Arlington

Oliver Gardner grew up in Keene Township, Ionia County. His parents had settled here after living in Canada for a generation. Like many who settled in this area, the family had left New York for Canada after the War of 1812. They came to Michigan in the 1840’s.

Oliver grew up attending school and working on the family farm. When he turned 18, Oliver enlisted in Company G of the Michigan 3rd Infantry. He was mustered in at Detroit on April 4, 1862. Entering the military, Oliver was described as 5’7” tall with brown eyes and hair and a light complexion.

By early August of 1862, he had been sick to the point that he was recommended for discharge. That didn’t happen, and Oliver remained with the Regiment, participating in some of the Civil War’s biggest battles with the Army of the Potomac, including the Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.

He was wounded at Gettysburg on the second day and sent to a hospital. The 3rd Michigan’s actions were memorialized in stone by a battlefield monument located south of Gettysburg in the southeast corner of the Peach Orchard. The text on the back of the monument reads, “July 2nd, 1863. This regiment, deployed as skirmishers 150 yards in advance of this position, held the line extending from the Peach Orchard east to the woods…” There were 286 men fighting with the unit that day, and Oliver was one of 45 casualties.

He eventually rejoined the Regiment, participating in the Overland Campaign in Virginia. During the Battle of the Wilderness, Oliver was shot in the left arm on May 6, 1864. He was then admitted to Armory Square Hospital in Washington, DC where he died from his wounds on June 4, 1864.

Oliver was buried on June 6, 1864, on the grounds of the Custis-Lee Mansion in Virginia. Days later, on June 15, the name of the cemetery was changed to Arlington National Cemetery.

Images:

Oliver Gardner-Photo credit Paul Russinoff at Military Images Magazine.

Oliver Gardner gravestone. NOTE - gravestone has incorrect month

Oliver Gardner - Arlington.

Gettysburg 3rd MI Infantry monument.