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

[Kathi Bobb]

Thanks Terrell, I wasn't really doubting that he was there, just wondering why they were sent there, if they were split from there group.

The record for Levi is listed as Lewis and out of the primary records that I saw, all listed him as Levi except for one page.  I think this was simply someone misreading the v for a w and interpreting a squiggle on the end as an S.  Levi is listed in Jackson Co NC in the 1860 census and he is the appropriate age.  There is only one other Bowers family in the county in that census.  Family knew him as Levi and my great grandfather was named Levi after him.

[terrell garren]

You can be reasonably confident that he, GWB, was at Deep Creek on Feb. 2, 1864. I haven't looked into why you say "this unit was in Zollicoffer." Maybe some of them were there at some point. Maybe there is confusion between 1863 and 1864? But we know at least part of Berry's Company was near or at Deep Creek at the time of the raid. Statements by Sgt. John Smiley of Berry's Company documents that Berry's Company was called out as a result of the Deep Creek raid by the 14th Ill. Cavalry.  There is little doubt that George Washington Bowers was one of the white men captured there. NC Troops states clearly on page 484 of Volume XVI that he was captured on Feb. 2, 1864 not 1863. He spent the rest of the war in a Union prison at Ft. Deleware.

As for "Levi" Bowers, I think you may mean Lewis Bowers. He was born in Chester District of SC  and joined the 29th (it was an all volunteer regiment) on August 31, 1861. He was 47 years old and was discharged on May 21, 1862 due to ill health. His record can be found on page 281, volume VIII of NC Troops.

Happy New Year.

TG

[Kathi Bobb]

Hello again Terrell,

Happy New Year to you and yours.

The new year finds me once again working on the Bowers genealogy.  My most distant ancestor is Levi Bowers who was born in Chester District SC and lived in Jackson County North Carolina in 1860.  He enlisted at the age of 45 under Capt W.A. Enloe in Co F 29th NC.  He was given a disability after serving approximately a year.  He became ill while serving in a hospital.

His son, whom we have discussed before was George Washington Bowers whose pension application I have in my posession.  George states that he was born in McDowell Co, NC in 1840.  George states on his application that he was captured at Deep Creek NC Feb 2 1863 (probably an error in transcription as this battle occurred on the same date in 1864.)  George served under Capt C C Berry.  I found a website that showed a listing of the places where this unit served and it said that in early Feb they were sent to Zollicoffer TN.  I am curious to know how they came to be in Deep Creek if they were sent to Zollicoffer at that time.  Also, where could I find the most complete listing of the soldiers who were at Deep Creek.  I am not aware of any Cherokee blood connection for George and as there were few whites in the Deep Creek battle I am wondering if there were two units there or if George had been separated out for special duty, special leave or anything else that might explain his presence there at that time.  I know that you mentioned that it was a winter quarters...perhaps he was just there to be close to his home.  

I have identified another Bowers family who lived in Jackson County NC (later Swain) in the 1860 census.  The head of this family is John Bowers, his oldest son John Avery Bowers.  He has a younger son Nelson and several other children listed in the census.  I think it is a good possibility that John could be a brother or close cousin to my Levi, so I will be researching him for a little while.

[terrell garren]

Henderson County in the Civil War

I am currently working on a comprehensive history of Henderson County, NC during the Civil War period. If a reader has any information, letters or documents (not part of the existing military record, I would like to have an opportunity to include it in the new book. The book will be out in September. The information sought also includes oral history. If one has such oral history a formal affidavit will be prepared for the provider's signature at my expense. Such affidavits will be shared with the NC Office of Archives and History.

 

Thanks,

TG

[terrell garren]

Mr. Bradley,

It is clear from the record (as signed by Kirk himself), James D. Bradley never served a day with the 2nd or 3rd Mounted Infantry. I agree with you that serving with these two units is something to accept but nothing to be proud of.

Poor James, I suspect he spent two years hiding from both sides. Being an outlier for two years had to be pretty hard on a person's health. He must have been pretty tough to have survived it.

You'll find the Confederate record for James D. Bradley in Volume XIV, page 506 of North Carolina Troops: A Roster 1861-1865.

Your ancestors are a typical family example of what happened in WNC. If one searches through the records of Union soldiers from WNC you'll find two men namedd Garren. Just like your's, they were Confederates first but they figured out that they were all going to die if they kept on. The South had vowed to fight to the death and General Grant set out to kill them all. They were headed toward accomplishing that when the true leader of the South, General Robert E. Lee stepped forward in defiance of his orders, and stopped it.

TG

[Chivous Omar Bradley]

Mr. Garren,

James Dickerson Bradley was born February 2, 1840.  His age fits the James D. Bradley who enlisted in Co. A of the 60th NC Infantry Regiment CSA.  I didn't have that in my notes but it makes sense.  Someone in the family had a note that he "likely served in Kirk's 3rd Infantry as a mounted soldier in the Union Army." I'm not sure who had put that in the family notes but I did have that in my loose notes. Being aware of how Kirk's and Gillem's men treated the civilian population in WNC, I wouldn't hold any pride in his having served in that regiment if he did. Johnathan W. Bradley and James Dickerson Bradley were brothers to my great grandfather, Rufus E. Y. Bradley.

Regards,

Chivous

[terrell garren]

Mr. Bradley,

I wanted to make one more comment on what you wrote. You said: "It is likely that they would have preferred to just mind their own business and not take sides." With that statement you just described the real story behind the Unionism myth in Western North Carolina. Up to this point not a single man from WNC can be found going over to the Union Army in the first year of the war. Almost none went over in the second year of the war. It was only after Gettysburg that it became apparent that the south was losing the war and Confederate conscription threatened everyone that men made the decision to go over.

Men from here in the Union Army is an indication of the south losing the war, not true Unionism. If the south had won the war there would have been no men going over. Many of these men had more time in Confederate service than they did in the Union Army.

It was so horrible that we can't really understand it today. We've never known anything close to that desperate.

Regards,

TG

[terrell garren]

Mr. Bradley,

I did find a Confederate record for James D. Bradley from Buncombe County. He enlisted in Co. A of the 60th NC Infantry Regiment at age 22 on May 3, 1862. He was reported sick at one time then is listed as having deserted April 14, 1863. It appears that he was recruited to go over to the Union but apparently changed his mind. There is no record of him serving anywhere in the Union Army except the "false muster" that I mentioned below. Since the false muster record is incomplete we can't be sure this is the same man but I suspect it is.

Thank you.

TG

 

[terrell garren]

Mr. Bradley,

The 2nd and 3rd NC Mounted Infantry (Union) are two units that are very familiar to me. I have complete rosters on those units in my personal library. Your post below states that he "likey served in the 3rd NC Infantry-Union forces..." There was NO 3rd NC Infantry (Union) in the Civil War. Therefore I assume you meant 3rd NC Mounted Infantry (Union)? Most of the the men from WNC who went over to the Union went to either the 2nd or 3rd MTD Inf.

There is no James Dickerson Bradley or James Bradley in the records of the 3rd NC Mounted Infantry Union. One can find the name of a James Bradley in the 2nd NC Mounted Infantry but he is noted as a "false Muster." The hand written notations state that he never reported to the company. He was declared a "false muster by order of Capt. Kirk."

The was no descriptive book page on this man. Therefore there is no indication of where he came from or where he resided at the time of the war.

I'll keep looking.

T. Garren 

[Chivous Omar Bradley]

Mr. Garren,

When you go to Nashville, if you have time it might be good to look for a Buncombe County soldier  by the name of James Dickerson Bradley who likely served in the 3rd NC Infantry- Union forces sometime during the war.  I believe he was a brother to Johnathan Willis Bradley.  If he is who I think he was, he became a minister in Buncombe and Madison Counties after the war and died in 1880.  Thanks for what you have found.  I do not believe any of these men would have fought for the North unless it became a necessity for survival in their minds. It is likely they would have preferred to just mind their own business and not take sides.

Chivous