Ive seen some people arguing about this guy recently. Some saying he’s amazing, others not so much. And I’m at the point of sheer curiosity. What exactly did this guy do? Why is he held in such a high regard?
The guy absolutely obliterated British at Cowpens, and probably would’ve done more if illness didn’t force him to retire.
Makes you wonder why they would draft him and not do anything with him.
Context: most of my ancestors fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, sucks, I know. Only 5 were
"Union," but none saw combat. Lyman's terms, They rode around some mountain for a few months. Pisses me off for several reasons, but the one above takes the cake. He was in the Army for 2 and a half years, all he did was stand around a railroad and never saw combat, and became a deserter TWICE for overstaying a furlough. He missed EVERY SINGLE BATTLE his regiment took part in.
George joined Company E of the 15th West Virginia Infantry on September 10, 1862. He was absent sick July 1863 before returning in August.
He went into Hospital again in May 1864, and would die of pneumonia on January 22, 1865, after of a total of 2 and a half years with the 15th. He’s buried in City Point National Cemetery in Hopewell, Virginia. His time was entirely spent on garrison and guard duty along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and never saw combat.
He was the 1 of 5 brothers in the Union Army, and the only one to not survive. The brothers being, Francis, Nimrod, Elijah, and John. Francis lost a leg at the second Battle of Bull Run. And Nimrod was a Mexican-American war Veteran and Lieutenant in the 1st West Virginia Cavalry.
30 years after his death, Francis wrote a letter to the editors of the Morgantown Journal. He included George in the list of brothers who “wore the blue in defense of this glorious Union of ours.” A record he said he was proud of, even though he got George’s regiment wrong, putting it down as “5th West Virginia Infantry.”
I once saw on his Find a Grave page that he was at Yorktown, but as you can see from this pension application, he wasn’t.
This was another battle my ancestor was at. Again, too bad it was another Failure.