Dear Researchers of Greenup County, Kentucky and Donna Hile, To Donna and Others- Today you listed "BRUCE" as one of the surnames you are researching. Does that include Captain Alexander BRUCE of Lewis County, Kentucky [Quincy area], who was Captain of Company E of the Twenty-second Regiment, Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, Union Army? Substantial casualties were incurred in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi, 29 Dec 1862. Among the wounded was Captain Alexander BRUCE, who took a mini-ball in the foot. He returned home and was replaced by Captain ELLIS. Another of the Company E wounded was my third-great grandfather William COOPER, who fell during the failed charge on the Confederate hilltop entrenchments, a bullet in his forehead, an inch above his right eye. I have read that Captains of Companies in the Civil War were [maybe not always] chosen by vote in the Company. The fact that Alexander BRUCE was Captain of Company E speaks of his leadership qualities. Come to think of it, the first requirement for an officer would have been the ability to read and write, which many soldiers [including my third-great grandfather] would not have been able to meet. Captain Alexander BRUCE was one of the four soldiers chosen by William COOPER to provide affidavits for his Application for Pension, which he started working on in March of 1880. A "candidate" for writing a Civil War Pension affidavit had to pass one requirement: he had to still be living in the 1880's or beyond. That is one reason why the Pension records are so valuable, as they give such a long overview of people's lives, before, during and after the Civil War. Randal W. Cooper <rwcooper@kellnet.com> Lorain, Ohio