| Notes |
- BIOGRAPHY:
John Breiner was born on June 24, 1836 in Erlenbach *1 near Dahn in the Palatinate which at that time was known as Rhenish Bavaria. He came to the United States in 1841 on a sailing ship when he was a small child. He grew up on his parents' farm in the Town of Callicoon near Jeffersonville in Sullivan County, New York. At the age of 22 John Breiner walked with Cyrus Quick to Camp Holley at Kiamesha Lake, New York and on August 21, 1862 enrolled in the 143rd Regiment of New York Volunteer Infantry. They did not want to enroll Cyrus Quick because he did not have any teeth. Cyrus protested wanting to know why a man had to have teeth to join the Army. He was told that he would have to bite the caps off of the cartridges to expose the powder for ignition before they were inserted into the Musket. Cyrus demonstrated that he could gum the cartridges *2 and so was enrolled as a corporal. John Breiner served as a Private in Company F under the command of Captain Edward F. Pinney from Jeffersonville. The 143rd left Camp Holley on October 10, 1862 and marched in review through Monticello and then on to Middletown, New York. In Middletown they boarded a train on the Erie and were sent to New York and then on to Washington DC. In April, 1863 the 143rd Regiment of New York Volunteer Infantry was with the XXII Army Corps under General Dix in Suffolk, Virginia. In July as the Battle of Gettysburg unfolded the 143rd was brought back to Washington, DC and sent north to Frederick, Maryland where on July 12th they were assigned to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division of the XI Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Over half of the men were suffering from chronic diarrhea or malaria that was contracted in the wet coastal region near Suffolk. *3 John Breiner became sick with typhoid fever on July 14 at Berlin, Maryland and was sent to an Army hospital near Baltimore on July 18, 1863. He returned home on a furlough from the hospital during November, 1863. *4 While he was in the hospital in September, 1863, the 143rd was sent by train to Bridgeport, Alabama just south of Chattanooga, Tennessee with the XI and XII Army Corps. They participated in the battles around Chattanooga including Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. John Breiner returned to his Company from the hospital on April 24, 1864. John Breiner with the 143rd Regiment of New York Volunteer Infantry took part in General Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and the March to the Sea. The XI and XII Corps were consolidated into the XX Army Corps which was part of the Army of the Cumberland commanded by Major General George Thomas. The 143rd was in the Third Brigade of the First Division of the XX Army Corps. The Atlanta Campaign began on May 5, 1864. Beginning in northern Georgia the 143rd with the Army of the Cumberland moved south through Snake Creek Gap, crossed the Oostanaula River at Resaca, Georgia and encountered Confederate troops on May 15, 1864. During the Battle of Resaca a sergeant from the 143rd won the Congressional Medal of Honor. John Breiner with the 143rd continued to move south towards Atlanta. They crossed The Pumpkinvine Creek and fought in the Battle of New Hope Church on May 25, 1864. On June 22 the 143rd took part in a battle at Kolb's Farm near Kennesaw Mountain when a furious attack by Confederate General John Bell Hood was repulsed. On July 20 the 143rd was in line at the Battle of Peachtree Creek at the center point of Hood's assault where he attempted but failed to break the Federal line. The 143rd did not take part in the other battles fought in the siege of Atlanta, however they were one of the first to scale the works and enter Atlanta on September 2, 1864. They remained in Atlanta until it was evacuated and destroyed by Sherman in November.*5 In November Sherman started his March to the Sea. The Army moved through Decator, Madison, Milledgeville, Sandersville and Millen. While moving across Georgia, Sherman spread his Army out into a sixty mile wide flank and laid waste the land. They burned farms and crops, shot the livestock, tore up the railroads and heated the rails and bent them around telegraph poles or trees so they could never be used again. John Breiner told the story that when the 143rd Regiment was moving through a Georgia town one of the men went into a doctor's office and brought out a skeleton and was dancing with it in the street. The Army lived off the land by fanning out on either side of a road and forage through farms for food and other supplies, bringing them out to the road where they were loaded into army supply wagons. Sherman entered Savannah Georgia on December 21, 1864 and presented the City to Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas present. Sherman started north on February 1, 1865 and headed for Columbia, South Carolina which was destroyed on February 17, 1865. From Columbia John Breiner and the 143rd marched into North Carolina and participated in battle of Bentonville on March 19, 1865. This was the last Confederate offensive battle of the war. The 143rd was present when General Johnson surrendered west of Durham, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. After the surrender the 143rd marched to Washington, DC. On May 24, 1865 the Regiment passed in Review on Pennsylvania Avenue in a parade that lasted six and one half hours. Losses for the 143rd New York Volunteer Infantry were 13 killed in action, 27 died from wounds, and other deaths including disease were 178. *6 John Breiner was honorably discharged at the age of 25 in Washington, DC at the time the Regiment was mustered out on July 20, 1865. He was 5 feet 5inches tall with black hair and eyes. With his mustering out pay he bought an Elgin gold watch and chain. He also received a $100 bounty for having served in the Army. After the Civil War John Breiner returned to his father's farm in the Town of Callicoon, Sullivan County, New York. He met and courted Julia Mutchler who was then 19 years of age. They were married by Father Roesch on January 9, 1866 in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Obernberg, New York. *7 They moved into the Mutchler's log cabin and their first three children, Katharina, Louisa, and John J. were born in this cabin. John and Julia Breiner bought a farm on October 24, 1870 for $1550 in the Gulf north of Callicoon Center in the Town of Callicoon, *8 about six and one half miles from John's parents, Franz and Katharina. Julia's parents Joseph and Regina moved in with them. In 1875 the Breiner farm consisted of 90 acres of improved land and six acres of wood land. The value of the farm buildings were $300, the stock $400 and tools $300. They grossed $600 from sales in 1874. The improved land consisted of 20 acres of pasture, 50 acres of meadow which yielded 50 tons of hay and 10 acres were plowed. The plowed acres consisted of 2 acres of oats yielding 50 bushels, 2 acres of winter rye yielding 45 bushels, 1.5 acres of potatoes yielding 200 bushels, 2 acres of buckwheat yielding 47 bushels, and 1 acre of Indian corn yielding 45 bushels. The farm also had 100 apple trees yielding 50 bushels. Two barrels of cider were made in 1874. The stock included 4 heifer calves, 1 bull, 12 milch cows, 2 colts, 1 horse, 2 pigs, 6 sheep, and chickens. In 1874 one thousand pounds of butter was made, 400 pounds of pork was made and $40 worth of eggs were sold. *9 In July of 1890 John Breiner applied for and received a veterans Service connected disability for chronic headache and rheumatism. *10 In the early 1890's a series of misfortunes struck John Breiner's family. On June 26, 1892 Julia's mother, Regina Dipold Mutchler died and on October 1, 1892 her father, Joseph died. The saddest event of all was when John's and Julia's seventeen year old daughter, Mary Josephine died suddenly of appendicitis on September 20, 1891 after having attended a dance the night before. A gradual and deepening depression came over John that affected his ability to function. He started to have problems with his neighbors, and in March, 1893 he took George Heller to the Justice's Court in the Town of Callicoon for damage done by the Heller cattle. On May 1, 1893 John and Julia left their farm in the Gulf to their 21 year old son, William Joseph and bought a hotel in North Branch, New York from Peter Knack for $2900. *11 John's rapidly deteriorating mental condition made it prudent to have the hotel transferred to Julia's name only. This was done on June 8, 1893. The property included the hotel, furniture, bar, bar room fixtures and furniture, the stock of provisions, wines, liquors, cigars, fuel, ice, hay, grain, straw, one black mare, two cows, harness, robes, blankets, whips, one buckboard wagon and one two seated spring wagon. *12 As the summer went on John's condition became more acute and he made two suicide attempts. Following this the family brought him to Middletown State Hospital where he was hospitalized from October. 1893 until August, 1894 when he recovered and was discharged. *13 In April, 1897 they sold the hotel and bought another farm in Callicoon Center along Buck Brook *14 and lived there until about 1909. About 1909 they sold the farm in Callicoon Center, and retired. They built a new house on Highland Avenue in Roscoe, New York where he lived until he died on June 17, 1912 after having a stroke the month before. *15 He was a member of W. T. Morgan Post #293 G. A. R. in Rockland. This Post was chartered on 8 Oct 1882 and met on the first and third Wednesdays of the month in Dodge's Hall. Following his death Julia received a veterans widow pension of $12 a month.
BREINER, JOHN.?Age, 25 years. Enlisted, August 21, 1862, at Callicoon, to serve three years; mustered in as private, Co. F, October 8, 1862; mustered out with company, July 20, 1865, at Washington, D.C., as Briner.
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1836 - 1912 (75 years)
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