Civil War Relatives

For the last month I have been obsessed with the Civil War, from a family history perspective.  I have been working on getting the National Park Service to give the grave of my gg-grandfather a marker; I have been researching the current location of the regimental flags for the 33rd Illinois, and I have been researching the oral history that one of my gg-grandfathers was a Union spy.

In the meantime, I did put together a list of all my grandfathers and granduncles who served.  I have not done cousins yet.  This list is complete as best as I can determine (the seven names of gg-grandfathers have been bolded; the five names of those who died in service have been italicized) --

RANK        NAME                REGIMENT        STATE         COMPANY

        Henry M. Walker, Sr.    33rd            Illinois        A

Capt    Harvey J. Dutton        33rd            Illinois        A

        Horace S. Dutton        108th           Illinois        E  

        Charles H. Chesley      8th Cavalry     Illinois        K

        John P. Chesley         13th            Illinois        G

        Leonard Chesley         13th            Illinois        G

Sgt     Luman F. Ward           98th            New York        D

        David Ward              2nd Artillery   Ohio            C

Corp    Arthur H. Needham       2nd Cavalry     Iowa            E

        John H. Needham         155th           Ohio            A

        Horatio E. Needham      29th            Iowa            E

Sgt     George E. Needham       177th           Ohio            A

        Benjamin E. Needham     41st            Ohio            D

        Samuel R. Porter        17th            Illinois        I

Lt Col  Dr. Frank G. Porter               -- Surgeon --

        Alexander W. Porter     39th            Pennsylvania    B

Sgt     John W. Porter          39th            Pennsylvania    B

Corp    Alfred Gibson           33rd            Kentucky        D

Sgt     David Gibson            27th            Kentucky        E

        Thomas R. Gibson        35th            Kentucky        B

        William Gurwell         14th            Ohio            E

        Jesse Jones             13th            Kansas          B

Lt      Edward W. Hall          3rd             Iowa            B

        George Hall             26th            Illinois        K

Corp    Levi Hall               33rd            Illinois        C

        Wilbur Hall             2nd Artillery   Massachusetts   M

        Josiah McKee            33rd            Illinois        C

-- Twenty-seven names in total.  All blue, no grey.   My gg-grandfather James G. Gurwell is said to have served, but I can find no record, so he is not included.  Six of these Illinoisans were at Vicksburg, and their names are cast in bronze inside the Illinois memorial there.

Expanding the list to include cousins will be quite a chore but is within my plans.  I know that will expand my connection to the 33rd Illinois even further, at last count I had seven ancestral relatives in that regiment.  And I am not sure, but I think I have one Gibson cousin who went to Texas and fought on the side the Confederacy, ruining my perfect record of all Union ancestral relatives.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker