BOSCAWEN — Pvt. Horace H. Chase was a farm hand in Bath, the town that his ancestors helped settle, when he was called to fight the Confederates at age 29. He died a year later in June of 1862 during the Battle of Fair Oaks near Richmond, Va.

Last Wednesday, after a large crowd of dignitaries, veterans, and those paying respect to the state's veterans had finished the New Hampshire Veteran's Cemetery's 2012 Memorial Day Ceremony, a group of five members of the 5th Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers dedicated a headstone at the cemetery to Chase, about 150 years after his death.

The 5th Regiment is a group of “living historians” that conducts historically accurate re-enactments of events from the Civil War that included the 5th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry.

Among those dedicating the headstone was Jeff Chase of Hartland, Vt., who is a distant relative — perhaps a great- great-grandson, he figures — of Horace Chase.

Chase, 58, a forester, traced his family genealogy back to the Chase family of Bath, and found that his relative was a member of the 5th Regiment, which suffered a high casualty count in the war, with a total of 295 killed and 756 wounded, for a total of 1,051.

So he joined the living historians of today's 5th Regiment, and decided to take part in a U.S. Veteran's Administration program that provides a headstone and an official burial site for people who can document that their loved ones died fighting in service to America.

“It's a great honor for my family, and for the regiment, to place the headstone (in the New Hampshire Veteran's Cemetery),” Chase said. “We've been honoring one a year for the past three years, and this time it was my relative. It's a great honor.”

The remains of Horace H. Chase were never returned to the family. The Battle of Fair Oaks was the first Confederate try at ousting Union General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac from their position just outside Richmond. McClellan's Peninsula campaign had brought the Union army close to Richmond, the Confederate capital, finally reaching within a few miles of the city in May of 1862.

On June 1, 1862, Horace H. Chase met his end fighting for his country, and he has now been honored for his service.

“He enlisted in the 5th Regiment, but they didn't call him until October of 1861, and he was fighting along the lines when he was killed,” Chase said. “The captain lost a quarter of his men. He had to bury five of his men in one grave, so you can imagine how hard it was for them.”