Wanted: A Brush with Greatness!

[Allie]

I downloaded a number of photos of the interior of a particular castle along the Scottish coast for photo reference while building a castle for a video game, and then several years later learned that my direct ancestor owned that castle and lived there in the 18th century. I was all, "Don't I recognize this place for some reason? Oh yeah, I built this place in 3d!"

As far as the Civil War, I think my "oh wow" ancestry moment was reading a published memoir about the battle of Cedar Creek and trying to find out what happened to the unit my 3rd great-grandfather Joseph T Ramsey belonged to, the 21st VA. I knew he had died at Cedar Creek and hoped to find out more about the general course of the battle. There was a vivid description of the company getting enfiladed and the sergeant shot in the first chaotic encounter. Suddenly I realize, hey, wasn't my g'dad a sergeant? Of this company? It sent chills up my spine to realize that the guy they were talking about was the guy I was looking for.

I have tons of relatives who had brushes with various generals - CSO Rice was a courier for Loring and Pemberton, he must have spoken with them directly on more than one occasion, as well as doing reconnaissance for Forrest. But I think my favorite brush with greatness is a distant cousin who was dissed by Mosby - he joined Mosby's raiders and was dismissed for being "inefficient." Oops!

 

[18thVirginia]

We were all privates and apparently saw no one important . LOL

I can relate to that.

 

[Robin Evans]

I downloaded a number of photos of the interior of a particular castle along the Scottish coast for photo reference while building a castle for a video game, and then several years later learned that my direct ancestor owned that castle and lived there in the 18th century. I was all, "Don't I recognize this place for some reason? Oh yeah, I built this place in 3d!"

As far as the Civil War, I think my "oh wow" ancestry moment was reading a published memoir about the battle of Cedar Creek and trying to find out what happened to the unit my 3rd great-grandfather Joseph T Ramsey belonged to, the 21st VA. I knew he had died at Cedar Creek and hoped to find out more about the general course of the battle. There was a vivid description of the company getting enfiladed and the sergeant shot in the first chaotic encounter. Suddenly I realize, hey, wasn't my g'dad a sergeant? Of this company? It sent chills up my spine to realize that the guy they were talking about was the guy I was looking for.

I have tons of relatives who had brushes with various generals - CSO Rice was a courier for Loring and Pemberton, he must have spoken with them directly on more than one occasion, as well as doing reconnaissance for Forrest. But I think my favorite brush with greatness is a distant cousin who was dissed by Mosby - he joined Mosby's raiders and was dismissed for being "inefficient." Oops!

Wow! Wonderful story about your Scottish castle. I hope you get to visit it. For me, it's a different type of excitement when you find your more ancient roots, like a greater sense of awe.

Really interesting story about your 3rd g-grandfather. To think that you could find such a detailed account of the Cedar Creek battle! Quite fortunate. It is kind of eerie when you realize that the person you're reading about is related to you, isn't it? When I read some of the accounts of my Revolutionary War ancestor's pension files, I'm amazed by the detail they remember. I reckon it's because they told those stories so many times. Thanks for sharing them!

 

[rhettbutler1865]

Not an ancestor--just my knowing that I was a major in the Confederate cavalry at Gettysburg...After doing a fair amount of research about Major (then Colonel, then General) "Gib" Wright, I have suspicions it may have been him.

 

[Robin Evans]

Not an ancestor--just my knowing that I was a major in the Confederate cavalry at Gettysburg...After doing a fair amount of research about Major (then Colonel, then General) "Gib" Wright, I have suspicions it may have been him.

Hey. My g-grandmother, a very unassuming little woman, dreamed about things that came to pass. Who's to say?

My husband's 2nd g-grandfather, Alexander H. Brown– 2nd Lieutenant, Co H, 30th NC Infantry , broke his leg in that battle. They patched him up and within a month he was back in the fight. He was later captured and was an Immortal 600 survivor.

Pleased to know you, sir.

 

[rhettbutler1865]

Hey. My g-grandmother, a very unassuming little woman, dreamed about things that came to pass. Who's to say?

My husband's 2nd g-grandfather, Alexander H. Brown– 2nd Lieutenant, Co H, 30th NC Infantry , broke his leg in that battle. They patched him up and within a month he was back in the fight. He was later captured and was an Immortal 600 survivor.

Pleased to know you, sir.

The pleasure is mine, Thank you.

 

[kevikens]

Yes, indeed, but from the Revolutionary War. I did far more Rev War than Civil war reenacting, going back to 1972. In 1975 I joined a regiment known as the Third Regiment Gloucester County Foot Militia, better know as the Egg Harbor Guard which fought in the Delaware Valley region. Of Irish descent my last name was not that common in the 1770's especially the way my family spelled it. My father always told us that his (and my) ancestors arrived in America decades before independence. I always wondered about that. Well, as it turned out the guy who started the reenactor's Egg Harbor Guard did it because he had somehow acquired the original muster book of that regiment. I once got to look at it and there in print was my family name spelled only as our family spelled it. I felt that I had come back home.

 

[Robin Evans]

Yes, indeed, but from the Revolutionary War. I did far more Rev War than Civil war reenacting, going back to 1972. In 1975 I joined a regiment known as the Third Regiment Gloucester County Foot Militia, better know as the Egg Harbor Guard which fought in the Delaware Valley region. Of Irish descent my last name was not that common in the 1770's especially the way my family spelled it. My father always told us that his (and my) ancestors arrived in America decades before independence. I always wondered about that. Well, as it turned out the guy who started the reenactor's Egg Harbor Guard did it because he had somehow acquired the original muster book of that regiment. I once got to look at it and there in print was my family name spelled only as our family spelled it. I felt that I had come back home.

Now that gives me goose bumps! Your ancestor's name written in the era in which he lived. Fantastic! I have many more Revolutionary War Patriots than Confederates. Have you the pension file? I'm amazed at the amount of detail they could recall after all those years.

I also had an Irish immigrant ancestor on my father's side whose name evolved greatly over time. From O'Reagan, to Riggons, Ragains, Ragan and finally Reagan. How nice to see an original document containing your ancestor's name! Good story.

 

[damYankee]

In tracking down family history I have had lots of holy smokes moments. Finding my g g uncles photograph which is my avatar was on such moment, finding out I had two g g grandfathers at Gettysburg was another!

 

[Robin Evans]

For me personally, my most exciting finds during the era of the War for Southern Independence were on my husband's side. My soldier's weren't nearly as interesting as his. He had an Immortal 600 survivor, a member of the Tennessee Legislature who wrote about the war, and a soldier who fell at Chickamauga just to name a few.

One of my most interesting stories was about my 6th g-grandfather Gabriel Riggon of the French and Indian War. He was on a recon mission while at Ft. Duquesne. An incoming detail saw their camp one night and thinking them to be Indians, ambushed them. They were all killed by friendly fire. So I always say that Col. George Washington killed my ancestor.

I'm also related to Chief Jesse Bartley Milam, the first Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation (1941-1949) in the modern era who was duly elected by the Nation itself.

 

[Robin Evans]

In tracking down family history I have had lots of holy smokes moments. Finding my g g uncles photograph which is my avatar was on such moment, finding out I had two g g grandfathers at Gettysburg was another!

How wonderful and quite rare that you have a photograph of your ancestor! When you study someone for awhile, I think you form a mental picture of them. Did your 2nd g-uncle look like the picture in your head?

 

[hanna260]

What a great thread!

Well... I can't speak of ACW relatives... but we did find out that we might be related to Daniel Boone! Kinda left us pretty surprised- if maybe not gobsmacked.

There was also my Irish relative that punched Richard Burton in the nose when he was filming a movie. That kind of left us gobsmacked when we learned- though for a totally different reason then many people here have posted.

 

[Booner]

My 32nd great grandfather was king William the Lion of Scotland. He had a "natural" daughter (illegitimate) who married Sir Richard de Roos who was either a Knights Templar or donated heavily to them. He is buried in the Templar Church in London. So through this line I can trace my ancestry back to the 400's.

My Civil War moment came when after reading a book about Grierson's Raid and on the back fly lief of the book my grandfather had written the service history of my gg-grandfather who serve with the 7th Ill Cavalry and was on the raid.

rgds
Booner

 

[Allie]

Now that gives me goose bumps! Your ancestor's name written in the era in which he lived. Fantastic! I have many more Revolutionary War Patriots than Confederates. Have you the pension file? I'm amazed at the amount of detail they could recall after all those years.

I also had an Irish immigrant ancestor on my father's side whose name evolved greatly over time. From O'Reagan, to Riggons, Ragains, Ragan and finally Reagan. How nice to see an original document containing your ancestor's name! Good story.

Revolutionary War pension applications are awesome! My 4th g grandfather Thomas William Landrum talks about wintering at Valley Forge and wrapping his feet with cloth because he had no shoes. I learned this stuff in school, it's amazing to think he was there. While they were in pretty dire straits, another regiment tried to start a snowball fight. According to him, no one on his side was much in the mood for frivolity and it turned into a real fight! The other treat about his application is that his witness is fellow soldier Miller Bledsoe, who is also my 4th ggrandpa - his daughter married Landrum's son.

I guess being at Valley Forge with Washington counts as a brush with greatness. I wonder how much the average soldier saw of him.

 

[Allie]

For me personally, my most exciting finds during the era of the War for Southern Independence were on my husband's side. My soldier's weren't nearly as interesting as his. He had an Immortal 600 survivor, a member of the Tennessee Legislature who wrote about the war, and a soldier who fell at Chickamauga just to name a few.

One of my most interesting stories was about my 6th g-grandfather Gabriel Riggon of the French and Indian War. He was on a recon mission while at Ft. Duquesne. An incoming detail saw their camp one night and thinking them to be Indians, ambushed them. They were all killed by friendly fire. So I always say that Col. George Washington killed my ancestor.

I'm also related to Chief Jesse Bartley Milam, the first Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation (1941-1949) in the modern era who was duly elected by the Nation itself.

A cousin of mine lived next door to Cherokee Chief John Ross according one of the censuses. He was a Landrum who married a Cherokee woman and went on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma with her. There are still Cherokee Landrums in Oklahoma.

If you don't mind me asking, who was the Tennessee Legislator? I have a relative, CSO Rice, who was a Confederate soldier, memoirist, and Tennessee Legislator, and another member of his company, ER Oldham, also became a member of the Tennessee General Assembly. I wonder if your husband's ancestor was ever in the same session as either of these guys.

 

[kevikens]

Now that gives me goose bumps! Your ancestor's name written in the era in which he lived. Fantastic! I have many more Revolutionary War Patriots than Confederates. Have you the pension file? I'm amazed at the amount of detail they could recall after all those years.

I also had an Irish immigrant ancestor on my father's side whose name evolved greatly over time. From O'Reagan, to Riggons, Ragains, Ragan and finally Reagan. How nice to see an original document containing your ancestor's name! Good story.

No pension record ever found. That is no surprise as pensions were not awarded to surviving Revolutionary War vets until after the war of 1812. By then many had passed on. My family apparently landed in Philadelphia and spread out from there going into West Jersey (southern part of the colony), northern Delaware and one part taking the Great Valley Road into Virginia. If the genealogical records are correct, one wound up as a Lieutenant in a Virginia artillery battery in the late unpleasantness. Yes, I always think about my forefathers (and foremothers) and thank them every day for having had the skills, courage, grit (and good fortune) to have survived difficulties that appall me. I hope they would be pleased with what my present family has done with their inheritance.

 

[damYankee]

How wonderful and quite rare that you have a photograph of your ancestor! When you study someone for awhile, I think you form a mental picture of them. Did your 2nd g-uncle look like the picture in your head?

Not really, interesting story about Uncle Hurbert, he was also at Gettysburg! Taken prisoner the first day, he was released 8 days later in a prisoner exchange, he returned to NYC to suppress the riots.
After that he was promoted to Lt. and place in command of a USCT company which was formed on Hilton Head, and served for a few months as occupation forces till a few months after the war ended.
He returned to NYC and became a fireman.
In the USCT the officers were white, qualifications were you had to be a combat veteran, and a abolitionist. That's what I have learned. I'm always learning

 

[kevikens]

I have read, somewhere, that the prospective white officers had to go through both a screening and weeding out process and then also a brief training program. I would love to know what that raining program consisted of.

 

[MRB1863]

We were all privates and apparently saw no one important . LOL

I can relate to that.

I can also relate to that! When you really think about it, though, without the Privates...there would not be a need for NCOs or Officers. Therefore no infamous names to take the credit for actions performed by the entire regiments. So are the enlisted Privates just as important as the more famed soldiers?

 

[damYankee]

My maternal g g grandfather was G. W. Davis, farrier Co. K. 4 th Iowa Csv.

These are the battles he served in, he was wounded three times....
Branch Cavalry
Engagements
Siege of Vicksburg
Battle of Big Black River
Siege of Jackson
Battle of Brice's Crossroads
Battle of Little Blue River
Second Battle of Independence
Battle of Byram's Ford
Battle of Westport
Battle of Marais des Cygnes
Battle of Mine Creek
Battle of Marmiton River
Battle of Selma
Battle of Columbus (1865)