...and it only took about forty years.

As a teenager and in the early stages of my study of the American Civil War/War Between the States, I became aware of "family lore" that my ggg-grandfather, one Volney Fleming Willoughby, was killed in the Civil War. One family member claimed his death at Shiloh, but "the source" of this information, my great aunt Lucy West, corrected the battle information and informed me that he had been killed or died as a result of the battle of Chickamauga.

Volney was born in 1815 in Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia. As a child, he moved with his father to the Knoxville, Tennessee area, where he met and married his wife, Melinda Masterson. The family then relocated, in about 1840 to the Soddy Daisy area, in Hamilton County, Tennessee, near Chattanooga. In 1855, Volney applied for and obtained 80.08 acres near Stevenson, AL in Northeast Alabama. Volney and his family of a wife, four daughters and two sons were farming this homestead in December of 1860, when the eldest daughter, Elizabeth, received a letter from a cousin, T.D. Edington. In the letter, Thomas Doak Edington, referred to the then current political events and stated that he understood Volney was a "Breckenridge man". From this, I understood that his politics must have been in support of the Southern position regarding state's rights, the institution of slavery and secession.

On an initial search for the Compiled Military Service Record of Volney Willoughby, I could find nothing. Please don't send me references to "V. Willoughby" in the 4th Tennessee Infantry. This man was a Vincent Willoughby and lived near Jackson, Tennessee.

Volney's oldest son, Monroe Willoughby, was a member of the 17th Tennessee Infantry and was a part of a group of men from Jackson County, AL, who crossed the border into Tennessee and enlisted. Like many soldiers, early in the war, Monroe had difficulties with the camp diseases and appears in his short service record as ill on more than one occasion. Though there is no record of his death, he last appears on the rolls of the 17th Tennessee in the Fall of 1862 and we believe he died in October of that year from illness/disease.

About this same time, John King Jackson's brigade of Georgians and Mississippians was stationed in Bridgeport, Alabama only ten miles from Stevenson and the Willoughby family home. In a "History of Logan County, Arkansas", Andrew V. "Bud" Willoughby, youngest son of Volney Willoughby, said he recalled as a child, riding on the back of his father's horse to a location where his father "joined the Southern army" and then this small boy rode his father's horse home. He states this was the last time he saw his father.

Many years ago, I became aware of miscellaneous documents, files, and "slips of paper" in a section of the government Civil War military records named "Unfiled Papers and Slips". I have asked other researchers to search these files for a reference to Volney Willoughby, but was told his name did not appear.

Recently, I reviewed these documents myself for the first time. I was not looking for Volney, but was doing other research and just to "double-check" that he did NOT appear in these files I searched for his name myself and found the images posted with this message.

Finally, after all these years, I've found "my grandpa", "God Bless Him!" and verified that he was indeed killed at the battle of Chickamauga as a member of the 5th Georgia Infantry, Co. A (Clinch Rifles). It all makes sense, as the 5th Georgia was a part of J. K. Jackson's brigade and would have been in close proximity to Volney during their stay in Bridgeport, Alabama, prior to being called up to participate in the battle of Murfreesboro, Dec. 31, 1862 - January 2, 1863.

I'm presuming, without documentation, that Volney was motivated by one or more of the following to enlist at the age of forty-seven (47). First of all, we know his politics as pro-Southern, due to the reference to him as a "Breckenridge man". Second, the Union army was heading South from Nashville and even North Alabama would have felt the nearness of the invading Northern army. Finally, Volney's son, Monroe, may have just passed away and this recent loss may have prompted him to join "the Southern army" to honor or gain revenge for his son's death.

I guess I wanted to post this for a number of reasons. First of all, after so many years of looking for grandpa Volney without success and resigning myself to never finding proof of his service, this discovery is quite rewarding to me personally and even emotional. Second, for those of you who are struggling in your search for ancestors in the Civil War, "don't give up". As a historical record for those of you who study Jackson County, Alabama, this is proof that at least one and very likely many more local residents enlisted in the units of Jackson's brigade, while they were stationed in Bridgeport, Alabama. And finally...

Due to my frustration in searching for Volney, specifically, and others of my ancestors, I setup the original History-Sites.Com message board in Alabama to attempt to find him. Here is a link to one of my earliest postings on the Alabama in the CW Message board searching for my grandfather,

http://history-sites.com/alcwmb/old-archive/archivefiles/11.html

So in some ways, if you've enjoyed this and the other thirty-three (33) History-Sites.Com message boards, you owe part of your enjoyment of these sites to Volney and his "hidden" war record.

"God bless you Grandpa and Rest in Peace."

Your great, great, great Grandson,

Jim Martin