Puzzled about Confederate POW

[41st Alabama]

I have been researching my ancestors that had fought in the Civil War, of which there are 4 Great Grandfathers and nearly a dozen Great Uncles. Having so many ties with the war, you can understand my interest. I have found many fascinating facts and run into some discrepancies. While researching my Great Grand Uncle, Pvt Daniel Brown Sartain I came across documentation showing that he was captured and paroled in his hometown of Tuscaloosa in May 1865. His regiment surrendered with Lee in Appomattox on April 9. Muster rolls have shown him to have been in Petersburg leading up to then. He was captured by Major Gen Benjamin Henry Grierson's 2nd Ill Cavalry. My theory is that he deserted and made his way home before he was captured. But what if he escaped capture when all was lost and surrendered himself when he got back to Tuscaloosa? If anyone has any thoughts about this, I would like to hear it.

 

[Gary Morgan]

The short answer is that you'll probably never know.

In general, they were not terribly lenient if a soldier turned up missing after a battle and there was no body, they would list these guys as deserters until proven otherwise, so if it says he was a POW, I would take that as factual. But given that he was likely captured in April 1865, he would not have been a POW for long, and prisoner exchanges were back in place by the time he was captured.

 

[10th Michigan Infantry]

Well, we do know that some Confederate troops were able to escape capture at Appomattox, and found small gaps in the Federal lines to escape through, we also know that throughout the Appomattox Campaign Lee's army was facing hundreds if not thousands of desertions, it might also be possible he was transferred to another unit before the Appomattox Campaign. You'll most likely never know exactly what occured.

 

[Story]

Generally, the source of those FOLD3 CS POW records are from the Federal units that took them (or the facilities that held them).

 

[lupaglupa]

So many men headed home as they realized the War was lost. He could easily have slipped away and made his way back. Have you looked for a pension record for him? There are usually questions about where you were when the War ended on those.

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

I have been researching my ancestors that had fought in the Civil War, of which there are 4 Great Grandfathers and nearly a dozen Great Uncles. Having so many ties with the war, you can understand my interest. I have found many fascinating facts and run into some discrepancies. While researching my Great Grand Uncle, Pvt Daniel Brown Sartain I came across documentation showing that he was captured and paroled in his hometown of Tuscaloosa in May 1865. His regiment surrendered with Lee in Appomattox on April 9. Muster rolls have shown him to have been in Petersburg leading up to then. He was captured by Major Gen Benjamin Henry Grierson's 2nd Ill Cavalry. My theory is that he deserted and made his way home before he was captured. But what if he escaped capture when all was lost and surrendered himself when he got back to Tuscaloosa? If anyone has any thoughts about this, I would like to hear it. View attachment 505459

He applied for a pension. Alabama Confederate Pension Applications can be accessed here
https://www.familysearch.org/en/ All that's required is a free account.

 

[41st Alabama]

He applied for a pension. Alabama Confederate Pension Applications can be accessed here
https://www.familysearch.org/en/ All that's required is a free account.

He did indeed apply for a military pension later in life, stating that he had "partial loss of eyesight". Not sure if this was a direct result of the war but I have to assume that it was. It does state that he was honorably discharged and paroled. This makes me wonder how he came to be captured in Tuscaloosa. I did find a wealth of information on the Family Search website and I appreciate your help.

 

[41st Alabama]

So many men headed home as they realized the War was lost. He could easily have slipped away and made his way back. Have you looked for a pension record for him? There are usually questions about where you were when the War ended on those.

I did find his pension record, so all I can figure is that at this point in the war they were a little more lax on starving stragglers. I would bet that there was no way of keeping track of their men at that point and pieced together fractured units to have any kind of force to defend themselves. The fact that Daniel was paroled in Tuscaloosa is still confusing, but the fact that he was allowed a pension on which it states that he was honorably discharged eases my mind a bit. Thank you for your help.

 

[lupaglupa]

He could have gone home on leave. The records from the end of the War for many CSA units are full of holes. Certainly he was accepted as having served honorably and I would assume that is accurate.

 

[RedRover]

Unless there is a record that declares a soldier a "deserter," there's no reason to classify him as one without record. It was very common, throughout the war, for CSA soldiers to absent themselves homeward when they felt necessary, without or without official permission. It was a great annoyance to the army, but it did relieve it in a measure, as the absent men were fed, clothed, etc. at home, rather than by the rickety quartermasters.


In September, 1864 President Davis of the Confederacy stated that about 2/3rds of the troops on the rolls were then "absent," and called upon them to return to the ranks, lest they be classified as deserters.

Confederates came and went as they pleased, which wasn't considered odd, given the painful lack of clothing, food, supplies, etc., much less the conditions in the trenches around Petersburg, etc.

In February, 1865 Lee's army had on the muster rolls over 160,000 troops. Only about 60,000 were "present for duty." The balance absent sick, furloughed, detailed, A.W.O.L., viz. absent for whatever reason.

Col. Oates of the 15th Alabama Regiment, post-war, suggested it was silly to criticize Confederates for absenting themselves (A.W.O.L.) or even deserting.

 

[Story]

Let's start crowd-sourcing with facts, considering the question to be "how did Confederate prisoners get recorded as prisoners of the Federals at Tuscaloosa on or prior to 18 May 1865?

I'll start. This is 01 April 1865.

Turning north, Croxton marched 10 miles along the Elyton Road, then west to Johnson's Ferry on the Black Warrior River, 40 miles above Tuscaloosa. By sundown on April 2, using only a single flatboat, his entire brigade crossed the river. The next day Croxton continued toward Tuscaloosa. Captured enemy combatants revealed to him that the city's skeleton garrison was manned by 400 local militia and 350 cadets from the town's military academy.

Union General John T. Croxton's Southern Odyssey

After being separated from Wilson's corps, Union General John T. Croxton embarked on a 31-day odyssey spanning 653 miles, crossing four major rivers.

warfarehistorynetwork.com

 

[lupaglupa]

Ideally there would be a record made that day of all prisoners taken. But I can't find one. The records I do find are sorted by last name, not grouped together by arrest date or place.

 

[Story]

Ideally

And yet here we are again.
Reference your thread https://civilwartalk.com/threads/most-common-research-mistakes.208916/
I'd suggest coming at this problem counter-intuitively and digging into the PoW warehouse in Tuscaloosa - did the Federals take over the facility as-purposed from the Confederates and if so, who ran it? That'd shake loose some clues.

 

[41st Alabama]

Let's start crowd-sourcing with facts, considering the question to be "how did Confederate prisoners get recorded as prisoners of the Federals at Tuscaloosa on or prior to 18 May 1865?

I'll start. This is 01 April 1865.

Turning north, Croxton marched 10 miles along the Elyton Road, then west to Johnson's Ferry on the Black Warrior River, 40 miles above Tuscaloosa. By sundown on April 2, using only a single flatboat, his entire brigade crossed the river. The next day Croxton continued toward Tuscaloosa. Captured enemy combatants revealed to him that the city's skeleton garrison was manned by 400 local militia and 350 cadets from the town's military academy.

Union General John T. Croxton's Southern Odyssey

After being separated from Wilson's corps, Union General John T. Croxton embarked on a 31-day odyssey spanning 653 miles, crossing four major rivers.

warfarehistorynetwork.com

I have read about Croxton's raid on Tuscaloosa and the burning of the University of Alabama. Tracking his route, his cavalry passed very close to my ancestral home where he turned south toward Romulus. However, this was a month before Daniel was paroled by Grierson's cavalry which happened after Lee had surrendered his regiment in Virginia. I do know that Grierson won the battle of Fort Blakeley but I've just scratched the surface of the timeline. I appreciate the link to the story about Croxton as I am gathering as much information on that subject as I can find as well.

 

[Story]

I have read about Croxton's raid on Tuscaloosa

Don't fixate on Croxton, find out what Federals would have been holding Confederate PoWs in Tuscaloosa in May 1865

 

[JackADriscoll]

Question. If you surrendered at appamatox wouldn't there be a solid record of that somewhere? Is it also possible that you surrendered and went home you could have gotten scooped up in a raid and asked what unit you from kid? Just so they had a record of a military aged male. I'm curious

 

[41st Alabama]

Question. If you surrendered at appamatox wouldn't there be a solid record of that somewhere? Is it also possible that you surrendered and went home you could have gotten scooped up in a raid and asked what unit you from kid? Just so they had a record of a military aged male. I'm curious

That was part of my query as well. I do know that his brother is on record as having surrendered in Appomattox, but he is not on the list. It also makes me wonder how long it took for those that surrendered to actually make it home.

 

[lupaglupa]

From what I've read lists of men were turned over at Appomattox without there being a check to see if the men were there. It was just whatever the latest list the CO had.

 

[Story]

It's a 10 day walk from Appomattox VA to Tuscaloosa AL

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Tuscaloosa,+AL/appomattox+virginia/@35.1759721,-88.4931714,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x8888af2e91c24067:0xacabfbfd16892b58!2m2!1d-87.5691735!2d33.2098407!1m5!1m1!1s0x89b2fb50955a82ab:0xb62498bbe0461e9c!2m2!1d-78.8252911!2d37.3570894!3e2?entry=ttu

It's an 11+ day walk from Petersburg VA to Tuscaloosa AL

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Tuscaloosa,+AL/Petersburg,+VA/@35.1062557,-87.7815435,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x8888af2e91c24067:0xacabfbfd16892b58!2m2!1d-87.5691735!2d33.2098407!1m5!1m1!1s0x89b1a49a20af6a6f:0xc365091b0b506c76!2m2!1d-77.4019267!2d37.2279279!3e2?entry=ttu

 

[Story]

Per the original document, Sartain was paroled 18 May 1865 by the 2nd IL Cavalry.

After crossing the river it again took the advance with parts of the Third Illinois and Sixth Missouri, and had almost constant skirmishing until the army invested Vicksburg on the 18th of May.

History of 2nd Illinois Cavalry

According to this transcription of Dyer, at no time was the 2nd IL at Petersburg, Appomattox or Tuscaloosa

Dyers History of 2nd Illinois Cavalry

Remember what I told you folks about transcription errors in FOLD3?