This weeks' prompt is Military. My husband's great-great grandfather, Peter Bechel, was born in either 1805 or 1809 in Hanover, Germany. It appears that he arrived without any family on the ship Shakespeare in New York in 1848. It is not known if he had been married before he arrived.
Peter married Anna (last name unknown) in about 1853 and by 1860, they had four children. Anna died in around 1862. I am guessing that Peter enlisted to serve in the Civil War after she died, although that is not known. Their children were placed with other families after her death. Peter seemed old to be enlisting. He was fifty-two when he first enlisted to serve. It does not appear that Peter ever returned to live with any of his children after the war. He settled in El Paso, Illinois, which was about 45 miles from where his children were.
There are two enlistment dates listed for Peter. Records show that he enlisted in Ottawa, Illinois on the 18th of March in 1862 in Company I, 24th Illinois Infantry. He was listed as fifty-two years old, was five feet four inches tall, had a dark complexion, blue eyes and grey hair. He was discharged from the unit on the 2nd of March in 1863 as disabled. He then enlisted on the 21st of June in 1863 at Cincinnati in the 1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery K and was honorably discharged on the 12th of July in 1865 by reason of ending of the war.
Peter was admitted to No. 14, General Hospital Nashville, Tennessee on May 5th, 1865 from Knoxville, Tennessee for treatment for Hernia, and was transferred and admitted to Cumberland General Hospital, in Nashville, Tenn. May 20th 1865 (confusing, I know). He was mustered out and discharged on July 12th 1865 but was retained in the hospital until July 24th 1865. He was shown to have been living in El Paso, Illinois after his discharge, and was still living there according to the 1870 census.
From his disability papers: "Saw Peter Bechel while on duty during a night expedition near Warsau (Tenn) in August 1862, saw when trying to climb over a fence fell and hurt himself badly; he reported himself sick and was ordered to hospital.". "He was found to have an inguinal hernia of the right side and it was disabling him for any duty.".
Peter was admitted to to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Montgomery County, Ohio on the 3rd of April in 1874. Records indicate that he "stayed there until his death.". However, he was reported that he was living in El Paso, Illinois in 1877, according to Pension Records.
Death Records from Montgomery County, Ohio state that Peter Bechel died on the 30th of May in 1886, was age 82, born in France, and was a laborer; he died of pneumonia; the death announcement from the newspaper listed his time of death as 5:40 am; Peter Bechel was buried in the Dayton National Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio.
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