Eleazer Allen was born in Hebron, Washington County, New York about 1809. After he moved to Erie PA and was 52 years old, he enlisted in the US Army as a Private in the 145th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Dedication to service must have been high on his list because he left his pregnant wife, nee Elisabeth Gillispie AKA Betsey, alone with two young boys and a daughter from Eleazer's previous marriage.
After his unit performed picket duty on the C&O Canal and then buried the dead from the battle of Antietam, he fought in the December 1862 battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia where his unit was repulsed with great losses at the wall at Maryes Heights (91 killed or died of their wounds, 152 wounded and 43 captured or listed as missing).
Nearly 5 months later, Eleazer was captured on May 3, 1863 during the battle of Chancellorsville along with his unit's executive officer and several others. The prisoners were then consolidated with other captives and held in railroad box cars at Guiney Station. (Note: Stonewall Jackson lay dying in a house nearby). After much useless railroad shunting during a harsh 3-day storm, the prisoners were finally marched by foot via Bowling Green to Milford Station where they waded across the Mattaponi River. The group finally reached Libby Prison in Richmond on the 9th day. After a day at Libby Prison, Eleazer was transferred to Belle Island Prison Camp where he was parolled.
Eleazer was then transferred by steam ship from City Point, near Richmond, via Fort Monroe (Old Point Comfort) to Camp Parole in Annapolis Maryland to wait for a prisoner exchange allowing for his return to front line service. While working construction at the hospital, Private Allen contracted Typhoid Fever and died Sept 14, 1863. He was buried the same day in the rear of Ashgrove Cemetery, which following President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, became the Annapolis National Cemetery.
Due to a clerical error by a new company clerk while Eleazer was a prisoner, his name was forever changed in the post war Army rolls from Eleazer to Eleaser.
After his unit performed picket duty on the C&O Canal and then buried the dead from the battle of Antietam, he fought in the December 1862 battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia where his unit was repulsed with great losses at the wall at Maryes Heights (91 killed or died of their wounds, 152 wounded and 43 captured or listed as missing).
Nearly 5 months later, Eleazer was captured on May 3, 1863 during the battle of Chancellorsville along with his unit's executive officer and several others. The prisoners were then consolidated with other captives and held in railroad box cars at Guiney Station. (Note: Stonewall Jackson lay dying in a house nearby). After much useless railroad shunting during a harsh 3-day storm, the prisoners were finally marched by foot via Bowling Green to Milford Station where they waded across the Mattaponi River. The group finally reached Libby Prison in Richmond on the 9th day. After a day at Libby Prison, Eleazer was transferred to Belle Island Prison Camp where he was parolled.
Eleazer was then transferred by steam ship from City Point, near Richmond, via Fort Monroe (Old Point Comfort) to Camp Parole in Annapolis Maryland to wait for a prisoner exchange allowing for his return to front line service. While working construction at the hospital, Private Allen contracted Typhoid Fever and died Sept 14, 1863. He was buried the same day in the rear of Ashgrove Cemetery, which following President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, became the Annapolis National Cemetery.
Due to a clerical error by a new company clerk while Eleazer was a prisoner, his name was forever changed in the post war Army rolls from Eleazer to Eleaser.
Eleazer Allen was born in Hebron, Washington County, New York about 1809. After he moved to Erie PA and was 52 years old, he enlisted in the US Army as a Private in the 145th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Dedication to service must have been high on his list because he left his pregnant wife, nee Elisabeth Gillispie AKA Betsey, alone with two young boys and a daughter from Eleazer's previous marriage.
After his unit performed picket duty on the C&O Canal and then buried the dead from the battle of Antietam, he fought in the December 1862 battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia where his unit was repulsed with great losses at the wall at Maryes Heights (91 killed or died of their wounds, 152 wounded and 43 captured or listed as missing).
Nearly 5 months later, Eleazer was captured on May 3, 1863 during the battle of Chancellorsville along with his unit's executive officer and several others. The prisoners were then consolidated with other captives and held in railroad box cars at Guiney Station. (Note: Stonewall Jackson lay dying in a house nearby). After much useless railroad shunting during a harsh 3-day storm, the prisoners were finally marched by foot via Bowling Green to Milford Station where they waded across the Mattaponi River. The group finally reached Libby Prison in Richmond on the 9th day. After a day at Libby Prison, Eleazer was transferred to Belle Island Prison Camp where he was parolled.
Eleazer was then transferred by steam ship from City Point, near Richmond, via Fort Monroe (Old Point Comfort) to Camp Parole in Annapolis Maryland to wait for a prisoner exchange allowing for his return to front line service. While working construction at the hospital, Private Allen contracted Typhoid Fever and died Sept 14, 1863. He was buried the same day in the rear of Ashgrove Cemetery, which following President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, became the Annapolis National Cemetery.
Due to a clerical error by a new company clerk while Eleazer was a prisoner, his name was forever changed in the post war Army rolls from Eleazer to Eleaser.
After his unit performed picket duty on the C&O Canal and then buried the dead from the battle of Antietam, he fought in the December 1862 battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia where his unit was repulsed with great losses at the wall at Maryes Heights (91 killed or died of their wounds, 152 wounded and 43 captured or listed as missing).
Nearly 5 months later, Eleazer was captured on May 3, 1863 during the battle of Chancellorsville along with his unit's executive officer and several others. The prisoners were then consolidated with other captives and held in railroad box cars at Guiney Station. (Note: Stonewall Jackson lay dying in a house nearby). After much useless railroad shunting during a harsh 3-day storm, the prisoners were finally marched by foot via Bowling Green to Milford Station where they waded across the Mattaponi River. The group finally reached Libby Prison in Richmond on the 9th day. After a day at Libby Prison, Eleazer was transferred to Belle Island Prison Camp where he was parolled.
Eleazer was then transferred by steam ship from City Point, near Richmond, via Fort Monroe (Old Point Comfort) to Camp Parole in Annapolis Maryland to wait for a prisoner exchange allowing for his return to front line service. While working construction at the hospital, Private Allen contracted Typhoid Fever and died Sept 14, 1863. He was buried the same day in the rear of Ashgrove Cemetery, which following President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, became the Annapolis National Cemetery.
Due to a clerical error by a new company clerk while Eleazer was a prisoner, his name was forever changed in the post war Army rolls from Eleazer to Eleaser.
