Tombstone(less) Tuesday: Pvt. Henry M. Walker, Sr. (1829-1865) at Chalmette National Cemetery, New Orleans, LA.

 

I have made several big discoveries as a genealogist and family historian.  But probably my proudest, most emotional, and most rewarding was finding the grave of my gg-grandfather Henry Walker, Sr. who died in a railroad accident during the Civil War.  Another part of the circle closing the story has been fulfilled.  My son Paul went to the grave and placed American flags over his burial spot, and the spots of those who died along his side and are buried with him.  

He is buried at Chalmette National Cemetery outside New Orleans.  In the second picture you can see that he and his fellow comrades who died in the railroad accident do not have grave markers.  The cemetery did not even know they were buried there until I found records from the 1880s at the National Archives in Washington, DC.  Now we negotiate getting them grave markers.

Step 1, he is found; Step 2, thanks to Paul, we have acknowledged him; Now it is time for step 3, for the government to give him his marker.  By federal law, all veterans are entitled to one.

Copyright © 2021 by Kevin W. Walker

Brickwall Comes Down: Gravesite of Henry M. Walker, Sr. (1829-1865), Part 4.

Moving Forward

I had discovered multiple records contemporary to the death of my 2xg-grandfather in 1865 saying he is buried in Chalmette National Cemetery.  The records list him by name, rank, company, and regiment; date of death, original burial site, and new grave location by number and section.  Yet no current records, including those at Chalmette list him by name.

The next day I called Chalmette National Cemetery, now a part of Jean Lafitte National Park, and told the Ranger who answered the phone my predicament and asked for the email address of the party I needed to address.  She politely gave me the email addresses of the cultural anthropologist and the curator.

I gathered my documentation, wrote a long email, attached all the documentation and emailed it.  The next day the anthropologist replied politely, thanking me and informing me the curator would need to see this and she was out of the office for a week.  While I waited I found more documentation the soldiers are at Chalmette, funny how once your questions are answered the floodgates open. I continued to forward copies to the curator.  I emailed the original ranger I talked to on the phone and asked her to run out to the cemetery and look for those graves by number.  She replied those grave numbers don't exist.

After about a week I received a very nice email from the curator, telling me pretty much what I already knew -- the men are not recorded in any contemporary databases.  She agreed with my documentation and asked for the formal bibliography of sources because she had never seen those records, and she required them at Chalmette in her capacity.

Another week passed.  I received the nicest email from the curator.  She researched everything about the regiment, the soldiers, the train accident, etc. into one large file, sending me a copy.  (She even used this blog as a source.)  It was a nice gesture, but for me it was nothing more than a trip down memory lane, for all that she had included, I had already collected and read at sometime over the last decade.

So, what's the delay?

The problem is that at some point during the last century and a half, the graves were all renumbered.  The one hundred and fifty-year old records I found have the original numbering for the graves of these soldiers, which does not match what is currently in use.

The section number is presumed to still be correct.  My ancestors and his comrades from Company A are recorded as having been buried in Section 86.  The curator informed me that of the ninety-six known graves in section 86, forty-six are marked "Unknown."  She is of the opinion I have "identified" some of the "Unknowns."  I am not the first to have done this, it has happened before.  I politely reminded her they were not "unknown" when they were buried there.

Keeping Moving Forward

It has been a little over two weeks now.  I know the wheels of government turn very slow, and am practicing patience.  The nice curator told me she had now started files for all the men so that they will have answers for any future inquiries.

But I have every intention of identifying the grave of my 2xg-grandfather Henry Martin Walker, Sr., and the graves of his comrades.  These are men who gave their lives in service to the national cause and deserve personal recognition and not gravemarkers reading "Unknown."  The location of the graves are identified by the original set of numbers, and on the burial ledger in the possession of the National Archives (NARA).  I am sorry that somehow, someway their records got misplaced along the way.  I wonder how many other "Unknowns" can now be identified with these new old records the curator will have in her possession?  It is now just a matter of the park service doing the painstaking research.

I told the nice curator, "The 33rd Regiment had two nicknames, first the 'Normal Regiment' and second, the 'Brains Regiment.'  Most of the soldiers were from the 'Bloomington-Normal' area of Illinois, thus the 'Normal' nickname.  Normal, Illinois is the location of Illinois State University, where many of the boys were enrolled, thus the 'Brains' nickname."

So far I could not be happier with the treatment I have received from the three ladies (the ranger, the anthropologist, and the curator) I have dealt with at Chalmette.  But I told the nice curator "this might make an interesting story for the local paper down there, the highly respected Bloomington Pantagraph?  And maybe even the local congressman might want to get his hands involved in making right this injustice?"  I will keep it moving.  You can be sure of that.

My dream is to fly down for the new gravemarker dedication if and when it occurs.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Brickwall Comes Down: Gravesite of Henry M. Walker, Sr. (1829-1865), Part 3.

Lists and Databases

We need to talk about databases, and for this I will include all lists.  Lots, and lots of databases for the Civil War.  Some are published books, some are digital.  Some are public and some are private.  Some are indexed, some are searchable.  But it seems the one unifying factor of all of them is they are based on another list that went before them!  And as to that, some are updated, some are not.

The big daddy of all these databases for the Civil War is the Soldiers and Sailors Database maintained by the National Park Service and for my 2xg-grandfather Henry Martin Walker, Sr, it was in complete agreement with all the others.  It had him mustered, but not dead or buried.

What I knew was that the nine soldiers of the 33rd Illinois regiment that died in the train accident on March 2nd, 1865 three miles west of Boutte Station, Louisiana were on all the muster rolls of the living before the date of the accident, and after the accident they (except for one previously mentioned whose remains were shipped home) do not appear in any databases of the dead that we researchers routinely turn to for information.

 My idea was to sit down and begin taking apart the various databases to find their pedigrees, tracing the "ancestry" of the databases themselves, hoping to cover all bases at the root.  It would be simple enough to do, they are pregnant with misspellings and misinformation that are continuously shared from one generation of databases to the next.  You can identify which family of information a database belongs to by the misspellings and misinformation it contains.

The "Catacombs" (Well, not really.)

I am a history nut.  I love history, and seemingly can't get enough of it.  When I was in college one of my favorite activities was to go all the way down and back into the "catacombs" of the library where the oldest books were housed.  My eyes would open wide and my heart would come alive to handle and thumb through the centuries old books that for me represented a tangible connection to the past.

I venture that the vast majority of members of Ancestry.Com are not aware that the website too has a "catacombs" of sorts.  I am afraid most users limit themselves to doing perfunctory searches and then sorting through the results, rarely venturing past the home page.  But if you go to the deep recesses of the website via the "card catalog" instead of the search engine, you discover thousands of databases that never appear when doing searches.  And it was here my brickwall "fell down."

Eureka!

As I collected the databases (and lists) I would of course check them for the names of any of the missing soldiers, not just the name of my ancestor. I was adding the Chalmette, Louisiana edition of the Roll of Honor and searched for the sergeant Spillman F. Willis --

(Click to Enlarge.)

"Willis, S.F.......Sergeant..........Co. A ...........33d Illinois......"

Wait.  What?  Double-take.  He is listed?  I flip the page and look for Jerome Wolfe --

"Wolfe, -----......Private............Co. A ...........33d Illinois....."

My heart raced!  I flipped back three pages looking for my ancestor H.M. Walker --

"Walker, W.E....Private...........Co. A ............33d Illinois....."

I blinked and looked again.  The initials are wrong, but it is surely him.  He was the only Walker in Company A.  I sat back in my chair, my eyes got misty, and it felt like my heart stopped.  I had found him.  He is at Chalmette National Cemetery, as I suspected.

Or had I found him?  This was only one document.  I returned to the National Park Service's Soldiers and Sailors database.  No record for W.E. Walker, S.F. Willis, or ----- Wolfe, or any of the other men.  That is very strange!  That is the database that includes all the burials of all the national cemeteries!

Off to the Chalmette National cemetery website to search two of their databases one by name, and one by war.  No hits for any of the men.  Are you serious??  What the heck?!

Research showed that the Rolls of Honor were mostly compiled using the Quartermaster General's burial ledgers, again available in the "catacombs" of Ancestry.Com.

Handwritten in 1868, recording their dis-internment from their original burial site and re-internment at Monument National Cemetery (original name for Chalmette National Cemetery) in New Orleans, three years after their death, we have the following documentation.  Index, listing all eight of the missing soldiers --

(Click to Enlarge)

And the record itself, specifying the actual location of the graves --

Here I had their names, their ranks, company, and regiment; their date of death, the location of their original burial, and the location of their new internment at Chalmette including their grave number and section number.  Once again I returned to the Chalmette website and looked for the men in a third database, listing graves by section, and the men are still not there.

I sat with my mouth agape.  So the handwritten records contemporary to the death of my ancestor and his comrades show them buried, by name (albeit misrecorded for most) and grave number in Chalmette National Cemetery.  But none of the databases contemporary to us one hundred and fifty years later list them by correct name or incorrect.

Were the graves lost?  Were the records lost?  Were graves shared?

Well heck, time to contact Chalmette!

Tomorrow, PART 4, moving forward.


Bibliography
Roll of Honor United States. 1869. Names of soldiers who died in defense of the American Union, interred in the national cemeteries at Memphis, Tennessee, and Chalmette, (near New Orleans) Louisiana. Washington [D.C.]: G.P.O.
Burial Ledgers. The National Cemetery Administration, Washington, D.C. (Original records transferred to NARA: Burial Registers, compiled 1867-2006, documenting the period 1831-2006. ARC ID: 5928352. Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773–2007, Record Group 15. National Archives at Washington, D.C.
Burial Ledgers.  Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Quartermaster General. (09/18/1947–08/01/1962). Burial Registers of Military Post and National Cemeteries, compiled ca. 1862–ca. 1960. ARC ID: 4478151. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Brickwall Comes Down: Gravesite of Henry M. Walker, Sr. (1829-1865), Part 2.

Location.  Location.  Location.

So I needed to identify the location of the accident.  All the reliable sources reported a number between three and four miles "west of Boutte Station."  I looked at many dozens of maps.  I was blessed that since we are dealing with an accident on a railroad, maps contemporary to the accident were plentiful.

(Click to enlarge.)

The reported location would have put the accident somewhere in the vicinity of what is now Paradis, LA.  Now what is interesting is that right around this point there is a canal with a crossing.  The witnesses to the accident said that there were a horse and a mule racing the locomotive on the track, and as they approached "a crossing" they expected the animals to take it, which the mule did and the horse started to, but changed its mind and turned back onto the track instigating the tragedy.  I can easily envision this being the site of the accident, and seeing the animals not wanting to enter the canal veering off.  Further, we are told that as many as six of the men "drowned" under the overturned trains, including my 2xg-grandfather.

In any case this is conjecture.  As of now, having broken through the brickwall, I no longer need to pinpoint the exact location except the desire to put a bow on this story.  So I believe inevitably I will return to finding the exact location.

The "enemy."

One of the most interesting eyewitness accounts by one of the soldiers describing the immediate action following the train accident, came from page 261 of HISTORY of the Thirty-Third Regiment Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry IN THE CIVIL WAR: 22nd AUGUST, 1861. to 7th DECEMBER, 1865 by General Isaac H. Elliott, published in 1902 --

The wounded and killed were removed as fast as recovered to the nearby farm house. There was a veranda on three sides of the house. On this and under the trees the dead and wounded were placed. Dr. Rex asked permission of the occupants of the house to use these and some tables. The request was refused. As a result of the refusal, the piano served as an operating table and the Brussels carpet deadened the sound of the feet of the operators as they moved among the furniture in the parlor.

This mean, heartless antagonism toward the hurt and dying is easy to envision as belonging to someone deeply committed to the Confederate cause.  Would this be, could this be a case of the Union Army burying their dead on their antagonists doorstep?

Feret, Ferret, or Freret?

For reasons of story cohesion I would like to jump ahead a bit here.  I discovered that the men who were killed in the train accident, including my 2xg-grandfather were originally buried on the "F.G. Ferret(sic) Plantation."  In other records this is spelled "Feret" and also "Freret."  I spent weeks putting flesh on this subplot, and am leaving much out of the story. I again returned to contacting local researchers in the New Orleans area, even a PhD anthropologist who wrote a paper on a related matter on a "G.F. Freret."

(Click to enlarge.)

Long story short, I discovered there was a Frederick George Freret who, along with his brother, owned two plantations in the area of Boutte (St. Charles Parish): the Louisa Plantation was east of Boutte and the Anton Plantation was west.  There is some question if the Anton Plantation extended far enough south from the Mississippi River to buttress the railroad tracks anywhere near the site of the accident?  But then again, it might not matter -- the Frerets owned a third piece of property that did.

As for antagonism toward the Union soldiers?  F.G. Freret owned over a hundred slaves, was a sergeant in the Louisiana cavalry, and a prominent citizen of New Orleans.  Following the war, his wife was a leading officer of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and on the committee to erect the Confederate War Memorial in New Orleans.

Sum.

Just as a reminder, these are the pieces of the puzzle I had and have on the research table right now.  Collecting all these pieces of the story and so many more, looking them over, evaluating them, got me through the brickwall.  I have not completely enjoined these last pieces together yet conclusively, because my goal was breaking the brickwall and finding where my 2xg-grandfather is buried.  But I seriously want to go back and completely put the puzzle together!  One day.  As time allows.

Tomorrow PART 3 -- the wall comes down.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Brickwall Comes Down: Gravesite of Henry M. Walker, Sr. (1829-1865), Part 1.

It seems like one of the most basic desires of a family historian is to know where ancestors and relatives are buried.  For research purposes, knowing could potentially open up a treasure trove of information.  However, on a personal level there is something more fundamental -- this is "family."  I may not have ever known them, but this is family!

In this regard, the location for the gravesite of my 2xg-grandfather Henry Martin Walker, Sr. has been the biggest brickwall for me.  As faithful readers of this blog remember, he was killed in a railroad accident outside New Orleans while serving in the Civil War.  I started looking for his gravesite well over ten years ago, and would keep coming back to the search off and on.  I know all the other researchers reading this understand what I am talking about.  You don't just give up when you start running into obstacles.  Often it is to ones benefit to put down your research and come back to it with fresh eyes.  Maybe new data will be made public.  But you don't give up.

I worked hard on it!

I did the fundamental research.  I ordered his service record and the widow's pension file from NARA.  I searched cemeteries, government databases, private databases, federal quartermaster's records.    I searched out newspaper articles from New Orleans, the hometowns of the soldiers, and as far away as New York.  I read all the regimental histories, and the testimonies of the eyewitnesses to the wreck.  I drove down to McLean County Museum and Library (twice!) where the records are kept from Co. C (my ancestor served in Co. A).  I contacted the head archivist at Illinois State University that held the records for the commanding officer of the regiment.  I paid a professional researcher to look through the state archives at the state capital, and in particular the quartermaster's records and journals.  I contacted various researchers in the New Orleans area, and historical societies. I couldn't find my answers anywhere.

Thousands of questions ran through my head?  What about misspellings?  Loss of records?  I read where the body of the sergeant of the Company was rendered "impossible to recognize as human" by the accident.  Had this happened to my 2xg-grandfather too and there was nothing left to bury?  What was the customary procedure for the disposal of the dead by the army during the Civil War?  All these questions and so many more had to be explored and researched.

I tried the F-A-N method (Friends-Associates-Neighbors) by researching my ancestor's comrades who also died.  Maybe the research has already been done on one of them?  No such luck. I started all over and tried tracking them, with one exception (a soldier's whose remains were returned home for burial),  I found all the other eight men killed instantly in the railroad accident were missing just like my 2xg-grandfather, and I found no other researchers descended from the soldiers who were looking for them.

You always learn.

But research is never a no-sum gain endeavor.  In addition to all the information about the crash itself, I did learn some things.  First, in the southern states it was unpredictable where the military would bury their dead, this was especially true toward the beginning of the war.  They might choose where the body lay, or an out of the way spot, or a nearby cemetery was always popular.  Sometimes the soldiers would be punitive and bury their dead om the land of confederate officers or leaders.  One location might be popular enough for soldiers to return to for burying more of their dead, but it was not the norm.  However, by and large there was no uniformity.

Second, after the war was over, the federal government made a concerted effort to reclaim and identify the remains of all their service dead and with few exceptions relocate them to National Cemeteries.  In the south these included national cemeteries at Alexandria, LA., Brownsville, TX, Louisville, KY, New Orleans, LA, Fort Donelson, TN, Jefferson Barracks, MO, Nashville, TN, Salisbury, NC, Shiloh, TN, and Springfield, MO.  The Quartermaster General's office, who was in charge of the process, reviewed records, interviewed living officers and comrades of the deceased, and did the best they could to find and identify the remains.  But frequently men were buried in mass graves and for that reason or another, individual identities could not be made.  Their remains would still be moved to a national cemetery, but they would be buried in a grave marked "unknown."

Sometimes you just get a feeling.

It was 2005.  Hurricane Katrina slams into the gulf coast.  Among the hundreds and hundreds of the descriptions of the devastation that I heard on TV, radio, and social media, one rang out the loudest, "Chalmette National Cemetery, home to thousands of Civil War dead, is under water and receiving damage."  I looked at the pictures.  I felt sure he was there.

Tomorrow, PART 2 -- it is all about location.

Copyright © 2014 by Kevin W. Walker

Newspaper Account #3 of Railroad Accident that Killed Henry Martin Walker, Sr.

This is from The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), Sat, Mar 4, 1865, Page 1.  The best I can figure this is the article The Pantagraph was citing in my last post of this series.  It is the only New Orleans newspaper I could locate called "The Times" for that time period.  And it was published on March 4th not March 3rd.  You will note that it is well written.  But overall it does not resemble the article The Pantagraph allegedly republished.

One thing I found interesting is that yesterday's article was published in a Union state in the hometown paper of most of the boys in the regiment.  This article was published in a Confederate state, that is under occupation by the same forces who were killed in the accident.  Very interesting to compare.  The former was full of emotion.  I find this one rather dry.

Railroad accident on the Opelousas Railroad. 

Nine Persons Killed 

Forty-Six Wounded 

(Click to Enlarge.)

     In these days of battles and death dealing marches, the loss of life consequent upon accidents by railway or steamboat seems insignificant in narration; Nevertheless, it has its horrors to us, when it comes near own door.

     Yesterday, about noon, a train bound down from Brashear, under the charge Mr Cregier, was coming along at a very moderate speed, had passed Bayou des Allemandes. and had arrived nearly to Boutte Station, when a horse and a mule, which had got upon the track, seemed disposed, as usual in such cases, to run a race with the train, but it was believed that they could hardly attempt to remain. The mule did leave, and so did the horse, but bewildered, it would seem, turned back and jumped upon the track directly before the engine as it was about to reach him, leaving no time for reversal or stoppage, and thus the locomotive, tender and first car passed over it.  The next car, a box car, was drawn cross-ways over the track, and the other cars were driven against it, and the great portion of them broken to pieces against it.

     In these cars, such as are, need for freight ordinarily, were the members of the 33rd Illinois Regiment, which had just been relieved from duty along the line of the railroad, and were on their way to this city.  The officers were chiefly in the passenger car, at the rear of the train.

     The only sufferers were members of this regiment, but one commissioned officer, Capt. H.H. Rosecrans, of Company D, being among them.Those in the passenger car escaped injury, though the shock was great.

     Nine of the soldiers were either killed or found in a dying condition on examining the wreck, and over forty-six seriously injured.  the surgeons of the regiment Drs. Rex and Antis, were happily along, and soon administered such relief as was possible to the injured.  Quite a number of amputations were required, one poor fellow losing both his legs.

     In the meantime advice was promptly sent to Algiers, and in due time a relief train arrived, and the injured, as well as the uninjured, were conveyed there last evening.  The regiment is now at the depot.

     Much praise is awarded to Col. Lippincott and his officers, to the conductor, Mr. Creiger, and in fact to all passengers and soldiers, black and white alike, for their attention to the victims of this accident.  All concur in saying that there was no neglect on the part of the engineer, firemen, or employees on the train.  The train was proceeding at even less than usual speed, and the accident can only be attributed to the perverseness or delirium of the hose in leaping back upon the track.

Please forgive me if the articles are getting repetitive.  I want to document on this blog this accident and the death of my 2xg-grandfather.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Status Update on Broken Brickwall: Grave of Henry Martin Walker, Sr.

I didn't want to keep readers in the dark.  As I relayed previously, according to records of the period, eight of the nine men killed in the railroad accident three miles west of Boutte Station (LA), including my 2xg-grandfather, were disinterred in June of 1868 from the plantation where they were originally buried, and moved to Chalmette National Cemetery in New Orleans for reinterment.  The original documents list the grave numbers and sections.

However, the soldiers are missing from all contemporary records.  Neither the National Park Service nor the officials at Chalmette National Cemetery have any current records of their burials or remains, by name, regiment, or cemetery section.

The curator of the cemetery is working with me to solve this mystery.  I will report back as soon as I have something worthwhile to post.  There seems to be agreement they are there!  The question is where.  The numbering system for the cemetery graves has been changed  somewhere during the last 150 years.
.    
Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Newspaper Account #2 of Railroad Accident that Killed Henry Martin Walker, Sr.

From the The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) newspaper · Thursday, Mar 16, 1865 · Page 1 (click on image to enlarge):

The Great Accident. 

     The following well written account of the terrible accident to the 33rd Illinois vet. volunteers, will be read with great interest in this county.  It is from the N.O. Times of March 3d.
     One of the most terrible railroad accidents that has occurred in this or any other country, took place yesterday on the New Orleans and Opelousas railroad.  Fully fifty human beings were more or less injured, nine or ten have since died.
     The particulars are as follows:
     The train of conductor William Creigler left Brashear City yesterday morning at 8 o'clock, and consisted of some nine or ten freight (box and flat bottomed) cars, with a baggage and two passenger cars in the rear of all, the first passenger car being exclusively for the use of negroes. 

(Click on image to enlarge)

The Thirty-Third Illinois. 

     In the passenger car were fifteen or twenty citizens and about as many officers.  Among the latter were Col. C.E. Lippencott, of the 33d Illinois Infantry, Lieut. Col. Elliot, Major Pope, and the line officers of that regiment, and last, but not least, was Doctors Geo. P. Rex, and H.T. Antis.
     The 33d has for some time past guarded the road for a distance of fifty miles from Brashear City, but was recently ordered to report to New Orleans, and a negro regiment assigned to the duty which this gallant regiment has so long [   ] faithfully performed.  As the train stopped at the different stations, the various members of this regiment, who had previously been on guard in this neighborhood, scrambled on the cars, full of life and joy at rejoining their fellow comrades, and of the prospect of an early visit to New Orleans. 

How the Accident Occurred. 

     The train had been running very slowly nearly the whole distance from Brashear to Bayou des Almonde, and so difficult was it to get steam up that it was only after leaving the latter place that the speed could be increased to from between twelve to fifteen miles an hour.  When about three miles from Boutte Station a mule and a horse were discovered near the track, and as the train approached they galloped [   ] still keeping some distance from the track.  The country at the point was open, and there appeared to be little or no danger of the horses running up on the track, as a few yards ahead was a crossing which it was supposed they would take.  The mule did take this path but the horse turned suddenly, sprang upon the track in front of the engine, and before it could be reversed or a signal of alarm sounded, the locomotive, [  ], and first car had passed over it.  The next instant, the car following (a box car) sheered crossways from the track, the coupling broke, the other cars crowded upon it, and in this manner the accident occurred. 

The Scene in the Passenger Car. 

     Before entering upon an explanation of the scene of this wreck, and the poor mangled human beings who were buried beneath, I will describe the shock in the passenger car.  Almost ever passenger was thrown from his or her seat, then the car moved on a few feet, was [   ] again, but not so violently as before. moved a few feet again, was [   ] a third time, and remained stationery.  It was all over in sixteen seconds, and thank God not a passenger received the slightest injury. 

The Scene on the Train -- Human Suffering. 

     Several of the male passengers, including the officers, at once sprang to the doors of the car and started for the center of the train, or rather for the heap of broken cars which had crushed and ground against each other, forming a terribly pyramid, one above the other, several yards in height; and fifty human beings lay beneath them [   ] more or less crushed, bruised or injured by springing to the ground in time to escape the second and third crash, by having the presence of mind to take the warning of the first and jump for dear life from the crashing cars.  The moans and the groans of the wounded and dying appealed to the sympathies of those who had escaped injury, and like true men each rushed to the rescue, citizen and soldier, black and white. 

Saving Life. 

     Col Lippencott, collected around him, for a moment al who were able to render any assistance, and the next moment they were at work under the direction of Mr. Creigler, the conductor, and the officers of the regiment when the noble work of saving life commenced with an earnestness [   ] will highly commendable to all parties engaged.  The wreck was [   ] cleared to allow the men to work and in a few moments twenty of the injured lay around.  The majority had received internal injury, or complained of a terrible pain in the back or head.  [   ] fellows many were crushed and broken and nine have died.  Legs and arms broken, cuts in the head, and torn and mangled bodies could be seen in every direction, but in an incredibly short time every man was taken from the ruins. 

The Surgeons. 

     As I have stated before there was fortunately on board the train Dr. Rex and his assistant Dr. Antis.  Both these gentlemen commenced operating upon the injured, and in three hours every man had received surgical aid.  One poor fellow had both his feet amputated at the ankles, while several others were compelled to submit to the severing of an arm or a leg if the broken limb was too badly injured to set.  One by one the wounded were transferred to a house near by, according to the extent of their injuries, and soon all were there and attended to as the urgency of their case demanded.  The surgeons deserve the highest praise. 

The Injured on Their Way to New Orleans. 

     The news of this terrible accident was telegraphed to New Orleans from Boutte [   ] in about half an hour Conductor Mile's train arrived, and returned to Boutte with the news.  It then came back to the scene of the accident, took on board the injured, as well as passengers of the other train, and waited the arrival of the special train from Algiers, which left the city at 2:45pm.
     About half past four this train arrived, having on board Mr. E.K. Johnson, master of transportation, and other officers belonging to the road.  The Superintendent, Cap. Morse was unable to leave as he was confined in New Orleans by sickness. 

Arrival of the Train in Algiers. 

     Nothing worthy of not occurred until the arrival at Algiers, except that the train was compelled to come almost to a "standstill" three or four times, on account of the number of horses, mules, and cattle which appeared determined to remain upon the track to be run over.  On one occasion a horse and mule were so obstinate in remaining upon the track that, although the whistle was repeatedly sounded, they were only compelled to evacuate by the appearance of the fireman at the head of the engine, throwing pieces of wood at them.
     It was easy to perceive that the news of the accident had preceded our arrival, for there were hundreds of soldiers and citizens assembled and patiently waiting for us.  There was a string of eight or ten ambulances too, for the purpose of transferring the wounded to the hospital in this city, Dr. Rex, having telegraphed ahead to Dr. Alexander, the medical director, to have ambulances ready for "forty badly wounded men."
     This with the following list of the dead and injured, closes the account of one of the most heart-rendering accidents of railroad traveling on record.  The Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, several of the private soldiers, and Conductor Creiger, who witnessed the accident, exonerated the engineer and the fireman from all blame and consider it unavoidable.  The train was running twelve or thirteen miles an hour when the accident occurred.

The editors of The Pantagraph say this article first appeared in the N.O. Times on March 3.  Not quite.  I pulled it and will be posting it to this blog next.  It was on March 4, and is only vaguely similarly written.  Maybe I am wrong, but I couldn't find a different edition.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Newspaper Account #1 of Railroad Accident that Killed Henry Martin Walker, Sr.

From the The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) newspaper · Mon, Mar 13, 1865 · Page 1 (click on image to enlarge):

TERRIBLE RR ACCIDENT

between Terrebonne and New Orleans

 ________________

  The 33d Ill. Vet. thrown off a railroad track.

 ________________

                Nine Men Killed and 72 Wounded

 ________________

(Special Correspondence of the Pantagraph.)
Algiers, La., (Opposite New Orleans)
                                         March 3d 1864(sic)

     ED. PANTAGRAPH: -- A terrible railroad accident occurred yesterday on the U.S. military railroad leading from this place to Brashear City, by which a large number of men of the 33d Illinois regiment were killed or severely injured.  Bloomington being the original headquarters of this regiment, and three of the companies having been chiefly raised in McLean County (Cos. A, Capt. Dutton, formerly Capt. Potter; C, Capt. Lewis, formerly Capt. Roe; and G, Capt. Russell, formerly Capt. Moore,) I embrace the earliest leisure to send you and account of the sad affair;

     The 33d has been, as your readers know, for several months guarding stations on this railroad.  Having been relieved and ordered to join A.J. Smith's corps, near New Orleans, they were loaded in the regular train yesterday morning, and came on eastward without accident, until a point was reached twenty-seven miles west of this place.  Here a horse which had been for some distance running ahead of the engine near the track, suddenly attempted to cross, and was [ ] run over and torn to pieces.  The engine, tender and first two (flat) cars passed over the obstruction and remained on the track; but half a dozen or more of the following cars (box and flat) loaded with troops, were thrown off and piled together in a horrible mass of fragments; beams, trucks, baggage, guns and equipments in inextricable confusion, intermingled with crushed, dead, and dying men.  Several of the rear cars, with the passenger cars containing most of the officers and the citizen passengers, remained on the track and no one was injured on them except by jumping off.  This was the case with Cos. C, Capt. Lewis; F, Capt. Gray, formerly Capt. Roberts; I, Capt. Lyon, formerly Capt. Lawton; and K, Capt. Higgins, formerly Capt. Lippincott.  Co. B, Capt. Gill, formerly Capt. Morgan, was on the two forward cars and suffered but little.  The chief injury was sustained by Cos. A, Capt. Dutton, formerly Capt. Potter; D, Capt. Rosengrant, commissioned but not yet mustered, formerly Capt. Pope;  E, Capt. Pratt, formerly Capt. Elliott; G, Capt. Russel, formerly Capt. Moore.  The company (H, Capt. Smith, formerly Capt. McKenzie) st Boutte station, was not on the train, the accident having occured(sic) three miles west of that place.

     The moment the train stopped, the officers and all the men who were not completely disabled, rushed to the rescue, and began laboring with Herculean energy to extricate their mangled comrades.  After an hour's work in the wreck, all the dead and wounded were got out and the most severely injured were conveyed to a neighboring house, where Drs. Rex and Antis, the regimental surgeons, performed the needful operations and dressed the wounds.  The train from [ ] city having means while arrived, the regiment, with the surviving wounded were loaded on a boat and transferred to the hospital.  The accident appears to have been one of those unavoidable ones for which no blame can be properly attach to the officer of the train, and certainly after its concurrence all was done that could be, and in the promptest manner, to remedy the effects.

     Orderly Sergt. Spillman F. Willis, of Co. A, was instantly killed and crushed out of all sembance of humanity.  Five or six others were taken out dead; and others died within a few minutes after being carried to the house.  Charles Howell, of A, with severe internal injuries, died on the train on the way to the city.  Nine were dead when I made up the list last night, and I shall probably have others to add before closing this.

     I append a list of the dead and wounded, made up by a careful and thorough canvass of the train by myself, and by conference with company commanders after our arrival here.  I think my old readers know my accuracy in my old trade as reporter, well enough to accept this list as reliable.  It includes a few or none who are not for the present disabled for duty, although many will be able again in a few days.  Scores were more or less bruised, jarred and sprained, who are not on the list.  Of Cos. A and D, scarcely a man escaped unhurt.  With these preliminary remarks, I submit the list to the anxious eyes of the hundreds of your readers who had near and dear friends killed on the train.

KILLED
Spillman F. Willis, .......1st Sergeant, Company.......A
Charles G. Howell.........Private.............."...............A
Charles Greening...........Recruit.............."..............A
H. M. Walker...................."..................."...............A
Jerome Wolfe......................"..................."..............A
John B. Melvin..............Private..............."..............D
Joseph Waldon..................."..................."..............D
Walter Webster..............Recruit.............."..............D
Robert Barkley......... .....Private..............."........ ....[ ]
WOUNDED
[  ]

     March 3d., 10 A.M -- I have just heard from the hospital.  Maj. Pope has visited the wounded boys this morning, and reports all are doing well.  He did not, however, find Zuraf of A, who was one of the severely wounded.  This young man lay for nearly an hour under a pile of heavy trucks and rubbish, with as large force of men working at him who could get to him, before he was extricated.  Although thus held down, and considerably cut and bruised, he seemed much less hurt when taken out than was suspected, and no bones appeared to be broken.  In his case as in others, however, some days may pass before the full extent of his injuries will be manifested. 

     Every one speaks with astonishment of the courage and cheerful endurance of Pettibone of Co. D, a recruit of only a few days standing, both legs amputated below the knee.  He bears his mutilation like a hero, and will have all the chances of recovery that a strong spirit can give him, but the result is of course doubtful at best.  Adam Willis of D, has a frightfully extensive laceration in the flesh in the region of the hips, and is in great danger.  Several others of the severely injured may yet die; but I am glad to report that up to this hour no additional deaths are reported.

     It is not impossible that this accident may delay the departure of our regiment to the front.  -  Respectfully [ ], 

                                                   Edward J. Lewis

As a reminder, Henry Martin Walker, Sr. was my 2xg-grandfather, and the Capt. Dutton named above was my 2xg-granduncle, and brother in law to Henry.

This is the first in a series of three or four newspaper articles I will be posting on the railroad accident.  I am sorry for the omissions illustrated with the empty brackets, but the bottom half of the scan is very poor, and the smaller the font the more impossible to read.

From the description of the location, I used Google Earth and I think I have a good idea where it occurred.  More to follow on that subject.

My search for my 2xg-grandfather's grave continues.  I am going to search where the remains of those killed with him are interred.  He might also be there.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Eyewitness Account of Death of Henry Martin Walker, Sr. (1829-1865)

I have previously documented the tragic death of Henry M. Walker, Sr. my 2xg-grandfather in a Civil War railroad accident near New Orleans, in March of 1865.  I was blown away to find this eyewitness account, not just of the railroad accident, but the death of my 2xg-grandfather!

From page 261 of HISTORY of the Thirty-Third Regiment Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry IN THE CIVIL WAR: 22nd AUGUST, 1861. to 7th DECEMBER, 1865 by General Isaac H. Elliott, published in 1902 --

All those who were able soon commenced the work of relieving the suffering. Under the command of Col. Elliott the men moved like well-regulated machines. Ropes were procured and the cars were pulled apart and held in place until men could gather up the dead and wounded. Several of the boys were thrown into ditches and held down by the cars until drowned. We could hear their cries but could not get at them until too late to save them. One, a member of A Company, a nephew of Capt. Dutton, who had been with us but a short time, thus gave up his life. How different the ending from what his imagination had pictured it!  He was drowned like a rat in a trap, even without having seen an armed rebel. After the body of the poor boy had been removed from the ditch, the scene of Capt. Dutton standing over him, the tears running down his face as efforts were being made by the comrades to bring back the young life that had been snuffed out so quickly, and the earnest appeals of the Captain to work faster, will remain with me as long as life lasts.

Capt. Harvey Dutton was my 2xg-granduncle and a true hero of the Civil War as I have documented on this blog.  But this soldier above erred in his account.  Let's return to Capt. Dutton's own account of the tragedy in the same book --

The killed were: 1st Sergt. Spillman F. Willis, Vet.; Private Chas. G. Howell, Vet.; Private Chas. Greening, Private H. M. Walker, and Private Jerome Wolf.  A peculiarly distressing feature of this affair to me was not only that Company A had lost its noble, brave and efficient Orderly Sergeant, and another veteran of three and a half years of faithful service, but that of the five new men from my home, as before mentioned, three of them, one my brother-in-law, now lay dead.

There was no nephew of Capt. Dutton killed.  There was no nephew of Capt. Dutton serving in the same company!  The "nephew" whose body the soldier saw Capt. Dutton shedding tears over was in fact Capt. Dutton's brother-in-law and my 2xg-grandfather Henry M. Walker, Sr.!!!

His grave is not listed in the National Park Service database or the Sons of Union Veterans database.  I am one step closer to finding his grave in that the soldier also relays the "dead and wounded" were carried to the nearest farmhouse.  More research is necessary.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

The Death of Henry Martin Walker, Sr. (1929-1865)

In January of 1865, in Springfield, Illinois, Henry Martin Walker enlisted in Company A, 33rd Regimental Infantry, Illinois Volunteers, Union Army.  He was dead six weeks later due to a tragic accident.

Henry probably enlisted at the behest of his brother-in-law Harvey Dutton who was the Captain in charge of this particular company.  The consensus at the time was the war was winding down, and this was a chance for Henry to come in at the end of the fight and qualify for benefits.

In those early months of 1865, the 33rd Illinois was stationed along the Opelousas Railroad outside of New Orleans to prevent guerrilla attacks and keep supply lines open.  This was all swamp, and illness took its toll on the men.  By the end of the war, all totaled the regiment suffered many more deaths by disease than they did by battle, and that includes the siege of Vicksburg of which they were a part.  But that is not how my g-g-grandfather died.  Here is the account taken from HISTORY of the Thirty-Third Regiment Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry IN THE CIVIL WAR: 22nd AUGUST, 1861. to 7th DECEMBER, 1865 by GENERAL ISAAC H. ELLIOTT, published in 1902. --

After staying at Brashear and along the railroad for
nine months and thirteen days, we received the wel-
come order to join the expedition to operate against
Mobile, and on the morning of Thursday, March 2nd,
1865, the companies were picked up at the several sta-
tions, beginning at Bayou Boeuf. I was in command of
the regiment, Col. Lippincott being absent. The train
was a mixed one of flat and box ears, carrying all our bag-
gage and horses. Many of the men were on top of the
box ears. After Company B had been taken on at La-
Fourche and Des Allemandes there was only left Com-
pany H at Boutee, some seven or eight miles distant.
We were now considerably behind time, and the train
from New Orleans was nearly due at Boutee. I in-
quired of the conductor if he could make that station
before the other train was due to leave it. He replied
that he could, and we went ahead at quite a high rate
of speed. I had some anxiety about meeting the train
from New Orleans, and was leaning from the door of
the baggage car near the rear of the train looking for-
ward. Suddenly I saw a horse running close alongside
the track, and then dart in front of the engine. In-
stantly the second car from the tender left the track
and was thrown broadside around, and those behind it
crashed into it and each other cars were crushed to
fragments, and the rails of the track torn up and
driven through them. The whole train, except a few
cars at the rear, filled and covered with men, was a
horrible wreck.

The men had been in a very gale of joy, singing and
shouting at the happy release from the pestilential
swamps. Now they were to see a more active life and
be able to do something to bring the war to an end and
go home. In an instant the happy shouting was
changed to cries and shrieks for help from beneath the
shattered cars. Every effort was made to release the
wounded and imprisoned men, each company working
frantically to help its own members; and how they did
work! Perhaps not always to the best advantage, but
with a frenzy that told of the affection they had for
their suffering comrades.

It was a horrible scene, worse than any battle, and
with none of its honors. Company A, being near the
head of the train, suffered the most. Brave, splendid
1st Sergeant Spillman F. Willis, who carried the flag at
Vicksburg, and who was loved not only by his com-
pany, but the entire regiment, was ground to dust;
Howell, Greening, Walker and Wolf, of A, were killed.
Melvin, Walden and Webster, of H, and Barkley of G,
were killed; seventy-two of the regiment were wounded,
some of them soon died. One young soldier of Co. D
had both feet cut off, and I believe is still living at
Springfield, Illinois.

There was one spectacle in all this terrible scene that
could not but be admired. I know that all members of -
the 33rd will remember my own horse with a white
mane and tail. No finer styled horse ever wore a
bridle. The flat ear he was on was shoved up on the
one in front of it, and he stood there quietly and un-
hurt, high above the wreck. No finer equestrian statue
was ever looked at.

It was a forlorn and badly broken up regiment that
went into Algiers that night. The wounded were taken
to the hospitals in New Orleans, and the regiment
across the river and quartered in a cotton press. . . .

Here is a second accounting, same source, but this time the author is Harvey Dutton, Henry's brother-in-law --

The winter of 1864-65 passed with no other incidents
of special moment that I remember, except the acces-
sion to the company of the following recruits: Charles
Greening, Alphonso K. Smith, Henry W. Smith, Hen-
ry M. Walker, Jerome Wolf, Hans Erickson and Wil-
liam J. Hester. All but the last two were from Meta-
mora, I11., my home. H. M. Walker was my brother-
in-law, the others acquaintances. They had enlisted
January 10th, '65, for one year, and had chosen Com-
pany A because I was Captain. February 23, 1865,
Lieut. Fyffe was sent to Thibodeaux, La., division
headquarters, on detached service as Judge Advocate.

Then came the railroad disaster of March 2nd, 1865.
As we loaded our effects into that box car, and our-
selves into and on top of it, that pleasant spring morn-
ing, there was some grumbling about the gorgeous ac-
commodations "Uncle Sam" saw fit to furnish us; still
the boys were in good spirits, believing we were to
take part in the closing campaign of the war. The
make-up of the train brought Company A near the en-
gine, the place of greatest danger in case of accident.
They were in the third car; the first was an empty, the
second was occupied by B Company. For fear of repe-
tition (as the whole regiment except Company H was
concerned in this horrible affair) I will only insert
here remarks from the first "muster roll" of Company
A made after the occurrence: "March 2nd, 1865,
started at 8:80 a.m. by railroad for Algiers, La. ; near
Boutee Station met with serious disaster ; train thrown
from the track by running over a horse; five of the
company killed ; twenty-one wounded seriously, were
sent to the hospital ; several others were more or less in-
jured ; lost a large quantity of camp and garrison equip-
age and ordinance stores; arrived at Algiers about
seven in the evening; crossed the river at New Orleans
and camped in the Anchor Cotton Press. The killed
were: 1st Sergt. Spillman F. Willis, Vet.; Private
Chas. G. Howell, Vet.; Private Chas. Greening, Pri-
vate H. M. Walker, and Private Jerome Wolf."

A peculiarly distressing feature of this affair to me
was not only that Company A had lost its noble, brave
and efficient Orderly Sergeant, and another veteran of
three and a half years of faithful service, but that of the
five new men from my home, as before mentioned, three
of them, one my brother-in-law, now lay dead. Upon
me devolved the painful duty of sending the unwel-
come tidings to loved ones so sadly bereft. Those ser-
iously injured and discharged on account of such in-
juries were Sergt. S. W. Durrlinger, and Privates W.
H. Foster, Harvey D. Garrett and David Shaw. . . .

The post will come when we will have to examine in full the effect that Henry, Sr.'s death had on his family.  Census rolls show the family was completely broken up, his wife and his three children each went to live with a different relative.  Henry, Sr.'s widow married again but to a drunk and physically abusive man whom she quickly divorced nine months later.  She would marry again.  Henry, Jr. was less than a year old when his father died, and we know already of some of the trouble he got into (shooting his wife three times and going to prison).  His older sister Letta married a man almost thirty years her senior!  I do not know yet what life was like for the other sibling Samuel.  But all in all a case study for how broken homes can lead to broken lives.

 © 2010, Copyright Kevin W. Walker