At the time of his enlistment as Quartermaster Sergeant in 1861, John Ingalls was 44 years old, 5’9″ tall, married, had a light complexion, brown hair, and gray eyes. Born in Wales, New York in 1817, Ingalls was a resident of DeKalb, Illinois at the time of enlistment.

He studied medicine before coming to Wisconsin in 1850, moving to Illinois in 1859 or 1860. Although he gave his occupation as a dentist when he enlisted, he served much of his time in the military on detached service as a surgeon at and around Jackson, Tennessee. After appearing before a board of examiners, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the 59th U.S. Colored Troops (3rd Tennessee Colored Infantry) in August of 1863, and his association with Battery G came to an end. A photograph of him was taken after he had left the battery and joined the officer corps of the 59th USCT, and is on display at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville. He was described as a quiet man and “a true friend,” who “was always at his post, and was fearless in battle.”

After the war, he and his wife settled in Memphis, where he continued his medical practice, but due to his generous spirit – which was sometimes taken advantage of – he was quite poor. Both he and his wife (A.C. Horton) died in the Memphis Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878, and left no survivors.

SOURCES: Battery G Muster Roll, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Fifty-Ninth U.S.C. Infantry, by Col. Robert Cowden (Dayton, OH: United Brethren, 1883), p. 206-207.