From an off-topic discussion in another thread, and an on-topic post in this thread, I began to wonder, are there people here into family history, aka genealogy. If so, how far back have you traced your family's military history.

Currently, I am only to the American Civil War, with documentaion and validity. On my mother's side, my great-great-grandfather was Edward F. Phillips, who served in the Confederacy (CSA) Co. K 16 Texas Infantry. Here is his headstone in Willowhole Cemetery, Madisonville, Texas.



His son-in-law had a brother, Roan Burge, who lost part of left leg below the knee in the CSA, serving with Co. K 21st Regiment, Texas Infantry. I obtained a copy of his Pension Application in 1900, which was a very interesting read.

I have clues to the Burge clan serving in the War of 1812, and by marriage, an ancestor who died at the Alamo, 17-year old Richardson Perry. I haven't quite made it to the Revolutionary War, yet.

My father served in WWII (USAAC), his father in WWI (US Army), and his father in the Civil War (3rd Battalion Mississippi State Cavalry).

Anyone else interested in this topic?

Well my mom an pop came here in the early 1900s.
ButI have an uncle who fought in WW1 an was a pow. One Uncle in the 10Armored that was at the Bastoine seige...and another that was a tailgunner /camera man in the 15th Airforce,.. 5 older bros who served in WWII an Korea an after...One cousin in Korea an One In VN an two other afterwards..a nephew that did 3 tours in the sand box, another nehew shippin over in July, and another wanting to enlist.

By Marriage...back to 1784, Indian fighter on the Virginia / TN frontier, he was with CPT Nash when Nashville was formulated...17 Confederte relatives
KIA...Wounded an taken prisoner..

Both sets of grandparents came here from their respective countries (Ireland, Finland) between 1899 and 1902. However, my mother's father may have served in the armed forces of the Grand Duchy of Finland before the Tsar abolished it in the late 1890's.

Both my parents served in WWII, meeting each other on the island of New Caledonia (he an Army engineer, she an Army nurse). He finished a 31 year career in 1967, and three of their five sons served in the Army, two in Vietnam, one (me) in the last two decades of the century.

On my wife's side, her family goes back to the Mayflower, and is related to Benjamin Franklin. A few years back, one of her aunts in Alabama tried to get into the "Daughters of the Confederacy" but could not find among numerous relations anyone who served honorably in the southern forces. They all were either deserters or horse thieves (which caused great hilarity among the family). There were plenty who served honorably for the Union, just none for the rebels.

Sullivan013

Years ago, I was into genealogy and searching for ancestors who might have served in the Civil War. After I finished, I had found a family of 5 who had served or their husbands had served in Mississippi units. Some served together in same company.
If I had known that when I was a young kid, Man! I would have been absolutely crazy about the Civil War battles and history----much more than I already was.

Now, I have made contact with 2 family genealogist who has traced our direct ancestors always back to Virginia in early 1600's. They were wealthy family who held more of an honorary Colonel position before the American Revolution.

My most unusal find was a great-great Uncle. When I first saw he grave marker it said his date of death was Dec 1, 1861. Well, I just knew that that was too early to be a Civil War Veteran. But someone kept telling me they see his name on rosters. I finally agreed to research him and ordered his Records.
Robert E. Cole
son of R.W. & E.J. Cole
Sept 18, 1841 - Dec 1, 1861

Robert Cole enlisted in the Black Hawk Rifles of Black Hawk, MS, which was formed into Co. G, 22nd Mississippi Regiment. They immediately went into Kentucky. That first winter was bitter and many got pneumonia and died. Even the Colonel of the Regiment died.
Then recently, someone sent me a booklet about Camp Beauregard, KY, where he died. This booklet was a compilation of letters collected in 1920's from veterans who were there.
Amazingly, one letter was from the Surgeon of the 22nd Mississippi Regiment, Robert's very own regiment. He said the soldiers died of meningitis. I didn't know that disease was known at that time.

Quote from his letter dated 1914:

quote:

The weather became cold and rainy, then sleet and snow. The drilling and picket duty to most of the men was very hard, and the diet was not what they were accustomed to. It was mostly fresh beef and flour, no vegetables, with plenty of coffee, tea, tobacco and whiskey. Soon typhoid fever and pneumonia broke out among the men. There were 75 cases of typhoid fever and typhoid pneumonia in my hospital tent during one month. I speak only of our own regiment. It was as bad or worse than other regiments. Then the most terrible disease, cerebrospinalmeningitis broke out, killing nearly every case attacked, and frequently in a few hours. In one instance the men in a certain mess had just come in from drilling, and whilst waiting for their dinner to cook, one of them commenced to talk queer, then jerk his head back and fell over in convulsions. One ran to the Surgeon’s quarters and burst in his tent, saying - “Come, Dr., quick, one of our men has that thing.” When we reached the tent another one of the men had been taken in the same way and in three hours both were dead. The drs.{sic} were all at sea. None of us had ever seen a case of this disease. We knew the brain and spinal cord were affected, but who so many similar cases? This was an epidemic and more fatal than yellow fever. We knew that a disease very similar in symptoms to this attacked the new recruits in the French Army during Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, but this did not help us, as no remedy was known for it.

G. C. Phillips M. D., Ex Surgeon , 22nd Miss. Regiment , Confederate Infantry

Included with the his records was paperwork that showed his father went to Kentucky to retrieve his son's body and back pay. That is how he was returned to Black Hawk, MS. One paper was a physical description of Robert.

Along with this documentation, I found a small booklet "Sketch of the Black Hawk Rifles" by Col. H. J. Reid. The last Colonel of the regiment wrote the book as an history but more importantly it was an accounting for every soldier who joined the Company. It described who joined and who was killed for each battle, as well as who deserted and who was sent home sick.

All in all a nice little history of this soldier who didn't live to see his 21st birthday. He is buried under a small, worn grave marker. I'm trying to decide what I should do to add a plaque to remember with thi service history. Any suggestions??

Steve

That 1784 Indian fighter who went with Captain Nash. Well I have no record of him before that, as those guys dint give **** about records.
But I believe him to be one of the "Over the mountain men".
When that Brit Major threatened to kill an burn those west of the Appalachins, decide "F" you we are coming to you", an they met at the battle of "KIngs Mountain".
Kicked their ***, an just went back over the mountain an home.

Oh ya, I forgot to mention the property owned next to his was owned by a Crockett, I believe was Davy's uncle, at seven Fords near Abbyington,VA. near the Cumberland Gap.

The way west.

Well, I had two great ,Great uncles in the civil War. one fought for the south & one for the north. The Rebel was captured and sent to Alton,Ill. Where his brother was a Guard. One other Uncle was in the army during the 1870-1880's. My father was in WWI a Brother in WWII, another Brother in Korea. I was in the Navy in the 60's, My oldest son was in the Marines and my youngest son is in the army now. In addition, I had five cousins that served in WWII.

My grandmother on my father's side, her family came from Ireland/England in the 1760s and settled in the Carolinas. Their were two men who fought in the revolution and after the war were promised land grants in the northwest Territiory of Ohio, Indiana and Illionis. Part of the family moved to northeast Indiana, now, in 1817. The part that stayed behind served in the CSA Cavalry units from the Carolinas.
My father, his father's family came to the states about the same time from Germany. They settled into what is now West Virginia, in the upper Germany Valley in the 1770s. Part of them packed in supplies and goods to take over Girty's Town from Simon Girty in 1818 to found the town of St. Marys, Ohio.
My mother's family, her father's, came from Ireland and Scotland and settled in Allen county and Auglaize County, Ohio in the 1840s. Her grandfather had two brothers that served in the 2nd and 5th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry.
Again on my grandmother (father's mother) we had several join Indiana Infantry regiments. There was one who joined, stole horses, deserted from the Union. Crossed the lines and joined the CSA. He stole horses from them and deserted. They caught up to him and hung him!
We had no one that I can find in WWI or The Spanish American War. But a whole host on both sides in WWII. An Uncle in the 9th Armored, in M-10 Tank destroyers, two in the Navy, one in the 44th Seabees in the southwestern Pacific, one in Great Lakes and the Atlantic.
Another who was a waist gunner in B-25 Mitchell bombers. He didn't reach Europe in time for hostilities.
My father was with the Ohio National Guard and was called up for action in Korea. But he was found to have a heart murmur and was processed out in Texas and returned home.
My ex-father-in law was an Aviation Cadet in the Army Air Corps in WWII and was a copilot on B-17s in one of the first groups to go to England to make up the 8th Air Force. He flew the first two Schweinfort missions.
My cousin Mike was onboard the Maddox when she was involved in the Gulf of Tonkin incident. My cousin Tom was in Okinawa during Vietnam, in the Army, in heavy weapons/vehicle repair. I served in the Navy 1969 to 1989 in the Tonkin Gulf and the Pacific.
Now my oldest son is in his 14th year of active duty and was aboard the Lincoln in the opening phases of the Iraqi War. He's a PO1
I think we did a little serving in the military over the years.

Oops! I made a boo boo! My wife looked at this said didn' you forget someone? Yes, I did! My cousin, on the Arizona. Forgive shipmate...it was not intentional. The memory isn't what it once was.

Wow! I'm amazed to see the responses in this thread.

I also wish I had gotten in to family history earlier. But, as my older brother told me, you know you're getting older when you start looking into your family roots.

I tried getting my sons into it, but, of course, it was met with boring yawns at the library doing research. And they thought I was nuts asking them if they wanted to go with me on a cemetery walk looking for ancestor's graves.

But my discoveries have given me a new-found sense of tradition in continuing service to our country. Perhaps it did rub off on my oldest son, who is now a Marine. We'll see what the younger son does, soon.

A lot of people join the military with a sense of family tradition, and I am glad to see so many of you who actually know that tradition/history.

My Father was a Grunt in the 101st during WWII, he jumped in Normandy and Holland.
I was a Grunt in the 82nd during the 70s.
My Son was a Grunt in the 82nd, he served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We served in the 504th PIR(me), 505th PIR(my Son) and 506th PIR(Dad)

My Cousin is the family historian. She's traced the family back to Jamestown, and four generations before that in England. Her Father flew the SR-71. She says there is a record of 7 consectutive generations of our family, serving in the military, back to an Indian uprising in Georgia in the 1830s.

The family went to Georgia on a land grant, given for Revolutioary War service.

I had two Great Grandfathers at Andersonville, one was a guard, the other a POW. The Guard? He belonged to the Miller County Tigers. The unit was captured at Franklin. Upon exchange, they were sent to guard Andersonville, until properly paroled.

There were four Sons in my Dad's family. Three of them were in the service. Their Father was in the Army in WWI. Another Uncle went ashore on Omaha Beach.

My Brother and I are both Retired Army. Two of my first cousins are Retired Army. Another Cousin was medically discharged from the USMC. That makes 5 of the 6 males in my generation.

Salute All!

NEVER FORGET!

My father (a navy vet who served from 66-70) and I have been doing family research off and on for about 15 yrs. I currently am in the army and am in Iraq as of now. We found out that many of our Relatives from the 1780's were in the war of Indpendence, One Roger Sherman help write the Declaration on Independenc. ONe that comes to mind is William Traverse who was killed in the cherry valley.
My G-rand father Ollie Keatts was in the Phillipine Insurrection 1903. The majority of my Great uncles on both side of my dad were in wwII including my grandpa who was 34 when he joined.
During the civil war I had a G-G-great uncle Stephen Gardner in the 10th Michigan.
I can go on and on.
One more I liked to add is Thomas Warrups who was a Indian scout during the war of indpendence.
We also discovered That many of our Indian ancestors (mohawk ) were war Chiefs.
finally we discovered that we had a british army officer, Maj. william Bury, he sevred around the 1740's.

I am very impressed with those of you who are able to trace your history back to the Revolutionary War, and beyond.

When my son returns from his first dep, I hope to get back on the hunt, and break through my current brick walls.

A very sincere salute to our ancestors who served, to those of us who had served, and to you who are serving our country today on this Memorial Day.

Ancestry.com is a good resource but expensive...the LDS records are available online but limited to about four generations...

Good Luck All.

I fought as an Infantryman with the U.S. Army;4th Inf. Div.;2/8th Inf.; Republic of Vietnam 1969-1970.
My father, Thomas Mitchell Shaw, an attorney at law, served in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer in W.W. II in Italy and North Africa. He was seriously wounded in action at Casino, Italy but survived the war. His two brothers, Ralph and Robert Shaw, also, served during W.W. II. One, also, was an infantry officer with the U.S. Army. As I remember it, he participated in the D-Day Normandy Invasion. The other brother was an Army Air Force Pilot.
I had many ancestors who fought in the American Civil War on both sides. My ancestors on both sides of that conflict viewed the civil war as a great tragedy such that all efforts must be undertaken to avoid political conflicts with regard to the same and to bring about peaceful reconciliation.
I had many ancestors who fought in the American Revolution. I am a member of the National Society Sons of the American Revolution. My specific American Revolutionary ancestor is Captain Robert Pain of North Carolina. He was a physician. He was a captain of an infantry company. He participated in the Battle for Kings Mountain which was a patriot victory.
I, also, belong to the Somerset Chapter Magna Charta Barons, the Soverign Colonial Society Americans of Royal Descent, the Plantagenet Society, the Descendants of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and the Colonial Order of the Crown (descendants of the Emperor Charlemagne).
I am proud of all of them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Militaedes,

As Americans, we tend to be revolutionaries, the younger Sons of Men of import, yet We have become the People...

The By-Laws, and customs, of the 18th Century paid no favors to us...

Blue Book Entries for second and third born Sons...are usual...

First born inherited...

Quoting from my previous post:

quote:

My most unusal find was a great-great Uncle. When I first saw he grave marker it said his date of death was Dec 1, 1861. Well, I just knew that that was too early to be a Civil War Veteran. But someone kept telling me they see his name on rosters. I finally agreed to research him and ordered his Records.
Robert E. Cole
son of R.W. & E.J. Cole
Sept 18, 1841 - Dec 1, 1861

Now I am involved in a comprehensive search for Robert's father---my direct Gr-Gr-Grandfather.

Richard W. Cole joined the 3rd Mississippi Cavaly Troop in 1863, which was more like a home guard. By order of the CSA government, these guards were enlisted at Grenada, MS and he was transferred to Company C, 5th Mississippi Cavalry Regiment. He saw service under Gen. Chalmers until Chalmers was placed udner command of Gen. Nathan B. Forrest.

The 5th Mississippi Cavalry participated in the West Tennesse raid and the Battle of Fort Pillow. Private R. W. Cole was one of the 15 Confederates killed in taking that small garrison, along with Lt-Col Wiley Reed, the regiment's commanding officer.

My search is to locate the burial site of the 12 to 14 troopers who died that day. There is no specific mention in the OR's of where or when these men were buried. Using a list of 95 casualties(KIA & WIA) provided by the Fort Pillow State Park ranger, I have researched the archive records for almost all of them in hopes of finding a clue to this mystery. I have compiled the list on a website.

Contact me if you know any of your ancestors fought at Fort Pillow or if you have informative sources on the troop movements of April 12 - 14, 1864.

Steve