Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State - Granville Arnold

Granville Slack Arnold

Representing: Union


G.A.R Post

  • Isaac Stevens Post #1 Seattle, King Co. WA

Unit History

  • 1st California Cavalry E
  • 1st California Veteran Infantry Battalion G

See full unit history

Granville Arnold
Full Unit History

1st CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEER CAVALRY
Organized: August, 1861 Camp Merchant Oakland, CA
Mustered In: 8/15 - 10/31/186 & 5/16 - 12/31/1863 Camp Merchant Oakland, CA
Mustered Out: 12/31/1866 The Presidio near San Francisco, CA

 

1st CALIFORNIA VETERAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Organized: November / December, 1864
Mustered In: Inf. Not Avail.
Mustered Out: 9/1/1866

Regimental History

REGIMENTAL HISTORY:  (1st Cav.)

 

The 1st California was a three year, truly "western" cavalry unit. It spent its entire existence in California, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and Texas.
 

Upon the first call for troops from California the state was asked to furnish one regiment of infantry and five companies of cavalry to guard the overland mail route from Carson Valley, CA to Salt Lake City, UT and Laramie, WY. The five cavalry companies organized under this call became the 1st battalion of the 1st California Cavalry. During 1863 the battalion was made a full regiment of twelve companies.
 

As soon as the 1st battalion was organized it was sent to Los Angeles and San Bernadino in the southern part of the state. It remained there until spring, 1862 when it became part of the "California Column" that formed the advance of an expedition to New Mexico and Texas. During this movement a detachment of the unit lost two killed and one wounded at Picacho Pass, NM Terr., but over all, the expedition succeeded in keeping many far flung areas of the west under Union control.
 

In addition to fighting Johnny Reb, the 1st also dealt with Native American hostiles. One such engagement occurred in April, 1864 near Mt. Gray, AZ. In that action twenty one Indians were killed and a large number wounded.
 

November, '64. Three of the regiment's companies formed part of an expedition under the command of Colonel Kit Carson which moved against Kiowa and Comanche natives and fought a battle near the old adobe fort on north Texas's Canadian River. The engagement, which lasted all day, resulted in the destruction of one hundred fifty Kiowa lodges and sixty natives killed or wounded. The loss to the 1st was two killed and seven wounded. Other clashes with Indians took place in New Mexico.
 

1865. In May an expedition proceeded to Comanche country and built a stone fort at Cedar Bluffs Indian Territory. From this outpost the 1st escorted wagon trains to and from Lamed, KS until October, 1865.
 

By late 1864 original members of the regiment had been mustered out at Las Cruces and Fort Union, NM Terr.  Reenlisted veterans were then consolidated into two companies -one of cavalry and one of infantry. This column returned to San Francisco, CA and was mustered out at the end of December, 1866.
 

REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded: Unk.   ; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 2; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded: Unk. ; Enlisted Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.:  

BATTALION HISTORY: (1st Inf.) 

The 1st California Veteran Infantry Battalion was truly a "western" organization. It served in New Mexico and Texas.
 

The battalion was organized in late 1864 by consolidating veterans of the 1st Infantry  which became companies "A" & "D" with those of the 5th Infantry which became companies "B", "C", "E", "F" and "G".
 

The battalion was stationed by detachments at Franklin, Texas, Fort Craig, Los Pinos, Fort Union, Fort Wingate, Las Cruces, Fort Garland, Fort Sumner, Fort McRae and Fort Cummings all in New Mexico Terr. It was mustered out in September, 1866.
 

BATTALION LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded: Unk.; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.:  Unk. ; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 4; Enlisted Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.:  Unk.

Soldier History

SOLDIER: (1st Cav.)
Residence: Inf. Not Avail.   Age: 32.1 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 8/14/1861 San Francisco, CA   Rank:  Pvt.
Mustered In: 8/15/1861 The Presidio near San Francisco, CA
Mustered Out: 8/31/1864 Las Cruces, NM Terr.
Highest Rank: Pvt.
Rank At Discharge: Pvt.

 

SOLDIER: (1st Inf.)
Residence: Inf. Not Avail.   Age: 35.6 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 1/19/1865 Las Cruces, NM Terr.   Rank: Pvt.
Mustered In: 2/15/1865
Mustered Out: 2/12/1866 Ft. Selden, NM Terr.
Highest Rank: Pvt.
Rank At Discharge: Pvt.

Family History

PERSONAL/FAMILY HISTORY:

NOTE: The birth - to - death biographical profile of Granville Arnold was created in November, 2021 during the Covid-19 medical pandemic. It contains less depth of detail than many other biographies within this website because military service, pension and other veteran-related files housed in Washington, D.C.'s National Archives were not available. At a later time those documents may be obtained and the data contained therein added to the narrative which follows.
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Granville Slack Arnold was born 6/22/1829. The place of his birth was somewhere within the state of New York.
 

Parenting Granville were Job Arnold (b. 8/10/1805 RI - d. 7/21/1866 Hastings Dakota County, MN) and Livina W. (nee Thornton (b. 1807 NY - d. unk.) Arnold. In 1850 Illinois, Job noted in the U.S. Census that he was employed as a "clerk."
 

The 1850 census also noted that Job was no longer married to Granville's mother, Livina.  What had happened to her and when are unknowns. Likely, however, she had died. The second Mrs. Arnold is identified only as being named Esther H. Arnold.
 

In 1850 the Arnold household was located in Freeport Stephenson County, IL. There were eight children in the home with Granville - employed as a teacher - being the eldest. Younger siblings, whose mothers are not identified were: Charles Arnold (b. 1830 NY), Calferria Arnold (b. 1835 NY), Kazia H. Arnold (b. 1837 NY), Louisa M. Arnold (b. 1839 NY), Mathew H. Arnold (b. 1841 NY), Isaac W. Arnold (b. 1843 NY) and Darter K. Arnold (b. 1849 IL).
 

At some point in time after the U.S. Census of 1850 and before 8/14/1861 when Granville entered the U.S. Army, he quit teaching in Illinois and moved to California. Although available documents are silent on the matter, likely he was drawn westward by the gold bug. Then, not striking it rich, he enlisted in the 1st California Cavalry for three years.
 

Without accessing Private Arnold's military service records, about all we can say is that by December, 1861 he was stationed at Camp Wright located in Oak Grove near San Diego. While there he was reported as being "sick in the hospital." **
 

During the spring of 1862 Private Arnold was part of the "California Column" which crossed the Mojave and Sonoran deserts and drove Confederate forces from the New Mexico, Terr. (NMT). He arrived at Tucson, AZ in June of '62 and Mesilla in July. He was mustered out at Los Cruces, NMT on 8/31/1864.
 

Departing the 1st Cavalry, Granville remained a civilian in Las Cruces for a few months. Then, in January, 1865 he enlisted in the newly formed 1st California Veteran Infantry. Again, he survived his enlistment and was mustered out at Ft. Selden, NMT on 2/12/1866.
 

Exactly where Arnold settled after departing the military is not known. He did, however, leave California.
 

On 2/13/1868 in Minneapolis Hennepin County, MN Granville married. His bride was Theresa (nee Thompson). Theresa had been born in Connecticut during the year 1835.
 

Following marriage the Arnolds settled in Iowa. That was where the couple's four children were born. They were: Charles J. Arnold (b. 1869), Silas Granville (b. 2/2/1870), Mary E. Arnold (b. 1874) and John H. Arnold (b. 1876).
 

Granville's occupation during the child birthing years is not known, but by 1880 he had returned to mining. At the time of that U.S. Census he and his family were residing in Deadwood Lawrence County, Dakota Territory (DT).
 

While in the Dakotas, it appears Granville drew upon his period of Civil War service to apply for a homestead land grant. Having lived on and worked the land tract, on 3/3/1888 he received patent (title) to the parcel which was located in or near the community of Butte, SD.
 

After gaining ownership of the homestead, Granville and family did not remain long in South Dakota. As of 1890 they were residing in Seattle King County, WA Terr. Here, Granville was employed as a carpenter. It is just a guess, but likely he and his family were drawn to the Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest by carpentering opportunities stemming from the rebuilding of the city of Seattle after its destruction by fire in June of the previous year.
 

Granville lived out his years in Seattle but, sadly, Theresa preceded him in death. Details of her passing on 9/14/1896 are not available. She was/is buried in the Lake View Cemetery located near the north end of Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
 

Old soldier Granville Arnold died of paralysis (stroke) in the Seattle General Hospital on 1/24/1899. He was/is buried at Lake View Cemetery with Theresa.
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*Granville's name does not appear on The American Civil War Research Database roster for this unit.
 

** On 10/18/1878 Arnold applied for and was granted a U.S. Government disability pension based on physical conditions or ailments which traced back to his days of Civil War soldiering. In the case of former Private Arnold, the pension appears to have been based on lung disease attributed to exposure to the elements while sleeping out in the rain. Without having access to pension files, the financial details of his monthly stipend remain unknown.

Cemetery

Buried at Lake View Cemetery Seattle


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