Your message was rather vague, as you didn't give the first name or initials of Mr. Washam/Wisham/Worsham, nor that of his widow. I find A. Wisham living near Spearsville, Union Parish Louisiana, in 1860; he was born about 1822 in Georgia, and his wife E. Wisham was born about 1830 in Georgia. I assume that this is the same Emily Worsham who applied for a Confederate Pension on the service of her husband A. J. Worsham, who she claimed served in Harper's Company, Company H, 17th Louisiana?

Given his residence of near Spearsville in 1860, it is certainly feasible that he would have served in Company H, 17th Louisiana. That company was organized in 1861 from men mainly in Claiborne Parish. Spearsville is in northwestern Union Parish, not far from Claiborne, and some men in that portion of Union Parish enlisted in Claiborne Parish units.

According to Booth's Index, there is no soldier by the name of Washam, Worsham, or Wisham who served in the 17th Louisiana. The records of this regiment between September 1861 and February 1863 are fairly complete, as muster rolls and returns have survived. If such a soldier enlisted prior to February 1863, he would almost certainly have appeared on the muster rolls or returns. Also, I don't see how he could have served at Vicksburg if there is no parole for him.

Another source is the work "The History of Claiborne Parish Louisiana", by Harris and Hulse, originally published in 1886, reprinted in 1976. In this work Captain Harper of Company H, 17th Louisiana (Claiborne Invincibles) wrote a history of his company. He did not list any soldier by a name similar to Washam/Wisham/Worsham.

The fact that Emily Worsham claimed her husband served in "Harper's Company" perhaps suggests that he did not enlist until AFTER Vicksburg. Captain Harper relates in his history of Company H that he was not promoted/elected to captain until the regiment was exchanged and reformed in Pineville. This would have been late July 1864. Prior to that, Company H would have been known as 'Maddox's Company and then 'Kilgore's Company'.

Due to the burning of Shreveport by Confederate officials prior to the of the Trans-Mississippi Dept at the end of the war, all muster rolls, returns, and enlistment records after July 1863 do not exist. In general, the only post-Vicksburg official records of the 17th are the parole records issued in June 1865 at the end of the war (and apparently, not all soldier in the 17th obtained a parole). Thus, if Wisham/Washam/Worsham enlisted during the the post-Vicksburg period, there would be no official record of his service since he died prior to the end of the war.

Tim Hudson