volunteered in 1861  
(about age 58). He served as his troop's fifer and volunteered along with  
two of his sons and a few cousins all living in the same township at the  
time. I suspect he did this because he was recently widowed (his wife is still  
living at the time of the 1860 census but he is listed as a "widower" on his 
 death certificate in Feb. 1863--so my thought is he was at loose ends and 
went  off to war with his sons and cousins. 
 
He shows up in the Army Hospital in Newark, NJ in early 1863 and is  
discharged for "debility and old age." His death certificate shows he died less  
than 2 weeks after his discharge. I have no idea what age he gave when he  
volunteered (he never listed the same age twice <g>) but he was definitely  
above the age we'd normally consider for someone going off to war. 
 
Joan
 
 
In a message dated 1/24/2010 11:13:10 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
eshown at comcast.net writes:

I’m  no “Civil War expert,” but CW service at an “advanced” age is 
something I’ve  encountered a number of times. 
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