22nd North Carolina Infantry, Company M - Part 2

So, the last time I posted, I discussed the timeline of the four Captains of the 22nd North Carolina Infantry, Company M: John Milton Odell, Laban Odell, Warren B. Kivett, and Columbus F. Siler. This time around, I think I will tackle the Lieutenants of the Company.

As I mentioned in my previous post, some of the Captains previously held the office of 1st, 2nd or 3rd Lieutenant. Instead of going over their experiences again, I will instead focus on the other men who also served as Lieutenants in the Company.

The First Lieutenants

First, we'll start with Lewis F. McMasters.

Lewis F. McMasters was elected 2nd Sergeant upon his enlistment in the Company on 10 June 1861. He originally enlisted for a year, but as with most soldiers, he ended up staying a lot longer than that.

Taken from Service Records

When his Captain, John Milton Odell, was "defeated" on 27 April 1862, a bunch of officers shifted in the ranks. 1st Lieutenant Laban Odell filled the spot of Captain, 2nd Lieutenant Warren B. Kivett took Laban's spot as 1st Lieutenant, and Lewis F. McMasters took Warren's spot as 2nd Lieutenant. (Columbus F. Siler took Lewis' spot as 2nd Sergeant.)

Just a few short weeks later, the Company was active in battle with Pettigrew's Brigade at Seven Pines (also known as the Battle of Fair Oaks), which took place 31 May to 1 June 1862. Lewis was wounded here at Seven Pines. According to his service records, he was shot in the arm.

Taken from Service Records

Lewis moved from hospital to hospital with this injury, all while being a Prisoner of War. He was supposedly first admitted to the USA Hospital Steamer Louisiana on 7 June 1862, but my research shows that the steamer may have been on the Mississippi River traveling from Tennessee to Ohio during this time period, so that may be incorrect.

As shown in the clip above, on 8 June 1862, he was moved to the Hygeia Hotel which was being used as a USA General Hospital in Fort Monroe, Virginia.  Then, on 16 June 1862, he was transferred to the Chesapeake Hospital at Fort Monroe. He stayed at Chesapeake, it seems, for almost a month before being transferred to Fort Delaware 15 July 1862.

Fort Delaware seemed to be a horrible location from what I've read. While most of their prisoners were captured at Gettysburg, approximately 2,400 Confederate soldiers are said to have died at Fort Delaware.

Taken from Service Records
States Lewis was "wounded May 31st and in hands of enemy."

On 5 August 1862, Lewis is listed as being part of a prisoner exchange at Aikens Landing, Virginia. While I know a lot of prisoners were exchanged at this location during this time, I can't find any more specifics about this exchange specific to Lewis.

Taken from Service Records
The date of his capture seems to be wrong on this document

In any case, Lewis was apparently granted a furlough upon his exchange, and he doesn't appear back in the service records until October 1862.

I'm not sure what happens to Lewis between October and March, but I know on 16 March 1862, Lewis gets promoted to 1st Lieutenant (Columbus F. Siler takes his spot as 2nd Lieutenant.). Then, 1(0) April 1863, Lewis resigned from his post as Lieutenant and leaves the War. (Columbus, once again, takes his spot as 1st Lieutenant.)

Taken from Service Record
Lewis' resignation letter stating the injury to his arm interfered with his ability to hold his position.

The second person to hold the rank of 1st Lieutenant was Columbus F. Siler. Since I have already mentioned his experiences with the Company in my previous post, I will skip him this time around.

The third person to hold the rank of 1st Lieutenant was James (also appears as John) M. Robbins.

Taken from Service Records

James initially enlisted for service as a 21-year-old on 10 March 1862 for a three-year term. Not a lot seems to have happened to James in his first year in the War, but on 16 April 1863, James was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.

Then, same as all of the other rank changes in May 1863, James was also promoted. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant when Columbus was promoted to Captain. (John M. Lawrence was put in the rank of 2nd Lieutenant as James' successor.)

Taken from Service Records

James M. Robbins was merely "present" in the records from April until August. Then, on 25 August 1864, probably at Reams' Station, Virginia, James was wounded.

Taken from Service Records

He was hospitalized at the Camp Winder Hospital in Richmond. On 27 September 1864, he returned to duty and, seemingly, served until the end of the War.

The Second Lieutenants

Henry C. Allred and James M. Pounds were originally elected 2nd Lieutenants when they enlisted with the Company on 10 June 1861. Both men served as 2nd Lieutenant until they were "defeated" 27 April 1862.

Taken from Henry's Service Records

Taken from James' Service Record

Columbus F. Siler took Henry's place as 2nd Lieutenant, and Lewis F. McMasters took James' place. Since I have already discussed their time with the Company, I am going to skip them here. Same with James M. Robbins who served after them in this position.

John M. Lawrence was the sixth and final person to serve as 2nd Lieutenant for the Company. John enlisted 10 June 1861 when the Company was formed and was immediately elected 1st Sergeant.

As with James Robbins, John's time in the War seemed relatively uneventful for the first year. Then, in July 1862, John shows up as being absent from the rolls. It is noted that he was wounded in action. I am unsure when or where this occurred, but he was absent at least through October 1862.

Taken from Service Records

From October 1862 to March 1863, I don't see him in the records, but in March, he is promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. They list on his promotion that he had been previously wounded three times in three battles, but I have not found dates for these wounds yet to venture a guess on where they occurred.

Taken from Service Records

After this promotion is when things get a little more intense for John. On 1 July 1863, John was wounded at Gettysburg and taken as a Prisoner of War.

Taken from Service Records

He is admitted to the USA General Hospital at Newton University in Baltimore, Maryland on 18 July 1863 with a gunshot wound. But by 31 July 1863, he has been transferred to the hospital at Chester, Pennsylvania. He doesn't stay in Pennsylvania long either.

Taken from Service Records

On 31 August 1863, he gets transferred to Sandusky, Ohio. At some point, he ends up at Johnson's Island in Ohio, and he stays there for two years until he is sent to Point Lookout, Maryland for a prisoner exchange.

Taken from Service Records

I don't know if the prisoner exchange was actually to occur, or if they changed their plans, but John was not exchanged at Point Lookout. Instead, he was sent to Fort Delaware. He arrived there 28 April 1865. (I have already alluded to the horrible conditions John would have faced at Fort Delaware.)

Then, on 12 June 1865, John is finally released after having signed the Oath of Allegiance at Fort Delaware.

Taken from Service Records

John, no doubt, had it the worst of all of the men I have highlighted from this unit. He was wounded at least four times, each time in a different battle. He was a Prisoner of War from the time he was last injured at Gettysburg until practically the end of the War.

I have not done any research into this man's life yet, but I am curious if his descendants (if he had any) know what this man went through and the life he led. He was only 20-years-old when he enlisted in the War. To imagine the life he led before he was even 25... this is truly a remarkable man!

Sources:

• Civil War Talk
• Civil War Trust: Seven Pines (there is a beautiful map of the Battle at this site)
• Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina (accessed on Fold3)
• Daily Press: The Civil War hospitals at Fortress Monroe
• Fort Delaware Civil War Prison
• Prison Life at Fort Delaware

James C. Campbell

The following is an excerpt (edited slightly to include updated information) from my 21 February 2015 "Widespread Roots" post about my 4th great-grandfather, James Columbus Campbell.

James enlisted 15 July 1861 in Elberton, Georgia as a Private with Captain J. C. Burch and Company F of the 15th Regiment Georgia Infantry. He enlisted "for the war unless sooner discharged." I found this funny, because most people listed simply "for the war." The clarification he added at the end of his enlistment period somehow adds character to James for me.

Taken from Service Records

In January and February 1862, James is listed as absent from war due to "sick leave."

Taken from Service Records

The story gets more interesting as in March and April, James is listed as being "absent with wagon."

Taken from Service Records

I don't know what happened during that time he was sick with what seems to be a stolen wagon, but in May and June of 1862, he is present again in the war. 

I lose track of James after June of 1862. That is until he shows back up in the 38th Georgia Infantry, Company F. His actions between June and September of 1862, when he enlists in the 38th, go mostly unmentioned in records. I do find it interesting that this time when he enlisted with Captain Thornton, he signed up "for 3 years or during the war."

Taken from Service Records. They mixed up the enlisting Captains on these two records.

In January and February 1863, James is listed as being "home on furlough." By March 1863, though, he has returned to battle. From March 1863 until April 1864, James continues to show up as "present" with the 38th Georgia Infantry. 

He followed them to Gettysburg. He was listed as one of the wounded on 1 July 1863. He appears in 1 Division General Hospital at Camp Winder in Richmond and General Hospital No. 9 shortly after Gettysburg.

Taken from Service Records

On 6 June 1864, James is listed as being at Jackson Hospital in Richmond with a disease I don't understand. It says

"V. S. R. Arm

Mi. B."

Taken from Service Records

"VS." stands for "Vulnus Sclopeticum" which means "relating to a wound caused by a gunshot wound. I assume "R. Arm" means "Right Arm." I do not know what "Mi. B." stands for. My best guess is "Mid-Back." 

Whatever it was, he returned to duty 27 June 1864. 

Then, on 22 August 1864, James gets promoted to 2nd Sergeant. Apparently, this was a bad move for James because one month later, on 22 September 1864, he gets captured at Fisher's Hill, Virginia and becomes a Prisoner of War.

Taken from Service Records

He was held at Point Lookout, Maryland. Even though he was captured in September, he doesn't make it to Point Lookout until 27 November 1864 from Harpers Ferry. 

James was released 4 June 1865 having taken the Oath of Allegiance to the United States. 

After the war, life seems to have returned relatively back to normal for the Campbell family. They were farmers before the War, and they were farmers after the War. Other than the fact that the value of his real estate and personal estate were cut in half in 1870 compared to 1860, James seemed to return to a relatively normal life. 

James died at the age of 68. According to his wife's pension application, James died 8 May 1893 of typhoid fever.

Taken from Sarah's Widow's Pension Application

Sources:

• 1860 Ray's District, Hart County, Georgia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Ray's District, Hart County, Georgia U.S. Federal Census (access on Ancestry)
• 1902 and 1903 Confederate Widow's Pension Applications (accessed on Ancestry)
• Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia (accessed on Fold3)
• 19th Century Medical Terminology

W. S. Lineberry

For my first post on this blog, I couldn't think of a better subject than Winfield Scott Lineberry. It was his account of his experience in the US Civil War that got me interested in Civil War history. Now I will try to share that history with you.

Winfield Scott Lineberry was born 2 April 1847 in Locust Grove, Randolph County, North Carolina at the farm home of his parents. He was the 8th of 9 children born to Lemuel and Sally Hanner Lineberry.

When Scott was just 14, the War started. I'll let him tell you himself what his experience was like. This was taken from his "Biography of the Lineberry Family," which he wrote in 1918.

"When I saw the men volunteering and drilling, oh, how I did want to go too, but my father and mother told me I was too young. However, I had an ambition to be a military man, so I studied the army tactics and became a drillmaster.  After I was 15 I was a pretty good drillmaster and was elected first lieutenant of the state militia, but this did not put me in the regular army where I could shoot Yankees, and this was the height of my ambition.  When the first draft came on, which I believe was in 1862, I was elected first lieutenant of the drafted men.  Now I thought I was going to get to don a uniform and go and fight Yankees, but that night when I came home my hope was cut in the bud, for my parents told me I was too young and could not go, but in April, 1864, all between 17 and 18 were called to the colors, so we met in Asheboro and organized and I was again elected first lieutenant and Will Foust was elected captain.  We were ordered out the 25^th of May and when we got to Raleigh we had to reorganize and I was elected captain.  My company was put in the first regular junior reserves as Company F.  We later became the 70th Regular N. C. Troops.  We drilled in Raleigh sometime.  I had in my company 110 men, as fine a looking set of boys as ever shouldered a musket and I must say I was proud of them."

 

According to the book, "Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions," the other officers in W. S. Lineberry's 70th NC Troop, Company F, included 1st Lieutenants L. S. Gray and H. C. Causey, 2nd Lieutenants H. C. Causey, Z. T. Rush, W. T. Glenn, and W. R. Ashworth.

Clipping from "Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions"

"I soon had them well drilled, as I had had some experience in drilling, and we were soon transferred to Weldon.  There was a lot connected with this young life of mine that I would like to tell you, but it would consume too much space, so I must hasten on. 

The first time we had the pleasure of meeting the bluecoats was at a place called Poplar Point, on the Roanoke River.  We sunk three gunboats (one got away) and put the Yankees to flight.  I think that was one of the happiest nights I ever spent.  I had tested my boys and saw they had the grit and would fight I was prouder of them than I was before. 

Our next fight was at Bellfield, Va.  We fought the Yankees all day and laid in line of battle all night.  That night there came a big sleet which froze our blankets to our clothes.  Next morning when light came, to our surprise the Yankees were gone.  They left the ground covered with dead, which proved we had not shot wild.  We pursued them several miles, but could not overtake them, so we came back to North Carolina."

Clipping from "Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions"

"Our next fight was at Kinston the last of March.  Here we held an army four times our number three days, and many a Yankee we made turn up his toes, but on the third night the Yankees found they could not break our lines.  They commenced moving so as to cut us off from Raleigh, so we had to fall back to Smithfield.  I was slightly wounded in this fight, but never left the battle field.  Our next fight was at Bentonsville, near Smithfield.  Here Joe Johnson, our commander, had to fight not only the army we fought at Kinston, but all of Bill Sherman’s grand army.  They had at least six men to our one, but notwithstanding this our grand army, which was half-naked and half-starved, held all this powerful army in check for three days and nights and many were the dead bluecoats we left on the field.  When they found they could not break our lines they again tried to cut us off from Raleigh, so we had to fall back again.  When he got to Raleigh we heard the news of Lee’s surrender, so Johnson marched us to Greensboro and surrendered to Sherman, and this ended the war.  We surrendered April 27, 1865."

I think the thing that makes me love the story of Winfield Scott Lineberry so much is the fact that it was so many other soldiers' story as well. He was a young boy who was, technically, too young to fight, but he didn't let that stop him. Not only did he not let that stop him from fighting, he didn't let that stop him from becoming a Captain.

As far as I know, he was the only one of his siblings who fought as well. His siblings were "hatters" by trade for most of their careers. Perhaps they "served" by supplying soldiers during the War? Further investigation into any possible connection to the War with his older brothers is still needed.

Probably the most impactful part of Scott's story, though, is the aftermath of the war. His story continues in his "Biography" after he got home from the war.

"On April 28th, 1865, I put foot in my old home once more with nothing in this world only the old clothes on my back and they were ragged—not a dollar in the world.  I was sick on our retreat and put my knapsack in a baggage wagon with my uniform, which was nearly new, and all my belongings except my Bible, and I never saw the knapsack any more.  I found everything at home impoverished and I felt like I had rather be dead than alive.  I went to work on the farm with but little to work with."

Five and a half years after the end of the Civil War, Scott got married and began his family. They had nine children. He stayed rather close to other Civil War veterans during the remainder of his life. He served as US Deputy Marshal briefly. He spent some time as a storekeeper under a man who served as a Colonel in the War (who later became a US Senator). Then, in 1910, he became the superintendent of the Confederate Soldier's Home in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Confederate Soldier's Home in Raleigh, NC
Postcard. Image from goodnightraleigh.com

Winfield Scott Lineberry died 20 June 1926. He is buried in Grays Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery, which is located in Franklinville, Randolph County, North Carolina.

Capt W. S. Lineberry and Hulda Louisa Vickory Lineberry
Copyright Brittany Jenkins, 2011

Capt. W. S. Lineberry's Signature
as taken from a letter written during the War.
Found in his service records.

Sources:

• Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina (accessed on Fold3)
• Goodnight Raleigh
• "Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War, 1861-1865"
• Lineberry, W. S., Biography of the Lineberry Family, 1918
• Tombstone, Capt. W. S. Lineberry and Hulda Louisa Lineberry