The following description is from the New York Adjuntant General's report for the grandfather of descendant John DuBois:

DU BOIS, WILLIAM E. - Age, 18 years. Enlisted, August 21, 1862, at Livonia, NY, to serve three years; mustered in as a private, Co. C, 136 NY, September 25, 1862; wounded in action, July 3, 1863, at Gettysburg, PA; transferred to Co. G, Ninth Regiment, Veteran Reserve Corps, March 2, 1864; mustered out with detachment, June 26, 1865, at Washington, DC. [SEE PHOTO BELOW of William DuBois]

The following are portions of a lengthy article about the latest battle in Gettysburg. You can find the article in its entirety by searching the archives at the website link shown at the end of this excerpt.

Wednesday, November 11, 1998 -- Veteran's Day

By Milan Simonich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Staff Writer

GETTYSBURG -- A battleground where hundreds of Civil War soldiers died has been sacrificed for nearly 80 years to support buildings and parking lots and monetary gain. It's a painful legacy for some, one that's almost as much a part of Gettysburg as Pickett's Charge and Cemetery Hill.

Now the National Park Service plans to right some of the wrongs it feels have been done to Civil War veterans, 51,000 of whom were killed, wounded or captured in three bloody days at Gettysburg in the summer of 1863.

That plan has led to a second battle of Gettysburg, this one pitting town merchants and politicians against the federal government. At the center of the dispute is the park service's proposal to reclaim some of the 5,800-acre battlefield's soil. This would be done by demolishing the existing visitors center on the battlefield and creating a new museum on 45 less storied acres of Gettysburg National Military Park.

Park Superintendent John Latschar ... believes the privately financed $39.3 million complex would at last provide a safe place for thousands of irreplaceable Civil War artifacts, including revolvers, swords, uniforms, saddles and ammunition pouches. Some of the relics are showing "red rot" and other signs of decay as they sit in small cubicles in the existing visitors center, a place without temperature and humidity controls. Another wilting treasure -- the cyclorama painting of Pickett's Charge, climax of the battle -- also would be preserved in the new building.

The changes would enable the park to raze its existing visitors center and cyclorama building. Both sit on ground where at least 971 soldiers were killed or wounded in the epic battle, fought from July 1-3, 135 years ago.

President Richard Nixon's great-grandfather was among those mortally wounded in the area that was turned into the visitors center. Four recipients of the Medal of Honor also fought on the site. One of them, Richard Enderlin, was a musician in George Nixon's unit, Company B of the 73rd Ohio regiment. Enderlin voluntarily took up a rifle. Then he infiltrated Confederate territory at night, withstood heavy fire and rescued a wounded comrade.

Latschar said hodgepodge development in the park over the years has denigrated some of its history. He believes it is his job to correct those slights so the story of Gettysburg can be told more accurately. "These buildings should never have been built here," he said from his office in the visitors center. "Presenting the history this way is like taking one of the middle paragraphs out of the Gettysburg Address."

Latschar's position has endeared him to historians and Civil War buffs across America. It also has made him a public enemy in Gettysburg, a town of 7,000 that survives on tourism. About 1.7 million people travel each year to Gettysburg, the largest and most visited of America's 24 Civil War parks.

Elizabeth Stead Kaszubski, is a descendent of two Union soldiers who fought at Gettysburg. Her great-great-uncle, Arzy West, was killed at age 30 while defending the Union battle line in an area where the visitors center was built. Her great-great-grandfather, Lafayette West, was 24 when he watched his brother Arzy die there.

Lafayette West survived the battle. He lived until 1919, the year before the visitors center was established by the Rosensteel family, which owned property on the battlefield. The park service bought the building in 1971 {Please note: under a freedom of information request by the Descendants of the 136th New York, subsequent to this article being published, it was found that the amount paid to the Rosensteel family members by the federal government was over $2.6 million}. At the same time, the Rosensteels' vast collection of Civil War artifacts was donated to the park service.

Both of Kaszubski's relatives were with the New York 136th Infantry Regiment. In all, 17 soldiers from that unit were killed on ground that has been developed. "The park service and the country owe a debt to these men," said Kaszubski of North Tonawanda, N.Y. "I believe the park service wants to do what's right: Tear down the visitors center and finally restore the battle line of the New York 136th."

Kaszubski said she initially was worried about a new visitors center further commercializing the park, but she has changed her mind. Parts of the initial museum plan that she found objectionable, such as an IMAX surround-vision theater, have been dropped by the park service. In addition, Kaszubski said, the new site was behind the battle line, so nobody's relative died there.

A study commissioned by the park service projects that Gettysburg merchants will do even more business if a new visitors center and museum is built. Because the building would better tell the story of the battle, park service consultants said, tourists would become even more interested in Gettysburg and stay longer.

The park service is projecting $30 million in additional tourist spending each year with a new complex. Eighty percent of that money would be spent outside the visitors center, in Gettysburg and the rest of Adams County, according to park service projections.

"We're going to raise everybody's boats," said Latschar, who nonetheless finds it unsavory to promote the park service project on the basis of money. What's really important, he said, is that the new museum and visitors center will help people learn more about the Civil War.

Latschar said the support he's received nationally has helped him withstand the local rancor. "I say this with some concern because it can look terrible in print, but there's nothing in our mission statement that says we're supposed to look out for businesses surrounding the park," said Latschar, who hopes to have the National Park Service plans for change made final within 90 days.

"Our job is to preserve the park and the history for people who come to see it. The time is right for this project, and it's the right thing to do."

To locate this entire article, search the archives of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Website.

The photo (below) was submitted by Irene Grissom of a member of the 136th New York from her family. The description for the soldier from the New York State Adjuntant General's report is as follows:

SACKETT, JR., ORANGE - Age, 27 years. Enrolled at Portage, to serve three years, and mustered in as first lieutenant, Co. G, 136th NY Infantry, September 4, 1862; as captain, March 18, 1863; mustered out with company, June 13, 1865, near Washington, DC. Commissioned first lieutenant, October 4, 1862, with rank from September 4, 1862, original; captain, May 21, 1863, with rank from March 17, 1863, vice Sidney Ward resigned.

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