Daniel A. Lonsway
lists of units- clarifying and mystery
Tue Dec 26 13:51:13 2000


Alan,
I have been sitting here all morning sorting through what I have so far compared to the information that you have sent me. Now that I have had time to read through everything, write it all down and make notes on it I have a few more questions that I'm hoping that you could help me with.
First, in one of your posts, you said that "Logwood and Miller were leaders of cavalry units that operated in the area, but were not assigned to Col. Bowen's command" I was wondering: Was Logwood & Miller assigned to Polk or Pillow at Columbus? and, Did they operate together as a group?
My second question deals with Brewer's Battalion. What company letter was assigned to the two Tn companies that later transfered to the 7th Tn? and also, What company letters was assigned to the Alabama companies from that unit?
My third set of questions deal with John D. Martin's 1st Mississippi Valley reg. What company letter was given to the Alabama companies from that unit?
Next, I was wondering about the mentioning of a "Wickliffe" in the OR correspondence. I will have to look it up, but I distinctly remember a officer by that name in either the 3rd or 7th KY (I can't remember which. Where can that be found in the OR?
Also, I have found the source from which I listed Biffle and the 25th TN being present there. On page three of History from the SCV it says "General Jacob. B. Biffle, Lieutenant Col. of the 25th Tn was in command of troops from Mississippi." Was Biffle ever a Lieutentant Col. of Cox's Tennessee Cav. Battalion? I have not heard of Cox's Battalion before. Was it stationed at Columbus? May be the "25th" was an error in the text.
On B. Williams of Mississippi, I was thinking that maybe it was Capt. W. Orton Williams of the Battery from Memphis. Prehaps either it was a misprint or his name was William or "Billy" for short. I am not sure on this, though.
The last thing that I wanted to mention was your mentioning of the POW possibility.
Later in the War, a group of Union soldiers camped on or near Feliciana (the closest town to Camp B. at that time) for a while. Not much is known about this Federal occupation, although I remember finding something mentioning it in the OR- (it had to do with the scare caused by Forrest with his West TN & KY raid in 1864). Anyway, it would have had to been between 1863 and 1864. Do you know what happened to POW's taken from units like Abbey's battery?
I would think that they would have been burried at places closer to the river traffic (like Columbus, KY which had a burial place until National Cemetaries where established in the late 1860's) - However, Camp Beauregard (& Feliciana) where so close to the rail road that if sick POW had been dropped off, it would have been very, very close.
That being the case, up till now, I have never heard of this idea. It would make some sense- if POW's weren't sent north by the Miss. River. Could you tell me anything that might add to this theory? Do you know anything of Abbey's battery (or any of the others that can't be explained.
I will continue to sort every thing that I have. I'm begining to see that it is not as simple as I thought! I enjoy it, though. It's kind of like putting together a puzzle. And it is very important that I get the clearest picture that I can.
I Sincerely appreciate your efforts in assisting me! If you discover anything more, please let me know. I will post again as soon as I find something or run into another question.
Also, I will email you a picture and anything else that may be of some interest as soon as I can. (First I have to go through a crate of pictures I have from War sites, battlefields, and reenactments.)
Thanks agian,
D. A. Lonsway (Old Dan)

• Units in the area — Alan Pitts, Wed Dec 27 13:55