Born in Londonderry, Ireland about 1844, my third great grandfather, James Boyce, was brought over to America as an infant. Starting around the age of 16, I can place him in Wheeling, Ohio County, Virginia, when he enlisted in the Union Army at the start of the U.S. Civil War. Military pension records describe him as being of light complexion with grey eyes and brown hair and standing at 5 feet 5 inches high. Arthur Lumley, artist, and William Waud, "The old Harrison mansion--Harrison's landing James River," United States Virginia Harrison's Landing, 3 Jul-16 Aug, 1862; photograph, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/item/2004661302/ : accessed 10 Feb 2024). James Boyce was mustered at this general hospital on 18 August 1862, just two days after this sketch was estimated to be drawn, meaning he very well could have been one of the soldiers featured as its subjects. In March 1864 he deserted the army. Later that year he signed up to be a Landsman in the U.S. Nav...