William Lun(n) (who came to Ameica from Scotland in 1835) and his three sons(William, Jr., John and Edward) all served with the Union forces in the Civil War. William served in the 176th NYS Infantry Regiment and died in Louisiana. All of his sons had life long illnesses related to the war. Both Edward and William Jr. served in Company K of the 121st Infantry Regiment, NY Volunteers, and Edward later served in the Wisconsion Light Artillary. John served in Company C, 2nd Regiment, Minnesota Cavalry. The links below are to their Pension records from the National Archives and descriptions of their Regiments.

 

William Lun

He served in Company G 176th Infantry Regiment New York State Volunteers enlisting in the 176th Reg't. NY Infantry, Co. G, on November 8, 1862 and was Mustered in on December 18, 1862. Although he was 48 years old by our records, his military records listed him as 44. His unit was sent to Louisana and he was captured on June 23, 1863 at Brashear City (now Morgan City). He was released by the enemy and returned to duty on August 17, 1863. He died at Bonnet Carre and there is no mention of the cause of his death. His unit was not involved in any action from the time of his release until his death. His unit fought in Louisana in these battles. Cornell University has started to create an extensive online American History site called Making of America which includes thousands of pages of Civil War history. I have linked to reports filed by Union company commanders (pp 192-201) and (pp 912-914) of the battles fought by the 176th during the period of June 20-24, 1863. A Col. James P. Major of the Confederate forces filed this report (pp217-220) about the same battle. Here is a general description of the action. These were the only actions seen by the 176th prior to William Lun's death.

Reviews of articles written about the 121st Infantry Regiment, New York Volunteers give some idea of the action they saw. Here is a complete list of their battles.

 

The Otsego County Genealogy Page has several articles describing the 121st Regiment's role in the Civil War and I have copied several of them which give an idea of what it was like to be a soldier in this conflict.

History of the 121st

Delevan Bates article about Salem Church battle

Delevan Bates article about the soldiers from Worcester which tells of the days after mobilization of the 121st

Delevan Bates article about typhoid fever and the Women's Relief Corps.

 

John Lunn

 

1. Archive number of his pension records.

2. Military documents supporting his pension application:

July 17 1865

June 5 1869

April 21 1883

July 25 1891

July 7, 1898

November 3, 1899

August 16 1900

January 18 1905

February 23 1905

April 1, 1907

June 27 1912

April 10 1913

April 16 1914

April 24 1914

 

Description of the activities of the 2nd Minnesota Cavalry Regiment

 

Edward Lunn

Edward H. Lunn volunteered for the 121st New York Infantry Volunteers in August 1862, along with his brother William but was discharged in February 1863. He apparently moved to Wisconsin and enlisted in the 1st Battery, Wisconsin Light Artillary on December 15, 1863. This unit saw action in Lousiana.

After he was mustered he settled in the Dakotas where he drove a stage and delivered mail.

Edward Lunn applied for a pension based on the injury and illnesses he suffered. The following are documents from the National Archives relevant to his application.

 

Archive number of his Pension records

 

Pension records

September 19, 1878

January 15, 1887

February 6, 1891

February 6, 1891

1892

Undated

August 19, 1892

Undated

February 21, 1898

July 4, 1898

March 11, 1915

May 10, 1917

May 17, 1917