Hi Gary:

Just got off the phone with the Fort Delaware Society office. Jeff May, our summer intern, has just responded to an e-mail query from Karon about Augustus L. NUNN, Company E, 34th Georgia Infantry and Thomas A. NUNN, Company G, 43rd Georgia Infantry. She will probably forward to you a copy of Jeff's response and I won't include the contents here.

Our Society records do show that Augustus L. NUNN died at Fort Delaware on June 20, 1863. This information comes from a different National Archives record source than his Compiled Military Service Records. Our information shows that he was captured at Champion Hill on May 17, 1863 [the day after the actual battle] and died at Fort Delaware on June 20, 1863. We do not have his date of arrival.

It would be helpful if you could get us is a copy of his Compiled Military Service Record from the National Archives. Examining the series of company muster roll and POW roll entries in the CMSR in sequence will likely tell us that this is all correct.

Karon queried us about a Thomas A. NUNN. We have a record of a T.R. Nunn who was a Private in Company E, 43rd Georgia Infantry. Captured at Champion Hill on May 16, 1863, he was received at Fort Delaware on June 9, 1863 and released for exchange on July 4, 1863.

You asked about James E. NUNN, a brother to Augustus L. NUNN. He appears in our files as a Private in Company E, 34th Georgia Infantry who was captured on May 16th/17th in 1863 at Champion Hill, Mississippi. Date of arrival at Fort Delaware is not noted, but he was sent to City Point, Virginia [modern day Hopewell in the James River east of Richmond], released, and exchanged on July 4, 1863.

The 43rd Georgia Infantry was part of Barton's Brigade, Stevenson's Division while the 34th Georgia Infantry was part of Cumming's Brigade, Stevenson's Division. These Georgia POWs no doubt tried to stay together during the trip to Fort Delaware. I would hazard a guess that Augustus L. NUNN, James E. NUNN, and Thomas A. [T. R.] NUNN arrived together on June 9, 1863.

You wrote: >>>If you do find that Augustus died at Fort Delaware and is buried at Finns Point we would like to know the grave number if you run across it.<<<

The Confederates who died at Fort Delaware were buried in mass burial trenches stacked three deep in wooden boxes. This was a common 19th century military burial technique. The Confederates used it at Vicksburg from about May 1862 until the surrender in July 1863 for their own soldiers. Fort Delaware's Union guards who died during the war were buried in individually marked graves, but by the time the National Cemetery was established ten years after the war, their headboards had all been used for firewood. Hence, there are no individually marked graves for any of the wartime dead in Finns Point.

Take a look at the Finns Point webpages via http://www.del.net/org/fort for some current photos of the Confederate burial section. I have other current cemetery photos which I can share. Get in touch with me by e-mail if you need them.

I am still interested in understanding the Chimborazo [Confederate military hospital in Richmond] admissions entry you found under Augustus's name.

Hugh Simmons
Fort Delaware Society