While doing a little research on the family tree today I ran across a gr-gr-gr uncle named Abraham W. Bessent, who was listed as "serving in the Confederate Marines on the CSS Virginia and Merrimac as a ship's carpenter." He was born in 1828 in Charleston, SC and died sometime after 1880 in Hall County, Georgia.
I looked thru the NPS roster of soldiers but was unable to locate his name or find any info on him. Do CS Marine and Navy CMSR's exist?
Also, would a CS Marine have been used as a ship's carpenter?