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About Horace Rice

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Horace Rice's signature graffitied on the wall of Blenheim House, a former Civil War hospital in Fairfax, Virginia

Horace Rice fought for the Union army in the American Civil War. He was born on June 11, 1841 in Hannibal, New York. He was a white male, about 5'10", with light hair and blue eyes. Before enlisting in the war he worked as a farmer.

On October 9, 1861, Horace enlisted in Albany, New York at the age of 20. Horace was a private for the duration of the war. He spent most of the war in the C company of the 44th New York Infantry. He served for three years before being honorably discharged in 1864, though a little under a year of that time was spent in the hospital for a gunshot wound to the middle finger of his left hand and for Typhoid Fever. On March 28, 1865 Horace reenlisted into the 121st New York Infantry. He served for a year and was then mustered out a second time.

Following the war, Horace moved from New York to Hastings, Minnesota, where he married Maria Mussey. In Hastings, he worked in a warehouse and as a clerk. Horace and Maria never had children. Horace died on March 17, 1884 of bowel inflammation due to a colic attack.

About Horace Rice