John H Essencey Company H Enlisted 04/29/61 Discharged 07/02/63 Rank Private Wounds wnd,died Battle Wounded Antietam-between shoulders Battle Wounded Gettysburg 7/2-unknown Nativity USA,ME Born 01/01/32 Died 07/02/63 Died Where PA,Gettysburg Hometown Mendota Vocation laborer?

John enlisted from Mendota, Mn. The 1860 census states that he had been living in a boarding house and probably worked as a laborer before the war. At the battle of Antietam, he was wounded between the shoulders by an artillery shell. He was captured by the Confederates, but was released Oct 6, 1862. He returned to the regiment in December. At the battle of Gettysburg, John was killed. He died during the charge of the First Minnesota on July 2nd. His place of burial, probably on the battlefield, is unknown.

Sources:

1860 Minnesota census.

The Stillwater Messenger, September 30, 1862.

St Paul Daily Union, St Paul, MN, Jan 7, 1863, p 1.