Researching Regiment based on enlistment date/location

[Forrest]

Looking for suggestions on how I can determine regiment or company based on enlistment information found in Confederate pension applications. I have an ancestor who fought in the 8th La Heavy Artillery, and later in the 3rd La Battalion (Wingfield's Partisan Rangers). I'm trying to determine when he joined the 8th La Hvy Artillery, or if he joined another outfit prior to that.

The following is in his three pension applications. None of these entries really make sense - he was at the siege of Vicksburg which makes the 1863 entry look odd. If the 1861 Clinton entry is correct, then he joined up with another outfit prior to joining the 8th La - that's really the angle I'm most interested in, as he had cousins he lived with and near who enlisted at that time with both the 16th La Infantry and the 16th Ms Infantry; however, I can't find mention of him with either of those groups. The last entry could make sense if he joined Toby Hart's company in Brookhaven in 1863 just before they went to Vicksburg. Any thoughts on ways to go about researching this would be appreciated. Thanks.

F.M. Forrest enlistment info on Louisiana Confederate pension applications:

• 1910: Enlisted Spring 1863, Brookhaven, MS
• 1912: Enlisted November 1861, Clinton, LA
• 1916: Enlisted Brookhaven, MS in Captain Hart Co. (Toby Hart)

 

[DixieRifles]

Can you provide his name so we can check his service records?

I wanted to see if I can find out some info on one of these units. Maybe one was captured and the men were paroled and transferred into a new unit. I looked at records on FOLD3 to see what it says about the 8th LA Heavy Artillery to see if changed names.
Under FOLD3, the records are filed under a folder: 8th Heavy Artillery and 1st Field Artillery. I thought they had merged two sets of files but I don't think so in this case. These two units seem to be the same. Here are some notes.

Cordy's Battery
"St. Mary Cannoneers"
Commanders
Forian O. Cornay - Killed April 2, 1864
Jules G. Olivar -- Resigned March 6 ??
Minos T. Gordy

1 Field Battery
Capt. Florian O. Cornay's Company (St. Mary Cannoneers)
[Note at bottom of card] This company subsequently became Capt. Gordy's Battery, Louisiana Artillery, and that designation was changed to 1st Louisiana Field Battery by S.O. No. 200, Headquarters Trans-Mississippi Department, dated Novemeber 19, 1864.

One parol report at end of war:
1 Louisiana Field Batt'y, 3 Batt'n Light Artillery
1st Louisiana Field Battery, 3rd Battalion Light Art'y, commanded by Capt. M. T. Gordy, surrendered at New Orleans by Gen. E. K. Smith, CSA. to Maj. Gen. E.R. S. Canby, USA, May 26, 1865 and paroled at Franklin La, June 10, 1865.

From records of Lt. Col. Minos Gordy:
Promoted to Captain April 27, 1864.
3 Battn F Art 2" Inf Div
Caylor's(Taylor's?) Corps, CSA, Tran Miss Dept
List of Wounded or Killed during 8 days bombardment of Fort Jackson, La, April 18-26, 1862. Reported Fort St. Philip.

On one card, it is identified as Gordon's Battery, but this appears to be an error (Gordy instead of Gordon).

So it sure appears that this battery continued in service from 1862 until 1865.

 

[Forrest]

Thanks Steve. I believe I grabbed all of the records in the folder '8th Heavy Artillery', when I was a member of Footnote. I have gone through all of the documents I downloaded at that time and his (Francis Marion Forrest) enlistment dates and places don't match up well with any of it. The one that really has me stumped is 'November 1861 - Clinton, La'. It was so early in the war that, if his memory was accurate, I'm thinking there must have been a company that initially organized at that time.

 

[bdtex]

Looking for suggestions on how I can determine regiment or company based on enlistment information found in Confederate pension applications. I have an ancestor who fought in the 8th La Heavy Artillery, and later in the 3rd La Battalion (Wingfield's Partisan Rangers). I'm trying to determine when he joined the 8th La Hvy Artillery, or if he joined another outfit prior to that.

The following is in his three pension applications. None of these entries really make sense - he was at the siege of Vicksburg which makes the 1863 entry look odd. If the 1861 Clinton entry is correct, then he joined up with another outfit prior to joining the 8th La - that's really the angle I'm most interested in, as he had cousins he lived with and near who enlisted at that time with both the 16th La Infantry and the 16th Ms Infantry; however, I can't find mention of him with either of those groups. The last entry could make sense if he joined Toby Hart's company in Brookhaven in 1863 just before they went to Vicksburg. Any thoughts on ways to go about researching this would be appreciated. Thanks.

F.M. Forrest enlistment info on Louisiana Confederate pension applications:

• 1910: Enlisted Spring 1863, Brookhaven, MS
• 1912: Enlisted November 1861, Clinton, LA
• 1916: Enlisted Brookhaven, MS in Captain Hart Co. (Toby Hart)

His records in fold3.com are under "France Forrest". There are 5 pages. No Muster Rolls or any other documents with his enlistment date. Same thing for the NPS database.

 

[bdtex]

Looking for suggestions on how I can determine regiment or company based on enlistment information found in Confederate pension applications. I have an ancestor who fought in the 8th La Heavy Artillery, and later in the 3rd La Battalion (Wingfield's Partisan Rangers). I'm trying to determine when he joined the 8th La Hvy Artillery, or if he joined another outfit prior to that.

The following is in his three pension applications. None of these entries really make sense - he was at the siege of Vicksburg which makes the 1863 entry look odd. If the 1861 Clinton entry is correct, then he joined up with another outfit prior to joining the 8th La - that's really the angle I'm most interested in, as he had cousins he lived with and near who enlisted at that time with both the 16th La Infantry and the 16th Ms Infantry; however, I can't find mention of him with either of those groups. The last entry could make sense if he joined Toby Hart's company in Brookhaven in 1863 just before they went to Vicksburg. Any thoughts on ways to go about researching this would be appreciated. Thanks.

F.M. Forrest enlistment info on Louisiana Confederate pension applications:

• 1910: Enlisted Spring 1863, Brookhaven, MS
• 1912: Enlisted November 1861, Clinton, LA
• 1916: Enlisted Brookhaven, MS in Captain Hart Co. (Toby Hart)

 

[Forrest]

View attachment 83226 View attachment 83227 View attachment 83228

Thanks. I have all of that, but I appreciate your looking. The lack of muster roll information is what has made this so difficult - I read that the pre-Vicksburg muster rolls for the 8th La Hvy Artillery might have been left in New Orleans by Pinkney, just before its surrender. I also read that Pemberton intentionally lost the parole lists (infuriating Grant), allowing him more flexibility regarding prisoner exchanges. I haven't been able to verify either, but if both are true, that avenue could be a dead end.

I ordered his Confederate Pension Application papers from Louisiana around 15 years ago (when you could not simply look them up online), and he claimed that he never signed the Oath of Allegiance at Vicksburg. I was quite proud of that, but then discovered a copy of the actual document in Footnote (now Fold3?) a few years later. I guess he thought that signing the oath might hurt his chance for a pension, but I don't think that affected anything.

 

[bdtex]

Thanks. I have all of that, but I appreciate your looking. The lack of muster roll information is what has made this so difficult - I read that the pre-Vicksburg muster rolls for the 8th La Hvy Artillery might have been left in New Orleans by Pinkney, just before its surrender. I also read that Pemberton intentionally lost the parole lists (infuriating Grant), allowing him more flexibility regarding prisoner exchanges. I haven't been able to verify either, but if both are true, that avenue could be a dead end.

I ordered his Confederate Pension Application papers from Louisiana around 15 years ago (when you could not simply look them up online), and he claimed that he never signed the Oath of Allegiance at Vicksburg. I was quite proud of that, but then discovered a copy of the actual document in Footnote (now Fold3?) a few years later. I guess he thought that signing the oath might hurt his chance for a pension, but I don't think that affected anything.

Wasn't sure what "Footnote" was/is. Figured you had the documents but what the heck. It was fun looking 'em up and reading them.

 

[Forrest]

It takes that sort of person to participate in discussions like this

I only had Footnote for a few months, but had downloaded so many documents within the first week that my head was spinning. I think that experience (information overload) killed Civil War research for me for several years. There came a point where it became work, at which time I slogged through the process of gathering every record for every ancestor I had, just so I could quit for a while - even back then I knew of over 25. Plus, there was all the side-track research - I would be looking up one soldier and find a reference to another, so I would look him up. Every now and then I would hit a real windfall and would be busy for days.

But if you think Fold3 can crush you with 'document overload', try looking up pension applications - you can get into 10-20 pages of grandchildren fighting over that last pension check. I got to a point where I wanted to go back in time and punch a few of them.

 

[bdtex]

It takes that sort of person to participate in discussions like this

I only had Footnote for a few months, but had downloaded so many documents within the first week that my head was spinning. I think that experience (information overload) killed Civil War research for me for several years. There came a point where it became work, at which time I slogged through the process of gathering every record for every ancestor I had, just so I could quit for a while - even back then I knew of over 25. Plus, there was all the side-track research - I would be looking up one soldier and find a reference to another, so I would look him up. Every now and then I would hit a real windfall and would be busy for days.

But if you think Fold3 can crush you with 'document overload', try looking up pension applications - you can get into 10-20 pages of grandchildren fighting over that last pension check. I got to a point where I wanted to go back in time and punch a few of them.

I know what you mean. I confirmed 4 ancestors pretty easily and quickly. Pretty confident the 2 on my mother's side is all there is. I'm certain there are more than 2 on my father's side but the research became to much of a slog for me too. Too many books yet to read and places yet to visit to spend much more time on genealogy. I got a coupla pension applications already. That's enough for me.

 

[Forrest]

The funny (lucky) thing was - the first pension app I ever ordered was fantastic. Naturally, I thought they all would be, but the next 20 or so were almost worthless. On the other hand, if the first one had not contained the information it did, I wouldn't have had enough information to go forward - 'France' Forrest, with no information on his unit or where he was from, would have left me with nothing. And because his descendants squabbled over getting Louisiana to pay for his burial expenses, I was able to find his death certificate, both of his wives' death certificates, the names of his parents, where he was born. All stuff we had no knowledge of. We even discovered that his wife was adopted - all from pension apps.

 

[DixieRifles]

discovered a copy of the actual document in Footnote (now Fold3?) a few years later.

Yes. I think someone didn't think the name "Footnote" conveyed the intent of their site. So they re-named it "Fold3" for the 3rd fold of the Flag which recognizes the Veterans.