John W. Pitridge
John W. Pitridge was born on January 19, 1842, in Forest Dale, Vermont, to John Pitridge and Hannah Reynolds. His father died in the 1840s, and his mother married Jarvis Phelps around 1849. He grew up and attended school in Brandon, Vermont, and by 1860, he was working as a farm laborer.
 
He enlisted in the Union army on September 4, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company H of the 5th Vermont Infantry on September 16. The regiment took part in the Seven Days’ Battles, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, and the siege of Petersburg. He was wounded in the Battle of Savage’s Station on June 29, 1862, but he eventually recovered and rejoined the regiment. In June 1863, he expressed frustration with the Union war effort, declaring, “all this war is for is to see which side can kill the most men.” He blamed the “Blud thirstey cusses in the north” for the war, adding that “every one of them fellows aughto be in hell.” He mustered out on June 29, 1865.
 
He returned to Brandon after the war. He applied for a federal pension in July 1865 and eventually secured one. He married Mary J. Comstock there on September 16, 1865, and they had at least two children: Etta, born around 1870; and Vernon, born around 1872. By 1880, they were living in Leicester, Vermont, and Pitridge was working in a mill. By 1890, he was suffering from rheumatism and catarrh. He represented Leicester in the state legislature in 1910, and he also served as a local overseer of the poor. He died of “acute cardiac dilation” in Salisbury, Vermont on February 10, 1925.
2182
DATABASE CONTENT
(2182)Pitridge, John W. ~ Phelps, John W.1842-01-191925-02-10
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Private
  • Rank highest: Private
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 58

  • (3509) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps et al., 1 January 1863
  • (3510) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 29 September 1861
  • (3511) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 12 October 1861
  • (3512) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 5 March 1863
  • (3513) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 3 January 1862
  • (3514) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 18 November 1861
  • (3515) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Friends, 1861
  • (3516) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps et al., 18 November 1861
  • (3517) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 18 December 1861
  • (3688) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 10 May 186X
  • (3689) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps et al., 2 May 1863
  • (3690) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps et al., 21 December 1862
  • (3691) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Unknown, 25 March 1864
  • (3692) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 22 March 1864
  • (3750) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 1 July 1864
  • (6645) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 1861
  • (6646) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Hannah Phelps, 1861
  • (6647) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 26 September 1861
  • (6648) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Amanda Phelps, 4 January 1862
  • (6649) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 30 January 1862
  • (6650) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 16 March 1862
  • (6651) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 22 May 1863
  • (6652) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 27 May 1862
  • (6653) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 14 June 1862
  • (6654) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps et al., 13 November 1862
  • (7976) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 14 October 1861
  • (7977) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to John Capen, 16 October 1861
  • (7978) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 16 October 1861
  • (7979) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 20 October 1861
  • (7980) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 24 November 1861
  • (7981) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 30 November 1861
  • (7982) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 4 December 1861
  • (8001) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 13 January 1862
  • (8002) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 16 January 1862
  • (8003) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 20 January 1862
  • (8004) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 1862
  • (8005) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 8 February 1862
  • (8006) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 13 February 1862
  • (8007) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 13 February 1862
  • (8008) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 16 February 1862
  • (8009) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 21 February 1862
  • (8010) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 7 March 1862
  • (8101) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 1 April 1865
  • (8102) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 27 March 1865
  • (8103) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 26 January 1865
  • (8110) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Friends, 20 January 1865
  • (8111) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 25 March 1864
  • (8113) [writer] ~ James R. McGibbon and John W. Pitridge to Friends, 27 March 1863
  • (8114) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 26 February 1863
  • (8115) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Friends, 19 September 1861
  • (8116) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps, undated
  • (8117) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Unknown, undated
  • (8118) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, undated
  • (8119) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 21 June 1865
  • (8120) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 16 June 1865
  • (8121) [recipient] ~ Jarvis Phelps et al. to John W. Pitridge, 14 May 1865
  • (8122) [recipient] ~ Unknown to John W. Pitridge, undated
  • (8123) [writer] ~ John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps and Hannah Phelps, 7 May 1865

People - Records: 7

  • (2183) Phelps, Jarvis is the [step-parent of] (2182) Pitridge, John W.
  • (2184) Phelps, Hannah is the [parent of] (2182) Pitridge, John W.
  • (2185) Phelps, Charles is the [sibling of] (2182) Pitridge, John W.
  • (2186) Phelps, Franklin is the [sibling of] (2182) Pitridge, John W.
  • (2187) Phelps, Amanda is the [sibling of] (2182) Pitridge, John W.
  • (2900) Capen, John is the [friend of] (2182) Pitridge, John W.
  • (2969) McGibbon, James R. is the [friend of] (2182) Pitridge, John W.

Places - Records: 2

  • (1682) [birth] ~ Forest Dale, Rutland County, Vermont
  • (1683) [death] ~ Salisbury, Addison County, Vermont

Show in Map

Regiments - Records: 1

  • (401) [enlisted] [H] ~ 5th Vermont Infantry
SOURCES

1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; 1890 Veterans Census, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Vermont Vital Records, 1720-1908, available from Ancestry.com; Enterprise and Vermonter (Vergennes, VT), 12 February 1925; General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, available from Ancestry.com; Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008, available from Ancestry.com; John W. Pitridge to Jarvis Phelps et al., 1 January 1863, DL1173, Nau Collection