Wilber M Coleman was born on Jan 19, 1845. His family, consisting of his four older brothers, his father (John Alonzo Coleman Sr.) and his stepmother, moved from Greene Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, in October 1855, and settled in the village of Tamarak, located near Long Lake Township in Hennepin County, Minnesota. There his father taught school and the boys undoubtedly attended. When the war began, Wilber's older brother, Selden, age 23, immediately volunteered and joined the First Minnesota. However when the men were asked to sign up for 3 years instead of the original request of 3 months many chose to return home instead. Selden was one of these. A few months later, in October of 1861, he did join the Third Minnesota Infantry and served for 3 years. Along with him went Wilber's three other brothers, John, age 18, and Addison and Madison Coleman, both age 21 and probably twins. When the four Coleman boys enlisted it prompted a newspaper story, which referred to Wilber when it said, "Mr. Coleman, with difficulty, restrained a lad of sixteen - the only son left - from accompanying his brothers." In 1861, there appeared in numerous Minnesota newspapers a recruitment advertisement that asked for men who had special skills with a rifle. The advertisement stated that the men who enlisted had to "bring a certificate from a J. P. or other county official that they have made a string of 50 inches in consecutive shots at 200 yards, with globe or telescope sights from a rest." The ad closed with the notation that stated the men "Will use Sharps Improved Breech Loading Rifles." The recruitment period, which resulted in the formation of two units of "sharpshooters" for the United States military, took place between November 2, 1861, and March 17, 1862. Sixteen year old Wilber, along with two other 16 year old friends, David Archibald and Elbridge Barnes, decided to enlist and were accepted. They were mustered into the 2nd Company of Minnesota Sharpshooters on Dec 22, 1861, though the unit was not officially accepted into the service of the federal Government until March 20, 1862. These three stayed comrades throughout the war, until their battle wounds separated them. Their unit became part of the famous Berdan's Sharpshooters and was, at various times, attached to the First Minnesota Infantry. Wilber's name was misspelled by the enrolling clerk as "Wilbur" and he is carried as such on all the muster rolls. During the war you had to be 18 years old to enlist. If you were 17 or younger you needed your parent's permission to join the military. At the time of his enlistment Wilber must have claimed to be 18 years old. The recruiting clerk recorded his age as such. Someone in authority may have later challenged him on his age and this may have then prompted Wilber's father to come to his aid by verifying an incorrect age, but as a safety measure also giving his permission for his son to enlist. "I John H Coleman, do certify that I am the father of Wilber Coleman; that the said Wilber Coleman is 18 years of age, and I do hereby freely give my consent to his enlisting as a soldier of the Army of the United States for the term of three years or during the war. Tamarak, MN, March 11th, 1862." s/s John A Coleman The unit consisted of 100 enlisted men and three officers. They left St Paul on April 21, 1862, traveled to Washington D C, and on May 3rd moved to the area of Yorktown, Virginia. On May 7th the unit became part of Berdan's First U. S. Sharpshooters. The following day the men received their rifles. After some training they were sent into battle. Their first test was at Hanover Courthouse o May 27, 1862. They participated with the Army of the Potomac in all the major battles out east, Fair Oaks, the Siege of Richmond, Peach Orchard, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Nelson's Farm, Malvern Hill, South Mountain and by Sept 17, 1862, the battle at Antietam. There, on Sept 17, 1862, Wilber was badly wounded in his left leg. A musket ball entered in front of the middle of the leg just to the outer side of the crest of the tibia carrying away a small portion of bone and fracturing the fibula. It then passed out the back and outer side of his leg, about 3/4" below the level it had entered. It left a lot of damage which was later described, "as though you had scooped out all the muscles of the outer side of the leg". Wilber was sent to recover at the Ladies Hospital in New York City, and did not rejoin his unit until four months later in February 1863. It is interesting to note that by December 31, 1862, the unit now known as Company L, which started with 100 enlisted men and three officers now had only 25 enlisted men present for duty. 22 of the original group had been discharged, 7 had died and 6 had deserted. Of the other 40 men, 32 were sick by wounds or disease, 5 were on detached service, 2 were on leave and 2 were absent without leave. Wilbur returned to duty in February, 1863. The following article is from the State Atlas newspaper, published June 24, 1863. Three Heroes. A member of the First Minnesota Regiment in writing us, makes honorable mention of three members of the Second Company of Minnesota Sharpshooters, now attached to the First Regiment. We publish the following extract: The boys I allude to were each about sixteen when they entered the Company. Their names are, Davis Archibald, Wilbur Coleman, and Elbridge Barnes. They have always been familiar with the use of the rifle, and their deadly aims have told on many a battlefield. Two of them, Coleman and Barnes, have marks of the enemy's bullets; the former was wounded just above the ankle at the battle of Antietam, but prevented the enemy from getting his "Sharps" by taking it along with him when he left the field; the latter received a very severe wound in the left breast - within a half an inch of his heart - at the first battle of Fredericksburg. He is still alive, but will probably never be able to resume active service. Coleman returned to his Company before his wound was fully healed, and was sent back to the hospital; but he is now in the ranks, and ready to meet the enemies of his contry again. At Antietam, his coolness and bravery were particularly noticed, loading and firing with as much calmness and precision as if target shooting, while the messangers of death flew thick and fast around him. The same can be said of the other two. Archibald has, I believe, been in every battle in which his Company has been engaged, and has passed through those "fiery ordeals" unscathed. His black eyes still sparkle with life and animation. Wile strong men have fallen upon the field and sunk under the hardships of war, that boy, who was once thrown out by the mustering officer on account of his youthful and tender appearance, has withstood all privations and dangers, and still stands by the side of his friend Coleman, ready to send death into the ranks of traitors. The parents of these three boys, and others who knew them, may well be proud of them. They all hail from the same neighborhood, near Lake Minnetonka. I would also say that Coleman has had four older brothers in the Union Army. In speaking thus of these three boys, I would by no means disparage the claims of others. "Honor to whom honor is due." A Soldier in the "1st." Five months after returning to duty, he was wounded once again. At Gettysburg, on July 3, 1863, Coleman suffered a severe wound to the right side of his head from a burst artillery shell. He was sent to the Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia, arriving there on July 7th. A doctor's report later in life detailed the seriousness of his wound. "Right parietal bone of the skull fractured on its outer side an inch behind the frontal bone; there is a jagged irregular indentation an inch or two in length from 1/4 to 1/2 inch in depth. Piece of skull came away at time of wd. probably leaving mem. of brain exposed." In 1877 an examining doctor estimated the size of the piece of skull that was blown away at being 1 inch by 2 inches. Wilber recovered, and despite the severity of his wound, rejoined his company four months later, on Oct 30, 1863. By that time the unit was no longer attached to the First Minnesota Infantry. They served as provost guard for awhile. In the spring of 1864, they participated in the battles at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Hanover Church and Cold Harbor. On June 21, 1864, he was placed "on detached service with Sharpshooters at Headquarters 1st Brigade, 2nd Army Corps". Wilber was discharged on Dec 22, 1864, by reason of the expiration of his three year term of service. At that time his unit was located at Petersburg, VA. He returned home and, quite likely because of the bounty they would earn, on March 22, 1865, with his brother, Addison, enlisted for one year in the United States Veteran Volunteers. They were placed in Company A of the 9th Regiment of the Veteran Volunteers. They were mustered in at St Paul on March 28 and each was paid 1/3 of a $100 bounty. The remaining 2/3 was to be paid at a later date. His enlistment records states that he was 5' 7 1/2" tall, had gray eyes and light (reddish) hair. By May 15th the brothers were at Camp Stoneman in Maryland. On May 18, 1865, they were each granted a $300 "Special Bounty". Wilber and Addison were transferred to the Burnside Barracks near Indianapolis, Indiana. He was there on Oct 14, 1865, when he received a "special order" that detached him to serve as an orderly at General Headquarters. Wilber was discharged from the service at Indianapolis on March 21, 1866. The first picture shown here was taken in Indianapolis. It was probably taken after his discharge. He entered the service as a private and served as such for the entire time of his military career. In 1872, his parents moved to the newly developed town of Marshall, Minnesota. Wilber moved there also and father and son opened a retail/grocery store. They sold the store in 1876. On March 10, 1876, Wilber was appointed postmaster of Marshall. That same year, he married a widow, Lois Frye, in Marshall. She had two sons by her previous marriage. On Feb 12, 1877, she gave birth to their daughter, Viena.
The first railroad was completed into the town of Glendive, Montana on July 5, 1881, and Wilber's family arrived soon thereafter. Wilber opened another grocery/dry goods store. Their daughter, Edna, was born in 1884. Wilber's war injuries continued to plague him and made work a difficult proposition. By early 1887, when he filed for a increase in his invalid's pension, he had sold the store. In 1888, the family moved to Seattle, Washington. They also lived for 2 or 3 years in Blaine, WA. In 1890, Wilber appears to owned a clothing store which was managed by his stepson, Albert. The store was nearby in the town of Whatcom, which is known today as Bellingham. Wilber and Lois had another daughter, Gertrude, on Jan 1, 1891. At this time Wilber was now 56 years old. In 1897, Wilber returned to Minnesota to take part in the excursion of the veterans of the First Minnesota to Gettysburg for the dedication of the Minnesota monument on that battlefield. In 1952, Bessie Olive Wiley, a niece of one of Wilber's comrades in arms wrote the following remembrance: "Uncle Eldridge Barnes was born on March 8, 1845, and enlisted at Fort Snelling in the Second Company Sharpshooters consisting of 100 men picked for their expert marksmanship. Captain Mahlon Black of their company called David Archibald, Wilber Coleman and uncle Eldridge his 'three boys' as they were the youngest and I always understood that they were the same age; 16 years. The Sharp Shooters did not go into battle in the same formation but were snipers who picked off individual targets from whatever point they could find. In 1897, when the State of Minnesota sent the First Minnesota back to Gettysburg, my father and I saw uncle Eldridge off from the Great Northern station in Minneapolis. Capt. Black and his three 'boys' walking around with their arms entwined most of the time for an hour or so that the regiment, or what was left of it after the bloody charge at Gettysburg and after the lapse of 34 years, were still milling about the large waiting room of the old depot across the bridge from where the present depot now stands - renewing their old war born friendships and calling each other by fantastic nicknames they had used for each other during their war experience." Wilber suffered greatly from the residual pain of the wound for the rest of his life. Though he received a veteran's pension it couldn't make up for the pain he endured. In addition to periodic headaches, at some point he commenced to have a paralysis of his right arm, which was brought about by the head wound he suffered during the war. On May 25, 1902, Lois entered the Southern California State Hospital in San Bernadino County. She remained there for the remaining 30 years of her life. She died there on July 29, 1933. In 1904, Wilber filed a pension form and stated that he was then living in Bellingham, with his brother, Selden. Wilber entered the Washington State Soldiers Home near Orting in Pierce County. When he moved in is not known. However, he was listed as a resident there on the federal census conducted in April-May 1910. When a new home was built, known as the Port Orchard Veterans Home in Restil, WA, Wilber moved there. He died at the home on Dec 7, 1915. He was 70 years old. He was buried in Grave 3, Lot 435 of section 20 in the Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery in Seattle. Sources: St Paul Pioneer Democrat, Oct, 25, 1861. The Stae Atlas, Minneapolis, MN June 24, 1863. Once Upon a Lake, Thelma Jones, Ross & Haines, 1957, p 124. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
