The Mississippi in the Civil War Message Board

What ever happened to Reuben M. Chamberlin?

On September 1, 1939 the world was alerted to the outbreak of World War II and may have kindled some old memories for an old man named Willard Chamberlin in Rusk County, Texas. While it's subjective as to how much he knew about his brother if anything we now have a fairly good idea. The following is a rough draft of one of the Camp Chase biographies concerning Willard's younger brother Reuben M. Chamberlain.

"Private Reuben M. CHAMBERLIN - Inscription on tombstone #436 reads “R. M. CHAMBERLIN 36 TEX. CAV. C.S.A.” He was taken prisoner at Oak Ridge, Mississippi in March 1864.

His Confederate Compiled Military Service Records are listed in the 3rd Regiment, Texas Cavalry and his name is listed as Reuben M. Chamberlain. The compiler notes he was not with the 36th Texas Cavalry as his tombstone states.

Mississippi Marriages; 1776 – 1935 located on www.ancesty.com listed “Emily Marshall married to Willard (Surname spelled as Chamberlain) on December 10, 1836 in Warren County, Mississippi.”

The 1850 United States census listed Reuben Chamberlin, age four, born about 1846, in Mississippi living in the household of William (Surname spelled as Chamberlin), age forty-two, born in Vermont, and Emily Chamberlin, age thirty-three, born in Mississippi and the household was living in Warren County, Mississippi. The compiler notes the older brother William, age six, who also was known as Willard, died in Rusk County, Texas in 1940 and the spelling on his tombstone was noted as Chamberlin.

The 1860 United States census listed Reuben Chamberlin, age fourteen, born about 1846, in Mississippi living in the household of W. and Emily Chamberlin in Warren County, Mississippi with the nearest Post Office noted as Vicksburg. Confederate Compiled Military Service Records reported him “enlisting in Company F of the 3rd Texas Cavalry also known as the South Kansas Texas Regiment, Mounted Volunteers on March 15, 1864 at Oak Ridge, Mississippi,” located in northern Warren County and listed his name as “Reuben M. Chamberlain.”

Federal POW records reported his “capture on March 25, 1864 by the 4th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry and wounded and taken to the 4th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry regimental hospital.” Federal POW records reported “Private Reuben M. Chamberlain admitted to the McPherson United States Army General Hospital in Vicksburg, Mississippi on April 26, 1864 and listed him as sick and suffering from a pistol wound to the left knee and returned to the Provost Marshal on May 11, 1864.” Federal POW records reported him “transferred from Vicksburg, Mississippi on June 9, 1864 to Cairo, Illinois and then forwarded to Camp Chase where he arrived on June 20, 1864.”

In Washington, D.C. on November 8, 1864 President Lincoln was struggling to learn the Presidential election results and at far away Camp Chase, Ohio, Private Chamberlin was struggling to keep alive. President Lincoln would win and the young Confederate from Mississippi would lose. Camp Chase Prison Records reported the death of Private Chamberlain of Company F 3rd Texas Cavalry on Tuesday November 8, 1864 due to chronic diarrhea.

The young lad from Mississippi who may have endured and shared the hardships during the siege of Vicksburg, who joined a Texas Cavalry unit had only been in the saddle for about two weeks before meeting his fate and the day he died marked the fate for the Confederacy with the re-election of President Lincoln. Private Chamberlain’s parents moved to Texas after the war and were living in Erath County, in the 1880 United States census.

According to the 1850 and 1860 United States slave schedules Reuben M. Chamberlin owned no slaves."