Lost grave

[katygurl]

Hello,
I'm new here. Hello to everyone. I was wondering if someone could help with how to go about locating one. I have his papers from the Fold3 site if his "mustering" at Camp Nelson in KY. The last entry says "died prisoner of war April 4 1863". Then according to the US government he was never listed as a POW nor had any headstone been issued. His wife died prior to any pension being dispersed. The children were sent to separate families. The closest I've found is a reference of "near thompsonville ky". No Cemetery govt or private seems to have a listing. Any ideas? I would be truly grateful. Tyvm

 

[Sheltowee]

Check at Tompkinsville, Ky

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy. Might try any Historical Society in that area

 

[MWood1841]

@katygurl you can try https://www.findagrave.com/ never know what might pop up. Unfortunately many soldiers did not receive formal burials. Some, especially POWs were interred in mass graves, many not marked. I have a 4th great grandfather who died while a POW at Point Lookout, Maryland and interred at the mass grave there. It is marked with a large obelisk monument and his name inscribed on the bronze plaque with hundreds of others.

Welcome to CWT. This site is loaded with resources and information you can bookmark as you go along.

 

[on again]

his name ; unit; vital dates? chidlren names?

 

[lupaglupa]

I'm going to assume from the way you've worded your question that the man in question was in the CSA Army and a POW in US custody. And I assume the note stating his death occurred after capture comes from a CSA record. Is that correct?

 

[katygurl]

@katygurl you can try https://www.findagrave.com/ never know what might pop up. Unfortunately many soldiers did not receive formal burials. Some, especially POWs were interred in mass graves, many not marked. I have a 4th great grandfather who died while a POW at Point Lookout, Maryland and interred at the mass grave there. It is marked with a large obelisk monument and his name inscribed on the bronze plaque with hundreds of others.

Welcome to CWT. This site is loaded with resources and information you can bookmark as you go along.

Thank you. I've also tried find a grave. I also have a gggrandfather buried up at Finn's Point. He was at Ft Delaware. He's on a monument up there also and I'm told buried in a mass grave. It's sad. I so wanted to find his final resting place and of all my ggggrandfathers that were soldiers.

 

[katygurl]

I'm going to assume from the way you've worded your question that the man in question was in the CSA Army and a POW in US custody. And I assume the note stating his death occurred after capture comes from a CSA record. Is that correct?

This particular grandparent (gggrandfather, i have them on both sides csa and us) was 1st ky calvary union. He was the ferrier. I have the I guess it's called the muster or attendance slips.. it tells if they're present or absent with or without leave, sick ect. The last entry says "died prisoner of war April 4 1863" .. I can't find any battles or anything. I'm probably overlooking alot but I'm new at this and I think overwhelmed. I don't know where else to look.

 

[katygurl]

Check at Tompkinsville, Ky

Ty I have. None of the Cemeteries there have a listing.

 

[katygurl]

his name ; unit; vital dates? chidlren names?

Lafayette R Redding
1st calvary KY Co I union
Died April 4 1863
Wife: Matilda
Children:
Lewis
Robert
Henry
Mary
John
Ty.. any help will be grateful

 

[lupaglupa]

I pulled up the records on Fold3. I can see why you are challenged to find out what happened. It looks like he enlisted in September of 1861, mustering in that October. In the spring of 1862 he got sick and was not with his unit. : he's marked absent in the March/April muster roll. He then returned: he's marked present in the May/June muster roll. He then leaves his unit in the months after that because he is again sick. But there's some confusion. He's marked AWOL in the Sept./Oct. and Nov./Dec. muster rolls. Then the Jan./Feb. 1863 muster roll clears that up saying he's actually sick, not AWOL. All that makes sense.

Then the March/April roll says he is not only dead, he died in Confederate custody. And they have an exact date of death, which means someone was with him and reported this back to his command. The next information we get comes from the company muster out roll, dated December 1864. It says he died of disease in April of 1864 near Thompsonville, KY. This record does not mention his being captured.

I'm pretty certain the 1863 date is correct and also that he died of disease. He clearly had caught something he couldn't shake. The Thompsonville location is hard to pin down. There is no current day town by that name in Kentucky. There is a Thompsonville Baptist Church near Springfield, but that's pretty far from where the 1st KY was during the period when he died. There could well have been a community by that name in southern Kentucky in 1863 that no longer exists. @Sheltowee suggests it may be Tompkinsville, KY which is a fair bit away but a possibility.

So what do we make of the record that lists him as a prisoner of war? If I had to guess, I say he was very ill and could not ride on with his company. They left him, gravely ill, behind and either saw Confederate troops near him or were certain they had Confederate troops following them. They then assumed both his capture and his death, noting both in the record. But then later on not being sure they didn't repeat the claim about the capture.

None of this helps you find his grave, unfortunately. The best you can do is get as much information on the movements of his company so you know where they were that April. The exact date is a help. Maybe then you can start looking for an old community named Thompsonville or similar.

 

[on again]

I placed a Find a grave memorial for him as "Lost In War"

Lafayette R Reding (1825-1863) - Find a Grave...

Served with Company I 1st Kentucky Cavalry Regiment USAFarrier LAfayette R. Reding. Enlisted August 16, 1861. Died Near Thomson, Ky., April 4 1863https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt773n20cs06#page/497/mode/1up/search/LAFAYETTELost grave | Researching Civil War Records & Ancestry...

www.findagrave.com

If you like I will transfer this to you so you at least link him with other family members

Farrier LAfayette R. Reding. Enlisted August 16, 1861. Died Near Thomson, Ky., April 4 1863" from a regimental history

Making sure you're not a bot!

 

[on again]

hope this is helpful

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

This particular grandparent (gggrandfather, i have them on both sides csa and us) was 1st ky calvary union. He was the ferrier. I have the I guess it's called the muster or attendance slips.. it tells if they're present or absent with or without leave, sick ect. The last entry says "died prisoner of war April 4 1863" .. I can't find any battles or anything. I'm probably overlooking alot but I'm new at this and I think overwhelmed. I don't know where else to look.

Here is a history of the 1st Kentucky Cavalry written by one of the clerks. You can use the search feature (that thing that looks like a magnifying glass) and search for your relative's name and it will mark all the places in the book it shows up. I had two relatives that joined this group and found information about the battle where one of them was captured. Good Luck! Click on the link below - it's free to read online.

The wild riders of the first Kentucky cavalry : a history of the regiment, in the great war of the rebellion, 1861-1865 : pathetic scenes, amusing incidents, and thrilling episodes, a regimental roster, prison life, adventures, and escapes : Tarrant,

x, 503 p., [19] leaves of plates : 22 cm

archive.org

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

hope this is helpful

Sorry about that, on again, I didn't see you had already posted the book!

 

[Nathan Stuart]

In the 'History of the First (Union) Kentucky Cavalry' by Sgt. Eastham Tarrant (see links provided above), farrier Lafayette R. Reding of Co. I is shown as having died near Thomson, KY, on April 4, 1863 (see page 451).

Furthermore, Co. I losses recorded included: 'died of disease - 7'; 'died in rebel prisons - 4' (see page 453).

Given the recorded date and location (near Thomson) of his death, as well as the relatively larger number of 'deaths by disease' (as distinct from 'deaths in prison'), chances are he more likely died of disease, but not as a POW.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Thomson, Kentucky, in Clark County, has the zip code of 40391 and seems to be a part of the greater Winchester area. Like so many little towns that didn't grow, it may be that all that is left of it now is the road it was on. The fact that this road below says Thomson Station makes me wonder if a rail line went through there at one point. And I can see where Thomson could easily be misspelled in his records.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Another option here is that throughout Kentucky the pioneers that pushed in around the time of the Revolutionary War would build "Stations" that were essentially blockhouses around or near a spring and they were gathering places for security from Native Americans who resented the intrusion. That could also be the meaning of the road's name and maybe the history of Clark County includes a station that was build by a man called Thomson?

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Reading the history for March 1863, it appears the 1st Kentucky started out in the Stanford/Danville area. Confederates were approaching and there were some troopers who were captured and paroled. If your relative was paroled, he would not be listed as a prisoner perhaps.

Stanford/Danville/Lexington/Winchester are all in close enough proximity that makes me think this might be relevant to your search. You can read the whole report beginning on page 134. There appear to be numerous opportunities for Wolford's men to be captured and the Thomson, Kentucky area is in the vicinity of these actions, one of which could describe what happened to your relative.

A few quotes:

So rapidly was the enemy advancing now, that at 6 p. m., on the 23d (of March,1863) the regiment struck tents and marched within two miles of Danville, arriving there late in the night……

The enemy was dilating about moving on our own men on the 24th, and did not approach the First Kentucky skirmishers on the Stanford pike until 12 m., and the firing commenced, and at 2:30 p. m., a general retreat was ordered. As the First Kentucky, being in the rear, fell back through Danville, there was a hand to hand contest, but fortunately there were but few casualties.

As the regiment slowly contested its way through the town, there were so many cross streets to contend with, that Lieut. Col. Adams found himself surrounded, and was compelled to surrender. A number of others were captured, but most of them made their escape. Many of the regiment were cut off in their retreat from the Lexington pike, and in making their way around by private roads and through plantations, had various adventures to relate of individual pursuit and hair-breadth escapes when they joined the main body of their comrades at Camp Nelson

A detachment of sixty picked men from different companies, all under command of Capt. Samuel M. Boone, of Company D, had been sent to Lancaster, and after Col. Wolford had orders to retreat, William S. Go wins, of Company I, was sent with a dispatch to Boone to meet us at Camp Dick Robinson ; but Gowins fell into the hands of the enemy and was paroled.

And on page 149 there was this notice of an encounter with some Louisiana cavalry on March 30 - in an action known as the Battle of Dutton's Hill.

Wolford's men, not being in a situation to see the movements of the enemy, were now in hopes that the bloody work was over, but were mistaken, for just at this time, Scott's dashing Louisiana Cavalry was seen flanking our position on the extreme right, endangering the capture of our train and horses then nearly a mile in the rear.
Serg. Thos. J. Graves and others, in charge of the horses, seeing the danger, moved up the horses toward the battle line.

So even as a farrier, your relative may have been involved. It would be interesting to know where the Union wounded were taken to be treated after the battle.

 

[katygurl]

I pulled up the records on Fold3. I can see why you are challenged to find out what happened. It looks like he enlisted in September of 1861, mustering in that October. In the spring of 1862 he got sick and was not with his unit. : he's marked absent in the March/April muster roll. He then returned: he's marked present in the May/June muster roll. He then leaves his unit in the months after that because he is again sick. But there's some confusion. He's marked AWOL in the Sept./Oct. and Nov./Dec. muster rolls. Then the Jan./Feb. 1863 muster roll clears that up saying he's actually sick, not AWOL. All that makes sense.

Then the March/April roll says he is not only dead, he died in Confederate custody. And they have an exact date of death, which means someone was with him and reported this back to his command. The next information we get comes from the company muster out roll, dated December 1864. It says he died of disease in April of 1864 near Thompsonville, KY. This record does not mention his being captured.

I'm pretty certain the 1863 date is correct and also that he died of disease. He clearly had caught something he couldn't shake. The Thompsonville location is hard to pin down. There is no current day town by that name in Kentucky. There is a Thompsonville Baptist Church near Springfield, but that's pretty far from where the 1st KY was during the period when he died. There could well have been a community by that name in southern Kentucky in 1863 that no longer exists. @Sheltowee suggests it may be Tompkinsville, KY which is a fair bit away but a possibility.

So what do we make of the record that lists him as a prisoner of war? If I had to guess, I say he was very ill and could not ride on with his company. They left him, gravely ill, behind and either saw Confederate troops near him or were certain they had Confederate troops following them. They then assumed both his capture and his death, noting both in the record. But then later on not being sure they didn't repeat the claim about the capture.

None of this helps you find his grave, unfortunately. The best you can do is get as much information on the movements of his company so you know where they were that April. The exact date is a help. Maybe then you can start looking for an old community named Thompsonville or similar.

Tyvm. It was so confusing. I will try and do that. It did sound plausible that they had to leave him. Thank you.