Garren's Civil War research

[terrell garren]

I am Terrell Garren and I am searching for documents, photographs and other information pertaining to Confederate soldiers known as Junior Reserves. In the last year of the American Civil War seventeen year olds were drafted and sent to the Confederate Army. Many were captured before being officially assigned to regiments. Those not captured became part of what was known as the First Regiment North Carolina Junior Reserves. There were at least two hundred such boys from our area.

I am also searching for letters, military records, old newspaper accounts or any other information on Confederate soldiers from WNC who were in Union prisons during the Civil War.

Finally, I am seeking names and information on Union soldiers from WNC. Most of these men were in the Confederate Army first. Most went over to the Union Army very late in the War. There names may appear in both Union and Confederate records. Photographs of these men are rare and important if you happen to have one.

The state of North Carolina is also researching these same groups. Any important information I collect will also be sent to the North Carolina Office of Archives and History in Raleigh.

Thank you,
Terrell T. Garren

[terrell garren]

Mr. Bradley,

I meant to report that I reviewed the Bradley records in a digital format. It was not good for copying. I will copy their records when I get to look at a microfilm version. I plan on going to Nashville for that.

TG

[terrell garren]

Mr. Bradley,

I spent yesterday at the National Archives facility in Atlanta/Morrow, Georgia. I looked up the Compiled Service Record for your Bradleys. I found them both.

You already knew that Elias Alexander Bradley died of Typhoid in September of 1864. I regret to report that J. Willis Bradley also died. He is in the records as Johnathan W. Bradley, 4th Tennessee Cavalry. His record indicates that he died of "Arachinitis" on October 16, 1864. Apparantly Aractinitis is a form of meningitis.

Johnathan Willis Bradley was only 20 years old when he died. His brother or first cousin, Elias Alexander, was only 18 years old when he died, which means he was inelligible for mandatory Confederate service until 1864. That explains why he was never in the Confederate Army.

This is representative of a sad pattern for Confederate soldiers. I've seen numerous examples of older Confederate heroes who desert the Army in 1863 or 1864. Such men would often come home, round up a young relative and take him to the relative safety of the Union Army. Confederate draft law changes in those years put young boys in jeopardy. The men in the trenches of Virginia knew what fate awaited these young boys. They made a difficult decision to try and save themselves and these youngsters from probable death or mutilation.

I am developing a point system to rate soldiers. J. Willis Bradley will have about 360 points for Confederate service and about150 points for Union Service. Of course their will be bonus points added for dying in service but it is interesting to note he was a Confederate for about a year and a Union soldier for about five months.

Thank you for bringing their lives to our attention. I won't forget them.

Terrell Garren

[terrell garren]

Mr. Bradley,

From the information you have it looks to me like you have their identities correct. Elias had an enlistment date that is only one day different from J. Willis. Very often pairs or groups of men would go over together. When we get the compiled service records it will be interesting to see how old Elias was. I've seen multiple cases of a man who had been a Confederate veteran/hero escorting a youngster to the Union lines to save them. The veterans knew how bad the war was and by 1864 many of them recognized that the South could not win. The new Confederate draft law passed in 1864 called boys on their 17th birthday.

 

Thanks,

TG

[Chivous Omar Bradley]

I have no proof that they are the men I think they are.  However, Jonathan Bradley had a son named Elias Alexander Bradley by his first wife before he came back to Buncombe County, possibly born in Cherokee County.  This Elias Alexander Bradley was on the 1860 Census of Buncombe County with Jonathan and his 2nd wife Sarrah "Sallie" Goldsmith Bradley.  He enlisted May 11, 1864 in Chattanooga TN.  He died in USA General Hospital No. 19 at Nashville TN September 27, 1864 from Typhoid Fever (this may have been his interment date rather than death date).  He was buried in plot number 9471 Nashville City Cemetery   His father Jonathan claimed his effects on September 27 1864 according to W. H. Thom, surgeon.

 

If J. Willis Bradley is who I think he is, he was a son of Alexander Bradley and Elizabeth Goldsmith Bradley.  Alexander and Jonathan Bradley were brothers, so the two soldiers would have been 1st cousins.  When you check the archives, you may prove me wrong because I'm going on limited information.

[terrell garren]

Mr. Bradley,

Regarding Private J. Willis Bradley, you bring attention to an interesting case. Since we know his record says he deserted the Confederate Army in September 1862 and Union records indicate he was "confined" at Knoxville in May of 1864. Where was he for more than a year and a half? It appears that he became an "outlier," but we have to consider that he may have been in a Union prison of some kind? We also have to consider that the 1864 date is wrong. I'll see if I can sort that out when I see his compiled service record. I have a similar situation with one of my ancestors.

 

I also want to point out that an outlier and a bushwacker are not the same thing. An outlier was just someone trying to avoid the war, a bushwhacker was a criminal. 

Thanks,

TG

[terrell garren]

Clearification of my posting of Catagories (September 25, 2011) of men from WNC who went into the Union Army

 

Catagory A. Confederate deserters. I should have explained that a man who joins the Union Army to get out of a Union Prison technically fits in the "deserter" catagory. A soldier who is a POW is still in service. But most people don't understand that, therefore I'd like to amend the catagory A as follows: A1. Confederate deserters A2. Confederates who joined the Union Army to get out of a Union prison. A huge portion of Confederates from WNC who went into the Union Army fit in this catgory. I have not counted them yet, but I'd say A2 is the largest of all the catgories.

 

I will also take this opportunity to remind readers that Union prisons were worse than the Confederate Prisons at Andersonville. I did not come up with this claim on my own. Dr. George Levy's landmark book, To Die In Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas documents this point very well. Levy is no southern diehard, he was Assistant Attorney for the state of Illinois and a professor at Roosevelt University.

 

About 25% of the Confederates who went to a Union prison died there. There were approximately 1,000 men from WNC who died in Union prisons. It's not surprising that men joined to get out of one of those prisons. What is most amazing is that most of the men refused to join the Union Army even for that reason. Stranger still is that it does not seem to matter whether they were conscripted or voluteered, many still wouldn't do it. There were about five Heatherlys from Henderson County captured together. Only one of the five agreed to join the Union Army. The other four died in prison.

Thanks,

TG

[terrell garren]

Mr. Bradley,

Thank you for the comment. I did not have the Union record on these two men. I will be going to National Archives again soon. I will pull the compiled service records on them as soon as I can. I'm guessing that the two are brothers? Maybe they are father and son? At any rate here is the Confederate record on J. Willis Bradley as it appears on Page 142 of North Carolina Troops, he was in the 39th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, CSA:

 

Bradley, J. Willis, Private

Resided in Buncombe County where he enlisted at age 19, October 28, 1861. Reported present February-April 1862. Listed as a deserter September 15, 1862. Went over to the enemy on an unspecified date. Confined at Knoxville, Tennessee May 9, 186(4). Took the Oath of Allegiance on or about May 10, 166(4).

 

The brackets around the "4" indicate that the archivist was unsure of the number. Sometimes the handwritten record is hard to read. Sometimes they are unreadable.

This Mr. Bradley was clearly a Confederate. The 39th was an all volunteer regiment and since we know that he joined The Confederate Army in October 1861 he could not possibly have been conscripted. The first Confederate conscription law was passed in April 1862.

 

The 39th saw some hard fighting during the period that J. Willis Bradley was in the Confederate Army. They were part of the invasion of Kentucky in August and September of 1862. Mr. Bradley would have been present for the battle of Richmond, which resulted in a Confederate victory and the taking of Lexington, Kentucky. At some point it must have been too much for him and he left. It is also possible that he was captured and was incorrectly listed as "going over to the enemy."

 

As for the other Mr. Bradley I did not find his Confederate record yet. But I be willing to bet a soft drink that he was younger or much older than J. Willis and he may have not been eligible for mandatory service during the early part of the war.

 

At any rate, I'll check them out in a couple of weeks and post the results here. But from what we have so far the Bradleys fit right into the pattern I've been trying to explain to people for some time. They were Confederates who gave up on the cause.

 

Thank you.

PS-My father served under General Omar Bradley during WWII. He had the highest respect for the man. I assume you may be named after him?

TG

[Chivous Omar Bradley]

J. Willis Bradley and Elias Alexander Bradley-first cousins from Buncombe County- were members of Co. K, 4th Regiment Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army. 

[Rob Neufeld]

Hello, Betty!  I'm trying to follow the thread.  Regarding the Shelton Laurel Massacre, was there something on this blog that led you too bring this up?  Or are you bringing up another thread?  If so, to whom or what are you referring when you mention victims?  That would be interesting to know.  Thanks!/Rob

[Betty Cloer Wallace]

Lord ha' mercy!  It's amazing how many people these days want to be a victim of the Shelton Laurel Massacre!  Some Sheltons (and relations), you know, just wanted to be left alone, and still do.