Sergeant William Johnston
Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, 1861, page
NEWPORT NEWS
GONE TO THAT BOURSE? On Saturday last Sergeant William Johnston, of the Ordnance Department at the Newport Barracks, died of a lingering disease, and on Sunday he was buried with all the honors of war. His comrades, two hundred in number, turned out with their arms, and preceded by the Garrison Band, led by Band master Horn, playing that mournful requiem for the dead, followed by the corpse to the Newport Cemetery, where they fired three volleys over the grave and then returned the same way they went out.
Sergeant Johnston has been in the United Service during a period of thirty years. He served in the Florida and Mexican Wars and has been on duty at the Newport Barracks for the past thirteen years. He has always proved himself a superior non commissioned officer and was, throughout his whole career, respected by both officers and soldiers. He departed this life at the age of forty-nine years.