William Cardwell is believed to have been born in 1837, somewhere in Ireland. But according to the 1860 Hartford census his birth is listed as 1834 and if you do the arithmetic from his tombstone, he was born in 1831. So there are discrepancies. Upon migrating to the United States William apparently settled in the Hartford, Connecticut area, because according to Hartford City Directory information, supplied by Jonathan Hunt of Hartford, he was listed as a painter in Hartford City in 1859 & 1860 and also married a woman named Mary, born around 1839, in Hartford, Connecticut in 1860.

Cardwell has been said to have enlisted in Company B, 3rd Connecticut Infantry at New Haven, Connecticut on May 14, 1861, using the name “Cordwell” which may have been a writing error of the time or a way to avoid detection, but there is no “Cordwell” listed in that unit. There is, however, a “Cadwell” in Company “C” 3rd Connecticut Infantry and a Private Cardwell who enlisted on January 10, 1861 into Company “L” of the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery; being discharged on January 4, 1862 due to a disability. This appears to be the only Cardwell in the Union Army that enlisted and was mustered out in time for him to leave for Australia in 1862.

By age 24 he and Mary had a son born, on June 27, 1861; which may account for his marriage and military enlistment. Apparently due to his sons birth, because his term of enlistment was for only 3 months, or due to a disability, he mustered out of service either on August 12, 1861 or on January 4, 1862. The military rosters for the 3rd Connecticut Infantry do not list him, as “Cordwell” but the neighboring state of Massachusetts does list a William Cordwell; so the question is, which is correct.

In any case, if he was in the 3rd Connecticut Infantry Regiment, it was organized at New Haven on March 14, 1861 and during his enlistment left Connecticut for Washington D.C. and was attached to Mansfield’s Command, the Department of Washington, until June 1861. The regiment was then attached to Key’s 1st Brigade, Tyler’s Division in McDowell’s Army of Northern Virginia until August 1861 during which Caldwell saw duty at Camp Corcoran in the defense of Washington D.C., until June 1, 1861. He was then part of an advance to Vienna and Fall’s Church, Virginia from June 1st through the 3rd, pulled picket duty at Fall’s Church until July 16th, was in an advance to Manassas, Virginia from July 16th through July 21st, participated in the occupation of the Fairfax Courthouse on July 17th, was part of the Battle of Bull Run on July 21st and was mustered out on August 12, 1861.

Apparently William had seen enough fighting and at the urging of his wife to leave the area, they departed the United States on January 17, 1862 migrating from New York aboard the ship “Continent” with his wife Mary, aged 27, and their infant son Thomas, aged 6 months, to Australia; and after a three-month’s ocean voyage they arrived in Melbourne, Victoria in April 1862.

Upon arriving, they immediately left for the goldfields of Yackandandah, Victoria, settling down in the Mitta Mitta District; where unfortunately, William Cardwell was accidentally drowned in the Mitta Mitta River, on July 7, 1864. He was subsequently buried in the Mitta Mitta Cemetery in Mitta Mitta, Victoria.

Beryl Schahinger, Victoria

Birth Records, Hartford, Connecticut

“City Directory, 1859-1860”, Hartford, Connecticut

Connecticut Census Records, 1860 -1865

Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut

Jeannie Sherman, Connecticut State Library

Johnathan Hunt, Hartford, Connecticut

Judith Ellen Johnson, Genealogist, Hartford, CT.

National Archives,  Microfilm number M535 roll 3

“Owens and Murray Advertiser”, Beechworth, Victoria, December 21, 1906

Rand Cardwell, Hartford, Connecticut

1860 Census, Hartford, Connecticut