William H. Gray

Most of William’s life story is mostly lost to history except for his military service. Having a middle initial helped somewhat to distinguish him from a multitude of others with that very common name. Pension records show six other Civil War veterans from Pennsylvania were named William H. Gray. He was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to John, from Ireland, and Anna, a Carlisle native.

A local newspaper mentioned his name as a 2nd lieutenant in a company that left for the Mexican War in 1846. He returned in 1848 with the rank of 1st lieutenant. The U.S. Army’s Register of Enlistments in 1851 showed him in Rifle Company D from May 8, 1851 until he deserted on September 15. He probably returned to his former occupation as a surveyor and, by the start of the Civil War, he was living in Philadelphia.

That’s where a group of veterans from the Mexican War met together, calling themselves the Scott Legion, in honor of their war hero, General Winfield Scott. On April 25, 1861 they voted to recruit a regiment to put down the rebellion of the southern states.

William was elected colonel and commanding officer of what officially became the 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, as shown in this recruiting poster. Of the 37 officers chosen, 31 were members of the Scott Legion. One who was elected Adjustant was Edwin Biles, who has his own life story because he is also buried here.

A regiment was composed of ten companies of 100, but in ten days he had recruited 600 more than he needed. They trained, then drilled, then marched until reaching into what is now West Virginia with the Army of the Shenandoah. Since the term of service was only for three months, they were mustered out on August 6, 1861. 

No information has been found on William’s domestic life or occupation at that point. A veterans card file shows someone named William H. Gray from Carlisle, Pennsylvania reenlisted but it’s doubtful it was the same person. This person enrolled as a private in Company D, 29th Infantry in September of 1862 but deserted three months later. The birth year doesn’t match and at this point in his life he would have listed his residence as Philadelphia, not Carlisle.

If it was the same person he would have served under the colonel who formed the 29th Regiment, John Kidd Murphy, a recently released prisoner of war whose notable life story is here. William’s timeline remains unknown until 1864 when it is confirmed that Mr. Gray put on the blue uniform one more time.

A movement was started that year to enlist short-term militias in non-combat roles such as guards and laborers, allowing more of the well-trained troops to be more effectively used in combat duty. The idea was that the war could be won in as little as 100 days if more battle-ready soldiers were doing what they were trained for, on the front lines. 

Six such regiments of “Hundred Days Men” were organized in Pennsylvania. William became captain of Company F of the 192nd Volunteer Infantry. They traveled to Ohio and West Virginia, mostly performing guard duties. The war didn’t come to an end but their 100 days did so they were discharged.

Census records have yet to be found to complete William’s story. The only other documented fact comes from the 1897 register of civil service employees of the Department of the Interior. William was working at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in his hometown as a dairyman. The school was a federally funded off-reservation boarding school for Native American children based on the idea that education was the key to assimilation. Over 10,000 students from 140 tribes were there between 1879 and 1918.

William spent the last six months of his life in a nursing home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania according to this obituary. It mentions a surviving wife but his death certificate says he was a widower. The cause of death was enterocolitis, inflammation of the intestines from infection. A stone over his grave in Section 104 has yet to be located and photographed, adding to the many mysteries of this man.