Several years ago, while examining pension files for Small but Important Riots, I looked at the pension request submitted by Terrick Compton, of Hillsboro, Indiana, in 1886. In a cover letter, Mr. Compton explained, “I am the claimant…as father of William Compton… I have labored long and furnished…all the evidence possible to substantiate my claims. I today mail for your inspection the pictures of my four dead boys all I ever had – all now in their graves. All sacrificed in defense or in the service of my country…On the back of each of my boys’ pictures you will find their history…I hope you will answer and return the pictures. The reason I claim a pension on William is because he was my third son and was at home to do my work more than the others.”

I am sure I had a bit of a lump in my throat after reading the letter, but I will also confess to hoping all the photos remained in the file. Though disappointed to find only one, I was also gratified that the examiners at the pension bureau had seen fit to return the other three to the grieving father. Based on notes in the file and some genealogy work by my wife, the three returned images would have been of Richard Compton, 62^nd Indiana Infantry, who died June 17, 1863, age 22; Francis M. Compton, 154^th Indiana Infantry, who died July 18, 1865, age 21, and John Clinton Compton, 77^th Illinois Infantry, who died June 12, 1877, age 30. If our sleuthing is correct, not all of Mr. Compton’s sons died during the war, as I had first assumed when reading his letter. But all had served, and all had died prior to him submitting his pension application in 1886. He also explained that his wife, age 62, was an invalid.

For my interest, the most important image remained in the file, that of William Compton, 2^nd New York Cavalry, who died June 19, 1863, at Middleburg, Virginia, and just two days after his brother Richard.

Now you might be wondering how William came to serve in the 2^nd New York Cavalry. The regiment had first been authorized as the 7^th United States Cavalry, and as such, companies had been raised from several states, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

Mr. Compton had also submitted several letters or partial letters from his sons, including, what is most likely, William’s last letter home. Writing from near Manassas on June 16, William told his parents, “I am well at present…we was in a fight on tha 9 at brandies station it was a very hard cavalry fight we had it hand to hand with the rebels our regiment maid a charg and we had cutting and a slashing tha fight was mostly done with tha saber tha rebels is a marchin in to mariland and we ar after them you may hear of some hard fiting soon…we lost five men out of our company 2 missing 2 more ded and [one] was wounded…and left on the field and we suppose him to be ded…I must bring my few lines to a close fur it is a giting night and we ar expectin to move so no more but remain your affectionate son.”

William may still lie somewhere on or near the Middleburg battlefield or he may have been removed after the war and rest as an unknown soldier in a nearby national cemetery.