Perhaps because my brother is in the military, and both of my grandfathers were in the military, I am a bit intrigued by our family's military past. We even have a Redcoat ancestor from the Revolutionary War (more about him some other time)! It seems that our family skips every other conflict. I guess they need some time to re-group! So, yes, we have Revolutionary War soldiers, but so far I have not found an 1812 soldier. I've found about six Civil War veterans - primarily serving on the Confederate side. I've found many World War I registration cards for the draft, but I have yet to find if any of them actually served. Then we do have World War II and Korean War veterans. We skipped Vietnam and the First Gulf War, but then my brother participated in our latest war effort.
Needless to say, our family has a long military past. Today, I was particularly intrigued by our ancestor Austin Whitten. After finding so many Confederate soldiers, I do feel some relief when I come across a Union soldier! For a bit of background, here's how we're related to him starting from myself!
-Tiffany Decker (b. 1980 Bakersfield, CA)
-Mark Decker (b. 1959 Bakersfield, CA)
-Keith Decker (b. 1933 El Reno, OK)
-Annie Belle Whitten (b. 1913 Everidge, OK d. 1974 Bakersfield, CA)
-John Henry Whitten (b. 1873 Missouri, d. ? Missouri)
-Austin Whitten (b. 1838 Illinois, d. 1910 Illinois)
Austin was born in April 25, 1838 in Illinois. On July 7, 1861 he enlisted as a Private in the 1st Illinois Calvary, Company E. He was about 23 at the time. The regiment soon moved to St. Charles, Missouri, where Col. Ulysses S. Grant was in charge! Pretty cool!
The principal engagement he took part in was The First Battle of Lexington, September 13 - 20, 1861 - only about 2 months after he enlisted! To read more about the battle, Wikipedia has a good article (although the link is not working for some reason)! Just type in The First Battle of Lexington and you should be golden!
The Federal forces lost this battle, and all of the soldiers were captured. They were paroled and sent home to await an exchange. In November, however, the government, having failed to effect an exchange of the non-commissioned officers and privates ordered them to Springfield and discharged them. Austin's three year commitment was essentially over in only 3 months!
He went on to live out the rest of his days as a farmer in Montgomery County, Illinois. He died December 18, 1910 at the age of 72.
I am interested in your John Henry Whitten. He was born in Missouri. Who was his mother. I am a Whitten researcher. My gggg grandfather was Easton Whitten m. Wilmouth Johnson. Your Austin would be the son of Austin Whitten and Kesiah Casey. I did not know that Austin Whitten went to Missouri. I thought he lived in Montgomery Co IL all his life. Would you be able to help me here I would like to know more about your research.
ReplyDeleteTim Casey
ggggg grandson of Elijah Whitten and Charity Duckett. and John Casey and Drucilla Hill