Trivia 8-16-16 Deserters

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Desertion was a documented problem on both sides of the Civil War. Name at least one man who deserted BOTH armies and the State he was from. That is, one man who was enlisted in and deserted from both the Confederate AND the Union armies (not one from each.)

*In case there are multiple men who fit this criteria, please provide your source so Hoosier can verify your answer.

credit: @lelliott19
 
John Denton fought for the Confederate Army, but deserted it. Then he joined the Union Army, but deserted it even faster. And that was just the beginning of his troubles.Denton volunteered for Company B (Monroe County, TN), 3rd Tennessee Regiment of Confederate Volunteers in Knoxville, TN on May 23, 1861 and fought at Manassas. We know he was still present for duty as of February 1862, but on May 7, 1863 he switched sides and enlisted for three years at Lebanon, KY in Company D, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army Volunteers.That didn’t last long. By July Denton was listed as a deserter from Camp Nelson, KY. The following month’s muster rolls reported Private John Denton absent from recruiting duty. John Denton was from Tennessee.
source-http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2015/04/he-deserted-confederate-and-union.html
source-http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=carolynwhitaker&id=I1992
 
One man who was definitely carried on the rolls as deserting both armies was Henry Morton Stanley. As to the state he was from.... the United Kingdom is a state and he was born in Wales with the birth name of John Rowlands. In fact, he deserted several "states he was from".

Rowlands allegedly was adopted by an American named Stanley in New Orleans LA and that presumably made him a citizen of the state of Louisiana. He left that state and went to the state of Arkansas where he eventually signed up in July 1861 with the 6th Arkansas, Capt. Smith's "Dixie Greys" company, under the name William H Stanley.

He was captured at Shiloh, April 1862. He thereupon deserted Arkansas and the CSA (as they would regard it) and became a galvanized Yankee known as Henry M Stanley (one of his military cards records he joined "The Irish Brigade"!!!!). He deserted his Union regiment from hospital and was officially listed as having done so on August 31, 1862.

Having made his way to Liverpool only to be rejected by his mother, he returned to the USA, joined the Union Navy and deserted them February 10th 1865 in Portsmouth NH.
Source: http://www.historynet.com/henry-morton-stanley-goes-to-war.htm

He abandoned his state of birth in 1885, only to desert his adopted country state and re-up with the old one:

Stanley married Dorothy Tennant on July 12, 1890, and they adopted a son, Denzil. Stanley was renaturalized a British subject in 1892 (he had become a U.S. citizen on May 15, 1885)
Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Morton-Stanley

Edit - Well, your response brings up two separate arguments with the wording of the question.

The question asked players to name the "state" from which the individual came. You argue that the United Kingdom should be considered to be a "state." Although the questioner evidently intended that "state" should be taken to mean one of the United States (or Confederate States), I will accept your argument in regard to the United Kingdom.

The question also asked players to name someone who "deserted" from both armies. You named someone who was originally captured and joined the other side to escape captivity, then deserted from the other side's forces.

MRB1863, in post # 8, cites the case of William Dawson, who did the same thing. The source that he posted indicates that, although Dawson was originally considered to have deserted, the charge of desertion was ultimately dropped as the result of an act of Congress more than a decade after the war was over.

However, since those who became "Galvanized" after being taken prisoner were evidently considered to be deserters at one time, I will accept your answer.

Hoosier
 
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Kinston Hangings
In Feb.1864, 22 white soldiers, who had deserted the Confederate Army and joined the Union Army, were captured by Confederate forces under the command of General George Pickett at Beech Grove near New Bern. In the presence of all the Confederate troops, and the town's people, these soldiers were hung in this vicinity.

source: American Civil War Desertion : The Deserters of the Union Army and Confederate Military Homepage

Edit - Those who were victims of the Kinston Hangings may have deserted the Confederate Army, but not the Union Army.

Even if they could have been considered to have deserted the Union Army, the question asked for the name of the state from they came, and you didn't name any states.

Hoosier
 
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Well this guy was certainly a colorful character...

John Denton fought for the Confederate Army, but deserted it. Then he joined the Union Army, but deserted it even faster. And that was just the beginning of his troubles.
Denton volunteered for Company B (Monroe County, TN), 3rd Tennessee Regiment of Confederate Volunteers in Knoxville, TN on May 23, 1861 and fought at Manassas. We know he was still present for duty as of February 1862, but on May 7, 1863 he switched sides and enlisted for three years at Lebanon, KY in Company D, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army Volunteers.
That didn’t last long. By July Denton was listed as a deserter from Camp Nelson, KY. The following month’s muster rolls reported Private John Denton absent from recruiting duty. “While on leave (from Union Army) in Monroe County he was captured by a band of Confederate guerillas or bushwackers from the area,” begins a letter found in Cocke County, Tennessee’s Stokely Memorial Library. They stripped Uncle John, tied a rope around his neck, threw it over a tree limb and pulled him off the ground until he about choked. They’d let him down and then repeat the process. While this amusement was going on word came that a Union patrol was in the area. Two men were assigned to take Uncle John deeper into the woods and shoot him. When they arrived at a rail fence Uncle John managed to push one of his guards over the fence and knock the other one down and run away. Instead of hiding in the deep woods he managed to get to a lightly wooded section and cover himself with leaves while the search for him went on in the more heavily forested area. Subsequently he managed to get to the cabin of a couple of Union women whose husbands were gone away to serve in the Union Army. They dressed him in women’s clothes, put a bonnet on his head and managed to smuggle him through the lines."
source: http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2015/04/he-deserted-confederate-and-union.html
 
John Denton from Tennessee
denton.jpg


http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2015/04/he-deserted-confederate-and-union.html
 

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Philip Van Buskirk. Virginia.

http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=histsp


I have just over 3 hours of time invested in this tough question. Search engines failed me miserably. I found the cal poly piece that he deserted the United States Army and he later deserted the Confederate army. Page 10 of the article above discusses Van Buskirk.

I now need a nap. My wife is always complaining about my iPad time. She thinks I am up to no good most of the time.
If she only knew!

Edit - Page 10 of the article seems to imply that Van Buskirk deserted the Confederate Army sometime during the Civil War, though I could wish that it would have stated that fact more clearly and explicitly.

It does explicitly state that Van Buskirk deserted the Union Army before the Civil War.

Well, the question only asked for the name and state of somebody who deserted both sides. It didn't say he had to have deserted both sides during the Civil War.

If you put three hours of work in to find this answer, I'm not going to mark it wrong.

Hoosier
 
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I found three in a relatively short time, but for my answer am going with the first one (bold type). The other two are in italic type below. I'm sure there are more out there!

Per http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2015/04/he-deserted-confederate-and-union.html, John Denton of Tennessee

"volunteered for Company B (Monroe County, TN), 3rd Tennessee Regiment of Confederate Volunteers in Knoxville, TN on May 23, 1861 and fought at Manassas. We know he was still present for duty as of February 1862, but on May 7, 1863 he switched sides and enlisted for three years at Lebanon, KY in Company D, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army Volunteers.

"That didn’t last long. By July Denton was listed as a deserter from Camp Nelson, KY. The following month’s muster rolls reported Private John Denton absent from recruiting duty."

Denton then seems to have turned to crime and was later accused and eventually convicted of murder.

-----------------

The other two that I found are a bit dubious in relation to this specific question, one because he "galvanized" (would that be considered desertion?) while a prisoner and another because there are some dubious dates and confused references in the account.

Henry Morton Stanley (originally John Rowlands from Wales), reluctantly enlisted in the Dixie Grays in Arkansas (after the war he became famous for "Dr. Livingstone, I presume." ) After being captured at Shiloh, he soon became a "Galvanized Yankee," joined the Union Army from which he deserted, then later joined the Union Navy from which he also deserted, all per http://www.historynet.com/henry-morton-stanley-goes-to-war.htm We had a question about him several months ago, so he immediately popped into my mind. Those relying on Stanley's dubious memoirs accept his claims that he didn't desert.

Per https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/David Carr_0.pdf,
a relative of the author, William Galbraith Cobb, deserted from the Confederate Army in 1861, after having joined in St.Louis, Missouri. He moved to Illinois, changed his name to Gustavis Carr, and joined the Union Army. Some of this account seems a bit confused, so I don't want to rely on it for this question despite the author's claims.
 
Another great question ( there have been some good ones this month) and again I am flummoxed and reduced to guessing. I am sure it is not right but I'll say Henry Morton Stanley. I know he joined both armies ( and the Union Navy) but not sure that he was classed as a deserter from either.

Edit - The question also asked for the name of the state from which the double deserter came.

Hoosier
 
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Desertion was a documented problem on both sides of the Civil War. Name at least one man who deserted BOTH armies and the State he was from. That is, one man who was enlisted in and deserted from both the Confederate AND the Union armies (not one from each.)

John Denton Tennessee.
John Denton fought for the Confederate Army, but deserted it. Then he joined the Union Army, but deserted it even faster. And that was just the beginning of his troubles.

Denton volunteered for Company B (Monroe County, TN), 3rd Tennessee Regiment of Confederate Volunteers in Knoxville, TN on May 23, 1861 and fought at Manassas. We know he was still present for duty as of February 1862, but on May 7, 1863 he switched sides and enlisted for three years at Lebanon, KY in Company D, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army Volunteers.

That didn’t last long. By July Denton was listed as a deserter from Camp Nelson, KY. The following month’s muster rolls reported Private John Denton absent from recruiting duty.
http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2015/04/he-deserted-confederate-and-union.html
 
John Denton
1st - Company B, 3rd Tennessee Regiment of Confederate Volunteers
2nd - Company D, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army Volunteers

"deserted from the Union Army, was captured by a band of Confederate guerillas or bushwackers, they stripped Denton, tied a rope around his neck, threw it over a tree limb and pulled him off the ground until he about choked. They’d let him down and then repeat the process."

“Some time after the war, knowing some of his captors, they being from the same area, he killed a couple of them and was sent to prison for a few years until pardoned.”

http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2015/04/he-deserted-confederate-and-union.html



Came from a fairly large family (1860)

Alfred Denton.............M......50....Tennessee
Darcas Denton............F.......44....Tennessee
Chales Denton............M......20....Tennessee
Jackson Denton..........M......18....Tennessee
John Denton..........M....17....Tennessee
Hepsbough Denton......F......16....Tennessee
Ruth Denton................F......15....Tennessee
Hasken Denton...........M......12....Tennessee
Margaret Denton.........F......13....Tennessee
Martha Denton.............F......10....Tennessee
Mary Denton.................F.......8....Tennessee
Lewis Denton................M......6.....Tennessee
Joan Denton..................F.......4.....Tennessee
Wm H Adkins Denton...M......0.....Tennessee
 
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