In April of 1865, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to the United States Army of the Potomac at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. After the formal surrender, the Confederates marched past the victors and stacked arms – handed over their rifles – as the federal army saluted respectfully.
The day
the AoNV stacked arms remains among America’s most momentous days. The War had
not ended. The South still had armies in the field. But the most capable, not
to mention celebrated, Confederate army was done fighting. Other surrenders
followed.
Few
moments in American history top Appomattox for drama and big-name stars. Robert
Edward Lee. Hiram Ulysses Grant. A geeky professor from Maine who turned out to
be a heckuva military man, J.L. Chamberlain. Confederate general James
Longstreet. AoP commander George Gordon Meade. The list goes on.
But two
men who were technically on the list weren’t there.
One of
my great-great grandfathers was listed as a member of the 23rd
Battalion, Alabama Sharpshooters. The 23rd, what was left of it, was
at Appomattox. My ancestor was not there. He had been wounded at Chickamauga, when
the men of the 23rd Battalion were still part of Hilliard’s Legion.
He never rejoined the Confederate army. His wound did not recover sufficiently
for him to return to the military. He was still on the muster rolls because the
red tape was slow to connect in those days. He had been discharged from service
long before the surrender. So, his name was among the members of the AoNV, but
he never served in that outfit.
And it
gets better. My wife has an ancestor who served in the 17th Ohio
Volunteer Infantry. The 17th Ohio was at Appomattox as well and Amy’s
ancestor was on the rolls as a private in that outfit. But it appears this
soldier was in a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky at the time of the surrender.
He was ill.
My
ancestor never surrendered to my wife’s ancestor.
More to
come: The 17th OVI was at Chickamauga. Hilliard’s Legion, was part
of Brig. General Archibald Gracie’s brigade and helped push the union defenders
off of Horseshoe Ridge at Chickamauga. Elements of the 17th were on
the Ridge for part of that fighting. But it turns out that Amy’s ancestor did
not join the Union Army until 1864, well after the slugfest on Horseshoe Ridge.
That means my ancestor
did not chase my wife’s ancestor off that bloody hill, nor did my wife’s
ancestor shoot and wound my ancestor.
Both men survived the war
and they died within a month of each other in 1908. They never met.
What does history have
for us to study? Lots of stuff. Check out your own ancestors.
