William was in the Civil War attached to the 116th. Illinois Infantry, Company C. He was mustered in on August 15, 1862 and was registered as Busshart. He was mortally wounded at the battle of Vicksburg, MS and died at Memphis, TN on May 31st., 1863. [Ed Note: This battle was directed by Gen. Grant himself, and when it was all over and the Confederate Commander, Pemberton, had surrendered Vicksburg, President Lincoln pronounced this "the key" to a Union victory. In seizing Vicksburg, the Union gained control of the Mississippi River which cut the Confederacy in half and more importantly, cut their supply routes.HDS](source: Howard D. Smith, The Smith's of Maryland, Kentucky & Illinois)
Personal life: William Henry Bushart (aka Busshart, Busart, Busert, Buzzard)was born in 1824 or 1825 in Ohio. He was a farmer living in Illinois when he enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 at the age of 37 or 38. He left behind his wife, Susannah (married Nov 11, 1848) and at least 7 living children: Jacob Monroe (1852), Abram (Abraham),Mary (1855), Susan (1858), Eliza (1860), William H. (1861) and David Louis (1863). Records indicate another daughter, Ella Maude, born in 1865 (1880 federal census: Susannah living in the township of Long Creek, Macon County Illinois, with a 15 year old daughter.) William and Susannah's first 2 children, Isaac (1849), David M. (1851), died before 1859, when Wm and Susannah emigrated to Illinois from Ohio.
Family Members
Parents
Jacob Bushart
1795–1886
Mary Magdalena Crumrine Bushart
1795–1879
Spouse
Susanna Hook Bushart
1831–1897 (m. 1848)
Siblings
John Bushart
1822–1903
Samuel Bushert
1827–1918
Elizabeth Eleanor Bushart Tharp
1829–1922
Sarah Ann Bushart Smutz
1831–1910
Jacob Bushert
1834–1862
Eliza Reed Bushart Goetz
1839–1929
Children
Jacob Bushart
1852–1928
Mary M. Bushart Boyer
1855–1933
Susan Catherine Bushart Phipps
1858–1941
Eliza Ann Bushart Burrous
1860–1929
William Henry Bushart
1861–1933
David Bushart
1863–1934
