Phares, Joseph Rutherford

Joseph Rutherford Phares was born in Washington, Pennsylvania around 1842 and worked as a miner prior to his service in the Civil War. He enlisted for a three year term in Company E of the 6th United States Colored Troops in Grattenburg, Pennsylvania on July 14, 1863 at twenty-one years old. He was listed as being about five feet and three inches tall. On October 14, 1863, the 6th left their training camp in Philadelphia, Camp William Penn, for Virginia. Phares’s regiment fought in the battle of Chaffin’s Farm on September 29 and 30, 1864 and the battle of Fair Oaks on October 27 and 28. Phares was promoted from corporal to sergeant on November 16, 1864 and mustered out with the rest of the company on September 20, 1865. He was buried in Belle Vernon Cemetery in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. (By Brenna McKelvey)