Karen, Ok, I'll try to keep it brief....... My search for James John started over 13 years ago but went nowhere until I started working under the counsel of Gerry back in January 2003. The only bit of information we had was that he died in 1861, somewhere. Our only thoughts was to trace the steps of the 21st MS Infantry after they left Corinth. I had taken our research up to the fine folks on the MS Civil War Message Board who sent me over to Virginia's CWMB. One knowledgeable fellow suggested I try Balch Library's treasure-trove of Civil War data. Balch Library, I learned, has an on-line listing of fallen CSA soldiers and to my stunning disbelief I found what certainly appeared to be my soldier buried in Union Cemetery in Leesburg, VA. With verification being the basis of all of our research, I needed to determine the validity and source of their information. The gracious librarian at Balch informed me, regrettably, that the source of their information was now deceased and they had no immediate way to help us out. But, they referred us to two authors that had written a book on the Union Cemetery and perhaps they could be of help. We contacted the authors of 'No Sound Can Awake Them To Glory Again' and found that what started out as an historical piece on the cemetery turned in to a work of love. Their research at NARA led them to the official " Report of Sick and Wounded" submitted for November 1861 by Dr, Armistead R. Mott to the Surgeon General's Office, Confederate States Army, Richmond, VA. Dr. Mott was a civilian Leesburg physician (later Chief Surgeon on the staff of Major Generals Daniel Harvey Hill and Robert Rodes with the rank of major) who served as Chief Surgeon of the 7th Brigade Hospital. This pointed them to the hospital, now a church, in Leesburg, VA where they found the actual records still stored in the attic! Dr. Mott's records indicated that my James John Mitchell died the evening of November 11, 1861 of chronic diarrhea, a common ailment during those war time years due to the unsanitary conditions of their camps. A historical account of the original cemetery found the original citizens of Leesburg giving their plots to the fallen soldiers of the first battles of the War Between the States. Over 200 soldiers from Mississippi, as well as many others from other neighboring States rest in unmarked graves here at Union Cemetery. The authors of 'No Sound' meticulously documented the soldiers of Dr. Mott's records with help from their compiled service records at NARA. I, of course, have purchased this book from the authors. With a desire to seal the research, we contacted the Superintendent of the cemetery and he was able to verify from his records that James John was indeed interred in this cemetery. This fine young man even provided us with digital pictures of the mass grave, as well as an etching of the Southern Cross of Honor marking the grave. Without the assistance of all these wonderful folks, we would have never been able to find our soldier. The authors of 'No Sound' have asked that they be kept up to date in our efforts to have the mass grave marked with the appropriate 131 individual CSA tombstones. The day will come when we have our dedication ceremony and we will most certainly have the authors and all involved on the dais. It will be a great day! R/Steven ........................................... S T E V E N M I T C H E L L -----Original Message----- From: Karen Hett [mailto:kmchett@thegateway.net] Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 11:39 PM To: BARRETT-REUBEN-SC-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [Barrett-Reuben-SC] Steven's good explanations Steve--this is all so very interesting! Thanks for answering the questions, and for shedding more light on exactly what it is you are doing. So, am I to understand that all of the men you are marking are in one cemetery? Please explain to us how the gentlemen were able to identify these guys as having died and been buried here. Did they find hospital records, or other types of records? How, specifically, did they identify James John as being in that mass grave? I think something we all fail to realize is that there are a lot of Civil War records that have never seen the light of day; they are not accessible to anyone who doesn't go to where they are and read through them page by page. I discovered that one of the CSA surgeons who was in charge of an Atlanta hospital where one of my men died left papers and records from the hospital that are now, somehow, in the LBJ History Center in Austin! I plan to have a look at them eventually, and see if I can find out anything about my Cavalrymen. By the way, the Confederate Research Center at Hillsboro has a burial project; they have about 18,000 soldiers' names in their data base now (in a card file, not on computer). You might consider submitting your names for their project--they want names, dates, state of service regiment name and number, death date and burial place. I'm sure it will eventually be computerized, but it will take a change of personnel there, probably. There was a couple who were researching the names when I was there last time, they're working on a book of CSA officers buried in Texas. Thanks again, Steve, for giving us guidance on honoring our military ancestors by marking their final resting places! Karen On Tuesday, April 13, 2004, at 02:00 PM, BARRETT-REUBEN-SC-D-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > My gggrandfather and two of his brothers served in the 21st MS > Infantry, > Co., G. My gggrandfather and one brother survived the War of Northern > Aggression, but the youngest, 17-year old James John Mitchell died > shortly > after enlistment in June 1861. Any knowledge of his demise and burial > location was unknown to the family for the last 142 years until > recently. > The three brothers marched to Manassas, VA to join up with Lee's > Northern > Virginia Army. James John was ordered to picket duty at Sinclair's > Ford and > Black Ford on the Occoquan River until he developed camp fever and > died at > the General Hospital at Leesburg during the night of November 11, > 1861. His > body was placed in a mass grave in Union Cemetery, Leesburg, VA ==== BARRETT-REUBEN-SC Mailing List ==== Please tell your Barrett Relatives online about our list....we would all love to meet more cousins!!! ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. 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