William Wells
Born: December 14, 1837
Birthplace: Waterbury, Vermont
Father: William W. Wells 1805 – 1869
(Buried: Hope Cemetery, Waterbury, Vermont)
Mother: Elizabeth Carpenter 1810 – 1873
(Buried: Hope Cemetery, Waterbury, Vermont)
Wife: Arahana Richardson 1845 – 1905
(Buried: Lakeview Cemetery, Burlington, Vermont)
Children:
Bertha Richardson Wells Jackson 1873 – 1954
(Buried: Lakeview Cemetery, Burlington, Vermont)
Education:
Attended Barre Academy, and Kimball Union Academy
Occupation before War:
Assistant in his father’s Extensive Business
Civil War Career:
1861: Enlisted as a Private in Company C, 1st Vermont Cavalry Regt.
1861: Helped raise Company C, 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment
1861: First Lt. of Company C, 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment
1861 – 1862: Captain Company C, 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment
1862: Served in the fighting at Orange Court House, Virginia
1862 – 1864: Major of 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment
1863: Commanded Second Battalion at Battle of Hanover, PA.
1863: On the third day, leads a desperate cavalry charge on Big Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg
1863: Wounded by Sabra Cut at Battle of Boonsboro, Maryland
1863: Charged the Confederate artillery at Culpeper Court House, VA.
1863: Wounded during the Battle of Culpeper Court House, Virginia
1864: Served in the Kilpatrick Raid in Virginia
1864: Commanded the 7th Michigan Cavalry Regiment for one month
1864: Cavalry Battalion Commander at Battle of Yellow Tavern, VA.
1864 – 1865: Colonel of 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment
1864: Participated in the Battle of Tom’s Brook, Virginia
1864: Served in the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia
1865: Brevetted to the rank of Brigadier General
1865 – 1866: Brigadier General of Union Army Cavalry
1865: Served in the raid of Richmond, Virginia
1865: Served in the last charge at Appomattox Court House, Virginia
1865: Sheridan called him “My ideal of a cavalry soldier”
Last ranking officer of Cavalry for the Army of the Potomac
1865: Commanded Second Cavalry Brigade at Grand Review in D.C.
1866: Honorably muster out of the Union Army on January 15th
Occupation after War:
Partner in a firm of wholesale druggists in Waterbury, Vermont
Partner in a firm of Wholesale druggists in Burlington, Vermont
1866 – 1872: Vermont State Adjutant General
Collector of Customs in the State of Vermont
Leader in the Wells Richardson Company in Vermont
Manufacturer of Paine’s Celery Compound
Vermont State Senator
President of Vermont State Reunion Society of Vermont Officers
1889 – 1890: Member of Gettysburg Commission
President of Burlington Trust Company
President of Burlington Gas – Light Company
Director of Rutland Railroad Company
Recipient of the Medal of Honor "for distinguished gallantry at the battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863."
Died: April 29, 1892
Place of Death: New York City, New York
Cause of Death: Angina Pectoris
Age at time of Death: 54 years old
Burial Place: Lakeview Cemetery, Burlington, Vermont
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