Isaac Lockman

Civil War Soldier
KIA | Gettysburg
1863

In 1860 Isaac and Jack Lockman were orphans living with their Aunt and Uncle on Simonsen Avenue very close to where Richmond Terrace is today in Port Richmond. They worked as Oystermen.

Issac was 21 when he and his brother Jack age 18 enlisted in Manhattan for three years to serve with the New York 82nd Infantry Volunteers , Company A as privates on September 15, 1861.

Jack was wounded on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg which was the largest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere. Approximately 170,000 soldiers fought at this battle resulting in 55,000 casualties.

Isaac was killed on the third day of fighting in the afternoon of July 3, at what became the famous Pickett's Charge . Historians call this the High Tide of the Confederacy but it was doomed to failure from the start. Confederate cannons missed their targets due to several factors and troops attacking directly at well entrenched defenders usually resulted in a disastrous outcome during the Civil War.

At Picketts Charge about 13,000 Confederate troops attacked the Union positions marching across a farm field a distance of three quarters of a mile. A little over 6,000 Confederate soldiers were casualties during this one engagement.

Isaac was killed when a few hundred confederate soldiers managed to breech the Union defense at the stone wall in hand to hand combat .

Isaac, like so many killed, was buried at the National Cemetery in Gettysburg . A few years later the body of Isaac was exhumed and brought back to be buried at the Lake Cemetery at Willowbrook Road on Staten Island where the former Baptist Church building still exists but under a new denomination.

Dozens of Civil War Veterans are buried in this cemetery including Private Howard who served with Colonel Robert Shaws all black regiment the 54th Massachusetts, which suffered severe casualties at the Battle of Fort Wagner. This battle was made famous in the movie Glory. Garbage covered his grave and most of the Veterans gravesites.

Isaac Lockman and his brother Jacks grave was until recently desecrated with mattresses , sleeping bags and garbage . Although not a relative of Issac Lockman, we believe the Memorial Banner Project is a great way to honor and remember a soldier unknown to most Staten Islanders who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and our freedom which we enjoy today.

*NOTE: Image on banner is a representation of a Civil War soldier; not actual photo of Issac Lockman.

Sponsored by Jack Bolembach, Jimmy Casey, and Michael Lippa