Francis R. Shunk was born around 1843 in Pennsylvania to Zephaniah and Mary Shunk. His father was a lock tender who owned $1,500 of real estate by 1850. He grew up and attended school in Upper Providence, Pennsylvania, and his father died in 1858.
He enlisted in the Union army on July 1, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company B of the 73rd Pennsylvania Infantry two weeks later. In October 1861, he declared that he felt “as eager for a fight as any man ever felt but I do not know how I will be when we go on the field.” The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Manasas and the Battle of Chancellorsville. He died at Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863.
Image: Francis R. Shunk (Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com)