There was a letter by Thomas R. Berry to a Confederate widow named Minerva Sparks Reed about her husband dying in the Alexandria, LA (Skirmishes, Alexandria, LA in 1864). The person I'm looking for information on is Minerva Sparks Reed's husband. Through doing searches on the World Wide Web, I could only figure out that he was part of the 36th Texas Cavalry.
.....
There were no men on the roster of the 36th Texas Cavalry with the surname Berry.
...........
1850 United States Federal Census about Minerva Sparkes
Name: Minerva Sparkes
[Minerva Sparks]
Age: 7
Birth Year: abt 1843
Birthplace: Texas
Home in 1850: Burleson and Brazos, Brazos, Texas
Gender: Female
Family Number: 51
Household Members:
Name Age
William C Sparkes 52
Jane Sparkes 44
Cleracy Sparkes 13
John Sparkes 11
Elijah Sparkes 9
Minerva Sparkes 7
William Sparkes 6
Samuel Sparkes 4
Stephen Sparkes 26
Elizabeth Sparkes 15
...........
1860 United States Federal Census about Meneria Reed
Name: Meneria Reed
[Minerva Reed]
Age in 1860: 17
Birth Year: abt 1843
Birthplace: Texas
Home in 1860: Bell, Texas
Gender: Female
Post Office: Belton
Value of real estate: View image
Household Members:
Name Age
Michael Reed 22 Farming born in Miss.
Meneria Reed 17 born in Texas
Jane Reed 10/12 (Ancestry.com)
............
1870 United States Federal Census about Minerva Reed
Name: Minerva Reed
Age in 1870: 28
Birth Year: abt 1842
Birthplace: Texas
Home in 1870: Beat 4, Bell, Texas
Race: White
Gender: Female
Post Office: Belton
Value of real estate: View image
Household Members:
Name Age
Minerva Reed 28
Jane Reed 11
Clara Reed 8
Mica Reed 5
******************************************************************
Thomas R. Berry, age 27, Private, Company I, 17th Texas Infantry, enrolled March 24,1862 at Belton, mustered into service April 11, 1862 at Camp Terry, Austin, Tx., last recorded present February 29, 1864
............
M. R. Reed, age 24, Private, Capt. Hillery M. Bouldin's Company, Allen's Regiment Texas Infantry,* enrolled May 3, 1862 at Belton, mustered into service May 12 at Camp Terry, by Col. Allen for 3 years or the war, recorded at the end of the year 1862 as absent, detailed as Nurse at Austin, Ark., recorded on the Jan/Feb, 1864 muster roll,** as absent without leave since February 28, 1864, no further records
** This was the last surviving company bi-monthly muster roll. If he died subsequently, & prior to July 4, 1864, there would be no record in the books
* This company subsequently became Company I, 17th Regiment Texas Infantry (Allen's Regiment)
M323: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Texas
............
17th Texas Infantry Rgt.
Cols. Robert T. P. Allen, George W. Jones, LtCol. Joseph Z. Miller,
Majs. R. D. Allen, John W. Tabor
The regiment was formed in March 1862 at Camp Terry, Austin, Texas and
included men from Belton, Austin, Columbus and the counties of
Burleson, Smith and Upshur. It was assigned to McCulloch's, Flournoy's,
Waterhouse's, Scurry's brigade, Trans-Mississippi Department. In June
1863 it lost 21 killed, 68 wounded and three missing at Milliken's
Bend.
One offficer and 39 men were captured during the Red River campaign and
it fought at Jenkins' Ferry. It moved to Hempstead, Texas in 1865. It
was included in the June 2, 1865 surrender of the Trans-Mississippi
Department.
Submitted by: John Heseltine
Historical Data Systems, Inc.
.....
The Seventeenth fought at Poison Springs, Arkansas, on April 18, 1864, at Mark's Mills in Arkansas on April 25, 1864, and at Jenkins' Ferry on the Saline River in Arkansas on April 30, 1864. The unit was ordered to Shreveport, Louisiana, in the middle of 1864. It stayed there until ordered to Hempstead, Texas. It was surrendered to Union forces at Galveston, Texas, on June 2, 1865.
See also:
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qks12
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=17th+Texas+Infantry&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
This document is found at the U. S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
U.S. Army Military History Institute
950 Soldiers Drive
Carlisle Barracks, PA 17013-5021
29 Jun 2012
17th Texas Cavalry Regiment
Delaney, Norman C., editor. "The Diary and Memoirs of Marshall Samuel Pierson, Company C, 17th Reg. Texas Cavalry, 1862-1865." Military History of Texas and the Southwest Vol. 13, No. 3 (1976): pp. 23-38. Per.