Andersonville Prison - Chenango Co. Veterans imprisoned

Andersonville's Horrors

Chenango County Will Send at Least Three to Mark the Scene of

Terrible Sufferings in Notorious Confederate Prison Half Century Ago

Utica Saturday Globe, February 1914
 

They Saw Andersonville's Horrors

Chenango County Veterans Who Experienced the Suffering of Confederate Prison

Left to Right:  Henry H. Hallett, of Norwich; George A. Havens, of Afton; Jonathan W.W. Boynton, of Smyrna

Norwich [Chenango Co., NY]:  The monument erected by the State of New York to commemorate her soldiers who died in Andersonville prison, 50 years ago, is to be dedicated the coming April.  Arrangements are being sought for comrades who served in New York regiments and were captured and confined in Andersonville to attend the dedicatory services.  It is hoped to stop enroute at the prison cemeteries at Richmond and Danville, Va., Salisbury, N.C., and Florence, S.C.  In these five cemeteries 36,784 Union soldiers were buried of whom it is estimated that between 9,000 and 10,000 are from the State of New York.

 

So far as known there are three veterans living in Chenango county who are entitled to take the trip provided satisfactory arrangements can be made.  If there are others they should at once send their names and addresses to Senator A.J. Palmer, chairman of the dedication association, Seventh avenue and Thirty-fifth street, New York city.  The Globe will also be glad to receive photos and data of their records, which should be sent to the manager of the Norwich edition, Norwich, N.Y.

 

Henry H. Halbert, of this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], who was a prisoner at Andersonville, says that he expects to attend the dedication.  Mr. Halbert saw three years and ten months of service.  He first enlisted at Cooperstown August 24, 1861, being the first man to enroll from the town of Butternuts, Otsego county.  He was assigned to Company K, Forty-third Regiment, New York Volunteers. This company was later assimilated by Company A, of the same regiment, which was in the Sixth Army Corps, and saw much active service, being in many battles. 

 

Mr. Halbert will never forget his first experience in battle at Lee's Mills, during the siege of Yorktown in April, 1862.  Among other important engagements in which he took part were Sugar Loaf Mountain, Crampton's Pass, Antietam, Fredericksburg.  Mary's Heights, Rappahannock Station, the seven days' battle in front of Richmond and the Wilderness.

 

He was honorably discharged December 24, 1863, and re-enlisted the same day in the same company.  He was twice taken prisoner, the first time on May 5, 1863, at Salem Church while on picket duty.  After two weeks in prison at Belle Island, Va., he was released through an exchange of prisoners and rejoined his company.  On the second day of the Battle of the Wilderness he was again made a prisoner and taken to Dansville and from there to the prison at Andersonville, where he was confined four months before being t5ransferred to Florence. On December 1, 1864, he was paroled, and in March 1865 was exchanged, but before he could reach his regiment Richmond had fallen, Lee had surrendered and the war was at an end.

 

Mr. Halbert's ancestors came from Scotland in the early days of colonial history.  His great-grandfather, John Halbert, was a lieutenant in the American army during the revolutionary war.

 

Jonathan W.W. Boynton, of Smyrna is another Chenango county veteran who experienced many of the  horrors of the Andersonville prison life, during his confinement of eight months there.  Mr. Boynton enlisted August 18, 1862 as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-seventh New York Volunteer infantry of the First Brigade, Third Division, Eleventh Army Corps.  He was in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Va. May 2, 1863.  He was a prisoner on Belle Island, Va., from August 5, 1863 to February 18, 1864 and was transferred to Andersonville prison February 26, 1861.  He was confined there until October 31, 1864, when he was transferred to the prison at Miller, Ga., and 20 days later was paroled and on November 21, 1864, was exchanged after spending 500 days in southern prisons.  He was honorably discharged July 10, 1865, at Charleston, S.C.

 

Another Andersonville victim in this county is George A. Havens, of Afton whose picture appears with the other two in this issue of the Saturday Globe.