May 26, 2018 4 min read

DONEGAL TOWNSHIP – William H. Miller died young, heroically and violently more than a century and a half ago. A 23-year-old corporal in the Union Army, he was shot in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg and died a day later – July 3, 1863.

Ten months earlier, Miller was living in the Dutch Fork area of Donegal Township, when he joined the 140th Regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers to wage battle against the South in the Civil War. His soul has been at rest in two locations, mostly at the bucolic, picturesque cemetery outside Claysville, where it is currently interred. In recent years, though, that resting place was disturbed by vandals who damaged his headstone.

On Saturday afternoon, in brilliant sunshine, the gallant corporal was honored for his military service. He was the focus of the annual memorial service held by the local unit of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War at Zion United Methodist Church, along Route 231 north. Members of the organization – Washington camp No. 120 – addressed an audience of about two dozen, some of them Miller descendants, from a podium set up mere feet from Miller’s grave.

Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi is among those descendants. “He’s my great-great uncle,” said Maggi, a former U.S. Marine and ongoing American Legion officer who participates in numerous military ceremonies. He and Ron Bruce, commander of Camp 120, oversaw the service, which included a 21-gun salute and participation by re-enactors and Claysville American Legion color guard.

Maggi and two other descendants, Becky McAdoo and Linda Moore, placed a large wreath on WilliamMiller’s grave – the flowers courtesy of Mama’s House in Claysville.

Barely into his 20s and doubtlessly frightened, William Miller entered the military in 1862 alongside a close companion – his brother, Isaac. They signed up in Cross Creek as privates with Company K from Washington.

After participating in campaigns in Virginia, Company K ended up in Gettysburg on the second day of the bloody battle. William Miller, an infantry soldier, was wounded in the early evening and died later. He and four other members of the company were buried quickly in or near the Wheatfield. Miller’s family, however, had his body disinterred about three weeks later – an exact time frame cannot be determined – and returned to his home church, Zion Methodist.

Maggi said the family transported a wagon to Pittsburgh, took a train to Harrisburg and then one to Gettysburg to collect the soldier’s body. The family then completed the round trip in reverse order.

Ten months after Gettysburg, Isaac Miller was wounded badly in one leg at the Wilderness battle in Virginia. He was unable to move and laid in the same area for five days before being captured by rebel soldiers, who carried him to a barn then a field hospital.

Isaac Miller implored them to help John Maloy, a friend from Claysville, who also was wounded, but the troops said he was beyond help.

After being told Maloy died, Isaac Miller urged the troops to bury his colleague and they complied.

The Confederate Army released Isaac Miller, who back in civilian life toiled as a farmer in and around Donegal and Avella. He lived into the 1920s. Maggi said he remembers his grandmother relating some of Isaac Miller’s Civil War stories.

Maggi said his family does not know where Isaac Miller is buried, adding there is no record of his interment in Washington County.

William Miller’s burial location was the focal point Saturday. Despite the vandalism, his headstone is largely intact, his name and location of death visible but weather-beaten. The commissioner said relatives are looking into repointing the stone, but may opt for a new one courtesy of the Veterans Administration.

Either way, that would be an appropriate tribute to a long-gone son of Donegal.