Charles and Joel Griswold were two of the nine children of Joel Griswold (1796-1879) and Mary ("Polly') Bartlett Griswold (1801-1876) of Guilford, Connecticut. Three of the Griswold sons served in the Union army during the Civil War. Charles and Joel enlisted in Company E, 15th Connecticut Infantry in 1862. Edward served in the 1st Independent Battery, Connecticut Light Artillery.
In January 1864 Charles (1841-1921) was commissioned as Captain of Company B, 29th Connecticut Infantry (Colored), an African-American regiment. The 29th Conn. Vols. fought in the area of Beaufort, South Carolina and Richmond, Virginia in 1864 and were camped in Brownsville, Texas at the war's end in 1865. Charles married Mary E. Griswold in 1864. She joined him in Texas in August of 1865.
Joel (1836-1892) fought with Company E of the 15th Connecticut Infantry and experienced the yellow fever outbreak at camp in New Bern in the summer of 1864. He was captured on March 8, 1865 at the Battle of Wyse Fork and paroled on March 26. Joel remained with the 15th Conn. Vols. until mustered out on June 27,1865.
In June of 1862 Joel married Margaret Casey, who died in March of 1863. He later married Carrie S. Walter.
From the guide to the Griswold family letters, 1862-1879, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)
