A Request for Leave

[Robtweb1]

Here is a request for leave my great - grandfather sent to Leonidas Polk while Polk's army was in winter camp at Columbus, KY in January, 1862:



"Columbus, Ky.
Jany. 16th, 1862
Maj. Gnal. Polk
Sir:
I wish to submit for your consideration the circumstances which oblige me to call for a leave of absence for a few days.
I am a physician and a foreigner by birth and when I volunteered in the cause of the South I left my family and all my business neglected. I am a poor man, Sir, and live on my own resources. I have no relations in this country but my Lady and child and they look on me for the necessities of life.
This new year has let in and no kind of preparations have been made by me to keep them ...
As long as I have been in this army I have made myself useful in every respect and not only my regiment but the wounded at Belmont will testify to that effect...
These then are my reasons to request a leave of absence.
Respectfully
R. T. de Aragon, M. D.
Asst, Med. Dep. 13th Reg. Tn.

 

[donna]

It is wonderful you have this. Do you know what happened?

 

[Robtweb1]

It is wonderful you have this. Do you know what happened?

I'm afraid I don't know what response he got, but the army moved out the following month and ended up in Corinth.

 

[Robtweb1]

Here's another one where his superior officers wrote their decisions on the document itself. His wife and daughter were in Moscow, TN.



"Hd. In Ms. 9th Tex. Infy.
July 29,1863
Col H. S. End...
Chief of Staff
Sir:
I respectfully have the honor to apply for a leave of absence for thirty days. My reasons to make ... an application at such a time are based on the condition ...family ... requires immediate relief. For the last two years I have been with the army and my family has been within the enemy's lines. All communications between me and my family have been cutoff. I am a foreigner and do not have relatives to whom my family can call for relief while in my absence. Neither can my family be provided from a ruthless enemy. Men devoid of all gentlemanly principles, where bravery is based on the abuse of women and children. At present, Sir, my family apply to ... for the relief which in our ... can grant and if two years of devotion, fatigue, and privation are sufficient grounds to your kind consideration I respectfully wish it.
Respectfully
Yr obedient servt
R. T. De Aragon
Surg. 9th Tex Infy
PS I have an able and accomplished Asst Surg to have in my place during my absence.
R. T. De Aragon"

At the bottom of the page was written this note:

"Approved because there is present but 279 men in 9th Tex
Asst Surg Trimble is H Griffen
able to attend to them. Sr Surgeon
Ector's Brigade"

Johnston's Medical Director gave his approval on the following day with this message:

"Hd Gen Walker's Div
Near Morton, July 30, 1863

Respectfully ...
Wm Macthis
Major Gnl to Dr.

Medical Director's office
July 30,63

Insp? Ask that this leave be granted. Dr. A. Has been a most faithful officer and this position of his family is, I have no doubt, ...
D W Yandell
Med Dr.

S O No 7"



He did get the family out, as all further correspondence to his wife was addressed to Summerfield, AL.

 

[Nathanb1]

I'm so glad you posted that so we know it was approved. How horrible to be serving and worrying about your family.

 

[Lazy Bayou]

You are so fortunate to have these documents.

 

[Robtweb1]

You are so fortunate to have these documents.

The personal letters are in the possession of my cousins and myself. The military documents are in the national archives on a roll entitled "Officers Papers".

 

[TerryB]

When I go downtown to the archives and look through records, I just never know what I'm going to find. It's truly one rabbit trail after another. Every conceivable situation is represented, and many of the rabbit trails just end with no resolution nor further documentation. So, I agree that you are very lucky to have these. I once sent off for some records because of a note that said to see some Sgt's records. I sent off for them, and in them were dozens of pay vouchers and a few letters. The big surprise was that they contained dozens of court martial abstracts from Bragg's Army at Tullahoma. The ancestor's court martial abstracts were bundled in with all of those, for whatever reason. [A common punishment for AWOL was to be sentenced to a certain period of hard labor, with a literal cannon ball and chain attached to your leg.]

 

[Robtweb1]

When I go downtown to the archives and look through records, I just never know what I'm going to find. It's truly one rabbit trail after another. Every conceivable situation is represented, and many of the rabbit trails just end with no resolution nor further documentation. So, I agree that you are very lucky to have these. I once sent off for some records because of a note that said to see some Sgt's records. I sent off for them, and in them were dozens of pay vouchers and a few letters. The big surprise was that they contained dozens of court martial abstracts from Bragg's Army at Tullahoma. The ancestor's court martial abstracts were bundled in with all of those, for whatever reason. [A common punishment for AWOL was to be sentenced to a certain period of hard labor, with a literal cannon ball and chain attached to your leg.]

A lucky man, Bragg usually shot em. I agree about the paper chase, especially if you are dealing with the national archives. I talked to one of their people on the phone once, and he flat told me they didn't like looking up Civil War records, and that when you fill out the paperwork on what you want, if you are not 100% specific and accurate about what you want, you won't get it. If you want to do serious research, you need to go look yourself, as you do. If the microfilms aren't easily accessible, they are cheap and can be purchased from the national archives. There are even a couple of books published on how to find what you need and what microfilm to order.

 

[TerryB]

A lucky man, Bragg usually shot em. I agree about the paper chase, especially if you are dealing with the national archives. I talked to one of their people on the phone once, and he flat told me they didn't like looking up Civil War records, and that when you fill out the paperwork on what you want, if you are not 100% specific and accurate about what you want, you won't get it. If you want to do serious research, you need to go look yourself, as you do. If the microfilms aren't easily accessible, they are cheap and can be purchased from the national archives. There are even a couple of books published on how to find what you need and what microfilm to order.

I solved part of that problem by using CWSS as my place to start, then writing everything about the microfilm rolls that those entries mention. Since one man can have served in multiple units, that trick actually worked. And if your ancestor had anything to do with the Indian wars or the War with Spain, assuming he lived that long and volunteered, there are separate files for all that.