Marital Conflict pt 2... Blue vs. Gray

As mentioned previously, both my wife and I have families that have been in the Americas since the 1600-1700's. While my families were from the Northeast, my wife's families were all settled in North Carolina. See Marital Conflict pt 1 for the interesting Revolutionary War stories of our families.

As the United States found itself struggling with the questions of State's Rights and Slavery, our families were on the opposite sides of the conflict based on geography.

My 4G-Grandfather, Daniel Blackford, enlisted in October, 1862 with Company D, 19th Ohio Infantry. He served until June 1863. Based on the timeframe, Daniel may have participated in the March to Nashville, Tenn., October 16-November 7, and duty there till December 26. Advance on Murfreesboro, Tenn., December 26-30. Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, and January 1-3, 1863. Duty at Murfreesboro till June. Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 22-July 7. Liberty Gap June 22-24.

I have no other direct relations that served, although many Great-Uncles that served such as 3G-Grand Uncle, James Miller Reed, who served in the Civil War with Company I, 134th Pennsylvania Volunteers, with brother Joseph Gilmore Reed. James Reed contracted typhoid fever and died 01 Dec 1862 at age 20 in Falmouth, VA.

My GG-Grand Uncle, Conrad Bockmier, at age 15 enlisted on October 11, 1861 from Cattaraugus County, NY and was mustered into the United States service at Elmira, NY as a private for a term of 3 years in Company K, 64th Regiment, New York Infantry under Captain William Fancher and H.N. Hunt, and Colonels R.Y. Parker and O.G. Bingham. The Regiment was attached to the 1st and 4th Brigade, 1st Division, 2nd Army Corps, Army of the Potomac and Conrad Bockmier shared the fortunes of his regiment in all its movements, operations and engagements during his stay with the Regiment, including the siege of Yorktown, April 16 to May 4, 1862, Battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines, May 31 to June 1, 1862. He was wounded June 1, 1862 by a gun shot wound in the left side, was treated first in hospital at West Philadelphia, PA. Sent to convalescent camp and rejoined the regiment in September 1862 just prior to the Battle of Antietam. At the Battle of Antietam, he spent most of the time in the wounded tents convalescing as he was made very ill by the long march and poor food after having just recovered from his earlier wound -- it was here that Conrad Bockmier met President Abraham Lincoln. After recovery, he served in the following battles: Chancellorsville - May 1-4, 1863; Gettysburg - July 1-3, 1863; Auburn and Bristoe - Oct. 14, 1863; Mine Run - Nov. 26-28, 1863; Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864; Spottsylvania - May 8-21, 1864; Po River - May 10, 1864; Assault on the Bloody Angle - May 12, 1864; North Anna River - May 23-26, 1864; Barnunkey River - May 26-28, 1864; Tatapomey - May 28-31, 1864; Before Petersburg - June 16-18, 1864; Welden Railroad - June 22-23, 1864; Deep Bottom - July 27-28, 1864; Strawberry Plains - Aug. 14-18, 1864; Reams Station - Aug. 25, 1864; Hatcher's Run - Oct. 27-28, 1864.
After an arduous service, he was Honorably Discharged on November 18, 1864, Front of Petersburg expiration term of service.

Now, my wife, Katherine, is from North Carolina. She is the direct descendent of several Confederate States of America service members, including several that died during the war.  5 of her 8 GG-Grandfather's served, with the other 3 being too young. And at least 3 of her 3G-Grandfather's served as well.

Her GG-Grandfather, Robert O. Devinney (Great-Grandson of Aaron Deveney from Marital Conflict pt 1), was a resident of Cleveland County when he enlisted as a Private on 26 Feb 1863 in Wake County, North Carolina. He was mustered into Co. G, 12th North Carolina Infantry that same day. The 12th North Carolina Infantry was organized on 14 Nov 1861 and assigned to the Army of Northern Virginia. During his time of military service, the 12th North Carolina fought numerous engagements, including: Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse.

As you can see, Robert Devinney and the 12th NC Infantry Regiment were at many of the same major battles as Conrad Bockmier of the 64th NY Infantry Regiment. While further research would have to be done to see if these units were across from each other on the battlefield or just in the same vicinity, our families though separated by great distance had crossed paths before.

On 12 May 1864, in the battle at Spotsylvania Courthouse, Robert and 47 other men of the 12th North Carolina Infantry were taken prisoner and confined at Point Lookout, Maryland. He was transferred on 10 Aug 1864 to the Union POW camp at Elmira, NY where Robert Devinney died of pneumonia on 2 Dec 1864. He is buried in Woodlawn National Cemetery, grave 885.
1233 of the 2917 Confederates buried at "Hellmira" were from North Carolina. Confederate dead were buried in 36 rows on a 2½ acre portion of the city cemetery (later designated Woodlawn National Cem.) by John W. Jones, an escaped slave from Leesburg, Virginia. Jones marked each grave with a wooden headboard listing the soldier's name, company, regiment and state. The wooden headboards were later replaced with stone gravemarkers.

Her 3G-Grandfather, Burrell Bossell Anderson, enlisted with Company F, 58th North Carolina Infantry, Confederate States Army on July 28th, 1862 at Bell's Bridge, TN. The 58th NC Infantry was part of the Army of Tennessee. Burrell was sent to the hospital on September 23rd, 1863 per the 10/31/1863 muster roll, 8/31/1864 muster roll says "never heard from since." His family never heard from him and he's believed to have died at the hospital.  Based on the date of the hospital entry, he may have been injured at the Battle of Chickamaunga.

Katherine's GG-Grandfather, Sidney Yoder, enlisted on July 4th, 1861 with the 1st NC Infantry and served with the Army of Northern Virginia until his capture on April 6th, 1865 at Amelia Court House Virginia (3 days before General Lee surrendered at Appomattox). He was sent to Point Lookout Maryland until he was paroled on 6/22/1865.

Another GG-Grandfather, Edgar I. Leinbach, served in I Company, 33rd North Carolina Infantry. Family lore has it that the Southern forces were tired and hungry and that the Northern forces would call out and state if you surrendered you would get food. Edgar could smell the food and eventually succumbed. He surrendered and was apparently sent to Indiana to live with Cousins under the equivalent of a house arrest. After the war he walked home from Indiana to North Carolina and the family still has his walking stick!

A fourth GG-Grandfather, Wiley Nathaniel Shamel, enlisted as a Private on 15 January 1863 at the age of 18. He enlisted in Company B, 6th Infantry Regiment North Carolina Troops on 15 January 1863. He was taken as a POW on 20 July 1864 at Winchester, Virginia. Confined on 23 July 1864 at Camp Chase, Ohio. Took Oath of Allegiance on 18 February 1865 at Camp Chase, Ohio. Wiley's father, George Shamel, was registered with the NC 7th Regiment Senior Reserves.

Respectfully Submitted by

Derek A. Green
genealogy@thegreenfamily.com

Posted 2/28/2009
Updated 7/7/2012