For U.S. civil war buffs - a family connection

[rufrdr]

My great uncle Thomas served with the 74th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the U.S. civil war. The 74th was a German American regiment grouped by region. My family was based in western Pennsylvania/Pittsburgh. Thomas died in the late 1890s and my father who was born in 1912 knew of him but had no details. Unfortunately a sword or saber that Thomas had given to my grandfather from the war that my dad played with as a kid is long gone. About 10 years ago I was able to determine my great uncle's regiment and the bare bones of his service. I am writing to the government archives to get his military record.

Attached are photos of the memorial at Gettysburg for his regiment. With typical family luck, this last name is misspelled on the memorial. I hope to learn more about him through his military records.

[wild44blackhawkbill]

i guess you could say my family was split right down the middle with most of the Hamilton's fighting for the U.S.A and some of the cousins, even one of the brothers of the Hamilton's and all of the Vaughn's fighting on the side of the C.S.A , the pics below are Henry {USA} the cousin of , and bob{USA} and john Hamilton{USA} both brothers , Bob , john and Henry went down on the sultana ship when it exploded , Bob and john survived but Henry's body was never found , now there was Gen John C Vaughn {CSA} my 3rd or 4Th great uncle and the rest of the Vaughn's and one brother and two cousins of bob and john Hamilton fighting for the CSA , Gen John C Vaughn was the last CSA general to surrender , all the Hamilton's were originally from Scotland and the Vaughn's were from Germany , the civil war was a nasty war and it was truly brother against brother .



{Note} Bob appears to be holding a new model Remington 44 .

[rufrdr]

Do you know that you can get civil war service records from the national archives (NARA) for $25? You will need some basic information to make the request and the more you can provide the better. At a minimum they need name, Union or CSA, birth date and death, place of birth and death.

Great photos and a great family history! I haven't located any photo yet of my great uncle. When my uncle Howard slipped into dementia he gave away all of the family herlooms and records so anything related to great uncle Thomas was lost. My father had no knowledge of the details of his uncle Thomas' service. I have three WW1 vets (now deceased) in the family also, my uncle Howard, maternal grandfather Michael Edward, and maternal great uncle Paul. I am going after their records next. I know Paul made it to France, the other two were still in the U.S. when the war ended. I am German on my father's side of the family and Irish on my Mother's, a typical Pittsburgh combination!

[Tower75]

Neat information. Thanks for sharing

The US CW is one war that I'm not that familiar with - I know more about the firearms that were used in it

Must be a nice feeling to be able to track your family like that.

I wonder what mine did during our civil war... if they were even over here that is. No clue. As I don't know I can speculate. I speculate they were the chaps were won the war :lol:

[ovenpaa]

Some interesting pictures guys, I had to look up the SS Sultana, I assume you mean the one that went down in 1865 in near Memphis whilst packed with Union soldiers? I must admit I had not heard of it until I looked it up.

[Christel]

Ok to move this to Memories from the past?

[wild44blackhawkbill]

i guess i am blessed in the genealogy dept , cause not only were all my family pack rats and kept everything { and some things they shouldn't have } ..
but about 20 years ago my dad and grandmother did the whole genealogy on the family , actually a great uncle had started the genealogy history and they took what he was working on and added to it , they went all over the place gathering pictures , news paper clippings , dates , births and info , you would be surprised what you will find when you go to digging around in the past , my dad and grandmother are both gone now , one of these days i might dig all of it out and add to their work , its not something you do in a day, my family too has a very rich Military heritage , it seems like i was the only one who didn't join a armed sevice , i just did not think it was for me , cause i am not good at taking or following orders ..LOL ..

yes that was the SS Sultana i was referring to in the picture , it was loaded to over capacity with Union troops and it just violently blew up and sank very quickly , i think few survived , most were asleep when it happened , they don't really know what happened , if it was sabotage or a boiler blew and the powder magazine went up { of course Wiki says different and has all the answers , what i quoted came from a newspaper article from the era }..

[Dave 101]

Fascinating reading guys .

Dave

[wild44blackhawkbill]

heres some more ..




Son of: Alfred James Vaughn and Mary Jane Crawford ,Spouse: Nancy Ann Boyd (first wife), Florence L. Jones (second wife) Pre CW he was Sheriff of Monroe Co.and delegate to the 1st 1860 Democratic Convention.

John c vaughn was born in Hollysprings TN at the foot of Stars Mountain

Birth:
Feb. 24, 1824
Death:Sep 10, 1875
Burial:laurel hill cemetery ThomasvilleThomas CountyGeorgia, USA
Sep. 10, 1875

Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. At the start of the Civil War, he was offered positions in the Confederate Government but chose to be elected Colonel of the 3rd Tennessee Regiment. At New Creek bridge and the Battle of Manassas, his regiment captured Union artillery, the first taken by the Confederates in the field. In September 1862, he was commissioned Brigadier General in command of a brigade of mounted men to operate in east Tennessee and southwest Virginia. In 1863, he fought at Vicksburg and engaged in the Battle of Piedmont in 1864. When General Lee surrendered, General Vaughn was one of the five brigade commanders who took part in the last council of war held by President Davis. After the war, he returned to Tennessee, was elected to the State Senate and later became a planter in Georgia.

[Watcher]

I have three WW1 vets (now deceased) in the family also, my uncle Howard, maternal grandfather Michael Edward, and maternal great uncle Paul. I am going after their records next. I know Paul made it to France, the other two were still in the U.S. when the war ended. I am German on my father's side of the family and Irish on my Mother's, a typical Pittsburgh combination!

In case you haven't come across it this is a very useful site for Great War research: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forum ... hp?act=idx