Anna Garvin - Civil War Nurse?

lelliott19

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:help:Needing a little help here from those who may have access to info. :help:

Browsing through Prisoner records from Louisville, KY and ran across the entry for

Name: Mrs. Anna Garvin
Rank: H. Nurse
Company: -
Regiment: Brenkenridge's Cavalry
Where taken: Murfreesboro
Paroled: Jan 2, 1863
"Sent to Baltimore May 29, 1863"

https://archive.org/stream/selectedrecordso0088unit#page/n187/mode/1up
Entry is 11th from top on right hand page 188

Has anyone ever heard of this woman?
 
Here she is again, am very baffled she is a prisoner!

garvin2.JPG

Same prisoner list, from Ancestry

garvin3.JPG

And another

garvin1.jpg

There are several Annie/Anna Garvins with pension, this one seems likely since she was married right before the war. I realize Texas makes less sense but who knows who was where and for what reason?

I keep seeing someone in Kentucky by the name but when you click on it, see nothing. I know the name is familiar though! Will ask @donna , who sometimes knows the most astonishing pieces of information.
 
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There are several Annie/Anna Garvins with pension, this one seems likely since she was married right before the war. I realize Texas makes less sense but who knows who was where and for what reason?

Thanks for your help @JPK Huson 1863 :bounce::dance::bounce:

Its a really interesting question why she was listed as an official prisoner and sent to Baltimore. :unsure: Maybe we can get some help from others here and figure it out.

The pension application you posted says that the husband of this particular "Anna Garvin" served in the 15th Mississippi and then the 4th MS. The prisoner roster indicates that she was captured while serving in Breckenridge's Division Hospital. Neither of those regiments - the 15th or the 4th MS - were in Breckenridge's Division at Murfreesboro. The only Mississippi regiment in Breckenridge's Div was the 5th Mississippi. Maybe someone will know if the 4th and 5th Mississippi were consolidated? @7th Mississippi Infantry might know?

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean its not her. She could have served as a nurse in the Division hospital other than the one her husband was in. Thank you again for your help. Would be great if we could figure it out. :wavespin:
 
The records on fold3 match what Anna said on the pension application.

Perry M Garvin originally enlisted in the 15th Miss Infantry during July 1861 at Knox County KY. The records then reflect he was discharged from that regiment a few months latter on October 7, 1861. No reason given.

Mr. Gavin then enlisted in Company A, 4th Mississippi Infantry on November 1, 1861 at Ponchatoula, La.
He remained with the 4th Mississippi until his capture at Nashville on December 16, 1864.

Originally a prisoner in Louisville KY, he was transferred to Camp Chase Ohio where remained until released on June 12, 1865.

His records also show Choctaw County Mississippi as P M Garvin's home, but the fact he enlisted in the 15th when that regiment was in Kentucky seem to suggest the couple moved to Kentucky right before the War.

I hope this helps.
 
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I realize Texas makes less sense but who knows who was where and for what reason?

That could be the right person. Lots of former Confederates and their families moved west to Texas after the war, where things were booming economically and there was lots of rapid expansion going on. Starting over fresh, etc.

As to why she was taken prisoner, if she were serving in a hospital that was overrun by Union troops, she would have been considered a prisoner with them. Lots of medical personnel found themselves in exactly that situation during the war, who stayed behind with their patients with the full knowledge that they would be taken prisoners themselves. Generally, medical personnel taken in those circumstances were allowed to continue in that role, and were paroled rather quickly compared to rank and file military personnel.
 
Originally a prisoner in Louisville KY, he was transferred to Camp Chase Ohio where remained until released on June 12, 1865.

Whoaaaa!!!! So her husband was also a prisoner at Lousiville KY at the same time she was there? Does it say if he was captured wounded? Do you know where/when he was originally captured?

EDIT to add: I should have mentioned that Mrs. Anna Garvin (prisoner roll listed above) was on the roster, in confinement at Lousville KY prior to being sent to Baltimore.
 
Whoaaaa!!!! So her husband was also a prisoner at Lousiville KY at the same time she was there? Does it say if he was captured wounded? Do you know where/when he was originally captured?

EDIT to add: I should have mentioned that Mrs. Anna Garvin (prisoner roll listed above) was on the roster, in confinement at Lousville KY prior to being sent to Baltimore.
I don't think so, he was captured at Nashville on December 16, 1864.

Looks like she was captured earlier:
Where taken: Murfreesboro
Paroled: Jan 2, 1863
"Sent to Baltimore May 29, 1863"
 
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Was he wounded at Perryville or Stones River?
 
Whoa. There's a Find A Grave, too- what a huge amount of travel for both. All these states traversed? Gee whiz! It would be a ton of effort in 2016. In the 1860's , how arduous!

Had no idea nurses were held as prisoners. That is brand, new information to me, thank you! What a waste, too- capturing medical staff since both sides needed them so desperately. It would be interesting to see how far Anna's story can be fleshed out.

Beyond the women who acted as spies I'd simply never been aware of females being held as prisoners- how barbaric. Perhaps it was felt depriving hospitals of staff would shorten the war but all it would do is cause more suffering.
 
what a huge amount of travel for both. All these states traversed? Gee whiz! It would be a ton of effort in 2016. In the 1860's , how arduous!
That was my first thought as well.

I even looked at the regimental history of the 4th & 15th Mississippi.

Sure enough, from Kentucky to Louisiana . . .the dates of their locations match his service records.
 
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JPK, for a variety of reasons, there was much migration across the country following the Civil War, much of it having to do with land offerings as were we still an agrarian economy. And just as Andy Hall has said, many ex Confederates did settle in Texas, others went as far as California. Often the returning soldiers found there wasn't much opportunity for them when they returned home and then they moved on.

I hope we all find out more about CW nurses taken prisoner, it's a fascinating topic. If Annie/Anna Garvin were a Union nurse, she might have had an actual Army service record. I suppose the Confederates did not enlist women or someone has checked her out on fold3?
 
What a waste, too- capturing medical staff since both sides needed them so desperately.
Yeah but when they were left behind to care for the wounded and the victorious army came along and captured the hospitals, it was common to capture medical staff, along with the wounded soldiers. Here's another entry from the same roster, a few pages earlier:

"John M Bemiss" (actually John S. Bemis, 1838-1885) Surgeon of the 2nd KY Cavalry (confederate) James Campbell Hospital Steward 4th KY Cavalry, and another woman? Lucilla Campbell Laundress (?) of the 4th KY Cavalry also captured. These, along with Anna Garvin (OP) would have been left behind to care for the wounded after the battle of Stones River Jan 2, 1863. Although it looks like Lucilla Campbell and Anna Garvin (OP) were paroled quickly, Surgeon Bemis was not paroled until April 9, 1863 :nah disagree: He was probably caring for Confederate wounded until he was forwarded to Baltimore May 6, but you'd think a Surgeon would have been paroled immediately even if he was retained longer to provide medical care.

https://archive.org/stream/selectedrecordso0088unit#page/n183/mode/1up Record is on the right hand page about half way down the page.
Dr Bemiss prisoner.JPG


Find A Grave Memorial for Dr. John S Bemiss, Surgeon http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=123453011

And another Surgeon evidently captured after the Battle of Stones River, Jan 2, 1863. This one Dr Benjamin M. Satterfield (1834-1869) Surgeon of the 25th Tennessee listed on the roster of prisoners as "Benj Sutterfield" Surgn 25th Tenn taken at Burkeville, KY Paroled April 14, 1863. Sent to City Point April 29, 1863.
Dr Benj M Satterfield prisoner.JPG


Find A Grave Memorial for Dr Satterfield http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=68119646
 
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Thank you for the research and detail, that is terrific! Appalling but terrific. I had these ridiculous stars in my eyes because Gettysburg's powers-that-be enabled Confederate hospitals and of course surgeons to function unimpeded. They later escorted the surgeons back to their lines, no captures occurred. During the battle Union and Confederate surgeons shared the same hospital, the Catholic church in town albeit frigidly. Very silly of me, assuming this hospitals and staff as a kind as hands-off, safe zone was an across the board aspect through the war. Well- also would have been wishful thinking on my part. How pointless, capturing both wounded and medical staff not to mention barbaric.

Yes, surgeons even being captured was barbaric, not being paroled right away? There's a lot of attention paid to women smuggling drugs tied to their crinolines- it all seems to me to be in keeping with a certain ruthlessness practiced in this area. Medical supplies should have been the exception when it came to ' squeezing ' the South- there can have been no choice but to get medication to men in horrific pain in any way possible.
 
Maybe see if she Ms. Garvin is mentioned in here?

I can't access it because Archives.org is blocked at work. I asked them to unblock it! All I do with it now is get cool pics from turn of the century seed catalogs! but nooooo.
 
I don't see Anna in " Our Army Nurses " although could have missed her, thanks for the idea Rosefiend! Boy is that a great a book. You have to use it like a Uni Mart, run in, get your gallon of milk and leave quickly or you're finished. It's too awfully interesting to risk looking around the shelves, much less the deli. be there all day.
 
I am still looking for her. I see there is a Garvin Cemetery in Wise County, Texas, I checked it out but no Garvins there. It was an idea.

Maybe she did marry again. It is one of those things I start on and have to keep looking.
 
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