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re: Just found out I had two ancestors in Pickett's Charge
Posted on 4/4/15 at 8:14 pm to antibarner
Posted on 4/4/15 at 8:14 pm to antibarner
Pemberton was pretty bad too.
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Posted on 4/4/15 at 8:50 pm to Dick Leverage
My great GF x3 whose surname I have had an interesting story regarding CW service. He was from Gilmer Co, Ga. and was basically coerced, as were most North Ga non-slave owning mountain men, into enlisting in 1862. The gung ho guys from the middle and southern part of the state enlisted in 1861. The war did not end quickly like the Confederate leadership thought it would so they had to raise more troops from each state for the second year.
My GF was among those coerced by the "Home Guard" whose job it was to go around burning farms, destroying property or inducing physical harm to anyone who objected to enlistment. So, away he went to Big Shanty, Ga in April 1862 to be mustered into the 39th Ga Company "I" (Gilmer Tigers) as a 1st Sergeant.
In 1863, his unit was in Cummings Brigade in the fighting around Vicksburg and was taken prisoner after Pemberton surrendered the city after a lengthy siege by Grant. There were so many prisoners that Grant had no way to house and feed them. So he agreed to a prisoner exchange and my GF was released on parole.
Of course, that did not last long. The soldiers had just returned to Dalton, Ga before the regiment was re-organized. They were in the siege of Chatranooga and later the Battles in North Ga....including Chicimaugua during that summer.
As winter approached, they were pushed back to Dalton where they made winter camp. The next spring, Grant, under the suggestion of a subordinate, decided to take advantage of the war weary sentiment he knew existed among many rebel units....especially those who were being forced to fight.
He organized an Underground Railroad for would be deserters to make it from Dalton to Chattanooga. It was high risk for rebels who attempted and many were captured and put to death. By April, 1864, over half of the 39th had deserted. My GF was one of the last two.
After making safe passage to Chattanooga, the soldiers were given two options after pledging the Oath to the U.S. The first was to be sent north of the Ohio River to work in Union labor camps until the war ended. The other was to enlist in newly formed Union regiments with the promise that they would never have to fight against their own people. They were to be used as Grants rear labor and supply force. Most of the men decided for this option because it allowed them to still be relatively close to their families. So, my GF joined the 5th Tenn. Mounted Infantry as a 1st Sergeant and was in that unit at the close of the war.
One poor farmer, among many, who was just a leaf blowing in the wind of the political storm of its day. I am fortunate to have copies of all of those important documents from his initial enlistment in the 39th Ga, his Oath of Allegience to the U.S. signed in Chattanooga, his denied Confederate pension application and his accepted Union pension application from the 1880s.
I have 11 more GFs whose civil war records I have accrued in great detail but none with quite the contradiction involved as much as this GF.
My GF was among those coerced by the "Home Guard" whose job it was to go around burning farms, destroying property or inducing physical harm to anyone who objected to enlistment. So, away he went to Big Shanty, Ga in April 1862 to be mustered into the 39th Ga Company "I" (Gilmer Tigers) as a 1st Sergeant.
In 1863, his unit was in Cummings Brigade in the fighting around Vicksburg and was taken prisoner after Pemberton surrendered the city after a lengthy siege by Grant. There were so many prisoners that Grant had no way to house and feed them. So he agreed to a prisoner exchange and my GF was released on parole.
Of course, that did not last long. The soldiers had just returned to Dalton, Ga before the regiment was re-organized. They were in the siege of Chatranooga and later the Battles in North Ga....including Chicimaugua during that summer.
As winter approached, they were pushed back to Dalton where they made winter camp. The next spring, Grant, under the suggestion of a subordinate, decided to take advantage of the war weary sentiment he knew existed among many rebel units....especially those who were being forced to fight.
He organized an Underground Railroad for would be deserters to make it from Dalton to Chattanooga. It was high risk for rebels who attempted and many were captured and put to death. By April, 1864, over half of the 39th had deserted. My GF was one of the last two.
After making safe passage to Chattanooga, the soldiers were given two options after pledging the Oath to the U.S. The first was to be sent north of the Ohio River to work in Union labor camps until the war ended. The other was to enlist in newly formed Union regiments with the promise that they would never have to fight against their own people. They were to be used as Grants rear labor and supply force. Most of the men decided for this option because it allowed them to still be relatively close to their families. So, my GF joined the 5th Tenn. Mounted Infantry as a 1st Sergeant and was in that unit at the close of the war.
One poor farmer, among many, who was just a leaf blowing in the wind of the political storm of its day. I am fortunate to have copies of all of those important documents from his initial enlistment in the 39th Ga, his Oath of Allegience to the U.S. signed in Chattanooga, his denied Confederate pension application and his accepted Union pension application from the 1880s.
I have 11 more GFs whose civil war records I have accrued in great detail but none with quite the contradiction involved as much as this GF.
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