Read Part 2 of Curtis Alexander Galttana
My next great discovery
I had visited the Fort Worth Archives and a lady there pulled up my ggg grandfather's H.B. Alverson's civil war record from Footnote.com. When I got home I decided to subscribe to Footnote and started searching. Bingo, I found civil war records for Curtis A. Golttana. I was on a roll now and felt pretty confident that this was my Curtis Galttana.
He enlisted April 13, 1862 at Granada, Mississippi. He served as a private in Company I, 30 Mississipi Volunteer Regiment. If this is the same man as Alexander Goltana in the 1850 census then I wonder what brought him to Mississippi? Did he float down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River to get to Mississippi?
As the above record shows he was "Detailed as Teamster Jany 12, 1863 By order Col. G. F. Neill."
What is a Teamster and a Drayman
A Teamster in the Civil War was someone who drove a wagon with a team of horses, oxen or mules. This is interesting because the Alexander in the 1850 census was a Drayman. A Drayman is someone who drives a dray, which is a low, flat bead wagon with no sides usually pulled by horses or mules. Interesting.
But, then on the night of August 22, 1863 Curtis Deserted. He "Left his command ... at Chattahorsckee Bridge, Ga." He then "Joined from desertion December 29, 1863." Where did he go for four months? I know many men would desert for a few months to check on family and get their farm/house in order. This was common. Did Curtis have family in the area? What was he doing?
Also interesting to note, is if Curtis Alexander was born in Ohio or Indiana then why would he fight on the Confederate side and not the Union side?
I wish I knew the answer to this.
Since I am in Georgia this struck me as really interesting and figured it was at the "Chattahoochee Bridge" I did a little research
ReplyDeleteand found the bridge usually referenced with Americal civil war is the Chattahoochee bridge near Whitesburg, GA. Here is some history I found on it. Seems the year after this is when the Union came to try and stomp Atlanta.... maybe he was a Union spy??? I hope not, I would rather think him a proud Confederate by choice!!
http://www.times-herald.com/local/Money-OKd-for-park-near-Whitesburg-1191224
Thanks for the link Karen. It is an interesting article. I would love to know why Curtis sign up in Mississippi for the confederates. He is hard to research, but I'm not giving up. Someday, somewhere, more info will pop up!
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