Albert Marsh

Albert Marsh was born on 15 February 1831 in Randolph, Cattaraugus County, New York. He was the youngest son of Harry Marsh, a veteran of the War of 1812, and Louisa King Marsh. A county history published during his lifetime records that he worked as a farmer before joining the Union Army.

Marsh enrolled at Randolph on 17 August 1861 and was mustered into Company B, 64th New York Infantry, as a corporal on 7 September. The New York adjutant-general's roster records wounds at Fair Oaks on 1 June 1862 and Gettysburg on 2 July 1863. He subsequently became a sergeant.

At Spotsylvania, Virginia, on 12 May 1864, Marsh captured a Confederate flag and was again wounded. The county history describes a severe leg wound that required amputation. His Medal of Honor was awarded on 1 December 1864, with the official citation: "Capture of flag."

Marsh was mustered out on 6 September 1864. He later received a second-lieutenant commission, dated 30 November 1864 with rank from 24 September, but the official roster explicitly states that he was not mustered into that rank. Sergeant therefore describes his confirmed active-service rank.

Back in Randolph, Marsh served as a collector and, for about three years, as postmaster. The 1893 county history records that he shared a home with his sister Delia A. Marsh. It also recalls that his company voted him its best soldier and that he received a $100 prize pledged by Alexander Sheldon. Marsh died in Randolph on 17 February 1895, two days after his sixty-fourth birthday, and was buried in Randolph Cemetery.

Sources: Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Albert Marsh; New York adjutant-general's roster, 64th Infantry, p. 315; William Adams, ed., Historical Gazetteer and Biographical Memorial of Cattaraugus County (1893), p. 1064.