While researching the dead at Camp Chase an interesting side story has emerged and one that needs to be investigated further and I'll leave it to my friends at the Mississippi board for the chore.

Confederate Private Thomas Bird of Company D 22nd Regiment, Mississippi Infantry was a member of the "Rodney Guards" which was the nickname for Company D. He was taken prisoner as a result of the battle of Nashville near Columbia, Tennessee on December 19, 1864 probably due to the skirmish of Rutherford's Creek. Thomas Bird would die at Camp Chase.

According to the 1850 United States census Thomas Bird and two other members of the Bird family were living in the household of Solomon Johnston in the town of Rodney in Jefferson County, Mississippi.

I don't have to tell many members of this board about Rodney, Mississippi and its rich history with the USS Rattler crew and the ghost town status of Rodney caused in part by the change of course of the Mississippi River. According to Wikipedia Rodney lacked three votes from becoming the territorial capitol of Mississippi.

As stated earlier Solomon Johnston was listed as the head of household in the town of Rodney on the 1850 United States census. For occupation his was listed as being a Revolutionary war soldier and listed his age as eighty-eight and born about 1762 in South Carolina. Looking at www.fold3.com he in fact was a drummer boy of the 6th South Carolina Regiment during the American Revolution and served from 1777-1780 and was receiving a $96.00 per year pension and listed his residence as Rodney, Mississippi.

Looking a bit more online the 6th South Carolina Regiment was also known as the 2nd South Carolina Rifle Regiment. The last pension I see him receiving was during the 1st quarter of 1850 and am assuming he died shortly afterward. One of the more likely places for his grave would have been the Rodney Cemetery but his name is not listed as being there. His tombstone could very well be under ground at the Rodney Cemetery or perhaps his tombstone is elsewhere around Rodney. From what I can gather he does not have a tombstone that is visible.

There is also an issue as to the spelling of his surname sometimes he is mentioned as Johnston and other times as Johnson however his given name of Solomon remains constant.

Likewise I do not know the relationship of Solomon Johnston/Johnson to Thomas Bird if he had any. It would seem plausible that since three members of the Bird family were living with Solomon Johnston/Johnson that there may have been some type of family connection.

I am hoping that someone on the Mississippi board may be able to get the Revolutionary War drummer boy a tombstone who apparently died in Rodney in 1850 or shortly thereafter providing of course that he does not have one already. I don't have the time to do research on the American Revolution as all my time is devoted to Camp Chase at the present time. If someone takes the time to do more research it may make for a very interesting and forgotten piece of American History.