Edwin R. Pierce
Edwin R. Pierce was born around 1831 in Rindge, New Hampshire, to John Pierce. By the early 1850s, he was working as a carriage smith in Boston, Massachusetts. He married Juliette Merrill on August 30, 1852, in Center Harbor, New Hampshire, and they had at least three children: John, born on March 16, 1854; Jessie, born on November 10, 1855; and Arthur, born around 1871. By 1860, he was working as a contractor in Boston, and he owned $1,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property.
 
He enlisted in the Union army on June 22, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company G of the 42nd New York Infantry. The regiment took part in the Peninsula campaign, the Seven Days’ Battles, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Gettysburg. He received a series of promotions: to sergeant on June 29, 1861, to 2nd lieutenant on June 1, 1862, to 1st lieutenant on November 19, 1862, and to captain on November 23, 1863.
 
In October 1863, he lamented the “constant change of Comd’g Genl’s [commanding generals] of our Armies,” and he insisted that “there is almost as much to fear from that pack of wolves in Washington, as from Richmond itself.” He noted that his “life and the lives of my companions & comrades are at stake. I value my life as cheap as any one. But if I must be butchered I want the satisfaction of butchering some one in return. It is all very well to thunder forth big speeches & mandates from Washington but we in the field cannot see it.” He was discharged for disability on March 25, 1864.
 
Pierce returned to Boston after leaving the army, and he earned a living as a well borer. By 1870, he owned $7,000 of real estate and $5,000 of personal property. In 1871, he reportedly "contracted and continued gross and confirmed habits of intoxication," and for the next few years, he "refused and neglected to provide suitable maintenance" for his wife and children. He left his family altogether by 1875. Juliette petitioned for a divorce in April 1875, and the courts ultimately granted the petition. Pierce died in Mexico City on October 23, 1885.
4964
DATABASE CONTENT
(4964)Pierce, Edwin R.18311885-10-23
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Captain
  • Rank highest: Captain
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 3

  • (13840) [writer] ~ Edwin R. Pierce to Marcus B. Leonard, 26 October 1863
  • (13842) [writer] ~ Edwin R. Pierce to John E. Pierce and Sarah J. Pierce, 18 October 1864
  • (13843) [writer] ~ Edwin R. Pierce to John E. Pierce, 6 October 1864

People - Records: 4

  • (4965) Leonard, Marcus Bloomfield is the [sibling-in-law of] (4964) Pierce, Edwin R.
  • (4966) Leonard, Emeline A. is the [sibling of] (4964) Pierce, Edwin R.
  • (4968) Pierce, Sarah Jessie is the [child of] (4964) Pierce, Edwin R.
  • (4969) Pierce, John Edwin is the [child of] (4964) Pierce, Edwin R.

Places - Records: 2

  • (987) [birth] ~ Rindge, Cheshire County, New Hampshire
  • (541) [death] ~ Mexico City, Mexico

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (1109) [officer] ~ 42nd New York Infantry
SOURCES

1870 United States Federal Census, available from Ancestry.com; Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, available from Ancestry.com; Veterans’ Gravesites, ca. 1775-2019, available from Ancestry.com; Edwin R. Pierce to Marcus B. Leonard, 26 October 1863, PA0388.002, Nau Collection; The Boston Globe, 22 April 1875