Mary Welch Mitchell, Letter from Santa

Mary Welch Mitchell was the second child born to Charles F. and Anna Welch Mitchell.   Mary was born on 30 April 1901 in Oklahoma.    She was a charming person with a wealth of knowledge on many subjects.  Conversation with Aunt Mary was never dull!

Mary was especially fond of her nieces and  nephews, and at one time or another  just about all of them visited her in her home in El Paso, TX, where she taught English at Austin High School for 40 years.  She took them to Juarez, Mexico, and kept them entertained while they visited with her.  Mary died on December 22, 1981, and we still miss her.

In 1956, she wrote a “letter from Santa Claus” to one of her youngest nieces, and happily that letter still survives for us to enjoy Mary’s creativity and her joy in life.  The names of living people have been changed in this letter, but otherwise it is just as Mary typed it.

Maggie

North Pole

December 13, 1956

Dear Susan,

My Elf in charge of correspondence has just laid your letter on my desk.  I have assigned four Elves to check my lists to find your name.

Later:  My Elf in charge of lists for taking care of toys has reported that you are at the top of that list.  He reports that the things I left for you last Christmas are in good order.

The Elf in charge of dolls has just come in.  He says that you are a little girl who takes care of her dolls.   He tells me that one of his walking dolls has asked to be taken to you.   She says that she would like to live with you.

The third Elf assigned to your case has now reported.  He finds your name high on the list of children who get up in a good humor every morning.  He tells me that you work very hard making other people happy.  He read me  a note that he made last year about how good you were on the trip to Oklahoma and how you helped entertain your little cousin Julia Ann when she was tired and sleepy.   He tells me that you sang to her all the way in the car. 

The Elf in charge of thumb sucking is now ready to report.  He has a record of how hard you worked last year and how you quit sucking your thumb before Christmas.  He says that everyone is allowed a few nights when having tonsils out or during any other illness like chicken pox.  He doesn’t count those nights.

I am glad to see in your letter that you are giving some of your toys to the Indian children.  The little children that you make happy get better acquainted with me and love me more.  That makes me happy, too.

I am glad to see that you have thought about your brothers, too, and have told me what they want.  Tell Jerry that I have sent forty elves out searching and they have all come back with the same news.  We are fresh out of cars in his size.  Ask him if he will settle for a nice pair of roller skates.

As for Bobby, the only thing I have in my pack for sailors is a nice linen handkerchief.

I know that your Aunt Mary is glad that she can spend Christmas with such a lovely little girl as you are and with your pleasant family.

I’ll be glad to drop in myself on Christmas Eve.  I like to come where people are kind and good and like to make one another happy as your family does.  Of course you will be asleep when I come, but I’ll look in your room and see you there with Mommy and Daddy in their room and Bobby in his room and Aunt Mary sleeping somewhere and Jerry on the couch.  Tell him he mustn’t peep while I’m putting the presents out.

I like the way you signed your name.  You work very hard at kindergarten to do such good work.

My time-keeping Elf has just rung the little bell that says I must read the next letter on my desk.

“A Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

Santa Claus

Paul Denny Mitchell, Missionary to Cuba

Paul Denny Mitchell was the fifth child of Charles F. and Anna Welch Mitchell.  He was born on the 29^th of August, 1912, in the parsonage at Mangum, OK.

Paul was well-educated.  He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX in 1934, and then in August, 1936, he received a Bachelor of Divinity degree also from Southern Methodist University.  In 1936 he began pastoring  churches in Duke, OK, and Victory, OK until 1937 when he left in the fall for missionary work in Cuba, where he served until 1945.

Here are portions of two articles in the area newspapers:

An ambition of many years standing was fulfilled last week for Paul Mitchell, son of Rev. and Mrs. C. F. Mitchell, here when he received an appointment as a missionary to Cuba.

The desire to become a missionary had been almost a lifetime ideal of young Rev. Mitchell.  He first volunteered for mission service when he was but 14 years old.  He is now, at the time of the realization of his ambition, only 24.

The major part of his college career was spent at Southern Methodist University, at Dallas.  His five years there brought him distinction in oratory and two bachelor degrees.    Among his biggest accomplishments while at SMU was a first place in an all-school oratorical contest and a second award in a national writing contest, sponsored by the American magazine.

Paul spent the years from 1937 to 1945 in Cuba.  During that time he was pastor of the American Congregational Methodist church and dean of the Methodist Theological Seminary at Havana.  He had many interesting experiences in Cuba which he told about in his book written while he was there, Cuba Calling. 

Difficulties with the language led the list of problems.  In this excerpt from his book, Paul tells of his initial language difficulties:

My experience learning the Spanish language was often ludicrous.  I spent nearly a year in Camaguey as language student and as pastor.  I was appointed as assistant pastor, but within three months the pastor was moved and I was left alone in charge.  I had to prepare and preach two sermons each week.  I would write out a sermon in Spanish, and have my language teacher, a young Cuban teacher at our Pinson College, correct it.  I would then take the manuscript into the pulpit and read it.   I am sure it was most edifying to the congregation!  On one occasion a lady said something to me at the close of the service which I did not understand.  I had someone interpret for me and heard that she had been trying to congratulate me on how well I knew Spanish!

So simple an operation as buying new razor blades was fraught with difficulty.  I looked at my Spanish-English dictionary to discover the Spanish equivalent of “razor blades”.  I found nothing except “blades of

grass”.  I then asked my teacher, who said I should look instead under the word “knife”  since a razor blade was really a  “knife to shave  with”.  I went downtown muttering to myself:  “cuchillo para afeitarse”,  “a knife to shave with”.   When I arrived at the hardware store (strangely enough one buys only drugs at the drugstore in Cuba) I asked the young lady clerk for a “cuchara para afeitarse”.  She smiled and produced the blades.  Then she said, in English, “You really asked for a spoon to shave with.”

(Pp14-15)

In 1945, Paul returned to the United States to be with his father, who was very ill.  He left behind in Cuba a number of young men who were his students during his time there that he called “my boys”, as well as new mission churches which had been started in the 8 years he was there.

After returning to Oklahoma, Paul helped with the care of his father and became the pastor of the Methodist church in Noble, OK.  He was also a language instructor at the high school in Purcell.  He also began working toward a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Oklahoma.

On Friday, August 12, 1949, he and his sister Mary took a small group of children from the Noble church on a Sunday school picnic at the Rollins pond northwest of Noble.   The group had finished eating and a few children were wading by the edge of the pond.  Suddenly, Frances Jeannette Harris, age 11, stepped off into a hole that was estimated to be 15 or 20 feet deep.  Paul was in a boat watching the children when Frances stepped off the ledge into the hole.  Mary Mitchell and others who were close quickly attempted to make a human chain, but Paul saw they could not reach her and jumped in.  He was an excellent swimmer, and he reached the child and was bringing her to the bank when he was evidently seized by a cramp and went under.  They disappeared under the water and did not surface. The Norman fire department immediately sent equipment, but it was two hours before the bodies were recovered as the hole was so deep.    Services for both victims were at the Noble Church on that Saturday, and then on the following Monday additional services were held for Paul at Weatherford, OK, and he was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in the family plot.

In November of 1949, Paul’s brother Charles received a letter from Cesar Benitez, the pastor of the Methodist Church in Herradura, Cuba.  Part of his letter, just as he wrote it, follows, and shows the high esteem in which Paul was held by his students in Cuba:

Dear Brother,

I don’t know how to write this letter.  My little inglish  is insufficient to express what is my feeling about the disappear of that saint man Paul D. Mitchell.  I wrote a article in “El Evangelista Cubano” about his brilliant life.  All the ex students of him in Cuba cry the death of a father that  went to see the Father in  Heaven. 

Please, I want that you express to all the family the most deep manifestation of love in the name of all the youth preacher (Mitchell’s boys) in Cuba.

Other purpose of this letter is to ask you a good picture of Mr. Mitchell (the best one).  The idea is that we the fellow students of him will dedicate a big picture of his radiant person in the new  Union

Seminary (Seminario Evangelico de Teclogia) in Matanzas.  That occasion will be during the celebration of the Annual Conference to be held in the first week of January in that city.  I am encharge to see the artist in Havana for the development and others works.  We want to have it finish for December.   You and all the family are cordialy invite to that  memorial act.

The inauguration of one rural chapel in my circuit will be in December or January.  Will be dedicate “Mitchell Memorial” in the memory of one that his life was in fellowship with the Master.

                                                                                                Yours in the love of Christ,

                                                                                                (signed) Cesar M. Benitez

With all the changes that have taken place in Cuba since Paul left, the family sometimes wonders if any of the buildings and memorials are left.  Even if there are none left standing, Paul’s work and spirit are still being felt through the lives of the people he touched and the truths that he passed on to “Mitchell’s Boys.”


Maggie

Charles Fletcher Deems Mitchell

Charles Fletcher Deems Mitchell was the son of Barney and Mary Ann Rouse Mitchell.  He was born in Greene County, NC, in 1869.  Not long after Charles was born, his father Barney and Barney’s brother James set out on their walk to CA which led to their settling in AR.  Charles was probably about two years old by the time his father returned to take the family to Arkansas.

Charles became a Methodist Circuit Rider, and during his lifetime he wrote several books, one a biography, the other a book of sermons, and also a book of meditations.  He mentioned his family life as a boy from time to time in these books, giving a little glimpse into how his parents felt about life, and the secure grounding he had in his faith.  When he talks about his life at home and his father and mother, it is nearly always his mother, Mary Ann, or Molly, that he remembers there, and rarely mentions his step-mother, Mary Elizabeth Hicks.  Barney remarried a couple of years after Mollie’s death, and had two more sons, but Charles’s memories seemed to have been fixed with Molly and Barney and their home together, rather than the new home.  Charles would have been about 8 when Mollie died, so he had good memories of her always in his mind.

One of the sweetest descriptions of his home life is in the book of sermons, Gather Up the Fragments, in the chapter called “The Church: Its Origin and Growth”, on pages 85 and 86.  In this sermon, Charles talked about the many places the church could be:

The Church was in my father’s house, a little log parsonage on the side of a hill.  It was whitewashed with lime, with the cracks chinked and daubed with clay; a rail fence inclosed it, while in the corner was a well where water was lifted with a sweep pole and bucket.  Old-fashioned flowers grew in the front yard, hollyhocks, marigolds, bachelor buttons, and moss.  A bucket of ground ivy hung from a rafter of the gallery, and honeysuckle vines screened the front porch.  A wide, open fireplace was in the front room, where wood and pine knots blazed to give heat and light for the long winter nights.

My mother, a beautiful woman, with her hair parted in the middle, a white pointed collar about her neck, and a breakfast shawl* around her shoulders, was busy clearing away the supper dishes.  Two children, a girl and a boy, were playing William-the-Trimble-Toe** before the fire.  Father took the family Bible from the shelf, and all was quiet as he began to read.  His voice is confident as he pronounces every word of the Shepherd Psalm.  The lowly prayer follows, in which he remembers his home and his family, calling each child by name, closing with a hearty Amen.  Mother draws out the trundle bed, spreads the covers, and puts away her little ones with a kiss for the night.  The kitchen door whines on its hinges, a basket of wool rolls and a spinning wheel are put in place; a roll is attached, and the wheel given a turn.  As the thread is drawn, the hum of the spindle makes music as she sings:

"I want to live a Christian life, 

I want to die a'shouting;   

I want to feel my Savoir near

            When body and soul are parting."          

Thus she sings and thus she spins, the Church in her house enables work and worship to walk side by side in sweet fellowship.

* Breakfast Shawl:  A small, square checked shawl, folded diagonally and worn around the neck by women.  (from “A Complete Dictionary of Dry Goods” by George S. Cole)

** This link is from Google Books, and shows an excerpt from the book North Carolina Folklore, Chapter:  Children’s Games and Rhymes, by Paul Brewster.

Maggie

Letter From JS Mitchell

This is from Jean Teachey: a descendant of Winifred Mitchell, who was the daughter of BW Mitchell, sister to Barney E. and James Stanley Mitchell.

While researching the Mitchell Family, I found a small book on the Penina Mitchell Harrison Family. This letter written by James Mitchell to his sister, Mary "Moll", was in the book. It is stated that it was found by Charlotte Barrow Gray when she and Viola Barrow Turnage were getting things together to settle the estate of their mother, Ida Harrison Barrow. It was deciphered by Margaret Midgett Barrow and Myrtle Grace Barrow Brown in 1985. Helen Turnage Beaman has the original letter. Punctuation and spelling are uncorrected.

Sister Mollie write a letter often.

Lenoke, Ark.

Aug. 23rd 1879

Dear Sister

I told you I was going to send you some medicine you said you wanted some money but that is not what you want. you just Think so. you want something to cure you. What I send you will be worth more than all the money I can send you and even though I have not been able to get all the Medicine I wanted you to have.

Take meal & Scald it Spread it on clouth Some larger than your two hands then when a little cool Sprinkle mustard or ground mustard seed over the face of it put a clouth over the mustard side & apply the mustard side to your liver or a little to the right of the stomache as warm as can be born two nights but never let blister a better way if mustard is plenty is to mix it with the poltice but never scauld the mustard as that will kill it

The 3rd night take enough of the pills to move the bowels twice the next day from 2 to 6 as the case my require as soon as you take the pills bather your feet in water as warm as you can bare it till you Sweat freely but dont weaken your Self this will mek the pills act better you had better put a warm iron to your feet when you go to bed So they will not cool off to quick.

If your blood is thin or weak burn copper as well make good siSe pills take 2 or 3 aweek. Soon after eating in the morning is the best time. Or you may take one evryday if you kneed it. it want hurt you.

Take DawgWood Bark of the root & Black Chery Bark off the root & Beat up finely a tea cupfull of each Tell Etheldred or Frank to get you a pint of whiskey I will pay him for it Eat such as you know will agree with you and let alone such as you know ? want agree with you.

The Diet Should gnerly be leight but dont starve yourSelf. Get some acorns white oak or Post oaks are the best but any kind will do parch them & drink for coffee Sweeten if you like.

I Send you Some powders You will wet with water & make in oills comon Sise these you will take with the foot bathe If you will dry & beat up 3 or 4 pods of redpeppers & mix with it you will have the strong pill follow these Directions 2 months & let me hear from you let evrything els alone but what you see hers.

This will do your more good than any thing you ever tried I will send the pouciess in a separate package

times are quiet no much sickness Some crops are good & some are not so good. I have a good cotton crop my corn is no so good I think I shall make 4 or 5 bales I want you to tell me about Frank and Etheldred crops Write about thing generly all about the neighborhod & com.

Tell me somethings about Etheldred's wife is she prettie is she smart is she large is she smawl & who is she anyWay. Who is Frank flying around has sister Adeline any baus now days besure and tell me all these questions

Two more weeks will add one more to my family my wife tells me to ask you if that picture looks like it taken two months before hand Tell Frank a prettie girl here wants to take his picture from me must I let her have it

write soon to J. S. Mitchell

The spacing was added by me to make the letter easier to read. Isn't it interesting to see the spelling and the words they used to communicate? James Stanley was a country doctor who traveled his community in Lonoke, AR "doctoring". We don't know where he received his education, but he must have learned some of it on the battle field during the war. His older brother Barney studied medical practices from books at home; perhaps James did too.

Connie

Additional Information for 1863 JS Mitchell

This morning Bob found the Articles of War for the Confederacy online, and here is a link to the page for Article 38: http://www.archive.org/stream/articlesofwar

It says “cap pouch lost to be stoped”.  Article of War Number 38 states  that any soldier losing equipment through neglect or by selling or spoiling,  can have his pay stopped (not to  exceed  one-half his salary).  While James  didn’t have a court martial over this, it appears  that he had to repay the cost of the cap pouch.

This must be what was meant by the phrase "to be stoped" after the mention that James Stanley had lost his cap pouch. I have placed ** where this information is needed in the post about James Stanley's Civil War Records and linked it to this post.

Maggie

Additional Information for 1863 BE Mitchell

I have been looking for information about Courts-Martial in the Confederate Army. I went to Stephenville, TX, to do some research and ran across the book I had been looking for,The Roster of Courts Martial in the Confederate States Armies, by Jack Bunch, about Courts-Martial in the Confederate Army. I couldn't believe our luck in finding it ! So we looked up Barney and he was court-martialed sometime in January, 1863, for violating #52 in the Articles of War. It said he was sentenced to hard labor.

During this time there is a company muster roll which states he was present during January and February.  On February 23 there is an entry which states that he was under G. O. 26, Hq. North Virginia for Court Martial.  There is a note following which says he was released from arrest on May 15, 1863.  This doesn’t seem to make sense as he took part in the battle of Chancellorsville on May 3, where he received a wound that gave him trouble for the rest of his life.  He was shot in the thigh, breaking the femur bone.  The Roster of Courts Martial in the Confederate States Armies, by Jack Bunch, states on page 242 that Barney E. Mitchell, Pvt., 3^rd NC, violated Article of War #52, and was sentenced to hard labor.  This was during the month of January, so perhaps he was serving his sentence during February.

A.O. W. #52 has to do with leaving a duty post or running away from the enemy, or inciting others to do so.  Since Barney was later cited for “Distinguished Service” and the Roll of Honor, evidently this was not as bad as the Article of War makes it sound.  Perhaps he decided to make a trip  home during the time in winter quarters.

This morning Bob found the Articles of War for the Confederacy online, and here is a link to the page: http://www.archive.org/stream/articlesofwar

I have linked the post about Barney's Civil War records to here at the ** in that post to make it easy to place this additional information.

Maggie

Military Records of Barney E. Mitchell

Greene County, NC

1861

Barney Mitchell enlisted as a volunteer for the Confederate Army very early in the war.  He signed up in Snow Hill, Greene Co., NC, on 25 April 1861, at the age of 22.  The companies assigned to the 3rd Regiment did not report until late May, 1861 when they reported to Garysburg, Northampton County, where in June the Regiment was finally organized.  Barney was in Company A which was known as the “Greene County Riflemen”. This Regiment was a States Troops organization. He was enrolled by Capt. Robert H. Drysdale, also a Greene County resident.  Capt. Drysdale died less than a year later at Camp Price, VA, of pneumonia.

On August 14, 1861, the Regiment moved to Camp Howe where General T. H. Holmes commanded.  As more troops arrived, they were brigaded and the 3^rd NC was assigned to Brigadier General John Walker, along with the 1^st and 2^nd NC and several other regiments.  So Barney’s brother, James Stanley, was in the same brigade with him.

For most of 1861, the regiment seems to have been in Virginia.  On July 17, 3 companies left for Richmond and arrived the next day.  By the 27^th of July the entire Regiment was there.  They were then sent to the Aquia District on July 24.  In addition to the 1^st and 2^nd NC State Troops, the brigade consisted of the 30^th Regiment Virginia Infantry and the 1^st Regiment Arkansas Infantry.  On August 31 and September 1, the companies were mustered into the Confederate States Service to date from their original dates of enlistment. The Regiment arrived at Camp Price sometime in November-December, 1861.

Company Muster Rolls, which started in September, show the following for Barney:

September-October—present

November-December--present

1862

The year began with the death of Capt. Robert Drysdale on January 16 at Camp Price.

By March, the regiment was at Camp McIntosh near Goldsboro, NC.  The entire brigade assembled there and remained until ordered to Petersburg, Virginia, on May 29, 1862.  On June 1, the 3^rd Regiment was moved to Richmond and ordered to move down the Williamsburg road and set up camp.  From June 3 to June 28 the regiment was on picket duty on the Williamsburg Road.  The Mitchell family has a letter   from Barney written to his parents about the picket duty:

Road 20 near Richmond

June 18, 1862

My Dear Parents,

          Once more I am blessed with the privilege of communicating to you some of the passed events during the last week.  I can’t say there is any prospect of any battle here again soon more than this skirmishing. The pickets have some pretty warm times of that, almost every day; we have three Reg on a line about 2 miles long every day.  Our picket line is about 25 m long, it reaches from the James River to Ashland; on the Rail Road from Richmond to Fredericksburg.

          I have been on picket three times since I have been here.  I have shot at only one yankee.  He was 1^st Lt. In the 8^th Pennsylvania Cavilry Regiment.  I did not hit him, but I shot his bridle rains in two just below his hand and his horse throwed and we took him a prisoner, this was the second time I was on picket yesterday was a week ago.  I was the first one in our company or Rgt. that ever shot a yankee.

          We average about 20(?)_ every day.  We have lost not a man out of our company yet, though the enemy has fired into us several times.  But they have not so much as wounded one of us yet.

          Our camp is 1 ½ miles from Richmond, V, 5 or 6 miles away from the battlefield.  We go down one day in each week and stand picket and then return to camp, that is our Regt.  I am getting along very well and my health is also very good except a could–

          I was blessed with the extreme pleasure of meeting with my Bro. James yesterday   he was also well except a could.  He sends a short piece in my letter.  You will learn from that how he is.  His camp is ½ mile from ours.

          Remember my regards to all the family and family connection. I can not hear from Parrot Cady.  All of you must write to me soon.

Your Son

Barney

At about 4pm on June 26, 1862, the regiment had their first real battle as they supported another brigade at Mechanicsville.   In this first battle there were 8 killed and 39 wounded.  They were in another battle the following day at Gaines’ Mill.  From there they moved on to Malvern Hill.

Barney took part at Sharpsburg (Antietam) in Maryland on September 17.  He was wounded there, but it wasn’t mentioned on his records until much later when he was recommended for the Roll of Honor.  He was not admitted to the Richmond General Hospital #6 until September 24.  Barney was among 207 from his regiment who were wounded, and 46 were killed.

Muster rolls for 1862:

March 1—shown to be absent on sick furlough

March-April—present

April 30-July 14—present

July 14-October 31—present

There is one pay stub for this time period:  May 1 through August 31--$44.00

1863

In the first month of 1863, the regiment was in winter quarters on the Rappahannock River near Port Royal where they had picket duty.  On January 19, the 3^rd Regiment was transferred to Brigadier General Wm. B. Taliaferro’s Brigade.   This brigade consisted of the 1^st Reg. NC State Troops and the 10^th, 23^rd, and 37^th Regiments Virginia Infantry.

During this time, there is a puzzling entry for Barney.  There is a company muster roll which states he was present during January and February.  On February 23 there is an entry which states that he was under G. O. 26, Hq. No. Virginia for Court Martial.  There is a note following which says he was released from arrest on May 15, 1863.  This doesn’t seem to make sense as he took part in the battle of Chancellorsville on May 3, where he received a wound that gave him trouble for the rest of his life.  He was shot in the thigh, breaking the femur bone. **

The Company Muster Roll shows him absent from May 3-May 15.

Next, May 15-Aug 15, he is shown absent, wounded and not fit for duty.

On August 15-31, he is shown “at home in NC”

Another form shows Barney appears on a register for Chimborazo Hosp. #3, and says he was furloughed 26 July for 25 days.

There are two pay stubs:  one from May 1-Aug 31 shows he was paid $44 on Sept 21. Second from Sept. 1 to October 31 shows he was paid $22 on December 5

Link to a photo and model of Chimborazo Hospital

http://usa-civil-war.com/Civil_War/chimborazo.html

1864

The Company Muster Roll shows Barney as being home on furlough from Dec. 31, 1863 to August 31, 1864.

The Company Muster Roll for January 1-May 31 shows Barney is now attached to the General Hospital #3 in Goldsboro.  There is another form dated April 20 showing that he has been told to report to Gen. Hosp. #3 in Goldsboro for treatment by order of the Medical Exam Board and stating that he has been paid. 

He has a receipt for clothing on May 30.

A form is shown that lists him as being on the Roll of Honor, and mentions that he was wounded at Sharpsburg and Chancellorsville.

Next is a clothing receipt dated August 10.

September- October he is shown to be home on furlough, and then November and December he is shown back in the hospital at Goldsboro.

Barney returned to duty on December 15, 1864.  At that time his regiment was 3 and a half miles north of Petersburg in winter quarters.

1865

The 3^rd Regiment remained in winter quarters until ordered back to battle on February 20, 1865.  Apparently Barney was not with them on April 8 when they arrived at the Appomattox Court House.

The last entry in his Military Record states that:

B. E. Mitchell appears on a list of patients in General Hospital #3, High Point, NC, paroled in accordance with the terms of a Military Convention entered into on the 26^th day of April, 1865, between Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, Commanding Confederate Army and Major General W. T. Sherman, commanding United States Army in North Carolina.

Paroled at Greensboro, NC, May 1, 1865.

Military Records of James Stanley Mitchell

Greene County, NC

James S. Mitchell’s military records were difficult to find.  It may be the problem of there being numerous James Mitchells, but another part of the problem could be the spelling variations.  On the first pages of his records, his name is spelled Mitchel and then Mitchal.  Also on some pages of the records, he is shown as enlisting in Snow Hill, NC;  Goldsboro, NC, and then on many of his company muster rolls he is shown as having enlisted in Virginia. Whatever the problem, we are lucky to have a copy of his records.

James enlisted in 1861, and stayed for the entire war.  There are 25 pages in his military record.  One of them shows that his name is on the Confederate Roll of Honor.  There is no date given on that page, and the little information available on this Roll of Honor seems to say that it was an idea which never quite came about.  There’s more work to be done to find out about that.

Here are the records and history of his military service, year by year.

1861

There are two enlistment dates given for James:  August 17, 1861, in Goldsboro, NC, and August 29, 1861, in Snow Hill, NC.   Later on the mention of the Roll of Honor, it states that he was 18 years old.  According to other records, he was born in 1845, therefore he would have been 16 years old.   He certainly wouldn’t be the first to have made himself a little older to get into a war! 

The length of time of his enlistment says “for the war”.  There is a page in the records that says he is due “Confederate Bounty”.  This could be an enlistment bounty which was offered by the Confederate Government to soldiers who signed up for lengthy enlistments.  Usually it was a $50 bounty.  Some soldiers, especially at the beginning of the war, signed up for only 3 months.  Then the Conscription Act was signed in 1862 and soldiers signing up after that received the bounty.  However, James signed up for the length of the war, so it seems surprising that they would give him a bounty, but sure hope he got it. 

1861

His first company muster is dated July 16-Sept 1, 1861.

Second  company muster is for Sept. –Oct 1861

Third company muster is dated Nov and Dec 1861, and all state that he is present and accounted for.

1862

There is no company muster roll for Jan-Feb 1862.

In Mar-Apr 1862 James is present.

May 1, 1862- October 31, 1862, there is a note saying that James is absent in hospital in Richmond, VA.

There is another page showing pay on 9 Sept 1862 for the months of May 1, 1862-Sept 1, 1862.  The pay is $44.00.

A form showing that J. S. Mitchell appears on a Register of Medical  Director’s Office, Richmond, VA, Winder #3.  The only date given is a statement which says, “Transferred to Petersburg, October 10, 1862.”

Company Muster Roll for Nov 1862-Feb. 1863—James is present.  This is the roll which says he is due a Confederate  bounty.  Perhaps he enlisted again, as the place of enlistment is now shown as Virginia.

During 1862, his Regiment was in numerous battles.  One that James might have engaged in was at New Bern, NC. , on March 13.  New Bern would have been very close to his home in Greene Co. 

Two big battles that James may have missed while in the hospital is the battle at Malvern Hill, VA, on July 1, and the Battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg, MD.  This was the first battle on northern soil. 

1863

The company muster roll picks up with March-Apr 1863, James is present.

May-June, 1863, present

July-Aug, 1863-James is present, and there are two notes made on the form.  One says that he lost his cap pouch.  The cap pouch was worn usually on the right hip and attached to the waist belt.  It held the priming system for the soldier’s rifle, musket or carbine.

The writing is not clear.  It says “cap pouch lost to be stoped”.  Haven’t quite figured that out yet. **
(here is a Link to see what a cap pouch looked like)

The other note states that James was present at the battle of Gettysburg, which took place July 2-5 in PA.

September-October 1863-James is present.

Another important battle of the 2^nd Regiment in 1863 was Chancellorsville, VA, April 30-May 6.  The second bloodiest day of the Civil War was May 3 at Chancellorsville.  James’s brother Barney was wounded in this battle.

(To see an animated map of the first day of battle at Chancellorsville, click here. You can see the position of the 2nd NC.  It's around noon when they come in.  The little red rectangles are the CSA troops, and when you see the name Ramseur over them, that's the NC troops.  They will be coming in on Orange Plank Road at the bottom right of the screen.  Put your mouse over each rectangle and it will tell you which Regiment it was. 2nd NC is the second rectangle.) 

1864

Jan-Feb 1864—James was absent on a “furlough of indulgence” for 18 days, starting from Feb 27, 1864.

March 31, 1864, note:  James S. Mitchell is under G. O. #27, A I & G. O.   There is more work to be done on this—may possibly be a disciplinary action—perhaps he was late returning from his furlough.

May 2-Aug 31, 1864-James was admitted May 23 to General Hospital, #9 Camp Winder, Richmond, VA. April 30-May 27, 1864, James is on Hospital muster roll of sick soldiers.

Sept. –Oct 1864 James is present

Dec.  12, 1864-Dec 23, 1864 James is in CSA General Hospital in Charlottesville, VA.  His illness is listed  as “Act. Art Rheumatism” which possibly could be acute rheumatism.  He was allowed to return to duty on Dec. 23.

During 1864, the 2 NC is listed as fighting in these battles:

Wilderness, VA, May 8, 1864

Spotsylvania, VA—the battle went on for six days during the period of time from 12 May 1864 to  20 May 1864.

Cold Harbor, VA—the battle went on from May 31 through June 12.  The 2^nd Infantry were present on June 2.

Siege of Petersburg, VA-  2^nd Regt. was there June 15-18.  The famous explosion known as the Petersburg Crater didn’t happen until July 30.

Near Washington, DC, 12 July 1864 and 13 July 1864.

Core Creek, near New Bern took place on 27 July 1864.  James was again close to home.

By October 1864, the 2^nd NC was near Petersburg, VA again. 

1865

Only one paper for 1865.  This one states that James S. Mitchell’s name appears on a list of Prisoners of War belonging to the Army of Northern Virginia who have been  this day surrendered by General R. E. Lee, commanding said army to Lt. Gen. Grant, commanding armies of the U. S.

Paroled at Appomattox Court House, VA, April 9, 1865.

Battles in 1865:

Kinston, NC on March 18-19, 1865—probably the closest James has been to home.  Kinston is in Lenoir Co., right next to Greene Co.  In the latter part of March, they were around Goldsboro, NC.

The last battle listed for the 2^nd Regiment is near Farmville, PA, on 9 April, 1865. The Confederate Army made an attempt to get to the train with rations on it to feed the soilders, but the train was ordered back to Farmville. General Lee’s army was surrounded by the army of General Sheridan and General Lee surrendered.

There is a record stating that James S. Mitchell, Pvt. Co. D 2 Regiment, NC Troops appears on a Roll of Honor of the organization named above. It gives his county, Greene, date of entrance as 17 Aug, 1861 at age 18, and states he was a volunteer. While there is no date on the form, a printed note at the bottom says that it is in accordance with resolutions ratified by the General Assembly of that state on 20 December, 1862. There is no further information as of yet. Information on the Confederate Medals and Honors follows:

Confederate Medals & Honors

The Confederacy never managed to produce an equivalent artifact. Aside from the few Davis Guard Medals for the defense of Sabine Pass, September 8, 1863, and the New Market Cross of Honor awarded to the Virginia Military Institute Cadet Battalion of the Battle of New Market, May 15, 1864, only a published "Roll of Honor" was to be had, and that was supported only haphazardly. In 1900 the United Daughters of the Confederacy introduced their semi-official Southern Cross of Honor for Confederate veterans.

Confederate Roll of Honor

During the War Between the States, a Confederate Medal of Honor never became reality. Disagreement as well as financial difficulties precluded it from coming to fruition. On July 1, 1896, General Stephen Dill Lee, one of the few remaining senior officers of the Confederate army, spoke to a group of sons of Confederate veterans who had gathered at Richmond to form a group to preserve the memory and valor of the Confederate soldier. He told the group it was their duty to present the true history of the South to future generations. This group, chartered as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, was committed to that charge. In 1977, Private Samuel Davis of Coleman's Scouts, became the first to be posthumously presented the Confederate Medal of Honor. Since then, many others have been presented and those whose valor went far beyond the call of duty are finally being recognized.

The above paragraphs are from the website “Civil War Soldier Search”

Maggie