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W. Sergeant
(1829 - 1865)
Home State: Pennsylvania
Branch of Service: Infantry
Before Antietam
In 1860 he was a 30 year old lawyer living with his widowed mother in Philadelphia, PA. Before the war he was a member of the First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry, and he was appointed Captain in the 12th United States Infantry on 14 May 1861.
On the Campaign
He commanded Company F of the Battalion at Antietam in September 1862.
The rest of the War
He served on the Regular Brigade staff in 1863 and was appointed Colonel of the 210th Pennsylvania Infantry on 24 September 1864. He was mortally wounded at Gravely Run (White Oak Road) near Petersburg, VA on 31 March 1865 and died 10 days later, possibly on a hospital ship between City Point, VA and Washington, DC.
References & notes
His service from Heitman,1 Henry,2 and the History of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry (1875). His role at Antietam from Captain Blunt's after-action report, as William Sargent. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860. His gravesite is on Findagrave, which says he died back in Philadelphia. His picture from a photograph at the Library of Congress.
He married Ella Lawrence Espy (1833-1910) in November 1853 and they had 6 or 7 children.
His father John Sergeant (1779-1852) had been a successful lawyer and US Congressman (1815-1823, 28-29, 37-41), and was Henry Clay's running mate in the presidential election of 1832.
His sister Margaretta Sergeant (1814-1886) married George Gordon Meade in 1840.
Birth
08/29/1829; Philadelphia, PA
Death
04/11/1865; in VA; burial in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA
1 Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, 2 volumes, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1903, Vol. 1, pg. 874 [AotW citation 28825]
2 Henry, Guy Vernor, Military Record of Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, 2 Volumes, New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1873, Vol. 1, pg. 446 [AotW citation 28826]