Writing a Biographical Essay Albert S. Green Biographical Essay Page 6 of 10 |
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Biographical Essay about The Civil War brought together men of different backgrounds and interests. Some men advanced in rank, moving up the military ladder from private to sergeant and then possibly on to brigade commander. Albert S. Green's muster record and comments about Albert S. Green in the Civil War correspondence of regimental friend, Private Alonzo Bump, tell a different story about military life. Albert S. Green was born in 1919 in Lincolnville, Maine. By the mid-1850s he had relocated to Victory Mills, a town in upstate New York near Saratoga Springs. A carpenter by trade, Albert S. Green worked from at least 1856 until 1862 at Saratoga Manufacturing, a textile company located in Victory Mills. Albert's responsibilities at the mill are not recorded in the ledgers. He may have worked as a machine operator, providing income for his family when his carpentry business was slow. Albert also could have been a carpenter in the mill, repairing broken equipment or fashioning new machine pieces as the company needed. Albert not only worked for Saratoga Manufacturing Company but also rented a home with a garden plot and purchased goods from his employer. Some of the commodities which Albert bought included straw, cords of wood, coal, cloth, and even a pig. Albert seemingly had other animals. During the summer months, according to the Saratoga Manufacturing accounting ledgers, he rented land called "cow pasture." Although a middle-aged man by the beginning of the Civil War, the five foot six inch, blue eyed, brown haired, Albert S. Green still enlisted in August, 1862 as a sergeant in the infantry of the 77th regiment's company K. Letters written by Albert's tent mate, Alonzo Bump, provide some |
information about Albert's military life. In April 1863, the tent which Alonzo and Albert shared had a bed in one end, an addition which made their quarters, in the words of Alonzo, the "Best House" in the company. When they lived in the same tent, Albert and Alonzo also dined together, eating "soft Bread" sometimes as often as four meals a week, a likely treat when compared to the standard military ration of hardtack. Another starch in their diet was beans, a notoriously noisy food to digest. During his three year service, Albert encountered a situation which could have embittered his feelings towards his company. According to Alonzo and verified in Albert's muster record, the military reduced Albert's rank from sergeant to private in July, 1863. The record is not clear as to the reason for the demotion, but Alonzo's letters indicate that Albert could not keep up with his company's movement because of illness. The military thereafter labeled Albert a deserter and detailed him to ambulance duty at a convalescent camp at Gettysburg. Alonzo called the demotion unfair, but Albert's feelings on the matter are not revealed. In the two remaining years of the war, the army never re-instated Albert back to his original status as sergeant. If he felt anger towards his loss of rank, Albert still stayed in service to his country to the end, finally mustering out of the military in June, 1865. Although Alonzo's letters, Albert's muster record, and the Saratoga Manufacturing journals do not provide any information about Albert's later life, his steady pre-war work record and the way he handled his demotion during the war present the sound possibility that he provided for his family to the best of his ability, even when confronted with life's most difficult situations. ******************** |