Civil War History

I thought you guys might be interested to see a picture of my great-great grandfather's Grand Army of the Republic post photo from 1892. I was trawling around the Internet about a week ago and found it on the Genesee, Michigan Historical Society web site:

garfenton1892..jpg


George Henry Dunn is just to the left of center in the back row. There's US flag hanging from a tree in the center. Follow it down and look to the left. He's #11, with the mustache and kepi.

He was a founding member of the Col. Fenton GAR Post in Fenton, MI.
 
yeah they said I could call next week because nothing in system yet. she confirmed that I will receive a US Mail notifiation eventually and can go from there when that time arrives. I might do my grandpas(may they rest in peace) after this one pans out. I am assuming I can; they both passed in 1995-96 and were WWII veterans
 
At the end of April, I ordered the full set of my great, great grandfather's pension records. Most of them arrived today - two CDs and 100 pages of papers. The $75 fee for research and duplication covers up to 100 pages. There are 75 more pages to be scanned. I'll have to give them a call on Tuesday and ask them to finish it up - it's another $45, but well worth it, I think.

The documents included all of the affidavits that he filed, along with those of his fellow soldiers, family, friends and business associates. There were also papers from his lawyer. The gist of the documents were that he had been approved for a $6.00 per month pension, which represented a 1/8 disability. He appealed the finding and requested 3/4 disability. In the end, I'm not sure what the final determination was, but his pension was increased to $12.00 per month.

It's all very interesting, of course, and gives some insight into the sort of daily struggles that a Civil-War era soldier endured.
 
Y'all are lucky to have such extensive records. Confederate records aren't that great and a lot are missing.
 
I love that pix(last post with one displayed).

I did get the enlistment paper(s)

zeroxed the best quality possible out of their Big binder with enlistments (1864-67).

a while back I spoke with someone and had to do a seperate request in writing for the pension(which has all the reords). they responded that they admit that they should have the record but do not. they did say the VA should have the file and gave me instructions to request it along with quotations of how to exactly request the pension file. They also stated they were going to try and retrieve the info themselves as well. I sent that off about a month ago but nothing yet...
 
Youngunz, it took them a month to the day for the CDs to get here - that was a huge amount of data.

Hawg, you're right and that's a shame. I definitely feel lucky!
 
This has been a great read, and has inspired me to share some info on my ancestor. I have a GGGG grandfather named Lewis W. Snyder who served with the CSA 44th North Carolina infantry Co.k. He mustered in on Nov 29 1862 at 33 yrs old. On Oct. 14 1863 he was captured at Bristoe Station Va. He was sent to Old Capital Prison in D.C. Then transferred to Pt Lookout Prison in Maryland on Feb 4 1864. He died at Pt. Lookout prison on June 25, 1865 from acute diarrhea. His brother was captured 13 days later at Burgess Mill Va. and he also was sent to Pt lookout where he died May 2, 1865 from dropsy.

There aren't any surviving pictures, but here is a letter he sent home a couple of months before his capture.

My Deare Brother In Law,

We seate our selves to answer your kind and welcom letter which com to hand the 7th of this instant. We was glad to heare from you and to heare that you was well. Your letter found us well at present and I sincerely hope these few lines will find you well. You stated in your letter that you had come home on the 28 of July and had to start back the 3rd of August. We want to know where you had to go. You stated in your letter that Hill and Nelson was boath well, only Hill had cut off his middle finger. We want to know how it happen. I was glad to heare that Zebedee was well and at worke at the iron mind, for this is a bad placehear. Tell him to stay at the mind and worke. Tell him to write to us. We have wrote to him and have recd no answer from him. Tell him to direct to Richmon, VA. and it will come to us. I often thinks of Dorcas and Franklin. I would be the gladis in the world to see them boath and tell them all a bout our sufferings. Jonathan is bar footed, my shoes is most gon. We git beef to eate and it half salted. We git corn meal to eate with our beef. Everthing is hy. Howe cakes is .25 apeace, pies about as big as my hand is 50 cents a peace. Chickens half grone $3 a peace, unions .25 a peace, cucumbers .25 apeace, tobacco one dollar to $1.50 a plug. Paper three dollars a quire and everthing else in proportion. We want this afful war to stop and all the rest of the soldiers is tired of the war. We all want peace. Only the officers tha git the big price wants it to continue. We have no sa so in it. The men is a running away by scores and tha all will if times don't git better afore long.

We close, direct to Orange Court House, VA. in care of Capt. R B S Larence. Co. K 44th Regt. N. C. Troops.


Sorry for the Hi-jack and long post, but I wanted to share my ancestor's story, and this letter, that shows how some of the southern troops were feeling about the war. Your posts have given me alot of info on how to find out more, and maybe get some copies of his records.
 
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What a fascinating letter, Hawg! I have no letters from the war years, only before and after, and nobody talked about that time at all. My mom's side of the family, the Coopers, lived in Missouri which was very conflicted during the war.

I have my suspicions about their feelings - my great, great grandfather named his son Frank James Cooper in 1887.
 
The letter wasn't mine. I have no letters. There's a lot of written family history and while it has some personal touches in places it's not very personal, if that makes any sense.
 
When the National Archives sent the CD of great, great grandpa's pension file, it ran to about 110 pages, but they said that there were another 75 pages available if I wanted to pony up some more money. Well, that was a no-brainer, so I had them finish the work. In fact, there were another 121 pages.

It's interesting to see that over the course of well over 100 years, the wheels of government turn just about as slowly and efficiently today as they did back then. Most of the paperwork revolves around his attempts to get his disability pension increased. The problem was that instead of spending his time in the hospital getting treated and getting all the proper paperwork done, he stayed with his company and kept fighting. Also, it turns out, he was looking after his younger brother and trying to keep his butt out of a sling with his parents, as you'll see in this affidavit that he sent to the Pension Office explaining why there was so little documentation of his gunshot wound:

I cannot send the Affidavit of Dr Smith. he will not give it to me. I sent my Brother to him for one and he told him he thought I had the Diarrhoea but could not remember the circumstances for it was so long ago. Then he asked him if he didn't Doctor me in Camp Parks Ky after we came back from Miss. He told him he could not remember. I then wrote him the Circumstances of my case all through but he says I cannot remember 18 years back. I can prove by my Father and Mother he sent a letter to his Brother and told him to go and tell them that I was mortialy wounded and he told them and read the letter to both of them at their house in Soudon Ontario. They lived there at that time. His Brother was a Detective then and my Father was Preaching in Soudon. That was in 1864. I will further state the reason he wouldn't give me an affidavit. He got mad at me when we first came home. I made some fun of him about a black woman he used to run in his Office before he went in the War. He was going to whip me and now he is taking his spite out this way. I would also state that most of the doctoring was done by Dr Yarnold. He went out as Hostpital Stuart of the Regt and he had the most of the work to do fo rthe Doctors were not well posted except Dr Stockwell, and he didn't stay long with us. Doctor Neblack he did not come to the Regt until Dec 1863 and was away as you will see by inclosed Postal Card that he was Absent Sick in the Summer of 1864 and did not return until October 1864. Dr Harry H Powers I cannot find him. He is not in Sarinac and I have tried to find his Post Office address but cannot find it. I have done all in my power to furnish the Affidavits of Said persons to the best of my ability. I would ruther state the reson I would not go to the Hospital. I had a younger Brother with me in the Company and I did not want to leave him for my Parrents always blamed me for his Enlisting and if any thing had of hapened to him while I was away thay would have never forgiven me. That is the reason I have no more Hospital record than I have.
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Perhaps a lesson to be learned here is to pick your targets of teasing carefully.
 
One of my cousins had three of these songbooks and sent one of them to me last week. What a great gift!

It was published in the 1880s by the Woolson Spice Company, manufacturers of Lion Coffee, for the GAR, the Woman's Relief Corps and the Sons of Veterans. It's a fascinating little book, about 34 pages, and has little tidbits of history about the War, along with the words to the patriotic songs of the day.

war_songs_1.jpg


I've scanned it into a (rather large) PDF if anybody is interested. Download it here.
 
I love that pix(last post with one displayed).

I did get the enlistment paper(s)

zeroxed the best quality possible out of their Big binder with enlistments (1864-67).

a while back I spoke with someone and had to do a seperate request in writing for the pension(which has all the reords). they responded that they admit that they should have the record but do not. they did say the VA should have the file and gave me instructions to request it along with quotations of how to exactly request the pension file. They also stated they were going to try and retrieve the info themselves as well. I sent that off about a month ago but nothing yet...
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still nothing on my request but since my may 28th post I have received a postcard from the VA confirming my request with a confirmation #. This was a ways back(probably not long after my last post), so hopefully they'll make progress eventually.
 
Hardcase,
Thanks for sharing War Songs with the group. Immediately after great conflicts populations try to forget the terrible times and focus their attention on other matters. But after a generation or two, as the old combatants begin dying off, there is a desire to honor their efforts and sacrifices. Monuments, memoirs and even song books surface in tribute to them. The same thing happened in the 1990s to honor The Greatest Generation who fought in WWII.
 
The Sons of Union Veterans still exist today. I know the National Commander.
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I wish that there was a Department in Idaho, but, interestingly, the population here during the Civil War was predominately Southern. There are quite a few towns and rivers in the state named for Southern landmarks. I suppose that one of these days I'll get off my duff and join as a member at large.

There was more than a little trouble in the 1860s because the Federal appointees to the territorial government were exclusively Northerners, but the elected officials were almost all Southerners. Some great examples were that sheriffs would tend to not arrest Southerners for crimes against Northerners and judges would tend to dismiss charges against Northerners for crimes against Southerners.

The state prison was a lonely, empty place most of the time.
 
Hardcase. There is, but it's part of the Department of Colorado & Wyoming. One of the problems today for any social organization is the economy and that younger people tend not to join as their fathers or grandfathers did. I suspect the internet has a lot to do with it.
 
This was a fascinating read fellas. I read every post. Thanks for starting it Hardcase. The account of your relative at the Crater was really something to read along with his writings to get his pension. I enjoyed the pics too. I especially like looking at the decades later reunion pics like you posted. There are reunion pics like that, that have Jesse James on their rolls and listed as being in the pics as an old white haired man, many many years after he was supposed to be dead! Makes me wonder if the KGC didn't pull the hoax of the 19th century and fake Jesse's death.

Also drftrman's Confederate relative's letter was a real window into the lack of shoes and food and deprivation suffered by the under supplied average Confederate soldier. And Hawg, was that picture you posted a relative of yours or just some civil war veteran you found a picture of online that looked like you? Reason I'm asking, is because I was wondering if he was a relative of yours Hawg, if you knew how he lost that middle finger (in battle?), or if it was just poking under his tunic?

hhatcher_a1-1.jpg




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the 'going under the tunic and/or uniform' bit was very common during the time of the Civil War though I am not sure why his middle finger is the only extremity going under in this picture.
 
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