Enlisting in 58th NC was trouble from the start!

PART II:

The rosters for the 58th NC, into which our Ancestral Grandfather enlisted, include William's cousins and brother, and several of our other ancestral kin as well, particularly from the Silver family.  But almost immediately after the unit moved into Eastern Tennessee for training, the soldiers were exposed to diseases that were rampant in the ranks of many units.  Men coming together from all over were bringing the illnesses from their neck of the woods, to which others had not already been exposed.  The result was men were sick from more than 5 kinds of fatal diseases.  For two weeks, Williams unit suffered through the sicknesses they had encountered while attempting to train for battle. William's records say that he too was sick, he hadn't escaped the onslaught. 

But something else the record indicates, is that he was considered a deserter at one point, almost immediately after being ill. It took a little time to sort it out, but it is amazing to me how many times this man faced the real possibility of death before he finally succumbed to it!  We will start his military story with the list from the roster of Anglin men:


ANGLIN, JAMES G.: Co. C, Enl. on 5/29/62 in Yancey Co., then age 18, 5'7«", na- tive of Yancey Co. Pres. thru 8/31/64.

ANGLIN, RABURN: 2nd Sgt., Co. C, Enl. on 7/11/62 in Yancey Co., then age 29, farmer, 5'5", native of Yancey Co. Reduced to pvt. by 4/30/64 muster. Pres. on 8/31/64. Paroled at Greensboro, NC on 5/1/65. Res. Yancey Co.

ANGLIN, WILLIAM: 4th Sgt., Co. C, Enl. on 5/29/62 in Yancey Co. Pres. thru 8/31/64. Died on 9/19/64 at Macon, Ga., had been MWIA on 8/31/64 at Jonesboro, Ga. Res. Yancey Co.

ANGLIN, WILLIAM: Co. D, Enl. on 6/27/62 at Boone, NC, then NFR in CSR.

ANGLIN, WILLIAM: Co. G, Enl. on 7/15/62 in Yancey Co., age 34, 5'10", farmer, native of Yancey Co. Sick on 2/28/63 muster. Deserted at Clinton, Tenn. on 5/26/63, returned to duty, MWIA at Chickamauga, Ga. on 9/20/63, died of effects on 10/5/63.

The one above in red is our Ancestral Grandfather.  (The grandson of Issac Anglin and Nancy, whom we have discussed before as being the first of our Anglin ancestors to come into what became Yancey Co., NC in 1833.)  Less than 30 years after the county became Yancey, the young men were being called to choose to defend their county, their state, as a part of a new Confederate state.  A lot of them weren't especially ready to be separated from their more northern families in a war.  But times and circumstances were forcing them to choose. 

James G. Anglin and the 4th Sgt. William Anglin were our William's cousins. Raburn was his younger brother. He was Raburn Breckinridge Anglin, known as Rabe. This roster shows them enlisting on different days, but another, has them enlisting on the same day.  William was about 6 years older and 5 inches taller than his brother.  Notice that his cousins James and William are in the same company as Raburn, but by the 15th of July, our William is not. If one record that shows he enlisted when they did is correct, he is now in Company G.  Separated from his family within days. However, the truth actually seems to be, that the unit was organized on the 11th when Raburn and his cousins joined, and 4 days later, William joined, being placed into a separate unit. I am sure he was dissappointed not to be with them.

( My curiosity leads my mind to wonder, did they have opportunity to go home and talk him into joining? Did he find out they had all joined and feel an obligation to go as well. Did he think they would be able to better defend his own county. Did he hope to be there for his brother and cousins as a comrade?)

Almost immediately they were moved out of North Carolina. They went through drills in the NE counties of Tennessee.  Which is interesting to me, because some of those areas were strong union advocates.  Consider this a forshadowing of my next discussion. But for now, notice that they spent the winter training. But by February, he is listed as sick.  Without spending much time on that subject, suffice it to say that a great many men died from the illnesses contracted that winter.  There is an entire cemetery where many of these men were buried. Most of the men spent the entire winter being very sick, and sorely in need of supplies.  William's record includes him among them.  Though we don't know exactly which of the several diseases he contracted, it was written that the men were weak and longing to return home for "R&R." 

Reading through the various diaries and reports of William's commanders, we find that just after the men recovered from being ill they were finally given leave to visit families.  A young officer, it was written, allowed his soldiers to return home and found out after many had left for Yancey and Marion Counties, that the leave had been canceled. That notice did not get communicated to many who had aready left for home.  They were oblivious that for 2 weeks they were considered AWOL.

It was determined that some of the men had decided to use the leave time to escape to Union units, or simply go home to defend families against approaching Union troops. There was a lot of worry among the men, because letters from home indicated that their homes were being pillaged, and their families were at risk.  So officers feared many would not return. Therefore, the leave was canceled. A series of events then led to almost all of these men being accused of desertion. Rumors and fact were confused, and it appears that at least a few of the unit fled or actually deserted.

Many stories circulated about deaths in Yancey County as bounty hunters of sorts, hunted men who were not already conscripted into service and either forced them to become soldiers or shot them. The stories of some very real violence, back home, caused a lot of fear among these men, for their families.  Raiders stole food, hunted down any unenlisted young men, and caused whole families to go into hiding in caves.  Stories abound of how the women survived.  Men who came home on leave didn't want to go back, because things were dire for their loved ones.  But some who found that just traveling home was extremely risky business, got caught hiding, and were assumed to have deserted. 

From all I have read, only a few truely did. Those, about whom it was determined that they had all intentions of going home and returning, but had run into difficulties getting back, were exhonerated, but their records were not cleared of the accusation of desertion. A number of the men were captured and hanged, an it left a mark on the name of the 58th NC. Our William was indeed one of the lucky, or under heavenly protection, because it wasn't yet his time to die.  Instead, like several others who missed the call back, when leave was cancelled, he lost his rank, and went through the horrible process of being accused of deserting. How discouraging it must have been.

At least one of the Silver Cousins was hanged in this process.  On the online magazine, Silver Threads, several years ago, his final letter to his wife was reprinted.  He wanted her to know he was innocent and that he knew God believed him.  I am sure they hoped against all odds that he might be exhonorated as William was.  How many nights did William and his family suffer through this fear of not knowing how to prove his innocence?

On the bright side, while on leave, William was able to see his baby daughter Mary, perhaps for the first and last time. He had little time to rest, although, the ride home was probably by train.  Their camp was near the line that ran from near Clinton dirctly into Burnsville.  But we don't know how much control Union Soldiers had at the time over the rails along the way. They had certainly advanced by now into surrounding areas.  Exactly how much difficulty William had getting home and back from his leave we can't know for sure, but we do know by the accounts in letters by some of those who made the trek, it was extremely risky. For some in Marion county, it may actually have led to their deaths.  One record lists 4 men I think it was, who were never found??

Was it worth it? I beleive it was the thing which kept William going for the next few months. That gave him courage to go on.

By the way. William was a Phifer when he enlisted in the war.  He was among those who led the ranks in the Phife and Drum Corp.  It was their duty to direct the maneuvers of the soldiers, by signaling musically the orders given by the officers to the rank and file.  Officers called orders, Phifers, played a series of notes that indicated what the officers commanded.  Whole units marched, turned, advanced, retreated, and fired on notice from the sound of this flutelike repeat of an officer's orders. More on this when we get to the post on the battle.

You have now been introduced to William the Civil War Soldier.  I hope your interest is peaked, because there is soooo much more to come.

150 Years Ago at THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA

Part One: William Anglin 

This year is the 150^th Anniversary of many of the battles of the Civil War. This is definitely true of the Battle of Chickamauga which was fought on September 20, 1863.  This date is significant to our family, because we had family members who fought at that battle, and one in particular was wounded, only to die by October 5, about 3 weeks later.  He was our Anglin ancestor, my Great-Great Grandfather, William Anglin, whose ancestors had come into Yancey County, only a generation before, and settled the very land where the family now still lives. A tombstone, in the Anglin/Ball Cemetery on Will Anglin Road designates that William M. Anglin is buried in the Confederate Cemetery, in Marietta, Ga.  I have visited both, places and when my curiosity was peaked to know more, I found a remarkable story. It is very appropriate that it be told this month, exactly 150 years after his fall on the Chickamauga Battlefield, near Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.

But let me begin with what led up to the day he joined the Confederate service.  William M. Anglin, Jr. was born in Yancey Co, NC in 1826, the son of William Anglin, Sr. of Greenbriar Co., West Virginia, who was our first Anglin ancestor to move into Yancey Co., NC. (It was Burke Co at the time. Yancey was formed in 1833 when Will Jr. was about 7.) William, Jr. married Sarah (Sally) Caroline McIntosh, with whom he had 5 children.  James who was born in 1849 was a full ten years older than the son they named Robert, who became our Great Grandfather. The 1850 Census for Yancey Co. shows William 21 and Sarah 23 with new baby James who is 1.   After James, two children were born who I lost track of after the census record of 1860. A female, Jona at age 10, and a male named Silas, age 4.  By the next Census, Silas could have been apprenticed to someone at age 14, but they were not listed at home.  There are unmarked graves in the Anglin/Ball cemetery, and I have wondered if the graves might have belonged to them.

Our Great-grandfather, Robert (Bob) John Anglin was born 7 September, 1859. Their 4^th child. His father would be wounded in action only 13 days after Bob’s 4^th birthday.  The fifth child, was Mary C. Anglin, born in the same year her father enlisted.  I would bet her middle name was Caroline, and I know she was a love child of a couple who were about to be separated by war.

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."

  The records I was able to find, have him born in 1826. 1862 minus 1826 would have made him age 36 at some point that year.  I found it interesting that he said he was 34.  At age 35, he would not have been required to serve. It was the cut off year for conscription, even though neither the North nor the South seemed to check your birth certificate. If you looked the right age, you better be a soldier on one side or the other.  Or be killed.  Simple as that. No one was allowed to stay home with family, and claim he was not of the age to fight. I haven’t checked the rosters lately, but it occurs to me that his 14 year old son, Silas could have lied to enlist and would have been accepted if he looked the part. Within only months, the conscription age limit was dropped, and some men were being taken to war up to age 45.

I always wondered why William enlisted.  But for all the reasons above, and at least one more, he had little choice.  If you look at the list of men enlisting the same couple of days as him, it is clear that most of his neighbors and cousins enlisted that day as well.  It was well known that the Union soldiers were moving ever closer to their towns and properties and homes.  Many did not want to choose between the North and the South.  They knew it would mean that they stood against their own kin further North if they joined the South. So some fled North to fight with them.  But many held hope that the war would be over before they had to choose, and fleeing at this late hour put them in harm’s way.  Some held firmly to a belief that their homes and farms didn’t belong to a Federal decision making process. Some held slaves.  Some who held slaves had released slaves, years earlier.  Some just wanted to stand with the choice North Carolina made.  But, for whatever reason, William chose to join the 58^th North Carolina in July.

 http://mountainmemorials-cemeteries.blogspot.com/p/anglin.html

I will not be able to tell the whole of William’s story in a week’s worth of blogs.  So I am wondering if I should introduce him here, and actually make a page or website devoted to him and the rest of the story.  I have many pictures to share, and a step by step outline of exactly what those last fateful days of his life were like.  I know where he was, almost day by day from August 1862 on.

To me it is significant that it has been exactly 150 years now, and whether we agree with his service with the Confederacy or not, matters not to me.  He was one of the men to whom we owe our existence, who was forced to leave his family and die for the cause.  He was as it turns out, one of the men who drove back the Union forces at Chickamauga. He suffered from his wound as he was moved from place to place, as the hospital units attempted to move wounded men ever further south by train, ahead of advancing union soldiers.  He was not a man sick and lying in a bed waiting to die. He was moved numerous times, often did without food, lay in the mud, on itchy beds of straw, and suffered through the constant movement of  trains on rugged tracks which transported him at least twice for miles. The last time he was moved, the trip to a town above Atlanta, was all his body could take.  He died within days of arriving to one of the “hospitals” in the area.  All who arrived alive were recorded as being buried in the “Hospital Section” of what later became the Confederate Cemetery in Marietta, Ga. 

In the next 4 weeks, I want to celebrate his life, share his courageous attempt to live, and help you find a place to visit him, acknowledge him, cry for him, and be thankful for him.  And most of all, I want us all not to Forget him!!