Horace Fred Lee

In January of 1861, Abraham Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, was elected President of the United States. Within weeks, eleven southern states voted to secede from the Union of the United States. The eleven seceding states formed the Confederate Union. By April, the Civil War officially began as the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter.

During this time, in the state of New York, a young man named Horace Lee asked Ellen Gardner to be his wife. Horace was a widower with a daughter, Adella Emma.. His first wife, Julia, died giving birth. Ellen accepted Horace’s proposal. (see Ellen Gardner Lee post)

Meanwhile, the war was progressing and the Union needed soldiers. President Lincoln asked townships to provide a specific number of young men to fight for the cause. To meet this demand, each township offered cash, or a “bounty”, enticing young men to join the Union Army. Horace was offered a $50 bounty in addition to his meager salary. He enlisted in the New York Infantry. (The $50 bounty is worth approximately $820 today. The average price of a slave in 1862 was $600).

Below is a copy of Horace’s Civil War record. Note the “bounty” listed on his record. Also note his cause of death. In 1864, two years after Ellen gave birth to their son, Fred, Horace died of small pox.

We should keep in mind how brutal the conditions were for soldiers in the Civil War. At times, soldiers did not have enough clothing, boots, blankets, or even the weapons they needed for battle. They often had to forage for food and build shelters for protection from winter temperatures. They died from various diseases and infections as well as from injuries sustained on the battlefield. Small pox was highly contagious, killing about one third of those who had the disease. Those who managed to survive were left with horribly disfiguring scars.

The photo below is of the New York Infantry Drum Corp.