Buried near the town of Timmer, in Morton County, Albert Pierce is just one of many soldiers who are being forgotten in state cemeteries. Dustin White photo

Remembering the Fallen
Dustin White

Scattered throughout cemeteries across North Dakota, heroes lie buried, slowly being forgotten by the world. Just outside of the ghost town of Timmer, in Morton County, one such soldier was laid to rest: Albert Franklin Pierce.

While the Civil War just briefly touched North Dakota, the state would eventually become a place for those soldiers to find rest after the war.

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Born in May, 1843, at New Berlin, Wis., to Timothy and Nellie Kaiser Pierce, he would have a difficult life. However, there were also rays of sunshine.

At the age of 18, Pierce enlisted with Company F. of the 18th Regiment of the Wisconsin Infantry, on Dec. 16, 1862.

Assigned to the command of General Sherman, Pierce and his company were stationed in Georgia.

It would be in Georgia that Pierce would face one the most horrific moments of his life. Along with several other men, Pierce was separated from the main regiment. Lost, the men would eventually be captured by the Confederates, and imprisoned at Andersonville, Ga., Prison.

With many of the prisoner of war camps during the Civil War, Andersonville was considered hell on earth. Pierce would face hardships that haunted him the rest of his life.

Besides the threat of the guards, starvation and disease, prisoners also had to fear a group who called themselves the Andersonville Raiders. Attacking, and killing individuals who had what they wanted, the group would terrorize the prison until a second group, called the Regulators, mustered enough men to put an end to the Raiders horrors.

So poor were the conditions at Andersonville that, in July of 1864, five soldiers would be paroled, and with a petition signed by most of the prisoners, went to the Union, asking them to reinstate prisoner exchanges. The petition was denied.

With the prisoner population continuing to grow, even though one third of the inmates would pass away, primarily from disease, as well as deliberate war crimes conducted by the Confederates, the prison decided to begin to release prisoners.

In the latter part of the summer of 1864, the Union sent ships to Andersonville. However, in August, the Union army began closing in, and all of the prisoners, who were well enough to be moved, were transferred.

Pierce, unable to walk, and nearing death, was left behind. However, there would be a silver lining. On death’s doorstep, he would be rescued from the prison.

Unable to return to battle, he was shipped north, to Wisconsin, where he was to recuperate. He would remain in Wisconsin until after the war ended.

Shortly after his service to the United States, Pierce met Frances A. Canniff, and the two were married in Sept., 1866. Two years later, they would have their first son, Royal Mayom, who was born in June 1868.

Tragedy would strike the family though. In 1870, Frances passed away, leaving Pierce to raise their son alone.

Royal, growing up strong and adventurous, eventually made his way out to North Dakota, and set up a farm just south of Timmer. In 1928, at the age of 85, Pierce would join his son, with whom he would spend his remaining days with.

Just a year later, in Dec. of 1929, Pierce would reach the end of his life. He was given a full military ceremony, and was laid to rest in the Fairview Cemetery.