When Cynthia invited me to blog, her idea was for us to kind of do a side by side type of thing. We both descend from William Anglin Jr, son of William Anglin, Sr, son of Isaac Anglin, son of William Anglin of West VA, Son of Adrian Anglin of Virginia who we find to be the first Anglin in our lineage in America.
In her story of great grandfather, William Anglin, Jr, Cynthia mentions his brother, Raburn. Both Raburn and William, Jr are my 3rd great grandfathers. Intermingling in this rural area of the North Carolina Smokey Mountains was not uncommon.
William and Raburn joined the 58th NC Infantry (Co G) at nearly the same time, along with a brother-in-law, and many cousins. The date of Raburn's enlistment in the Confederate Arny is noted to be 7/11/1862, while Willaim enlisted on 7/15/1862. Raburn's military statistics show him as being 29 years old, and 5'5" tall. His brother, William, was 5'10" and nearly 36, based on census records, and considered to being exempt from service. However, his age is listed as 34 in William's military file. In that time and place birth certificates were uncommon in the mountains where our grandfathers lived and people did not carry around picture IDs. Perhaps William fibbed about his age and signed up to serve because he knew that it was only a matter of time before either a Union or Confederate unit would come along and force him to serve.
The 58th Infantry Regiment was originated in Mitchell County, NC, in July, 1862. Its twelve companies were recruited in the neighboring counties of Mitchell, Yancey, Watauga, Caldwell, McDowell, and Ashe. In September 1862 the regiment moved to Cumberland Gap and spent the winter of 1862-1863 at Big Creek Gap, near Jacksboro, TN. During the Civil War, the 58th was assigned to Kelly's, Reynolds', Brown's and Reynolds' Consolidated, and Palmer's Brigade. The 58th participated in the campaigns of the Army of Tennessee from Chickamauga to Atlanta, guarded prisoners at Columbia, TN, during Hood's operations, then moved to SC and skirmished along the Edisto River. Later the 58th returned to NC and saw action at Bentonville.
As I have been researching more and more about our family and about the Civil War, I have come upon a number of interesting bits of information.
While Raburn was away serving the Confederacy, his son William C passed away on December 24, 1862, on Christmas Eve, at the age of 2. Then his 7 year old son, Samuel E, passed away on February 23, 1863. As a mother, having to bury two young sons had to tear Kate's heart into pieces But to have to do this while her husband was fighting, not even knowing if he was still alive, Kate had to rely on a strength from deep within her soul. (Rabe & Kate had lost another young son in 1856, John W Anglin.)
There is much more of a tale to tell about Raburn (and Kate) Anglin, but for the moment, I will end here and add on as time allows. Genealogy research is always a work in progress. For those of us with full-time jobs, there are not enough hours in a day for our passion to uncover truths from the past!
To follow will be additional details about Raburn's service, his application for pension, and life after the war.
Until next time...
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| Grave Marker of William Anglin, Jr in Family Cemetery |
William and Raburn joined the 58th NC Infantry (Co G) at nearly the same time, along with a brother-in-law, and many cousins. The date of Raburn's enlistment in the Confederate Arny is noted to be 7/11/1862, while Willaim enlisted on 7/15/1862. Raburn's military statistics show him as being 29 years old, and 5'5" tall. His brother, William, was 5'10" and nearly 36, based on census records, and considered to being exempt from service. However, his age is listed as 34 in William's military file. In that time and place birth certificates were uncommon in the mountains where our grandfathers lived and people did not carry around picture IDs. Perhaps William fibbed about his age and signed up to serve because he knew that it was only a matter of time before either a Union or Confederate unit would come along and force him to serve.
The 58th Infantry Regiment was originated in Mitchell County, NC, in July, 1862. Its twelve companies were recruited in the neighboring counties of Mitchell, Yancey, Watauga, Caldwell, McDowell, and Ashe. In September 1862 the regiment moved to Cumberland Gap and spent the winter of 1862-1863 at Big Creek Gap, near Jacksboro, TN. During the Civil War, the 58th was assigned to Kelly's, Reynolds', Brown's and Reynolds' Consolidated, and Palmer's Brigade. The 58th participated in the campaigns of the Army of Tennessee from Chickamauga to Atlanta, guarded prisoners at Columbia, TN, during Hood's operations, then moved to SC and skirmished along the Edisto River. Later the 58th returned to NC and saw action at Bentonville.
In the time Willaim & Raburn served, they experienced the horrors of war together. Not only did soldiers face the possibility of getting killed or injured in battle, their daily lives were full of hardships. They had to deal with hunger where sometimes all they had to eat was hard crackers made from flour, water, and salt called hardtack. raw corn and sour apples. They experienced terrible weather conditions from sweltering heat to bitter cold temperatures. In the winter, their inadequate clothing and lack of proper footwear caused a large number of men to experience frostbite. Many men then developed gangrene and eventually had to have their hands and/or feet amputated.
Through all of these difficult times, soldiers developed a strong sense of camaraderie. We can only imagine how much closer brothers William and Raburn became during this time, until the Battle Of Chickamauga, when William was wounded, and succumbed to those wounds on October 5, 1863. 46 men of the 58th Regiment were killed at Chickamauga and 114 were wounded. During the Battle of Chickamauga, the 58th North Carolina Regiment advanced farther than any other regiment on Snodgrass Hill to push back the remaining Union forces from the battlefield. Sadly, this achievement cost the lives of many men.
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| Bennett Place |
Raburn continued on with his service and was still part of the 58th unit (now in Co C) when it was included in the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston and his armies to Major General William T. Sherman on April 26, 1865, at Bennett Place, in Durham, NC. Johnston surrendered approximately 30,000 men to Sherman. By the end of the war, many soldiers in the Confederate army were on the verge of starvation. If life as a soldier was bad, life as a prisoner was worse. Conditions were so bad that thousands of soldiers died while being held as prisoners.
At the end of the war between the states, President Johnson issued the Amnesty Proclamation. He offered a pardon to all Southerners, except those in positions of leadership and extreme wealth. They had to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States and the Constitution. In return, they were able to retain all their property except for the slaves. (We do not know of Raburn having any slaves, but at a certain point, he was assigned to patrol for runaway slaves.) Raburn returned to his family at the end of the war. He and his wife, Kate (Edney), helped Sally, William's wife, raise the children William left behind.
At the end of the war between the states, President Johnson issued the Amnesty Proclamation. He offered a pardon to all Southerners, except those in positions of leadership and extreme wealth. They had to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States and the Constitution. In return, they were able to retain all their property except for the slaves. (We do not know of Raburn having any slaves, but at a certain point, he was assigned to patrol for runaway slaves.) Raburn returned to his family at the end of the war. He and his wife, Kate (Edney), helped Sally, William's wife, raise the children William left behind.
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| Raburn's Loyalty Oath |
As I have been researching more and more about our family and about the Civil War, I have come upon a number of interesting bits of information.
While Raburn was away serving the Confederacy, his son William C passed away on December 24, 1862, on Christmas Eve, at the age of 2. Then his 7 year old son, Samuel E, passed away on February 23, 1863. As a mother, having to bury two young sons had to tear Kate's heart into pieces But to have to do this while her husband was fighting, not even knowing if he was still alive, Kate had to rely on a strength from deep within her soul. (Rabe & Kate had lost another young son in 1856, John W Anglin.)
There is much more of a tale to tell about Raburn (and Kate) Anglin, but for the moment, I will end here and add on as time allows. Genealogy research is always a work in progress. For those of us with full-time jobs, there are not enough hours in a day for our passion to uncover truths from the past!
To follow will be additional details about Raburn's service, his application for pension, and life after the war.
Until next time...
ANGLIN, RABURN: 2nd Sgt., Co. C, 58th N.C. Regt. C.S.A. Enlisted on 7/11/62 in Yancey Co., then age
29, farmer, 5'5", native of Yancey Co. Reduced to Pvt. by 4/30/64
muster. Present on 8/31/64. Paroled at
Greensboro, NC on 5/1/65. Resides in
Yancey Co, N.C.
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