Birth: 1823
Alabama, USA
Death: Feb. 23, 1865
Camp Chase
Franklin County
Ohio, USA

Private John C. Harris enlisted in Company K of the 31st Mississippi Infantry on March 19, 1862 for three years at Ellistown, Mississippi, then located in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Because of post war counties being added in Mississippi present day Ellistown is now located in Lee County, Mississippi.

Likewise the 31st Mississippi Regiment Infantry was first organized as the 6th (Orr's) Battalion Mississippi Infantry. In February and March, 1862, it was increased to ten companies and mustered into Confederate service as Orr's Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. Shortly afterward the designation was changed to the 31st Regiment Mississippi Infantry.

Confederate Compiled Military Service Records listed John C. Harris as a 5th sergeant on his company muster roll for November and December 1862. Although he was reported as a private in later Confederate Compiled Military Service Records his status as a sergeant remained intact while at a Confederate hospital. In the compilers opinion because no reduction in rank was mentioned his status as a 5th sergeant should remain constant.

Confederate Compiled Military Service Records reported 5th Sergeant John C. Harris on his May and June 1863 company muster rolls as absent and at the hospital. As an example on his Confederate Compiled Military Service Records he was reported as absent and a private on his September and October 1863 company muster rolls but hospital records show his rank as a sergeant at the Breckenridge Division hospital number two at Lauderdale Springs, Mississippi in November of 1863.

On page twenty-nine of his Confederate Compiled Military Service Records it was reported that Sergeant John C. Harris had chronic bronchitis and doctors listed him as unfit for military duty. He performed such duties as a cook, carpenter and nurse while at the hospital and retained his rank as sergeant. It was also noted that he was forty-one years of age in 1864 and stood 6 feet in height and had blue eyes and gray hair and had a light complexion and had been born in Alabama and prior to the war had been a farmer.

The above information coincides with the 1860 United States census which declared John C. Harris born in 1823 and had been born in Alabama and was living in Pontotoc County, Mississippi and was thirty-seven years old in 1860 and was married to Elizabeth R. Harris (age thirty-three) and the couple had a daughter named Sarah M. Harris who was six years old in 1860. The nearest Post Office was listed as Chesterville, Mississippi. His occupation was listed in the 1860 census as a farmer and the value of his real estate value was listed as $2,960.00.

It is the compilers opinion with the devastating losses suffered by the 31st Regiment, Mississippi Infantry during the war that all available soldiers were ordered to the front despite having chronic bronchitis. The ranks needed to be filled for the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

Sergeant John C. Harris last company muster roll for the hospital was reported on February 29, 1864 at Lee's Cavalry Division Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama.

Federal POW Records reported private John C. Harris taken prisoner at the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee on December 16, 1864. The compiler notes the bitter winter of 64' and 65' was one of the coldest on record. He was taken to Nashville, Tennessee and then forwarded to Louisville, Kentucky and finally transferred to Camp Chase, Ohio where he arrived on January 6, 1865.

On February 23, 1865 in Washington, D.C. the United States Congress passed an act to extinguish the Indian title to lands in the territory of Utah suitable to agricultural and mineral purposes. And at far away Camp Chase, Ohio John C. Harris would die of pneumonia on Thursday, February 23, 1865 and placed in grave number 1403.

The compiler would like to thank Lauren Clark for bringing this forgotten Confederate to the compilers attention. Ever since the presence of the internet somehow a photograph of his tombstone has never appeared. I'm sure that the UDC Martha Reid Chapter will rectify this oversight.

Alabama, Marriage Collection, 1800-1969
Name: John C Harris
Spouse: Eliza R Stovall
Marriage Date: 20 Dec 1848
County: Lawrence
State: Alabama
Source information: Hunting For Bears

1860 United States Federal Census
Name: John C Harris
Age in 1860: 37
Birth Year: abt 1823
Birthplace: Alabama
Home in 1860: Pontotoc, Mississippi
Gender: Male
Post Office: Chesterville
Household Members - Name/Age:
John C Harris 37
Eliza R Harris 33
Sarah M Harris 6

Family links:
Spouse:
Eliza R. Stovall Barton (1827 - 1909)

Burial:
Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery
Columbus
Franklin County
Ohio, USA
Plot: row 31, grave #1403

Edit Virtual Cemetery info [?]

Maintained by: Martha Reid 19 UDC
Originally Created by: dennis brooke
Record added: Jan 04, 2015
Find A Grave Memorial# 140874907