Confused on record whilst doing research confirmation

[JacobCSA]

My third great grandfather was named Thomas J Watt (1835-1912) He was in the Confederate Army in the 52nd TN infantry and in the 51st Consolidated. He ended up home sick in June of 1862 and was captured at home by Union soldiers and rather than go to prison he took the oath of allegiance. He then ignored the oath and Joined the Cavalry (Newsome's) later in 1863 and ended up in 21st Wilsons. It has him listed as deserted in Dec 24 1863. He then is reported in prisoners paroled at Jackson in 1865 as a Private in CO B 52nd TN. Everything seems to be in order and to my knowledge he is the only Thomas J Watt or T J Watt in the Madison county TN area at the time of the war that is old enough to have enlisted. His pension record is where I got most of the info of this research. My questions are why he is listed in his old regiment as being paroled. Did he show up to this event to be counted amongst his old regiment? Did they count him as paroled based upon the oath record? I just like to make sure everything as far as information goes that I have is correct. I just want to make sure everything is in order. He doesn't have any reason to lie and I don't really suspect him of it. He had two pension applications that seemed to have been rejected on the basis of his desertion. one in 1909 and 1911. He is enumerated in the 1910 census as CA or Confederate Army survivor. His pension story adds up with records that I have found. (He is recorded as T Watt, T J Watt, and T J Watts. This variant spelling could be for numerous reasons but one of the pension boards when requesting his records even asked for records including the spelling of watts so it appears they were aware of the variation meaning that T J Watt could have told them he has spelled his name in this way before.) There is no way to my knowledge that he could know about these records before hand unless they were his and he was telling the truth as fold 3 didn't exist nor did the internet in 1909-1911.

The summery of my questions are: Why was he paroled with his old regiment in 1865? and Do I seem to have everything properly in order to confirm my 3rd Great Grandfathers service?

Pension applications are here: Pension from 1909 and Pension from 1911

 

[lupaglupa]

I'm impressed you put all this together from the scanty evidence in the CSMR cards - there really isn't a lot there! If I had to guess I'd say his name was on a list that was submitted by an officer of the 52nd to an officer of the US Army charged with collecting names for parole lists. It does seem unlikely that he would have actually gone back to rejoin his first unit after all that had happened to him.

 

[jepridgen]

I'm going to go out on a limb and conjecture the officer charged with providing records for parole used a company record book that had him shown as captured. He likely had an idea the war had turned sour for the Confederacy and decided maybe it wasn't such a great idea to be a Confederate soldier on record as having taken the oath. Getting captured as an oath taker meant a guaranteed trip to prison or perhaps worse.

 

[DixieRifles]

He likely had an idea the war had turned sour for the Confederacy and decided maybe it wasn't such a great idea to be a Confederate soldier on record as having taken the oath. Getting captured as an oath taker meant a guaranteed trip to prison or perhaps worse.

But the logical decision would be to list his unit as the 21st Tennessee Cavalry and claim he wasn't the same soldier who had been in the 52 Tennessee Regiment. Right?

 

[jepridgen]

But the logical decision would be to list his unit as the 21st Tennessee Cavalry and claim he wasn't the same soldier who had been in the 52 Tennessee Regiment. Right?

If he was listed as deserting from the 21st, I was thinking he legit deserted from them but was still "on the books" with his old unit. He'd actually want to be shown as being in the 52nd as he could say he'd been captured for pension reasons. Naturally, being identified as the same guy in the 21st would hurt his pension request since he deserted from that unit even though it was technically illegal if his first enlistment term was still effective.

Also, the other option is that he went as an individual to Jackson by himself to obtain a parole like thousands of other AOT veterans who were furloughed, straggling, or otherwise separated from their units after the TN campaign. He could've easily went there and mixed in with undoubtedly hundreds of other former rebs. He'd then want to say 52nd on the off chance someone figured out he'd already "swallowed the yaller dog" earlier in the war because there might be trouble if they figured out he'd enlisted after the oath. By listing his unit as the 52nd, the worst that would've happened on the federal side of things would be someone saying he really didn't have to take parole.

If this scenario is what happened, he most likely went and got a parole to ensure he wouldn't be ostracized by his fellow veterans and loyal southerners as someone who abandoned the cause.

 

[lupaglupa]

It's a shame he was denied a pension. It seems like he did the best he could in trying circumstances.

 

[jepridgen]

It's a shame he was denied a pension. It seems like he did the best he could in trying circumstances.

He probably could've avoided issues if he'd not signed back up assuming he wasn't conscripted. He could've rode it out as a captured/missing soldier of the 52nd for the duration. His unit was from west TN so he likely could've stayed put without being caught.

From the info above, he most likely got caught up by a Forrest recruiting drive when he built cavalry regiments from scattered detachments and from recruiting forays into west TN. Who knows, maybe he was fed up with Union occupation and decided to fight about it? More likely some cavalry showed up at his door and encouraged him to join. Either way, he didn't hang around very long as he deserted before any of Forrest's major fights in '64.

 

[DixieRifles]

Also, the other option is . . . . . . .

When I saw that he joined "Newsome's Cavalry", that got me interested. You notice that that unit became Wilson's 21st Tennessee Cavalry. These cavalry regiments reorganized and merged and reformed all the time.
Col. John Newsom regiment was called the "18th Tennessee Cavalry" at the Battle of Fort Pillow. When I'm searching a cavalryman's records, I check the history of these regiments and then look for his name in the NARA files to see if he showed up in one of these interim regiments.
I thought the name WATT sounded familiar. I was tempted to check my history of Hurst's 6th Tennessee Cavalry (US).

 

[DixieRifles]

My third great grandfather was named Thomas J Watt (1835-1912) He was in the Confederate Army in the 52nd TN infantry and in the 51st Consolidated.

I was curious if I could find that name in other units in FOLD3.
However, I found Thos J. Watt in Company "I" of the 41st Tennessee Regiment--- not the 51st. I reviewed it really quickly so I may be missing something. It says he enlisted at Winchester TN on Nov 16(other card says Mar 16), 1863, which was after the regiment had surrendered at Fort Donelson. He was captured at Resaca May 15, 1864. He was transferred to Louisville Prison and then on to Rock Island Prison by December, 1864 where he remained until May 1865. He signed a parole dated May 25, 1865.

Have you checked out this soldier's records??

 

[JacobCSA]

I was curious if I could find that name in other units in FOLD3.
However, I found Thos J. Watt in Company "I" of the 41st Tennessee Regiment--- not the 51st. I reviewed it really quickly so I may be missing something. It says he enlisted at Winchester TN on Nov 16(other card says Mar 16), 1863, which was after the regiment had surrendered at Fort Donelson. He was captured at Resaca May 15, 1864. He was transferred to Louisville Prison and then on to Rock Island Prison by December, 1864 where he remained until May 1865. He signed a parole dated May 25, 1865.

Have you checked out this soldier's records??

I have not but I will when I renew my Fold 3 subscription

 

[Northstep]

My third great grandfather was named Thomas J Watt (1835-1912) He was in the Confederate Army in the 52nd TN infantry and in the 51st Consolidated. He ended up home sick in June of 1862 and was captured at home by Union soldiers and rather than go to prison he took the oath of allegiance. He then ignored the oath and Joined the Cavalry (Newsome's) later in 1863 and ended up in 21st Wilsons. It has him listed as deserted in Dec 24 1863. He then is reported in prisoners paroled at Jackson in 1865 as a Private in CO B 52nd TN. Everything seems to be in order and to my knowledge he is the only Thomas J Watt or T J Watt in the Madison county TN area at the time of the war that is old enough to have enlisted. His pension record is where I got most of the info of this research. My questions are why he is listed in his old regiment as being paroled. Did he show up to this event to be counted amongst his old regiment? Did they count him as paroled based upon the oath record? I just like to make sure everything as far as information goes that I have is correct. I just want to make sure everything is in order. He doesn't have any reason to lie and I don't really suspect him of it. He had two pension applications that seemed to have been rejected on the basis of his desertion. one in 1909 and 1911. He is enumerated in the 1910 census as CA or Confederate Army survivor. His pension story adds up with records that I have found. (He is recorded as T Watt, T J Watt, and T J Watts. This variant spelling could be for numerous reasons but one of the pension boards when requesting his records even asked for records including the spelling of watts so it appears they were aware of the variation meaning that T J Watt could have told them he has spelled his name in this way before.) There is no way to my knowledge that he could know about these records before hand unless they were his and he was telling the truth as fold 3 didn't exist nor did the internet in 1909-1911.

The summery of my questions are: Why was he paroled with his old regiment in 1865? and Do I seem to have everything properly in order to confirm my 3rd Great Grandfathers service?

Pension applications are here: Pension from 1909 and Pension from 1911

I read his applications and in the last handwritten note of 1911 I understand that he is saying he was back with the 52nd TN towards the end of the war, he was assigned extra duty to look after some supply wagons, and could not get back to his company before the war ended. If this is true, they would have kept him on the muster roll because he was still a member of the company even though he was away on extra duty. Read that last letter again and see what you think. Perhaps I misread what he was saying.