Isaiah Boles, 53rd Regiment, Alabama Partisan Rangers

rickvox79

First Sergeant
Joined
Jan 27, 2011
Location
Pace, FL
After doing some more research I was able to find that my great-great-great grandfather Isaiah Boles served in the 53rd Regiment, Alabama Partisan Rangers. I actually found 7 documents on footnote.com with his name on the company muster roll. It says that it was a mounted cavalry unit but was there anything different with "partisan rangers"? Just another name for cavalry?

I searched and found several sources giving a brief outline of their service. I also found two books "Whetstone, Adam Henry. History of the Fifty-Third Alabama Volunteer Infantry (Mounted). University, AL : Confederate Publishing Co., 1985" and "McLendon, Robert G., jr. History of the 53rd Regiment Alabama Volunteer Cavalry and M. W. Hannon's Cavalry Brigade, Army of Tennessee, C.S.A. (Troy, AL: BlackHorse Publishing, 2007)" but so far I haven't found them online for purchase. Probably a small book out of print.

Any ideas where I might be able to track that down?
 
Partisan Rangers were originally intended to serve in their own local area, often at their own expense. Eventually the Confederate government decided that this seemed to be a way of avoiding regular service and all but a handful of these units were organized into new regiments and often consolidated into existing ones. Mosby's outfit was allowed to operate as partisan rangers for the duration, and then disbanded rather than surrender. If memory serves me, the 53rd Ala served with Wheeler and I think there is a newsgroup website for its modern incarnation.
 
Alabama achieves.....


FIFTY-THIRD ALABAMA INFANTRY REGIMENT (Mounted-also 53rd Ala. Cav. Reg.)
1. Sketches, including those by Brewer and Evans
2. Newspaper accounts
3. Typed "Sketch of the Alabama Mounted Rifles" (Co. F) by James Walter Spratley, major
4. Hand written history by unknown author
5. Deceased soldier accounts


http://www.archives.alabama.gov/referenc/reghist.html#Cavalry

This.............3rd Alabama Cavalry Regiment [Partisan Rangers]

The 53rd Alabama Cavalry Regiment, Partisan Rangers, was organized by increasing the 1st Cavalry Battalion to regimental size at Montgomery on 5 November 1862. Recruits were from Autauga, Coffee, Coosa, Dale, Dallas, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Macon, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Tallapoosa and Wilcox counties. It proceeded in a few weeks to Mississippi. In moving from Columbus to Decatur, in Lawrence, a portion of the regiment was there equipped and proceeded to join Gen'l Earl Van Dorn. This battalion was in the fighting at Thompson's Station, and at Brentwood. The regiment was engaged in the fight with Union Gen'l Grenville Dodge at Town Creek and in the pursuit of Union Col. Abel Streight. Soon after, the 53rd joined the main army at Dalton as part of Gen'l Moses W. Hannon's Brigade, Gen'l John Kelly's Division. It operated on the right of the army as it fell back towards Atlanta and was engaged in constant duty. When Union Gen'l William T. Sherman reached Atlanta, the 53rd was the principal force engaged in the daring raid in his rear, whereby a valuable train was destroyed. It was then at the heels of Sherman as he devastated Georgia and the Carolinas, and it took part in the last operations of the war in that quarter. It surrendered a small number with Gen'l Joseph E. Johnston at Durham Station, Orange County, NC, on 26 April 1865.
Field and staff officers: Col. Moses Wright Hannon (Montgomery; promoted); Lt. Col. John F. Gaines (Montgomery; wounded, Waynesboro); Major Thomas Farewell Jenkins (Wilcox; captured, near Florence); and Adjutants R. B. Snodgrass (Montgomery; wounded three times; transferred); George P. Furhman; and John T. Tannehill (Montgomery).
It was assigned to (1) the District of the Gulf, Dept. #2 (Dec 1862); to Armstrong's Brigade, Jackson's Division, Van Dorn's Cavalry Corps, Department of MS and East LA (Feb 63) with a total of 517 effectives; (2) to Armstrong's Brigade, Van Dorn's Division, Army of Tennessee (Feb-March 63); (3) to Armstrong's Brig, Jackson's Division, Van Dorn's Cavalry Corps, Army of TN (March 63); (4) to District of Northern AL, Dept #2 (July-Aug 63); (5) to Roddey's Brigade, Wheeler's Cavalry Corps, Army of TN (Aug 63-April 64); (6) to M. W. Hannon's Brigade, Humes' Division, Wheeler's Cavalry Corps, Army of TN (April-Nov 64); (7) to Hannon's Brigade, Humes' Division, Wheeler's Cavalry Corps, Department of SC, GA, and FL (Nov 64-Jan 65); (8) to Hannon's Brigade, Allen's Division, Wheeler's Cavalry Corps, Hampton's Cavalry Command (Feb-April 65); and (9) to Hagan's Brigade, Allen's Division, Wheeler's Cavalry Corps, Hampton's Cavalry Command, Army of TN (April 65).
The regiment fought in the following battles: Cherokee Station and Little Bear Creek, AL (12 Dec 62); Thompson's Station (5 March 63); Florence, AL (25 March 63); Brentwood (25 March 63); Town Creek (April 63); Streight's Raid (April-May 63); Chickamauga (19-20 Sept 63); Atlanta Campaign (May-Sept 64); Resaca (14-15 May 64); Atlanta Siege (July-Sept 64); Jonesboro (31 Aug-1 Sept 64); Carolinas Campaign (Feb-April 65)
Historical resources:

 
Thanks for the info guys. I found 3-4 letters written by someone in the 53rd online and I'll keep doing more research.
 
Well thanks to Ancestry having a free week (7th to 14th) to search through Civil War records, I was fortunate enough to come across some pension records fro my third great grandfather Isaiah Boles. It looks like a request for assistance due to injuries gained during the war that allowed him to no longer do physical labor (he was a farmer). Says "he was ruptured during the service from riding a rough gated horse and in consequence of which he has been rendered physically incapable of making a livelihood by labor..."

Hmmmm "ruptured"....not sure I want to know how exactly :D Really interesting to find this though, always feels like striking gold every time you come across something new on an ancestor that served in the war.

pension for isaiah.jpg
 
Ruptured could mean anything. In WWII the discharge pin was a duck on crutches, known as the "ruptured duck."
 
I just ordered a copy of military records for Isaiah Boles from the National Archives a few minutes ago. I had thought about it for a few weeks but hesitated because I had found 8-10 documents on footnote.com so wasn't sure if I should use $25 for basically the same thing. Question for anyone that has ordered military records from the National Archives, should I expect to get different information and documents there that were not on footnote? Or should I expect about the same thing?
 
You wasted your money. The military records on Footnote ARE the same as the NARA. You should have asked before you ordered.

Is it too late to cancel the order?
 
You wasted your money. The military records on Footnote ARE the same as the NARA. You should have asked before you ordered.

Is it too late to cancel the order?

Well guess I should have asked before I ordered. Someone told me it was good to get the information from the National Archives because they may have more than footnote. I just ordered it a few hours ago so I may still have time to cancel it.
 
rickvox79,

Hey im Carlton Boles from Florala, AL, and I just wanted to thank you for the info on my Great-Great-Great Granfather. They were very interesting leads. If you come across anymore information please let me know.

Many Thanks,
Carlton
 
rickvox79,

Hey im Carlton Boles from Florala, AL, and I just wanted to thank you for the info on my Great-Great-Great Granfather. They were very interesting leads. If you come across anymore information please let me know.

Many Thanks,
Carlton

No problem Carlton. I am still doing research and wish I could find a picture but I doubt that will ever happen. If you know or run across anymore information about him please feel free to share.

5fish, pretty sure he lived and died in Alabama from all the research that I've done up to this point. But thanks for the links, i'll take a look.
 
No problem Carlton. I am still doing research and wish I could find a picture but I doubt that will ever happen. If you know or run across anymore information about him please feel free to share.

5fish, pretty sure he lived and died in Alabama from all the research that I've done up to this point. But thanks for the links, i'll take a look.

I was thinking the same thing but there was only two I. Boles that served in the confederate army and I will list them....



No.

Soldier Name

Side

Function

Regiment Name

1

Boles, Isaac

Confederate

Infantry

40th Regiment, Alabama Infantry

2

Boles, Isaiah

Confederate

53rd Regiment, Alabama Partisan Rangers

The was Issac and your Isaiah Boles so if that it true then the person in Texas must be your Isaiah....
 
I was thinking the same thing but there was only two I. Boles that served in the confederate army and I will list them....



No.

Soldier Name

Side

Function

Regiment Name

1

Boles, Isaac

Confederate

Infantry

40th Regiment, Alabama Infantry

2

Boles, Isaiah

Confederate

53rd Regiment, Alabama Partisan Rangers

The was Issac and your Isaiah Boles so if that it true then the person in Texas must be your Isaiah....

The Isaiah Boles that I am related to was born in 1835 in Coffee, AL and died in Coffee, AL in August 1906. The Isaiah Boles from Texas you are showing was born in August 1849 so he would have been not quite 12 when the war started. His younger brother Jasper served in the 53rd Alabama partisan rangers as well. I have a pension record from Covington County, AL with his name on it and other documents showing his time in service with the 53rd. So unless he was fighting with the 53rd Alabama in 1862 at age 13 and moved to Texas after my great-great grandfather George W Boles (who was also born in Coffee, AL and lived in Allentown, FL where my grandmother was born), I think we're talking about different Isaiah Boles.


IB CW.jpg pension2.jpg
 
The Isaiah Boles that I am related to was born in 1835 in Coffee, AL and died in Coffee, AL in August 1906. The Isaiah Boles from Texas you are showing was born in August 1849 so he would have been not quite 12 when the war started. His younger brother Jasper served in the 53rd Alabama partisan rangers as well. I have a pension record from Covington County, AL with his name on it and other documents showing his time in service with the 53rd. So unless he was fighting with the 53rd Alabama in 1862 at age 13 and moved to Texas after my great-great grandfather George W Boles (who was also born in Coffee, AL and lived in Allentown, FL where my grandmother was born), I think we're talking about different Isaiah Boles.


View attachment 2744 View attachment 2745


I want to agree with you but this grave in TX. puzzle me. The Boles form that part of Texas form what I can tell came form Jones county GA, and Dale county, AL. I still bet you are related to them just a few generations a part. The Boles that move out to originally was a George M. Boles...
 
I have some information from a contact in California, who is related to us. She hired a family history investigator or whatever you call them and this is some of the information she recieved. The information reads: In 1870, Isaiah, age 35, was enumerated with his wife and five children. in Coffee County, Al. They were living next door to his parents. Enlisted 15 August 1862, with Daniel Regan and his brother John Wilburn in Dale County on the Georgia border at Barnes Crossroads. He served in Capt. McCall’s Company D of the 53rd Partisian Rangers until December 1863, and was injured and captured at the seige of Atlanta. (Same Reg. as Daniel Jackson Regan.) He survived the War and recieved........ It stops there, dont ask me why. I don't know if you know this or not, but you also have a grandfather who served in the Revolutionary War. John Bole, Upper Ninety Sixth Regiment, Carolina Militia. He is recognized on a monument along with several others who fought at the Battle of Kettle Creek.
 
I have some information from a contact in California, who is related to us. She hired a family history investigator or whatever you call them and this is some of the information she recieved. The information reads: In 1870, Isaiah, age 35, was enumerated with his wife and five children. in Coffee County, Al. They were living next door to his parents. Enlisted 15 August 1862, with Daniel Regan and his brother John Wilburn in Dale County on the Georgia border at Barnes Crossroads. He served in Capt. McCall’s Company D of the 53rd Partisian Rangers until December 1863, and was injured and captured at the seige of Atlanta. (Same Reg. as Daniel Jackson Regan.) He survived the War and recieved........ It stops there, dont ask me why. I don't know if you know this or not, but you also have a grandfather who served in the Revolutionary War. John Bole, Upper Ninety Sixth Regiment, Carolina Militia. He is recognized on a monument along with several others who fought at the Battle of Kettle Creek.

I knew about John Boles, but didn't realize he served in the Revolutionary War. I guess I should have thought about that considering his date of birth and death. Doing a google search and I think I found pictures of the monument. Thanks so much for that information! I have heard the same information you heard about Isaiah Boles' Civil War service. I emailed someone that wrote a book about the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers and he told me that Isaiah was captured outside of Atlanta. I wouldn't have guessed we'd have a relative in California but then again my Uncle Jerry Boles lives near Seattle, Washington so we're all spread out.
 
5fish,

The story goes, around 1824 James Boles (Isaiah's Grandfather), moved to an area near present day Elba, AL. He built a grist mill on a creek there which still bares the name "Boles Creek". Well James Boles died six or seven years later, soon after all of his sons except Elijah Boles (Isaiah's Dad) moved to Texas. One of the sons who moved to Texas was named Isaiah. <--- This Isaiah would have been our Isaiah's uncle. Check the headstone, I believe he was born around 1790 and died around 1860.

Thanks,
Carlton
 
5fish,

The story goes, around 1824 James Boles (Isaiah's Grandfather), moved to an area near present day Elba, AL. He built a grist mill on a creek there which still bares the name "Boles Creek". Well James Boles died six or seven years later, soon after all of his sons except Elijah Boles (Isaiah's Dad) moved to Texas. One of the sons who moved to Texas was named Isaiah. <--- This Isaiah would have been our Isaiah's uncle. Check the headstone, I believe he was born around 1790 and died around 1860.

Thanks,
Carlton


Carlton,

Send me an email sometime to [email protected] if you have a chance. I'd love to find out more if you have more information. I just received a package from the national archives with photo copies of documents showing record of Isaiah's service. I also have a lot of information I received from footnote.com I could pass along if you wanted to see it.
 
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