BIO INFORMATION:
Private Fitzgerald was a resident of Winchester when he was mustered into the Union Army at Camp Dutton on Chestnut Hill Road in Litchfield, in response to an appeal from President Abraham Lincoln on July 22, 1862. President Lincoln's call was for 300,000 volunteers to serve in the Union Army for a period of three years.
Private Fitzgerald was assigned to Company E of the Litchfield County Regiment, Second Heavy Artillery Brigade, which was originally known as the Nineteenth Infantry. The appeal was successful and the patriotism of colonial Litchfield County was as active then as it is today with nine companies containing 815 men assembling at Camp Dutton. Major Elisha S. Kellogg of the First Artillery was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel and began the task of molding the volunteers into an efficient military organization.
By September 11, 1862, the unit was determined to be ready for action and on September 15th preceded by rail to Washington, D.C., then on to Alexandria, Virginia where it was equipped with "A" tents and Enfield rifles. The unit was assigned for duty under General J.P. Slough and encamped outside of Alexandria where they relieved the Thirty-third Massachusetts in the disagreeable task of patrolling the city. Disease struck the troops and in a single month there were 16 deaths and hundreds of officers and enlisted men plagued with sickness.
In May 1863, the entire garrison was dispatched for war duty at Fort Ellsworth and the Water Battery on the Potomac below Alexandria. In May 1864 it joined the unit, which now numbered 1,800 and became part of the Army of the Potomac near Fredericksburg and assigned to General Emory Upton's Second Brigade. The history of Private Fitzgerald's 2nd Field Artillery parallels that of the history of famous battles of the Civil War, including Appomattox, Cedar Creek, Harper's Ferry, Fisher's Hill, Petersburg, Cold Harbor, Hanover Court House and Harrisonburg.
Confrontations with the Confederate troops were fierce, with casualties high. At Winchester, the regiment lost 14 officers and 122 enlisted men in one engagement. Some, who were severely wounded, were sent home after a partial recovery. But Private Fitzgerald was not as lucky. He was captured by the Confederate Army on October 19, 1864 at Cedar Creek and sent to Libby Prison in Virginia where he died of starvation on January 6, 1865. Following the war his remains were returned to Connecticut and interred in St. Francis Cemetery in Torrington. He was 31 years old at the time of his death. His wife, the former Mary Ryan, died August 1, 1912 at the age of 83 and is buried in the same plot in St. Francis Cemetery. His great grandson, Levi Parsons II (now deceased) of Litchfield nominated Private Matthew Fitzgerald for an American Legion "Veteran of the Month" tribute in 1999.
Private Fitzgerald was a resident of Winchester when he was mustered into the Union Army at Camp Dutton on Chestnut Hill Road in Litchfield, in response to an appeal from President Abraham Lincoln on July 22, 1862. President Lincoln's call was for 300,000 volunteers to serve in the Union Army for a period of three years.
Private Fitzgerald was assigned to Company E of the Litchfield County Regiment, Second Heavy Artillery Brigade, which was originally known as the Nineteenth Infantry. The appeal was successful and the patriotism of colonial Litchfield County was as active then as it is today with nine companies containing 815 men assembling at Camp Dutton. Major Elisha S. Kellogg of the First Artillery was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel and began the task of molding the volunteers into an efficient military organization.
By September 11, 1862, the unit was determined to be ready for action and on September 15th preceded by rail to Washington, D.C., then on to Alexandria, Virginia where it was equipped with "A" tents and Enfield rifles. The unit was assigned for duty under General J.P. Slough and encamped outside of Alexandria where they relieved the Thirty-third Massachusetts in the disagreeable task of patrolling the city. Disease struck the troops and in a single month there were 16 deaths and hundreds of officers and enlisted men plagued with sickness.
In May 1863, the entire garrison was dispatched for war duty at Fort Ellsworth and the Water Battery on the Potomac below Alexandria. In May 1864 it joined the unit, which now numbered 1,800 and became part of the Army of the Potomac near Fredericksburg and assigned to General Emory Upton's Second Brigade. The history of Private Fitzgerald's 2nd Field Artillery parallels that of the history of famous battles of the Civil War, including Appomattox, Cedar Creek, Harper's Ferry, Fisher's Hill, Petersburg, Cold Harbor, Hanover Court House and Harrisonburg.
Confrontations with the Confederate troops were fierce, with casualties high. At Winchester, the regiment lost 14 officers and 122 enlisted men in one engagement. Some, who were severely wounded, were sent home after a partial recovery. But Private Fitzgerald was not as lucky. He was captured by the Confederate Army on October 19, 1864 at Cedar Creek and sent to Libby Prison in Virginia where he died of starvation on January 6, 1865. Following the war his remains were returned to Connecticut and interred in St. Francis Cemetery in Torrington. He was 31 years old at the time of his death. His wife, the former Mary Ryan, died August 1, 1912 at the age of 83 and is buried in the same plot in St. Francis Cemetery. His great grandson, Levi Parsons II (now deceased) of Litchfield nominated Private Matthew Fitzgerald for an American Legion "Veteran of the Month" tribute in 1999.
BIO INFORMATION:
Private Fitzgerald was a resident of Winchester when he was mustered into the Union Army at Camp Dutton on Chestnut Hill Road in Litchfield, in response to an appeal from President Abraham Lincoln on July 22, 1862. President Lincoln's call was for 300,000 volunteers to serve in the Union Army for a period of three years.
Private Fitzgerald was assigned to Company E of the Litchfield County Regiment, Second Heavy Artillery Brigade, which was originally known as the Nineteenth Infantry. The appeal was successful and the patriotism of colonial Litchfield County was as active then as it is today with nine companies containing 815 men assembling at Camp Dutton. Major Elisha S. Kellogg of the First Artillery was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel and began the task of molding the volunteers into an efficient military organization.
By September 11, 1862, the unit was determined to be ready for action and on September 15th preceded by rail to Washington, D.C., then on to Alexandria, Virginia where it was equipped with "A" tents and Enfield rifles. The unit was assigned for duty under General J.P. Slough and encamped outside of Alexandria where they relieved the Thirty-third Massachusetts in the disagreeable task of patrolling the city. Disease struck the troops and in a single month there were 16 deaths and hundreds of officers and enlisted men plagued with sickness.
In May 1863, the entire garrison was dispatched for war duty at Fort Ellsworth and the Water Battery on the Potomac below Alexandria. In May 1864 it joined the unit, which now numbered 1,800 and became part of the Army of the Potomac near Fredericksburg and assigned to General Emory Upton's Second Brigade. The history of Private Fitzgerald's 2nd Field Artillery parallels that of the history of famous battles of the Civil War, including Appomattox, Cedar Creek, Harper's Ferry, Fisher's Hill, Petersburg, Cold Harbor, Hanover Court House and Harrisonburg.
Confrontations with the Confederate troops were fierce, with casualties high. At Winchester, the regiment lost 14 officers and 122 enlisted men in one engagement. Some, who were severely wounded, were sent home after a partial recovery. But Private Fitzgerald was not as lucky. He was captured by the Confederate Army on October 19, 1864 at Cedar Creek and sent to Libby Prison in Virginia where he died of starvation on January 6, 1865. Following the war his remains were returned to Connecticut and interred in St. Francis Cemetery in Torrington. He was 31 years old at the time of his death. His wife, the former Mary Ryan, died August 1, 1912 at the age of 83 and is buried in the same plot in St. Francis Cemetery. His great grandson, Levi Parsons II (now deceased) of Litchfield nominated Private Matthew Fitzgerald for an American Legion "Veteran of the Month" tribute in 1999.
Private Fitzgerald was a resident of Winchester when he was mustered into the Union Army at Camp Dutton on Chestnut Hill Road in Litchfield, in response to an appeal from President Abraham Lincoln on July 22, 1862. President Lincoln's call was for 300,000 volunteers to serve in the Union Army for a period of three years.
Private Fitzgerald was assigned to Company E of the Litchfield County Regiment, Second Heavy Artillery Brigade, which was originally known as the Nineteenth Infantry. The appeal was successful and the patriotism of colonial Litchfield County was as active then as it is today with nine companies containing 815 men assembling at Camp Dutton. Major Elisha S. Kellogg of the First Artillery was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel and began the task of molding the volunteers into an efficient military organization.
By September 11, 1862, the unit was determined to be ready for action and on September 15th preceded by rail to Washington, D.C., then on to Alexandria, Virginia where it was equipped with "A" tents and Enfield rifles. The unit was assigned for duty under General J.P. Slough and encamped outside of Alexandria where they relieved the Thirty-third Massachusetts in the disagreeable task of patrolling the city. Disease struck the troops and in a single month there were 16 deaths and hundreds of officers and enlisted men plagued with sickness.
In May 1863, the entire garrison was dispatched for war duty at Fort Ellsworth and the Water Battery on the Potomac below Alexandria. In May 1864 it joined the unit, which now numbered 1,800 and became part of the Army of the Potomac near Fredericksburg and assigned to General Emory Upton's Second Brigade. The history of Private Fitzgerald's 2nd Field Artillery parallels that of the history of famous battles of the Civil War, including Appomattox, Cedar Creek, Harper's Ferry, Fisher's Hill, Petersburg, Cold Harbor, Hanover Court House and Harrisonburg.
Confrontations with the Confederate troops were fierce, with casualties high. At Winchester, the regiment lost 14 officers and 122 enlisted men in one engagement. Some, who were severely wounded, were sent home after a partial recovery. But Private Fitzgerald was not as lucky. He was captured by the Confederate Army on October 19, 1864 at Cedar Creek and sent to Libby Prison in Virginia where he died of starvation on January 6, 1865. Following the war his remains were returned to Connecticut and interred in St. Francis Cemetery in Torrington. He was 31 years old at the time of his death. His wife, the former Mary Ryan, died August 1, 1912 at the age of 83 and is buried in the same plot in St. Francis Cemetery. His great grandson, Levi Parsons II (now deceased) of Litchfield nominated Private Matthew Fitzgerald for an American Legion "Veteran of the Month" tribute in 1999.
Inscription
aged 31
Gravesite Details
Co.E . 2 Conn. H. V. Y
Family Members
Children
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Records on Ancestry
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