Needing advice

[2ndUSCavDescendant]

Hello all!

I'm hoping you guys may have some advice/ideas for me and can hopefully steer me in the right direction.

My ancestor was a private in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry during the first 3 years of the Civil War.

In the 1880's he gave a interview that I found, which talks about his time in the Civil War. He mentions how he was taken prisoner on July 4th after the battle of Gettysburg, and that he was held prisoner at Libby prison. In his pension file, his daughter also mentions that he was taken prisoner after the battle of Gettysburg, and was sent to Libby.

As a private, I didn't think that's where he would have ended up, but I had read that prisoners would have been processed at Libby, Registered as POWs, then sent elsewhere.

There is no record of him in the register(s) of Libby prison.

The staff at NARA have searched several times for me trying to locate any records that would have any information on when and where he was taken prisoner, when and where he was paroled, etc, but have found nothing.

I know from his medical cards that he was taken to the hospital at Camp Parole in August of 1863. From the Returns for the regular army cavalry regiments and from the muster rolls for his Company (i paid someone to go to NARA and take pics of the original muster rolls...how cool is that? I digress...haha!) I know he was taken prisoner...but it doesn't give a date, or any info...it just states "Prisoner of war" or "on parole at/near Annapolis".

I find it strange that both on the Returns and the muster rolls, other soldiers that were taken prisoner included more detail (where they were taken prisoner, date they were captured, date of parole or exchange, etc) while there was no detail given for my ancestor.

has anyone else had this much trouble finding any records for an ancestor that was captured and became a POW? As many records that have been searched and to not find ANY information anywhere about him being taken prisoner...could the story just be made up?

Any thoughts, ideas, experiences finding POW records for your ancestors, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[DorwinBlack]

It sounds like your ancestor was fortunate enough to be paroled not long after being sent to Libby. Of course it could take several days for prisoners to be marched, under guard, from the battlefield to Richmond. Then, once a large enough group of enlisted prisoners was held at Libby, they would be sent by rail further south to prisons such as Salisbury or Andersonville. However, they may have been held at Libby for a short time while waiting for enough enlisted to fill up a train. It sounds like your ancestor was quickly paroled, and not sent further south.

Unfortunately, many of the records from Confederate prisons were destroyed at the end of the war, so some information may not be found.

Was anyone else from your ancestor's company captured at the same time? Usually groups of prisoner captured together, would be marched to prison and processed together.

 

[DorwinBlack]

Another relevant thread:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/what-happened-to-the-union-prisoners-at-gettysburg.120731/

 

[scooter748driver]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums.

Good luck with your research. It'd be pretty neat to read an article about one's relative I think.

 

[Allyn]

Hello all!

I'm hoping you guys may have some advice/ideas for me and can hopefully steer me in the right direction.

My ancestor was a private in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry during the first 3 years of the Civil War.

In the 1880's he gave a interview that I found, which talks about his time in the Civil War. He mentions how he was taken prisoner on July 4th after the battle of Gettysburg, and that he was held prisoner at Libby prison. In his pension file, his daughter also mentions that he was taken prisoner after the battle of Gettysburg, and was sent to Libby.

As a private, I didn't think that's where he would have ended up, but I had read that prisoners would have been processed at Libby, Registered as POWs, then sent elsewhere.

There is no record of him in the register(s) of Libby prison.

The staff at NARA have searched several times for me trying to locate any records that would have any information on when and where he was taken prisoner, when and where he was paroled, etc, but have found nothing.

I know from his medical cards that he was taken to the hospital at Camp Parole in August of 1863. From the Returns for the regular army cavalry regiments and from the muster rolls for his Company (i paid someone to go to NARA and take pics of the original muster rolls...how cool is that? I digress...haha!) I know he was taken prisoner...but it doesn't give a date, or any info...it just states "Prisoner of war" or "on parole at/near Annapolis".

I find it strange that both on the Returns and the muster rolls, other soldiers that were taken prisoner included more detail (where they were taken prisoner, date they were captured, date of parole or exchange, etc) while there was no detail given for my ancestor.

has anyone else had this much trouble finding any records for an ancestor that was captured and became a POW? As many records that have been searched and to not find ANY information anywhere about him being taken prisoner...could the story just be made up?

Any thoughts, ideas, experiences finding POW records for your ancestors, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Allyn]

Libby Prison was not used exclusively for officers. My great-grandfather's brother, a lowly private in the 12th PA Cav., was taken prisoner at Charlestown, VA, on 29 Nov. 1864, and sent to Libby. Don't know why he wasn't sent further south, but he spent a miserable winter at Libby before being paroled in February 1865 when prisoner exchanges resumed. I've never gotten a lot of details about his actual stay there, just dates in and out.

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy

 

[debwallsmith]

Libby Prison was not used exclusively for officers. My great-grandfather's brother, a lowly private in the 12th PA Cav., was taken prisoner at Charlestown, VA, on 29 Nov. 1864, and sent to Libby. Don't know why he wasn't sent further south, but he spent a miserable winter at Libby before being paroled in February 1865 when prisoner exchanges resumed. I've never gotten a lot of details about his actual stay there, just dates in and out.

He probably wasn't sent south because Sherman was on his way to Savannah. Andersonville was trying to transfer it's prisoners elsewhere and Millen was abandoned on November 22.

 

[2ndUSCavDescendant]

It sounds like your ancestor was fortunate enough to be paroled not long after being sent to Libby. Of course it could take several days for prisoners to be marched, under guard, from the battlefield to Richmond. Then, once a large enough group of enlisted prisoners was held at Libby, they would be sent by rail further south to prisons such as Salisbury or Andersonville. However, they may have been held at Libby for a short time while waiting for enough enlisted to fill up a train. It sounds like your ancestor was quickly paroled, and not sent further south.

Unfortunately, many of the records from Confederate prisons were destroyed at the end of the war, so some information may not be found.

Was anyone else from your ancestor's company captured at the same time? Usually groups of prisoner captured together, would be marched to prison and processed together.

Thanks for the reply!

Welcome, enjoy

Thank you! I'm glad I finally became a member so I can ask questions now and leave comments...there's so many knowledgeable people on this page, I'm looking forward to learning and getting a chance to pick everyone's brains!

 

[2ndUSCavDescendant]

Another relevant thread:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/what-happened-to-the-union-prisoners-at-gettysburg.120731/

Thank you for the reply and also for sharing that thread. Lots of helpful info posted there!

I did notice similarities to peoples comments on the thread and what my relative said in his interview about being taken prisoner (being taken to Staunton VA then going to Libby, for example). I just wish I could PROVE he was really taken prisoner at Gettysburg. From the interview I found, his adult daughter's "testimony" (not sure what to call it) in his pension file, and his MOLLUS application, all of his info is consistent and doesn't change, however some of it is clearly not true which I've been able to prove (example- he was kept at Libby for nine months) so it makes me wonder what other parts of the story aren't accurate. I can prove he was taken prisoner some time in July or August, and ended up at Camp Parole for many months...but that's it. While it's definitely possible he was taken prisoner on July 4th after the battle of Gettysburg, I also think it was just as likely he was taken prisoner during the following engagements of the Gettysburg campaign that his company participated in, and he just wanted to make sure people would connect him to Gettysburg since it was already a well known and famous battle during his life time time. But...who knows! Not me, that's for sure. Haha!

I did check to see if any other troops in his company were taken prisoner in the same time frame, and he was the only one...I don't remember if any other men from the 2nd cavalry were taken prisoners in July/August, but I do remember other soldiers in the Cavalry Corps were taken prisoner during Gettysburg and during the remainder of July that year.

He is listed on the monthly returns in July as being on detach service...where, I don't know bc I can't read the handwriting outside of it saying he was on detach service (which is super frustrating!) And I also don't know when the monthly returns were written...which again, is also super frustrating. Lol. If I knew when in July it was written, I would more then likely be able to prove or disprove he was taken prisoner after fighting in the battle of Gettysburg. Who ever was writing the monthly returns was clearly not thinking about making it easier on the amateur family researcher in the future! Lol.

Anyway, thank you for the response and sharing your knowledge. I will gladly take any help or insight I can get.

 

[2ndUSCavDescendant]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums.

Good luck with your research. It'd be pretty neat to read an article about one's relative I think.

Thank you! And yes...i was super excited when I found it by accident. It gave me alot of info I would of never known (about his civil war experience and my family in general) and it also gave enough info on some things to sort of answer some family questions i had and some questions about his life, while also leaving me with more questions then I had before I read the article. Lol. I'm glad I lucked out and found it!

 

[2ndUSCavDescendant]

Libby Prison was not used exclusively for officers. My great-grandfather's brother, a lowly private in the 12th PA Cav., was taken prisoner at Charlestown, VA, on 29 Nov. 1864, and sent to Libby. Don't know why he wasn't sent further south, but he spent a miserable winter at Libby before being paroled in February 1865 when prisoner exchanges resumed. I've never gotten a lot of details about his actual stay there, just dates in and out.

My ancestor was also a lowly private...so our relatives have that in common! Lol.

That is very interesting that he was kept at Libby...I would of assumed he would of been sent to Belle Isle. Did you find this about your relative's time as a POW in his CMSR?

 

[Allyn]

My ancestor was also a lowly private...so our relatives have that in common! Lol.

That is very interesting that he was kept at Libby...I would of assumed he would of been sent to Belle Isle. Did you find this about your relative's time as a POW in his CMSR?

The information came primarily from a pension application filed by his mother, and a Memorandum from Prisoner of War Records. The affidavits in the pension file provided a bit of information about his condition when he was released, but I have nothing about his actual stay there. I sure wish Libby's records were available online!

 

[DorwinBlack]

Michael Shaughnessy – 2nd U.S. Cavalry

Michael Shaughnessy was born in New York, NY about 1840. He enlisted in Company A, 2nd U.S. Cavalry by Captain Robertson at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on August 7, 1861. His enlistment documents desc…

regularcavalryincivilwar.com

"Michael was one of the six members of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry captured during the fighting on South Cavalry Field on July 3, 1863 during the battle of Gettysburg. He was paroled in August, and remained at the parole camp in Annapolis, MD until April 1864. The most likely explanation for his long stay in Annapolis is that he was wounded. Otherwise the parole process should have taken nearly so long."

 

[DorwinBlack]

2nd US Cav was in Merritt's Brigade:

Gettysburg | South Cavalry Field | July 3, 1863

The American Battlefield Trust’s downloadable map of the July 3, 1863 fighting on South Cavalry Field--including Farnsworth's charge--during the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

www.battlefields.org

 

[2ndUSCavDescendant]

The information came primarily from a pension application filed by his mother, and a Memorandum from Prisoner of War Records. The affidavits in the pension file provided a bit of information about his condition when he was released, but I have nothing about his actual stay there. I sure wish Libby's records were available online!

I'm so jealous! I'd love to have that info! Lol

That's awesome though that you were able to get the info you did, especially getting to read about the condition he was in from his mother.

And I agree! I wish the the records from libby were online too. Have you thought about contacting the archives about the records they have on Libby? Since you know for certain he was there and when I'm sure they would be able to find more records for you involving your relative.

This is a file I was sent that contains info on prisoner of war records that NARA has (archives 1 in Washington DC) This would be a good starting point if your interested!

 

[2ndUSCavDescendant]

Michael Shaughnessy – 2nd U.S. Cavalry

Michael Shaughnessy was born in New York, NY about 1840. He enlisted in Company A, 2nd U.S. Cavalry by Captain Robertson at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on August 7, 1861. His enlistment documents desc…

regularcavalryincivilwar.com

"Michael was one of the six members of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry captured during the fighting on South Cavalry Field on July 3, 1863 during the battle of Gettysburg. He was paroled in August, and remained at the parole camp in Annapolis, MD until April 1864. The most likely explanation for his long stay in Annapolis is that he was wounded. Otherwise the parole process should have taken nearly so long."

I am the one that actually gave Don most of that info. Lol. But good find...and thank you for searching for me. That is very nice of you!

I had contacted Don to see if by some small chance he had any records for 2nd U.S. Cavalry and to pick his brain a little bit...unfortunately I didn't luck out as he didn't have any records, but he did explain that the part of Michael's story about him being injured when he was taken prisoner was probably true and that's why it took so long for him to be exchanged. He also didn't find anything as far as when he was actually captured, so he just went with the story I told him about Michael claiming he was captured at Gettysburg.

Thank you again for your help...if you want to keep searching, I definitely won't tell you no!