Help With Thomas W. Speaks

[TerryB]

Thomas W. Speaks was the son of Hansford Speaks of Courtland, Alabama. Hansford married Mary Pointer, one of my Pointer relatives. Speaks was pro-Union and kept his son Thomas W. out of the Confederate Army until the boy turned 18 in 1862. Speaks testified to the Southern Claims Commission that he got a pass from General Roddy in January 1865 to go from Courtland to Huntsville to take care of his wounded son. He said he was gone five days. The only regiments i could find a Thomas or T. Speaks in were the 3rd and 14th Alabama Infantry regiments, both of which were in Virginia throughout the war. This has to mean that Thomas W. is NOT one of those. I'm beginning to think he may have served with Roddy since few if any other Confederates were operating in Northern Alabama in January 1865. Hansford Speaks added that his son had been wounded at Selma. This won't be the final fight there, but must have taken place late in 1864. Any suggestions? (For some reason I have it in my head that Speaks was at least part Indian, but can't prove it.)

 

[ExNavyPilot]

I looked at Fold3 and found the same two T. Speaks in the 3rd and 14th AL Infantry, which both fought in VA. The CWSS didn't provide anything encouraging, either.

I concur that it sounds like Thomas W Speaks fought under Roddy in Alabama and was wounded late 1864 or early 1865, perhaps while guarding Hood's comms with Alabama as Hood was moving into and out of Tennessee. From what I can tell, Roddy's Brigade included the 4th AL Cavalry (Roddy's), 5th AL Cav, 53rd AL Mounted Inf, Julian's AL Battalion, and Ferrell's GA Battery. My only idea is to find rosters for those units and look to see if you can find any last names similar to Speaks, such as Spike(s), Speek(s), Spake(s), etc.

 

[TerryB]

I looked at Fold3 and found the same two T. Speaks in the 3rd and 14th AL Infantry, which both fought in VA. The CWSS didn't provide anything encouraging, either.

I concur that it sounds like Thomas W Speaks fought under Roddy in Alabama and was wounded late 1864 or early 1865, perhaps while guarding Hood's comms with Alabama as Hood was moving into and out of Tennessee. From what I can tell, Roddy's Brigade included the 4th AL Cavalry (Roddy's), 5th AL Cav, 53rd AL Mounted Inf, Julian's AL Battalion, and Ferrell's GA Battery. My only idea is to find rosters for those units and look to see if you can find any last names similar to Speaks, such as Spike(s), Speek(s), Spake(s), etc.

One thing I forgot to mention is that Thomas's cousin, Phillip Pointer also fought with Roddy and there's no record of him, either. His widow went to a great deal of trouble and red tape to prove he did, and eventually Alabama granted her pension claim. Men who fought with him produced a roster, so I need to try to find that roster. Maybe it's online. Philip joined in 1862, the same time I'm presuming Thomas did, and since Thomas's father was the overseer of the Pointer plantation, it makes sense that they could easily have joined up at the same time.

 

[TerryB]

This roster shows Phil Pointer, but not Thomas Speaks. It's pretty early, because Roddy is still a captain. http://www2.dixie-net.com/nemma/roddy.htm

 

[ExNavyPilot]

Okay, this might sound like something out of a novel but... You say Hansford Speaks was pro-Union and tried to keep his son out of the war? Perhaps Thomas joined under another name to hide his enlistment from his father. The father heading down to Selma to care for his wounded son, despite the son having gone against the father's wishes, is rather poignant in its own right. If you only had Hanford's pass from Roddy...

 

[TerryB]

Okay, this might sound like something out of a novel but... You say Hansford Speaks was pro-Union and tried to keep his son out of the war? Perhaps Thomas joined under another name to hide his enlistment from his father. The father heading down to Selma to care for his wounded son, despite the son having gone against the father's wishes, is rather poignant in its own right. If you only had Hanford's pass from Roddy...

Hansford had to answer over 30 questions on his deposition, and a copy of it is in his file. He hid pro-Union men from Confederate conscritptors and protected people from reprisals. When asked if he'd ever had anything taken by them, he said that they harassed him but never really molested him because he had a son in the Confederate army. I conclude that it must have been common knowledge, so the boy probably used his own name. I've looked at a lot of those rosters, and the closest I get is Thomas Sparks on some of them, but no real info on him. Thomas survived the war, but so far I've only got him on the 1880 census. He also made a sworn statement to the commission. I even tried some Mississippi and Tennessee searches to see if he left the state to enlist.

 

[TerryB]

There were skirmishes with Union Cavalry in Dec 1864, some near the Pointer plantation. Lt. Thomas Pointer, cousin of Thomas Speaks was captured in one of them. Pointer was on leave from the 16th Ala Inf, which had fought at Franklin and Nashville. It's possible Speaks was wounded in one of those skirmishes.

 

[ExNavyPilot]

Sounds like the guys in Roddy's Brigade had more important things to do than paperwork. Too bad for you, though...

 

[TerryB]

Sounds like the guys in Roddy's Brigade had more important things to do than paperwork. Too bad for you, though...

I think it was the 10th Ind Cav, but at any rate, Roddy's camp was attacked in one of those skirmishes I mention, and many of his papers were burned.

 

[JohnnnyReb]

During my researches I have found interesting details about some of the people that fought in the war. I have on many ancestors who fought and one of the brothers when he did his pension put he was in the 31st Va when actually he was in the 18th Va Cav. I was like how could he not know exactly what unit he served in but then you have to think when you are old and gray and maybe have dimensia or something else your memory can fail you. He did serve with the 31st when Lee sent them to help Imoboden out and four of the brothes were together for a short time so perhaps that is why he wrote down the 31st on his pension but it just goes to show you that even the people that fought in the war can misdocument thier units or ploits. I had another that served but it was in between the times they took a muster and he did not show up on the muster but eventially got his pension with much letter writing and witnesses to vouch for him. So good luck to you on your search because I think everyone here has hit a dead end sometime or another or got lucky and found what we were looking for.