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 Johnathan 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 was said to have supposedly enlisted in Company B, 3^rd 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, because 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 and because his term of enlistment was for only 3 months, he mustered out of service on August 12, 1861.   The military rosters for the 3^rd Connecticut Infantry do not list him, but the neighboring state of Massachusetts does list a William Cordwell; so the question is, which is correct. Having enlisted for only 3 months, however, his name may not have appeared on the 3^rd Connecticut Infantry, even if he were a part of it.

In any case the 3^rd Connecticut Infantry Regiment 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 1^st 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 1^st through the 3^rd, pulled picket duty at Fall’s Church until July 16^th, was in an advance to Manassas, Virginia from July 16^th  through July 21^st,  participated in the occupation of the Fairfax Courthouse  on July 17^th,  was part of the Battle of Bull Run on July 21^st 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 aboard a steamer and after a three month’s ocean voyage William and Mary arrived in Melbourne, Australia; in January 1862. Upon arriving, they immediately left for the gold-fields 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