Help me find where my ancestor died?

lupaglupa

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I long ago decided that we would never know where my gr-gr-gr-uncle died at Gettysburg. But I have been so impressed at the various sources our members have for even the smallest details of what happened at Gettysburg that I'm thinking of begging for help just in case there is something I've missed. So - here's what I know:

1st Lt. David Marlin of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment was with Company H at the Railroad cut. He escaped unscathed, Captain Cunningham was injured. One source I saw says David was thus in command of the company on July 3rd. He was mortally wounded during the charge and seems to have died that day. The official records give several versions:

Jul/Aug 1863 muster roll: "Absent from wounds received at Gettysburg Pa 3rd July + in the hands of the enemy"
Sept/Oct 1863 muster roll: "Died of wounds rec'd at Gettysburg Pa. 3.July 1863"
List of Engagement notes 'MW' for Gettysburg
Roster of Commissioned officers dated 3/15/1865: "killed at the battle of Gettysburg Pa"
Register of officers and soldiers of the CSA: "Killed in battle"

The only place I've found a description of where David was when he died is here on CWT, put up by a distant cousin who posted that David was "Killed at the barn at the stone wall." Since that cousin has at other times posted inaccurate but colorful facts about the family I'm inclined to discount this. But hey - maybe he's right.

Anybody have ideas on where I might get details? I'm tagging @Tom Elmore and @Coonewah Creek as obvious sources but everyone else, please jump in!
 
I just purchased s.g. elliotts burial map of Gettysburg, and according to many people, the soldiers were buried quite near where they fell. One of my gg grandfathers was "killed behind the Trostle house" ,,,the map shows several union graves DIRECTLY behind the Trostle house,,it's quite somber, and my dad and I will be heading out there in a cpl of weeks with the map.
 
I long ago decided that we would never know where my gr-gr-gr-uncle died at Gettysburg. But I have been so impressed at the various sources our members have for even the smallest details of what happened at Gettysburg that I'm thinking of begging for help just in case there is something I've missed. So - here's what I know:

1st Lt. David Marlin of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment was with Company H at the Railroad cut. He escaped unscathed, Captain Cunningham was injured. One source I saw says David was thus in command of the company on July 3rd. He was mortally wounded during the charge and seems to have died that day. The official records give several versions:

Jul/Aug 1863 muster roll: "Absent from wounds received at Gettysburg Pa 3rd July + in the hands of the enemy"
Sept/Oct 1863 muster roll: "Died of wounds rec'd at Gettysburg Pa. 3.July 1863"
List of Engagement notes 'MW' for Gettysburg
Roster of Commissioned officers dated 3/15/1865: "killed at the battle of Gettysburg Pa"
Register of officers and soldiers of the CSA: "Killed in battle"

The only place I've found a description of where David was when he died is here on CWT, put up by a distant cousin who posted that David was "Killed at the barn at the stone wall." Since that cousin has at other times posted inaccurate but colorful facts about the family I'm inclined to discount this. But hey - maybe he's right.

Anybody have ideas on where I might get details? I'm tagging @Tom Elmore and @Coonewah Creek as obvious sources but everyone else, please jump in!
I did find a thread from 2019 re: the 2nd Miss. https://civilwartalk.com/threads/history-of-the-2nd-mississippi-infantry-regiment.148804/page-2.

Your ancestor is mentioned in posts 51 and 56.

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I long ago decided that we would never know where my gr-gr-gr-uncle died at Gettysburg. But I have been so impressed at the various sources our members have for even the smallest details of what happened at Gettysburg that I'm thinking of begging for help just in case there is something I've missed. So - here's what I know:

1st Lt. David Marlin of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment was with Company H at the Railroad cut. He escaped unscathed, Captain Cunningham was injured. One source I saw says David was thus in command of the company on July 3rd. He was mortally wounded during the charge and seems to have died that day. The official records give several versions:

Jul/Aug 1863 muster roll: "Absent from wounds received at Gettysburg Pa 3rd July + in the hands of the enemy"
Sept/Oct 1863 muster roll: "Died of wounds rec'd at Gettysburg Pa. 3.July 1863"
List of Engagement notes 'MW' for Gettysburg
Roster of Commissioned officers dated 3/15/1865: "killed at the battle of Gettysburg Pa"
Register of officers and soldiers of the CSA: "Killed in battle"

The only place I've found a description of where David was when he died is here on CWT, put up by a distant cousin who posted that David was "Killed at the barn at the stone wall." Since that cousin has at other times posted inaccurate but colorful facts about the family I'm inclined to discount this. But hey - maybe he's right.

Anybody have ideas on where I might get details? I'm tagging @Tom Elmore and @Coonewah Creek as obvious sources but everyone else, please jump in!
From the information you provided, the most likely conclusion I would draw is that Lt. Marlin was mortally wounded in front of the Brien (or Bryan) buildings and was probably conveyed to the Union Second Corps hospital at the Jacob Schwartz farm, but that he died soon afterward, perhaps within a day or two and was buried close by.

My reasons? Word must have come to Confederate authorities that Lt. Marlin was wounded and still alive when captured, either from the Federals or perhaps members of his own company or regiment. Subsequent notification that he was dead would either come from the Federals or from correspondence by wounded and captured Confederates who had seen him. The Jacob Schwartz farm, used by the Second Corps, is by far the best candidate field hospital given that so many men from Heth's division who fell wounded on July 3 were taken there - 16 burials were recorded at that location from Davis' brigade alone, including four from the 2nd Mississippi. However, a few were taken to the George Spangler farm, including Lt. William H. Moody of Company A, 2nd Mississippi. If an officer like Lt. Marlin had lingered for a few days, odds go way up that his name would have been recorded in a hospital ledger, by comrades, or even by civilian nurses who came to work there after the battle. So that tells me he succumbed from his wound quickly, perhaps even before midnight or in the early hours of July 4, without having been seen by a Union surgeon, and was hastily buried.

By the way, Confederate burials at the Jacob Schwartz farm were reinterred at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, in 1872.
 
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From the information you provided, the most likely conclusion I would draw is that Lt. Marlin was mortally wounded in front of the Brien (or Bryan) buildings and was probably conveyed to the Union Second Corps hospital at the Jacob Schwartz farm, but that he died soon afterward, perhaps within a day or two and was buried close by.

My reasons? Word must have come to Confederate authorities that Lt. Marlin was wounded and still alive when captured, either from the Federals or perhaps members of his own company or regiment. Subsequent notification that he was dead would either come from the Federals or from correspondence by wounded and captured Confederates who had seen him. The Jacob Schwartz farm, used by the Second Corps, is by far the best candidate field hospital given that so many men from Heth's division who fell wounded on July 3 were taken there - 16 burials were recorded at that location from Davis' brigade alone, including four from the 2nd Mississippi. However, a few were taken to the George Spangler farm, including Lt. William H. Moody of Company A, 2nd Mississippi. If an officer like Lt. Marlin had lingered for a few days, odds go way up that his name would have been recorded in a hospital ledger, by comrades, or even by civilian nurses who came to work there after the battle. So that tells me he succumbed from his wound quickly, perhaps even before midnight or in the early hours of July 4, without having been seen by a Union surgeon, and was hastily buried.

By the way, Confederate burials at the Jacob Schwartz farm were reinterred at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, in 1872.
That all makes great sense. Are there any records from the 2nd Corps field hospital?
 
The only place I've found a description of where David was when he died is here on CWT, put up by a distant cousin who posted that David was "Killed at the barn at the stone wall." Since that cousin has at other times posted inaccurate but colorful facts about the family I'm inclined to discount this. But hey - maybe he's right.
@lupaglupa In all my years of researching, I have never been able to prove conclusively that the survivors of the 2nd Mississippi during Pickett's Charge were clustered with those of the 11th Mississippi near the Bryan Barn. But anecdotal evidence has tended to point me in that direction. For instance, Lt. Col. David Humphreys, who led the decimated regiment on July 3rd, due to Col. Stone still being disabled with a painful wound, was killed (body was found) between the Emmitsburg Road and the Bryan Barn. Color Sergeant Christopher Columbus Davis was wounded and found by Lt. Colonel Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin in that area. This is in addition to the comments made by your cousin...and other sources that one could never point to as a reliable primary source. That is why I have often questioned the supposed accepted alignment of Davis's Brigade...left to right, 11th, 42nd, 2nd MS and 55th NC. I have always tended to believe it was instead 11th, 2nd, 42nd MS and 55th NC. We know that several members of the 11th MS were captured and killed at or near the Bryan Barn. I think the Barn must have been the focus of the attack of the left wing of the brigade and that the 42nd MS and 55th NC drifted more to the right of the Bryan outbuildings. No hard evidence to support my theory, but I'm still looking. :smile:
 
That all makes great sense. Are there any records from the 2nd Corps field hospital?
Local citizen Samuel Weaver took down names on Confederate graves, as did local Dr. John W. C. O'Neal. Unfortunately only portions of their efforts are known to exist. Dr. Rufus Weaver eventually moved over 3,000 southern soldier remains, but many of those were never identified or improperly identified.
 
I believe @Tom Elmore's conclusions are correct and that David Marlin is buried with other Gettysburg deceased at Hollywood Cemetery. Between 2,000 - 3,000 confederates who died at Gettysburg are among the total of 18,000 confederate buried at Hollywood. I found a resource that claims to list the names of 10,500 of these soldiers. Perhaps David Marlin is listed.

http://www.researchonline.net/catalog/hollywood.htm
 
I believe @Tom Elmore's conclusions are correct and that David Marlin is buried with other Gettysburg deceased at Hollywood Cemetery. Between 2,000 - 3,000 confederates who died at Gettysburg are among the total of 18,000 confederate buried at Hollywood. I found a resource that claims to list the names of 10,500 of these soldiers. Perhaps David Marlin is listed.

http://www.researchonline.net/catalog/hollywood.htm
I have done an online search of their database, and I did not find Lt. Marlin listed. I did find Lt. Col. Humphreys (Humphries in their database). There were several listings misidentified as belonging to the 2nd Mississippi as well as some that were correct. That is not to say I couldn't have missed him somehow. I'm afraid most will forever remain unknown.
 
Local citizen Samuel Weaver took down names on Confederate graves, as did local Dr. John W. C. O'Neal. Unfortunately only portions of their efforts are known to exist. Dr. Rufus Weaver eventually moved over 3,000 southern soldier remains, but many of those were never identified or improperly identified.
I've seen some of the burial records but never found David. Did the medical corps keep records of who was admitted and what happened to them? Or were they just too overwhelmed?
 
The Confederate medical records are held at a university in Texas. I believe it is the University of Texas/San Antonio. I saw some of those records when I was researching my book. I was told ten years ago that the records are not well organized but that might not be true any longer. Some universities across the country have microfilm of SOME of the records held by UT/SA, you can look that up.
 
The Confederate medical records are held at a university in Texas. I believe it is the University of Texas/San Antonio. I saw some of those records when I was researching my book. I was told ten years ago that the records are not well organized but that might not be true any longer. Some universities across the country have microfilm of SOME of the records held by UT/SA, you can look that up.
This is one set of records I would love to dig into!
 
In my research on local soldiers here in Maine, I found that there were many soldiers who were known to have been killed in a battle but whose final burial site is problematic. From what I read, many dead soldiers were buried as quickly as possible right on the field of battle and later re-interred in a proper cemetery. But many of the deceased could no longer be identified and many were simply missed by the burial teams.

On medical records being preserved, I'd guess that it varied. Sometimes I could find them (once I even found the autopsy report on one of "my" soldiers online) but not always.

Again I'll tout WikiReseach on the FamilySearch site. In the search line it is possible to enter a topic as well as a place. "American Civil War burials" and "American Civil War Medical Records" work well (be sure to specify American because there were many other civil wars in the world 🙁).
 
This is one set of records I would love to dig into!
When I was researching those records, only a small percentage had been mirofilmed. The microfilm I saw was at Auburn. It was a long, deep rabbit hole. I found lots of info that I eventually did not use. But the exposure to the information helped me understand one part of the story.
 
@lupaglupa
It's a long shot, but try looking up casualty lists in local newspapers of his home town. Once in a blue moon there will be an extra few words printed from a fellow soldier that witnessed the incident*. Maybe look up the captain's hometown paper - if you know is hometown. From the few newspapers I've searched through, they will print anything pertaining to their local boys.
Good Luck!

*one of the saddest things I've read is a soldier relaying his friends last words: "Tell my wife as gently as you can."
 
The Confederate medical records are held at a university in Texas. I believe it is the University of Texas/San Antonio. I saw some of those records when I was researching my book. I was told ten years ago that the records are not well organized but that might not be true any longer. Some universities across the country have microfilm of SOME of the records held by UT/SA, you can look that up.
Is this it?
https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00021/cah-00021.html
 
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