Private Alfred L. SIMMONS, Co. I, 7th Arkansas Infantry
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Hi Kenneth!

You wrote: >>>Family lore claims that his brother (Peter Owen Simmons from Thomasville, Oregon Co. MO) and brother-in-law (William Bailey from Fulton Co. AR) went to pick him up and bring him home where he died, but I have been unable to locate any additional information. Wonder if he might be buried in one of the mass burial sites you describe...???<<<

What does his Compiled Military Service Record say about his absence and death? Many of the sick that I have researched were furloughed home to recover so your family story of bringing him home where he later died sounds very plausible.

You wrote: >>>My Simmons kin moved to Fulton Co. AR from Walton Co. FL (of all places) after 1850 and before the 1860 census. Have any Florida or Arkansas kin?????<<<

Probably would have to go back up the family tree for several generations to find a connection. My SIMMONS ancestor [3xgreat grandfather Willis SIMMONS] moved from Georgia to Pike County, Mississippi circa 1812 when Mississippi was still a territory and he needed a passport to get in. Surprisingly, there was another SIMMONS family group also residing in Pike County to which we are unrelated as far as anyone knows. Four of Willis's grandsons went from Pike County to Caldwell Parish, Louisiana circa 1860 looking for better farm land. Caught up by the Confederate Conscription Act of April 1862, all four enrolled in Company B [Caldwell Parish], 31st Louisiana Infantry. Two brothers died of disease within six months of joining and while the regiment was still stationed in northeastern Louisiana. My great grandfather William and his surviving brother were released on parole at Vicksburg in July 1863. Grandfather William had sent his wife and first child back to Pike County to stay with her family when he joined the army in 1862 and went there following the fall of Vicksburg. He never reported for exchange or returned to duty. Within two years of the end of the war, he was back in Louisiana. I am a native of Winn Parish, Louisiana.

My great grandfather TEAGLE from Winn Parish served in the 12th Louisiana Infantry and was stationed at Columbus, Kentucky in 1861.

Thanks for responding!

Hugh