William was only 20 years old when he was killed in action, one of too many killed in the U.S. Civil War. He was a volunteer in the U.S. 9th Illinois Infantry, Company B. He was killed during a skirmish at Wyatt’s Crossing on the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi. The regiment was able to push back the Confederates as a result of the skirmish. The only information we have found for his short life is the pension application filed by his mother, the military records from his service in the Civil War and a brief synopsis of his death in a history book. How many young men died unknown and forgotten during this time?
