William Gridley, Jr.
Co. D, 8th Ohio Reg.
wounded right knee bone broken
Franklin Mills, Ohio

[Corp. William Gridley Jr. – Co. D, 8th Ohio. Millwright. WIA 2 July, right knee bone fracture. Died of wounds on 20 July and buried on east side of Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg.  Brother Benjamin MW at Cedar Mountain, died 9 August 1862.]

William Gridley, Jr. (1839-1863) was the son of William H. Gridley (1807-1891) and Clarissa Bedortha (1808-1853) of Portage county, Ohio.

“59-year old William Sr. travelled from Franklin County, Ohio to nurse his wounded son, probably upon receiving word of his son’s condition via a letter penned by Alex Taggart.  It is unclear when he arrived, but by July 20th his son was dead, and his grief stricken father turned his attention to burying young William’s mortal remains.  On July 22nd, He purchased a deed to a plot in the Evergreen Cemetery, signed by David McConaughy, the Cemetery’s president and future co-creator of the Soldiers National
Cemetery. Adding to the father’s grief, his son Benjamin serving in the 7th Ohio had already lost his life, killed at Cedar Mountain less than a year before. William Sr. drew a pension from William Jr.’s service of $8 a month until the former died in 1891.” [Source: Paul Russinoff]

Find-A-Grave has the following biographical sketch posted by Pat Callahan in June 2006:

“The son of William Gridley, in 1860 he was a carpenter living in Ridgefield Township, Hunron County, Ohio.

A Civil War veteran, he first enlisted in Cleveland, Ohio, April 29, 1861, and mustered into federal service there April 30 as a private with Co. D, 8th Ohio Infantry. He re-enlisted at Norwalk, Ohio, June 3, 1861, and mustered into federal service at Camp Dennison June 24 as a corporal with the three-year organization of Co. D, 8th Ohio Infantry. Hospitalized at Frederick, Maryland, sometime during April 1862, he afterward was detached to the Pioneer Corps. His compiled military service records list him as detached to nursing duty at Piedmont Hotel U.S. Hospital August 10 – September 24, 1862, but they also claim he was captured at Culpeper Court House, Virginia, August 27, 1862, incarcerated at Richmond, paroled at Aiken’s Landing October 30, and returned to the regiment in November, events that could not have occurred simultaneously. He was wounded in action at Gettysburg during Pickett’s Charge July 3, 1863 and he died of his wounds in a Gettysburg army hospital.”