1st Indiana Cavalry

Abraham Brokaw was born in 1840 in Gibson County, Indiana (near Princeton) and died July 4, 1863 at Helena, Arkansas (at the Battle of Helena).

William A. Brokaw was born in 1835 in Gibson County, Indiana (near Princeton) and died March 22, 1878 in Shawneetown, Gallatin County, Illinois. He is buried in the Hogan Cemetery south of Shawneetown.

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Cpl. William H. Parvin enrolls in the Union Army on September 17, 1862. William was killed in the Battle of Marks Mill in Arkansas 1864. He becomes part of the 1st Indiana Cavalry Regiment, Arkansas/ Co B. William is involved in many skirmishes and battles from Missouri to Arkansas, but the one that ultimately takes his life, is the Battle of Marks Mill. He is among the Union troops who die that day. William would be the only soldier killed in his Regiment that day. Although close to 1,793 union and confederate troops would perish at Mark‘s Mill.

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Enlisted in Company C, 1st Cavalry Regiment Indiana on 20 Aug 1861.

Died of disease (measles) in Pine Bluff, AR, Aug. 16, '64.

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Became sick during initial training and was almost discharged, instead volunteered to remain in service and became ambulance wagoner.

Alonzo entered the 1st Cav as a private, left it as a Master Sgt. He was wounded twice, once in the head, once on the back of his neck. He also suffered a terrible injury when his horse fell and threw him onto the horn of his saddle. He spent sometime at the Armory Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was admitted to Armory Square Aug. 19, 1863 with contusion, furloughed Oct. 25th 1863, readmitted Nov 21, 1863 and returned to duty Nov. 24th 1863. Because of his injury.. when he ret''d to his unit he was assigned to bodyguard or escort duty to Gen''s Rosecrans Fremont Sigel and Howard ''each in turn'' with the XI corps. He received a military/disability pension and lived to be over 90yrs. old. He spent several years in the disabled soldiers home in Danville, Ill.

Platoff was younger brother to Alonzo S. Bush. He served in companies A and I with the first Indiana Cav. He enlisted July 4th 1861, he saw action at the following battles: Parkersberg? Va., Cross Keys, Port Rebublic, Winchester, Harpers Ferry, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 1st/2nd Bull Run. He was courier to: Fremont, Howard, Rosencrance, Hooker, Seigel and Gen. Carl Shewz? (can''t make out that name) At the second battle of Bull Run he was private orderly to Gen. Fremont and sustained a dislocation of the right shoulder and a head wound from a saber. At Chancelorville in the ''seven day fight'' he received a gunshot wound of the right wrist. At this time he was orderly to Maj. Gen. Seigel. He also served at Gettysburg under Maj. Gen. Howard. In the latter part of 1863 he was sent to Columbia College Hospital, Washington, D.C. Presumably to recover from wounds. On one of his furloughs into town, he and two of his friends: Pat Kinney, Co. B, 1st Indiana and Abram Shanks. Shanks and Kinney went to ''Frenchies'' Saloon, got drunk and Shanks beat up Kinney. Kinney found Platoff at Billy McGee''s Tenpin Alley and told him about the fight. They went back to Frenchies and Kinney then attacked Platoff, hitting him in the mouth with a pair of ''knacks''(what are those?) ''cutting his lips clear through.'' ''A rough and tumble fight accured in the saloon, the keeper pushed us both out into the street, I got hold of a brick bat which I threw hitting Shanks back of the ear. He fell and his head struck the pavement - he died about 4 o''clock the next day'' Platoff was courtmartialled and sentenced to prison at Albany New York. He served about 10 months and President Lincoln pardoned him as it was proven that the brick struck behind his left ear but was not lethal. The wound that killed him was the ''concussion'' he suffered falling to the pavement and cracking his head thereon. Platoff had no intention to kill. Platoff traveled to New Orleans, Arkansas and Texas before settling in Indian Territory, Creek nation (Tulsa, Oklahoma) where he is buried, with his wife Nancy, at the Tulsa Public Cemetery. The cemetary has his birthdate as 1845 which is incorrect, he was born in 1842 or 3 and died in 1914. There are many things I don''t understand about the papers I have regarding Platoff. He applied several times for his pension, each time having to provide notarized statements from doctors, friends, the military, etc. proving his claim. One document says he was honorably discharged from the service, yet he was denied on one application for having been dishonorably discharged. There are several documents about his wounds and how he received them yet, again, he was denied pension because of inability to prove his military service and how he got his wounds! I can find no evidence that Platoff ever received his pension/disability. There are yearly rejection slips however. The last rejection being 1898. Several lawyers acted on his behalf, various power of atty submissions, two requests from one lawyer demanding to know why the government will not acknowledge him as Platoff''s atty when the previous atty died! and the idiotic notations on his reject slips that the claim had been ''abandoned''!!! This despite the fact that he filed, refiled, went through several attys, etc. every year from the early 80''s to 1898! I don''t think Platoff was well served by his government. I have the entire transcript of his trial. He was not found guilty of murder but of manslaughter. Not guilty of assault with intent to kill but guilty of assault. The members of the general court martial asked (Jan. 14, 1864) that his sentence (2 years of hard labor) be remitted. The presiding Maj. Gen. C. C. Augur stated Jan. 13, 1864, the ''proceedings, findings and sentence are confirmed, but the execution of sentence is suspended until the pleasure of the President of the US is made known.'' He served 10 months before he received the Presidential pardon. I''d like to have a copy of that but don''t know where to find it.

Mustered Out Company K, 1st Cavalry Regiment Indiana. Enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant on 1 October 1864. Commission in Company K, 1st Cavalry Regiment Indiana on 2 Nov 1864. Participated in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign (June 1864-March 1865) LIEUTENANT GENERAL ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE GORDON MEADE MAJOR GENERAL JOHN GRUBB PARKE Provost Guard - Brigadier General Marsena Rudolph Patrick Company 'K', 1st Indiana Cavalry - Lieutenant William O. Hedrick