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Leading Up to Vicksburg – 1863 Part IV

Posted in genealogy, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The following letters precede the battle at Vicksburg and the subsequent surrender there. I have, so the sake of brevity, left out a lot of details of the battles and skirmishes, and tried to concentrate only on the actual letters.

Memphis, Tennessee Dec. 1, 1862

We have orders to be ready to leave to-morrow. One rainy night he took three rails and laid them on one, and spread a blanket with rubber over. We kill the sheep, cattle, and pigs in the woods where found.

Thos. Wilcox

Thomas was under General Sherman at this time. Not sure who “he” is.

Near Tallahatchie, Dec. 3, 1862

We are in Smith’s division. Thomas and Wilber were at Oxford. They went with Sherman’s body guard.

W.J. Wilcox

Smith would have been Union General Morgan L. Smith.

Jan 8, 1863

Vicinity of Memphis, on the Mississippi, near the mouth of the White River. We withdrew our forces from the swamp near Vicksburg New Year’s night. We brought off everything, not leaving so much as a bag of grain. The gap in our division was about 180 killed and wounded. I heard to-day that Andrew Mullen was killed. He was badly wounded and left on the field. The men that told me thought that he would have gotten over it if he had been taken care of; but he laid out one day and two nights – raining all the first night – so when they got him he was dead.

Willard Wilcox

Battle of Arkansas Post – Jan 10,11 1863

Proceeded up the Arkansas Jan 9. Late in the afternoon, they halted about three miles below the fort, and began landing for the night. At noon on the 10th we began movement toward the fort. The field artillery, numbering 45 pieces, was disposed in the intervals of Sherman’s and Morgan’s lines. The artillery opened fire, and kept it up half an hour, then ceased, and the infantry assaulted. Lindsey, of Morgan’s corps, with four guns, took position above the fort. Fort surrendered. Troops re-embarked 16th and 17th.

Moved to Young’s Point. Was engaged in the Vicksburg campaign until the surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, then moved to Jackson, Miss. After the siege and surrender of Jackson, moved to Black River, and remained in camp there until Sept. 27, when ordered to Chattanooga.

Camp on Stone River near Murfreesboro.

(unsigned)

February 1863.

It is two months since I had a letter from home. I stand ready to go into battle and endure all the hardships of war, but to be deprived of hearing from friends whom I may never see again, is asking me to become a stone. The government should take more pains to forward the mail. We expect to march as soon as the condition of the roads make it possible.

John Wilcox, with 88th Infantry.

Haines’ Bluff – 1863

Blaine’s division embarked on ten steamboats about 10:00 A>M> April 29. Proceeded to Yazoo April 30, to within easy range of enemy’s batteries. Four hours demonstration kept up. Toward evening disembarked, seemingly prepared to assault. April 31, similar movements. Dropped back to camp at Young’s Point, reaching there the night of May 1st.

Our division went up to Haines’ Bluff. I was not well enough to go.

Willard J. Wilcox

I tried to locate all their positions on a map. All of this is leading up to the Siege of Vicksburg which took place May 18 – July 4, 1863 which cost the Confederacy some 32,363 souls. It was a decisive Union victory and led to the ultimate push by General Sherman to the sea.

The population of the city I live in was around 38,000 in 2025.

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American Civil War Part 3

Posted in genealogy, tagged , , , , , on February 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

 The Siege of Corinth took place April 29 – May 30, 1862. This was before the battel of Vicksburg in 1863. We are stepping back in time a little, to a previous campaign my ancestors were part of, before John Wilcox died at Chickamauga in 1863.  10,699 rebels were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. 12,217 Union soldiers were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. Let those numbers sink in a little bit.

A “battery” consisted of six guns: four 6-pounders and two 12-pounders. My great-great uncles wrote a few letters home during this conflict.

May 2, 1862

The army is moving toward Corinth. Our division has not moved yet, but expects to in a day or two. Have been out on two marches lately.

May 22, 1862

I have about recovered. I put on my clothes today. I shall be ready to take part in the next skirmish. Wilber is well.

About the attack being a surprise, in one sense it was and it was not. We were all well aware of the enemy’s being near, for they had driven our outposts the day before and was in sight on the roads from our line. We were on the extreme right of our line so were in reserve, but as soon as the battle commenced were moved to the left. Grant was at Savannah when the battle commenced, which was about four miles down the river from where the hospital was. Some of our line gave way the first fire, but other portions fought well and inflicted heavy loss on the enemy. The principal part of the loss on both sides was on the first day. It depends a great deal upon circumstances about what anyone does, but I can say one thing that no man of Co. A can say: I stayed with the battery three hours after I was wounded, and I passed through one of the most trying scenes of my life.

W.J. Wilcox.

After the battle of Shiloh, the rebels withdrew to Corinth. The last of April the Union army began the advance toward Corinth. Corinth was evacuated by the rebel army May 30, McClernand’s reserve, consisting of his own and Lew Wallace’s division, was then turned west to Bolivar and Memphis. Battery A. was sent with this division, reaching Union Junction, near Memphis, June 17, 1862.

Memphis, July 13, 1862

Just arrived from White River where squad 2 went last Monday to guard a steamboat. Went up the river about 125 miles.

W.J Wilcox

~~~

Memphis, Oct 1, 1862

We had an order for boards for our tents, which looks like staying all winter here. Wilber had just been drilling us in dismounting the guns and carriages, so we can show off at grand battalion review. The squads try to see which can harness and hitch the horses on the guns the quickest. Squad 2 came out five seconds ahead; we were two minutes and twenty-five seconds with the postillions and cannon mounted. Last week we had a trial at target shooting at a snag in the river, 1,000 yards off, about as big as a man. Wilber came out best.

Thos. Wilcox

~~~ Note: a 1,000 yard shot is a long shot. Think eight football fields, lengthwise, assuming the distance is 120 yards (10 football fields if you lay them down goal post to goal post). The most common rifles used during the Civil War had a firing distance of about 300-500 yards. Even today, that is one heckuva distance for an average deer rifle, say a .30-30. Of course, they were probably firing artillery and I have no clue what the ballistics are.

Nashville, Nov. 14, 1862

All I have to say is that I have enlisted, and have no grumbling to do, but intend tyo live and die as a true soldier, but my advice to them that have homes is, they had better stay there. We have marched 440 miles since leaving Louisville. Capt. B and I cook together, eat and drink from the same dish, and sleep together. He has the privilege of buying his rations. I saw him with sixteen doughnuts. I have not taken any private property of any kind.

John Wilcox

~~~

Memphis, Dec 14, 1860

Arrived yesterday/ Gen. Sherman came back with us. We lived on the inhabitants partly while out. The boys went for everything they wanted. The General had to stop them. We did not bring in as many negroes as when we were out last summer.

WJ Wilcox

So much of the Civil Way was about stealing food, ravaging the opponent’s homesteads and mansions, and taking slaves to force them to be soldiers on whichever side managed to take them captive. It was not pretty, it was not neat, and it often wasn’t about setting the captive free as much as it was about using the captive to bolster the military numbers. It was a savagery that ripped across the American soil.

When you hear current politicos talk about “another civil war”, you wonder how much of history they have read. How much blood spilt, families divided, homes wrecked, and innocence destroyed.

Yet, it is my family’s history. And I hope they were all like John, not taking what wasn’t theirs.

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General Family History (Civil War). Part 1: War

Posted in genealogy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I am transcribing this from a 40-page typewritten photocopied document that was among my father’s research. I do not know the veracity of it all nor do I know how many posts the series will take up.  What is in italics is what I transcribed. My notes are not in italics.

In 1861 the war began. Four of her (Sarah Lord Wilox’s) sons enlisted; only two came back, one of the two shattered in health from a long imprisonment.

Sarah Wilcox died October 2nd, 1883.

Immediately after the firing on Ft. Sumpter (sic), came President Lincoln’s first call for troops. Wilbur I. Wilcox was at this time teaching. Willard J. Wilcox was engaged in making brooms. They immediately dropped their employment, and enlisted in the first company and first regiment that left Illinois for three months’ service – Co. A, 1st Regiment, Chicago Light Artillery. Willard was then 26, Wilber, 24 years of age. Saturday they went to Chicago and enlisted; Sunday they were journeying toward Cairo. They returned home on a furlough at the expiration of their enlistment, but re-enlisted for three years, or during the war, before returning home. After a few days at home they started again for Cairo and rejoined their battery.

                Cairo (Kay-ro), Illinois, was where U.S. Grant based his operations out of.

Willard fell from a caisson in Dec. 1861. As soon as (he) was able to travel after this injury, he visited his mother, remaining with her until after the marriage of his sister Mary on Jan. 1, 1862.

Before his furlough had expired he was recalled to his company. He was with the company which moved from Cairo, Jan. 10, 1862, on a reconnoisance (sic)  into Kentucky, returning Jan 22nd. At the battle of Shiloh, Willard and Wilber were both wounded. Willard carried a minie ball* in his head the remained of his life in consequence of this injury.

During the advance on Corinth, Willard and others were sent out after horses, at which time Willard was again wounded, receiving six buckshot wounds in the shoulder, and back of the head.

                The Battle of Shiloh was a Union victory at heavy cost. It was one of the bloodiest battles in the war with nearly 24,000 casualties. My brain can’t fathom that number! Corinth is a short distance from Shiloh, across the border in Mississippi, and was a Confederate stronghold.

Wilber was Sergeant when killed July 22, 1863. (Vicksburg?)

Willard re-enlisted in the veteran corps after three years’ service. He received four hundred dollars and a 30-days’ furlough. He was sergeant when mustered out in July, 1865.

Thomas Wilcox enlisted Aug. 11, 1862. He joined Co. A Chicago Light Artillery at Memphis. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864. He was released at the close of the war.

John Wilcox enlisted Sept. 4, 1862, 1st Sergeant Co. K, 88th Ill. Infantry/ He was killed at the battle of Chickamauga, Sept 20, 1863. He is buried with the unknown dead at Chattanooga.

Unknown Civil War Dead Chatanooga (credit: Pixabay – giselaFotografie)

Daniel E. Barnard enlisted Sept. 4, 1862, Capatin Co. K, 88th Ill, Infantry; mustered out at the close of the war.

Erastus A. Barnard was drafted Sept 27, 1864; assigned to Co. H, 30th Infantry; mustered out June 4, 1865. He marched with Sherman’s army to the sea.

E.A. Barnard was taken ill during the march to Savannah. He remained with the army until Savannah was entered. He was in the hospital there from Dec. 24, 1864 to April 1, 1865. Thence he went to Pocotaligo; from there by boat to Wilmington; then marched to Raleigh and joined his regiment the day before Johnston surrendered.

General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to General Sherman at Bennett’s Place, Durham’s Station, N.C., in April of 1865.

                Erastus A. Barnard married Mary L. Wilcox. Daniel E. Barnard was his brother.

                William Orson Wilcox (my ancestor) did not serve. I do not know why except, perhaps, he was left in charge of Sarah and his brother’s respective families.

*The Minié ball, or Minie ball, is a type of hollow-based. Invented in 1849 shortly followed by the Minié rifle, the Minié ball was used in the  American Civil War where it was found to inflict significantly more serious wounds than earlier round musket balls. (Source: Wikipedia)

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The American Civil War Weighs on Me

Posted in genealogy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

In 2014, I had the pleasure and privilege to visit several cemeteries on the East Coast. My son lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at the time and I wanted to visit Bonaventure Cemetery because it was featured in some novel we passed around at work and I was fascinated. Since we were in Savannah, Georgia, we also visited the downtown area where the Colonial Park Cemetery is located. After I left my son’s family, I traveled to Richmond, Virginia, where I met up with two friends and we toured Oakwood Cemetery.

Bonaventure Cemetery lived up to the hype: it truly is a beautiful place. There are tombs, crypts, statues, and ever so much more. I took a lot of photographs with my DSLR and held the hands of my grandchildren as they wondered at all the headstones, crosses, and more. Over 500 Confederate dead rest there including some notable officers. A lot of war dead, period: we temporarily lost my son when he wandered into the World War dead section.

Colonial Park was a surprise and a bonus with its above-ground crypts. It was closed to burials before the Civil War but many heroes of the American Revolution are interred there.

Oakwood in Richmond has the richest Civil war history. One of my friends is a genealogist whose family fought on the Confederate side of the conflict (mine fought opposite hers). It is a pretty cemetery overlooking the James River, but it is also an oppressive place: the sheer numbers of men who lost their lives in that bloody conflict between the states is overwhelming, and I feel there’s a spiritual heaviness that comes with that kind of sacrifice.

It is hard for me to verbalize what I sense when I read about or visit a Civil war memorial, a cemetery, or just rote history. In 2023, my brother and I drove across the country (he drove, I bummed a ride with). One of our stops was the Vicksburg National Military Park. The trenches between North and South were so close together that you could well imagine the words of one of my ancestors in a letter to his mother:

Camp near Vicksburg, June 23, 1863

“We have a new battery, five light 12-pounders and one 10 pound parrot gun. They will carry further than our old battery; our men are at work making approaches. They are within a few feet of the enemy’s ditch in several spaces, but there has got to be a parallel ditch dug to hold many men before they can storm it. Our pickets are in one ditch while theirs are in another. They used to talk a great deal, but that has been forbidden, so they write on pieces of paper and pass backward and forward. One of our boys threw over a part of a loaf of bread and they threw back a biscuit. You can talk to them quite easy from the guns where Thomas stays, when they are on their breastworks. ~ Willard Wilcox”*

I did not recall at the time that letter was written from the very same site where Terry and I stood in 2023, 160 years and one month later, but you could feel the tension and almost hear the cannons and smell the blood.  It was an eerie place, not in the sense that it was frightening, threatening, or even scary, but you could feel the death still hanging in the air. The air was heavy and we didn’t breathe easily until we were back on the road and away from that pivotal and bloody battle site. I write this to explain ahead of time: writing about the American Civil War is a truly heavy undertaking and I have forty pages of that history as it relates to the Wilcox sons of Sarah Lord Wilcox.

*Willard was the brother of my great-great grandfather, William Orson Wilcox.

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Sarah Lord Wilcox

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on April 28, 2010| 2 Comments »

My dad sent me not only dry Family Tree diagrams, but a few photos and several vignettes of history.

Sarah Lord Wilcox takes up quite a bit of space in the vignettes, in stories that are not just about her, but are about her sons and the Civil War. I am guessing that my Uncle Mike typed the stories out and that he has the original letters the story teller refers to. I hope so. I want to know someone in the family owns the originals. (This means, of course, that a letter to Uncle Mike is in order)

Sarah Lord married William Wilcox the year they both turned 28. that was old for a bride in those days and way past traditional childbearing age, but she went on to bear seven children to William before his death. Sarah and William lived in Johnstown, Fulton Co., New York until 1844 when they moved to Illinois, somewhere near Chicago. William died within a year of that move, leaving Sarah and her seven children. She took in boarders, but she was really known for her skill as a weaver.

In 1861, the war began. Four of Sarah’s sons enlisted: Wilbur, Willard, Thomas and John. Reading the compiled history of the war: Shiloh, Corinth, Tallahatchie March, Stone River (Murfreysbury), Chickasaw Bluffs, Vicksburg, Jackson…

From one of Willard’s letters:

“Our men are at work making approaches. They are within a few feet of the enemy’s ditch in several spaces, but there has got to be a parallel ditch dug to hold many men before they can storm it. Our pickets are in one ditch while theirs are in another. They used to talk a great deal, but that has been forbidden, so they write on pieces of paper and pass backward and forward. One of our boys threw over a part of a loaf of bread and they threw back a biscuit. You can talk to them quite easy from the guns where Thomas stays, when they are on their breastworks.    -Willard Wilcox.”

“Our pickets” are the Union soldiers and “theirs” are the Confederate soldiers.

At the Battle of Chickasaw, in September of 1863, the Union army took a beating. Out of that rout came a letter from Sarah’s son-in-law, D.E. Barnard. (I may be a bit confused on the relationship – one of the Barnards was a son-in-law, two of them were in service with the Wilcox brothers.)

“I write to you now after the sad events of the last few weeks, not to inform you of John Wilcox’s death, but to give some of the particulars so far as I am able. Saturday morning we marched to the battlefield in haste, to the sound of the cannon… Sunday morning we drew rations; the 36th not getting theirs, we divided with them. John was very active in this, giving freely of his rations. When we went into battle he was by me and in the first line. He was fighting among the foremost. Soon, although we had driven the rebs (sic) immediately in front, they were gathering along both flanks on our left. Only a little in front I saw a rebel flag of a regiment, and called attention to it. We were directed to fire oblicuily (sic) at them, which we did, but as the fire grew hotter on both flanks, we were ordered to fall back, which we did, and rallied at the foot of the hill. During all this time John was with me. Soon I noticed that he stooped down. I asked him if he was hurt. He said he was hit in the foot with a spent ball. I asked him is he had not better retire, and if he was disabled.he said no, and kept on firing. Soon we fell back again by order, and he with the rest. I looked carefully but did not notice any particular lameness or blood. At this time I was among the last retreating, and a man badly wounded in the leg, a stranger, asked to be helped off the field. This I could not do, but just then one came with a wounded horse which he was leading, and offered to carry him on the wounded horse if he could get into the saddle. No one else offering, I helped him on, and he rode off rapidly. This left me in the rear, and I found the balls thick around me. I hastened to join the regiment. When I reached it, at some distance from the place, I found several absent, John among them. I inquired for him, and was told that he had been again wounded in the leg, and that he was making to the rear, and had doubtless got on a wagon or ambulance. As I could not find him, and I looked for him, I supposed this to be the truth, but at this very time he was probably dead, shot through the left breast. He must have died instantly. Such is the report of Sergeant Strouch who knew him well, and who placed his body under a tree, covered it with his shelter tent, and placed his head upon a knapsack.” — letter dated October 9, 1863.

John’s body was never recovered and he was buried as an unknown soldier among the many who fell in battle that day.

What a tear-jerker! And what a history: going from the one moment when enemies tossed bread & biscuits back and forth, to fallen heroes on both sides of the lines. There’s a lot more, but I wanted to share those most poignant letters.

Sarah Lord Wilcox lived to be almost 86. She was born 18 October 1797 and died 2 October 1883. She married only the one time.

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