Pvt. William McCormick

Personal
born:	June 26, 1834	place:	New Philadelphia, Ohio
father:		born:		place:		died:		place:
mother:		born:		place:		died:		place:
pre-war occupation:		place:		post-war occupation:		place:
married:	March 13, 1856	to:	Charlotte Lottie" Scott	place:	Franklin Township, Wayne County, Ohio
wife born:	September 4, 1834	place:	Franklin, Wayne County, Ohio	died:		place:
child:	Susan Marisa	born:	February 4, 1857	place:	Wooster, Ohio	died:	March 6, 1857	place:
child:	John Bechtel	born:	February 17, 1858	place:	Franklin, Ohio	died:	February 25, 1932	place:
child:	Clara Jane	born:	April 30, 1860	place:		died:	August 8, 1892	place:
died:	June 1, 1863	place:	Vicksburg, Ms.	cause of death:	killed in action

Military Career
3-year service:	September 17, 1861	Private	Company G	place:
transferred:	December 1, 1861	Private	Company H
discharged:	June 1, 1863	killed in action	from mini-ball wound in chest while constructing fortifications at night during the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi	place:	Vicksburg, Mississippi

Additional Details

Thanks to information from Pvt. William McCormick's descendants, we have much information about the soldier. You are encouraged to read the William McCormick letters written during the war. Pvt. McCormick, Company G, survived the terrible Battle of Chickasaw Bayou in December, 1862, the Union's first attempt at capturing the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi. As fate would have it, while participating in the siege of Vicksburg on June 1, 1863, he was shot by the Confederates and died, ironically, only about four miles from the site of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, occurring 18 months earlier.

Details and photos provided by Joni Crane and family, descendants of William McCormick

William McCormick was born on June 26th, 1834 in New Philadelphia, Ohio. He married Charlotte Scott on March 13th, 1856. They were married at the home of her father by the Reverend G. B. Brandberry at Franklin Township, Wayne County, Ohio. William Scott and Isabelle Watson witnessed this marriage. William enlisted in Company G of the 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.) on September 17, 1861. He was a Private.

Charlotte Scott was born on September 4th, 1834 in Franklin, Wayne County, Ohio. She and William were the same age.

Charlotte and William had three children: a daughter named Susan born on February 4th, 1857. Susan was born in Wooster, Ohio. The baby died on March 6th, 1857 in Wooster, Ohio. Susan was one month old.

John Bechtel McCormick was born February 17th, 1858 in Franklin, Wayne County, Ohio. He was about 4 years old at the writing of the first letter in this collection. According to family records, John married Martha Matilda Peterman on the 16th of December, 1880 in Prairie, Holmes County, Ohio. John's wife preceded him in death on March 28th, 1925 in Seville, Medina County, Ohio. Seven years later John died on February 25th, 1932 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was 74 years old. John and Matilda had three (3) children:

J. B. McCormick
Alice McCormick born October 7th,1881
Clara Margaret McCormick born December 27th, 1891 in Fredericksburg, Wayne County, Ohio and married December 19th, 1911 to Thomas W. Stutz in Hudson, Ohio. Clara Margaret died in a hospital in Ipsilanti, Michigan in 1946.


Pvt. William McCormick	wife Charlotte (Lottie) with children Clara Jane and John Bechtel

Military document from March, 1867, documenting the discovery and re-interment of Civil War soldiers, showing the original, battlefield burial site of William McCormick and the new burial location in Vicksburg National Cemetery Description of location where the original burial site was found reads: 1/4 mi. S. of 2 Mi R. R. Bridge. The "Two Mile" bridge was on the route of the Southern Mississippi Railway (also known as the Vicksburg & Jackson Railway) and was an important landmark during the assaults and siege of Vicksburg in 1863.

Below is a modern Google map of Vicksburg very roughly overlaid with a map of the assault on Vicksburg of May 22, 1863, about nine days before Pvt. McCormick was killed digging trenches toward the Confederate lines. It can be seen that Col. Daniel Lindsey, commanding the 2nd Brigade of Gen. Peter Osterhaus's 9th Division, including the 16th Ohio, was occupying the immediate area where records show Pvt. McCormick was initially buried on or about June 2, 1863.

This map of Vicksburg National shows the location where William McCormick was re-interred in February, 1867, after being moved from his original battlefield gravesite shown above. Cemetery maps and other burial information courtesy of Will Wilson, Vicksburg National Military Park

Here is a closer view of William McCormick's gravesite on a Vicksburg Cemetery Map, showing the exact location.

Google satellite view of the cemetery showing the section containing William McCormick's gravesite.

Closer Google satellite view of the cemetery showing William McCormick's gravesite (with red overlay of extract from cemetery map). McCormick's grave is #5039 (top arrow).

The military headstone for Pvt. William McCormick in Vicksburg National Cemetery, Vicksburg, Mississippi. Photo courtesy of Will Wilson, Park Ranger and Historian, Vicksburg National Military Park