Hello,
We have an ancestor, George Richard Gautier, who wrote an autiobiographical booklet in 1902 in which he wrote briefly about being in a Civil War hospitalin Columbus, MS.
The title is "Harder than Death, The Life of George R. Gautier, An Old Texan at the Confederate Home, Austin Texas" and in it he pulls no punches. It is not a pretty thing to read because it contains some awful descriptions of violent events.
George Richard Gautier is buried in the Texas State Cemetery at Austin, TX, in the Confederate field.
After checking out your website, it occured to me that a quote from his book concerning the hospital at Columbus might be of interest and possibly helpful to others so we are sending it along below for your use.
We are not sure about the date but since afterwards he fought in and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Arkansas Post in January of 1863, we are guessing that he was at Columbus in 1862. We do not know what battle he is talking about but if anyone has any information that would enlighten us, we would appreciate them posting a reply.
-Judy Gautier
From George Richard Gautier - pg 8:
I joined M. L. Main’s Command. Co. A, First Tex-
as Calvary; this was about Jan. 16. We were in camp
at Dallas for some time; from Dallas we went to Clarks-
ville, from Clarksville to Little Rock from Little Rock
to Memphis, from Memphis to Corinth where we were
engaged in a fight which lasted seven days. A good
many of our boys were wounded and a number were
taken sick; they were sent to Columbus, Mississippi.
I was wounded in the thigh; the ball is still in my thigh
and causes me pain since getting old. I saw many of
my Company pass on to death. One poor boy, Tom
M. Henry, a widow’s son, died at the Columbus hos-
pital – he was crazy; he stripped naked, got into a tub
of water and died there. Another man, Tom Doherty,
was shot through the lungs; he gave me his money,
saying, “I am bound to die. Tell my wife to raise the
boys the best she can and meet me in heaven.” I think
there were some eighteen of the boys who were sick.
After I recovered so that I was able to travel I was
furloughed and went home, just able to walk...