Union Soldier honored, 150 years after death

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Sergeant Albert E. Higley of the 22nd New York Volunteers and the 16th New York Heavy Artillery was honored at the Wilmington National Cemetery today. This year is the 150th anniversary of his death in Wilmington during the Civil War.

Higley joined the army in May of 1861, and served the Union Army throughout the war. Unfortunately he never made it back home to New York.

“He was here in Wilmington in March of 1865, and was working in a hospital in one of the local churches when he contracted Typhoid Fever and died on March 31st 1865, just a couple of weeks before the end of the war,” said Higley’s great, great, great, nephew Ken Aldous.

Today Higley’s family, along with a group of Civil War reenactors from New York state, were able to honor the veteran for the first time in over a century. They all came to know Higley through a collection of letters and diaries from his time at war.

“It’s funny to have lived most of my life kind of knowing this person that you could never get to know face to face,” said Aldous.

According to Higley’s family, he was a huge supporter of President Lincoln. Higley even belonged to an organization known as the Wide Awakes. They were an abolitionist group dedicated to helping Lincoln get elected.