Elisha M. Bisbee Civil War Pension File

Elisha Bisbee stood 5'-7" tall, weighed 136 pounds, and had fair complexion, medium brown hair and blue eyes. Along with his brothers, Stephen and John, he enrolled as a Private on August 30, 1862, in Company F (commanded by First Lieutenant O. M. Palmer), 157th New York Volunteers. His company saw action at Gettysburg on 1 July 1863. He was honorably discharged and mustered out with his company at Charleston, South Carolina, on 10 July, 1865.

After his service, Elisha earned his living as a blacksmith, practicing his trade in Otselic and in Smyrna, both in Chenango County, New York. He was married twice and had one daughter by his first marriage. A widower in 1890, he filed for disability pension based on severe and incapacitating hemmorrhoids -- a condition fully supported by the medical record. Beginning July, 1890, he received a pension of $12 per month until his death in July, 1908.