Colonel Elisha B. Smith
Death of Col. E.B. Smith: The sad event which is announced above, was rendered more than probable by the account in our last issue of the severe wound received by Col. Smith at Port Hudson on the 14th inst. Assistant Surgeon Beecher, in a letter to the Chenango Union confirms the death of Col. Smith, on Thursday morning, June 18th, at 1 o'clock, apparently unconscious of suffering, having previously expressed his willingness to depart, being fully satisfied in his own mind that he could not recover. The death of this brave man will be a shock to a very large circle of friends and acquaintances in this county, by whom Col. Smith was beloved for very many noble and excellent qualities, for although his new life was one of great exposure to manifold dangers, yet, of him as of all others whom we desire to have alive, it may be truly said, "what so unguessed as death." Col. Smith had been the recipient of honors at the hands of the people of this county, in former years, the most important of which was the election to the Convention of 1846, to revise our State Constitution, on the same ticket with Hon. John Tracy, of this village. Subsequently Mr. Smith was the unsuccessful candidate of the Democratic party for Congress and Canal Comm'r. But the crowning glory of his life was the patriotic purpose, and the high resolve which, superior to all party ties or partisan considerations, prompted him to the noble self-sacrifice in which he forgot his party and himself, and arose at once to the dignity of the true patriot. We are told that although hardly fully recovered from recent illness, he hurried forward to his command, and received the fatal wound that in a moment raised him from the living soldier to the dying hero. Col. Smith has given all that he could give to his country, and the sorrow for his loss is mellowed by the thought that his death will bring no blush to the cheek of any son of Chenango, for to his country, he has left the priceless boon of a patriot's name and a patriot's example. [Oxford Times, July 8, 1863]
Thomas A. Barber
Death of Thomas A. Barber. Another of our brave Oxford boys, a well beloved and cherished member of the 89th Regiment, has been called to the better land. He was wounded last December at Fredericksburg, yet remained at his post until January, when Capt. Roome had him taken to the Hospital for medical treatment, but vain were all efforts to cure him, and eight weeks ago he came home to linger a patient sufferer, with loved ones around him, finally to close his eyes in death. Those who have shared the same duties, fought by his side, and been as brother soldiers, partakers of his joys and sorrows, will learn with regret that he has gone from among them, to return no more.
"Tread lightly, tread lightly, disturb not his sleep, From his pains he's released, tho' friends o'er him weep; Speak softly, speak softly, for he whom we love Has gone to the regions of glory above."
"Companion, beloved thy memory shall twine As close round our heart, as some evergreen vine; For sweetly and gently, thee seek to thy rest, A spirit by Deity called to the blest."
Oxford Times, July 22, 1863
Smith B. Wheeler
This brief announcement has brought sorrow to a widowed mother, to an affectionate brother, to loving sisters, and sadness to a large circle of devoted friends. But that the usual formal notice of such an event be not the only tribute to the memory of a noble and heroic youth is the purpose of the writer of this, who sustained to the deceased the character of acquaintance and friend. It was four years ago this summer that two of our Oxford boys, Smith R. Wheeler and James F. Parsons, left our village and hied away to the distant West to find their homes as it were in another land, and before the breaking out of the great rebellion, the subject of this sketch had gone to New Orleans, where at the beginning of the war, he narrowly escaped impressment by the Louisiana rebels, but made his escape, and hurried back to Illinois, where with his companion and friend, he at once volunteered for the defense of his country, and joined the first Regiment of Illinois Cavalry, which regiment was at once joined to the command of Gen. Grant, and moved onward in an unbroken path of victory, and never for one day was this brave soldier boy absent from his post, as those loyal conquering legions pressed onward and over the battlements of Fort Henry and Fort Donaldson, and were at Shiloh, Corinth, Clarksville, Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Champion Hill, and at the fall of Vicksburg, and in all the bloody and terrific conflicts, he rode with his face to his country's foes, hurling back score for score, defiance for defiance, and paying back dead for dead. And when the long day of conflict were over, when victory after victory had brought relief and rest to the weary soldier, he writes affectionately to a dependent mother and other loved ones "that now for home once more with my honest wages saved for you," when the last conqueror approached, and in four days his lifeless body was being brought back to his early home, where attended by a very large concourse of sympathizing and sorrowing friends, he was gently laid to rest, to sleep beneath the sod of the valley, that never in their cold embrace [received] of a kinder son, of a more devoted friend or a more noble, brave and generous man. [Oxford Times, July 8, 1863]
At Home: James F. Parsons, son of J.B. Parsons of this village [Oxford, Chenango co., NY], and who is an orderly in the 2d Illinois Cavalry, came here on Saturday, and is passing a brief furlough with his friends. Sergt. Parsons was with Grant's army at the surrender of Vicksburg, and came as far as East Greene, with the remains of Smith Wheeler, who was a member of the same regiment, and died of typhoid fever. The two young soldiers were under a mutual promise that in case of the death of either, the survivor should see that the remains of his companion were conveyed to his friends, and young Parsons has nobly redeemed his promise. We are gratified to learn that Sergeant Parsons is in the best of health and anxious to return to the victorious army of the West. [Oxford Times, July 8, 1863]
Addison Beardsley
From a letter written by Orderly Serg't N.W. Torrey, commanding Company K, 10th New York Cavalry, we learn that Addison Beardsley, who left here as a private in said company, and for some time past has been acting as one of the Orderlies of Gen. Gregg, was taken prisoner in one of the engagements at Shepherdstown, while bearing messages to different parts of the General's command, and is now a prisoner in Richmond. [Oxford Times, Aug. 5, 1863]
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