Drusha Elige, Confederate SoldierFile submitted by Jane Newton. Monroe County Reporter, Friday 12 noon. (no date)
(Partial Transcription.)
James A. Jordan enlisted as 5th Sergeant on July 9, 1861, in Atlanta for the war and was elected 2nd Lieutenant Nov. 21, 1861. He was wounded at Cold Harbor June 27, 1862 and was admitted to Chimborazo Hospital No. 3 in Richmond, Virginia with a gunshot wound in the brest and transferred to Verner House. His name appears on a register of Officers and Soldiers that shows that he was killed at Gaines Mill July 31, 1862 (seven days of battle around Richmond).
He was brought back home and is buried at the Jordan Cemetery (near Alfred Home, Abercrombie Road and Russellville Road beneath a 12 foot monument with granite sword and inscription reading "Mortally wounded at the battle of Gaines Mill while in command of Confederate Volunteers." He was born Nov. 23, 1862.
His name appears on a Register of Claims of Deceased Officers and Soldiers, which were filed for settlement in the Office of the Confederate State Auditor for the War Department. It ws presented by John R. Ralls, administrator, on Jan. 27, 187-63 in Forsyth. He stated that the deceased left no wife, child or father. Apparently the money still had not been paid to his heirs (his mother) as there is a letter in his service record dated Oct. 15, 1863, from John R. Ralls, requesting payment of six months pay that was due Lt. Jordan.
"I administered on his estate and have distributed his effects to the proper heirs, since his mother, who is entitled to his arrears of pay, is very anxious to draw the same.
Jordan's Obituary:
In Richmond, Va. on the 31st ult. Lieut. JAMES A JORDAN OF CO. a, 14TH GA., The subject of this memoir fell, mortally wounded on the evening of the 27th of June, gallantly leading his company in a charge at the memorable engagement of Gainesville, and lingered near five weeks, bearing with Christian resignation, the suffering incident to a most painful wound, while relatives and friends watched with alternations of hope and despondence, the pure noble life that was gradually approaching dissolution.
At the call of his country he entered the first company that was organized in Monroe County, after the commencement of hostilaties Though reared in affluence he scorned the ease and pleasure of a luxurious home and endured the perils and privations of a soldier's life, with a patience and fortitude that encouraged and cheered the hearts of his fellow soldiers.
File contributed for use by: Sandy Ross [email protected]
July 11, 2003
Source: From Russell's
grandson, Harold A Ross
Russell Ross enlisted
in Co. G. 27th Rgt. Volunteers on Sept. 9, 1861. He was a resident
of Monroe Co. GA. He was wounded in the hip and tailbone and captured at
Antiehim. He was a prisoner of war at Ft. McHenry, MD., Oct. 18,
1862, paroled and
sent to Ft. Monroe, VA, for exchange. In 1863 records how that he
received commutation of rations. In 1864 records show that he received
clothing. Absent without leave.
Additional Comments:
Russell's brothers , Robert H. Ross fought and
was killed at 7 Pines and his brother James R. Ross also fought.
Russell C. Ross was born in Monroe Co. GA.
16 Feb. 1834. His parents were Robert and Elizabeth (Watson) Ross.
Russell married first time to Elizabeth J. Varner 13 Dec. 1852 in Monroe
Co. The ordinary was Ellindgo(?) G. Cabaniss and then was also signed by
John H. Thomas. looks like JJP after his name...
1850 Census Monroe
Co. GA. 60th Division
Robert Ross b.
1800 NC
Elizabeth
b. 1805 GA
William
b. 1832 GA son
Russell
b. 1834 GA son
(my gg-grandfather)
Harriet
b. 1838 GA dau
Lucinda
b. 1843 GA dau
1860 Census Monroe
Co. GA Red Bone Dist:
Russell Ross
age 25 miller
Elizabeth
age 22
John W
age 06 (my g-grandfather) he was born in Monroe Co. 26,
June 1854
Sidney
age 02 male
Elizabeth Varner age 62
He worked at the Thurmond
Mill on Tobesofkee creek.
Sept 9, 1861 Russell is
in the Civil War. He was in Co. G. 27th Regiment . He
was injured and captured and released. He was out by Dec. 26
1863 due to injuries. His brother Robert H. Ross was killed at Seven Pines,
VA May 31 1862.
Russell Marries second
wife, Mary Ann Amanda Powell 27 January 1863 in Pike Co. GA.
They were married by a J.P. James N. Hall.
1870 Census Pike Co. GA.
Russell Ross
age 36 keeping grist mill
Amanda
age 29
John
age 16 (my g-grandfather)
Augustus
age 6
Charles
age 4
1880 Census in Grimes Co. TX Plantersville
Dist.
Russell
age 46 farmer b. in GA
Mary
age 40
b. in GA
Augustus
age 15
b. in GA
Charlie
age 13
b. in GA
Luther
age 09
b. in GA
James
age 06
b. in GA
Mary
age 03
b. in TX
George
age 4/12
b. in TX
Sometime after 1880 they go back to Georgia.
My g-grandfather John W Ross, Russell first born child by first wife stayed
in TX as he was married by then and raised his family in TX and OK.
That is how I came to be born in Texas.
Russell and Mary Amanda had one more child...Clara
Lucille. She was born 1883 in Dodge Co. GA.
Russell and Mary are buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery
in Eastman, Dodge Co. GA.
Russell b. 3 Feb. 1834
d. 3 Feb. 1897
Mary b. 19
Aug 1841 d. 25 June 1919
JAMES SIMMONS - CIVIL WAR SERVICE, Contributed by Tom Roberts
Most young men in the south at the time of the Civil War felt it their duty and an honor to volunteer for service in the Confederate Army. They believed that foreigners from up north were invading their country. On March 18, 1861 Young James at age seventeen, therefore, joined as a private along with his brother Robert, Company K, 1st Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Confederate States of America. Around 1200 soldiers enlisted from Monroe County. A company had from 60 to 100 solders usually from a single county and many times had a name like Quitman Guards. An elected captain led the company. About ten companies usually from the same geographical region made up a regiment led by a major. In units like this, the men became very close because of all of the time they spent with each other and all of the battles they fought in together. Volunteers made up the 1st Infantry Regiment, which organized on April 3, 1861 at Camp Oglethorpe in Macon, GA. The 1st regiment Company K volunteers officially mustered into Confederate service at Pensacola, FL on April 16, 1861. The Confederate Army first assigned his company to the Pensacola area and later to the Army of the Northwest. They fought in two battles: Corrick's Ford and Greenbrier River.14,39
James Simmons mustered out at Augusta, GA on March 18, 1862 because the regiment disbanded and then reenlisted as a 4th Corporal in Company K (Monroe County Quitman Guards), 53rd regiment Georgia Infantry on May 6,1862. The Army promoted him to 2nd Corporal in October 1863 and 1st Corporal in August 1864. For some unknown reason two months pay was deducted by sentence of Court Martial on March 17, 1863, and he was placed "in arrest" on February 28, 1865. Since no details exist about his pay deduction and the “in arrest” on his war records, they must have been for minor offences.14
The 53rd Infantry Regiment was organized on May 12, 1862, and they boarded a train bound for Richmond, Virginia on June 20, 1862 to serve with the Army of Northern Virginia and fight in McClellan's Peninsula campaign. The regiment arrived in Richmond on June 25, 1862, combined with other regiments and camped at the old fairgrounds north of the city. On July 2 the 53rd fought in the Battle of Malvern Hill north of Richmond. They with stood heavy shelling and charged through the woods, briars, bushes and swamp knee deep with water and mud to rout the Yankee soldiers. After the battle the Regiments slept in the pouring rain with no tents while listening to the moans of wounded soldiers.14,59
In the fall of 1862 they marched north into Maryland and fought in the Battle of Sharpsburg. The Regiment lost twelve killed and sixty-three wounded, and their elected Colonel Sloan died of his wounds. At times they survived long marches with little food and at other times they received plenty of food and rest. After a return and some rest near Richmond the Regiment fought in the Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville Campaigns before marching towards Gettysburg in June of 1863. The 53rd suffered heavy casualties during the campaigns. After returning to Richmond by foot they boarded a train in mid September for Atlanta and on to Chattanooga arriving on September 20.59
Starting in November they fought in the Tennessee Campaign under cold adverse conditions and suffered a large number of casualties. On March 30, 1864 the Regiment marched from their camp at Greenville, TN up the railroad to Bristol and then by train to Gordonville, VA to rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia for the Wilderness Campaign. They fought at Spottslyvania, Cold Harbor and other Battles before returning to Petersburg and Richmond in early August. In Late August the unit returned to northwestern Virginia and took part in battles including Cedar Creek and again returned to Richmond. The Army of Northern Virginia surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Less than 120 men were left in the 10th and 53rd combined down from more than a 1000 men at the beginning of the war.14,59
Battle of Cedar Creek where James Simmons was wounded
(By Julian Scott - 1846 - 1901)
James was wounded twice first at Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia on October 19, 1864 and then April 6, 1865 near Appomattox in Virginia. Both were flesh wounds.39 He was not listed as a parole of the Army of Northern Virginia issued at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.38 This must have been due to his injury on April 6.39
At the end of the war he trudged most likely by foot from Virginia back to his home in central Georgia. Along the route he may have stopped at farmer’s homes for food and to rest to relieve the pain from his battle wounds. When he returned to Monroe County he found many homes and mills destroyed by the union troops although the county was not pillaged as much as some just to the east. Most of Sherman's army moved to Savannah from Atlanta through Milledgeville rather than Monroe County. He later received the Southern Cross of Honor from the United Daughters of Confederacy. Somehow he lost his cross and on September 10, 1919 he applied and was approved to receive a new one.
Only
Confederate Veterans were awarded the Southern Cross of Honor. Mrs. Mary Ann Erwin conceived the award
to be given from the United Daughters of the Confederate to solders to honor
their service to the south. The metal was in the shape of a maltese cross
and is shown above.
File contributed by Jane Newton, transcribed by E. Robertson
J. J. STUART This is an
Allegiance.
"UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA"
GEORGIA, PIKE COUNTY
I do solemnly swear, or affirm, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth
faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and
the union of the States thereunder, and that I will, in like manner, abide by and
faithfully support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing
rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves--SO HELP ME GOD.
J. J. HEAD **
Sworn to and subscribed before me at ZEBULON
this 3rd day of October 1865.
C. F. Redding, Clk. Sup. Court & DCC Ordinary
I do certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original oath administered
by me to the foregoing deponent, the date and day above written. C. F. Redding,
Clk. Sup. Court & DCC Ordinary
File submitted by Jane Newton, transcribed by E. Robertson
GEORGE W. WALDREP, MONROE COUNTY'S SOLE SURVIVOR OF WAR BETWEEN THE STATES CELEBRATES 90TH BIRTHDAY.
George Washington Waldrep, only remaining Confederate veteran in Monroe County, celebrated his 90th birthday last week. Mr. Waldrep was a member of the 32nd Regiment. He was conscripted into service at the age of 16, at the last of the War Between the States, when the Confederacy in dire need of men, drafted boys from 16 to 18 and men from 50 to 60. All the men between 18 and 50 had already gone to war. For several years, Mr. Waldrep said, he and a brother of 12 had run their farm, the three older brothers having gone to defend the Southland. Two of these brothers were seriously wounded, one having a shoulder shattered leaving his arm permanently useless, the other being wounded in an arm and a leg. The third brother was in prison over a year. So long had it been since they heard from him that he was given up for dead. Then one day he came staggering in, emaciated from his long period in prison, where he had been given barely enough food to sustain life. "Never", Mr. Waldrep declared, "has anyone seen a tramp so ragged so black, so dirty. His clothes were simply strings, his feet were bare." After he was drafted, Mr. Waldrep said, he was sent to Macon for training and from there to Milledgeville. He stood guard while the men of his regiment were resisting Wilson's raid. His health gave way, and he was sent home on furlough. A lad of 16, frightened and sick, he made his way slowly home, through a country infested by the enemy. Barely had he reached there, when Sherman came down. Too ill to go further, he wanted to hide out at home, but his mother sick with anxiety over the older boys, and frightened to distraction lest this boy fall into the hands of the ruthless Yankees, forced him upon a horse and away. Mr. Waldrep says Sherman's forces were everywhere, Yankees, thousands and thousands of them - that how he got through he scarcely knows, but that he did reach Jones county and friends there who assisted in hiding him out. Following Sherman's march to the sea, Mr. Waldrep again made his way home. Soon after that came the surrender Mr. Waldrep at the age of 90 is still hale. Each day he walks or rides over his farm located about four miles from Forsyth on the Indian Springs road. He has been married twice, first, in his early manhood to Miss Clotilda Goodman, and to them six children were born. His second marriage was to Miss Martha Dillard in 1892, and to them there were born six children. These dozen children are still living, as well as a number of grandchildren. Mr. Waldrep is the 'pet' of the Cabaniss Chapter at Christmas, on Valentine Day, on birthdays he is never forgotten, and for the past several years has been the special guest of honor at the barbecue dinner given on Memorial Day. [Added by transcriber-E. Robertson: George Washington Waldrep was the son of L. J. and Delphia Waldrep. The 1860 Census for Jasper County, page 318 shows the following family: L. J. Waldrep Age 55 Farmer born in South Carolina Delphia Age 46 Born in Georgia Clichee Age 20 " Martha A Age 17 " Nancy Age 14 " G. W. Age 12 " James T. Age 10 " Sarah A. Age 8 "
1880 Monroe County G. W. Waldrup Age 30 Farmer C. L. Waldrup Age 27 Wife H. C. Waldrup Age 1 Son Monroe County Cemetery Records: Waldrep Cemetery, Rte. 42 near Boxankle Road Lot 1 Waldrep C. L. Goodman Bn. Jan. 22, 1859 Died Aug. 1, 1892 Lot 2 Waldrep George Washington Bn. Mar. 10, 1848 Died Jan. 6, 1946 Pvt. Ga. Inf. CSA 3 Waldrep Mattie Dillard Jan. 12, 1868 Nov. 26, 1954. 4 Waldrep Frank, Dec. 9 1895 Dec. 21, 1895. son of G. W. and Mattie 5 Waldrep George Apr. 30, 1892 Sept. 2, 1892. 6 Waldrep Little Grace Mar. 28 Apr. 10, 1891. 7 Waldrep Clotie Ruth, July 25, 1892 Dec. 1, 1895. dau. of J. T. and Rebecca]
Georgia's thin gray line of Confederate veterans marched on Washington Tuesday for the Golden Reunion of United Confederate Veterans.
At the head of the column will be Brig. Gen. Hiram G. Vansandt of Bloomfield road whose traveling companions will be Bibb county's only other surviving veterans of the civil war, E. L. Pruett, 601 Main Street, and J. J. Henderson, Route 6. The Macon men will join other veterans in Atlanta where they will board a special car which is being operated without cost for the benefit of the old soldiers. In Washington, the federal government will take charge of the veterans and bear all expenses of their stay in the national capital. An attendant will accompany each veteran and members of the staff at the Confederate Soldiers home in Atlanta will be in the Party. General Vansandt will have Adjutant, B. R. Jarrell of the Sons of Confederate Veterans as his attendant and Mr. Pruett will be attended by the Rev. L. P. Hanks of Macon, chaplain of the UCV. Mr. Henderson will have his son, J. L. Henderson as his attendant. Other Georgia veterans who will make the trip are George W. Waldrep, Forsyth; W. J. Brown, Sr., Metter; J. C. Dodge, Gen. J. R. Jones, L. J. Snellgrove, W. H. Culpepper and C. M. Dupree of the Soldier's home in Atlanta. The reunion opened officially Oct 8 and continues though October 11 (1942).
