Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about the courage and longevity of some Civil War Union veterans. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

With today’s article, I honor some brave soldiers who fought for the Union during the Civil War.

A Heroes Gets Welcome Kiss

Harry Ira Stormes (1846-1945), born in Vermont to Frank Stormes and Matilda (Brough) Stormes, served in the Wisconsin 2nd Cavalry, Company M. He preferred to be called by his middle name Ira.

Ira married Jane Tachell (1854-1931), born in Cornwall, England, to James R. Tachell Sr. and Elizabeth Jane (Rickard) Tachell. The couple left many descendants.

Below is a photo of his Civil War Campaign Commemorative Medal presented to him on 1 March 1909.

Ira and 11 of the remaining “boys in blue” gathered for the 54th Annual Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic (G. A. R.) in May 1936. Here is a photo of Ira and three other vets who attended. Together, these four men were 364 years old.

In this photo we see (left to right): Elias Price, age 90; Ira Stormes (standing), age 90; Gust Anderson, age 92; and John W. Widdoes, age 92.

Ira got a hero’s welcome, a big smacker kiss from Cora Lambright of Canton, Ohio, for the Veterans Day parade in 1940. The moment was captured by the press.

The photo caption reads:

Greeting for a Hero. “To the victor belong the spoils” is a saying the Betsey Ross quartet takes seriously. Ira Stormes, Salt Lake City, Utah, got a hero’s welcome from one of the quartet members as a result when he arrived at the reviewing stand in the parade. The donor is Cora Lambright, Canton, O.

Ira had some words for his country in the last year of World War II.

G.A. R. Vet Takes the Cake

Hiram Randall Gale (1846-1951), born in Waterbury, Vermont, to Hiram Gale and Sallie (Bryant) Gale, volunteered for service in the Civil War, joining Company K of the 46th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. His unit guarded the Union Army railroad facilities at Athens, Alabama. After that he served as a courts-martial court clerk at Huntsville, Alabama.

Hiram married Laura Ann Perkins, daughter of Charles Edgar Perkins and Mary B. (Stearns) Perkins, and left many descendants including two sons, Charles R. Gale (1872-1959) and Edgar L. Gale (1876-1962), whom he partnered with in the printing (Gale Publishing) and real estate businesses.

In 1943 Hiram told the press he had hopes of marching in next year’s Memorial Day Parade.

This article reports:

“I am thankful for being spared,” ninety-six-year-old Commander Gale said yesterday. “If I am well enough next Memorial Day, I shall march at the head of the parade, probably the only G. A. R. member in the United States who will walk the full route. We were expected to march when we were in full strength, and I shall march as long as I can.”

Hiram did march in the parade the following year as the grand marshal. He was one of the few hundreds of vets left and served as commander of the Grand Army of the Republic Navy Yard, Post Number 110, and later elected Commander of the Washington and Alaska Department. Gale visited all the Grand Army of the Republic posts around the state of Washington.

When Hiram turned 98 on 8 November 1944 he was presented a birthday cake by the Clara Barton Tent No. 1, Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. He was photographed with his cake by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, who paid him a visit.

Below is a photo of Hiram in G.A.R. uniform taken in 1948.

Civil War Vet Thrills Girl with War Tales

Christian Niemeyer (1843-1931), born in Germany to Christian Johann Heinrich Niemeyer and Engel Maria Dorothea (Ruessel) Niemeyer, served in the 4th Missouri Cavalry, Company H.

He married Maria Dorothea Amerland and 2nd Engel Maria Sophie Dorothea Wilhelmine “Minnie” Mueller, and left descendants.

Here he is photographed with Sylvia Haas, 16, who lights his pipe as the 87-year-old vet tells of being wounded while a cavalryman.

Here is what the old vet, familiarly known as Chris, told Sylvia:

“I was in the cavalry,” old Chris, as he is familiarly known to many of his fellow townsmen [Des Plaines], proudly told her. “We had a harder lot than the other soldiers. We were always in mud. On one scouting expedition I fell off my mount and cut my right leg badly below the knee. It was many hours before a doctor took care of me – but I treated the wound myself, and went on with my work.”

Christian’s records reveal he was kicked by his horse in 1862 and later captured by Confederate troops and spent time in a Memphis prisoner of war camp.

Wauconda, Illinois: Some of the Last Remaining Civil War Veterans

Here is a photo of G. A. R. members from Wauconda, Illinois, taken on Memorial Day c. 1920.

Three of the veterans in the above photo got back together in 1926. In this photo we see (left to right):

• Henry Knight Harris (1838-1929), born in Bennington, Vermont, to Allen Harris and Hannah (Work) Harris. He married Mary A. Griswold, daughter of George S. Griswold and Freelove (Smith) Griswold. The couple left descendants. He served in the Massachusetts 10th Infantry Regiment, Company B;
• George Elisha Prouty (1844-1927), son of George Prouty and Prudence (Lake) Prouty. He married Mary E. Gruber of Germany and 2nd widow Sarah Adaline (Pratt) Wheelock Lake and left descendants. He served in the 52nd Illinois Infrantry, Company I;
• Joseph B. Turnbull (1847-1929), who served in the New York Cavalry, 22nd Regiment, Company H.

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Note on the header image: Civil War Union display. Credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html