Re: Camp Priceville

Posted by Doyle on July 21, 2001 at 22:08:04:

In Reply to: Camp Priceville posted by Dorene ford on July 21, 2001 at 20:31:33:

The very first rule in the researh that your are looking for is that there is no "standard" Rule.

"Why would they discharge a man knowing that he was dying?"

The question is did they know he was dieing? While there are many accounts of soldiers dieing of measles. It wasn't really the Measles that killed so many. It was the weakened medical conditions that were caused by the measles which made the soldiers subject to other complications such as Pneumonia. A soldier may look like he was improving and then suddenly have an onset of Pneumonia and die within a day or two.

Now as to the "Discharge". I have found a couple of cases where soldier from the hospital at Little Rock on their muster roll in Dec 1862, die within 10 days of that muster roll in the Hospital at Camp White Sulphur Spring Hospital 40 miles away and vis-a-versa from Sulphur Springs to die at Little Rock. These "discharges" were appearently done because these soldiers' regiment had moved from Camp Nelson to Camp Mills.

"Did they mark the graves? Is there a record of where each one was buried?"

In most case the graves were marked with wooden markers or a board as a headmarker. The keeping of records depended upon were and how they were buried. In general Very Few individual burial records survived to present day. Most these were private cemetery records.

"Was the families told that their man had died of this desease?"

In general the familys was usually informed of their loved ones death by family members or friends within the regiment IF THEY KNEW. "Official Notification" of the death was not usual. There are many records that if the death was close to home, the family would come and claim the soldier effects and some times take the body home for burial in the family plot, even several months after the death.

How would I go about finding my great great granfathers grave?

In general to find an Individual soldiers grave from the War between the States era at this late date depends upon a great deal of luck. And That luck is directly dependant upon if someone in the past took the time to preserve that Grave. Which was usually not done to any great extent outside of Family cemeterys. I have been involved for 18 years in the preservation of a Confederate Soldiers Cemetery of over 250 soldier lay buried. Unfortunately I can not tell you which grave contains what soldier without DNA evidence. That type of research is beyond our means right now.

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