Hampshire County MA Archives Biographies.....Thayer, William 
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Author: J. R. Gilfillan and H. E. Riley (1899)

WILLIAM THAYER, CIVILIAN.

   The war service of one Northampton boy receives not even the credit of his
name on the army roster, yet is worthy of record in this volume. The breaking
out of the war found William Thayer a corporal in Co. I, M. V. M., and he
promptly volunteered to serve his country. The surgeons at South Framingham
pronounced his heart weak and rejected him. This was a grievous disappointment,
but the young man was determined, in spite of the surgeons prediction that two
weeks' campaigning would kill him, to find some way of going with his regiment
and was finally accepted as Capt. Williams' servant. After the death of Priv.
Brass at Lakeland Capt. Williams requested that Thayer be mustered into the
company, but Col. Clark said that the man had been rejected by the surgeons and
could not become a soldier. However, he went to Cuba and shared every experience
with the company, except at the battle of El Caney, when he was left in charge
of the rolls, much to his disgust. He acquired a rifle at Las Guasimas and
carried it through the campaign, serving as a private in the ranks after the
battle of El Caney and undergoing every danger and hardship endured by the
company. Twice during the stay in Cuba Capt. Williams renewed his efforts to
have Thayer's loyalty and faithful service recognized by his acceptance as a
volunteer, but rigid army rules prevented. The prophecy of the surgeons failed
of confirmation and Thayer returned from the war in better physical condition
than a majority of the company. His service has been rewarded by his appointment
as sergeant in the reorganized Co. I, M. V. M.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

NORTHAMPTON IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
BY
JAMES R. GILFILLAN
AND
HERBERT E. RILEY.

ILLUSTRATED.

PRESS OF
ENTERPRISE PRINTING COMPANY
EASTHAMPTON, MASS.
1899.

Copyright, 1899,
by J. R. Gilfillan and H. E. Riley.


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