The pictures probably won't come through, but here it is. A Civil War History of James M. Kirkpatrick By Thomas E. Kirkpatrick, Great Grandson James M. Kirkpatrick was born in 1839 and died June 12th 1913. He is buried in Vale Cemetery in Springfield Ohio. He was 74 years old. He joined the Grand Army of the Republic in August 1861. He was assigned to the Ohio 41st Infantry, company B and later joined company F. The Regiment was formed on Aug. 26 1861 and was in training until October 29th 1861. They were mustered in on Oct 31,1861 and moved to Camp Dennison, Ohio. Then on November 6th they were moved to Gallipolis, Ohio and on November 16th were sent to Camp Wickliff, at Louisville Kentucky. His Regiment was attached to the 15th Brigade, Army of the Ohio from December 1861 until January 1862. Then he was assigned to the 15th Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to February 1862. Then to the 19th Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September 1862. On to the 19th Brigade 4th Div., 2nd Corps, Army of the Ohio, to Nov. 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Div., Left Wing 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland to Jan. 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Div., 21st Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland to Oct. 1863. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Div., 4th Army Corp, Army of the Cumberland, to Aug. 1865. Department of Texas to November, 1865. Service of the 41st Regiment, Ohio Infantry. Of which James M. Kirkpatrick participated. Advance on Nashville, Tn. Feb 14-25, 1862 Occupation of Nashville Feb 25th to March 18th 1862 March to Savannah, Tn. Mar. 18th to Apr. 6th 1862. Battle of Shiloh, Tn Apr. 6-7, 1962 Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss. Apr. 29th to May 30th 1862 Occupation of Corinth and pursuit to Boonville, May 30-Jun. 12, 1862 March to Athens Alabama and duty there till Jul. 17 and at Murfeesboro till Aug. 17, 1862 March to Louisville, Ky. In pursuit of Bragg, Aug. 17 - Sept. 1862 Pursuit of Bragg into Ky. Oct. 1- 22, 1862 Battles of Perryville Ky. Oct. 8, Danville Ky. Oct. 11, Rockcastle River, Oct. 18 Nelson's Cross Roads, Ky. Oct. 18, Pittman's Cross Roads, Oct. 19 1862 March to Nashville, Tn. Oct.23-Nov. 6 and duty there until Dec. 26, 1862 Advance on Murfeesboro, Dec. 26-30 1862 Battle of Stone's River Dec.30-31, 1862 and Jan. 1-3, 1863 To Woodbury Jan 24, 1863 Duty at Murfeesboro till June 1863 Expedition from Readyville to Woodbury Apr. 2 1863, Snow Hill, Woodbury Apr. 3 1863 Middle Tennessee ( or Tullahoma ) Campaign Jun. 22 - Jul. 7 1863 Occupation of Middle Tennessee till Aug.16, 1863 Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign Aug 16-Sep. 22 1863 Battle of Chickamauga (Ga.) Sep. 19-20 1863 Siege of Chattanooga, Tn. Sep 24-Nov. 23 1863 Reopening of the Tennessee River, Oct. 26-29 1863 Operations in East Tennessee until April 1864 Atlanta Ga. Campaign May 1 until Sep. 8 1864 Operations in Georgia until July 1865 Siege of Atlanta Georgia July 22 - Aug 25 1864 Flank movement of Jonesboro Aug. 31 - Sep 1 1864 Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama, Sep 29-Nov 3 1864 Nashville Campaign Nov.-Dec.1864 Moved to Huntsville, Alabama Nov. 29 1864 - March 1865 Operations in East Tennessee March 15 -Apr 22 1865 Duty at Nashville till June 1865 Moved to New Orleans, La. June 16, 1865 Moved to Texas with duty at San Antonio till Nov 1865 The 41st Regiment, Ohio Infantry was mustered out on November 27 1865 at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio. The regiment lost during service 8 Officers and 168 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded. With 1 Officer and 153 Enlisted men by disease. Total lost 330. This number represents about 1/3 of it's members. James M. Kirkpatrick age 21, entered the service on October 10, 1861, for 3 years or until the War was over. He entered as a Private and was promoted to Corporal in Jan 1862. He then made Company B Sgt. On April 1st 1863. He was made a 1st Lieutenant in Co B Nov.26 1864. He also served time in Company F after this time. He was appointed Regimental Quartermaster March 1st 1865. He was mustered out with the Regiment on November 27th 1865 as a Veteran. Notes: My late cousin Mike Kirkpatrick of Modoc Indiana could remember of being told that Great Grandmother Francis, had ridden the train from Celina Ohio to Marietta Ohio to visit him and take him food. Whether he was stationed there or had been wounded is not sure. Mike suspected that he had been wounded and was recovering from his wounds. Since the Regiment had been at Gallipolis Ohio at the beginning of the war, he may have been there and she had to take the train to Marietta and then travel to Gallipolis. At this time I do not have the date of death, but suspect it was in 1911 or 1912. James M. applied for a Civil War Pension as an invalid on Jan 4th 1880, Cert # 351,943. Francis filed for a widows pension on July 7th, 1912, cert # 765,922, State of Ohio. ( I have a copy of the Pension card for them which is included in the write up.) Mike had once told me that James M. was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield Ohio. But I have been in contact with the cemetery and they have no record of him being buried there. I will have to go to the cemetery and search myself. In the book, History of the 41st Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, The authors mentioned that 95% of the troops suffered from exhaustion and other ailments when they were mustered out. Most spent time at military hospitals recovering from these ailments before going back to their families. I suspect that this was why James M. was in hospital at Marietta or Gallipolis. During the whole war, the 41st received one 30 day furlough to return home. If you look at the list of battles and operations, it is almost continuous activity either in battle or in marching from operation to operation. Note: James M. had married Francis D. Hyer in 1860 in Clark County Ohio (Springfield ). Note: There has long been talk in the family, of a mantel clock that James M. brought back with him from the war. James never said where or how he had gotten it. But it was suspicioned that it had been looted from some southern home or plantation. Since it is known that he was a in the Quartermaster Corps and later became Regimental Quartermaster, it can be assumed that it was indeed looted. Whether James looted it or someone he knew looted it and gave it to him or sold it to him, there is no way of knowing. The job of the Quartermaster Corp was to obtain food and other items from captured plantations and farms. This was done through foraging. At times the items were paid for and at others they were looted or stolen. The clock still exists and is in the possession of James A. Kirkpatrick of Lakeview, Ohio. My brother James is named after Great Grandfather James M. and the clock was given to him by our Grandmother Stella Kirkpatrick before her death. Note: All most all of this information comes from two sources. One is from what little family information that there is, which most of it is stories or information passed down through the generations. The other source is from the book, History of the 41st Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865. The authors are Robert L. Kimberly and Ephraim S. Holloway. It should be noted here as well that the authors were both senior officers in the Regiment. There are few official records of the Regiment. When the Regiment was sent to Texas, they went by steamship down the Tennessee River and on to the Mississippi River. The steamship was the Echo No.2 and at Cairo Ill. It ran into the monitor Oneida, ripping an eight foot hole in her hull. The Echo No. 2 sank in ten minutes. All personnel made it to the Oneida except for one soldier drowning. But all official records and reports of the Regiment were lost with the ship. The Regiment was then put aboard the steamship Atlantic and continued their trip to New Orleans, La. And then to Texas. Front row seated, left to right: Great Grandmother Francis D., Grandfather William, about age 5 or 6, Great Grandfather James M. A copy of James M.'s Civil War pension card, filed Jan. 4th 1880 as an invalid. Also Francis D. applied for Widows pension and it was filed on July 7th 1913. After the War and any recuperation that was needed, James M. returned to his home in Springfield, Clark County Ohio. Some time later, he moved to Celina, Mercer County Ohio area. He spent the last 20 years of his life there. He and his wife Francis D. appear on the census rolls for Mercer county for the year 1900. He died in Mercer County, but was buried in his home town of Springfield, Clark County Ohio. Francis D. Hyer Kirkpatrick died March 3rd 1924 in Springfield, Clark County Ohio and was buried in Vale Cemetery in Springfield. The cemetery records for Vale Cemetery have several records for Kirkpatrick's but not for James or Francis. It could well be that the tombstones are lost or so worn that they can no longer be read. James M. Kirkpatrick's obituary from the Springfield Daily News, dated Friday, June 13, 1913, page 11. An article from the same paper and the same date, but on page 6. Great Grandmother Francis D. died in 1924. Here is her obituary from the Springfield Daily News, Tuesday March 4, 1924 page 4. Note: For some reason, James is listed as being William Kirkpatrick in the newspaper article, but is listed correctly in the obituary. This is proved to be him by the names of the surviving children. Kirby is listed quite often in the research that I have done. This completes the history of Great Grandfather James M. Kirkpatrick. I have worked on this off and on for about six years. In all of my research the one thing that I have not been able to find out was what the middle initial stood for. In none of the research did I find a middle name. It could be that he was only given a middle initial. All of the military records that I found had him listed as James M. Note: In the spring of 2008 when the weather is better, I hope to visit Vale Cemetery and try to locate his grave. If I can locate it, I will order a grave marker through the Veterans Administration and place it there. This is a free service of the VA. He served his Country proudly and deserves to be recognized for it. Thank you, Thomas E. Kirkpatrick
Oh wow Capt! You did a fabulous job finding out about your great grandfathers life! I only wish I could have such success in finding out so much about my great grandfather. Sadly, I can't see your photos.
I had posted the one pic in here before, of the whole family. The others are just copies of the obits etc.
My Great Grandfather came from Alabama with the Alabama Volunteers.He is buried in Bethel Cemetery in Madison Co.I know nothing else I wonder if they came together?
Amazing what you have found, Capt. Well done! I hope you will be able to make the trip and find his grave.
It may have taken you a few years to gather all the information CK but it's been well worth the time and effort. Isn't it interesting when we find out what our ancestors did with their lives. You are rightly proud of your Great Grandfather. I wish that clock could talk though - just imagine the stories it would tell!!
I think the thing that amazed me the most in doing this research, is that he survived the War at all. When the death toll was 20 to 30 thousand in single battles, the chances of him surviving were astronomical. I thing the biggest cause of him surviving was the fact that he was in the quarter master corps. Almost all of his time was spent behind Union lines, scoring the conutryside for food and supplies. Even so, the danger had to be immense as the captured people couldn't have been very friendly, especially when they were having there farm animals and crops taken from them.
