Chester M. Huntsinger was a 17-year-old who was wounded at Petersburg, Va., in 1864.

Huntsinger was in the 37th Wisconsin Infantry, Company E. He died on Jan. 22, 1914.

He was born on Oct. 15, 1846. He and his brother Jared enlisted on March 31, 1864, and were from Waubek, which is in Ozaukee County and known today as Waubeka. Jared became a sergeant. A total of 28 men from Waubek served in the war, according to the database at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

Both brothers were wounded on June 18, 1864, in the third day of the regiment's fighting at Petersburg. This is known as the Second Battle of Petersburg, which began one day before the 37th saw action.

The fight included repeated Union assaults against substantially smaller forces commanded by General P.G.T. Beauregard.

In the fighting of June 17 and 18, "the 37th suffered severely," says E.B. Quiner's "Military History of Wisconsin," published in 1866.

The 37th had left the state in April 1864, and had served guard duty, but Petersburg was its first combat. It arrived in the afternoon of June 16, and immediately was ordered "to move to the support of a charge" against enemy works along with other regiments.

The next day, another charge was made "under a perfect storm of shell, shot and canister. When about halfway across the intervening space, an order was given by someone to 'half wheel to the right,' which produced confusion in the movements of the brigade, and exposed the left to an enfilading fire from the batteries, which made terrible havoc in the ranks of the 37th," Quiner said.

On June 18, the day that the Huntsingers were wounded, their brigade advanced over the previous day's field of battle to the edge of an oat field.

"An order was given to move forward, and the command, under a sharp fire of cannon and musketry, pressed on across the oat field, towards a line of works, about half a mile in advance. ... They soon came to a deep cut of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, and there were met by a terrible fire, which swept the top of the cut," Quiner said.

"An attempt to charge up the opposite side was met by the same sweeping fire, and soon the rebel sharpshooters obtained a position on the right, where they could fire along the whole length of the cut. Under cover of an artillery fire, two charges beyond the railroad cut were attempted in the afternoon … ."

The 37th eventually was relieved by fresh troops.

Because of his wounds, Chester transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps on Sept. 1, and was mustered out on Aug. 8, 1865.

Jared remained with the 37th, and was mustered out on July 27, 1865. It is not known when he died, but he is buried with a military stone in Tillamook, Ore., in the IOOF Cemetery. He went by the last name of Hunsinger.

Iron County has a population of only 6,000 today, one of the least-populated in Wisconsin, and only five Civil War graves are known to exist there.

Sources:
Find-a-Grave Memorial #166645320
Civil War Archive, 37th Wisconsin Infantry
Wisconsin Veterans Museum Civil War Database
"Deciphering a memorial in Watertown" that honors several men from the 37th Wisconsin, by Tom Mueller in the Camp Orders of C.K. Pier Badger Camp # 1, September 2018.
Wisconsin Historical Society, Quiner Collection
Wikipedia, Second Battle of Petersburg and Second Petersburg Union Order of Battle
American Battlefield Trust, Map of the Battle of Second Petersburg, Virginia on June 18, 1864

Researched and submitted by Tom Mueller, PCC and Department GRO

Last Updated: 7 Nov 2022