William H. Lewis

(1838 - 1916)
Home State: New York
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 34th New York Infantry

Before the Antietam Campaign:
He mustered as Private, Company F of the 34th New York Infantry on 1 May 1861.

In the Antietam Campaign:
He was severely wounded in action at Antietam on 17 September 1862, "shot five times, twice in the legs and once in the face. He was left on the field for dead and for two days and nights laid out in the open ..."

The remainder of the War:
He "was removed to a shed, where he remained a prisoner for seven days, when he was exchanged and transferred to Washington, being honorably discharged for surgical disability March 22. 1863."

After the War:
"In 1868, when he made application for a pension, Mr. Lewis was promptly Informed by the pension department at Washington that he was killed at the battle of Antietam ..." He did get through that, however, and got his pension.

References, Sources, and other notes:
He is found in cemetery records as having died and been buried on the field at Antietam (though he wasn't), and he has a headstone in the Antietam National Cemetery, but he's not buried there. Basic information from the Antietam Cemetery History1, with the rest of the story from a post by Jim Buchanan - source of the quotes above.

Birth Date: 05/18/1838
Death Date: 01/16/1916

Notes

1 Antietam National Cemetery, Board of Trustees, History of Antietam National Cemetery, Baltimore: John W. Woods, Steam Printer, 1869 [AotW citation 3794]

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