Details on the death of your Civil War ancestor.

I know the details of the only one that I know that died in the war. Rifle shot to the head. Research has told me it was likely in the left-front part of his head, I know the approximate time and the field.

Unfortunately where he lies today is impossible to know. He is one of thousands unknown dead at Vicksburg National Cemetery.
 
My ancestor was also wounded at Gettysburg, severely per his records, but I was never able to determine the nature of his wound. He returns to the army in time to get captured in June of 1864.

I would love to know the nature of his wound there also but no luck in that quest either.

For someone in the family to know about the sacrifices he made for his country is important to me.

John
It might well be worth checking the 1890 veterans' schedule (if he was alive in 1890): the bottom of the page lists wounds and illnesses related to ACW service.
 
@NDR5thNY Since he died childless and a bachelor while a pow there is no pension application however I appreciate very much your getting back to me. Thank you.

John
 
@NDR5thNY Since he died childless and a bachelor while a pow there is no pension application however I appreciate very much your getting back to me. Thank you.

John
Not necessarily. Some of the young men that I researched also were childless bachelors but pension applications were made by a mother and by a father. In one case, the mother made the initial application and--on her death--the father claimed the pension.
 
His name was Daniel W. Lamson, Co. D, 111th New York
I also thought this document might have something---it likely only says he was captured.

Adjutant General Report for Illinois -- Page 123

Also it does not hurt to contact the POW Museum at Andersonville. They are compiling service records for every prisoner. They asked help from those who have already researched their family and share documents with them. I sent them files on approximately 99 Union soldiers captured at Fort Pillow and imprisoned there. Their goal is to be a source for anyone researching Andersonville POWs.
 
Not necessarily. Some of the young men that I researched also were childless bachelors but pension applications were made by a mother and by a father. In one case, the mother made the initial application and--on her death--the father claimed the pension.
This I true for my relative mentioned above. His father, then mother, received a pension for him because he sent back money during his time away in service.
 
The big three causes of death in Civil War prisons are diarrhea, dysentery and scurvy, in that general order, although folks generally had a combination of all three. None of them are either quick or painless. I once had a long conversation with a microbiologist about what happens to the body with dysentery. She went into great detail about how the intestines "die" and death results - it was not good. About the only plus side about it was I asked if the guy I was researching would have been conscious at the very end, and she said it wasn't likely.

If anyone had ancestors who died at Andersonville (or possibly other prisons - I think I have a list of Salisbury deaths in a book upstairs), I should be able to find the official cause of death if you give me the name and the regiment.
 
This I true for my relative mentioned above. His father, then mother, received a pension for him because he sent back money during his time away in service.
@huskerblitz - have you tried sending for the pension application record? Once in a while they contain letters that the soldiers wrote home, mentioning that they were enclosing money, and the letters ended up in the application file as "evidence." If you've never seen a letter from your ancestor, there is a small, outside chance that one exists in their pension file in the National Archives (although take my advice and hire someone to look for it for you when the Archives reopen - they've been closed since March, 2020 and are massively behind at filling orders for files; I just got a record last month that I sent for in November of 2019).
 
@DixieRifles His name was Daniel W. Lamson, Co. D, 111th New York. It has been my impression that I had all his records but you may be onto something I am not aware of.

I thank you very much for your kind offer!

John
From New York Muster Roll Extracts. No death details, but you got tall genes in your family tree! And red headed ones, too!

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@Gary Morgan Thanks governing for posting that! I did have reddish hair before I went completely gray, long ago. He was my grandmother's uncle but she wasn't born until1875.

According to their Colonel the 111th. sustained 50% losses in about twenty minutes on the second day at Gettysburg. They were lead into action by Hancock himself I believe. I have always felt some kind of connection to Hancock, Hays and Willard because of all that.

His regiment did indeed redeem their sullied reputation at Gettysburg, at least in my opinion, and I would like to believe he would have proud to have taken part in that, severe wound not.

John
 
My Confederate ancestors all survived the war and basically died of natural causes. My TN unionist ancestors survived the war but my gg grandfather died in a gunfight with ex rebs. His two older brothers were also killed in fights with former Confederate and killed some of them. They were all in their early and mid twenties. The youngest brother of four became a Primitive Methodist Preacher and lived into his eighties. Proving the pen is mightier than the sword...and a great deal safer. 👍
 
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