In September 1861, Enoch Galusha Howard was living in Tioga County, Pennsylvania with his wife, Henrietta, and their five children. Perhaps he still resided in the same house in the town of Middlebury, where he was enumerated in the 1860 Census, and still made his living as a wagon maker. His three older children no doubt were attending school and Henrietta was kept busy with a newborn baby and a three-year old.
But the nation was in turmoil, embroiled in the early stages of a civil war. Enoch – together with several other men from Tioga County – answered the call for volunteer soldiers and joined the Union Army, serving in the 45th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. He mustered in as First Lieutenant of Company H on September 18, 1861.[i]
After being organized and trained, the men of Company H were sent to Otter Island, South Carolina in December 1861 where they kept busy with four other Companies repairing Fort Drayton, constructing new buildings, and practicing drills. They left Otter Island on May 21 and on June 9 the Regiment reached James Island, having marched through intense heat with no water to drink and then relentless rain. Upon arriving at James Island, a number of men from Companies H and I were sent out “on picket” toward Secessionville where they had their first engagement with the Confederate Army. Enoch was in charge of the men from Company H who were part of this detachment. [ii]
It was on James Island where Enoch had his first bout with rheumatism, a condition which would disable him. One of the young men in his Company, William B. Gee, later provided an affidavit in support of Enoch’s claim for a pension, and gave this account: “That Enoch G. Howard…was attacked with rheumatism from severe exposure before and after the picket fight at James Island to such a degree that he was unable to perform any military duties and remained in a disabled condition up until the time he left the Regiment.”[iii] William later added this to his statement: “I was in the fight with him. He appeared well the day [of] the fight. But the next morning he could not get out of the tent without help.”
I imagine James Island, South Carolina must have felt so very far away from Tioga County, Pennsylvania to Enoch at this point. He was treated at a field hospital and the Regimental Hospital at Port Royal, South Carolina.[iv] Later he was granted a 20-day leave of absence “on account of ill health.”[v] He was subsequently discharged (or resigned) and returned home to Pennsylvania and his family. Although he recovered sufficiently to re-enlist with Pennsylvania’s 11th Cavalry in 1864, eventually serving as Bugler to Company C, chronic rheumatism plagued him for the remainder of his life.
Ninety-five years after Enoch served in the military at James Island, his great, great grandson Gilbert Walt (my father) would serve in the U.S. Air Force in Korea. Dad took this picture of the welcome sign at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, a stop on the way to Korea.
On the back of the picture he totaled up the miles from Tennessee – where he had been stationed at McGhee Tyson Air Force Base and had just left his new bride – to Korea:
- 2500 miles from Tennessee to California
- 2142 miles from California to Hawaii
- 3762 miles from Hawaii to Tokyo
- 500 miles from Tokyo to Korea
He summed up his feelings about the distance like this:
So far away.
Right: Marker for Gilbert B. Walt, Lane Heights Cemetery, Lupton, MI.
[i] A wonderful book, titled History of the Forty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865, gives this account of the organization of Company H: “Company H of the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was organized at Tioga, Tioga County, Pa., September 18, 1861, with E.G. Scheiffelin as captain, E.G. Howard as first lieutenant, R.H. Close as second lieutenant, and L.D. Seely as orderly sergeant.” History of the Forty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865, page 269, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4506882&view=1up&seq=319 accessed February 3, 2020.
[ii] See pages 37-46 of the above-referenced book for a first-person account of the 45th PA Regiment’s time in South Carolina.
[iii] Affidavit of William B. Gee dated February 5, 1880, part of the Civil War Pension File of Enoch G. Howard.
[iv] Declaration for Original Invalid Pension filed by Enoch G. Howard
[v] Extract of Special Orders of Major General D. Hunter dated July 7, 1862 and a part of the above-referenced Pension file.
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