William Henry Shelton

In 1860 he was a 19 year old farmer on his father's place in West Bloomfield, Ontario County, NY; his late mother's family, the Tafts, lived nearby. He enlisted in Bloomfield on 31 October 1861 and mustered as a Private in Company (Battery) L, First New York Light Artillery on 5 November.

He was with his battery in action at Antietam on 17 September 1862.

He reenlisted on 28 December 1863 and was appointed First Sergeant, date not given. He was commissioned and mustered on 3 May 1864 as 2nd Lieutenant of Battery G. He was wounded and captured 2 days later in the Wilderness, VA. He was a prisoner for 9 months, then escaped back to Federal lines. He transferred as First Lieutenant back to Battery L on 15 April 1865 and mustered out with them on 17 June 1865 at Elmira, NY.

In 1870 he was back with his father, listed as "at home," but in 1871 he went to New York City and began a career as an artist and illustrator, working for such publications as Leslie's, Harper's, and Century magazines. He was a founder (1871) and lifelong member of the Salmagundi Club in New York.

His service basics from the State of New York1 and his Muster Roll Abstract, online from fold3. His presence at Antietam from a letter he wrote his cousin Louise on 19 October 1862, Spared & Shared by Griff, source also of his picture, from a photograph of unknown provenance. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860-1870. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

His unpublished Autobiography is in the New York Historical Society collection; finding aid from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

He wrote and illustrated the story of his wartime capture and escape in A Hard Road to Travel out of Dixie [pdf] for Century Magazine, October 1890, posted online by VictorianVoices.net. That story found also in an 1893 collection by the Century Company.

An excellent example of his later illustration work is an etching titled Going into Action, a copy of which has been at the Library of Congress since he left it there in September 1887.

09/04/1840; West Bloomfield, NY

01/04/1832; burial in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA