John Fales was born on March 21, 1841, in Sherborn, Massachusetts, to John Fales and Charlotte Leland. His father was a farm laborer. His mother died around 1850. Fales grew up and attended school in Sherborn, and by the early 1860s, he was working as a baker. He enlisted in the Union army on April 17, 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company E of the 3^rd Massachusetts Light Artillery. The regiment took part in the siege of Yorktown, the Seven Days’ Battles, the Battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. He mustered out in April 1864 when his three-year term of enlistment expired.

 

Three months later, however, he returned to the Union army and mustered in as a private in Company E of the 60^th Massachusetts Infantry. He mustered out in November 1864 before enlisting once again in January 1865. He mustered in as a private in Company K of the 3rd United States Light Artillery. He was promoted to corporal on March 1, 1867, and he mustered out for the final time on January 13, 1868.

 

Fales settled in Milford, New Hampshire, after leaving the army, and he found work in a furniture shop. He married Ella Raleigh in Nashua, New Hampshire, on March 6, 1871, and they had at least two children: Bertha, born around 1875; and George, born around 1878. They returned to Boston, Massachusetts, around 1879, and by 1880, he was working as a locomotive fireman.

 

His wife died around 1882. By 1900, he was working as an engineer. In December 1916, he was admitted to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Hampton, Virginia, suffering from cataracts in both eyes, “loss of teeth,” constipation, and chronic rheumatism. They probably transferred him to the National Home in Chelsea, Massachusetts, soon afterward. He died there of “chronic myocarditis” on September 30, 1918.

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