Hello Todd:

You wrote: >>>On ancestry they have a Townson listed but no first initial or anything I am trying to find out if this could be my Great Great Grandfather Zachariah Townson. I think I have found the regiment he was in but we haven't proven it for sure, that’s why I have questions about this Townson listed here. He has been something else to get any information on. <<<

I examined the Compiled Military Service Records for the 12th Louisiana Infantry. Company L was recruited primarily from Claiborne Parish and enrolled in the 12th Louisiana Infantry at Camp Moore in the summer of 1861. Later replacements generally came from Claiborne Parish, but not all.

The surname TOWNSON with no first or middle name or initials was entered as a Private on the Company L muster rolls covering March & April 1863 and May & June 1863. There is no enlistment data (when, where, by whom, to what time) provided in either muster roll, nor is there any “last paid” record. The March & April 1863 muster roll remarks section contains the information that Private TOWNSON was absent sick at an unnamed hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. This muster was done at Jackson circa 1 MAY 1863 when the regiment had returned to Mississippi from Atlanta. The May & June 1863 muster roll states that Private TOWNSON had “died at hospital with disease” during the muster period. Assuming that he died at a hospital in Jackson, it would be a good guess that he was buried in the Confederate section of Jackson's Greenwood Cemetery among the unknowns.

I also checked the Claiborne Rangers post war roster made up by the surviving veterans from memory and their retained wartime notes which was published by Harris & Hulse in their 1886 “History of Claiborne Parish”. No mention was made of anyone named TOWNSON or TOWNSEND in either of the two Claiborne Parish companies in the 12th Louisiana Infantry.

Taken at face value, this information suggests to me that Private TOWNSON was probably a young man who had just turned 18 years of age and wanted to enroll with the Claiborne Rangers. He could have had friends, neighbors or family members already serving in the company. The lack of enlistment data suggests that he ended up in the hospital before he could actually join the company.

If you have family information that suggests this might have been a record of your ancestor Zachariah Townson, please let me know! I will be happy to pursue the subject further!

Hugh Simmons
Regimental Historian
12th Louisiana Infantry