Person:William Leighton (10)

William Leighton, son of Thomas Leighton and Mary Leighton (nee Wright) enlisted in the 1st Michigan Lancers in 1861 with first cousin Robert Leighton, providing a false age of 18. William was 16 at the time of enlistment. He transferred as a private to Company I, 16th Michigan Infantry. The 16th Michigan Infantry was assigned to 3rd Brigade (Colonel T.B.W. Stockton), 1st Division (Brigadier General Charles Griffin), V Corps (Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield), Army of the Potomac. Severely wounded in the Union assault on Confederate positions at Marye's Heights, Frederickburg, VA 13 December 1862, he died of his wounds at age 18 in a military field hospital Falmouth, VA on 24 December 1862 and buried at Fall Hill Farm, Fredericksburg, VA. His remains were disinterred postwar and reinterred at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery, Grave 3508 on Marye's Heights. Brother Phillip was killed during the same assault with Company I, 4th Michigan Infantry and buried as an unknown soldier. He is among 12770 other unknown Union soldiers at Fredericksburg National Cemetery. Older brother John died in the Union military hospital in New Orleans, LA on 15 April 1865 of wounds sustained with Company D, 33rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry at Spanish Fort, AL. John is buried in Section 81, Grave 6595, Chalmette National Cemetery, St. Bernard Parish, LA.

PVT William Leighton, Company I, 16th Michigan Infantry Regiment, Interment 3508, Fredericksburg National Cemetery, Fredericksburg, VA.

1.   ROSTER OF KNOWN UNION SOLDIERS BURIED IN FREDERICKSBURG NATIONAL CEMETERY -L-, in ROSTER OF KNOWN UNION SOLDIERS BURIED IN FREDERICKSBURG NATIONAL CEMETERY -L-
   Section L.

   Roster of Known Union Soldiers Buried in Fredericksburg National Cemetery, -L-. National Park Service.(http://www.nps.gov/frsp/upload/ROSTER%20OF%20KNOWN%20UNION%20SOLDIERS-L.pdf)