John T. Bennett joined Company I of the 41st Georgia Infantry on 4 Aug 1862 in the Heard County, Georgia town of Franklin. He joined for three years. John’s service record doesn’t give any information about where he was until 16 Dec 1864 when he was captured near Nashville, Tennessee. He was listed on the roll of prisoners of war who arrived at Military Prison in Louisville, Kentucky during the five-day period ending 5 Jan 1865. He apparently didn’t spend any time in Louisville as he is listed as transferred from Louisville to Camp Chase, Ohio on 2 Jan 1865. John was described as 5′ 7″ with blue eyes, light hair and fair complexion. He was 34 years old when he was released from Camp Chase on 12 Jun 1865 after taking the oath of allegiance to the United States.
John had married Martha Gamble around 1850. By the time he joined the Confederacy, they had five children and Martha was about three months pregnant with what turned out to be twin girls who were born the following February. It’s hard to imagine how Martha and the children survived the three years that John was gone. They owned no property and, prior to the war, John had been working as a hireling or farm laborer. Their children were between four and 10 years old when he left. John’s father had died in 1851 but his mother was still living as were Martha’s parents so they must have helped to support Martha and the children during John’s absence.
After being released from Camp Chase, John made his way back home. According to his military records, his residence was Randolph County, Alabama at the time of his release. Randolph County borders Heard County, Georgia, where John had enlisted and where Martha’s parents lived.
John and Martha had two more children after the war and she died before 1900. John lived with his daughter, Mollie, and her children in 1900 and 1910. Mollie was one of the twins born during the war. Between 1900 and 1910, they moved to Morgan County, Alabama where John died on 15 Mar 1910.
John Bennett was my 2nd great-grandfather. This post was written for the Civil War Genealogy Blog Challenge issued by Bill West of West in New England. You can read the details of the challenge at Bill’s blog and find a listing of entries there on April 12th.
It is hard to imagine how the women and children survived – especially when you’ve laid out the circumstances so clearly. Great post, Linda.
Our ancestors were so strong to survive such hard times.
Thanks for posting this for the Challenge!
I saw your mention of Camp Chase. I just wrote an article about my ancestor who died there. I’m always surprised at how far the prisoners must have had to walk to return home. Could we do it now? Not me.