More on Nathaniel Henry Bouldin Who Died in Pelham's Confederate Prisoner of War Camp

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Though it seems hard to believe today, a Confederate prisoner of war camp once stood within the Town of Pelham during the final weeks of the Civil War.  The POW camp opened the very month the war ended as Union troops overran the Confederacy and sent waves of captured Rebel troops northward during the final weeks of the war. 

Pelham's prison opened in early April 1865 and operated until the last Confederate prisoners were released from the facility in July 1865.  Although some records misplace the location of the camp, we know that it stood on the north end of Hart Island (also known as Hart's Island) which, at the time, was part of the Town of Pelham.  The northern tip of the island was a lowland area. There, lightly-constructed prison "barracks" were built.  The barracks were basically open to the elements with open windows and a door on only one side of the building (to reduce avenues of possible escape from its rear). 

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog provides additional research regarding one of the Confederate prisoners in the camp who died and was buried on Hart Island.  His name was Nathaniel Henry Bouldin.  I have a special interest in him.

Nathaniel Henry Bouldin was a Great-Great Grandfather of my wife.

I have written before, briefly, about Nathaniel Henry Bouldin.  See Mon., Mar. 29, 2010:  Nathaniel H. Bouldin, a Poor Confederate Prisoner of War Who Died in Pelham in 1865.  Private Nathaniel Henry Bouldin, who served in Company F of the 57th Regiment Virginia Volunteers during the entire Civil War, clearly was a brave man.  

Bouldin fell wounded on the field at Gettysburg during Pickett’s Charge which many consider to be the "high-water-mark" of the Confederacy. He was taken prisoner as a wounded soldier, but lived to fight again.  Indeed, after a prisoner exchange, he was wounded a second time. He lived to fight again. Subsequently, he was captured at the Battle of Five Forks near Petersburg, Virginia on April 1, 1865. He was sent north to a prisoner of war camp on Hart Island in Pelham, New York in the Long Island Sound. There, Bouldin was killed by a bigger foe: disease.  

Bouldin suffered “chronic diarrhea” during a cholera outbreak on Hart Island and died in De Camp General Hospital on Davids Island, just northeast of Harts Island off the shore of Pelham and New Rochelle, New York. He left behind his 35 year-old wife, Sally Ann Hundley Bouldin, and their children:  George William (my wife's Great-Grandfather), John Burrel, Mary Ann, and Martha Emerline.  The oldest, George, was thirteen at the time of his father's death.  The youngest, Mary Ann, was not yet eight years old.

Detail from 1884 United States Coast Guard Survey

Nautical Chart No. 361 Entitled "CITY ISLAND

HARBOR LONG ISLAND SOUND" Showing Hart

Island. Note the Many Buildings on the Island, Many

of Which Were Part of the Military Training Facility

During the Civil War.  NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

On November 19, 1864, a popular national publication, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, published an article on the "new" Union military facilities constructed on Hart Island.  Significantly, the article included several important engravings of outdoor scenes (and one indoor scene) on the island.  The engravings, according to the article that accompanied them, were based on photographs of Hart Island taken by "Mr. Tyler, the well-known photographer."   I have written before of these engravings, a complete set of which may be found at:  Tue., Dec. 13, 2016:  Rare and Stunning Images of Civil War Pelham Engraved from Photographs Taken In 1864. 

"VIEW OF HART'S ISLAND."

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

The engraving immediately above shows the portion of Hart Island on which the military training facility was built.  In the waters on the right, in the foreground of the engraving, is a steamboat.  This likely depicts the steamboat John Romer.  It was the principal means of transportation to and from Hart Island at the time.  According to the article published with the engravings, passengers on the John Romer traveling to Hart Island typically were packed as thickly as sardines or figs in a "figdrum."  Indeed, if you pay close attention to the steamboat in the image, it is packed with passengers. 

Barracks and officers' quarters appear visible on the high ground of the island in the engraving above.  The prisoner of war camp was built on lowlands on Hart Island.  Close inspection of the image shows that in addition to the many buildings that appear to be painted white, there are many more that appear to be of unpainted wood that, though difficult to see in the image, are scattered all over the landscape.

"HART ISLAND, NEAR NEW YORK, A STATION FOR THE

DISBANDMENT OF THE FEDERAL ARMY." 1865 Engraving

Depicting the Military Facilities on Hart Island Only Months

After the Last Confederate Prisoners Left the Island in July.

Source: The Illustrated London News, Aug. 12, 1865, Vol.

47, No. 1328, p. 128. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

The prison's monthly sick reports for April, May, and June, 1865 suggest that the mean number of prisoners held in the camp was 3,031 during that three-month period. The reports further indicate that conditions were horrendous and cases of diarrhea and dysentery were rampant. Cf. Woodward, Joseph Janvier, THE MEDICAL AND SURGICAL HISTORY OF THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, Part II, Vol. I, p. 39 (Washington, D.C.: Gov’t Printing Office, 1879).

The men were confined in such close quarters that each had the equivalent of 102 cubic feet of air space -- the equivalent of less than five feet by five feet by six feet high. Digital images of the orders and prisoners' registers for the Confederate prisoner of war camp on Hart Island are freely available online. See FamilySearch.com, United States Records of Prisoners of War, 1861-1865: NY, Hart Island, Prison Camp - Orders, Prisoner Registers, 1865, v. 265-69 (259 pages; visited on Feb. 20, 2016). 

We know from an officer's memoir published well after the War that the prison, which was located at the northern end of Hart Island, was separated from the Union camp and military facilities on the remainder of the island by a "very strong twelve-foot fence." Entrance to the prison camp was through "a very strong and massive door or gate." The entire prison facility on the north end of the island was guarded by sentries stationed on land and guards in patrol boats that patrolled the island. See Roemer, Jacob, REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR OF THE REBELLION 1861-1865 BY BVT.-MAJ. JACOB ROEMER, BATTERY L. SECOND N.Y. ARTILLERY, AND THIRTY-FOURTH N.Y.V.V. IND. LT. BATTERY, pp. 304-06 (Flushing, N.Y.: Estate of Jacob Roemer, 1897).

In late April, 1865, only weeks after being admitted into the POW camp, Nathaniel Henry Bouldin became violently ill with "chronic diarrhea."  On April 29, he was admitted to De Camp General Hospital on nearby Davids Island off the shores of New Rochelle and Pelham.  There, on May 1, 1865, he died and was buried on Hart Island the same day.  He was 33 years old at the time of his death.  Immediately below is an image of the Union Army's "RECORD OF DEATH AND INTERMENT" of Nathaniel Henry Bouldin.  

Click on Image to Enlarge.

During the 20th Century, the remains of Nathaniel Henry Bouldin and other Confederates who died in the POW camp on Hart Island were exhumed and moved to Cyprus Hills National Cemetery.  His remains are marked and are located at Cypress Hills National Cemetery, 625 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11208, Section 1, Site 2677.  Immediately below is a map of the section where Nathaniel Henry Bouldin's remains rest, followed by a photograph of his gravestone and an example of one of his many muster roll records reflecting his war service.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Example of Muster Roll Card Record for Nathaniel Henry Bouldin.

Source:  Confederate Muster Roll, Co. F, 57th Virginia Infantry, Pg. 01,

Nathaniel H. Bouldin.  Source:  Publication Title - The National Archives

and Records Administration, NARA M324.  Compiled Service Records

of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State

of Virginia, NARA Catalog ID 586957 (Carded Records Showing Military

Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations, 

compiled 1903 - 1927, documenting the period 1861 - 1865; Record

Group 109, Virginia, Fifty-Seventh Infantry Regiment, Bouldin, Nathaniel H.).

*          *          *          *          *

I have written before about the Confederate prisoner of war camp in the Town of Pelham. For examples, see: 

Mon., Feb. 22, 2016:  Report on Prisoner Deaths at the Confederate POW Camp in Pelham During the Civil War.

Wed., Oct. 21, 2015:  Ministering to Troops on Hart and Davids Islands During and Shortly After the Civil War. 

Thu., Jun. 12, 2014:  Eyewitness Account of Prisoner of War Concentration Camp That Once Stood in Pelham. 

Fri., May 21, 2010:  The Announcement of President Abraham Lincoln's Assassination in Pelham, NY on April 15, 1865. 

Mon., Mar. 29, 2010:  Nathaniel H. Bouldin, a Poor Confederate Prisoner of War Who Died in Pelham in 1865. 

Detail from 1867 Map Showing Hart Island on the Far Right.

The Northern End of the Island, on this Map, is Depicted as

Lowlands. Source: "Plan of East Chester, Pelham and New

Rochelle, Westchester Co." in Atlas of New York and Vicinity

From Actual Surveys by and Under the Direction of F. W.

Beers, Assisted by Geo. E. Warner & Others," p. 7 (NY, NY:

Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1867). NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Ministering to Troops on Hart and Davids Islands During and Shortly After the Civil War

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The role of Pelham and its citizens during the Civil War remains largely unexplored.  This author has collected some research on the topic, but much remains to be explored.  For a few examples of such research, see:

Mon., Jul. 07, 2014:  More About Pelham Residents Who Served Their Nation During the U.S. Civil War.

Thu., Jun. 12, 2014:  Eyewitness Account of Prisoner of War Concentration Camp That Once Stood in Pelham. 

Fri., May 21, 2010:  The Announcement of President Abraham Lincoln's Assassination in Pelham, NY on April 15, 1865. 

Tue., Mar. 30, 2010:  Obituary of William McAllister Who Built Civil War Gunboats in Pelham. 

Mon., Mar. 29, 2010:  Nathaniel H. Bouldin, a Poor Confederate Prisoner of War Who Died in Pelham in 1865. 

Tue., Nov. 03, 2009:  Pelham Students Help Civil War Soldiers on Davids' Island in 1864. 

Fri., Nov. 18, 2005:  A List of Pelham Residents Who Served the Union During the Civil War. 

Mon., Jul. 11, 2005:  Pelham Cemetery on City Island. 

Fri., Jun. 3, 2005:  Davids' Island Off the Coast of Pelham Manor During the Civil War. 

Tue., Apr. 12, 2005: Pelham and the Civil War Ironclad USS Monitor.

Wayne Kempton, Archivist for the Episcopal Diocese of New York, has studied efforts by members of the Episcopal Diocese of New York to minister to Union and Confederate troops on Hart Island and Davids Island during and shortly after the Civil War.  Some of his findings are contained in an important paper, a small portion of which is quoted below.  See Kempton, Wayne, "In Essentials, Unity; In Non-Essentials, Liberty; And In All Things Charity" -- A Historical Account of The Mssion of the Diocese of New York of the Protestant Episcopal Church To the Instutions and the Potter's Field on Hart Island, pp. 7-8 (NY, NY:  Wayne Kempton, Archivist for the Episcopal Diocese of New York, 2006).   

In his paper, Mr. Kempton traces the construction of the Union Chapel and, later, Grace Church, on City Island.  He details the use of Hart Island, then part of the Town of Pelham, as a mustering in location and a training post for Union soldiers beginning as early as 1863.  The Federal government built facilities on the island to house between 2,000 and 3,000 troops.  Eventually more than 50,000 Union troops were trained on Hart Island.  

With the rise of Hart Island as a mustering in and training facility, the Federal government also leased nearby David's Island on the border of Pelham and New Rochelle where it built hospital and military facilities.  By 1863, the women of Christ Church in the Town of Pelham were among the many who were ministering to the needs of sick and wounded soldiers -- both Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners.   

As archivist Kempton notes, the Christ Church parochial report found in the 1864 Journal of Convention notes that Christ Church Rector Edward W. Syle visited Hart Island on Sunday afternoons:

"Hart Island, a military depot, with an average of 2,000 men upon it, is as yet unprovided with a Chaplain of its own; the Rector (then the Rev. Edward W. Syle) visits the post on Sunday afternoons, as often as weather and other circumstances will permit. . . . Several ladies in the parish are unwearied in their attention to the sick and wounded soldiers in the Hospital on David's Island."

Mr. Kempton further notes that by the following year, the Assistant Minister at Christ Church, William Feltwell, visited Hart Island "diligently" to minister to the troops, and "for a few weeks held one of the regimental chaplaincies."  By this time, a rather brutal and horrific prisoner of war camp had been built on Hart Island by enclosing an open space with fencing and housing thousands of men without any adequate shelter inside.  Though the prisoner of war camp operated only about four months before the war ended, thousands were crammed into its confines and nearly 7% of the men perished, principally from cholera, in a dark chapter of the history of the Town of Pelham.

Detail of 1867 Beers Map Showing Hart Island Shortly

Before John Hunter, Jr. Sold it to New York City.

Source: Beers, Ellis & Soule, Atlas of New York and

Vicinity From Actual Surveys By and Under the Direction

of F. W. Beers, Assisted by Geo. E. Warner & Others,

p. 7 (Philadelphia, PA: Beers, ellis & Soule, 1867)

("Plans of East Chester, Pelham and New Rochelle Westchester Co.").

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"Part I:  The Early Missionary Days on Hart Island

In 1849 the Rev. Cornelius Winter Bolton, son of the Rev. Robert Bolton - Rector and founder of Christ Episcopal Church in Pelham Manor, Westchester County - came to City Island.  A building known as the 'Union Chapel' was secured 'for the use of all denominations' there.  In 1862, the Rev. Marmaduke M. Dillon Lee, then rector of Christ Church, in his parochial report found in the Episcopal Diocese of New York's Journal of Convention for that year, indicates that 'a church is in the course of erection' on City Island.  He reportedly held the first service on City Island on February 7, 1862.  The church building was completed in 1863 and on October 13, 1863 Grace Church, City Island was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, the Sixth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

In a timeline found on correctionhistory.org, the website of the New York City Department of Correction, we read that in 1863 on Hart Island the 25th [Cavalry] mustered in during February, March, and Apirl, the earliest known recorded mustering on the island of Union recruit units in the Civil War.  Facilities on the island housed between 2,000 and 3,000 recruits and over 50,000 men were trained there.

By this time the Civil War was raging and many sick and wounded soldiers were cared for on David's Island.  The ladies of Christ Church participated in this ministry.

The first mention of missionary work on Hart Island appears in the Christ Church parochial report found in the 1864 Journal of Convention.

'Hart Island, a military depot, with an average of 2,000 men upon it, is as yet unprovided with a Chaplain of its own; the Rector (then the Rev. Edward W. Syle) visits the post on Sunday afternoons, as often as weather and other circumstances will permit. . . . Several ladies in the parish are unwearied in their attention to the sick and wounded soldiers in the Hospital on David's Island.' 

Again from the timeline we read that the 31st United States Colored Troops Regiment was organized on Hart Island during April 1864, one of New York State's three USCT regiments.  The Hart Island regiment would see action at the fall of Petersburg on April 2, 1865.  It would pursue Lee's army from April 3 through April 9 and be at Appomattox before, during and after the Confederate surrender on April 9, 1865. . . . In November, 1864, construction began for barracks on Hart Island to house Confederate POWs.  The final prison established by the Union for Confederate soldiers opened on Hart Island in April of 1865, a month before the Civil War came to an end yet 235 POWs perished there.  Within three weeks of its opening, 3,413 POWs are crammed into the post's tiny enclosed area.  Hart does not become complete cleared of prisoners until July.  Within the four months of its operation, nearly 7 percent of all the camp's POWs died.

In his 1865 report Fr. Syle writes that 'Hart Island, a military rendezvous, where large numbers of soldiers are constantly to be found, has no Government Chaplain.  The Rev. Wm. Feltwell (then Asst. Minister at Christ Church) visits the post diligently, and for a few weeks held one of the regimental chaplaincies.'

By 1866 Fr. Syle reports that City Island had been organized into a separate parish with the Rev. Feltwell elected as Rector.  'The important post at Hart Island is included in the bounds of the new parish' he wrote.

Another early mention of the presence of a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church on Hart Island appears in a New York Times article dated June 2, 1865.  The heading of the article reads, 'The Rebel Prisoners at Hart's Island'.  The text of the article appears in full below.

'At Hart's Island yesterday, the day was observed in the prison camp by the suspension of the rules requiring marching for exercise, and by religious services in the forenoon, conducted by the Rev. Robert Lowry, Chaplain U. S. A.  He was invited by General Wessells at the suggestion of the prisoners themselves, who had seen the President's proclamation for a day of humiliation and prayer, and wished to observe it.  Nearly 2,000 of them were gathered in the centre of the grounds, which cover four and a half acres, and gave good attention to the preaching and prayers, and joined in the singing.  After the exercises several pressed forward to shake hands with the Chaplain; they had known him when they were prisoners in David's Island Hospital.  Several of the squads also held prayer meetings at 8 a.m. and in the evening.  The papers, hymn books, tracts, and testaments, of which a liberal supply have been placed in their hands by the agents of the American Tract Society, and are very much prized, and will mostly be preserved and taken home with them.  Whether sitting within their comfortable barracks or outside, or walking around the ground, many are constantly reading these.  They hope soon to be sent home.  The hospital is located in a fine airy position outside the camp.'

The Rev. Robert Lowry is listed in the 1865 and 1866 Journal of Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of New York as Chaplain U. S. V. and Missionary."

Source:  Kempton, Wayne, "In Essentials, Unity; In Non-Essentials, Liberty; And In All Things Charity" -- A Historical Account of The Mssion of the Diocese of New York of the Protestant Episcopal Church To the Instutions and the Potter's Field on Hart Island, pp. 7-8 (NY, NY:  Wayne Kempton, Archivist for the Episcopal Diocese of New York, 2006).  

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Eyewitness Account of Prisoner of War Concentration Camp That Once Stood in Pelham

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Few in Pelham know that a prisoner of war concentration camp once stood within the boundaries of the Town of Pelham.  The camp opened in April, 1865 -- the very month the Civil War ended -- and remained in operation until the last rebel prisoners were released in July, 1865.  The prison was basically open to the elements, although a few tents were provided to the prisoners.  It stood on the north end of Hart Island (also known as Hart's Island) which, at the time, was part of the Town of Pelham.

The rebel prison's monthly sick reports for April, May, and June, 1865 indicate that the mean number of prisoners held in the concentration camp was 3,031.  The reports further indicate that conditions were horrendous and cases of diarrhea and dysentery were rampant.  Cf. Woodward, Joseph Janvier, THE MEDICAL AND SURGICAL HISTORY OF THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, Part II, Vol. I, p. 39 (Washington, D.C.:  Gov’t Printing Office, 1879).

I have a significant interest in the POW camp.  One of my wife's great-great grandfathers was a Confederate soldier who fought at Gettysburg and was part of Pickett's Charge.  He was captured in the last days of the Rebellion and was shipped north to Hart Island in Pelham as a prisoner of war where he died in a hospital on nearby Davids Island of "chronic diarrhea".  His name was Nathaniel H. Bouldin. 

I have written of Nathaniel Bouldin before.  See Mon., Mar. 29, 2010:  Nathaniel H. Bouldin, a Poor Confederate Prisoner of War Who Died in Pelham in 1865.  I also have written of the sad day that prison guards announced to the rebel prisoners held on Hart Island that President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated.  See Fri., May 21, 2010:  The Announcement of President Abraham Lincoln's Assassination in Pelham, NY on April 15, 1865.

Recently I located an interesting, but sad, eyewitness account of the POW camp in June, 1865.  That month the POW camp was releasing rebel prisoners and moving them south on transports so they could make their way home.  In mid-June, however, several hundred rebels remained imprisoned at the camp.  The condescending and sad account shows that so-called "ladies and gentlemen" were escorted to the POW camp daily to gawk at the emaciated soldiers dressed in rags.  Visitors were told to bring "trifling sums" of money to dispense among the prisoners just to see their "eager faces light up" as they realized they might use the few cents given them to acquire a plug of chewing tobacco or crackers to supplement their shockingly-meager rations. 

Detail of Map Published in 1893 Showing Hart

Island East of City Island, on Extreme Right of Detail.

Source:  Bien, Joseph Rudolph, Atlas of Westchester

County, New York, p. 3 (NY, NY:  Julius Bien & Co., 1893)

("Towns of Westchester and Pelham. (with) Villages of

Westchester and Unionport. (with) Village of Pelhamville"). 



The eyewitness account that appears below is taken from the memoirs of Brevet Major Jacob Roemer published after his death.  Roemer served with Battery L, Second New York Artillery and the Thirty-Fourth New York Independent Veteran Volunteer Light Battery, the members of which were mustered out of service on Hart's Island on June 21, 1865.  His account describes the few days in June when his unit was sent to Hart Island to be mustered out and includes descriptions of what he saw and experienced at the POW camp that once stood in Pelham.  I have transcribed the account below, followed by a citation to its source.

"“As soon as the banquet was over, the members of the Battery were furloughed to visit their friends, with orders to report at 10 A. M., June 9th, at the College Point Dock, to take the steamer for Hart’s Island, to prepare for the final muster out.  At 11 A. M. on that date, the Battery left College Point and arrived at Hart’s Island at 12 o’clock noon.  Here the men were quartered in the government barracks and the work of making out the muster-out and pay-rolls was begun without delay.  I returned to Flushing the next day, Saturday, June 10th, to pay some bills incurred in behalf of the Battery and to spend Sunday with my family.  Many friends from New York and Flushing called on me that Saturday evening to pay their respects.  I had sixty callers in all.  It made me feel very happy to be once more with the folks at home and see how much I was thought of by them.

On the 12th, I returned to the Island and found that no progress had been made in the muster-out rolls, as all but one of the lieutenants had taken leave of absence.  Lieuts. Johnston and Balkie had gone away leaving Lieut. Durfee in command.  I forthwith called in an extra clerk to hasten matters.  June 13th was one of the hottest days I ever experienced, and being quite unwell with a fever haning over me, I thought I could not possibly go through the day.  I sent my son, Alexander, who was staying with me on the Island, to Flushing for his mother and sister.  This day the first copy of the muster-out roll was finished and found to need but little correction. 

[Page 304 / Page 305]

At noon of the 14th, quite a party of ladies landed upon the Island.  Among them were my wife and daughter, Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Hamilton.  They were shown all through the barracks and the officers’ quarters and then escorted down to the rebel prison pen where 273 prisoners of war were confined.  All these were dressed in rebel gray uniforms or what was left of them, and some were literally in rags, and many looked as if a little soap and water would be beneficial to both faces and clothes.  Many of them had made little trinkets of wood they had obtained, and when the ladies passed by they asked the ladies to buy these trinkets.  No one passed without either buying something or giving them some small sum of money.  When my wife passed them with me, one of them asked her for a five-cent stamp, and she took out her purse to give him one.  This was a signal for about fifty of them to come crowding about the ladies and saying, ‘Good lady, give me a five-cent stamp to buy some tobacco.’  Having visited them myself previously and learned their tricks, I had advised the ladies, before going to the prison, to provide themselves with small change.  To see the eager faces light up when they had received their gifts made it a pleasure to the visitors to contribute these trifling sums, although they were ‘giving aid and comfort to the enemy.’

These prisoners were served with the same kind of rations that were dealt out to our own soldiers, and here, at least, they did not die of hunger, as thousands of our poor fellows did at Andersonville.  The prison camp was at the north end of Hart’s Island where they had a fine view of Long Island Sound.  The prison camp was separated from our Union camp by a very strong twelve-foot fence.  The entrance to the prison camp was through a very strong and massive door or gate.  The whole camp was most strongly guarded by numerous sentries on land and by patrol boats

[Page 305 / Page 306]

On the water, and it was thus quite impossible for any one to escape from the island.

At the south end of the island were the recruiting stations where the majority of all the New York Volunteers were mustered into the service.  There were also a number of barrack buildings and officers’ quarters fitted up with every convenience for men, and officers and all had a very pleasant time during their short sojourn in these fine quarters.  Numbers of ladies and gentlemen visited the island daily and all points of interest were shown to all who came.  The rebel prisoners were the greatest attraction, and they were always glad to see visitors for they had learned to know that the liberal hearts of northerners would respond to their appeals.  One of them remarked to me once, ‘Your people are very kind to us.’

The muster-out rolls were completed at 1 P. M., June 16th and at once sent to the mustering officer.  The next day was passed in making out discharge papers for all officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, (128 in all), except Private James D. Sprong, who had still to make up time lost by desertion.  I was sick all day on the 18th and confined to my quarters with a fever; I was therefore unable to go to Flushing as I had promised.  On the 20th the last ordinance returns for this command were made out; this was a very easy matter as nearly everything had been turned over to the proper authorities at Washington on the 3d of June.  At 4 P. M., June 21st, 1865, the members of the 34th New York Independent Veteran Volunteer Light Battery were mustered out of the service of the United States by the mustering officer, Lieutenant Dolan, 2d United States Infantry, and on the 24th all were paid off except the commanding officer.  The members of the Battery now separated to go to their respective homes, and thus the military service of the Battery came to an end.”

Source:  Roemer, Jacob, REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR OF THE REBELLION 1861-1865 BY BVT.-MAJ. JACOB ROEMER, BATTERY L. SECOND N.Y. ARTILLERY, AND THIRTY-FOURTH N.Y.V.V. IND. LT. BATTERY, pp. 304-06 (Flushing, N.Y.:  Estate of Jacob Roemer, 1897).

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Nathaniel H. Bouldin, a Poor Confederate Prisoner of War Who Died in Pelham in 1865

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No one yet has researched and written the history of Pelham's participation in the Civil War.  I have a special interest in that era -- I have discovered (to my amazement and sadness) that my wife's Great-Great Grandfather was a Confederate soldier who was captured in the last days of the Rebellion and was shipped north to Hart's Island in Pelham as a prisoner of war where he died of "chronic diarrhea".  His name was Nathaniel H. Bouldin. 

According to The Muster Rolls of Company F of the 57th Regiment of Virginia Infantry, Nathaniel H. Bouldin was enlisted by Col. John L. Dillard on 10 July 1861 at Mt. Vernon Church in Henry County.  He subsequently served in Company F of the 57th Regiment of Virginia Infantry.  He apparently was serving in this Regiment when he was taken prisoner at Gettysburg on 3 July 1863.  Paroled at Point Lookout, Maryland, he was transferred to City Point, Virginia on 16 March 1864.  Recaptured at Battle of Five Forks on 1 April 1865, he was sent to Hart's Island in New York.  According to Federal Archives he died in DeCamp General Hospital of "chronic diarrhea" and is buried in Grave Number 2677 at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

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