Dear Keith, Hello, Thank you for your reply. I have the original military records that I posted the information from, so I know that the information is correct, at least from the originals. I guess it is always possible that whoever wrote the originals got something wrong. I have searched for a pension record and have come up empty handed. I have tried the Tennessee State Library and Archives and the National Archives with no success. I have all the census records that he was listed in from 1850-1900. In the 1900 Dotsonville, Montgomery County, Tennessee census Andrew and his wife Elvira Jemima (Sanders) Barker and living in the household of their daughter and son-in-law and are in their 60's. After this census record it seems that Andrew and Elvira just fall off the face of the earth. I have not been able to find a death date or burial for either one of them. This family is full of mysteries and brick walls. By the way, I only live about 15-20 minutes from Fort Donelson and I have visited there many times. Thanks again for your thoughts and guidance. I only live about 20 minutes from Fort Donelson and have visited there many times. In Christ, Melissa Barker ----- Original Message ----- From: keith d bailey To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006 9:42 PM Subject: Re: [CIVIL-WAR] My Civil War Question Andrew Barker CO H 49th TN INF Zachariah Barker CO I 49th TN INF ............... What kind of relation might this be here? The NPS site www.civilwar.nps.gov said Crute"s Compendium has no info on the 49th regiment. I would imagine you are in for some heavy digging. You really need to know what the regiment was doing at Ft. Donelson. Where were they at? What was happening and who had control of it on Feb. 15, 1862? Well, let's see..... Ft. Donelson is in Stewart Co. TN.. it was attacked on Feb 12, 1862 by Gen. Grant with almost a 5:1 advantage over the confederates army. see: www.civilwarhome.com/ftdonelson.htm The 49th TN INF was under Col. James E. Bailey (no relation). Grants gunboats moved in on the 14th and engaged the river battery. Fighting on the 15th seemed to favor the Confederates, as they tried to push back Union troops, but consequently they were flanked on the right and lost the works on the extreme right, which put the Union in a position behind the Confederate river battery. In the fight prior to the loss of these works, Bailey's regiment had been used to reinforce the area. On the 16th, the fort was surrendered to Grant's terms of Unconditional Surrender. If Andrew Barker was injured early during battle on the 15th, he may have been able to fall back and avoid the surrender thus getting back home. However, as a CSA soldier why was he, as a POW, sent to Vicksburg? They did have a hospital there, but Vicksburg didn't fall to the Union until July 4, 1863. I would imagine he was sent there because he was being Exchanged? After the area fell to Union control, there were lots of Union troops mustered in the area around Nashville, so he well could have been taken prisoner at home. A pension record of some sort may shed light on that. You may find a little paper trail if you dig into these. Don't neglect Union records; you may find a parole or exchange record. On the 1860 census, Andrew Barker of Wilson co. TN is listed as a "Farm Laborer". On the 1870 census, he seems to be one county over from Montgomery co. in Cumberland City, Stewart co. TN as a "laborer". That's about 10 miles from Palmyra and 20 from Ft. Donelson. On the 1880 census he seems to still be in Stewart co (still "works on farm"). He may have moved to the area to find work on another farm. I would also suggest taking another look at the dates. Someone may have transcribed some dates wrong... Keith Bailey ==== CIVIL-WAR Mailing List ==== To search our list archives since 1996, go to http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl and enter Civil-War in the list name