Letters from a Civil War Relative #1: "All Keen to Start"

This is the first piece of the new project I recently mentioned regarding letters from Richard Stamper, a distant relative of mine who fought in the Civil War.  

This letter, as I’m calling it, is just a single page, or at least an unsigned fragment of a page. I have checked and double checked the file but cannot find any other page that might match up with it, so these few lines are probably all that remain of this message. 

Some of Richard’s letters were written by a soldier named Lewis Reynolds, who had enlisted and mustered in to the same company on the same days and places as Richard. I suspect he wrote this one on Richard’s behalf.

The story of Lewis Reynolds, unrelated to me, is intriguing itself and may require further investigation. At one point, Lewis was in a hospital at Young's Point, Louisiana, the same place where my great-great-great grandfather Nimrod McIntosh, a member of the same company, also visited before his discharge from the army. 

One document in Lewis’ file states that he was discharged from the army due to his suffering from disease including smallpox in September of 1863, but another form claims he died due to chronic diarrhea a few weeks later in October while still in Louisiana. If this is true, that means that all three of the main soldiers whose names appear in this project perished during a period of about 18 months. I guess that’s not impossible given the huge number of casualties during the war, but it still strikes me as strange, or at least unfortunate.

The report of Lewis’ demise, however, is not accurate. A pension index card indicates that Lewis applied for a pension in 1864. Obviously, this would not happen if he were dead. The card made no mention of a date for his widow’s pension.

Additionally, public family trees on ancestry.com show that Lewis lived until 1875. Perhaps in the future I’ll get Lewis’ pension records and try to clarify what happened with him. The military records are simply mistaken in regard to his death, but further study of his life is now another topic to research. He may not have been my family, but his saga still intrigues me as he was clearly a trusted friend of my relative. 

Here is my transcription followed by the actual letter fragment. I don’t believe Richard could write. He had comrades write these letters for him. I believe his brother-in-law Edward Turner wrote this one based on the handwriting and how it looks compared to letters signed by Edward.

The measles every day.

I had to go to the hospital one time 2 days. I was not able to drill. I expect we will start to Barbourville tomorrow or next day. The boys is all keen to start but if we don't go I expect to come home about the 15th of Oct if I am well.

We was mustered in to the service of the United States today.

                        

Both Richard and Edward enlisted in company D of the 7th Kentucky on September 3, 1861, in Booneville, Ky., not far from their homes. This unit was originally called the 3rd Kentucky Infantry but officially switched its designation to the 7th in February of 1862. Some references still include a reference to the "Old 3rd" Infantry due to this change.) 

Richard and Edward mustered in the service on September 22 at Camp Dick Robinson in Garrard County, Kentucky, so it seems that the letter was written that day from that camp. (The same dates apply to Lewis Reynolds as well.)  This is the earliest note of those that still exist, written just days after Kentucky’s legislature had officially ended the state’s attempted neutrality on September 18. The men in the 7th (old 3rd) Kentucky, including these three, were among the earliest Kentucky recruits mustering in for the war. (The 1st and 2nd Kentucky Infantry both formed in Ohio due to Kentucky’s neutrality.)

At this camp, these men likely received training from then Brigadier General George H. Thomas, the future “Rock of Chickamauga.” 

Neither of their files, however, contains any mention of measles or an early trip to the hospital.

Garrard County, KY, location of Camp Dick Robinson

                                         

These movements were a continuation of the contest for control of the Cumberland Gap as the American Battlefield Trust describes. It included a skirmish at Barbourville that had occurred September 19.

Location of Barbourville, Ky

These men would soon see and write more about this period in their home state. Upcoming letters generally focus on the soldier's welfare and inquisitions about their family and friends, but the next one actually discusses the numbers of troops in a battle this regiment fought. 

More Distant Cousins in the War

One of many twists and turns my current project - which I hope will end up with a book in a few years - has taken is the discovery of some distant ancestors who fit the criteria of Campbell Countians who served in the war. 

This came to light when a local person responded to a query I had published asking for information on such soldiers. She sent me information about William Orlando Tarvin (a separate post focusing on him is in the works, but he apparently went by "Orlando," so I will refer to him that way) and while I was reviewing it, I realized that I had some Tarvins in my family tree, so I looked him up and found out he was a second cousin, five times removed. His  great-grandfather was Reverend George Tarvin, who was also my six times great-grandfather. (I note that Reverend George's mother was Eleanor Mudd, so I suppose I now need to investigate her family to see if she was related to Dr. Samuel Mudd of Lincoln Assassination fame. My first glance shows that it is a possible, perhaps likely, connection, but I wish to investigate it more and will post it here if I confirm it.)

I had some other Tarvins on my list of Campbell County soldiers, so I started looking into them. Alonzo and Alvin Tarvin turned out to be Orlando's brothers, making their link to me blatantly obvious. Then, as I was confirming their units, I found Edward B. Tarvin, who apparently was another of these brothers, though records on him are not as clear.

I turned my attention to the other Tarvins on my list, and they all had the same relationship as Orlando and his brothers - their great-grandfather was also Reverend George Tarvin.

 Orlando served in company F of  the 53rd Kentucky while Edward was in Company C of that regiment; Alvin and Alonzo joined company I of the 23rd Kentucky.

Their cousin William Charles Tarvin also was in company I of the 23rd, as was Abijah Tarvin, but another cousin, George Washington Tarvin (brother of Abijah) joined company C of the 53rd.

Another pair of bother Tarvins, Richard Lemuel and James Donovan, served in company H of the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry.

I suppose my next step will be to investigate their records on Fold3 to see if they had any special adventures or assignments and to study their regiments more, though I already have seen the 23rd and 53rd Kentucky in my book project quite frequently as they were locally raised units. (I'm still not 100% certain if the 53rd is the 53rd Infantry, 53rd Mounted Infantry or 53rd Infantry (Mounted) or if it matters that much in the big picture.) 

As with all things genealogical, other records may show different details (birth or death dates, etc.) for some of these men, but I believe I at least have the relationships correct, though "never say never" in genealogy.

I also have learned about a new ancestor on my mother's side and will write about it soon enough.

 This ancestor chart - or many others readily available through an internet search- is helpful in figuring out relationships once you have determined the common ancestor. Charts like this have helped me a lot in my genealogy work.

A possible Confederate ancestor in my family tree?

A cousin recently alerted me to the possibility that we have an ancestor who served in the 13th Kentucky Cavalry (CSA.)

His name is Roger Turner McIntosh, but he apparently went by Turner and he was from Breathitt County, Kentucky and that region.

We still have not definitely identified him as our ancestor, but it seems to be a promising lead, as we both have a Roger Turner in our lineage as well as many Mcintoshes. That is not definite of course, but it's something that I'll need to research. My first efforts have not been overly fruitful, but at least I have this lead to work on.

What's also neat is that we do have a couple of ancestors who fought for the Union - my g-g-g grandfather Nimrod McIntosh was in the 7th KY Infantry and his brother Richard was in the 14th KY Cavalry (USA). They both were from Breathitt County as well.

Could Turner McIntosh be related to them, perhaps a cousin of some sorts? It's just speculation now, but I do think it would be kind of fascinating to find members of the same family fighting on opposite sides, and all being in my family tree. That would be far from unique, of course, but it would add something new and fascinating (in my opinion, of course) to my family history.