Duty of Texan Lt-Col. Thomas Berry

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I didn't want to post this here as this isn't my ancestor. The name of Thomas Berry appears in the history of the Battle of Fort Pillow as a member of the 9th Texas Cavalry. I have not found any records that show the 9 Texas Cavalry was serving under General Forrest in early 1864. That made me wonder why he was even with Forrest.

I looked at Service Records for Thomas G. Berry, age 32, under the 9th Texas Cavalry and this file only covers some details up to September 1864. However, there is very little info for the year 1864.
He wrote a biography entitled "Four Years with Morgan and Forrest". This book seems to have a lot of colorful stories but I'm not sure how much it is on Facts.
Link to Biography.
It says he started in Artillery and soon was an officer in the 9 Texas Cavalry. But it wasn't long before he was riding with Morgan. He seemed to have joined Forrest at Chickamauga but it doesn't say what he did. Was he on Forrest's staff? Or did the 9 Texas Cavalry serve with him?
He then goes back to Morgan and then returns to Forrest. It says he was wounded several times and captured twice.
Here is another brief Biography of Lt-Col. Thomas Berry. But it only covers the first 2 years.
Col. Thomas G. Berry, by Tarrant County TXGenWeb, 2008

My question is: What did he do? What was his command or duty?
Was he just a guerrilla---which he goes to length to describe their role in the war. In his biography, he says he decided to join up with Forrest but he never gives any details except to say he was there as an eye witness to Fort Pillow and other battles. Another scout, Dewitt "Clubfoot" Fort, wrote about being present at Fort Pillow. He never said that he was in the fight. If Berry was a guerrilla or a scout/spy, he was certainly the highest-ranking one I have heard about.
 
I'm confused here. The TXGenWeb profile says Thomas G. Berry was killed in Georgia in 1864, which is roughly where the 9th Texas Cavalry CSR drops off. The autobiography is for a Thomas F. Berry, who seems to be from Kentucky. Are we talking about the same person? Did I miss something?
 
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Ah. You may have solved it. I was confused because I did see "Thomas G." in the 9 Texas Cav records but I kept finding "Thomas F."---I assumed a clerical error by the archivist. "Four Years with Morgan and Forrest" was authored by Thomas Franklin Berry.
I forgot to say that I saw a Thomas Berry in Morgan's Cavalry but I didn't read the file. I also checked under CSA Officers and didn't see any records there.
I'm sure it is Thomas F. Berry. So, ignore that 2nd reference.
 
The CSR of Thomas F. Berry of Duke's 2nd Kentucky Cavalry seems to have some parallels in the memoir (e.g. escape from Rock Island), but I didn't examine either closely.
 
I only searched for him in Texas records and Officers. I wondered if he would appear in other records. I thought his name might appear in a letter in Forrest's files. Also wonder if his name appears on Casualty Reports?
 
I checked the Thomas F. Berry in 2 Kentucky Cav. He was a private and was captured at Lexington KY and sent to Rock Island.
I also googled a Pvt Thomas Berry in a booklet on Morgan's Kentucky raid. I think this is a different person.
 
Getting really confused. Back up a step.
Ward in "River Run Red" says Thomas Berry of the 9th Texas Cavalry was present at Fort Pillow. Does that rule out the Thomas F. Berry?
In Chapter XVII, page 262, of his book, Thos F. Berry tells about being at Fort Pillow battle.
So who is confused? Ward or me?
It is obvious that Thomas Berry who wrote the book did not die in 1864. I guess that means he was NOT the Lt-Colonel who was in the 9th Texas Cavalry.

I'm also wondering that maybe when he caught up with Forrest, he forfeited his officer's rank and enlisted as a Private into another unit. His biography does not say.
 
Ward's error. He's citing Thomas F. Berry's memoir in all those quotes, but incorrectly describing him as from the 9th Texas, Thomas G. Berry's unit.

As far as I can tell, Thomas F. Berry has no connection to Texas at all, apart from (1) his father went to Texas to fight in the revolution, 1835-36, before returning to Kentucky; and (2) his unit served alongside the Eighth Texas Cavalry (Terry's Rangers) at one point.
 
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Well, then I guess that supports my theory that the 9th Texas Cavalry was never at the Battle of Fort Pillow. Nor was there an unassigned Lt-Colonel who rode along with Forrest.

I'm not that interested in Thomas Berry, anymore. And I don't place much credit in his anecdotal account of his account. I think he greatly over-estimated the size of Forrest's command.

Ward's RRR has proven to be very accurate and a great source of original material. But he made a similar mistake on another soldier. He identifies one Union prisoner as one of those who later died on the Sultana explosion. He had the wrong soldier. Instead I found the records of John W. Long of the 13 Tennessee Cavalry that clearly states he died and was buried at Andersonville prison.

Case Closed. :byebye:
 
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It's easy to make an error like Ward's.

Veterans' memoirs have their own issues. Some old soldiers went to a lot of trouble to cross-reference other accounts, verify their recollections with other men, etc., while others just sort of wrote whatever they recalled, with 30 or 40 years worth of embellishments piled in. I suspect Thomas F. Berry of Kentucky was one of the latter. I read his account of escaping Rock Island prison, in which he claims that the camp at that time held almost twice as many men as the maximum it ever held. He tells about escaping the camp in a dramatic scene where he goes over the wall and was shot at by the guards, but there's a notation in his CSR that he got out by removing an iron grate and escaping through a sewer. I don't know which is true, but there's definitely cause to be careful with his account.
 
AndyHall

Here is another fact from Ward's book that I wanted to check. The oldest prisoner captured of the 13 Tenn Cavalry(US) who died in Andersonville was Paton S. Alexander (or Patton). His Civil War records lists his age as 40. Ward stated he was a veteran of the Mexican War. So here is another chance to try my luck with Fold3 in a different war.

Alexander.jpg
Grave at Andersonville.


I found a Mexican War record for Payton S. Alexander. Same person? He is a member of a Tennessee unit and enrolled in Cornersville---not sure where that is.

Is there any other record that I could check to make a match with the Union records of 1863-64?

AlexanderPaytonS_Tenn_Pag3.jpg
 
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CSRs for the 13th Tennessee Cavalry (U.S.) are at Fold3, but I don't see one for him. His widow did, however, receive a pension, that carries a notation "See Mex War Wid Orig 11048."

Alexander, Paton S.jpg
 
Yeah. Skip 13 Tenn Cav and check Bradford's Tenn Cav. There are several records on him including two Prisoner Forms.

I've also found names in Misc Cards Abstract of Records.

{Edited} Oh, that Pension record is a great connection. I like it.
 
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You didn't have to download the files. But someone else may want to see it. Note the first Prisoner Form lists the Grave No. which matches the number in my photo, above. He died September 11th.
 
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