The Dash Between The Dates

The Dash Between The Dates

I begin my posting with an excerpt from a poem by Linda Ellis that I have recently read:

I read of a man who stood to speak at a funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning… to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke of the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time they spent alive on earth and now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.

For so many of our descendants, we know little about their "dash," but it is my hope to uncover many of their stories that lie between their dates.

VISIT DONNA'S BLOG, AND READ HER STORIES AS HER RESEARCH UNFOLDS:

THE DASH BETWEEN THE DATES by Donna AnglinToncic

A NEW ANGLIN AUTHOR!!!

Today we added Donna Anglin Toncic to the blog as a new author, who will develop the story of her own Anglin line.  In the story of William Anglin, we mention his brother, Raburn. They joined their unit, the 58th NC at the same time, along with a brother-in-law, and a multitude of cousins. They suffered together through the sorrows of war together until the Battle Of Chickamauga, where William was wounded, and within 10 days died. Raburn was able to go on, however, and return to family, and help Sally, William's wife, raise the children he left behind.  I am delighted to join forces with her to tell their family stories. She will focus on her line, and I on mine, and her blogs will give a great deal of balance to the overall research.  I value her dedication, and have found her work to be like mine...a work in progress. Neither of us knows it all. We just delight in telling what we've found. I am asking her to handle her blog as she sees fit, where I have chosen the story line and go at it quite slowly, she may chose to post small bits as she finds them, like putting out the puzzle pieces.  I welcome the chance to combine the conversation, and will glean from her publishings as you will.
We still have a good bit of getting it together to open her part of the blog full steam and my health will hinder it getting done more than anything, So until we can publish her pages...I'm looking forward to it. For now she will introduce herself to you next post.

Thank you Donna for this picture-
She shared this to me via Messenger, saying she felt I might like to have it.  It includes my Grandmother - Norah Anglin Roland 34, her sister Vergie Anglin (Ogle) 36, and their brother Willie Anglin 29, the 3 youngest of the Anglin children born to Robert and Katie Anglin. 

She said, I believe that Betsy Styles shared the picture with her, and you can see on the notations it is courtesy of David Horton. 

Thank you soooooo much!


Donna's Blog: The Dash Between The Dates

William Anglin's Civil War Story Chickamauga Battlefield

 

Up until this point, I have shown you the path the 58th NC took to reach the Chickamauga Battlefield by September of  1863. From the time many of the Yancey Co. men had joined the Confederate army in June and July of 1862, through the training received in the NE mtns of Tennessee, to the severe sickness among the troops along he way south, to the accusation of desertion against many of the unit's men, including our ancestor, William, to the march south into the jaws of the enemy at Chickamauga Battlefield. So now I begin the story anew, with the men arriving to Lafayette,  GA the day before the battle. The story written of that day, which I read among documents from various books and saw on videos telling the story at the Battle field, said the men of the 58th arrived hungry and tired from marching directly from above Chattanooga to Lafayette in a short time with little food. A long march itn a short time, and the whole way they were promised meals if they would just keep going.  I found evidence that at some point they no longer just marched, but may have had train transport for part of the distance. But the RR junction at Ringold had received much damage by Federal troops, and the rebuild showed the damage with walls to the Depot highly damaged. Did William arrive during a time when it showed the evidence of having been attacked by Northern cannons? Not sure, but it's entirely possible.

Ringgold is almost due East of Chickamauga, but the Conferderate orders were sending the 58th South and West of Chickamauga to join forces with other Confederate Units in preparation for the great conflict that was already occurring in the Chattanooga and Chickamauga campaigns.  Units from every direction and both sides of he war, were gathering for the major clash on the 20th day of September, 1863.

The 58th expected to wake to breakfast and some rest upon reaching Lafayette, GA.  It was  said they awakened late.  But while preparing food, scarcely had coffee been made, that a call to arms went forth and the men were rushed to prepare for battle, many with scarcely a bite yet.  It was now their duty to arrive south of Chickamauga Battlefield by noon.  It is alarming to me, how hard this unit had been pushed. But I am sure other units had suffered almost the same way.  But the encampment they had joined already had up tents and at least a meal.  I shudder to think how tired and hungry William might have been. Up until now his military experience had been fraught with failed expectations.

These two pictures are taken from the road in front of the Dyer House. I am looking
back south,  across the field from the direction the 58th would have marched ,
coming from north of Lafayette Ga, just south of here.

This how they would have approached the spot where I am standing.
 

 Once the 58th left Lafayette, heading north, they crossed open country farms, primarily fields. Their objective was a point just south of Chickamauga, GA, near the farm of a family named Dyer. Once the lines were formed, the units progressed from the Dyer house across the field toward a hill at the north of the field.
At noon the volleys began to rain upon the 58th, knocking out the first lines advancing to battle, and from there I can't give a blow by blow as some accounts I've read do, but I want to show you the signs on the battle field which speak of their advance and mark their positions along the way as the day progressed. Jimmy and I went to the battlefield and walked from the parking lots along the paths and found all the plaques referencing the 58th that day, except the one between Lafayette and the Dyer House, which we couldn't find.



As I continue turning to the West you can see the road running in front of, and the Dyer House as it stands today.
 

This little sign identifies the house, while the plaque behind,
written in Blue, designating it was speaking of Union movements, tells us it was the location of Union Hospital until that morning.  They had moved only moments ahead of arriving Confederates.

 

This sign was my first clue that medical military records could be found. It is through
confederate medical records like the one this was taken from, that I was able to track
William Anglin's  path from the battlefield to Marrietta, Ga., before he died from his wounds.

We'll begin there.  At the Dyer house. 

There's an important side note I want to insert at this point.  Before discussing the war.  Isaac Anglin who was the first Anglin to come south from W. Virginia to what would become Yancey Co. NC, had a wife named Nancy DYER.  When Issac arrived and later died early in life, Nancy and a woman, who was most likely her mother, both appeared on the early Census records. As the earliest Anglin family. Isaac and Nancy of course were William's ancestors, his grandparents in fact.

   When I walked up to this sign which said Dyer house, I couldn't help but wonder,  did they know this Dyer family? Might they have been Nancy's kin? Would William have known? ..How was the Dyer family treated when their home was consficated by Union Troops. Had they fled, did they need to?  Wouldn't you just love to know the story?.................

Only a day before, the Union armies had used the little cabin as a place to treat wounded, but had evacuated the area that day, moving north toward Chattanooga in recognition of the large push of Confederate troops.   Just something to think about as you picture the men moving through the grasses in the field near "The Dyer House" that morning. Once arriving at this location, by the house, the 58th was only yards away from the fate awaiting them that day.

The first volleys of fire from the northern troops took heavy tolls on the approaching Confederate unit's first lines. Including a heavy toll on the 58th NC. They began to fall away,  a little more than halfway out this field, at a little past noon that day.

Swinging toward the north now, past the Dyer house on my left,
 is the field through which
the 58th will march.

As we left the Dyer House, these are pictures of the field just past it through which the 58th
 is said to have passed, confronting Union volleys sometime around noon,
 about halfway to the hill.  In the last picture you can barely see the
incline of the hill to which we will drive next to find more plaques
 discussing their forward movement, through the battle.

The battle began in a field just past the Dyer house, and progressed north and slightly west to where the level field becomes a wooded hill.  Union embattlements had settled in and pushed up from the other side of that hill, and the 58th pushed through while fighting to reach a point almost 3/4ths of the way up that hill.  By evening, the 58th and the units fighting with them won the day, with casualties lying dead or dying, wounded and some burned by fires ignited into the grasses and underbrush as union fire rained in...they lay suffering, from Dyer field to all along that hillside.  And William Anglin was one of them..  Did he make it to the last sign that day or was he wounded early?  Were his wounds from ammunitions or fire? We don't know.  Family I asked seemed to think the story that reached home was that he was wounded in fighting. 

Before I put up the pictures, let me remind readers, that William had begun his military journey as a member of the Drum and Bugle Corps.  A fife.  Those who played notes to indicate to all the soldiers which way to move as a commander called out directions.  He was a musician. He trained as such. But when the orders way back in N TN were recalled for leave to go home, and many of his unit, including him didn't find out in time, they were accused of desertion.  Returning to his unit to find himself in a place of shame, and suspicion, must have been heart breaking. He lost  his commission to the training he had received as a musician, and now was required to fight as a soldier while lacking the actual training of many of his fellow gun carrying counterparts.  Now, lest I make you feel too sorry for him, he was a mountain man, who knew how to use a gun and hunt for food. No doubt a pretty good shot.  But it wasn't the journey he started out on.

So here he was in his first major battle, wounded and needing care as the day closed, and there was pain and suffering all around him.  Were one of his brothers, cousins or friends from the unit nearby, or were they far up the hill, exhausted and still hungry, some of them also needing care?

These are the signs that tell the story:

The first Confederate sign at the base of the hill, clearly indicating the inclusion of the 58th NC. Note the time is now 4:30 as the battle begins to climb this hill.   Col. John B. Palmer commands their unit.
 

May I note at this point, that William was not the only Anglin brother or cousin involved in this battle. He brother Raburn is here. His cousin William is here.  And there are other friends, family and cousins on the rosters.  You might even say a large number of the Yancey County men of conscription age, are here.  So this is their story as well.  Raburn went on to fight again and again, and eventually return home.  In Yancey Co, after the war, William's wife Sally and her family move in with Raburn and his family, as Raburn attempts to help take care of his deceased brother's legacy.


(I am only trying to trace William, because I know the most about his details.  If someone knows the details of their kinsman who is part of one of our immediate kin, I would love to publish the email of what you know.  But please provide some notes about how you discovered the story.)

Back to the story -
Jimmy and I began to walk the trails that led up the hill. We went up one that was further west of this plaque, and found details about the advancement of other troops, but not the 58th.  But when we reached nearly the top of the hill, one mentioned that the  58th flanked them to the east, so we knew we were too far west.  We took a trail back toward the east, and soon found the places along the hill where the 58th fought.


As we rounded the path we ran across this large stone which honored the NC troops for their service.
It reads:
"Erected by the State of North Carollina to mark the extreme point attained in a charge by the right of the 58th NC Regiment about 6PM September 20th, 1863."

This was as far up the hill they were able to push, but the unit ahead of them had already pushed the Union over the top of the hill, only a few yards further up the hill.   Just below this marker, down the hill we could see 2 more markers written in red.  So now we knew where they began their push up the hill at 4:30, and where they had reached their highest point up the hill at 6:30, which was said to be near dark and at the close of the day's battle, when Northern troops were either captured or pushed north toward Chattanooga once again.

Here are the signs along the path leading up the hill.

Finding the spot where Williams unit fought, made me wonder where on that hill or that field he fell. Where was my kndred's blood spilled? I was deeply saddened knowing it was the place where he was wounded, which would lead to his death in a few days.
 



From this vantage you can see the stone marker in the distance up the hill from the plaque.

From this plaque we see the Confederate divisions led by Kelly and Trigg have closed in from both right and left flanks, at the top of the hill. 3 Union units have not received the orders to withdraw and are captured by Kelly and Trigg.

A stone monument erected to commemorate the SC units led by Pressley, documents that this date was on a Sunday.



The plaque above shows the records of the close of the battle from the Union reports. At 7:30 it was over, and William was somewhere lying wounded or perhaps recovered by Medics and hopefully receiving medical care.  At the top of the hill as night closed in, a hospital was established in a tiny log cabin, for the treatment and movement of the wounded.  A mini hospital too small to hold them all.  Actually, it was more like a triage unit, where men were brought, and allowed to lie on the ground nearby while understaffed medical units and their volunteers tried to reach the most needy. Others were allowed to wait for hours, even days for help, food, blankets,  the very least of their needs. It was said it took 3 days to clear the fields of the wounded, while the dead were allowed to remain....

Was William ever in this little log cabin for treatment? I don't think so.  I believe as I read the reports that he might have been brought somewhere near here to await someone to come out to him, and transport to the area North of Ringgold where they were eventually carried, as transportation by wagon became available.  Some were able to ride on horseback.  How and when and where William lay in the story, no one knows but God.  Did he say a sad good bye to brothers, cousins, friends. Were they whisked away before morning toward the new battles in Chattanooga, never to see one another again? This was his departure from everything he every knew.  The battle was his now, and only his. To Live or Die.

This little cabin was the hospital providing care for wounded soldiers that night.  I was closer to the fray
than the Dyer house now. And at the top of this hill also lay Union soldiers wounded and dying.  If you remember,
their medical units had been moved to Chattanooga that morning. At days end the battle belonged to the
medical staffs to save lives.  Medical transport to distant facilities better prepared for greater care
in Ringgold, for confederates, and Chickamauga for Union soldiers, was up to anyone who could volunteer from the neighbor hood to help.  Women even came out with men in buggies, bringing bandages they had torn, and biscuits baked, and water for those who could no longer reach life lines so simple was water.

I'll continue the story next blog.  I'll leave this up a bit for people to share,  but I now have pictures of the hospitals in Ringgold, the train depot where he awaited transport further south as Union Troops pushed south, The tunnel where his train passed through, only a short month or so before another transport train wrecked, killing many on board.  The depot in Dalton, the destination in Marietta, The building where the hospital and morgue were in Marrietta, and finally the Confederate Cemetery where he is buried.  It will take a few more blogs to tell the whole story.  So hopefully we can continue to put up the pieces so all can see and share.

Blessings family.
Cynthia

Addendum:

It's rather late tonight to be adding this, but I was so excited to know of it, I had to add it here and not in the next blog.

My brother, Blaine Fuller, found documents which were William's wife's attempt to file for Pension due to Williams death, in her later years.  The year they were recorded was 1885, 12 years  after his death.  They can be found at this web address:
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p16062coll39/id/351/

He asked had I ever seen them before? There are 5 pages.

  Blaine asked me in the process, how was Sarah related to us, and it reminds me that I sometimes don't clarify in every blog who exactly I am talking about, for anyone not following or reading every story.  So to answer that question, Sarah C. Anglin, mentioned in the above documents, is the wife of William Anglin, who died from wounds received at Chickamauga.  They are my grandmother's Grandparents.  Parents of Robert John Anglin...son and daughter in law of William Anglin, Sr. who married Elizabeth Austin. William Sr, was the son of Isaac Anglin and Nancy Dyer whom I mentioned in the narrative above.

On the pages of the request for pension, Sarah gives the date of Williams death as October 20th.  which is wrong, because he was wounded at the Chickamauga Battlefield, which was on September 20th, 1863. His death date was October 5th.  She also says he was in the 58th NC in Tennessee at the time.

As I read further, she is turned down for the pension, because he is not listed on rosters for the 58th in Tennessee by that date.  I could cry for her. Because he wasn't on rosters anywhere by then.  And Chickamauga isn't in  TN.  It's GA. 

There are affidavits to attest to her as being William's wife, and that she is of good character, and that he was a member of the 58th NC, a private.  One of those affidavits is written by JW Phipps.  John W Phipps was married to Rachel Anglin, William's sister, thereby was Sarah's brother-in-law.  It says on this paper that he too was a soldier with the 58th NC. I need to find him on the rosters, if possible.

He records that he knew of William's injury, that he was shot, at Chickamauga, Tennessee. I thought at first it said Ga, because the last 2 letters of Chickamauga appear on the next line. But it says Tenn. 
 Apparently, these soldiers may not have known they were still in Ga at Chickamauga, because as I said earlier, by morning they were headed toward battles to be waged in and around Chattanooga, which is just across the border.   I am almost positive that no part of the battlefield is in TN.  William would not have appeared on rosters for TN after Sept 18th or maybe even the 17th depending when they entered GA headed for Lafayette.
Because of the misinformation she gave them, the county officials could not find him at the time, and requesting better information, they denied her claim.

I hurt so badly for her.  Was it her memory, that was failing or was she not given proper info to begin with. Did the report of William's death not come with documents? Were they lost? Was it soldiers who reported his demise to her instead.  Did news come around Oct 20th, or did she just get the dates for when he was wounded mixed up with the date he died? My discoveries always send me asking more questions. As Jimmy said, maybe she knew nothing of Tennessee and Georgia as far as what towns were where.  I certainly didn't until I moved here.

  John Phipps does say that William was wounded at the battle in Chickamauga, but died several days later.  Those several days, were actually ...(30 days hath September, ...all the rest have 31...) Yes, 10 days after the battle til the end of September, and 5 days into October = 15 days later.  But that's definitely true.

I hurt for her so badly, but am so excited to have the documents that  someone can say"I was there, I knew of his wounds, how he was wounded."  Now I know. He was shot, according to a fellow soldier.  Some one knew... someone knew.  Someone  probably began praying right away. And this is the best first hand knowledge to corroborate the story that I have. No more wondering was he burned in the fires unless afer being shot he couldn't escape them.   Thank you Blaine!!!

Since they allow downloads of the documents, I will include them here, now, as a preface for the journey he took over the next 15 days.  I am so sorry, Sarah that you couldn't know the story.  Are you helping me dear GGgrandmother, tell on your behalf now? I am sorry to Williams parents too. How they all must have mourned with out his body to bury even!  More than ever I want your story told!

 

 

 

 



 

 

The following notations for the documents was given on the website as well:

Object Description 

http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p16062coll39/id/351/

the document downloads are located in C:/William Anglin Civil War 

Title  William Anglin (Yancey County) 

Creator  North Carolina. Office of the State Auditor. 

Date  1885 

Subjects  United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865

Military pensions--United States

United States. Pension Bureau

Veterans

North Carolina. Department of State Auditor

Widows 

Index Terms  Anglin, Sarah C.; 

Place  Yancey County, North Carolina, United States

Time Period  (1876-1900) Gilded Age

Description  Application forms for Confederate pensions, sometimes including correspondence or additional affidavits regarding a soldier's or widow's claim. 

Rights  This item is provided courtesy of the State Archives of North Carolina and is a public record according to G.S.132. 

Collection  Pension Bureau: Act of 1885 Pension Applications. Office of the State Auditor. State Archives of North Carolina

Local Call No.  Box 6.115 

Mars ID  5.21.2.8 

Type  Text 

Language  English 

Digital Characteristics-A  5 pages; 

Digital Collection  1885 Confederate Pension Applications 

Digital Format  image/jpeg 

Audience  All  

 Description  

Title  SR_SA_1885_Pensions_Anglin_William_Yancey_County_05 

Digital Collection  1885 Confederate Pension Applications 

A Reference and Good Read

I am posting a link to a really good read on the progression of the 58th down through Tennessee as they marched toward Chickamauga after great losses from desertion and disease.

It elaborates on the paths I have shown on the maps: this link was corrupted, and I am so sorry. It says the domain was bought by someone.  so I am just linking to the previous blog about their movement.  The link I was giving, backed up a lot of my story.  But sometimes people won't let you use their material, so you are required to take my word for it.

WILLIAM ANGLIN, CIVIL WAR SOLDIER

 http://theycametothemountains.blogspot.com/2015/07/william-anglin-civil-war-soldier-journey.html

William Anglin, Civil War Soldier THE JOURNEY

I finally avoided enough technical difficulties to be able to scan and resize the pages from my Anglin records book to be able to tell William's story from the day he joined the 58th NC until he reached the battle grounds at Chickamauga, GA, on Sept. 20th, where he was wounded.  A couple of these pages were in my last post about him, but for the sake of making the story flow, I will repost them here. 

Each of the picture units I will put up here are from various sources, including books, online records - including those of the journals of his superior officers, and actual visitations we made to the sites, where I made pictures.  In this story, of the troop movements during training, and as Federal Troops advanced pushing them further south before they engaged them in major battle, you will see that the 58th NC zigzagged along what is now known as Interstate 75, which was not even a road back then.  More than likely they were following the roads of the time between the small towns that had built up along waterways and railroad tracks. In many cases, the railroad had become the new connection between the towns that used to be accessible only by wagon roads and waterways.  The maps from Google which I am posting here, show the railway lines that have changed very little since then.  During my research, I discovered what a major part the Railway played in every aspect of the movement of men and supplies.  In this part we will not get to the burial story.  We will only get him from Yancey Co, NC into TN and then south to Chickamauga, GA.  So let's begin, with the details I was able to find----

William Anglin was a member of Company G of the 58th NC Confederate Troops.  In recent days, it has become less politically correct to admit to being descended from a Confederate Soldier.  But it bears saying that many of these soldiers were conscripted or in danger of dying if they didn't join. I can't say whether William wanted to fight for the south or not.  Many of the younger men were fired up and ready to join.  But William didn't join when some of the other men in his county did. All I know, is that with Federal Troops quickly approaching, these men's lives were on the line.  Many of them had kin in Virginia, where Federal Troops already held strongholds, and where many of their grandparents' cousins had already joined ranks with the North. Some men, in the county, fled into the caves of the deep backwoods of Mt. Mitchell, and settled in to fight for their land and families, or ride out the war hiding those families preferring at high risk not to join at all. Some headed north to join approaching troops, because they didn't want to fight against them.  Some followed cousins and brothers and fathers and friends in hopes of defending what they hoped would be their own county...But whatever the decision, it was also dangerous to not choose.
 
CAPTAIN JOHN L PHILLIPS

NORTH CAROLINA TROOPS 1861 - 1865 A Roster
        Vol. XIV, INFANTRY
          57th-58th, 60th-61st Regiments
Below is a copy of the Title page from this book, which is one in a large set of books that lists the rosters of soldiers in NC.  From the Raleigh, NC Div. of Archives and History, 1998, this set of books resides at the Chickamauga Battlefield Library, along with the Fuller Gun Museum, in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.    One of the many park rangers, whose job it is to protect and inform visitors to the park, where the battle occurred, are happy to help you research, if you have names and info to guide them.  It only took the gentleman who helped us a few minutes to come back with scans of these pages which focused directly on the soldiers I was asking him about. 

On page 359 we find the record for Co. G, which includes Raborn B. Anglin and William Anglin, Jr.:



The lightly highlighted Anglin, William Jr. at the bottom left of the page, is our ancestor.

It reads:

 

"Born in Yancey County* where he resided as a farmer prior to enlisting Yancey County at age 34, July 11, 1862, for the war. Mustered in as Musician (Fifer). reported absent sick on company muster roll dated July 11, 1862 - February 28, 1863.  Returned to duty in March - April, 1863.  Deserted at Clinton, Tennessee. May 26, 1863. Reduced to ranks prior to July 1st, 1863. Returned to duty prior to September 20, 1863, when he was wounded at Chickamauga, Georgia. Died on October 5, 1863, of wounds. Place of death not reported."

 

Before I explain what the notes mean, notice the Raborn B. Anglin above him. This entry is for his younger brother, Raburn Breckinridge Anglin. It reads:

 

"Born in Yancey County* where he resided as a farmer prior to enlisting in Yancey County at age 29, July 11, 1862, for the war. Mustered in as Sergeant. reported present through April 30, 1863. Transferred to Company C of the regiment on June 1, 1863."

 

This entry says they enlisted on the same day, but another entry I found, indicated they enlisted a few days apart.  In fact, that entry said Raburn enlisted a few days earlier.  This is where finding as many documents as you can helps to iron out things.  The entry for their unit commander above, says that the unit was organized on July 11th.  So it appears they joined together.  I haven't followed the movements of Co. C, to which Raburn was transferred on June 1st.  It appears that Raburn changed units within days of his brother being reported as deserted, along with a whole lot of other men in the unit. I will explain that more as the story unfolds.

 

Technically, neither of the men were born into Yancey, Co. Only because Yancey didn't become a county until 1833, and both boys were born by 1832.  But while they were toddlers, in a family with 6 children at the time, the place where they lived became Yancey Co. NC. They would see 2 more sisters born before war was to tear their lives apart. 

I am not certain when William married Sarah Caroline McIntosh (Sally), but by the time he enlisted, he and Sally had 4 children, and possibly a newborn baby girl, or were expecting little Mary at the time. She was born in 1862. James their oldest lived til 1894, but Jona and Silas died as children??it seems.  They show up on one census and then don't the next.  I haven't found them as young adults, as farm laborors elsewhere, or anywhere else.  Family didn't even know they existed, so I have wondered if gravestones in the Anglin/Ball Cemetery, which don't have names and can't be ID'd exactly, might be them.  So much disease was prevalent that death was hitting many families very hard during this time. For now, that's all I know about them.

 

I play out scenarios in my head concerning whether William ever got to see baby Mary or not. No one I asked in the family seemed to know. But one thing is for sure. Her older brother, William's son Robert (Bob) John Anglin, lived to be my Great-grandfather.  

 

Both William and Raburn were farmers by trade.  I can't help but wonder if they were farming tobacco at that time. Did they take time to plant before leaving for war so family would be fed? Can you imagine, William worrying over Sally at home with several children, one of whom was a new baby, or maybe even unborn? Can you imagine hearing that the Northern Soldiers were coming right on the heels of them being enlisted, into the county - taking anything they wished from the families for the use of the soldiers?  Can you imagine how much they wanted to return home to protect them?  Some, who were accused of deserting, wrote letters home, saying they were cut off by both soldiers from the north and from the south, so couldn't come home, and couldn't return to their units.  Hiding, hungry, helpless. William was not one of these as far as we know.

 

Let's discuss his age--

 I entered 1826 from his stone in the Anglin/Ball Cemetery into my record before I found more records..

 
The 1850 Census for Yancey Co. shows William 21 and Sarah 23 with new baby James, who is 1.

  According to this, William would be born in 1829... or about age 33 to 34 in 1862. Since his tombstone says he was born in 1826.  Maybe a typo?  Number inversion?

 

"In the 1860 Census I find the family listed as Wm Angland, Jr., with his father listed above him, (next door) as Wm Angland Sr. with Elizabeth. There are two children listed here that I find no where else ever (Jona and Silas.) Brother Raburn Angland lives next door w his wife Sarah C." WCA  Little did they know their lives were about to be turned upside down.... but I didn't record the age from this record.

 

Another record of his enlistment stated that he didn't enlist until the 15th - a few days after Raburn:

"William was enlisted in Co. G, 58th. North Carolina Infantry Regiment. The unit was formed on July 11, 1862. Four days later, William enlisted on July 15, 1862. Records state he was 34 years old, and 5' 10" in height. His unit was mustered into service of the C.S.A. on July 24, 1862. Co. G. was sent to Johnson City, TN for drill instruction and received limited dry run training in the nearby local Tennessee mountains. The company received their first battle orders on or about Aug 26, 1862."WCA/JRW

So most records say age 34, therefore being born 1829, if we do the math. 

 

( I love the description of him.  And this record says exactly where the unit was sent from Yancey County.)

 

So in spite of the minor discrepancies, we know that this farmer, who must have known a little something about playing a fife, (flute), or music of some kind, left believing he was going to be in the same unit as his brother, and would be playing in the Fife and Drum Corp. The notes a Fifer played indicated what the calls and commands of the officers were, above the din of war.  Something that was unusual about all this was that at age 34, he was only months from being exempt from service.  In fact, if he actually was born in 1826 he would have been age 36.  One year older than the age for conscription.  He should have been able to bow out, in either case perhaps, but with Northern troops pressing in on them, and his brother being required to go no matter what, he enlisted.  If he waited 4 days, it suggests he may have had a difficult time making that decision. 

 

This scanned image from the same book, is of a plate shared by Mrs. J. C. Todd of Lenoir, NC as an example of how a Fifer would have been dressed. According to the Park Ranger to whom I spoke, they also would have carried weaponry.  He also explained to me that William would have been trained with a unit of men who played either the Fife or drums, and the cadence of the drums would sound the marching pace, but the fifes would sound the command.  A commander, on horseback, would have stayed behind the marching unit of infantry, the cavalry, the artillery and the unit playing the fifes and drums. When he called his command, the men in the midst of fire couldn't have heard the human voice making the calls. So the person leading the Music Corp had better hear him, and get it right. His unit would then, play the command.  This took hours of practice and precision, which we see began when the unit left  Yancey Co. NC and began drill in Johnson City, TN.

 

They had moved NW through the mountains, along a well used, but very mountainous path to just over the NC/TN line, eventually working toward the North Border of Kentucky and Tennessee, near the Cumberland Gap. They were expected to ward off the southward moving Federal troops from coming through a place in the Cumberland Gap, due only to their sheer numbers. congregating on that line.  They joined troops from Tennessee, but because of the proximity to the Kentucky line, it was learned that there were double agents suspected to be among their ranks. It set a bad Omen over them from the beginning.  Their leadership began to be suspicious of all the men coming out of NC. A lot is written about how difficult it was for the men to regain the trust lost because of a few.  Had the northern troops known how sick these men coming from various areas were becoming, they could have won the war on the TN/KTY border.  But perhaps the Northern troops were experiencing the illnesses too.

 

A third record is transcribed below: Notice that Raburn had begun as a 2nd Sgt. in Co. C, according to this record but was reduced to Private by 1864.  He was "paroled" in 1865 from Greensboro.  It appears he was taken prisoner and held for about a year.:

 

 

 On this list we find an 18 year old James G. Anglin,  a William Anglin who died in Macon, and another William who enlisted out of Boone, NC. Two of these men, also from Yancey Co, NC were in Co C with Raburn. Had they been transferred when Raburn was? Did that leave our William without familiar family around him? Could they still see one another on occasion?  I haven't sorted out who the other men belong to in the larger family, but it does attest to the Anglin family being larger than just our line. ( I believe it is James G. Anglin and the William Anglin who died in Macon who were also brothers.)

 

There is a notation on Our William's records that say he was MWIA. As it does with the cousin who died in Macon as well. I found the above information that gives explanation on a roster for  Cajun Confederate troops. It means MORTALLY WOUNDED IN ACTION. Not an immediate death, but one that comes as a result of the wounds over a course of days or months.

 

This occurred for William at Chickamauga - so how did he get to that fateful day? I was curious, so I read for days through the journals of his units, and a story emerged. Let me use maps to help us know how it happened. Beginning at the Cumberland Gap:

 

On this map, courtesy of Google, we can see that the 58th NC was doing drills and joining forces with TN troops where VA, Kty, & TN come together.  They are almost due North of Knoxville.  As more and more men arrive, they bring diseases - The units begin their surge south anticipating the congregation of Northern troops moving south as well, through Western NC and to the West of them, moving through TN. The 58th began a zigzag pattern of movement...I don't remember if I wrote down every town, but I am sure I picked up on most of the places where they changed direction..
They moved SW to La Follette, Tn. where the trains came in from the North. The train tracks cross modern day I-75 just SW of here.  They turned sharply SE and probably used the water to help transport them to an area where they camped just NW of what is now Norris Lake. They then changed direction again and moved down through areas near Norris TN, crossing what would be Modern I-75, heading to Clinton, TN.  (see map:)

By February 28, 1863, William has been sick for a long time. But he returned to duty by March/April musters. He was among the lucky ones - for now. At Delap TN, in Campbell Co, there is a cemetery record that indicates the worst of it took lives in the 58th camp. An Alice Coker helped a visitor searching for her ancestors find the graves of the men from the 58th. A record from Campbell Co. Gen Web's Cemetery Census reads as follows:
"From the visitor Coker learned that records showed members of the 58th Regiment of the Confederate Army of NC were buried at Delap....'The winter of 1862-1863 at Delay was a very harsh winter,' Coker found after doing more research. 'Over 1000 men came from Cumberland Gap where Tennesseans had joined the troops. (The regiment was formed at Camp Martin in Mitchell County, NC.) The regiment was assigned to guard Big Creek Gap.' ....Records show that a total of 50 men died while camped in the Jacksboro area."

According to Silver Threads 50 known are listed, but over 100 who died in the area are interred there.
Many men whose families could not understand where their Confederate soldier disappeared to, may have been buried in this cemetery after succumbing to severe illness.

But as the men began to re-enter ranks, it was deemed to be close enough to their home in Yancey, NC and Mitchell Co. that it was the last chance to give these men leave.  According to the report I read, with excerpts from the officers involved, it was thought that leave was given officially.  Men from the 58th were supposed to take 2 weeks to go home before the troops began their hard push south toward Chattanooga. Not all were given leave naturally, but those who had been sickest were thought to benefit from visiting with families.  One young man, let his men go, and discovered too late, that the leave had been rescinded. Among those men, now on an illegal leave, was William Anglin.  Rumors and some reports suggested that a few of the men who left, planned to join Northern troops. Some, including at least one of the Silver men who became entrapped by Federal troops moving south, found themselves unable to go home, nor to return to their own units fearing capture by the Northern troops amassing from every direction, and were reported as AWOL.  It appeared that William was also reported as AWOL, but returned to his unit within the time allotted and faced an investigation. 

Without the aid of "cell phones", or even "land lines and radios"..how were they supposed to know their leave was cancelled? Did William make it home and return, unaware of charges severe enough to almost get him hanged? Or did messengers, sent out, reach him before he arrived back in Yancey?  Somehow, William only received a reduction in rank, and lost his right to be in the Musicians Corp.  He now had to learn how to be a grunt and fast.  Without former training in that area, he must become an infantryman. Good with a gun, not a flute.  Most mountain men would have no trouble with the gun part.  But now, he would be out front where men's lives were definitely in jeopardy.  No less than many others, but what a shock, especially for someone who had done nothing but want to check on family, and perhaps see that baby. I believe there were at least 8 who were hanged because they weren't cleared of being traitors.  What a burden hanging over his very tired head! No pun intended.

Thus, by Clinton TN his record was marred, and an heir of mistrust hung over his head. Clinton is West of where I-75 runs SE toward Knoxville.

 

 

Here's  a close up: on modern maps, the Railroad goes directly from Clinton into Knoxville and back toward Mars Hill, or Asheville, NC.

 



From Clinton, the movement of the 58th got serious.  They covered a lot of ground around Oak Ridge, sagging SW to Kingston.  (From our Hawkwatch on Soddy Mtn/FlatTop, we can see the Kingston Steam stacks, on a clear day.) Kingston is just NE of what is now Watt's Bar Lake and NW of  Loudon.  Remember there were no Dams on these rivers at the time. It's difficult to know exactly if these men traveled at this point over land or by water. But they arrived to an encampment just West of what is now known as Fort Loudon Lake.  Another Severe change of direction toward the East.  Some time was spent here in preparation of heading into concentrations of northern troops heading into and already established near and south of Chattanooga. They were well aware of large concentrations of "enemy" moving in similar paths to their own, but further west.  But the northern troops arriving ahead of them, were already destroying Railroad connections, especially the one at Ringgold.  The station there was ....well, let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Suffice it to say that little town will play an important role in this story, later.

The zigzags stay East of the present path of I-75 from this point on until Chattanooga.  The 58th moved SW toward Lenoir City and to Loudon, then swung SE to the Tellico area. They swung West toward Sweetwater but abruptly began a more southerly track.

Please note that these maps are scans of pages from my book, so they contain a bit of repeat in the info on the pages.  But seeing the picture of these troops using waterways and Railways, much differently than we imagine in the 21st century is important to understanding William's story. We must see him having difficulty with food and water, with fresh clothes, and everyday life. They had been weakened by the illnesses, and there weren't vitamins for them to take.  This long hard trek was taking its toll.  Any chance to ride down a river on a barge, or catch a train was welcome.  But heavy rains were beginning to make the roads difficult to travel.  So they sometimes stayed off the roads for more than the obvious military reasons.

 The above map appears to have the men arrive directly into Chickamauga.  But in actuality, they passed further South to somewhere between Lafayette, Ga., and Chickamauga.  They set up camp, and were told to sleep, wake early and get nourished before moving out toward the battle grounds. What actually happened, was they were awakened to a command to move out.  They were being required to face the long day of battle without food.  They were much too tired from the long push from near Sweetwater South, to be going without food, but that is exactly what they had to do. That was critical, because during the last two days of marching, making the final push to arrive to the staging areas around the upcoming battle grounds, they had eaten little to nothing.  Someone wrote of a man saying he would have killed for a biscuit, he was so hungry.  And after the battle, it wasn't much better. Especially for wounded men left behind lying in the mud.

My heart ached already for the hardships William had suffered over these difficult months. But the next two days to 3 weeks of his life just are heart wrenching!! He is positioned after a long march into great numbers of men converging onto a major battle, without having the benefit of food that had been promised them for days.  They arrived on the 19th, the fateful day would be the 20th.
I am stopping here for now.  Part 2 we will discuss the battle itself.  Not in detail, but getting us through the day on the 20th, to understand in general where the 58th was and when during the day.  If there is anything to look forward to in this story, it is that these brave men pushed back the Federal Troops, and won the day.  Some say that they had something to prove.  But they did it at great cost. 

Following part 2, Part 3 will begin to discuss William's battle for life as a wounded warrior, he was moved with the hospital units ever further south, into unfamiliar places  until he could go no more. I may break part 3 into two parts. One that will deal with the story of Ringgold, and its amazing place in his story.  And then end Part 3 with the Story of the Confederate Cemetery, and the Railroad story that continues even to that beautiful place.   The railroad is the thread that weaves throughout this story, and I almost wrote the whole story out of Railroad documents about these years and in places along this route.  There are so many stories.  But also the medical records -- the place where I actually found the whole truth about why William would have been where all along the way after being wounded.  I had to rule out battles, hospitals, other wounded men, and men killed in train wrecks before I go to the truth.  But once I had dug through the records, I had satisfied myself, that the record most definitely indicates that he is indeed buried in the Confederate Cemetery as his stone in Yancey Co. NC indicates.  I can't place him at a specific stone yet in that Cemetery, but I can place him in the Hospital Section of burial plots.

I am so glad to actually be getting these materials on the blog.  I hope scanners etc continue to work so I can continue to post the materials with the pictures and visuals I have collected. It becomes more believable to most people.  There will be a couple of interesting side stories, so stick to it, and read --- don't scan the material.  It's your story, if you are a descendant of William Anglin, Jr., the Confederate Soldier.

Isaac Anglin, Revolutionary Soldier

I am interrupting my Saga on William Anglin, Civil War Soldier, to make a report on what I have just discovered about Isaac Anglin, the Revolutionary Soldier!  Isaac is William's Grandfather, and the first of our Anglin line to come to Burke/Yancey Co, NC. He was a member of the 12th Company, moving to the frontier as a defender of the "western" frontier, to make improvements on and provide protection to the pioneers and their families, including his own - onto land given in payment for fighting for the birth of our new nation.  Land, not money was paid the soldiers under Washington.  And these Virginia soldiers, who were being given a new location on the NC frontier, traveled together with their families to begin new lives as friends, comrades, and countrymen.

I just discovered a web page which identifies Isaac as a Continental Soldier, who fought at Valley Forge that rugged winter that was so cold, famous in books and paintings, where men stood by George Washington to defend freedom from England's rule.  What is given is Isaac's release from Service, after having served 3 years. 
WHAT A STORY!  Ck it out ~ Isaac's release.


Checking to verify I am making the proper connection, but am so excited to find this tidbit.  CW

One other thing I learned while researching tonight, was that the Anglin men often wrote their "i" with a loop and a very tiny dot. More often than not it looked like an e, and was very often written by others confirming a document as and e.  Thus both Anglin and Anglen will appear on the very same document in different hands. 
Always Learning! 

Much thanks to this page for the info!

The Family Link - Anglin Civil War Soldiers

Suel Anglin has left a new comment on your post "Civil War":

"Hello, I've enjoyed reading all of your information. I would like to add as a matter of interest that William and Raburn Anglin from the Cane River area were the uncles of the two other men you've mentioned. James and William who joined on the same day were also brothers. William and Rabe were brothers to their father, John William Anglin (1819-1898) from Jack's Creek. So there were two sets of brothers from Yancey county and both of the Williams did not survive."

Mr. Suel Anglin left the above comment on our last blog, and I felt it was worthy of adding to the blog for all to see.  The information he gives is true, and will help a number of readers understand the broad connection of the cousins, uncles, fathers, sons, who were all dedicating themselves to one another and their community by joining together, when called to do so.

In the years since Isaac Anglin came to Yancey County the family had grown through several generations, and since I am not well informed about the details of these extended families, I often don't make comments about them.  But it's necessary to know that these families are interconnected to see a much large picture.  And to understand the impact a war like the Civil War could have on a community like Yancey, or any other where so many were kin.  But these men had cousins and in-laws in multitudes of other family names as well, so the story takes on a new perspective, when we realize that the units formed from this community were mostly extended family.

The following is my response to Suel, (with edits) to whom I am most thankful for the comment.  And welcome more insight as we proceed down the path from these men joining the Civil War to the Battle at Chickamauga, where "our" William was wounded.  Suel's comment will help us understand that more than one William must be followed to understand the truth, and the whole story:

"You are so right Suel.  In an earlier post and to many family members, I have tried to explain this, but for the sake of simplicity as I discuss our William I haven't broken it down.  I will however post your comment and affirm it for the sake of those who are reading the blog.  Every time I try to include all the extended cousins, when explaining things to our family, I get confused looks.  It tends to be too much information.  My take is that, in fact there are so many extended cousins of all these men, that practically the whole unit was family, which makes the story both more tragic and more wonderful at the same time.  It makes for me, a story of courage and conviction that brings war on our own soil into perspective unlike the wars of modern eras.  It also makes me think a lot about the family that was left behind as their men were "forced" to leave.  The Anglin Legacy as a whole is  a blessing to my heart.  And I do want all the family to know there were many of our extended ancestry who were involved.  It actually goes way beyond NC. There are Anglin men who were involved in every state, from Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and beyond. And not all were Confederate soldiers.  It is always in the back of my mind, how true the statement is that the war pitted brothers and cousins against one another, often without them even knowing they were facing kin.  It boiled down sometimes to which faction reached them first to enlist or conscript soldiers, and less on what anyone believed about the political issues of the war. But for our men, their homes, families, lands, and heritage were on the line. It is important for all the soldiers of the Yancey and surrounding counties whose name was Anglin to know their connection.

This post war document, of surviving soldiers and their wives who were due benefits, includes a William B. Anglin, who was a member of the 29th NC, enlisted in 1864 and was also dismissed in 1864, but experienced Typhoid, Mumps and Measles while enlisted. This attests to the fact that many troops were weakened by illness, more than once during their enlistments. Many, like our own William, went into battle weakened from illness, lack of food, and long marches
without rest.  Here we have another William, but one who survived. Knowing the details helps us distinguish one from the other.

 

I wish I had more time to give to telling the story.  I had hoped to have been much further into what I know about the progress of the 58th NC by now. But I will continue to tell the story in the perspective of "our" William Anglin, because the story is to focus on the only man about whom I know the details. I have spent a lot of time tracing him, by the dates, so I could answer my own questions about where he was when he died, and to confirm that he is buried at Marietta. It is his story that I know how to tell. But welcome the comments of others, who may have insight along the way.  May I say that I was going to post the picture I have of the page out of a book at Chickamauga, which shows the men you speak of.  Perhaps now is a good time to include it.

 

Thank you so much for following the blog.  I will try to put more effort into posting the story, knowing there are some who are looking forward to knowing more.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Wilkerson"

The above pages and the one below were some of the first information we found about the Angin Civil War Soldiers.  This page from the noncommissioned Roster shows 2 of the Anglin men, and was found at the library at Chickamauga Battlefield. The one highlighted in yellow is "our" William Anglin, JR, Private. This information tells us he was wounded at Chickamauga, Ga, and died on Oct. 5, 1863.  The last statement that says where he died and thus is buried, is unreported. That statement began to haunt me.  I wanted to find this man.  His memorial tombstone in the family cemetery in Yancey Co, NC, states he is buried in Marietta Confederate Cemetery. * (see the Anglin burials page for more info.)  So someone had gone before me to find his grave.  But how could I find the timeline, that would lead me there?  What proof could I offer to readers?  I discovered the truth, partly in the records that showed the month by month movement of the 58th NC, and after he was wounded and separated from them, in the medical records of the movement of wounded soldiers, and where those records indicated wounded men would have been moved at certain dates along the way.  We start with these rosters, to trace the story.

The section of Anglin men listed below is from another roster found online. It includes some of the men to whom Suel Anglin refers above. The last entry is another reference to "our" William, which reiterates some of the information from above. There is a slight discrepancy in the enlistment dates, but this info tells us he was MWIA/Mortally Wounded In Action.  .

  Below the line on this page is information, a quote, I found from notes in an unrelated roster in another state, when I researched the meaning of the Initials listed in the Rosters, ie. MWIA, in our case. Upon further research I discovered it means he died from the effects of his wounds, at some time after being wounded