Timeline
Birth- 1817
Pennsylvania
1861 - 1865Civil War (Union)- Ages: 45 - 44 years
State
Pennsylvania
Company
F (aka "Sunbury Guards")
Miitary Unit
11th Infantry
Service Start Date
Apr 23, 1861
Service End Date
Jul 31, 1861
Branch
Army
Rank
4th Corporal
Conflict Period
Civil War (Union)
Served For
United States of America
Enlistment- Apr 23, 1861-Age: 44 years
Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
1861 - 1865Civil War (Union)- Ages: 48 - 45 years
Served For
United States of America
State
Pennsylvania
Company
C
Conflict Period
Civil War (Union)
Branch
Army
Unit
47th Infantry
Gold Star
Wounded in Action
Shot in the arm and side while saving the American flag from capture after Color-Sergeant Benjamin Walls was shot, Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 9 April 1864.
Re-enlistment
Re-enlisted at Fort Taylor in Key West, Florida for second, three-year term as a Sergeant with Co. C, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Service Start Date
Sep 2, 1861
Service End Date
Oct 19, 1864
Killed in action
Shot at Cooley Farm, Frederick County, Virginia during the Battle of Cedar Creek, 19 October 1864.
4 Sgt
Enlistment- Aug 19, 1861-Age: 45 years
Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
Discharge
Sgt
Physical Description: Eye Color
Blue
Physical Description: Hair Color
Light
Physical Description: Height
5' 8"
Conspicuous Bravery
Shot while saving the American flag from capture, Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, 9 April 1864. Killed in action, Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, 19 October 1864.
Occupation
Boatman
Gender
Male
Residence: From
Place of Residence
Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
Residence: To
Sep 2, 1861
Death- Oct 19, 1864-Age: 48 years
Cooley Farm, Frederick County, Virginia
Killed in action while fighting with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Battle of Cedar Creek.
Burial- abt 1866
Burial (initial)
Cooley Farm, Frederick County, Virginia
Find A Grave Memorial No. 130882371
Sgt. William Pyers, Winchester National Cemetery, Winchester, Virginia
Exhumation and Reinterment
Initially buried at the Cooley Farm where he fell in battle, Sgt. Pyers' remains were exhumed and reinterred at the Winchester National Cemetery sometime around 1866 as part of U.S. government's reburial of Union soldiers.
Winchester National Cemetery (Section 9, Grave No. 193), Winchester, Virginia
Other Facts
Full Name
William Pyers
Also known as
William Piers
Marriage
Matilda Headings (1825-1908), a native of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Children
Samuel Hunter Pyers (1848-1931), who served as a Field Musician with his father in Co. C, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers and guarded the funeral train of President Abraham Lincoln; and Franklin C. Pyers(1853-1899).
