James Caten
James Caten was born around 1847 in Canada to Sally Caten. The family lived in Phillipsburg, Canada, and his father died sometime before 1851. The family immigrated to America in the early 1850s and settled in Kingsbury, New York.
 
He enlisted in the Union army on August 12, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company D of the 169th New York Infantry on October 6. He apparently lied about his age, claiming that he was 18 years old. The regiment took part in the siege of Suffolk, the Bermuda Hundred campaign, the siege of Petersburg, and the Carolinas campaign.
 
He remained devoted to the Union. In September 1863, he declared Charleston, South Carolina, the “doomed garden of secession,” writing that “it will be a pleasure to every soldier to see it in ruins for it was the polluted spot where the first act was committed that opened this unhapy rebellion.” The city, he continued, had “always been the hot house and nest of traitors & I for one want to see it laid in ashes.” He mustered out on June 7, 1865. He died sometime after the war.
4389
DATABASE CONTENT
(4389)Caten, James1847
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Private
  • Rank highest: Private
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 16

  • (12088) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten, 28 October 1862
  • (12089) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, 28 November 1862
  • (12090) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, 14 December 1862
  • (12091) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, 16 July 1863
  • (12092) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, 2 August 1863
  • (12093) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, 9 August 1863
  • (12094) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, 22 August 1863
  • (12095) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, 14 September 1863
  • (12096) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, 26 October 1863
  • (12097) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, 26 December 1863
  • (12098) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten, 8 July 1864
  • (12099) [writer] ~ James Caten to Matilda Caten, 18 July 1864
  • (12100) [writer] ~ James Caten to Matilda Caten, 4 August 1864
  • (12101) [writer] ~ James Caten to Matilda Caten, 25 September 1864
  • (12102) [writer] ~ James Caten to Sarah Caten and Matilda Caten, undated
  • (12103) [writer] ~ James Caten to Matilda Caten, 19 January 1865

People - Records: 3

  • (4390) Caten, Sarah is the [parent of] (4389) Caten, James
  • (4391) Caten, Matilda is the [sibling of] (4389) Caten, James
  • (4393) Audet, Thomas is the [aunt/uncle of] (4389) Caten, James

Places - Records: 1

  • (744) [birth] ~ Canada

Show in Map

Regiments - Records: 1

  • (429) [enlisted] [D] ~ 169th New York Infantry
SOURCES

1860 United States Federal Census, available from Ancestry.com; 1855 New York State Census, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; James Caten to Sally Caten and Matilda Caten, 14 September 1863, DL1770.008, Nau Collection