William Rees
William D. Rees was born around 1842 in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. By the early 1860s, he was working as a laborer.
 
He enlisted in the Union army on September 24, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company B of the 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with brown hair and gray eyes. He married Mary D. Williams on October 8, 1861, and he attempted to obtain a release from his military contract. He reported on October 11, however, that “i have been with the lawyer and he told me that i could not get free without a great deal of trouble.” The following month, he confessed that he “much regret[ted]” enlisting in the army and “causing so much misery.” Nonetheless, he remained devoted to the Union. In November 1861, he enclosed a poem entitled “Prayer of the young Soldiers Wife,” which included the lines, “if it be thy will oh god / to take the life thou gave/ then let him die where stripes and stars / Oer his head shall wave.”
 
The regiment took part in the Battle of Seven Pines and the Seven Day’s Battles. He fell ill in July 1862, and he died of typhoid fever in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 25, 1862.
4015
DATABASE CONTENT
(4015)Rees, William18421862-08-25
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Private
  • Rank highest: Private
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 33

  • (11329) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 11 October 1861
  • (11330) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 22 October 1861
  • (11331) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 31 October 1861
  • (11332) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 7 November 1861
  • (11333) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 30 November 1861
  • (11334) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 6 December 1861
  • (11335) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 23 December 1861
  • (11336) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 31 December 1861
  • (11337) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 10 January 1862
  • (11338) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 27 January 1862
  • (11339) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 17 January 1862
  • (11387) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 21 January 1862
  • (11388) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 3 February 1862
  • (11389) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 12 February 1862
  • (11390) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 21 February 1862
  • (11391) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 26 February 1862
  • (11392) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 4 March 1862
  • (11393) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 8 March 1862
  • (11394) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 13 March 1862
  • (11395) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 24 March 1862
  • (11396) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 30 March 1862
  • (11397) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 7 April 1862
  • (11398) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 28 April 1862
  • (11399) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 12 May 1862
  • (11400) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 16 May 1862
  • (11401) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, 30 July 1862
  • (11402) [writer] ~ William Rees to Mary D. Williams, undated
  • (11403) [writer] ~ "The Riogran," William Rees Poem, undated
  • (11404) [writer] ~ "Bold Privateer," William Rees Poem, undated
  • (11405) [writer] ~ William Rees Poem, undated
  • (11406) [writer] ~ "The Soldiers Farewell to his Bride," William Rees Poem, undated
  • (11407) [writer] ~ "The Volunteer," William Rees Poem, undated
  • (11408) [writer] ~ "Prayer of the Young Soldiers Wife," William Rees Poem, 2 November 1861

People - Records: 1

  • (4016) Williams, Mary D. is the [wife of] (4015) Rees, William

Places - Records: 2

  • (3346) [birth] ~ Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
  • (39) [death] ~ Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

Show in Map

Regiments - Records: 1

  • (1190) [enlisted] [B] ~ 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry
SOURCES

Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Widow’s Pension Records of Mary D. Rees, available from Fold3.com; William D. Rees to Mary D. Williams, 11 October 1861, DL1736.001, Nau Collection; William D. Rees to Mary D. Williams, 30 November 1861, DL1736.005, Nau Collection; William D. Rees to Mary D. Williams, 2 November 1861, DL1736.033, Nau Collection