Civil War Vet

[garyb]

Hey Guys,
I have got some great news to share. I was working on my ancestry and discovered that my great, great grandfather (same last name) was a vet of the civil war. He served on the 1st West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, Company E for the Union Army. They were the mobile troops on horses, with sword and pistol. They saw action in the Battles of Kernstown, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, Antietam, Gettysburg, Cedar Creek and were there for Lee's Surrender, then rode to DC for the war celebration. His Company lost 81 men in battle and 126 to disease (207 fatalities). His regimen served in a crutial role in the theater.

What is most exciting is that there is an unclaimed medal waiting for him. As a same name blood relative, I am entitled to receive it and had to prove that I am that relative. It took about 30 hours of work with census, birth certificates, baptism certificates, etc.... But I think I have everything necessary.

My plan for his medal is to frame it with other civil war (small) memorbelia and perhaps a photo of a Cavalry solder on horse and copy of his enlistment papers (or something like that). To show appropriate respect to him.

His muster out papers (and I was able to locate his complete military file) said that he chose not to pay for his horse when he was mustered out on 7/8/1865. I even have copies of his pension papers, etc...

There is so much more history that goes with his service and this event, which I can't begin to cover here. I just wanted to extend this information to reflect my obvious pride in my great great grandfather's service and the historical event he was part of and awarded for. It was a time of hell for our great country, but WE are all the better for it.

Thanks for reading.

[jeepster09]

That's cool. A few years back I ran into a great aunt who gave me the missing names and I was able to get my family tree back to "the beginning" in England. We were able to go to our local history center in Saint Paul and find lots.

[aray]

Very cool indeed. I have a great, great grandfather (on my mother's side) that also fought in Gettysburg, only for the Confederates. He was in the 11th North Carolina and was wounded in the left shoulder on the first day of fighting near McPherson's ridge and taken out of action. Wonder if your relative shot my relative, eh? :59: If so, I guess I have him to thank for even being here, as the remaining North Carolina troops were pretty much erased by double-canister point-blank artillery rounds on the third day of fighting during Pickett's Charge, just north of The Angle.

Very cool to have an unclaimed medal. Who knew that someone in the government was still tracking these sorts of things that far back? How did you find out that it was available, and how will it be presented to you? Is this something that the modern-day Pentagon takes care of? Very cool indeed, and congratulations!

Love to hear about the event when this is awarded, and please post photos of the medal and your framing once it is all completed.

Congrats again!

[deadhead1971]

:yo: Mine were Confederate--some were in Company K, 4th FL Infanty; Co A & B Munnerlyn's Cattle Guard Battalion, FL Special Cavalry; Co D, 12th SC Infantry, Kershaw's Brigade. Two were POWs.

SCV member since 1997

[garyb]

Very cool to have an unclaimed medal. Who knew that someone in the government was still tracking these sorts of things that far back? How did you find out that it was available, and how will it be presented to you? Is this something that the modern-day Pentagon takes care of? Very cool indeed, and congratulations!

I was doing the ancestry.com thing. Once I saw he served in the Civil War, I started to research what theaters his regimen participated. During that research, I discovered the unclaimed medals and saw his name, mis-spelled. I inquired through the site and found out that he enlisted with his name spelled properly, but someone entered his name incorrectly on parts of his records. We verified that it was in fact who we thought it was and the rest is history. No pun intended. From there, all I had to do was prove that I was his great great grandson, via birth certificates, death certificates, baptism records, census for each generation, etc.... They history site was very helpful. Assuming I provided them with all the proof they need, I guess they will simply mail it to me in a few months. It is packed in its original 146 yr old box. I don't know much more than that at this time. But it is very exciting to have this connection with a great great grandparent that I never met. I'm sure he would be proud too. I plan to display it very tastefully in a frame with some photos and other civil war items (pins, etc...) and perhaps his muster-in and muster-out records. All very interesting to have my hands on. Thank you.

[getsome]

Thats way cool Garyb...I wish I could find out more about my backround and all I know for sure is that my Grandfather came to America as a small child from Ireland...I remember him because he would always buy me a Tonka truck when I got to go to his house...He died when I was 5 and both my parents who were only children died soon after...I'm an only child and the last person living on both sides of my family so there's lots of missing information...I'm almost afraid to look into my family history because I suspect all I'll find is a long history of drunks, horse thieves, cattle rustlers and miscreants...Oh well, looks like it's up to me to be the first one to get the mess corrected...

[garyb]

Thats way cool Garyb...I wish I could find out more about my backround

You can easily do this getsome. Go to www.ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com) and explore your family for 14 days free. You can pay by the month if you need more time. It is interesting to see where this can take you. I am already back to year 1000 in England on one side of the family. Good luck.