Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Edgar W. Potter, Civil War Veteran, New York, Part 3

"............... and having served HONESTLY and FAITHFULLY with his Company in the 9th NY Cavalry is now entitled to a DISCHARGE by reason of being killed in action near Old Church Va , May 30th, 1864. "

There is no part three as on those pages of Potter Profiles I reproduced the same document-image twice.

The most interesting thing about this 2-page file is this, to me:  As busy a time and place as Civil War battlefields were, they took the time to fill out discharge papers for a soldier killed in action only a month after his death? Impressive.

Whatever happened to Edgar W. Potter of Cattaraugus County, New York? Who were his family? Was he sent home to laid to rest?

Do any collateral descendants claim this young 23 year old Edgar W. Potter who served his country honestly and faithfully?

This is from Wikipedia:


Union cavalry horses photographed outside the Old Church Hotel by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, June 4, 1864

The Battle of Old Church, also known as Matadequin Creek, was fought on May 30, 1864, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War.
As the opposing armies faced each other across Totopotomoy Creek, a Union cavalry division under Brig. Gen.Alfred T. A. Torbert collided with a cavalry brigade under Brig. Gen. Matthew C. Butler at Matadequin Creek, near the Old Church crossroads. After sharp dismounted fighting, the outnumbered Confederates were driven back to within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of Old Cold Harbor, which preceded the Union capture of that important crossroads the following day.

2 comments:

  1. I have information about Edgar Wylie Potter. He was buried near Old Church Tavern twice. First, by his fellow soldiers as a battlefield expedient and a year later disinterred and reinterred nearby more properly with casket and headboard by his brother Stanley, after mustering out of the service at Fredericksburg in 1865. The grave, exact whereabouts unknown, is in Hanover County near Matedequin Creek and about a mile south and east from the Old Church Tavern. I have documentation that specifies this. There is no official record of the gravesite in War Records. I have been to the Cold Harbor National Cemetery and he is not registered there although many fallen soldiers from late May and June 1864 were subsequently gathered and buried there.

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