Military Service

Mexican War

Private William James Oxer of Warren County, Indiana served with Company G , 1st Regiment, Ohio Volunteers. He enlisted at Cincinnati, Ohio on June 5, 1846 under an alias. In order to enlist, William ran away from home and changed his name. He participated in the Battle of Monterey on September 22, 1846 and was wounded in the left knee by a musket ball. He was hospitalized at Monterey and discharged for disability in November of 1846. He remained in the Mexican hospital at Monterey until he recovered sufficiently to return home in February of 1847. On November 11, 1887, he applied to the government for a Mexican War military service pension. He was denied due to the fact that his name, William Oxer, did not appear on the rolls of the men who served with the Ohio 1st Regiment. At age 71, William had forgotten the name under which he had enlisted. He was given papers at the time of his discharge, but his home had burned several years earlier and the discharge with the name he gave when he enlisted was lost.

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