Peter P. Arnold

On September 5, 1863, Peter P. Arnold died of chronic diarrhea caused by typhoid fever. He was at his home in Chpaman Township, PA, and was forty-one years old at the time of his death. He was a farmer before the war. Peter was drafted in October 1862 as a nine-month soldier in Company A of the 172^nd  Pennsylvania (a drafted regiment). Seven months into his service, he began to show signs of illness. He was discharged in July with the rest of his company. He died soon after his return to Chapman Township.

His unit was part of the garrison at Yorktown in the months after the heat of the Peninsula Campaign had died down. It was while serving at Yorktown that he caught the typhoid fever (or “camp fever”). The Second Lieutenant of Company A attributed it to “diet and exposure.” His last child, John, was born five months before he died. His wife, Mary Shaffer, whom he married in 1842, applied for a pension in 1866 to support their six children. She received $8 per month.