Hi Tracy:

My namesake, Private Hugh Simmons, was enrolled in Company B, 31st Louisiana Infantry along with his three older brothers, one of whom was my great grandfather. Hugh (nicknamed 'Huey' by the family) was 19 years of age and died on September 1, 1862 of typhoid fever at the "Toulksville Hospital" in Louisiana according to his Compiled Military Service Records. Since a 19th Century cursive capital "F" and "T" look so much alike, the place name could be "Foulksville" as you have transcribed it.

Dr. Bergeron's "Guide" states that the 31st Louisiana was camped in the area of Tallulah during the summer months of July and August 1862, and then moved to Delhi and Trenton [West Monroe] after the August 18, 1862 affair at Milliken's Bend with the arms shipment for Pike’s Brigade. That does not necessarily mean that the hospital was near Tallulah, but it would have been somewhere along the railroad line which extended from Vicksburg [DeSoto Point] as far west as Monroe. I rather imagine that the Confederates made use of that portion within their control to move troops, equipment, and supplies.

My sister and I believe that Hugh's remains were recovered by the family and interred next to his brother Thomas in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery adjacent to the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church west of Columbia where they lived. Thomas, also enrolled in Company B, died of disease at home in Caldwell Parish on July 24, 1862. There are two or three adult sized graves in the Simmons family grouping there that are marked only with a large rock at each end. In order to remove Hugh's remains either during or after the war, the "Toulksville Hospital" would need to have been accessible by wagon road from Columbia.

I have a copy of an 1863 Federal topographical map of northeastern Louisiana originally published in the "Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies 1861-1865" which was reprinted under the name "The Official Military Atlas of the Civil War" by Gramercy Books (New York City) in 1983. This issue contains a forward by Dr. Richard Sommers. The map is near the back of the book identified simply as General Topographical Map Sheet XX Plate CLV.

The community of Forksville appears east of Bayou Chaudrant [Choudrant] on a road running between Vienna and Trenton. The community of Grove Hill also appears on this road with the Bayou passing about equidistant between Grove Hill to the west and Forksville to the east. Forksville is nearer to Trenton than Vienna. Given its proximity to the military camps at Vienna, Trenton, and Monroe, it is possible that a military hospital could have been located here. The name "Toulksville" or "Foulksville" or "Faulksville" could have been a mistaken transcription of the community name "Forksville" which appears on this 1863 military map. Or “Forksville” could be a phonetic spelling of “Foulksville”. In any event, Forksville is the only place name that appears on this map which could have been misconstrued as "Toulksville/Foulksville" and which is anywhere near the line of Confederate operations between Monroe and Tallulah.

That’s as far as I have gotten in my personal effort to find the location of this mysterious Confederate military hospital. I haven’t worked on this aspect of my family history since 2003, so it took me a bit of time to respond. I am very much interested in what else you may turn up through your own research efforts, and with the help of others on this board.

Hugh Simmons
Fort Delaware Society