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Private James Marion Whitaker
"In the year 1863 in a battle near Greenville, Tenn., he was shot, the bullet remaining in his person five
years and four months, when it was extracted by his father and a brother at his home."
Cherokee Scout, Murphy, N[orth].C[arolina]., Tuesday, February 23, 1904
Private James M. Whitaker is the nephew of Captain Stephen Whitaker. James enlisted on December 18, 1862, and served with his uncle Stephen in Company E. First Battalion, Thomas' Legion.
Private James Whitaker was likely wounded during the East Tennessee Campaign: Battle of Blue Springs Tennessee - October 10, 1863, Battle at Henderson's Mill - October 11, 1863, or during the fighting at Telford's Depot or Limestone Station on September 8, 1863. Lt. Col. Stringfield
recorded, "On the 8th we drove them [Union army] from Telford's depot to Limestone, where they made a determined stand, evidently being handled by some veteran officers. Closing
in upon them on all sides, we forced them to surrender with [their] loss of 20 killed, 30 wounded and 314 prisoners,
with 400 splendid small arms. Our loss was six killed and fifteen wounded."
Cherokee Scout, Murphy, N[orth].C[arolina]., Tuesday, February 23, 1904
Death [Obituary] of J.M.
Whitaker.
The following communication was received too late for our last issue:
The sudden death of Mr. James
M. Whitaker at his home near Andrews on February
7th, was a great shock to his many friends. He was apparently in good
health -
as well and stout, although he was in his 78th year. He ate a hearty supper on
Saturday evening, talked and
laughed freely with his family that night before
retiring. As was his custom he was first up on Sunday morning and made
a fire.
He then lit his pipe to take his usual morning smoke. While smoking he fell
from his chair. His wife, who
laying in bed in the room, gave a scream which
brought his son to his side, and who found that his father was dead.
Mr.
Whitaker was born in Macon county on March 1, 1826, was married to Miss
Elizabeth Kimsey on May 15, 1853. In September,
1863, he enlisted in the
Confederate army and was a faithful soldier. In the year 1863 in a battle near
Greenville,
Tenn., he was shot, the bullet remaining in his person five years
and four months, when it was extracted by his father
and a brother at his home.
Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker - seven girls and one boy,
all of
whom survive him.
April 10, 1903, at their home one mile west of Andrews, they celebrated their
golden wedding.
All the children were present except the son John, who was in
the west. There were twelve grand children, three great
grand children, and
other relatives present.
The deceased was out of a family of sixteen children, ten boys and
six girls,
all of whom grew to man and woman hood. Two boys and five girls are alive now.
His only son, John, who
has been west most of the time since 1880, came home
on the 14th of last December to make a short visit home, but since
his
father’s death will remain to look after his affairs.
Mr. Whitaker was a man held in the highest esteem
by all who knew him. In
addition to his immediate family he is survived by twenty-one grandchildren
and eight great
grandchildren. He was laid to rest in the Baptist cemetery
Monday, the 8th. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved
family. - W.
[Transcribed 2/1/2007 Lynn Cunningham]
Cherokee-Macon County NcArchives Obituaries.....Whitaker, James M. February 7, 1904
************************************************
Copyright.
All rights reserved.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm
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Recommended Reading: Rebel
Private: Front and Rear: Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier. Description: First published in 1907, the
memoirs of a former Confederate soldier who fought at Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Second Manassas, and Chickamauga
reveal the ground-level perspective of a Civil War private. Continued below…
From Publishers Weekly:
William Fletcher joined the Confederate Army in 1861. He served with the Army of Northern Virginia's elite Texas Brigade until
the Battle of Chickamauga. Unable to march because of wounds, he transferred to the cavalry and finished the war with the
Texas Rangers, then wrote his memoirs 40 years later. Most of the original copies were destroyed in a fire. The current edition
presents unvarnished images of hard marches, short rations and battles in which being wounded could prove worse than being
killed. Fletcher describes the horrors of being a Civil War casualty as vividly as any firsthand account from either side.
The author emerges from these pages as fighting less for a cause than for his own pride in being a good soldier. His narrative
does more than many learned monographs to explain the Confederacy's long endurance against overwhelming odds.
Related Reading:
Recommended
Reading: Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor (Hardcover). Description: It is tantalizing
to speculate about the role your ancestors may have played in the great national drama of the Civil War. But family records
are often inaccurate, or provide precious few leads on where to begin the search. Now, experienced historian Bertram Hawthorne
Groene shows you how easy it is to trace your forbearers' role in the war, where and how long they fought, whether they were
Union or Rebel, soldier or sailor -- even with a minimum of information. Continued below...
Tracing Your
Civil War Ancestor provides you with:
-- The names
and addresses of all state archives.
-- Names and
addresses of institutions that hold microfilmed service records from the national archives.
-- Names and
publishers of useful regional Civil War reference books.
-- Names and
publishers of sourcebooks for identifying Civil War weapons and accoutrements.
-- And much
more.
Historians,
genealogists, antique dealers, and collectors of Civil War artifacts will find this concise guidebook of great value. But
most of all it is of inestimable practical value to family historians, North and South, who are discovering the pleasure and
satisfaction of compiling an accurate family history.
Recommended
Reading: The
Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy (444 pages) (Louisiana State University Press)
(Updated edition: November 2007) Description: The Life of Johnny Reb
does not merely describe the battles and skirmishes fought by the Confederate foot soldier. Rather, it provides an intimate
history of a soldier's daily life--the songs he sang, the foods he ate, the hopes and fears he experienced, the reasons he
fought. Wiley examined countless letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, and official records to construct this frequently poignant,
sometimes humorous account of the life of Johnny Reb. In a new foreword for this updated edition, Civil War expert James I.
Robertson, Jr., explores the exemplary career of Bell Irvin Wiley, who championed the common folk, whom he saw as ensnared
in the great conflict of the 1860s. Continued below...
About
Johnny Reb:
"A Civil War
classic."--Florida Historical Quarterly
"This book
deserves to be on the shelf of every Civil War modeler and enthusiast."--Model Retailer
"[Wiley] has
painted with skill a picture of the life of the Confederate private. . . . It is a picture that is not only by far the most
complete we have ever had but perhaps the best of its kind we ever shall have."--Saturday Review of Literature
Recommended
Reading:
Hardtack & Coffee or The Unwritten Story of Army Life. Description: Most histories of the Civil War focus on battles and top brass. Hardtack and Coffee
is one of the few to give a vivid, detailed picture of what ordinary soldiers endured every day—in camp, on the march,
at the edge of a booming, smoking hell. John D. Billings of Massachusetts enlisted in the
Army of the Potomac and survived the hellish conditions as a “common foot soldier”
of the American Civil War. "Billings describes
an insightful account of the conflict – the experiences of every day life as a common foot-soldier – and a view
of the war that is sure to score with every buff." Continued below...
The
authenticity of his book is heightened by the many drawings that a comrade, Charles W. Reed, made while in the field. This
is the story of how the Civil War soldier was recruited, provisioned, and disciplined. Described here are the types of men
found in any outfit; their not very uniform uniforms; crowded tents and makeshift shelters; difficulties in keeping clean,
warm, and dry; their pleasure in a cup of coffee; food rations, dominated by salt pork and the versatile cracker or hardtack;
their brave pastimes in the face of death; punishments for various offenses; treatment in sick bay; firearms and signals and
modes of transportation. Comprehensive and anecdotal, Hardtack and Coffee is striking for the pulse of life that runs through
it.
NEW! North Carolina
Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster (Volume XVI: Thomas's Legion) (Hardcover, 537 pages), North Carolina Office of Archives and
History (June 26, 2008). Description: The volume begins with an authoritative
246-page history of Thomas's Legion. The history, including Civil War battles and campaigns, is followed by a complete
roster and service records of the field officers, staff, and troops that served in the legion. A thorough index completes
the volume. Continued below...
Volume XVI
of North Carolina Troops: A Roster contains the history and roster of the most unusual North Carolina Confederate Civil
War unit, significant because of the large number of Cherokee Indians who served in its ranks. Thomas's Legion was the creation
of William Holland Thomas, an influential businessman, state legislator, and Cherokee chief. He initially raised a small
battalion of Cherokees in April 1862, and gradually expanded his command with companies of white soldiers raised in western
North Carolina,
eastern Tennessee, and Virginia.
By the end of 1862, Thomas's Legion comprised an infantry regiment and a battalion of infantry and cavalry. An artillery battery
was added in April 1863. Furthermore, in General Early's Army of the Valley, the Thomas Legion was well-known for its fighting
prowess. It is also known for its pivotal role in the last Civil War battle east of the Mississippi
River. The Thomas Legion mustered more than 2,500 soldiers and it closely resembled a brigade. With troop roster, muster records, and Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR) this volume
is also a must have for anyone interested in genealogy and researching Civil War ancestors. Simply stated, it is an outstanding
source for genealogists.
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