Pvt. Wales Cheney (USA)

Civil War Veteran - Private, Co. I, 18th Massachusetts Infantry

The son of Samuel Torrey Read and Mary Eaton (Kellog) Cheney.

Wales Cheney was a 25-year-old cabinet-maker from Brattleboro, Vermont, when he enlisted at Dedham, Massachusetts on July 24, 1861. He was mustered into the 18th Mass. Infantry on August 24, 1861. He suffered a gunshot wound to the right knee at Second Bull Run on August 30, 1862 and was discharged due to his wounds on Dec. 29, 1862 from Douglas Hospital, Washington, D.C.

Wales worked as a cabinet-maker again following his military service. He married Jeralda Howard, age 20, the daughter of Luke and Martha Howard, at Northampton, Massachusetts on Oct. 27, 1863. They were parents to ten children:

1. William W., born Jan. 25, 1865
2. Samuel Torrey Read, born April 10, 1867
3. Cecil, born Jan. 8, 1869
4. Albert, born July 12, 1873
5. Mary K., born Nov. 7, 1875
6. Martha W., born Feb. 26, 1878
7. Nettie J., born March 4, 1881
8. Bertha L., born June 11, 1883
9. Leon W., born July 19, 1886
10. Arthur B., born Dec. 25, 1888.

In 1913, Cheney attended the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Battle of Gettysburg with a contingent of veterans from Vermont.

• From http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=96485914