Reading through these postings, my attention was caught by the reference to a James M. ELLIS who was captured at South Mountain on 15 SEP 1862 but died in battle at Malvern Hill in July 1862. George questioned the South Mountain record and he was right.
I examined the Compiled Military Service records of Private James M. ELLIS, Company F, 5th Alabama Infantry. There are several documents filed in response to his mother Nancy's claims against the Confederate government. A certificate signed by his company commander, Captain E. B. Moseley, certified that James was a Sergeant in Company F at the time of his death on 1 JUL 1862 at Malvern Hill. James was 20 years of age and born in Dallas County, Alabama and he was single, hence his mother's claim was valid.
This record supports the contention that most Confederate soldiers went off to fight with family, friends, and neighbors. This James M. ELLIS was born in Dallas County, Alabama and serving with an Alabama company and regiment. A man born in Mississippi and living in Mississippi at the time the war began would not have gone to another state to enroll UNLESS he had close family and/or friends living in that state.
The CMSR card showing that he was paroled and sent for exchange from Fort Delaware on October 2, 1862 was present in James M. ELLIS' file. The identification penciled in at the top of the card shows this record to be for Private J. M. ELLIS, Company H, 5th Alabama. Turns out it was the first initial "J" that was written incorrectly by the War Department staff compiling these records and not the company alpha designation of "H".
Private F. M. ELLIS (aka M. F. ELLIS although he signed a clothing issue as F. M. ELLIS), Company H, 5th Alabama Infantry was the one captured at South Mountain. His CMSR contains a Regimental Return for Company H, 5th Alabama Infantry for the month of October 1862 which states that M. F. ELLIS was absent having been captured at South Mountain on 14 SEP 1862. The Federal POW record gives his date of capture as 15 SEP 1862. His status at the end of October 1862 was that of a paroled prisoner of war. From other CMSRs we know that the men paroled on October 2nd were delivered to Confederate authorities at Aikens Landing on 6 OCT 1862. These paroled prisoners of war were not officially declared exchanged and returned to duty until 10 NOV 1862. Private F. M. ELLIS was given a clothing issue on or after 8 OCT 1862 and granted a 30 day furlough on 23 OCT 1862 by Surgeon James Bolton of the Medical Directors Office in Richmond. Most company muster rolls for this regiment seem not to have survived the war. Private F. M. ELLIS was wounded in action in 1864 and died of the effects of a gunshot wound at the CSA General Hospital in Staunton, Virginia on 25 MAY 1864.
Private F. M. ELLIS, Company H, 5th Alabama Infantry does not appear in the Society database, but we will be adding him shortly. One of the gaps in our Fort Delaware Society database is identification of the men who were POWs at Fort Delaware in 1862. We are interested in learning the names and units of any man held prisoner at Fort Delaware.
Hugh Simmons
Fort Delaware Society
Website: www.fortdelaware.org
E-mail: society@fortdelaware.org