John Carter
Capt. John Beatty McClellan
Wed Feb 21 08:58:42 2001


Hi...

John B. McClellan joined his company, and from family letters, was immediately elected Lieutenant. There was no mention of how he was elevated to Captain, but the family was close friends with Nick Davis and the Malones, so when an opening came up...

John was seriously wounded at Murfreesboro and lost an arm. He went home, and to my knowledge, never went back into service. Before the war he was a teacher, but afterwards he became an attorney and probate judge and spent one term in the Alabama Congress. He was the eldest of three brothers who served in the Confederate Army.

It's possible that he may have gone with some of the partisan rangers or even with the 9th AL Cavalry (his brother, Robert, was a Captain in the 9th), but I have no direct evidence of this. A family story about the youngest brother, Thomas Nicholas McClellan (too young to serve) said that during the occupation of Athens by Union troops, a Union officer threatened him if he did not divulge the location of his brothers who were fighting for the Confederacy- no mention of John being there. Strangely too, there is little mention of John being around in the letters from home throughout the rest of the war. By the way Thomas Nicholas didn't give up his brothers, and long after the war the officer wrote to Tom Nick commending him for his bravery. Of course by then Tom Nick was a justice on the Alabama Supreme Court.

I think John may have have been out and about during the remainder of the war, since little is said about him at home (and they did manage to mention just about everyone else in their letters).

Hope this helps,

John