Richard Allen

He was a sailor before the war having first gone to sea on a whaler out of Fair Haven, Massachusetts in 1847, afterward served around the world on merchant ships, and briefly in the Royal Navy as a Quartermaster. Immediately before the war he was a ship Master and Mate on the Great Lakes. He enrolled as Captain of Company I, 8th Ohio Infantry at age 31 on 30 August 1861.

He commanded his Company in action at the Sunken Lane at Antietam on 17 September 1862.

He was mortally wounded at Fredericksburg, VA on 13 December 1863, his 33rd birthday, and died of his wounds on 15 January 1863.

His service from the State of Ohio.1 His presence at Antietam from Lieutenant Nickerson's Antietam - A reminiscence in Blue and Gray magazine of October 1893 (via GoogleBooks). Personal details from his obituary in the Elyria Independent Demorat of 21 January 1863. His gravesite is on Findagrave. Thanks to Andy Cardinal for the hint to Nickerson's Reminiscences and reference to Captan Allen.

12/13/1829; Paterson, NJ

01/15/1863; Washington, DC; burial in Ridgelawn Cemetery, Elyria, OH