Like Father, Like Son

[ColonelKlink1942]

How many soldiers enlisting in the fight ended up being sons and fathers serving alongside each other or in different regiments on the same side? Are there any records of this?

 

[Tennessee Union Gal]

I know in my family that my 3rd ggfather and 5 of his sons served in the 6th Illinois Cavalry.

 

[huskerblitz]

I don't think there would be any definitive record of that.

But you had Grant's son Frederick tagging along with his dad at times as an example.

 

[Norman Dasinger Jr]

Hardee and his son in NC in 1854 - Willie was killed
AP Stewart and his son at New Hope Church

 

[ErnieMac]

I do not think any complete record has been compiled. I know of a least two instances right off the top of my head. During Pickett's Charge Colonel Hugh R. Miller of the 42nd Mississippi was fatally wounded. His son, Edwin Miller allowed himself to be captured to be able to find and tend to his father. During the Battle of Boydton Plank Road (Petersburg October 27, 1864) Lt. Preston Hampton, serving as an aide to his father, MG Wade Hampton, was fatally wounded. The senior Hampton stopped momentarily to bid his son farewell before resuming his duties on the battlefield.

 

[Cavalier]

Not sure exactly but I believe all of Lee's sons served.

John

 

[ErnieMac]

Captain George Meade, son and aide to father, MG George Gordon Meade.

 

[Cavalier]

Edwin V. Sumner, jr. His father commanded the 2nd. Corp and had served 40 years in the army.

John

 

[3rd North Carolina]

alot of times if you were from the same town you are put in the same unit. if you were someone of important rank then your sons can be on your staff.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

How many soldiers enlisting in the fight ended up being sons and fathers serving alongside each other or in different regiments on the same side? Are there any records of this?

As many have said, I'm not aware of any official statistics.
However IMHO, it was probably more common during the first year ... when local units were being formed.

From personal family research, it seems most men in the local communities enlisted almost immediately.

Most of the time, the experienced officers separated the men by age.
The young guys to the front, the middle-aged to the reserve units, and the really older guys and young boys to
the home guard outfits.

My thought is that more brothers and cousins fought alongside each other from 1862 on, than did fathers and sons.

 

[Lincoln56]

Want to say that I thought in the Shioh NMP movie "Shiloh: The Fiery Trial" one of the vignettes was about a father commanding a regiment (Illinois???) whose son was in the regiment too. The son thought his father was killed during the battle and had to turn away before confirming as the regiment was in retreat but happliy was reunited with him.

Like Father, Like Offspring

In some families, military service is a true legacy, with service spanning conflicts and causes.

www.battlefields.org

This from a 2004 CWT thread; there may be other threads here as well:

John & Charles Brouse Father and Son in the 100th Indiana Infantry | Civil War Potpourri

For the last year or so I have been researching Charles W. Brouse of the 100th Indiana Infantry who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. As part of my research I discovered that his father, John Brouse, was serving as chaplain of...

civilwartalk.com

 

[breckod]

It was not particularly uncommon for officers to put their sons or other family members on their staff. Lee's sons had field roles, but of course, Lee was older than than most of his contemporaries in field command so his sons were a bit more seasoned.

 

[ColonelKlink1942]

I do not think any complete record has been compiled. I know of a least two instances right off the top of my head. During Pickett's Charge Colonel Hugh R. Miller of the 42nd Mississippi was fatally wounded. His son, Edwin Miller allowed himself to be captured to be able to find and tend to his father. During the Battle of Boydton Plank Road (Petersburg October 27, 1864) Lt. Preston Hampton, serving as an aide to his father, MG Wade Hampton, was fatally wounded. The senior Hampton stopped momentarily to bid his son farewell before resuming his duties on the battlefield.

Despite the loss there, those are still oddly charming and heart-warming stories for me. That must've been a difficult time to have your son or father serving with you, and one loses the other.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Both father and son, Privates Dennis and Luke Fitzpatrick of the 58th​ Illinois infantry, fought together and were killed at Shiloh on April 6. (The pair are buried side-by-side at Shiloh National Cemetery).

Also at Shiloh, 16 y.o. musician, John Cockerill, of the 24th​ Ohio Infantry took up arms in the same battle as his father, Colonel Joseph Cockerill, who commanded the 70th​ Ohio infantry. (Both survived the battle and the war).

 

[Kyle Kalasnik]

My 3rd and 4th Great Grandfathers (Father and Son) served in the 60th VA Infantry, although they were in different companies. They enlisted on different dates and in different towns.

 

[Tom Elmore]

Quite a few. Early in the war it would be more likely to find a father with his son(s) in the ranks, but age requirements or arduous service saw many fathers discharged within a year or two, apart from casualties. I have a record of 65 father/son/son-in-law cases in the war, including 27 instances where they served together at Gettysburg, often involving a senior officer with a son serving as an aide on his staff. It led to several particularly tragic stories. Here are two:

"I saw Capt. Tourison following four boys with a blanket, who I thought was wounded. Capt. Tourison formerly belonged to our regiment, and he was good to us drummer boys. We loved him. He was an old Mexican War fighter, and was a drummer boy himself in earlier years. I went up to him with a laugh, for I was glad to see him and expected a happy greeting in return. But he just looked at me, and said: 'My poor boy is dead.' I was thunderstruck. It took all the ginger out of me. It was Will Tourison, who was the second lieutenant in his father's company. We boys were so accustomed to see the men about us killed and wounded that it hardly fazed us, but I did feel sorry for Capt. Tourison. I felt as though I had met with a personal loss and I stood and watched him following the body of his boy until he was out of sight. It was the last time I saw of the dear old man." (William T. Simpson, The Drummer Boys of Gettysburg, H/28 PA)

"The rear of our regiment had hardly gotten away [from Culp's Hill] when our sergeant major [Charles H. Letford] was struck on the thigh by a bursting shell. The limb was almost torn from the body, and in a few minutes [or few hours of intense suffering] he passed into eternity. He was a fine, handsome soldier, so young and so promising – only about 19 years of age. His father was the adjutant of our regiment. He could not leave his position. The son was carried to the hospital, and with a sad and heavy heart the grief-stricken father followed with our line." (Personal Recollections of the Civil War, Captain William L. Stork, I/29 PA; Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, I:220; Busey and Busey, Union Casualties at Gettysburg)

 

[nc native]

There were several families that had both fathers and sons go to war, sometimes serving in the same unit and sometimes different units. One of my maternal 2x Great Grandfathers Pvt. Wiley W. Russell was 37 years old when he enlisted in the 34th NC Infantry in September 1861 over the objections of his Quaker wife I imagine. He was wounded at Second Manassas in August 1862 and discharged in December 1862. Wiley lived until 1907 dying a day after his eighty-third birthday.

His oldest son Pvt. Thomas H. Russell enlisted in the 46th NC Infantry at the age of 18 in August 1863. Thomas H. Russell was also wounded like his father at Bristoe Station in October 1863. Thomas returned to duty only to be captured almost a year later to the day he was wounded at Petersburg in October 1863. He was paroled in May of 1865 at Point Lookout and lived until 1910.

 

[huskerblitz]

In the regiment I research, there is at least one circumstance of this happening...kind of. James R Hood enlisted in the same regiment his father, Andrew J Hood. The only problem? He turned out to be underage. His mother wrote to the Army and had her son returned from the regiment, where he waited until 1863 and eventually served in the 40th KY.

 

[rbortega]

I came across a great uncle in my family tree who served in the same regiment as his two sons. My 5th great uncle Alfred Dart and his sons Alfred Jr. and Luther served together in Company M, 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Alfred Sr. served as a Captain and resigned due to health issues in December 1862. Alfred Jr. served as a Lieutenant and later Captain and was discharged due to wounds received at Trevilian Station in September 1864. Luther served as a Sergent and was discharged upon expiration of his term of enlistment in October 1864.

Here are photos of Alfred Jr. and Luther:

 

[19thOhio]

Three brothers Ira, Albert and William Haight enlisted in Co. C of the 19th OH. Their father, William Haight, then enlisted in a cavalry company being formed by James E. Abell. This left their mother at home alone.

Ira was wounded at Stone's River and Picket's Mill while Albert also was wounded at Picket's Mill. Their brother, William, was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga.