After the 33rd New York Volunteer Infantry was mustered out, some of its remaining three years’ recruits were transferred to the 49th New York Volunteer Infantry. Edmund Ferren was one of these young men. There is a discrepancy in the records about which May battle he was killed in. Either way, his father could not find his remains.
From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in May 1864:
RETURNED. – Mr. THOMAS FERREN returned from Washington on Tuesday morning, after an absence of several days in search of the remains of his son, who was mortally wounded on Thursday the 5th inst. – He did not succeed in his humane undertaking, and was compelled to return home without obtaining any knowledge of where his son was buried.
where was Corporal Ferren buried?
I’m not sure if dog tags would have helped Mr. Ferren find his son. At any rate, dog tags were not issued by the government during the Civil War. However, according to the Ephemera Society some enterprising vendors tried to help solve the problem. You can see an example of an identification tag for Robert Lucas from Waterloo, New York and a member of the 1st Veteran New York Cavalry
