Please help me !!

Fran Curtis

Cadet
Joined
Feb 21, 2016
How can I find out which service my 2nd great grandfather served in? His name was Wm S Whitt/Witt from Va., I believe and died at Gettysburg on Nov 12 1862 . Thanks to anyone that can help .I have searched for years to find his record but no luck. His wife was Emaline[Emily] Ann Bales
 
Hi Fran. Welcome to CivilWarTalk! Glad to have you aboard. There are lots of people here who have access to Fold 3 records and Im sure they will be along to help soon, so stand by. :smile coffee:

There are several men with the name "William Witt" listed from Virginia in Confederate regiments. So the more information you can provide, the more likely it will be to locate the correct William Whitt. Im assuming he served in CSA? Do you know if he served in an infantry regiment? Or cavalry? Or artillery?

If you know where/what city/county he was from that could help narrow the search. Most regiments were organized locally, with men from the same city/town/area making up the companies within each regiment. Typically ten companies making up a regiment.

There is also one William Whitt listed who served in the 24th North Carolina. If he lived near the border, it is possible that he served in a NC regiment even if he lived across the state line in VA.

You said he died at Gettysburg Nov 12 1862? Do you know if he was captured at Antietam or South Mountain? The battle of Gettysburg was July 1-3 1863 so if he died Nov 12, 1862 it wasnt during the Battle of Gettysburg. If he was wounded/captured at Antietam (Sept 17 1862) or South Mtn (Sept 14/15 1862) he could have been sent to a Union field hospital in Gettysburg prior to being transferred to a prison camp?
 
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There are a number of William Witts (without the middle initial S) in Virginia units, but none who died in the war. There's a user-made tree on Ancestry that gives his birth date as 1808, and his date of death as above at Gettysburg. But this looks hinky, as the Battle of Gettysburg was at the beginning of July 1863. I do think there's something very off there.
 
Hello and welcome from 35 miles north of Gettysburg!

While the battle lasted three days in July 1863, the pain and suffering of wounded in Gettysburg continued into October when the last field hospital, Camp Letterman, was closed.
 
Are you sure that he served? If he was born in 1808 and had 7 kids, like the records above say, it is unlikely that he served, unless he had a military career
 
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