Henry E. Richmond
Henry E. Richmond was born in August 1822 in Monroe County, New York, to Billings Richmond and Susan Wiley. His father was a farmer who owned $7,400 of real estate and $4,000 of personal property in 1860. Richmond married Harriet Smith around 1846, and they had at least eight children: Sarah, born around 1847; Addison, born around 1848; Samuel, born around 1853; Emma, born around 1855; Fremont, born around 1857; Billings, born around 1861; Ernest, born around 1863; and Delevan, born around 1868.
The family lived in Churchville, New York, and Richmond worked as a farmer. He probably supported the Republican Party, as he apparently named a son after the party’s 1856 presidential candidate John C. Frémont. By 1860, he had become a Justice of the Peace.
On August 30, 1862, he received a commission as a 1st lieutenant in Company G of the 140th New York Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Chancellorsville, and he was discharged for disability on January 21, 1863. He apparently recovered after a few months, and he received a commission as a 1st lieutenant in the 4th New York Heavy Artillery on June 21, 1863. He took part in the Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, the Battle of Cold Harbor, the siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox campaign. He remained devoted to the Union cause throughout the war. In November 1864, he prayed that Abraham Lincoln would win reelection. He insisted that “every one who votes against the Administration & the vigorous prosecution of the war until the rebellion is ended, is aiming a blow at & stabbing our National life to the heart.”
He remained confident that “an overruling providence will control the contest for the good of humanity in the future & the preservation of our National existence.” He was eventually promoted to captain and then major, and he mustered out on September 26, 1865.
Richmond returned to Churchville after the war and resumed his work as a farmer. By 1870, he owned 23 acres of land worth $7,500, as well as $3,500 of personal property. By 1892, he was working in the lumber and coal industry. He suffered from rheumatism later in life, and he died on November 12, 1896.
Image: Henry E. Richmond (New York Cartes-de-visite, 1860-1865, available from Ancestry.com)
DATABASE CONTENT
| (940) | Richmond, Henry E. | 1822-08 | 1896-11-12 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: 1st Lieutenant
- Rank out: Major
- Rank highest: Major
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 4
People - Records: 1
- (941) Richmond, Harriet is the [wife of] (940) Richmond, Henry E.
Places - Records: 1
- (67) [birth, death] ~ New York
Regiments - Records: 2
Groups - Records: 1
- (3) [member/supporter] ~ Republican Party
SOURCES
1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; 1870 and 1880 Agricultural Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; 1890 Veterans Census, available from Ancestry.com; 1855, 1865, 1875, and 1892 New York State Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; The Coal Trade Journal, 18 November 1896; Henry E. Richmond to Harriet Richmond, 6 November 1864, DL0560, Nau Collection.
