Bruce Vail
Captain
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
I suppose it is proof positive that I am a history nerd, but I got a big thrill last week when I had the opportunity for the first time to handle an original Confederate muster roll. A big part of the thrill was that the roll was compiled (and signed) by my adopted Civil War ancestor, Lt. George W. Ward of the 3rd North Carolina State Troops.
I was in Raleigh for a small family gathering and had a chance to visit the NC Archives, just kitty-corner across the street from the Civil War-era state capitol. The Archives are partially re-opened from the COVID closing and the helpful staff retrieved for me the John B. Brown Papers -- five boxes of orginal Civil War documents. Capt. Brown had been the superior officer of Lt. Ward in Company B for a good part of the War, so I was very hopeful that his papers would include some documents that contained info about Lt. Ward.
The documents were mostly routine army paperwork items of little historical interest. To my disppointment there was nothing that would shed any new light of the War experiences of Lt. Ward, but there were what appeared to be about a dozen original Compay B muster rolls. They were standardized military forms (about 18 inches by 30 inches) that allowed for hand-written entries for about 100 members of the company. Most were signed by Capt. Brown but there was one that was filled out and signed by Lt. Ward. (Preparing the muster roll would have been a standard duty of a Lt. in a typical CSA company, and the 1st Lt. would have been expected to sign the roll if the Capt. was absent at the time the roll was completed.)
The muster roll covered the time period Aug. 31-Oct. 31, 1864, a period in which the the 3rd NC was serving in Jubal Early's Shenandoah Valley campaign of that year. In the 'Notes' section of the roll-- apparently written in Lt. Ward's own hand -- it is stated the Co. B was in the battles of Fisher Hill and Winchester.
A lot of you already know that the battles of Fishers Hill and 3rd Winchester (sometimes called Opequon) were signal defeats for Jubal Early and helped lift the reputation of Union commander Gen. Phil Sheridan. It wasn't long after these battles that the Confederate army was driven out the Shenandoah Valley once and for all.
I guess this is all pretty strong evidence that Lt. Ward was a veteran of both 3rd Winchester and Fisher's Hill. That conclusion was suggested by Lt. Ward's CMSR (available on Fold 3) but the original muster roll would be proof. If so, that would be something new in my research and well worth the trip to the NC Archives.
I was in Raleigh for a small family gathering and had a chance to visit the NC Archives, just kitty-corner across the street from the Civil War-era state capitol. The Archives are partially re-opened from the COVID closing and the helpful staff retrieved for me the John B. Brown Papers -- five boxes of orginal Civil War documents. Capt. Brown had been the superior officer of Lt. Ward in Company B for a good part of the War, so I was very hopeful that his papers would include some documents that contained info about Lt. Ward.
The documents were mostly routine army paperwork items of little historical interest. To my disppointment there was nothing that would shed any new light of the War experiences of Lt. Ward, but there were what appeared to be about a dozen original Compay B muster rolls. They were standardized military forms (about 18 inches by 30 inches) that allowed for hand-written entries for about 100 members of the company. Most were signed by Capt. Brown but there was one that was filled out and signed by Lt. Ward. (Preparing the muster roll would have been a standard duty of a Lt. in a typical CSA company, and the 1st Lt. would have been expected to sign the roll if the Capt. was absent at the time the roll was completed.)
The muster roll covered the time period Aug. 31-Oct. 31, 1864, a period in which the the 3rd NC was serving in Jubal Early's Shenandoah Valley campaign of that year. In the 'Notes' section of the roll-- apparently written in Lt. Ward's own hand -- it is stated the Co. B was in the battles of Fisher Hill and Winchester.
A lot of you already know that the battles of Fishers Hill and 3rd Winchester (sometimes called Opequon) were signal defeats for Jubal Early and helped lift the reputation of Union commander Gen. Phil Sheridan. It wasn't long after these battles that the Confederate army was driven out the Shenandoah Valley once and for all.
I guess this is all pretty strong evidence that Lt. Ward was a veteran of both 3rd Winchester and Fisher's Hill. That conclusion was suggested by Lt. Ward's CMSR (available on Fold 3) but the original muster roll would be proof. If so, that would be something new in my research and well worth the trip to the NC Archives.