Coda White

Coda White was born in 1836 or 1837 in Upper Canada, probably Ontario and probably the son of John (1799-1846) and Jane (Van Brockelin, b. 1797).

New York natives John and Jane were married in 1817 in New York where they lived for some years. By 1824 they had settled in Canada where they would live the rest of their lives. In 1846 John died in Charlottesville, Norfolk County, Ontario, and was buried in Fairview cemetery in Charlottesville. Coda (or “Cada”) left Canada and settled in western Michigan sometime before the war broke out.

He stood 5’5” with gray eyes, dark hair and a fair complexion and was a 24-year-old carpenter possibly living in Newaygo County when he enlisted in Company H on May 13, 1861. (Company H, formerly the “Muskegon Rangers,” was made up largely of men from the vicinity of Muskegon and Newaygo counties.)

He was probably wounded in the back at Fair Oaks, Virginia, on May 31, 1862, and according to one eyewitness report, as of July 26 he was in the Wood Street hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, “wounded in the back” but “getting well.” He remained absent sick in the hospital from July of 1862 through December, but eventually recovered from his wound and returned to duty. He was awarded the Kearny Cross for his participation in the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, on May 3, 1863, and reenlisted as a Corporal on December 24, 1863, at Brandy Station, Virginia, crediting Muskegon, Muskegon County.

Coda was presumably absent on veteran’s furlough in January of 1864, probably returned to the Regiment on or about the first of February and was severely wounded in the arm in early May during the Wilderness-Spotsylvania movements. He was reported absent sick in the hospital in May and was still absent sick or wounded when he was transferred as a Corporal to Company A, Fifth Michigan infantry upon consolidation of the Third and Fifth Michigan Regiments on June 10, 1864, and remained absent wounded through July of 1864. He was promoted to First Sergeant on February 22, 1865, and was mustered out on July 5, 1865, at Jeffersonville, Indiana.

No pension seems to be available.