- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
Perhaps surprisingly, the number of actual missing soldiers was relatively small at Gettysburg, even among Confederates, once prisoner lists were reported by the opposing side. Yet within a large army at a major battle such as Gettysburg, the fate of some soldiers was not learned by family members until many months or even years later – if ever – as shown in the following examples.
Part 1:
Private Andrew McLucas, Company C, 53rd Georgia. Possibly captured by Brooke's brigade on July 2, McLucas was initially sent to the prison camp at Fort Delaware. On October 22, 1863, he was transferred to Point Lookout, but there the trail ends. In 1891, the following statements were attributed to his widow, Catherine, on her pension application: "I never heard anything of him since that time [Gettysburg]. He was reported by his command to have been lost in that battle … was sick … but went into the battle and never was seen or heard or by any of the company directly after that time. It was reported by one of the regiment … that [he] was captured in that battle and died at Point Lookout." (Pension Application of Catherine L. McLucas, Fayette County, Georgia, Georgia Virtual Vault; Compiled Service Records of Andrew McLucas, Fold3.) [Comment: It appears McLucas did indeed die at Point Lookout. We also learned from his widow that he was likely declared sick and therefore did not have to fight. It seems he chose to join his comrades despite his illness, perhaps in a weakened condition. If so, he paid the ultimate price and met his fate alone, far from family and friends.]
Private James J. Roberson, Company H, 50th Georgia. Roberson was declared missing as of July 2 and he was carried on the rolls as "missing in action" through at least December 1864. It was subsequently determined that he had been captured and taken to Fort Delaware, where he died on October 25, 1863 of chronic diarrhea. (Fiftieth Georgia Regiment, casualty list, Augusta (Georgia) Chronical and Sentinel, July 31, 1863; Compiled service records of James J. Roberson, Fold3)
Private John W. Shackelford, Company D, 9th Louisiana. According to his service records, Shackelford became very ill on the march through Pennsylvania, and he was left behind at the David Shriver farm near Gettysburg when his regiment marched away from that place on the morning of June 27. It was initially supposed that he had been captured, but no word being received from Federal authorities, he was subsequently thought to have died. That was true – illness claimed his life on or about June 30. The army just happened to return to the area four days later, so Shackelford's remains may have been taken up as an unknown after the war and sent to Hollywood cemetery in Richmond. (Compiled service records of John W. Shackelford, Fold3; Gettysburg's Confederate Dead, by Gregory A. Coco, Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications, 2003)
Private John William Agerton, Company D, 48th Georgia. For a full year after July 2, he was reported on his service records as missing, then he was listed as a prisoner of war. The Federals noted his arrival at Fort Delaware on October 22, 1863. He was transferred to Elmira, New York on July 12, 1864, just days after that facility was up and running as a prison. It was perhaps at that time Agerton's status finally became known to Confederate authorities. He died at Elmira of pneumonia on December 11 of that same year. In February 1899, his widow, Elmina, filed a pension application in connection with her husband, whom she called William: "He went in the battle of Gettysburg … and was supposed to have been killed. He was never seen or heard from anymore." They had wed in 1856. (Compiled service records of John William Agerton, Fold3; Pension Application of Elmina Agerton, Burke County, Georgia, Georgia Virtual Vault)
Acting 1st Sergeant John O'Banion, Company D, 48th Georgia. A member of the same company as Agerton, O'Banion was likewise reported as missing on his service records until the July/August 1864 roll, when his status was changed to that of prisoner. It was the last notation in his file. In 1891, his wife Martha filed an application for a pension, stating that her husband was "never again seen alive" after Gettysburg. A witness to the application, Laban Odom, who was 3rd sergeant of the company during the battle, wrote that O'Banion was serving as acting orderly (1st) sergeant, and that he (Odom) possessed a report indicating O'Banion was among the killed at Gettysburg. (Compiled service records of John O'Banion and Laban Odom, Fold3; Pension Application of Martha O'Banion, Burke County, Georgia, Georgia Virtual Vault)
Private Mias A. Wilson, Company F, 16th North Carolina. Correctly declared a deserter by Confederate authorities immediately after the battle, his fate only became clear five years ago: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/st...s-a-wilson-of-the-16th-north-carolina.144866/
Part 1:
Private Andrew McLucas, Company C, 53rd Georgia. Possibly captured by Brooke's brigade on July 2, McLucas was initially sent to the prison camp at Fort Delaware. On October 22, 1863, he was transferred to Point Lookout, but there the trail ends. In 1891, the following statements were attributed to his widow, Catherine, on her pension application: "I never heard anything of him since that time [Gettysburg]. He was reported by his command to have been lost in that battle … was sick … but went into the battle and never was seen or heard or by any of the company directly after that time. It was reported by one of the regiment … that [he] was captured in that battle and died at Point Lookout." (Pension Application of Catherine L. McLucas, Fayette County, Georgia, Georgia Virtual Vault; Compiled Service Records of Andrew McLucas, Fold3.) [Comment: It appears McLucas did indeed die at Point Lookout. We also learned from his widow that he was likely declared sick and therefore did not have to fight. It seems he chose to join his comrades despite his illness, perhaps in a weakened condition. If so, he paid the ultimate price and met his fate alone, far from family and friends.]
Private James J. Roberson, Company H, 50th Georgia. Roberson was declared missing as of July 2 and he was carried on the rolls as "missing in action" through at least December 1864. It was subsequently determined that he had been captured and taken to Fort Delaware, where he died on October 25, 1863 of chronic diarrhea. (Fiftieth Georgia Regiment, casualty list, Augusta (Georgia) Chronical and Sentinel, July 31, 1863; Compiled service records of James J. Roberson, Fold3)
Private John W. Shackelford, Company D, 9th Louisiana. According to his service records, Shackelford became very ill on the march through Pennsylvania, and he was left behind at the David Shriver farm near Gettysburg when his regiment marched away from that place on the morning of June 27. It was initially supposed that he had been captured, but no word being received from Federal authorities, he was subsequently thought to have died. That was true – illness claimed his life on or about June 30. The army just happened to return to the area four days later, so Shackelford's remains may have been taken up as an unknown after the war and sent to Hollywood cemetery in Richmond. (Compiled service records of John W. Shackelford, Fold3; Gettysburg's Confederate Dead, by Gregory A. Coco, Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications, 2003)
Private John William Agerton, Company D, 48th Georgia. For a full year after July 2, he was reported on his service records as missing, then he was listed as a prisoner of war. The Federals noted his arrival at Fort Delaware on October 22, 1863. He was transferred to Elmira, New York on July 12, 1864, just days after that facility was up and running as a prison. It was perhaps at that time Agerton's status finally became known to Confederate authorities. He died at Elmira of pneumonia on December 11 of that same year. In February 1899, his widow, Elmina, filed a pension application in connection with her husband, whom she called William: "He went in the battle of Gettysburg … and was supposed to have been killed. He was never seen or heard from anymore." They had wed in 1856. (Compiled service records of John William Agerton, Fold3; Pension Application of Elmina Agerton, Burke County, Georgia, Georgia Virtual Vault)
Acting 1st Sergeant John O'Banion, Company D, 48th Georgia. A member of the same company as Agerton, O'Banion was likewise reported as missing on his service records until the July/August 1864 roll, when his status was changed to that of prisoner. It was the last notation in his file. In 1891, his wife Martha filed an application for a pension, stating that her husband was "never again seen alive" after Gettysburg. A witness to the application, Laban Odom, who was 3rd sergeant of the company during the battle, wrote that O'Banion was serving as acting orderly (1st) sergeant, and that he (Odom) possessed a report indicating O'Banion was among the killed at Gettysburg. (Compiled service records of John O'Banion and Laban Odom, Fold3; Pension Application of Martha O'Banion, Burke County, Georgia, Georgia Virtual Vault)
Private Mias A. Wilson, Company F, 16th North Carolina. Correctly declared a deserter by Confederate authorities immediately after the battle, his fate only became clear five years ago: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/st...s-a-wilson-of-the-16th-north-carolina.144866/