General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I just found out that one of my great great grandfathers served on the Confederate side [View all]OldDem2012
(3,526 posts)....is to understand it's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. But, it can also be a very rewarding experience to know your ancestors as real people set in the context of when they lived.
On my mother's side....
My great-grandfather's brother, James F. Dawson, served in the 7th Virginia Infantry CSA, was captured at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863 during Pickett's Charge, and died a month later of dysentery at Fort Delaware as a POW. He's buried across the river in the Finn's Point National Cemetery, New Jersey. He never married and had no children.
My great-great-grandfather, William Thomas, served in the 19th Virginia Infantry CSA until he was sent home sick in 1862 where he died in September. He and his wife wrote about twenty letters back and forth during that first year of the Civil War filled with the everyday life of a soldier and that of his family back home. We have a picture of his wife, Susan R. Davis Thomas, holding a family bible that contained all of the family names...we also have that bible.
On my father's side....
My great-great-grandfather, William Brenton Ward, served in the 68th Kentucky Militia USA, for about a month or two. He was called up for brief period of time and then sent back home with the rest of his organization. A few in his wife's family served in in CSA units. They all agreed at the conclusion of the war that no more would be said about that terrible conflict.
Good luck with your search! 43,000 names later, I can tell you it can become very addictive!