POW missing from Ft. Delaware POW register

[The Colvin Study]

Greetings:

I'm currently working on a lengthy essay profiling what became known in Madison County, Virginia (by the 1990s,) as "Colvin Hall" and the family who built it in 1870. One of its earliest occupants was a CW vet, Madison L. Colvin, who during the war, enlisted into the Confederacy in Company L, 10th Virginia Infantry, and like many of his comrades was captured. Most of his comrades ended up in the Union POW camp, Ft. Delaware, (two of his brothers did, one of whom died there,) and although his Index Record Cards show he was a POW, I do not find him in the Ft. Delaware Registers of their captives from Co. L. Are there other POW records I should check where members of Company L might have been sent? Here's a sneak peek at the working essay:
Colvin Hall, Pratts, Madison County, Virginia: A Profile

Many thanks in advance for any help,

Kind regards,

Alex Colvin, BA/ History
The Colvin Study

 

[Gary Morgan]

There are a couple of pieces missing here. What was his rank? Officers were frequently held separately from the rank and file on the theory that it would be easier to control prisoners if they did not have their officers present to lead and organize them. Libby, for example, was essentially an officers prison. Also, how are you searching? Is it a computer only search, or are you looking at hard copies? Are the hard copies printed or hand written originals? If you're searching online, try as many spelling variations as you can - I'd start by looking for "Calvin" instead of "Colvin." Look for M. Colvin instead of Madison, etc. Records are only as good as the hearing of the person who first recorded them, the penmanship of the person who took the information down or transcribed it, and the interpretive abilities of the person who typed them up. Finally, try just sending for his compiled military service record and see if the prison he was held at is listed there.

It's also possible that he was captured and escaped before he could reach a prison camp, and therefore is not listed in camp records.

 

[Tom Elmore]

Service records (Fold3) show a Madison M. (or L.) Colvin in Company L, 10th Virginia, who enlisted February 20, 1863 and was absent sick in a hospital for the better part of 1863 and part of 1864, being paroled in May 1865. One document indicates he was a prisoner of war at one time, but there are none of the usual Federal records in his file to support it.

You are in luck in that the Library of Virginia in Richmond has morning reports and other vital records on the 10th Virginia. For instance, a Private Henry Colvin of Company L is mentioned as having been present at Gettysburg. See:

Official Records of the 10th Virginia Infantry from the Gettysburg Campaign | Gettysburg

Morning reports and other original records are contained in the Tenth Virginia Infantry Regiment Records, 1861-1864, located in the Manuscripts Collection of the Library of Virginia in Richmond (accessions 20295, 20296 and 20297). Extant Confederate strength (morning) reports associated with...

civilwartalk.com

 

[The Colvin Study]

There are a couple of pieces missing here. What was his rank? Officers were frequently held separately from the rank and file on the theory that it would be easier to control prisoners if they did not have their officers present to lead and organize them. Libby, for example, was essentially an officers prison. Also, how are you searching? Is it a computer only search, or are you looking at hard copies? Are the hard copies printed or hand written originals? If you're searching online, try as many spelling variations as you can - I'd start by looking for "Calvin" instead of "Colvin." Look for M. Colvin instead of Madison, etc. Records are only as good as the hearing of the person who first recorded them, the penmanship of the person who took the information down or transcribed it, and the interpretive abilities of the person who typed them up. Finally, try just sending for his compiled military service record and see if the prison he was held at is listed there.

It's also possible that he was captured and escaped before he could reach a prison camp, and therefore is not listed in camp records.

Hi Gary and Tom:

Thanks for the quick reply. Madison ("M. Colvin", in his military records, as you discovered,) was a Pvt in Co "L" 10th VA Inf. Only one of his three brothers, John, was ever promoted and he barely made it to corporal before Appomattox. The Index Record cards you found at Fold3.com are few for Madison. You're suggesting all the resources I've already consulted and tactics I'm well aware of; what I've consulted are the digitized microfilms in all cases. The CWT blog post regarding the 10th VA's muster rolls are what drew me to CWT. Typically, originals of that age are too fragile to be handled. As a citizen transcriptionist for NARA, I know this to be true. Given his reported poor health escape seems improbable but I imagine not impossible. Is there a resource you have not named I should try? He did not die. I have postwar cabinet cards of him with his disabled vet brother, Wm. Green Colvin.

Obligingly,

A

 

[Gary Morgan]

Is there a resource you have not named I should try? He did not die. I have postwar cabinet cards of him with his disabled vet brother, Wm. Green Colvin.

Confederate records tend to be somewhat lacking compared to Union ones. I suppose it's also possible that someone mixed up Madison with one of his POW brothers, particularly if they were in the same company. A hastily written W can look a lot like an M, and since Tom says that he's listed on Fold 3 as W(illiam) M, it's possible that they were looking at Wm Colvin and simply misread it (I hope that makes sense).

As for other sources, I'd go looking for him in old newspapers or issues of Confederate Veteran magazine or possibly the UCV or SCV. Looking quickly at Confederate Veteran, I see a passing reference to George W Colvin. George and his wife Lucy's depositions are located at the University of Virgina, but I'm not sure how helpful they would be:

Colvin, William C. Depositions of William C. Colvin and Lucy M. Colvin before the Southern Claims Commission, 1873, 1878.
Accession 41210. 29 leaves. Photocopies.

Transcriptions, 1873 and 1878, of depositions of William C. Colvin (b. ca. 1811) of Fauquier County, Virginia, and Lucy M. Colvin (ca. 1821-1889) of Culpeper County, Virginia, before the Southern Claims Commission. The transcriptions were made from the original records on microfilm at the National Archives. Also includes photocopies from published sources and Internet sites.

If you don't have a subscription to Newspapers.com, you can try looking on Chronicling America, which is the Library of Congress's (sort of) searchable online newspaper database, but be warned - it was unwieldy to use before and they just "improved" it, and now I can't find anything I'm looking for on it. A newspaper obituary might have the information that you're looking for.

Also, be aware that Fold3 is pretty spotty in what records they've got uploaded, so just because you don't see a pension file listed, doesn't mean that there's not one.

Hope this helps!

 

[The Colvin Study]

Hello again Gary:

I have all the records you mention. I've been running The Colvin Study for over a quarter century and have amassed more that 11K primary source records connecting by blood or marriage more that 6K individuals of the same hereditary line. But I appreciate your review. I think at this point, it's more likely the case that too few of the records of his martial experience have survived to show his POW experience other than his Loyalty Oath which conditioned his parole. I've seen bad spellings and awful transcriptions, but this was just a weird gap I've never seen. From what I've read all of what was left of the 10th VA Infantry at Gettysburg (a paltry 45 survivors, all but ten who were disabled,) went to Ft. Delaware. And I presumed that included Madison, but as I noted originally, he's not in their prisoner registers under Company "L" or anywhere else. But I thank you for your time and insights.

Kindly,

A

 

[RedRover]

So, from the comments above, I presume Mr. Colvin was recorded as having been captured on a Confederate record rather than a US one. But no corresponding US record of capture, parole, exchange, etc.

 

[The Colvin Study]

Greetings:

That sounds right. Madison's index record card reports he was a POW, ( and yes, those are late 19th century records filled with errors,) But...his separate parole record from Charlottesville shows his released was signed off by an officer of 11th PA Cav. He served as a Pvt. in Co. L of the 10th VA Inf, though mostly infirmed. But he's not shown in the Co. L. listings (or among any prisoners) in the digitized microfilmed originals of the Ft. Delaware Registers, where captives from Co. L were incarcerated. So there's a gap I cannot account for. Is there another Union POW camp where Co. L of the 10th VA Inf. members were held? Or is that inviting a rabbit hole trip? Ft. Delaware seems to have been the default POW camp for Co. L.

Much obliged,

A

P.S. if anyone's interested in how those IRCs came into being and why, here's a courtesy copy from the Colvin Study Blog, which was linked in an essay some years ago. They were created by the War Dept. to determine who was pension-eligible. See: Col. Ainsworth Report

 

[RedRover]

Greetings:

That sounds right. Madison's index record card reports he was a POW, ( and yes, those are late 19th century records filled with errors,) But...his separate parole record from Charlottesville shows his released was signed off by an officer of 11th PA Cav. He served as a Pvt. in Co. L of the 10th VA Inf, though mostly infirmed. But he's not shown in the Co. L. listings (or among any prisoners) in the digitized microfilmed originals of the Ft. Delaware Registers, where captives from Co. L were incarcerated. So there's a gap I cannot account for. Is there another Union POW camp where Co. L of the 10th VA Inf. members were held? Or is that inviting a rabbit hole trip? Ft. Delaware seems to have been the default POW camp for Co. L.

Much obliged,

A

Okay, I see the records online.

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/97841274

He was paroled by United States forces at Charlottesville May 18, 1865 at the conclusion of the war.

There is nothing there that says he was captured during the war. Is there some other record that says he was a "Prisoner of war"?

This Confederate record notes that he was a.w.o.l. from his unit as of January, 1865, and that the Confederate authorities at Madison Courthouse were to look out to apprehend him...

Not odd. In September, 1864 Jefferson Davis reported that the larger number of the Confederate Army was absent from the ranks. The number apparently increasing. As of February, 1865, a majority of Lee's troops were absent.

Terrence V. Murphy's history of the 10th Virginia (p. 17) notes many men of Co. L, had previously served with the 82nd VA Militia when it was called forth.
Mr. Colvin is shown as enlisting in the Confederate Army in 1863. I see this record of service with Co. C, 82nd Virginia Militia, from Madison County, in 1861...

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/99241150

 

[The Colvin Study]

Greetings again Red:

OK, so he was AWOL as well. That explains some things, but raises more questions, (sigh.) How do you end up a POW without being captured? Did his AWOL turn into desertion and then what? The punishment for the former was light, for the later it could be execution. But Madison is alive and well in the 1870 census with his family. Also Those IRCs are created by War Dept. clerks beginning in 1893, who reviewed the period military records and recorded what they saw. What "rolls" did he appear on? Has it survived? See the problem? Also what's the source of the Conscript Office Report image you posted? Is there a link? Or a repository I can contact? I prefer this not turn into a Gordian Knot.

Kindly,

A

 

[Gary Morgan]

Prisoners on both sides were frequently initially listed as either AWOL or having deserted, particularly if they were captured in battle and their comrades lost track of them in the confusion and tumult. He may also have been hospitalized somewhere without his company knowing. At Andersonville (the one place I know the most about), guards would be sent home sick and listed as either being AWOL or having deserted if they didn't come back. It got to be so prevalent that they started listing the missing guards in the newspaper along with a promised reward if someone would turn them in. The ads looked very reminiscent of the ads they'd publish for runaway slaves. In at least some of the cases that were published, the man was either dead or still too sick to go back.

Cheers!

Mary

 

[The Colvin Study]

I suspected something like that. I did several advanced-level courses on CW and RW while earning my History degree which focused on Southern Studies, and I know there was a good deal of desertion during the RW and am just learning there was a considerable amount also during the CW. Interesting.

 

[RedRover]

Greetings again Red:

OK, so he was AWOL as well. That explains some things, but raises more questions, (sigh.) How do you end up a POW without being captured? Did his AWOL turn into desertion and then what? The punishment for the former was light, for the later it could be execution. But Madison is alive and well in the 1870 census with his family. Also Those IRCs are created by War Dept. clerks beginning in 1893, who reviewed the period military records and recorded what they saw. What "rolls" did he appear on? Has it survived? See the problem? Also what's the source of the Conscript Office Report image you posted? Is there a link? Or a repository I can contact? I prefer this not turn into a Gordian Knot.

Kindly,

A

I am not seeing anything relative to him being a "prisoner of war" in US Military captivity during the war.

Nor is their record that he was a "deserter" from the Confederate Army. Large numbers of Confederate soldiers were "absent without leave" (AWOL) in the last months of the war. The record from early 1865 shows the Confederate conscription officers were told to apprehend him if found as an AWOL: to forward him back to his outfit.

If the Confederate Army reported him as a deserter, he would have been arrested for court-martial and possible capital punishment.

Colonel William C. Oates of the 15th Alabama, of Lee's Army, noted the Conscription officers throughout the South were those charged with finding men subject to conscription, or rounding up AWOL's etc...

....

But the Confederacy apprehended only a small number of either class. At the end of the war most Confederate soldiers were absent, with or without leave. And out of over 400,000 on the rolls of the Confederacy, only 170,000 officially surrendered to US forces and receive paroles at the close of the war. And a significant number of those had been AWOL when the guns fell silent.

Regardless, CS Army commanders encouraged even their absentees to surrender and receive paroles. For example Gen. Forrest to his command...

It appears, whatever the circumstances, Mr. Colvin surrendered and received his parole at Charlottesville on May 18, 1865.

 

[The Colvin Study]

Hello again Red:

Thanks for your insight. I didn't see your citation I asked about for the image of the Conscription Office report which you describe as, "The record from early 1865," to explain Madison's AWOL. Where would I find this record? I see in the NARA catalogue, there is a collection, "Records of the Confederate Bureau of Conscription, 1874–1899" [Record Grp 109]. Is it from this collection? These are not digitized. For my work, I rely a good deal on cited primary sources since my subscribers often go to those sources to confirm my findings or to see the records in context. Also are you saying the clerks who labeled the IRC, "Roll of Prisoner of War" in 1893 mislabeled it, and they did not consult a POW roll or register? I've worked with IRCs for many years and seen many errors. I've not encountered that one.

Obligingly,

A

 

[RedRover]

Hello again Red:

Thanks for your insight. I didn't see your citation I asked about for the image of the Conscription Office report which you describe as, "The record from early 1865," to explain Madison's AWOL. Where would I find this record?

It is in Mr. Colvin's compiled service record at the National Archives. Link here:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/97841274?objectPage=15

I see in the NARA catalogue, there is a collection, "Records of the Confederate Bureau of Conscription, 1874–1899" [Record Grp 109]. Is it from this collection? These are not digitized. For my work, I rely a good deal on cited primary sources since my subscribers often go to those sources to confirm my findings or to see the records in context. Also are you saying the clerks who labeled the IRC, "Roll of Prisoner of War" in 1893 mislabeled it, and they did not consult a POW roll or register? I've worked with IRCs for many years and seen many errors. I've not encountered that one.

Obligingly,

A

The basic records of the 1860s soldiers were compiled in "muster rolls" submitted at the original muster in of a unit, and incrementally thereafter. The United States collected what records of that type survived the collapse of the Confederacy, and they are presently in the collections of the National Archives. In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the records of individuals, so far as possible, were "compiled" with data from the various rolls recorded on the "cards" like this one...

The compiling clerks were of course reading hand-writing on various military rolls, in various condition.

These compiled records, which included the above carded data, and various other original documents, were subsequently microfilmed. And in recent years the microfilm images has been reproduced online.

 

[The Colvin Study]

Red:

OK It's the digitized microfilm of his CSR, got it. NARA says these are from Fold3.com, but the collection I have of him, from Fold3 did not include several of the IRCs showing on the NARA page. Curious. Fold 3 got them from NARA. Will download the missing ones. Also, I provided a link, a few replies ago, to the Col. Ainsworth report from the NYT that explains who created the IRCs and why. Here it is again in case you missed it: Col. Ainsworth Rpt. They were compiled by the federal War dept, as it was known, to determine who was pension-eligible.

Many thanks,

A
P.S. I'm a citizen transcriptionist for NARA. I should transcribe these. Haha.

Update: I transcribed the obverse leaf of the Conscript Report. Transcribing bled through antebellum pages is always fun.

 

[John Hartwell]

Red:
They were compiled by the federal War dept, as it was known, to determine who was pension-eligible.

This applies only to the Federal records. Confederates were not eligible for Federal pensions. Under what directives were their records carded?

 

[The Colvin Study]

This applies only to the Federal records. Confederates were not eligible for Federal pensions. Under what directives were their records carded?

There was no "Confederacy" when the cards were created in 1893. They were used to determine who was eligible, not that every card collection = a potential pensioner. See my earlier comment which includes the Col. Ainsworth Rpt link. The War Department records, as it existed in 1893, included both Federal and former records of the CSA, that is to say, what wasn't burned or destroyed.

 

[John Hartwell]

There was no "Confederacy" when the cards were created in 1893. They were used to determine who was eligible, not that every card collection = a potential pensioner. See my earlier comment which includes the Col. Ainsworth Rpt link. The War Department records, as it existed in 1893, included both Federal and former records of the CSA, that is to say, what wasn't burned or destroyed.

But, why did they card any Confederate records at all? There must have been a reason to go to the extra work and expense. This really doesn't address your question, but I'm wondering. Did southern congressmen demand it for their support of the legislation?

 

[The Colvin Study]

This applies only to the Federal records. Confederates were not eligible for Federal pensions. Under what directives were their records carded?

But, why did they card any Confederate records at all? There must have been a reason to go to the extra work and expense. This really doesn't address your question, but I'm wondering. Did southern congressmen demand it for their support of the legislation?

They created the cards to determine who was entitled to a pension. That's the logic given.The pension app process was very involved, typically requiring men in their 60s to track down long lost comrades, get sworn statements, then endure hours of interrogatories. Some were too ill to go, so the commissioners interviewed them in situ. I've worked with these records quite a bit. Their memories were not always the best about their wartime experience. If there was some political ulterior motive you'll need to ferret that out from the scholarship. I found this on a quick search in JStor, Russell L. Johnson, ' "Great Injustice" ': Social Status and the Distribution of Military Pensions after the Civil War, The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Vol. 10, No. 2 (April 2011), pp. 137-160) https://www.jstor.org/stable/23045155 So you might have a look at it.

Peace,

A