Dennis..I'm pleased that you have made such a kind and generous offer to Joe. Hopefully, his health and time will allow him to make the trip.

Obviously, I am not personally acquainted with either of you, but we have something in common, Our love of researching the Civil War and sharing our pride for having had ancestors actively serving in combat in the military of the Confederate States of America.

My Great Great grandfather, George Cornelius Vandiver, (enlisted at age 16), served in the 13th/16th Battalion of the Georgia Calvary. G.C. had an older brother who served in a Ga. Infantry Regiment but, after his unit had fought in several major battles in and around the state of Virginia, he died of an illness in a Confederate Hospital in Richmond Va. (probably measles). It is believed that he is buried in an unmarked grave in the Hollywood Cemetery.

G.C.'s younger brother (age 14) also severed in a Georgia Infantry Unit and fought Sherman's army from Atlanta to Savannah Georgia. I have found no record of G.C. being wounded during the war, but his younger brother was slightly injured in his hand in a battle near Savannah, Ga.

G.C. surrendered at Bristol, Tennessee and refused to sign the loyalty oath to the U.S. As a result of his refusal, his horse was taken by the yanks. and he and a like minded fellow Calvary man walked from Bristol to Jackson County, Ga, a distance of about 200 miles.

My mother who died at age 101 about four years ago, recalls her grandfather visiting in their home overnight when she was about six years of age. According to her memory G.C. had a habit of drinking a water glass of moonshine before breakfast every morning.

Must have been a good tonic because he lived until his early 80s, married four wives, fathered at least 12 children by three wives., He and his 1st wife (a Civil War widow with 2 children-who were adopted by G.C.). His 2nd and 3rd wives are buried at the Harmony Hall Baptist Church Cemetery, Hall County, Ga.

G.C. married a 4th wife, but she only lived 2 weeks after their marriage. She died from "lockjaw" as a result of a scratch on her arm due to a scrape suffered while she was cleaning a stall in their barn. Family lore says, that at her funeral, G.C. stated, "If I had known she would only live 2 weeks, I would never had married her." "She was not worth the bother."

I have a copy of their marriage license issued at Clarkesville,Habersham County. Georgia, but have not been able to locate her grave . I surmise that her family claimed her body and transported it to Habersham County for burial in her families' plot.