War is hell and I often bristle at the presentations and concept of war enthusiasts. I just wrapped up at a genealogy conference with one such war enthusiast, which got me thinking about my family’s role in the Civil War and holes in my genealogy. For the most part, half of my family had yet to immigrate in 1865, so I knew they hadn’t participated. Maryland, St. Mary’s specifically, played an interesting role in the Civil War, sending men to fight on both sides and hosting a Confederate prison, but of the 344 men who went to war from that area, it appears none were men from either my Dyson or Armsworthy line.
However, my 3rd great grandfather Abel Roland Benjamin apparently fought for the 46th Infantry of Indiana. He perished in the Vicksburg Campaign at the battle of Champion Hill and was buried in a mass grave there. A later memorial was placed in his home county in Indiana.
There was a nice write up done in 2014 by another ancestor that is worth the read:
Abel left behind a wife and 8 children. You can see his wife’s pension request documents here. Others have believed that his son, George Washington later enlisted as well, but I’m still working on the documentation:
