The Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board

Henry J. Johnson, Confed. POW

Family lore has it that my 3-great uncle Henry J. Johnson was a Confederate POW at Camp Douglas. I went to a site online that showed photos of bronze tablets listing the Confederate soldiers buried at Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago. There was a Henry H. Johnson from AR but no Henry J. Johnson. Then I began reading about other POW camps and found a listing of Confederate POW's in AR units who died in the Rock Island prison camp. I found a Henry J. Johnson buried there. He was a Pvt. in Co. D, Newton Ark. Cav.

I want to verify (if possible) that this Henry J. Johnson is the one I'm looking for. So I followed advice posted at this board: I went to the 1860 AR census for Independence Co., Jefferson Twp. I know that this Henry J. Johnson is my ancestor. Then I wrote down all the names of men old enough to fight listed in the 18 census pages for Jefferson Twp.

Next, I went to the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors site and compared my list to the men serving in the following units having a Henry J. or HJ Johnson: 8th Regt., AR Cav.; 1st Regt., AR Volunteers; 1st Regt., AR Inf. (Colquitt's); 17th Regt., AR Inf. (Griffith's) and finally, Desha County Batt., AR Militia.

I found 20 of Henry J. Johnson's neighbors serving in the AR Volunteers unit. There were only 2 or 3 neighbors in the other units, so I feel that I'm on the right track with the AR Volunteers. A notation for this unit described it as for "30 days, 1861".

I read the posting about Companies B-C-D for the 7th AR Bn (Desha's Battalion) being raised in Independence Co. This helped reassure me that I'm heading in the right direction. I plan to order Henry's service and pension records, but I want to make sure I've got the correct person. Any research suggestions?

Sincerely, Connie Parrott

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Henry J. Johnson, Confed. POW
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