How do you find a roster of a General's staff messengers?

Capt7thWvCoA

Private
Joined
Dec 10, 2014
Hello everyone, I recently found out i had a ancestor whi served in the 12th va cav. Apart from that he was also a messenger for General A.P. Hill. Is there any way to check his staff for my ancestors name ? His name is Barrachel Elihu " Bell" Harrell. 12th Va cav comp A.
 
Last edited:
Hello, 33rdVaCoB, please see below link to another thread with a number of contributors sharing information on the !2th Virginia Cavalry. Hopefully somebody there can help you, and one also offers a contact email address for information. Good luck with your search!

 
Vote Here:
Records for your ancestor are filed under several different names - the bulk have been consolidated under Elihu Harrold. Here's what I found -

Elihu enlisted in the 7th Virginia Cavalry, Glenn's Company (Captain James W. Glenn) in June of 1861 at Charlestown. He enlisted as a private for one year. In June of 1862 the 7th was reorganized - their 29 companies were reduced to 10. Of the 19 taken out, 10 were sent to make the 12th Virginia and Glenn's Company was one of those, becoming Company A of the 12th. Company A was detailed as an escort to General A. P. Hill beginning in October 1862. It makes sense that members of the escort detail would take on the task of carrying messages for the General so that fits with what you've heard.

ElihuHarrold.png


Here's the problem - Elihu is listed as AWOL starting in September of 1862, before the escort detail begins. He doesn't show up as present again until September of 1863. Records for Company A are pretty patchy but they do say they spent Sept. and Oct. of 1863 at Spotsylvania Courthouse. They don't mention if this is escort duty or not. Gen Hill was evidently ill at this time but still may have needed messengers. Co. A records shows them stationed at Timberville, VA November and December, Mt. Meridian January and February, and Waynesboro March and April. There's a gap until July, when they report being at Dinwiddie Courthouse. But that doesn't matter to Elihu as he deserts on June 15, 1864. He never returns to his company according to their records.

ElihuHarrold2.png


Nothing in Elihu's records note him serving specifically as a messenger but that's not too surprising if his whole company was travelling with Hill. When that escort duty ended and whether it overlapped the times Elihu was present I can't tell - a more detailed look than I have made might show that. Likely you'd have to look at other companies to see when they were assigned to escort, replacing Company A. But if the escort duty did overlap his time there it makes sense that he could have carried messages.
 
Vote Here:
Oh dear. I am not a fan of FindaGrave info - anyone can post anything and once it's up it's almost impossible to take it down. That doesn't mean this isn't correct....

You should be able to see who "owns" the listing for Elihu at FindaGrave and they should be able to tell you who contributed that information. A descendant with old letters could have put that there and could give you a clear source for the claim. Certainly the unit info matches up with the escort duty nicely which, to me, makes the messenger story highly plausible.
 
Vote Here:
Back
Top