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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 786-787
JOSEPH BURTON, one of the brave veterans of the war of the Rebellion, and a resident of Annaton, Clifton township, Grant county, may well be proud of his record for gallantry while serving under the "stars and stripes."
Joseph BURTON was born in Ohio, in 1843, a son of Daniel and Sarah Ann BURTON, who brought our subject to Grant county when he was about four years of age. The father died on April 14, 1898, but the mother died many years before, when Joseph was but ten years old. Three children were born to these parents, and the only brother of our subject was unfortunately killed at the battle of South Mound, on Aug. 14, 1862, while serving as a member of the famous 17th Wis. V.I., which was part of the Iron Brigade. The sister is now Mrs. Emily Jane SHAW.
Joseph BURTON enlisted on Aug. 14, 1862, in Co. A, 33d Reg. Wis. V.I., upon the same day that his only brother gave up his life in defense of the union. From the time of his enlistment, Mr. BURTON was with his regiment until the Siege of Spanish Fort, in the rear of Mobile. Here, March 30, 1865, Mr. BURTON received wounds, from which no one, except a man possessed of an iron constitution, and as firm a will, would ever have recovered, he having been struck by a shell, which not only shattered his right arm, but also his side so that a piece of viscera had to be removed and the arm amputated. In spite of his terrible injury, the following month Mr. BURTON had recovered sufficiently to return home on furlough, and received his honorable discharge, on Sept. 20, 1865. The record of the 33d Wisconsin is as follows: The 33d Wisconsin left camp Nov. 12, 1862, and in two weeks was in the field under Gen. Grant in his expedition in Mississippi, and took a prominent part in the battle of Cold Water, Miss., April 19, 1863, and in the siege of Vicksburg from May 20, to its surrender; battle of Jackson, Miss., July 12, 1863; with Sherman in his Meridian expedition through Mississippi in February, 1864; the Red river expedition in March, April and May 1864, under that brave old warrior, Gen. A. J. Smith. They met the enemy in the following hotly contested battles: Ft. De Russy, Pleasant Hill Landing, Chancellorsville, Marksville, and Yellow Bayou, besides several skirmishes. They participated in the expedition of Gen. Smith at Tupelo, Miss., July 13, 14 and 15, 1864, and in the following October, led by the gallant General Momers, they marched through the swamps and across the bluffs in Arkansas in pursuit of the rebel General Price. On Dec. 15 and 16, 1864, they were at Nashville, Tenn., confronting the enemy under Gen. Hood, and captured 600 prisoners. They pursued the southern army in the eastern part of Mississippi, and were present in the assault on Corinth, Miss., in January, 1865. On the 6th of the following month they started for Mobile, via Cairo, New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain and Dauphin Island, and took an active part in the siege of Spanish Fort, and in the reduction of Mobile. From Spanish Fort the regiment marched to Montgomery and Tuskegee, Ala., thence started for home via Selma, Ala., Meridian and Vicksburg, Miss., arriving in Madison Aug. 14, 1865, having traveled 9,000 miles, 2,400 of which were marched.
On March 16, 1867, Mr. BURTON was married to Miss Lavina May BARTLES, and four children have been born to them; Alburtus, Sylvenan H. and Sarah Jane; also a daughter, Mary C., who died Feb. 28, 1882, aged ten years. In spite of his fearful injuries, Mr. BURTON has been a hard working, industrious man, and individually, as well as for his bravery as a soldier, he is highly respected.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck