Looking for a soldier...

[southern_belle1861]

Hi guys.
(Mods if this isn't supposed to be here then you can move it.)

I have been searching for a long time trying to find my Civil War ancestor. I have look at many website online and in the county library and such. Not much has shown up.

My last name is Swing. My family lived in Alamance county North Carolina during the War. There were a few soldiers that were in the war, but none of them seem to quite match up.
The closest I can find to my family is a man (or boy) named John H. Swing. Many sources disagree about how old he was, where he was from, etc. For instance, My Dads research has lead him to the man being about 24 years old and being a carpenter. But mine has been much different. The things I have found say he was 15 or so and was a farm boy. He was in the 14th NC and a few others.
Can anyone give me some links as to where I could get more information?
Thanks for the help!

[larry_cockerham]

This looks like a good place to start, at least there are rosters for all the companies. Nothing, however, will surplant your efforts at genealogy. Don't forget to consider the service of other family members if you can find them. At least you appear to have a regiment that is well documented and already published on the net. Best of luck with your search. Don't foreget the National Park Service military search engine. Still, genealogy and a good search of the regiments formed from your county is usually the most productive path.

http://www.14thnc.com/home.htm

[lrd89]

You may already know this, but here is what I've found on heritagequest.com:

1860 US Census, Alamance Co., North Carolina, Graham P.O., dwelling/family 7
-William Swing 45 occupation: miller born in North Carolina
-Sallie Swing 48 all persons listed in this family were born in NC.
-S.G. Swing Female age 18 occupation factory hand.
-N.B. Swing 17 Female
-M.A Swing 13 Female
-G.C. Swing 12 Female
-G. H. Swing 5 Male

Soldier Search from the National Park Service give the following.
http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/Personz_Search1.cfm
John H. Swing (First_Last)
Regiment Name 14 North Carolina Infantry.
Side Confederate
Company I
Soldier's Rank_In Private
Soldier's Rank_Out Private
Alternate Name
Notes
Film Number M230 roll 38

[Battalion]

Originally Posted by lrd89

You may already know this, but here is what I've found on heritagequest.com:

1860 US Census, Alamance Co., North Carolina, Graham P.O., dwelling/family 7
-William Swing 45 occupation: miller born in North Carolina
-Sallie Swing 48 all persons listed in this family were born in NC.
-S.G. Swing Female age 18 occupation factory hand.
-N.B. Swing 17 Female
-M.A Swing 13 Female
-G.C. Swing 12 Female
-G. H. Swing 5 Male

Soldier Search from the National Park Service give the following.
http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/Personz_Search1.cfm
John H. Swing (First_Last)
Regiment Name 14 North Carolina Infantry.
Side Confederate
Company I
Soldier's Rank_In Private
Soldier's Rank_Out Private
Alternate Name
Notes
Film Number M230 roll 38

Members of Company "I" were from Davidson County...

...none of the companies of the 14th originate from Alamance County.

http://www.14thnc.com/Co_I.htm

[larry_cockerham]

The county of origin thing isn't a hard determinant of the company or regiment of service by a particular soldier. Confederate regiments suffered so many loses, there was constant reorganization as well.

[johan_steele]

Originally Posted by Battalion

Members of Company "I" were from Davidson County...

...none of the companies of the 14th originate from Alamance County.

http://www.14thnc.com/Co_I.htm

Company might not but the man might have, Larry was quite right to point out that as the War continued reorginization was common. Regiments were formed and men often interested in joining traveled to where troops were being raised. Add to that conscription and the willy nilly way some recruits were doled out add refugee movement: Alabamans serving in Georgia Regiments, KY residents in TN regiments etc. A bit complex and a frightful puzzle sometime.

[Battalion]

Here's something you may want to look into-

http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?h...d=0%3a7858%3a0

.....-but you need to subscribe to get the information.

[larry_cockerham]

My great great grandfather from Wilkes County, North Carolina joined the 10th Tennesee US Cavalry of his own free will. County lines were hard to see on the ground and sometimes just as faint from the heart. The point is, if one can pin point a man's birthplace and residence at the time of the war, then a rather large circle must be drawn looking for his records. If he was sixteen or so, he was part of the war, registered with a regiment or not. There was no escape for an able-bodied male.

[30th_il]

These are three Swings that I found from Alamance Co. There are 12 others from different or unknown counties. If you'd like those additional soldier's information, let me know.
Matt

Kingsly Swing
Residence Alamance County NC; 22 years old.
Enlisted on 7/15/1862 at Wake County, NC as a Private.
On 7/15/1862 he mustered into "E" Co. NC 1st Infantry
(date and method of discharge not given)
He was listed as:
* Confined Point Lookout, MD (date not stated)
* Released Elmira, NY (date not stated)
* POW 5/12/1864 Spotsylvania Court House, VA
* Transferred 8/6/1864 Elmira, NY
* Oath of Allegiance 6/30/1865 (place not stated)




Samuel A. Swing
Residence Alamance County NC; a 17 year-old Farmer.
Enlisted on 3/5/1862 at Alamance County, NC as a Private.
On 4/30/1862 he mustered into "K" Co. NC 47th Infantry
(date and method of discharge not given)
He was listed as:
* Deserted 7/22/1863 (place not stated) (Returned)
* Wounded 6/2/1864 Cold Harbor, VA
* POW 4/2/1865 Hatcher's Run, VA
* Confined 4/7/1865 Hart's Island, NY Harbor
* Oath of Allegiance 6/14/1865 Hart's Island, NY Harbor




Franklin Swing
Residence was not listed;
Enlisted on 10/31/1864 at Alamance County, NC as a Private.
On 10/31/1864 he mustered into "G" Co. NC 6th Infantry
(date and method of discharge not given)
He was listed as:
* Furloughed 1/26/1865 Richmond, VA (For 60 days, from hospital)

[southern_belle1861]

Hey thanks guys! Wow tons of info I had never seen before.
Battalion: He may have been from Davidson County. I have a lot of family down there now. Also, thanks for the link. I had never seen that before and I have looked through ancestry a lot.

Ird: Thanks... I've run across Sallie a few times.

Larry_C: I had looked at 14thnc.com right after I found out about him being in that regiment.

30th: I have run across Franklin Swing a few times too. Weird thing is, Hes hard to trace because he is sometimes listed as "Franking Swing".

Thanks a lot to everyone! I've been working on this for a long time and haven't found anything. When all I had to do was post...