I believe your correct. I've been doing Chase biographies on all who died at Chase. Since he died at Chase his biography was partially finished but will not be published by myself.

Private Tate Randolph Driesbach - Grave #1235 once should have read “T. R. DRIESBACH” Co. F 7 ALA. CAV. C.S.A.” He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee.

Approximate age of death at Camp Chase was 17 years old.

The compiler would like to acknowledge the work of Hank Roberts of SCV Camp 1550 “The Covington Rifles” for early genealogy of Tate Randolph Driesbach and other items like the letter to James Denny Driesbach from Robert E. Lee. The compiler further notes Hank Roberts is a descendant of Tate R. Driesbach.

The biography of Tate Randolph Driesbach is one of the more interesting stories of the dead of Camp Chase and complex with a lot of twists and turns and his story is rather remarkable although on the surface he appears just to be another private in the 7th Alabama Cavalry. Tate himself did nothing out of the originally other than to give his life for his beliefs but rather it’s the people Tate had been associated with that makes him stand out.

Tate Randolph Driesbach mother’s maiden surname was Josephine Bonaparte Tate and she was the only daughter of David Tate. David Tate’s first wife, Mary Randon had been killed in the massacre of Fort Mims, Alabama during the War of 1812 which led to the defeat of the Indians at Horseshoe Bend by General Andrew Jackson. This is the same Indian conflict that David Crockett of Tennessee had been affiliated with. (Again thanks to Hank Roberts for the death of David Tate’s first wife). David Tate and Mary (maiden surname) Randon did have four daughters.

Tate R. Driesbach’s bloodline will now be noted.

According to the work of Hank Roberts of SCV Camp 1550; David Tate had been the half brother of William Weatherford aka Red Eagle. David and William Weatherford’s mother had been Sehoy III of the clan “Wind Princess” David and William Weatherford were the nephews of Alexander McGillivary and David was his favorite and sent David Tate to Scotland to be educated. McGillivary also took David Tate to meet with George Washington in the famous Indian treaty. David Tate also looked after David Moniac and wrote him letters while he was a student of West Point according to family genealogy David Moniac’s father was a drunkard. The compiler notes Wikipedia on the life of William Weatherford. (The compiler notes Red Eagle was not known as his name during his lifetime, again thanks to Hank Roberts for the information)

“William Weatherford, also known as Lamochattee (Red Eagle) (c. 1780 or 1781 – March 24, 1824), was a Creek chief of the Upper Creek towns who led the Red Sticks' offensive in the Creek War (1813–1814) against the United States.
One of many mixed-race descendants of Southeast Indians who intermarried with European traders and later colonial settlers, William Weatherford was of mixed Creek, French and Scots ancestry. He was raised as a Creek in the matrilineal nation and achieved his power in it, through his mother's prominent Wind Clan, as well as his father's trading connections. After the war, he rebuilt his wealth as a slaveholding planter in lower Monroe County, Alabama.

Note: Several sources state that Weatherford was born in 1765, the date recorded on his tombstone, located in Little River, Baldwin County, Alabama. Many sources state that his mother, Sehoy III, was born in 1759. Also, his siblings were born in the 1780s. It seems most likely that Weatherford's year of birth would be closer to 1780 or 1781.

William Weatherford was born near the Upper Creek towns of Coosauda (a Koasati Indian Town, now Coosada) and Hickory Ground (Wetumpka), to Sehoy III, a high-status woman of the Wind Clan (Hutalgalgi), and Charles Weatherford, a Scots trader known for his red hair. Sehoy III was of Creek, French and possibly Scottish descent. As the Creek had a matrilineal kinship system, Sehoy III's children were considered born into her clan and absorbed into the tribe. Her clan status, the same as her male clan relatives, secured the status of her children. Property and inheritance were passed through the maternal line. In this kinship system, a boy's maternal uncle was more important to his upbringing than his biological father. Charles Weatherford had a trading post near the Creek village, and developed a plantation, as well as raising thoroughbred horses for racing.

Benjamin Hawkins, first appointed as United States Indian agent in the Southeast and then as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the territory south of the Ohio River, lived among the Creek and Choctaw, and knew them well. He commented in letters to President Thomas Jefferson that Creek women were matriarchs and had control of children "when connected with a white man." Hawkins observed that even wealthy traders were nearly as "inattentive" to their mixed-race children as "the Indians". What he did not understand about the Creek culture was that the children had a closer relationship with their mother's eldest brother than with their biological father, because of the importance of the clan kinship system.

As a boy William ("Billy") Weatherford was called Lamochattee, or Red Eagle, by the Creek. After he showed his skill as a warrior, he was given the "war name" of Hopnicafutsahia, or "Truth Teller." He was the great-grandson of Jean Baptiste Louis DeCourtel Marchand, the French commanding officer of Fort Toulouse and his wife Sehoy, a Creek of mixed race. On his mother's side, he was also a nephew of the mixed-race Creek chief, Alexander McGillivray,who was prominent in the Upper Creek towns.

Through his mother's family, Weatherford was a cousin of William McIntosh, who became a chief of the Lower Creek towns. The Lower Creek, who comprised the majority of population, lived closer to the European Americans and had intermarried with them. They were adopting more of their ways, as well as getting connected to the market economy.

Lamochattee, or "Red Eagle," learned traditional Creek ways and language from his mother and her clan, as well as English from his father. As a young man, he acquired a plantation in the Upper Creek territory, where he owned slaves, planted commercial crops, and bred and raced horses. He generally had good relations with both the Creek nationals and European Americans for years. He worried about the increasing number of the latter, who were encroaching on Creek land.

Creek of the Lower Towns were becoming more assimilated, but the traditional elders and the people of the Upper Creek towns were more isolated from the European-American settlers. They kept more traditional ways and opposed the new settlements. Weatherford and other Upper Creek leaders resented the encroachment of settlers into their traditional Creek territory, principally in what the United States of America called the Mississippi Territory, which included their territory in present-day Alabama.

After the Americans improved the Trading Path as the National Road in 1811, more Americans settlers came into the hunting territory and lay claim to their own homesteads. Although various bands of Creeks, especially in the Upper Creek, resisted in a number of armed conflicts, most of the more assimilated Lower Creek towns were forced to make land concessions in 1790, 1802, and 1805.

The Lower Creek were among the Five Civilized Tribes who adopted some European-American style farming practices and other customs. As a result, most of the Creek managed to continue as independent communities while slowly becoming almost indistinguishable from other frontier families.The Upper Creek towns resisted the changes in the territory. In these debates, Lamochattee counseled neutrality in the rise of hostilities. Conflict broke out within the Creek Nation between the elements adopting assimilation and those trying to maintain the traditional leadership.

Leaders of the Upper Creek began diplomatic overtures with Spanish and British colonial officials to develop allies against the United States. In the debates in Creek councils, those advocating war became known as Red Sticks, who soon became the dominant faction in Creek national politics. Red Stick bands went to Florida to purchase arms from the Spanish.

Americans learned that the Red Sticks were bringing back arms from Florida. Hastily organizing a militia, the American frontiersmen intercepted and attacked a Red Stick party at Burnt Corn Creek as the latter were returning to the Upper Creek towns with arms purchased from the Spanish in Pensacola in present-day Florida. While the Alabama militia tried to secure the arms and ammunition in the Indian baggage train, the Red Sticks regrouped and fought off the Americans. In reaction to the United States attack on its men, the Creek declared war on the United States. Already involved in the War of 1812 against the US, the British encouraged the Creek resistance.
Weatherford joined the Red Sticks along the frontier, where they tried to repulse American settlers from Creek territory. In late August 1813, with Peter McQueen and other Red Sticks, Weatherford participated in a retaliatory attack on Fort Mims. It was a hastily built civilian stockade on the lower Alabama River, about 35 miles north of present-day Mobile, Alabama. Frontier American families and Lower Creek had retreated to the fort, which was ineptly guarded. The Red Sticks made their way into the fort and massacred the Lower Creek, as well as European-American settlers, including women and children. Estimates are that up to 500 persons were killed, with some 35 individuals surviving. As a prominent leader, Weatherford was held responsible for the massacre, although there are reports he tried to prevent it.
An Alabama militia followed up with another Ranger unit and maneuvered the Red Sticks into battle at the Battle of Holy Ground. Red Eagle (Weatherford) barely escaped capture, jumping from a bluff into the Alabama River while on horseback. Having repelled the Red Stick invasion in a number of skirmishes and forced them on the defensive, the Americans regrouped for a final offensive.

The federal government did not have forces to spare. Major General Andrew Jackson led a combined army of state militia from Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Jackson's army finally isolated the main Red Stick Army along with hundreds of American hostages. Red Eagle played a decisive role in rallying his forces and trying to save the hostages from death. In the finale of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Red Eagle’s rapid responses allowed various small bands of Red Sticks to regroup and fight a rear guard action, but the remainder of the Red Sticks were destroyed. Although the majority of the American hostages were saved, the retreating Red Sticks killed dozens of them.
Meanwhile, Red Eagle and some other 200 Red Sticks escaped. Most of the Red Sticks retreated to Florida, where they joined the Seminole people, who had developed from Creek migrants and remnants of other tribes in the 18th century. Red Eagle turned himself in at Fort Jackson (formerly Fort Toulouse). Jackson spared Weatherford's life and used his influence to bring the other Upper Creek chiefs to a peace conference.

Weatherford engineered a new peace through a new treaty; although he had to accept a permanent reduction in Creek territory, he gained retention of most of their territory, including areas where they had homes. Weatherford subsequently moved to the southern part of Monroe County, Alabama, where he regained his wealth as a planter. He died there in 1824.
He married Mary Moniac (c. 1783-1804), who was also of mixed race. They had children: Charles and Mary (Polly) Weatherford.
After Mary's death, Weatherford married Sopathe Thlanie (c. 1783-1813). She died after the birth of their son, William Weatherford, Jr., born 25 December 1813.

About 1817, Weatherford married Mary Stiggins (c. 1783-1832), who was of Natchez and English heritage. Their children were: Alexander McGillivray Weatherford; Mary Levitia Weatherford; Major Weatherford, who was killed as a child; and John Weatherford.
Weatherford's nephew, David Moniac, son of his sister Elizabeth Weatherford, was the first Native American graduate of the United States Military Academy.”

While the compiler usually does not list Wikipedia word for word because of the historical significance David Moniac and his bloodline with Tate Randolph Driesbach the following will also be noted from Wikipedia.

“David Moniac (December 1802 – November 21, 1836) (Creek) was an American military officer and in 1822 was an early Native American graduate of the United States Military Academy. A Creek with some Scots ancestry, who was related to major Creek leaders on both sides of his family, Moniac was the first cadet to West Point from the new state of Alabama. Moniac resigned his commission in 1822 to manage his clan's property in Alabama, where he developed a cotton plantation.

In the Second Seminole War in 1836, Moniac was commissioned as a captain and selected to command a Creek volunteer cavalry unit, the only Native American among the officers. He was killed at the Battle of Wahoo Swamp. In the 1990s, his remains were transferred from a local cemetery to the newly established Florida National Cemetery for military veterans, a few miles away.

David A. Moniac, as he was sometimes recorded, was the son of Sam Moniac and Elizabeth Weatherford, both mixed-race Creek. His mother was believed to be the sister of the Creek leader William Weatherford and David was the grand-nephew of Alexander McGillivray, an important Creek chief on his mother's side. The Creek had a matrilineal kinship system, so David was considered to be born into his mother's Wind Clan and gained his social status there. David's maternal uncle would have been more important to his upbringing than his father. The Moniac family lived in present-day Montgomery County, Alabama, near the unincorporated community of Pintlala. His father served with the U.S. forces in the Creek War, as he was allied with the Lower Creek who were more assimilated. They defeated the Red Sticks.

At this time, the United States was encouraging assimilation of the Creek and other tribes of the Southeast to European-American ways. They became known as the Five Civilized Tribes, for they adopted many aspects of US culture.

The Fort Jackson Treaty, which confirmed peace in the Creek War, included a provision for the education of the Creek people. Together with his father's military service, this likely enabled David Moniac to be selected in 1817 for the US Army College, U.S. Military Academy, located in New York. Before starting there, Moniac studied with John McLeod, a tutor in Washington, D.C, to prepare for the entrance exam and classes. At his request, he repeated a year of college; he graduated 39 out of 40 in 1822.

Upon graduation, Moniac received a brevet commission as a Second Lieutenant in the 6th U.S. Infantry Regiment. Moniac never served with his regiment and resigned in December 1822. He had been called back to Alabama to deal with clan property.

Moniac returned to Alabama, where he settled in Baldwin County. He developed a cotton plantation and bred thoroughbred race horses. He married Mary Powell, a Creek who was a cousin of the Seminole leader Osceola. Among their children was a son, David A. Moniac, his son. He later served as sheriff in Baldwin County, where the Moniac descendants stayed. Sheriff Moniac is buried in the Old Methodist Church in Daphne, Alabama. His plantation home, built in the 1830s, still stands today. It is perhaps the oldest house in Baldwin County. It is located on Gantt Road in Little River, Alabama.

Fourteen years after he graduated from West Point, with the outbreak of the Second Seminole War in 1836, Moniac was called twice into service: he first served with the Alabama militia to suppress an uprising of displaced Creek. Indian removal had started in the Southeast, as tribes were relocated to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

In August 1836, Moniac was commissioned as a captain of the Creek Mounted Volunteer Regiment. It was a volunteer unit of Creek warriors led by white officers on leave from regular units. He was the only Native American officer in the unit. The regiment patrolled and skirmished with the Seminole in Florida along the Withlacoochee River. He was promoted to major in November.

That month Territorial Governor Richard K. Call took a force of 2500 regular soldiers, Moniac and his Creek volunteers, and Tennessee and Florida militia from Ft. Drane to the Wahoo Swamp on the Withlacoochee River. They were to find and destroy the stronghold of Seminole Chief Jumper. In what would become known as the Battle of Wahoo Swamp, Call's force attacked an estimated mixed force of 600 Seminole and African American warriors, who were defending their families. The deep water blocked the American force. Moniac ran ahead into the water to encourage his men to cross. He was shot down by the Seminoles.

General Call called off the attack after taking fierce fire from the Seminole camp, and being unsure if the water was fordable. The American dead from the battle were buried near those killed the previous December 1835 at the nearby Dade's Massacre site, where the Seminole defeated US Army forces. Later all the bodies were moved for burial at the St. Augustine National Cemetery.”

The compiler notes ancestry subcontracted the interpretations of the actual census script to third parties some of which were not intimately familiar with the English language. In addition at times the census takers had issues with correctly spelling a name. These issues caused many mistakes as in some records. When the compiler notes an ancestry transcriber has corrected the work it means someone at ancestry who is an active member of the pay service has corrected the error.

According to the United States and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900; James Denny (Spelled correctly as) Driesbach married Josephine Bonaparte Tate in 1844.

The 1850 United States census listed the surname spelled as Dresback but corrected by an ancestry transcriber to Driesbach and the compiler agrees and it will be noted in this way. The census listed (Spelled as) Late R. but again corrected by an ancestry transcriber to Tate R. Driesbach, born about 1847 born in Arkansas but again corrected by an ancestry transcriber to Alabama and upon looking at the actual script it clearly states Tate R. Driesbach was born in Alabama and living in the household of (Spelled as) J. D. (A male) Driesbach, born about 1816 in Ohio and his wife Josphine Driesbach, born about 1828 in Arkansas but again corrected to an ancestry transcriber to Alabama and the compiler agrees after looking at the actual census script. Other household members were: Ida Driesbach, born about 1845 in Arkansas but once again corrected by an ancestry transcriber to Alabama and Charles H. Driesbach, born about 1848 in Arkansas but again corrected by an ancestry transcriber to Alabama and Florence Driesbach, born about 1850 in Arkansas but once again corrected by an ancestry transcriber to Alabama and Margaret Tate, born about 1793 in Arkansas but once again corrected by an ancestry transcriber to Alabama. The household was living in Division 1 in Baldwin County, Alabama and the census was enumerated on September 23, 1850.
The compiler notes Alabama did not become a State until 1819 and Margaret Tate could not have been born in the State of Alabama in 1793. The compiler further notes that Margaret Tate was the widow of David Tate and that Margaret was David Tate’s second wife and David Tate’s first wife, Mary Randon bore four daughters to Tate and that Mary had been killed at the massacre at Fort Mims, Alabama in August of 1813. (Again thanks to Hank Roberts for this information)

The 1860 United States census listed the family surname spelled as Dreebach but corrected by an ancestry transcriber to Driesbach in which the compiler totally agree and will be noted this way. The census listed (Spelled as) Tart but should have been Tate Driesbach, born about 1848 in Alabama and noted as attending school within the year and living in the household of J. D. (A male) (James Denny) Driesbach, born about 1816 in Ohio and his wife Josephine B. Driesbach, born about 1828 in Alabama. Other family household members were: Ida R. Driesbach, born about 1846 in Alabama and (Spelled as) C. H. (A male) Driesbach, born about 1849 in Alabama and (Spelled as) F. A. (A female) Driesbach, born about 1851 in Alabama and (Spelled as) Persey W. (A male) (Percy) Driesbach, born about 1852 in Alabama and (Spelled as) A. O. (A male) (Arthur) Driesbach, born about 1855 in Alabama and Mabel Driesbach, born about 1856 in Alabama and Kate Driesbach, born about 1858 in Alabama. The family household was living in Baldwin County, Alabama and the census was enumerated on August 14, 1860.

Because it is pertinent to the biography of Tate Randolph Driesbach the 1870 census will be noted. Of special interest is Lee Driesbach.

The 1870 United States census listed the family surname spelled as Dresback, but corrected by the compiler to Driesbach and will be noted this way. The census listed Lee Driesbach, born about 1862 in Alabama and living in the household of James D. Driesbach, born about 1816 in Ohio and his wife Josephine Driesbach, born about 1827 in Alabama. Other family household members were: Ida Driesbach, born about 1846 in Alabama and Florence Driesbach, born about 1849 in Alabama and Charles H. Driesbach, also born about 1849 in Alabama and Percy W. Driesbach, born about 1853 in Alabama and Mabel Driesbach, born about 1856 in Alabama and Arthur C. Driesbach, born about 1858 in Alabama and (Spelled as) Maud (A female) Driesbach, born about 1860 in Alabama and Bertha Driesbach, born about 1864 in Alabama and Clara Driesbach, born about 1868 in Alabama. The family household was living in Township 3 in Baldwin County, Alabama and the census was enumerated on August 6, 1870.

The compiler notes Tate’s father, James Denny Driesbach had written a letter to Robert E. Lee the former Confederate general wrote back.
“Letter to J. D. Driesbach, October 3, 1867 from Robert E. Lee-

Lexington, Virginia October 3, 1867
My dear Sir

I recd this mng your letter of the 28th ulto: & sympathize most sincerely in your misfortunes, & especially in the death for your noble son. When however we reflect upon the suffering of the living, & the peace and happiness of the righteous dead, we should be reconciled to the loss of friends & rejoice at their departure to a better world.

I thank you for the compliment paid me by giving my name to your little son, & hope that you will so educate him as that he will become a good, wise & useful man. I send him my photograph, the best I have, which I hope will serve to remind him sometimes, of me-

With my kindest regards to all your family & best wishes for your welfare.

I am very respy & truly

Your obtservt

R. E. Lee”

Tate Randolph Driesbach would be the only soldier who died at Camp Chase to be mentioned in a letter by Robert E. Lee. A little less than 1% of the Camp Chase dead were members of the Army of Northern Virginia as the vast majority had been members of the Army of Tennessee in which Tate R. Driesbach himself had been a member of.

Apparently James Denny Driesbach would make good on Robert E. Lee’s request. Lee Driesbach would become a physician. According to the Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929; Lee (Correctly spelled as) Driesbach died on February 26, 1915 at New Orleans, Louisiana due to surgery complications.

The compiler notes there were two units from Alabama called the 7th Alabama Cavalry. The first 7th Alabama Cavalry was only known as this unit designation in the field. However the Confederate authorities did not recognize the first 7th Alabama Cavalry designation. The Confederate authorities then recognized the first 7th Alabama Cavalry as the 9th Alabama Cavalry (Malone’s). However many soldier’s in the first 7th Alabama Cavalry refused to acknowledge the Confederate War Departments decision to reclassify them as the 9th Alabama Cavalry. The following is what is said about the 9th Alabama Confederate Cavalry.

“The 19th (also known as 2nd) Battalion (Thomason’s) Alabama Cavalry and the 14th Battalion (Malone’s) Alabama Partisan Rangers were consolidated by Special Order number 25, Headquarters Wharton’s Division, dated April 15, 1863 to form the 7th Regiment Alabama Cavalry. This organization was subsequently known as the 9th Regiment Alabama Cavalry.”

The National Park Service noted the following about the 7th Alabama Cavalry which the Confederate authorities recognized.

“7th Cavalry Regiment was formed at Newborn, Alabama, during July, 1863, with companies were raised in the counties of Randolph, Shelby, Greene, Pickens, and Montgomery. For a year the unit served in the Pollard area assigned to General Clanton's Brigade. In July, 1864, it contained 451 men, but was not serving as one command; two companies were with General Page, and eight rode with Colonel I.W. Patton. The 7th was later attached to B.M. Thomas', W.W. Allen's, and Bell's Brigade. It took part in the raid on Johnsonville and was engaged in the fighting as Hood moved toward Nashville. In April, 1865, it had less than 300 effectives and half that number surrendered at Gainesville, Alabama, in May. The field officers were Colonel Joseph Hodgson, and Lieutenant Colonels Turner Clanton, Jr., Henry J. Livingston, and F.C. Randolph.”

The compiler notes Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry was unique insofar as the majority of its soldiers had or were attending the University of Alabama and many of them would also have body servants with them during the war.

The following is from Wikipedia concerning the University of Alabama.

“The History of The University of Alabama begins with an act of United States Congress in 1818 authorizing the newly formed Alabama Territory to set aside a township for the establishment of a "seminary of learning." Alabama was admitted to the Union on March 20, 1819 and a second township added to the land grant. The seminary was established by the General Assembly on December 18, 1820 and named The University of the State of Alabama. The legislature appointed a Board of Trustees to handle the building and opening of the campus, and its operation once complete. The Board selected Tuscaloosa, then capital of the Alabama, as the site of the university in 1827, and opened its doors to students on April 18, 1831.”

Family lore says Tate R. Driesbach’s body servant brought back Tate’s Cavalry sword to Tensas, Alabama. The compiler notes James Denny Driesbach owned 80 slaves according to the 1860 Slave Schedule and further notes Tate’s sword remains with his descendants to this day. The compiler further notes today, Tensas, Alabama is known as Little River, Alabama, again special thanks to Hank Roberts for this information.

According to Tate R. Driesbach’s Compiled Military Service Records a Company Muster Rolls dated “August 31st to October 31st 1863” stated “Private T. R.” (Correctly spelled as) “Driesbach enlisted on June 4, 1863 at” (Spelled as) “Tuskaloosa” but should have been Tuscaloosa for the “duration of the war in Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry” and was “present for duty.” It was also noted that he was “paid .40 cents per day for his horse.”

The compiler notes it is interesting to record a Confederate privates pay. A Confederate private earned $11.00 per month or about .37 cents per day in the meantime the private’s horse earned $12.00 a month or .40 cents per day. In total the private would receive $23.00 a month or about .77 cents per day. The soldiers were supposed to be paid every two months when Company Muster Rolls were taken but it seldom worked out that way for a myriad of reasons.

Company Muster Rolls dated “October 31st to December 31st 1863” stated “Private T. R. Driesbach of Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry” had “enlisted on June 4, 1863 at Tuscaloosa” and “enlisted for the duration of the war” and was last paid by “Captain McVoy” on “October 31st 1863” and was “present for duty.”

Company Muster Rolls dated “December 31st to February 29, 1864” stated “Private T. R. Driesbach of Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry enlisted on June 4, 1863” in (Spelled as) “Tuskaloosa for the duration of the war” and was last “paid on December 31st 1863” and was “present for duty.” (The compiler notes this would be the last entry for Tate R. Driesbach’s Confederate Records and from this point forward his records would be Federal POW Records).

When Private Tate R. Driesbach of Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry was taken prisoner at the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee on December 16, 1864 he had been in Rucker’s Brigade in Chalmers’ Division in Forrest’s Cavalry Corps with John Bell Hood as Commanding General of the Army of Tennessee.

The compiler notes Tate R. Driesbach’s Federal POW Records are out of sequence as they often are and the compiler will attempt to put them in chronological order.

Federal POW Records reported “Private Tate R. Driesbach” in “Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry as appearing on a Roll of Prisoners of War at Nashville, Tennessee, captured by forces under Major General Thomas, commanding Department of the Cumberland, and forwarded to Captain S. E. Jones, Add’l A. D. C.” (Additional Aide De Camp), “Louisville, Kentucky, December 31, 1864. Roll dated Headquarters Department Cumberland Office Provost Marshall General, Nashville, Tennessee December 31, 1864.” POW Records noted he was “taken prisoner near Nashville, Tennessee on December 16, 1864.”

Federal POW Records listed his name as “Private Tate R.” (Spelled as) “Driesback” with “Company F” of the “7th Alabama Cavalry” and his name “appears on a register of Prisoners of War” within the “Department of the Cumberland” and was “captured near Nashville, Tennessee” on “December 16, 1864.” And he was “forwarded to Louisville, Kentucky” on “January 1, 1865.”

The compiler notes from previous experience the Confederate POW’s taken at the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee usually followed prisoner flow to Louisville, Kentucky which was usually a one day trip by train and that Louisville, Kentucky was a distribution center for other northern prisons depending upon availability. Camp Douglas, Illinois also took many Confederate prisoners from the Battle of Nashville via Louisville, Kentucky. The compiler further notes by this time period in the war many northern prisons had already exceeded their projected occupancy.

Federal POW Records reported “Private Tate R.” (Spelled as) “Driesback” of “Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry appearing on a roll of Prisoners of War at the Military Prison in Louisville, Kentucky and was received on January 2, 1865” and had been “captured on December 16, 1864 at Nashville, Tennessee” and “discharged to Camp Douglas.”

The compiler notes although he was slated for Camp Douglas, Illinois he was instead taken to Camp Chase, Ohio or as it was known in some circles as C. C. O. (Camp Chase, Ohio). Private Driesbach was one among hundreds of Confederate soldiers taken from Louisville, Kentucky who had been originally been slated for Camp Douglas, Illinois and would end up at Camp Chase.

Federal POW Records reported Private (Spelled as) “Kate R. Driesbach” of “Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry appearing on a Roll of Prisoners of War who arrived at Military Prison, Louisville, Kentucky during the five days ending January 5, 1865.” And it was reported he was “captured at Nashville, Tennessee” on “December 16, 1864.” And that he had come to “Louisville, Kentucky from Nashville,” Tennessee.

Federal POW Records reported “Private Tate R. Driesbach” of “Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry appearing on a Roll of Prisoners of War at Louisville, Kentucky transferred to Camp Chase, Ohio on January 2, 1865. Roll dated Louisville, Kentucky January 2, 1865.” “He was “captured at Nashville, Tennessee on December 16, 1864.”

The compiler notes from previous experience the Confederate prisoner flow from Louisville, Kentucky to Camp Chase Ohio was normally a two day journey by both vessel and railroad. Once the Confederate prisoners arrived at the Columbus train depot they were marched about four miles west to the Camp Chase prison.

Federal POW Records reported “Private Tate R. Driesbach” of “Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry appearing on a Roll of Prisoners of War received at Camp Chase, Ohio, from Louisville, Kentucky, January 4, 1865” and noted he was “captured near Nashville, Tennessee on December 16, 1864” and under remarks it stated “Received from Louisville, Kentucky on January 4, 1865.”

His last entry of Federal POW Records stated “Private T. R.” (Spelled as) “Driesback” of “Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry appearing on a Military Prison Record” and noted his “date of death” as “February 14, 1865” and the “cause of death” was “pneumonia.” No grave location was noted but records stated he was “buried one third of a mile south of Camp Chase” which would have been the Chase Cemetery.

According to the 1907 Confederate Register Tate R. Driesbach was removed from grave 1235 at the Camp Chase Cemetery. The compiler notes his date of death on February 14, 1865 would have been in sequence with grave 1235 and that today while tombstones 1234 and 1236 are present number 1235 is missing.

The compiler will now focus on the Olds family. As previously stated James Denny Driesbach was the brother of Maria Louise Driesbach.

Lyman Olds has lost his first wife and married Maria Louise Driesbach in Ohio in 1849.

Some of Lyman Olds brothers would become powerful political leaders during the war, so powerful the compiler is compelled to mention them.

Again the compiler will cite Wikipedia concerning Edson Baldwin Olds a brother of Lyman Olds.

Edson Baldwin Olds (June 3, 1802 – January 24, 1869) was a three-term U.S. Representative from Ohio. During the American Civil War, he was a leading member of the Peace Democrats. He was the great-grandfather of United States Army Air Forces Maj. Gen. Robert Olds, and the great-great grandfather of United States Air Force Brig. Gen. Robin Olds.

Born in Marlboro, Vermont, Olds completed preparatory studies. He moved to Ohio about 1820 and taught school. He was graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, in 1824 and commenced the practice of medicine in Kingston, Ohio, in 1824. He moved to Circleville, Ohio, in 1828 and continued practice until 1837, when he engaged in the general produce business and mercantile pursuits. He served as member of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1842, 1843, 1845, and 1846. He served in the Ohio Senate 1846–1848 and was its presiding officer in 1846 and 1847.

Olds was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first, Thirty-second, and Thirty-third Congresses (March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1855). He served as chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads (Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1854 to the Thirty-fourth Congress. He moved to Lancaster, Ohio, in 1857.

During the Civil War, Olds was outspoken in his opposition to the policies of the Radical Republicans. On July 27, 1862, an unnamed resident of Lancaster, Ohio sent Governor David Tod a letter about Olds. In the letter, he accused Olds of discouraging enlistments. He attributed a statement to Olds accusing the government of “tyranny engaged in a war to destroy the Union, overthrow the Constitution, and liberate the slaves.” Tod sent a copy of the letter to William H. Seward. In his letter to Seward, Tod stated that Olds was a “shrewd, cunning man, with capacity for great mischief, and should at once be put out of the way.” Olds was arrested by military authorities on August 12, 1862. He was confined at Fort Lafayette. He refused to take an oath of allegiance and was discharged on December 15, 1862. Olds was reputed to have said about Tod in one of his speeches: “the Governor would like to send the Democrats to the war, so as to keep them away from the polls, and retain Republicans at home, in order to save their votes for the party.” Olds suffered from bouts of acute dysentery and was recuperating at the time of his arrest. While in prison, he was again elected a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. After his release from prison, Olds served in the house from 1862 to 1866.

Following his retirement from political life, he resumed his various mercantile pursuits.

In 1824 Olds married Anna Maria Carolus. They had three sons, Mark Lafayette Olds (1828), a lawyer and Episcopalian minister of Christ Church in Washington, D.C.; Joseph Olds (1832), a lawyer and judge in Columbus, Ohio, and Edson Denny Olds (1834), a physician and surgeon in the Mexican Army; and three daughters, Rosalthe (1830), Mary (1836), and Lucy (1839). Another son and two daughters died in infancy. His brother was Chauncey N. Olds.

Edson Baldwin Olds died in Lancaster, January 24, 1869, and was interred in Forest Cemetery at Circleville.”

Another Olds brother was Mark Olds who was in the clergy and gave last rites to David Herold one of the Lincoln conspirators before he was hanged on July 7, 1865. History recalls it was David Herold who had been caught with John Wilkes Booth in the Garrett barn.

Perhaps one of the more famous brothers was Chauncey Olds. The compiler will have to work backwards a bit for the reader to understand what had happened. The Camp Chase commander, Colonel William Pitt Richardson when Tate R. Driesbach arrived at the Camp Chase prison had been a prosecuting attorney for Monroe County, Ohio prior to the war. He would later become the Colonel of the 25th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was badly wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia and lost the use of his arm. In March of 1864 he would assume the last position as the Camp Chase commander during the war. In the compilers opinion, Richardson like most officers wanted to be promoted. In the same election that saw Lincoln re-elected on November 8, 1864, Richardson’s name was on a ballot for Attorney General for the State of Ohio. William Pitt Richardson would win the election. Now the Union military had a decision to make either promote Richardson or lose him to politics. They chose to keep Richardson and made him a brigadier general a short time later. Now the position of Ohio State Attorney was vacant so Governor Brough appointed Chauncey Olds to fill the position. This is probably the reason why Tate’s aunt Maria Olds was able to come and go at Camp Chase unlike many other people as her brother-in-law, Chauncey Olds was a political figure head.

Here again from Wikipedia concerning the life of Chauncey Olds.

“Chauncey N. Olds was a Republican politician from the state of Ohio. He was Ohio Attorney General 1865. Chauncey Olds was born February 2, 1816 at Marlboro, Vermont, brother of Edson B. Olds. He was moved to Cuyahoga County, Ohio at age four. In 1830, the family moved to Circleville, Pickaway County. He began studies at Ohio University that autumn, but quit after three years due to illness. He entered Miami University in 1834, graduated in 1836, and soon became a professor there. He resigned in 1840, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1842 in Circleville. He practiced in that town until 1856, and represented the county in the Ohio House of Representatives for the 47th General Assembly, 1848–1849, and the Ohio State Senate 1849-1850, elected as a Whig. In 1856 he moved to Columbus, Ohio, and ran for Ohio Attorney General in the 1862 election, but lost.

In 1865, Attorney General William P. Richardson resigned, and Olds was appointed by Governor Brough, February 20, 1865. He was not nominated for the 1865 election. He was a trustee of Miami University for twenty five years. He was prominent in the Presbyterian Church. For the last seventeen years of his life he represented the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway in Franklin County. He died February 11, 1890 at his home in Columbus.”

At this point the compiler notes family lore has been accurate regarding Private Tate R. Driesbach. The compiler will add another piece of family information. When Tate’s aunt first visited him at the Camp Chase prison young Tate gave his aunt a cold reception not wanting anything of the Yankees including his aunt. But his aunt finally won over the confidence of Private Driesbach and brought him much needed food and other comforts such as additional clothing. When Private Driesbach died on February 14, 1865 his aunt brought back his body and reinterred him to the Olds family plot at the Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Ohio.

According to the U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963; Private Tate R. Driesbach of Company F of the 7th Alabama Cavalry died at Camp Chase on February 14, 1865 and is buried in the Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Ohio in Pickaway County, Ohio. The man requesting the Confederate tombstone was H. S. Irwin and the tombstone was shipped to him at the Circleville Court House. The form used for this request was number 623 and had been revised on February 15, 1937. The compiler notes forms were constantly changing insofar as information needed and that while Confederate tombstones appear to be the same there are some small details at times which separate them. The tombstone was requested on August 10, 1938 by H. S. Irwin and ordered on September 13, 1938 by the Adjutant Generals Office and shipped on October 4, 1938 and the Bill of Lading number was 1948321 and the tombstone was made in Tate, Georgia by the Georgia Marble Company.

The compiler notes the tombstones at Camp Chase were made in Nelson, Georgia by the Blue Ridge Marble Company. Shortly afterward the marble operation was moved to nearby Tate, Georgia and the company was then known as the Georgia Marble Company. How ironic it was that Tate’s tombstone was made in Tate, Georgia but from the same marble quarries that his fellow comrade’s tombstones would come from. The compiler further notes it was the marble from the Georgia Marble Company that the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. came from but that the Lincoln Memorial was made of a finer type of marble and not the number two grade that the Confederate tombstones were made from. However there were many different places that Confederate tombstones were made and the compiler is only suggesting that Tate, Georgia was one of the larger marble operations for Confederate tombstones.

The compiler notes upon researching H. S. Irwin his full name was Howard Smith Irwin and is also buried now at the Forest Cemetery in Circleville. It appears he had no ancestry with Tate R. Driesbach or the Olds families and had been a World War I veteran. Howard Smith Irwin was noted in the 1930 United States census as working with the Soldiers Relief. It is the compilers opinion he had been working with World War I veterans and was concerned for all United States veterans in general. Today his work can be seen in the Confederate tombstone of Tate R. Driesbach at the Forest Cemetery in Circleville, Ohio.

The compiler notes Tate Randolph Driesbach has a Find A Grave Memorial at 91817313. The compiler notes a former SCV member of Camp 1535 (Jeff Carithers) took the time to clean and photograph the tombstone of Tate Randolph Driesbach which can be saw at the above memorial number. The compiler further notes a Driesbach descendant Warren Gentzel who is a Civil War historian from Pickaway County, Ohio lays flowers for Tate’s grave once a year and is doing a biography of Tate R. Driesbach for his local newspaper.

Somehow having Tate’s final resting with his father’s sister in the same cemetery and being a member of General Nathan Bedford Forrest Corps and being buried in the Forest Cemetery seems like the perfect place for the young Southern patriot.

According to the 1850 and 1860 United State slave schedules Tate R. Driesbach owned no slaves. However his father James Denny Driesbach did. According to the 1850 United State slave schedule J. D. (Spelled as) Driesback of Baldwin County, Alabama owned thirty-eight slaves. The breakdown was twenty-two males and sixteen females. Twelve slaves were ten years old or younger. Five of the slaves were fifty years old or older. Two of the thirty-eight slaves were listed as mulatto. The 1860 United State slave schedule listed J. D. (Spelled as) Driesback living in Baldwin County, Alabama and owned eighty slaves. The breakdown is as follows. Forty-two were female slaves and thirty-eight male slaves. Of the eighty slaves five of them were listed as mulatto. The oldest age of the eighty slaves was a male who was One hundred years old and the youngest as age one. Twenty-four of the slaves were ten years old or younger. Twelve of the slaves were fifty years old or older.