Webster Joshua Richmond (1843-1863)

My great grandfather was named Sylvester Richmond. He was a soldier in the 138th Indiana, and his name (S. Richmond) is on your Three Creeks Civil War monument as being a resident of West Creek Township. He also had two brothers in the war, Joshua Richmond (J. Richmond) and David Richmond (D. Richmond), of the 20th Indiana. They are listed as being from Cedar Creek Township.

At some point, and I don’t know when, the Richmonds left Ashtabula. They apparently headed to Indiana, perhaps to join up with David’s sisters in Lake County, but I can find no trace of them in the 1860 census anywhere. In May 1861, Joshua enlisted in the 12th Indiana Infantry for a one year tour. He was probably about 16, but his age is listed as 18. He is listed as Webster J. (for Joshua) Richmond. He enlisted in Grant County, so that may be where the Richmonds were living, but I can’t find them there.

Two months after Joshua enlisted in the 12th, brother David Richmond enlisted in Company B, 20th Indiana, for a 3 year tour. He enlisted from Lake County, so at this point he at least was a resident.

After Joshua’s one year enlistment with the 12th was finished, he came back to Indiana and immediately reenlisted, this time in the 20th Indiana, B Company, and joined his brother David. I have copies of Joshua’s muster roll, and he was excused for special duty with an ambulance corps for a few months in the fall of 1862. Unfortunately he was with the 20th when they were in Gettysburg the following summer, because he was killed. He is one of the “lucky” soldiers to have his own grave and gravestone at the Gettysburg Cemetery, possibly because his brother was there to identify him.

I have copies of Joshua's compiled military service record, which I ordered from the National Archives. It had his muster records (basically, was this soldier present during this month? and then he could be paid), the casualty sheet, form for examining a recruit (this is very interesting and a bit funny, they ask if you've been sick, have you ever had fits, ever had a head wound, ever had the "horrors," are you in the habit of drinking.....he answered yes to that one), his volunteer enlistment form, and so on.

Also, his name apparently was Webster Joshua Richmond. In his first tour with the 12th, he was known as Webster. All his recruitment papers for the 20th, say Webster J. or Webster, but his muster roll says Joshua, so probably that is the name he preferred.

The Twentieth went to Hatteras Inlet, to Fortress Monroe, aided in the capture of Norfolk, and joined the Army of the Potomac. Its various fortunes and conflicts as a part of this great army need not here be detailed. It finally reached Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, where, says Venable, "the greatest and most important battle of the whole war was fought." He adds, "The fury of the third day's engagement is indescribable. Whole brigades were almost utterly destroyed. The slope of Cemetery Hill, upon which the hardest struggle occurred, was literally heaped with the slain." Here the Twentieth, says our Adjutant General, "lost its commanding officer, Col. John Wheeler, and 152 men and officers killed and wounded." Among those killed were besides Col. Wheeler of Crown Point, two others of our soldier boys, George W. Edgerton and J. Richmond. The regiment was afterwards at New York City on guard duty, and then at the battle of the Wilderness, and at other noted engagements.

Name	Where Dying	When
Col. John Wheeler	Gettysburg	July 2, 1863
George W. Edgerton	Gettysburg	July 2, 1863
Horace Fuller	Wilderness	May 5, 1864
Lawrence Frantz	Spootsylvania	May 12, 1864
John Griesell [Griesel}	David Island	August 16, 1862
M. Hafey	Pittsburg	--
C. Hazworth	--	May 26, 1863
Wm. Johnson	Petersburg	June 18, 1864
Albert Kale	Camp Hampton	Dec. 17, 1861
Wm. Mutchler	Camp Smith	April 25, 1862
P. Mutchler	Washington	July 15, 1862
James Merrill	Wilderness	May 5, 1864
S. Pangburn	Andersonville	November 6, 1864
C. Potter	--	--
D. Pinckerton* [Pinkerton]	--	--
J. Richmond	Gettysburg	July 2, 1863
John F. Torr* [Farr]	Washington	November 24, 1862
Isaac Williams	--	July 5, 1863
Charles Winters	City Point	June 19, 1864