One
of the joys of the study of history is finding the occasional oddity, the
little note that contains something that seems to make no sense or at least
very little sense. These little notes illustrate how weird life can be.
Sometimes these small slices of life
are perfectly logical but they are weird, none-the-less. Sometimes they are
ironic and sometimes they simply reflect how odd things can happen.
Take, for example, First Sargent John
H. Robinson, whose name appears on the July 7, 1862 Muster Roll of Company A,
Fifth Battalion of Hilliard’s Legion, a Confederate unit during the American
Civil War. Robinson, a note on the muster sheet says, was mustered in by
mistake. The note continues, “Sent to
Richmond. Belongs to Company C, 14th Alabama Regiment.”
Wouldn’t you like to hear the back
story on that? How does a soldier get counted on a muster roll by mistake? It
is particularly odd that a First Sargent, the fifth ranking officer in the
company, could somehow be counted on a muster roll by mistake.
Company A was originally known as The
David Clopton Rangers before it was folded into the Legion. Later in 1862, the
entire Fifth Battalion was split from the Legion and merged with another
cavalry regiment to form the 10th Confederate Cavalry Regiment. Many
of those men did not survive the war.
Privates John M. Harris and George W.
McGehee, both from Company A of the 5th Battalion, were dead by the
time the muster was counted. McGehee died five days before the muster. Harris
was simply noted as, “Dead.”
William Bristol or Pristol or Pricket
(the muster rolls are hard to read sometimes), a 22-year-old private in the
Fifth Battalion’s B Company, died the previous May 11.
Most of the Legion men joined the
Confederate Army for one year of service. Before their year was up, the
Confederate government decided the term would instead be three years.
You understand how that happened: Most
political leaders on both sides of the conflict expected a short military
struggle. Before the first year was up, it was obvious the violence would
continue for a while. The soldiers were stuck with extra duty.
Letters home from Confederate soldiers
reflect that some of them were very unhappy about being forced to serve for the
additional time. They complained about losing their freedom. These same
soldiers were fighting to save slavery.
Davis Wheted, a private from Talladega
County, Alabama, enlisted in the Fifth Battalion’s Company C at age 61. Must
have been an interesting conversation in that
family when Wheted enlisted.
Robert
Craft enlisted at 56 years of age. He also was from Talladega County and served
in Company E.
Private
James M. Adams of Company A enlisted at 50. The next name on the Company A
roster is that of 22-year-old Joel J. Adams. Both were from Chambers County,
Alabama and they could well have been father and son.
Once
in a while you find an officer that decided to leave the hardships of service
life. Officers resign from the Army. Sometimes you find Privates who also
decide to leave the difficulties inherent in fighting a war. These privates are
called, “deserters.”
Your
loyal blogger notes that, rather than deserting, you have instead resigned
yourselves to finishing this blog.
For that reason, it
says here, thanks for reading.
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