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Re: Galvanized Soldiers grave found

Make that Company D of the 42nd Tennessee, my mind is getting a little muddled I'm afraid, NOT the 43rd Tennessee. One of them was George W. Foster and is listed twice. Once as G. W. Foster and once under George W. Foster on fold 3.

David J. Atkerson was the other although he has other surname spellings. David Atkinson aka David J. Atkinson aka David J. Adkerson aka David J. Atkerson

Just a part of the article.

The Federal bureau of pensions asked Atkinson why his name had been misspelled in the Confederate muster records. Atkinson told them the orderly sergeant could not spell too well and spelled things as he heard them. David James Atkinson told the pension office that "my father and grandfather both spelled my last name as Atkinson" and he said "I was born on May 9, 1844 in Wayne County, Tennessee." Lawyers would advise clients not to volunteer any additional information while filing for their pensions. This may have been one reason why Atkinson did not mention Foster being with him. Both Foster and Atkinson have identical service records insofar as date and place of enlistment and capture.
The 42nd Regiment, Tennessee Infantry was on garrison duty at Port Hudson, Louisiana in early March 1863. While George W. Foster remained a private, David J. Atkinson had been promoted to 4th Corporal of Company D. In his Federal pension application, Atkinson said he had received a letter about a widow's death in Tennessee. {who was she i.e. how did this influence his decision to desert?} Confederate muster rolls reported that the two deserted on March 8, 1863. Atkinson’s post war remembrance was that he deserted on “March 7, or close to it”.
Port Hudson was located on the east side of the Mississippi River. Atkinson claimed that he had been appointed sergeant-of-the-guard while on picket duty and knew the signs and counter signs of the day. According to Atkinson "I just walked away." It is believed that Foster was with him. Atkinson did not mention the route he took but he may have taken the Old Natchez Trace Trail once in the area of Natchez. According to Atkinson he was arrested by the sheriff and his posse in Madison County, Mississippi and taken to the Provost Marshal in Canton, Mississippi. The sheriff of Madison County was William F. Taylor who served from April 1862 to October 1865. The distance between Port Hudson, Louisiana and Canton, Mississippi is about 175 miles. Averaging 10 miles per day, they could have reached Madison County about March 25th.
Atkinson told the sheriff that he was "a Union deserter and had been a crew member of the Esic". The U.S.S. Essex was one of the better known Union ironclads operating on the Mississippi River. Apparently the Confederate Provost Marshal at Canton believed his story and the two were sent to Jackson, Mississippi as Union prisoners of war.

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Galvanized Soldiers grave found *PIC*
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Re: Galvanized Soldiers grave found
Re: Galvanized Soldiers grave found