Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State - Frank McLelland

HALL’S INDEPENDENT BATTALION VOLUNTEER SHAPRSHOOTERS
Organized: 8/27-11/2/64 Marshall, MI
Consolidated: 4/10/65 with 16^th Michigan Infantry

1^st MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER SHARPSHOOTERS
Organized: 4/14/-10/7/63 Kalamazoo & Dearborn, MI
Mustered Out: 7/28/65 Washington D.C.

REGIMENTAL HISTORY: (Hall’s)
 

  After its organization Hall’s unit was attached to the 16^th Michigan Infantry, a regiment that had seen action since 9/61.  By the time Hall’s men joined General Grant’s forces the Army of The Potomac was settled into the siege of Petersburg, VA, a trench-type warfare perfectly suited for the talents of marksmen.
 

  On 2/7/65 Hall’s Sharpshooters, as part of the 16^th, were engaged with the enemy at Dabney’s Mills and, on 3/25 at Hatcher’s Run, at White Oak Swamp 3/29, at Quaker Road 3/31, and at Five Forks 4/1.  They followed the Confederate Army when Gen Lee retreated from Richmond and frequently came into contact with the enemy until the 4/9 surrender at Appomattox.  The very next day Hall’s unit was consolidated into the 1^st MI Sharpshooters.
 

  The 16^th subsequently participated in the Grand Review in Washington, was mustered out of service 7/8 in Jeffersonville, IN, then returned to MI where it was paid off and disbanded on 7/25/65.
 

REGIMENTAL HISTORY: (1^st”)
 

  After organization, one of the first duties for the marksmen of the 1^st was to help repel Confed. Gen. Morgan’s cavalry raid into Indiana.  It was then assigned to prison guard duty before joining Gen. U.S. Grant and the Army of the Potomac in their 1864 southward movement which culminated 4/9/65 with the surrender of Confed. Gen. R.E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, VA.
 

 Following the Grand Review in Washington the sharpshooters went into camp nearby until final muster.

SOLDIER: (Hall’s)
Residence: Coldwater, MI   Age: 14.10 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 9/20/64 Coldwater, MI   Rank: Pvt.
Transferred: 3/15/65 to 1^st MI Sharpshooters
Highest Rank: Pvt.

SOLDIER: (1^st)
Residence:  Coldwater, MI   Age: 16.3 yrs.
Transferred: 3/15/65 from Hall’s Ind. Battalion Sharpshooters   Rank:  Pvt.
Mustered Out: 6/3/65 Delaney House, Washington D.C.
Discharged: 6/65 Detroit, MI
Highest Rank: Pvt.

PERSONAL/FAMILY HISTORY:

NOTE: The original birth – to - death biographical profile of Frank McClelland was created during the early years of the Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State project. As a result it was limited both in terms of size and the number of available research resources.

The biography which follows was written in April, 2019. While it contains many more details than it predecessor, it still suffers from the depth of detail found in more recent additions to this website which draw heavily upon veteran – related documents housed in the National Archives located in Washington, D.C.

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  According to family sources Frank McLelland was born 12/1/49. His place of birth was likely Saginaw, Saginaw Co., MI. His parents were Benjamin (b. 10/10/13 Grafton Co., NH) and Emeline (nee Palmer b. 6/5/27or ’28 NY) McClelland. The McLellands were a farming family.
 

As best as can be determined, Frank was the second of ten McLelland children. Older than he were Amanda (b. 1846 – d. 1849) and Charles (b. 1848 MI). His younger siblings were: Nelson (b. 1852 – d. 1853), Clara (b. 1854), Garry (b. 1855), Ella (b. 1857), William “Willie” (b. 1859), John (b. 1862) and Jane “Jennie” (b. 1863. All of the children were born in Michigan.
 

 On 9/20/64, barely a teenager, Frank – or someone else – lied about his age and he joined a unit of U. S. Army sharpshooters.  Pvt. McLelland’s term of enlistment was one year.

 The paper trail of Pvt. Mcelland’s unit affiliations is somewhat difficult to follow.  To make a long story short, it appears that having entered the military as a “sharpshooter”  the teenaged warrior wished to retain that distinction throughout his period of service, but could only do so by departing Hall’s Battalion for the 1^st MI Sharpshooters before Hall’s lost its special identity by being assimilated into the 16^th Michigan Infantry.

 While in the military our private received no disciplinary reports. In March, 1865 he “was sick with a fever and smallpox resulting in disease of the eyes and total deafness of left ear.” Based upon these ailments he would later be granted a U.S. Government disability pension stipend which amounted to $16 per month at the time of his death.
 

  Post war it appears Frank McLelland returned to civilian life on his parents’ Saginaw farm.  He apparently remained there until 3/27/73, when in Sheridan Clare Co., MI, he married. His bride was Eliza Jane Teal (b. 1853 IN). Following their marriage the young couple took up farming in or near Sheridan.
 

The union of Frank and Eliza produced seven children four of whom were living in 1900. The McLellands children were: Mary M. (b. 1873 – d. 1874), Benjamin M. (b. 1875 – d. 1876), Leroy (b. 4/27/77 Claire Co., MI), Florence Evelyn “Eva” b. 9/19/79 Claire Co., MI), Earl Winfield (b. 8/81 MI), Nina E. (b. 7/83 MI) and Hattie Idyl (b. 10/7/85 Clare Co., MI).

  In April, 1905 Frank and Eliza moved from Michigan to Snohomish Co., WA. There, they set up their household at Blackman’s Lake.  Most likely the move was made so they could be near their adult children and grandchildren. 

  Six months after arriving in the Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest, on 10/10/05, Union veteran Frank McLelland died. The cause of his death was “neuralgia of the intestines.”  He had been ill for less than a week.

 Frank  was survived by his “widow”, three daughters and a son, all of whom were at his bedside when he passed.    Burial was/is in the Grand Army Of The Republic (G.A.R.) Cemetery in Snohomish, Snohomish Co., WA

After her husband’s passing Eliza remained in Snohomish.  She died on 2/4/32.  She was/is buried beside Frank in the G.A.R. Cemetery.

Buried at Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery Snohomish
Row: 19
Site: 2

Steve Troeger
Bothell, WA