On September 29, 1864, the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division of the 18th US Army Corp, under the command of Brigadier General Hiram Burnham stormed Confederate Fort Harrison on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia. In the battle known as the Battle of Chaffins Farm or New Market Heights, this unit was in front. The 118th Regiment of New York Volunteers was assigned to them, including my great x3 grandfather, Hosea Day. General Burnham was killed in the advance. Hosea Day was struck with a musket ball, which entered about two inches below his right clavicle. The projectile went through his chest cavity, through the upper lobe of his right lung, and exited by shattering out ribs and his right shoulder and scapula bones. Due to the wonders of modern medicine, Hosea Day was evacuated and survived, spending the next year (until his discharge date from service Sept 65) in a military hospital. In this battle, 391 men were killed and 2317 men were wounded. The fort was capturned, and named after the fallen General Burnham. Hosea Day was given the rating of totally unable to perform manual labor at first, then after fighting the powers that be 15 years after the war was granted a pension of $6 a month at the age of 59. Through the use of an attorney, he was given a raise to $10 a month at the age of 64. With continued litigation, and multiple official examinations by physicians, they believed he was totally debilitated from his wound and raise his pension to $16 a month at the age of 66. They also noted his difficulty breathing and related heart problems were related to the lung injury. Hosea Day died in 1898 and was buried on Memorial Day, carried to his grave and honored by his veteran comrades with the Edgar Wing Post of the Grand Army of the Republic in Glens Falls, New York.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 19:25:51 +0000