Coast Artillery Corps

Personnel Page

From time to time I run across various tidbits of information on men of the Coast Artillery Corps units. Below I have listed these interesting items I have found in various places, mostly from the web. If you have ran across information on persons associated with these units please contact me.

This clipping I found on the web. This is all that was on the page. "Headstones at "Evergreen Cemetery" in Plainfield, Ct., located in Central Village
Pike, William H., son of Zelots H. & Mary E., Battery D., 56th Regiment, Coast Artillery Corps, born 1892, died 1918, World War I"

Upon further investigation into Mr. Pike I have found that he died on Feb. 13, 1918 at 06:50 a.m. in the Post hospital at Fort Terry, N.Y. of bronchial pneumonia. He was listed as a Private in Battery D of the 56th Regiment. It was noted that with the loss of Pvt. Pike the Regiment's strength level was 232 enlisted men. This information came from the book "History of Battery D, 56th Regiment C.A.C..." written by Corporal Frank H. Kirk Battery Clerk.

This I found on ebay as I was searching for "Dog Tags" on the auctions. It is the dog tag of Pvt. Adelard T. DeForest 624248 of Battery D 56th Regiment C.A.C... I have checked the listings of names in the book I have ("History of Battery D, 56th Regiment C.A.C..." written by Corporal Frank H. Kirk Battery Clerk.) and his name appears on the muster roll of 31 March, 1918. The men were mustered at sea by Major Walter Singles C.A.C... aboard the transport H.M.S. Olympic. 231 men present and 2 men listed as absent sick. Pvt. DeForest's name in this muster roll list is spelled "Adalard" but on the dog tag it is "Adelard" The medal on the right of the below picture is a local New Hampshire medal, so I'm assuming that Pvt. DeForest was a New Hampshire native. During WWI the dog tags were made of Aluminum disks and were hand stamped letter by letter. So each dog tag has it's own special look to it. The ebay auction listed as $58 for the two items. I did not bid on them but downloaded these pictures for all to see. Pvt. DeForest's name was listed on the muster roll of August 16, 1918 when the Battery first went into action against "Fritz". The muster roll of November 11, 1918 shows the names of the men in the Battery at the time of the cease fire, they were still at the front on that date. Major John A. Hoag C.A.C.. was in command of the 2nd Battalion on the last day of the War. Pvt. DeForest name was among those listed. This muster list showed that the Battery had 205 men present. Pvt. DeForest was also listed on the muster roll of 18 January, 1919 aboard the USS South Dakota anchored at Staten Island New York. On 28 January, 1919 a total of 169 men were discharged from the Battery. Pvt. DeForest was among those discharged that day.

Close up of front side of his "Dog Tag"

Pvt. DeForest's service number.

This I received from my web site. Susan Giordano was searching for genealogical information on her Great Grand Uncle, John McLaughlin who was a member of Battery F, 56th Regiment C.A.C... John McLaughlin was born in Ireland and lived in Waterbury, CT.

This I found on e-Bay and it shows 4 Dogtags of the same man. A nice grouping of 4 WW1 circular alloy U.S.Army I.D.tags clearly named and marked.The first set is marked William. A. Francis Corp. BAT. D 55 ART, numbered 578756 to the reverse of each tag{all 4},the other set is marked William. A. Francis Corp. BATT A 119 F.A. U.S.N.G.

WWI unit medal - very nicely-made gilt and enamel medal from the early 1920's. Red enamel pinback top bar "PAST NAT'L. PRESIDENT" and original red and yellow C.A.C. ribbon. Medal lists the four Victory battle clasps earned by the regiment and has the unit insignia in the center, "55TH ARTILLERY C.A.C. U.S. ARMY 1917-1919." Reverse is nicely engraved "PRESENTED/TO/THOMAS T. GRAY/1922." Hallmarked by Balfour. Excellent condition, very minor ribbon wear. Thomas T. Gray was listed as a Pvt. 1st Cl. and his service number was 576911. He was in Battery C 55th Artillery. His home was listed as Brimfield, Mass.

Canteen cup of "R. J. Waters, 149869, Battery B., 52nd Artillery, C.A.C. A.E.F."

Date this page was last updated 6/23/07

If you have research comments or additional information on this page e-mail them to: Joe Hartwell

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