Born in Hollidays Cove, Brooke County, W. Va., May 12, 1832; by occupation a Blacksmith. Enlisted August 22, 1862, in Company H, 40th Reg't, O. V. I.
This soldier joined the regiment while encamped at Louisa, on the Big Sandy River, in Kentucky. Wherever the company was, there you would find him also. While at Franklin, Tennessee, the regiment was placed on picket duty in front, and the dashing Confederate General Van Dorn came down upon the regiment like a whirl-wind, hoping to surprise the boys, but they were ready and welcomed him with open arms, and he suddenly retired, not wishing to make his first visit lenghty, and here was this soldier's initial fight. By a special order a new Battalion of Pioneers was to be formed. This called for a detail of thirty men and non-commissioned officers out of each regiment. Carpenters and mechanics of all kinds were required and George was detailed as a Blacksmith and placed in charge of that Department in the 4th Battalion Pioneer Corps, and remained in charge until September 1, 1864, when he was transferred into Company G, 1st U. S. Vet. Vol. Engineers, where he remained until he was discharged, having rendered faithful and honest service, always ready for suty when able to do duty. His work was hard and often dangerous, as you will see further along, and several times he suffered severly for weeks. When George took charge of this department you could always find him at the portable forge in the shop, for be it known the Government furnished large roomy shops, whose floor was the earth's surface and walled by the horizon, and no growling was heard for want of room. He wielded the hammer gracefully and the sparks flew thick and fast, and rivers of fun have Bill Bowers, George and the writer had while we were in that Batallion. I want to tell a little about George's experience in the shop. We had a goodly amount of Baggage, many tools and stores of one kind or another, and to transport these from place to place required a large wagon train. Now each wagon had either four or six mules, some even eight, according to the load to he hauled, and we had several horses and many mules whose characters and dispositions were sometimes mysterious and very hard to find out. These mules had much to do, and indeed much depended on the Army mules. For his many sufferings and his patience under being beaten with many stripes while doing his full duty, enduring the many curses of the drivers, being kicked and pounded by a half dozen other fellows, he ought to have the highest grade of pension. They had to be kept well shod and this came inside George's department. Now George had shod these mules so often they all knew him only to love him, but some new mules came in the north and among them there was one very remarkable fellow. He seemed and acted as though he was especially built for some earthly mission. He was a regular Brigadier General of a mule and thought he was boss of the whole Corral, and there is no doubt that if Beelzebub had any full brothers he was one, if not a little fuller. This being a new mule in the command, George had never been introduced to him. Judging from the mule's tender looking eye, his benign but majestic countenance, which to the observer would be a strong and convincing argument of this mule's love, sympathy, confidence and respect for his kind, and not only for his kind, but for mankind. So George thought that he was to all appearance a gentlemanly sort of a dude, and required a little extra attention in order that matters might pass pleasantly between them. Josh Billing's essay on the mule was not then written, and I suppose his experience was subsequent to that of many of the boys in the army. George hammered the mule's shoes with tender care, giving them a graceful turn, with two symmetrical corks and a beautiful tow on each one, and selected the best dressed nails, with the intention of doing a fancy job on the mule's feet. All things being now ready, George proceeded to lift the mule's hind foot, when all of a sudden, in the twinkling of an eye, the color in the mule's eye had changed to a bright lizard green, his ears had fallen suddenly back, which pulled the other trigger-and-well, we noticed George didn't make any remarks about the hot weather, nor the success of our arms, nor the great victories lately won. "Presto, change!" sweet beloved innocence had taken the wings of the morning and gone to the uttermost parts of the earth, and as the lightnings flash, so came the cyclone, the hurricane and simoon of destruction, fresh from Pandemonium, taking complete possession of his royal highness, the mule and so exercised him that he was monarch of all he surveyed-as far as his heels would reach, and it required time to find out whether George had been struck with a 14 inch shell or had been fooling with the electric light. This incident was not funny to him as he there received second injury, which will disable him all his life, but I have no hesitation in saying that the mule was highly satisfied with the whole transaction. This laid George by for repairs for several weeks. After he got able to be around, he still managed his department by bringing to his assistance other Blacksmiths, and thus his work continued until he was discharged, June 30, 1865, at Nashville, Tennessee, coming home with a good accord of an honorable service. Comrade Parks can now sit under his own vine and shade tree and reflect on a duty well and faithfully discharged during the stormy years of the great Rebellion.