cvil war mystery

[on again]

Conferate veeran April1902 a meber of 21 Alaba wrote of returning a bibe from mortally woudn Union solider at shiloh only Problum the4th Ohio Infantry was nota t shiloh after 50 years ?

 

[lupaglupa]

Hmm. The 4th Ohio was not at Shiloh, as you point out. There were lots of troops from Ohio, some of them in units whose number ended in 4th (the 54th, for instance).

There was a John Burns in the 4th Ohio. He survived the war.

There was a John Burns in the 54th. They were at Shiloh. He did die in service. But it was as a POW at Savannah, Georgia.

Either there is some key fact in this story which is in error. Or he just made it up.

 

[major bill]

Not every ex soldier's storiess can be trusted. Memories fade and some soldiers just make up tales.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

This story is relayed hearsay (i.e. Gay telling what he supposedly heard from Williams) recalled some forty years later.

The content seems dubious. There are many particulars in this published account that do not appear to be supported by the facts. (The 4th OH was not present at Shiloh; found no record of any Union soldier named John Burns or Byrnes dying around Apr. 7, '62 nor found any record of a Confederate soldier named C. L. Gay belonging to an Alabama unit at the time).

Thought there were too many unsupported particulars here for this account to be accorded any credence.