Joseph Cullen Bishop’s Civil War Service Record
According to his pension application, he joined in September, 1864
and was assigned to the 45th Virginia Infantry under Captain Francis
Miller. No record of J. C.’s enlistment
with the 45th can be found in the National Archives, Washington, D.
C. or in any regimental histories of the 45th.
But his service record can be found for the 17th Virginia
Infantry, which follows showing he was “absent – Under guard, Transferred from
45 VA Infty.”
In his pension application, there is a letter written by him, giving
information about his service and he refers to being under arrest in December
1864 and sent to Castle Thunder – a prison in Richmond, Va.
I do not know why he was under
arrest, but based on information from the 17th Virginia Infantry,
witnesses that great granddad Joseph gave on his pension application and that
he was from Floyd County, Virginia, this is my best guess.
Note: The following is taken from “Sisson’s Kingdom: Loyalty Division in
Floyd County, Virginia 1861-1865” by Paul Randolph Dotson, Jr. – Master’s
Thesis.
“Civil
War bitterly divided the residents of Floyd County and ultimately generated an
inner civil war within the community. The wartime conflict among Floyd’s white
citizens deeply contrasted their pre-Civil War history of cohesion,
cooperation, and solidarity. From
formation of the county in 1831 through an economic boom during the 1850s,
citizens had worked together to better their mountaintop community, cooperated
to bring much needed transportation improvements to the region, and profited
together from the economic gains that resulted.
They worshipped together, provided for each other in times of need,
helped raise neighbors’ barns, swapped labor, and enjoyed each other’s
company. However, the war dramatically
shattered this pattern of cohesion and left Floyd’s residents profoundly and
painfully divided.
….Virginia’s
secession vote brought many local loyalty divisions to the surface in Floyd and
resulted in widespread intimidation and violence at the polls. County residents initially embraced
Virginia’s secession, and hundreds of local men rushed to enlist in Floyd’s
newly forming Confederate infantry companies.
However, their pro-secession reaction was contrasted by a minority of
the community who chose to remain loyal to the United States, refused to enlist
in the Confederate military, and openly resisted their new Confederate
government.
Nearly 23 percent of
Confederate enlistees and conscripts (forced) from Floyd County deserted their
units during the war; a desertion rate double the state average and nearly
three times the confederate norm.”
Joseph C’s brother, Henry Wesley Bishop, was a member of the 54th
Virginia Infantry. Henry Wesley Bishop
went AWOL in May, 1862, refused to re-enlist and was conscripted (forced) to
rejoin the unit. He was captured at
Missionary Ridge, Tennessee in November 1863 and sent to Louisville, Kentucky
and from there was sent to Rock Island, Illinois. Enlisted in U.S. Navy at Rock Island January
1864.
I believe that Joseph Cullen Bishop was conscripted as well based on
the following:
On his
pension application J. C. gave the names of Harrison Roop and Creed Fortune as
witnesses to his service in the war.
Both of these men and the ones listed below, were all conscripts from
the Floyd/Montgomery Counties. All were
transferred from the 45th Virginia Infantry to the 17th
Virginia Infantry and all were under arrest in December 1864 per their service
records.
From the 17th Virginia
Infantry Regimental History:
“The
regiment was inspected on December 29, 1864.
The rolls indicate that at the end of December 1864 seven discontent
conscripts from the 45th Virginia in winter quarters in Augusta
County were transferred to Company G 17th VA. They were all “absent under guard” on
December 30. Five are unaccounted for
after that date, one of them deserted in January and the other was later captured.”
These
seven were:
Creed T.
Fortune, Charles Greer, Joseph Mayberry, Thomas C. Ratcliff, Harrison Roop,
James R. Roop and Joseph C. Bishop.
Based on Joseph Cullen Bishop’s written letter (see next), he was
back in the 17th for the fight at Five Forks in March, 1865 and was
at the surrender of Lee in Appomattox April 9, 1865, after which he returned to
Floyd County, Virginia.
He did receive his pension, although
he didn’t live long to enjoy it. His
widow did continue to receive the pension until her death in 1929.
The
following is Joseph Cullen Bishop’s Application for Pension.
(source:
Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. – Pension Applications)
