James Wilbur Michael (1839-1882) Civil War Service Records

James Wilbur Michael (1839-1882) is another of my 3rd-great grandfathers who served in the Confederate Army, as did John O. Jackson (1834-1861) and David Franklin Averett (1837-1927), discussed before. As are Jackson and Averett, James Michael is related to me through my maternal grandfather, William O. Jackson (1909-1988).

(Click images to enlarge)

According to information found at www.findagrave.com Memorial # 40468536, James Wilbur Michael served as a Private in Company F of the 19th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The following two photos were uploaded to that site by findagrave.com member “James Lee”. James' grave is in the Martin Cemetery in Carroll County, Georgia. The inscription on the monument is as follows:

Pvt. James W. Michael

Co. F, 19th Regiment GA. Volunteers Inf.

(Photo by James Lee)

(Photo by James Lee)

I have yet to find muster roll information for the 19th Georgia Infantry Regiment that includes his name. But I did find what I believe are his Civil War service records on fold3.com. His name is given as “J.W. Michael” in those records and his records include what I believe to be an incorrectly filed record for a “John McMichael” who belonged to Company F of the 10th Georgia Infantry Regiment. It appears to be on that basis that fold3.com identifies these records as belonging to a “John Michael” in the 19th Georgia. But until I can find muster roll information that includes his name, I can’t be completely sure.

As the following images make clear, James spent a lot of time in the hospital from disease and then he survived a head wound received on 13 December 1862. Records have been initially more difficult to find than they were for David Averett and John Jackson so I am not currently certain where he was wounded. However the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia was fought 11—15 December 1862. He was hospitalized at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond shortly thereafter, which lends weight to my working hypothesis that he was wounded at Fredericksburg.

If James and the 19th Georgia were at Fredericksburg, they were there when David Averett was there with the 15th Alabama Regiment. However, they could not have been aware of each other as they would not become related by marriage until my great-grandparents, William Joseph Jackson (1881—1956) and Monnie Ethel Watts (1885—1985) married forty-six years later in Louisiana on 1 January 1908. William Joseph Jackson was a grandson of James Wilbur Michael and Monnie Ethel Watts Jackson was a granddaughter of David Averett. David Averett didn’t pass away until 1927 so it does not seem unlikely that he would have become aware of James Michael and his war service by the time of their marriage.

James enlisted in the Confederate Army for the duration of the war on 4 March 1862 in Carrollton, Georgia. He first appears in the National Archives Confederate Records Archive on 24 April 1862 and appears for the last time on 22 February 1864. The Carroll County Times newspaper reported on 10 February 1882 that “Mr. James Michael is very low.”

(USGenWeb Archives)

The same newspaper reported on 17 March 1882 that “J.W. Michael, living some three miles west of Carrollton, died last Wednesday from the effects of a wound received in the head, during the war.”

(USGenWeb Archives)

The civil war service records below mention a head wound sustained on 13 December 1862, which tends to confirm that the “J.W. Michael” in the fold3.com records was, in fact, James Wilbur Michael. The date 17 March 1882 fell on a Friday, which means that he died on Wednesday, 15 March 1882. 

The following images show the transcribed content of his war service records at the National Archives.

Image 1 of 14 

The first image is of the folder containing his service records.

(National Archives)

Image 2 of 14
(Side 1 of 2)

“J.W. Michel [sic: Michael], Pvt. Co. F, 19 Regt Ga. Appears on a Register of Chimborazo Hospital No. 4, Richmond Virginia. Disease: Measles & ("Hern. ing. sing. reduc. is written on the opposite side of the card; see the image below.) Admitted Apr. 24, 1862. Remarks: Lynchburg May 22.” I do not currently know the purpose of the reference to Lynchburg, presumably the city of Lynchburg in Virginia. According to the Encyclopedia Virginia web site:

"On the eve of the American Civil War (1861–1865), Lynchburg was Virginia's sixth-largest city and a major transportation center, with access to the James River and Kanawha Canal, as well as the Virginia and Tennessee, the South Side, and the Orange and Alexandria railroads … During the war, Lynchburg women established the Ladies' Relief Hospital, and the Confederate military made the city a major hub of supplies and transport, which Union troops attempted to disrupt at the Battle of Lynchburg in June 1864."

So it is possible that James was transported to Lynchburg to rejoin his regiment at the end of his convalescence.

(National Archives)

According to the Civil War Richmond web site, Chimborazo Hospital “was on land bounded by the present streets of Clay on the north, 30th on the west, 34th on the east, and the bottom of the hill on the south.” And inspection of the Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee map of Richmond, appears to show that the bottom of the hill on the south approaches but does not reach the railroad line to the south.

(Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee)

Based on these two sources, here is what I currently think the bounds of the Chimborazo hospital look like on a map of present-day Richmond.

The argument for the southern boundaries are buttressed by viewing the satellite image of the same area. I have outlined what I think must be the hill area to the south.

To verify this, I need to go visit the area at some point in the future. Here is a zoomed-out view, to allow the reader to orient himself or herself with respect to the rest of the present-day Richmond Area.

Finally, here are two 1865 photos of the Chimborazo Hospital taken from the Civil War Richmond web site. The first is from the Library of Congress: "Chimborazo Hospital, (Confederate) Richmond, Va. May 1865.” Print at Library of Congress (LC-B8184-10369).

(Library of Congress)

The second is credited to Levy & Cohen, Philadelphia: Chimborazo Hospital, 1865.

(Levy & Cohen, Philadelphia, 1865)

Image 3 of 14
(Side 2 of 2)

I do not know what "Hern. ing. sing. reduc." means.

(National Archives)

Image 4 of 14

J.W. Michael appears on a Register of General Hospital, Farmville, Va. due to illness. He was admitted on 23 May 1862 and he returned to duty on 14 June 1862. The Richmond Sentinel newspaper issue of 1 Dec 1863 indicates that a “Wayside” hospital was located at Farmville, Virgina — see the map pasted below. Recall the Wayside and Receiving Hospital (General Hospital No. 9), which I discussed at length in my earlier post on “Searching for Averetts at the Receiving & Wayside Hospital in Richmond in 1864”. General Hospital No. 9 appears to have been a receiving hospital in Richmond for incoming casualties, which would evaluate and then send them on to other Richmond hospitals segregated by State. For example, Alvis Averett was subsequently sent from Wayside Hospital/General Hospital No. 9 to the General Hospital at Howard’s Grove in Richmond because that was where casualties from Alabama regiments were treated. In the present case, it appears that James Michael was kept at the Farmville General Hospital for the duration of his convalescence.

(National Archives)

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J.W. Michael appeared on a register at the Farmville, Virginia hospital on 14 June 1862. The “returned” notation appears to mean that he was discharged to rejoin his regiment on that day.

(National Archives)

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By 31 October 1862, however, James was back in the hospital, this time at the Winder Hospital in Richmond. It is not clear whether this was to recover from disease or to recover from wounds or when he was admitted. Parenthetically, this record is the source of my information that he enlisted in the Confederate Army on 4 March 1862 in Carrollton, Carroll County, Georgia.

(National Archives)

The Civil War Richmond web site indicates that the Winder Hospital was bordered by Hampton Street, Winder Street, Allen Avenue, and Amelia Street.

Image 7 of 14

He returned to duty on 18 November 1862 from the Winder Hospital.

(National Archives)

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He was back at Chimborazo Hospital, in Division 3, by 16 December 1862 due to “debilitas” (“weakness or feebleness”, according to the North Carolina in the Civil War web site). The images following this one make clear that he had received a head wound on 13 December 1862, which would account for the “debilitas” diagnosis. This record was found in the Confederate Archives, Chapter 6, File No. 69, on page 76.

(National Archives)

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A second transcribed record of his admission to Division 3 of the Chimborazo Hospital on 16 December, this time appearing in File No. 105, page 73 of the Confederate Archives.

(National Archives)

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He was admitted to Division 2 of the Chimborazo Hospital the next day, 17 December 1862. It seems likely that “v.s. of head” means “vulnus sclopeticum of head”, where vulnus sclopeticum means “relating to a wound caused by gunshot”. He was wounded on 13 December 1862.

(National Archives)

Image 11 of 14

James had recovered sufficiently by 13 Jan 1863 to be given a 60-day furlough. He may have returned to Carrollton, Georgia to see his family at that time but I have no corroborating evidence. This is the first of two records that indicate he was given a 60-day furlough in January 1863, this one appearing in the Confederate Archives File No. 148 on page 169.

(National Archives)

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The original copyist of the records (whose handwritten name I cannot decipher) appears to have mistakenly indicated that James was in the 10th Georgia Infantry Regiment. It appears to have been corrected to the “19th” regiment later. The following image is the second record indicating that he was given a 60-day furlough in January 1863 at the end of his stay in Chimborazo Hospital Division 2. This time the record was found in the Confederate Archives Files No. 155 on page 697. Thus he probably rejoined his unit by the middle of March 1863.

(National Archives)

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On 22 September 1863, James was paid $105.29 (in Confederate money, greatly inflated by this point in the war) for his military service between the dates of 1 November 1862 and 31 August 1863.

(National Archives)

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On 22 February 1864, James was paid $44.00 Confederate for his military service between 1 September 1863 and 31 December 1863.

(National Archives)

Was David Averett Wounded at Tapp Field?

One of my great-great-great grandfathers, David Franklin Averett (1837-1927), was badly wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia on 6 May 1864. The story I was told when growing up was that he was struck in the forehead by a bullet and was left for dead by his unit (Company A "Canty Rifles", 15th Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment). He later regained consciousness and, although temporarily blinded, followed the sound of the battle to try to find his unit. It is not clear whether he found his unit or was picked up by medics but he survived and convalesced at home in Alabama for the remainder of 1864.  If you look closely at his forehead in the following picture, which was taken much later in life, it is possible to see the indentation in his forehead. I was told that the skin covered the wound but that the bone did not grow back.

Another photo, which appears to have been taken even later, shows the mark much more clearly:

David Averett rejoined his unit at the beginning of 1865 and served until the surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865.

So the purpose of this post is to try to identify the location at the Battle of the Wilderness where he was wounded. The story of his wound may be significant to my own theory about his location when it happened.

Before beginning, we know that he volunteered for the "Canty Rifles" (Company A) in the 15th Alabama Volunteer Infantry, enrolling on 3 July 1861. I will post his records in this blog at a later date.  Col. William C. Oates commanded the 15th Alabama Infantry during the War Between the States and Oates later wrote a memoir entitled The War Between the Union and the Confederacy and Its Lost Opportunities, with a History of the 15th Alabama Regiment and the Forty-Eight Battles in Which It was Engaged and published it in 1905. On pp. 574-575 in the edition reprinted by Morningside Bookshop, Dayton, OH in 1985, Oates stated the following about "D.F. Averett":

D.F. Averett was 23 years old when enlisted. He was one of the best soldiers in his company, and participated in all the campaigns and nearly all the battles in which the regiment was engaged. At the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, he was severely wounded and disabled, and did not return to duty until about the 1st of 1865. He was promoted to corporal in 1862 and to first sergeant early in 1863, and remained at his post to the surrender at Appomattox.

(Oates devoted an entire chapter, pp. 342-353, to the participation of the 15th Alabama Infantry in the Battle of Wilderness.)

Location of the Tapp Field in the Battle of the Wilderness. Scanned from map obtained at the Wilderness Battlefield Exhibit Shelter

The 15th Alabama Infantry Regiment was part of Law's Brigade, commanded by Colonel (later Brigadier General) W.F. Perry. This brigade, in turn, was part of General James Longstreet's 1st Corps of three divisions.

It is my belief that David Franklin was shot and wounded somewhere in the vicinity of the western side of an open field called "Tapp Field", about mid-way up from the southern to the northern end of the field, probably near the Tapp Farmhouse (which no longer stands there).

Wilderness Battlefield National Park Sign at Tapp Field (Driving Tour No. 6)

Here is a view of the Tapp Farm (or Tapp Field) at the Wilderness Battlefield National Park near Fredericksburg, Virginia in the vicinity of (38.291395N -77.725629E). It is accessed by the public at the Driving Tour Stop No. 6 "Tapp Field" of the Wilderness Battlefield and this sign is located just off Hill-Ewell Drive near the top of the map.



The following is the view of the open field, looking south from the sign, just off Hill-Ewell Drive:

Tapp Farm at Wilderness Battlefield - looking south from Driving Tour Stop No 6

Longstreet's 1st Corps arrived arrived in the morning of 6 May 1864 at the southern end of the open Tapp Field and this was the first time his men had participated in the battle.

Features of Tapp Field at the Battle of the Wilderness

The Union Army was pushing south from the Plank Road, down through the dense foliage to the northwest of the cleared field, until they broke out into the clear area. They were met by Longstreet's Corps and were gradually pushed back over the course of the day until the "front" was essentially as far north as the vicinity of present-day Hill-Ewell Drive. But the Confederates also dug a trench as a fallback position across the middle of the Tapp field, from northwest to southeast, which is labeled in the present-day satellite view above. The remains of this trench still exist.

Longstreet's Line across the Tapp Field - dug in the evening of 6 May 1864:  Park Info Sign

The text of the sign reads:  "Confederate Earthworks. Longstreet's troops began erecting these infantry entrenchments after fighting ended on the evening of May 6 and improved them the following day. This was a reserved line, the main Confederate position being a few hundred yards in front of you along modern Hill-Ewell Drive..."

The next two pictures associated with these earthworks were taken by me at the Wilderness Battlefield National Park on 13 August 2011.

Longstreet's Line across the Tapp Field - dug in the evening of 6 May 1864

Longstreet's Line across the Tapp Field - dug in the evening of 6 May 1864:  zoomed-out view

The following photo was taken on 13 August 2011 of the National Park Service sign just to the south of the trench, showing the array of units making up Longstreet's group. It can be plainly seen that Law's Brigade was in the rear, moving up behind Benning's unit, and that the two of them appear to be located in what I interpret to be the vicinity of the Tapp farm house.

Array of units in Longstreet's attack to the north in the Tapp Field on the morning of 6 May 1864

This map of the cleared Tapp field as it existed in 1864 does not exactly match the current configuration shown in the 2011 Google map above, but it seems likely to me that Law's Brigade was, in fact, in the vicinity of the Tapp house.

My theory is that David Averett was hit soon after Longstreet entered the cleared Tapp field from the south and that, over an unknown amount of time on that day, the front moved gradually moved north from where he fell. When he regained consciousness, I think there's a chance the front may still have been in the cleared area of the Tapp field. Either way, he heard the sounds of the battle and walked forward, until he met either Confederate soldiers or medics. Due to the position of the Confederate earthworks at the end of the day, he almost certainly was still in the cleared field. But even if he was hit in the wooded area, the Confederates were advancing and he would have encountered Confederates as he walked forward. He was likely evacuated from the area at that time to be treated by a doctor. I consider it a miracle that he survived this wound. And it must have been a painful journey back to Alabama, probably in the back of a horse-drawn wagon and probably taking many days to accomplish.

To summarize my argument:

1. Averett's regiment, the 15th Alabama Infantry, was part of Law's Brigade in Longstreet's corps during the morning of 6 May 1864.
2. Longstreet did not participate in the fighting in the Battle of the Wilderness before that time.
3. Averett is known to have been wounded on 6 May.
4. The Confederate trench stretching from northwest to southeast across the Tapp field was dug at the end of the day on 6 May.
5. The battle ended that day. (It began on 5 May and resumed a few days later as the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse.)
6. Therefore, Averett must have been wounded somewhere in the vicinity of Tapp field because that was where his unit was on that day. Although an unknown amount of time elapsed between his wounding and recovery of consciousness, Confederate position and works (i.e., the trench) make it likely that he was wounded in the cleared area of the Tapp farm

As a postscript, Longstreet undertook a flanking maneuver around the east end of the Union position in the afternoon or evening, on his right and the Union left in the dense forest. He almost succeeded in destroying those Federal units but was wounded by friendly fire. By the time control was reasserted by his successor, the moment of opportunity had passed and the battle ended in stalemate. It resumed a few days later at the Spotsylvania Court House.

Finally, here is the relationship between David Averett (1837-1927) and my maternal grandfather William Obeyn "Jack" Jackson (1909-1988). Click to view full size.