The Virginia in the Civil War Message Board

Re: John Frank Johnson of 48th VA

John,

You’ve definitely got me going! The itinerary of the Coatzacoalcos adds a fascinating twist to the story. It was late on Thanksgiving when I responded earlier, and the implications of your information about the ship didn’t completely sink in until hours later.

Browsing around, I’m finding several other situations in which a Confederate soldier or sailor was released after giving an oath never to take up arms against the Union, and one other where he joined the Northern army. A quick scan through their stories also suggests they often didn’t really make it “home” afterward; their status in their home communities appears to have fallen, and several left town. In fact, another Johnson (not likely related) from Mississippi spent the rest of his life on the Great Lakes.

I’m a bit confused. Info I got from a now dead link included:

Enlistment: Washington Co., age 29, 6/18/61.
Present thru 10/15/61.
Hospital, sick by 10/31/61.
Hospital rheumatism, Charlottesville, 1/2/62 to 3/10/62 when released to duty.
Captured Cross Keys 6/8/62.
Paroled Winchester, age 29, 6/62.
POW aboard Steamer Coatzacoalcos following capture at Cross Keys. 5'4" in 1862.

What does “paroled” mean? Does it simply mean that he was slated for exchange with an equal ranking Union soldier (having registered his oath), but not ready for release? Winchester is nowhere near the Delaware River, so John Frank had to travel over land some distance. Why would the Union have involved Fort Delaware at all, if he was paroled? It’d be a lot shorter trip from Winchester to Confederate territory than to skirt the north end of the Chesapeake bay into Delaware. If he was paroled in June, why did it take two months for him to be released from Fort Delaware? Is it possible that the Coatzacoalcos made multiple trips between Fort Delaware and Fort Monroe, some before August? And had he joined the Union army, I’m assuming he wouldn’t have ridden the Coatzacoalcos at all.

Now, I grew up in the Tidewater VA area, and I’ve traveled up and down the Chesapeake Bay. I’m wondering why the Coatzacoalcos took less than a day to circumvent the Eastern Shore from Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River to Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, and then two days to reach the James River which is only 8 miles to the west. Now, Aiken’s landing is very near Richmond, which is 100 miles upriver on the James, so that might have been what took them until August 5th to accomplish the POW transfer. Why didn’t they just deposit the prisoners at Fort Wool or Norfolk?

Which raises another question: did the Coatzacoalas transport the exchanged Union soldiers back north after unloading the Confederate soldiers?

Wouldn’t there be Union records of his being held at Winchester? Of his stay at Fort Delaware? Of his trip on the Coatzacoalcos? Of his release at Aiken’s Landing?

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John Frank Johnson of 48th VA
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Re: John Frank Johnson of 48th VA