behind AotW

a companion to Antietam on the Web

Year: 2022

  • Old Man Guest

    Benjamin Franklin Guest was at least 55 years old when he was killed in the battle at Sharpsburg in September 1862; a Private in Company F, 53rd Georgia Infantry.

    His is indeed a hard-luck story.

    Family history, supported by the US Census, says he lost his Madison County, GA farm and his family due to his drinking, and by 1860 was living alone, an overseer on a farm in Griffin, Spalding County, GA. In May 1862 he signed-up as a substitute for one R.A. McDonald (possibly Robert Alexander McDonald, 1831-1904) of Company F.

    The family story says he was killed by a “sniper” on 16 September at Sharpsburg, which is somewhat unlikely, as the 53rd Georgia and the rest of the Brigade arrived at Sharpsburg from Harpers Ferry at sunrise on the 17th. His very brief military record says he was killed on 17 September.

    I don’t have a birth year for every soldier killed at Sharpsburg, but among those I do have, Guest is the 2nd oldest. The oldest being Private Adam Burkel of the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry – who was about 57 years old at Antietam.

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    The photograph of Semmes’ Brigade’s battlefield tablet was taken by Craig Swain for the Historical Marker Database (HMDB).

  • First Sergeant Roland LeVaughn (c. 1863)

    Another excellent photograph from Jim Silliman’s album.

    He’s Roland LeVaughn, a mechanic from Rocky Hill, CT. He enlisted in Company C of the 16th Connecticut as a Private, was promoted to Corporal in Maryland in September 1862, and was appointed First Sergeant of Company A in December 1863, which must have been about when this picture was taken.

    Roland and his brother William (First Sergeant, Company C) were both prisoners of war at Andersonville, GA. William died there on 7 September 1864 and Roland died in a prison in Charleston, SC about two weeks later.

  • First Sergeant Ezra T Burgess (c. 1862)

    Here’s another soldier of the 16th Connecticut from the collection of Jim Silliman: Ezra Thomas Burgess of Company E. He was promoted to First Sergeant on the field at Antietam – his new stripes seen here – and survived imprisonment at Andersonville.

  • Sergeant Major Robert H Kellogg (c. 1863)

    A poke in January from James Silliman set me on the path to greatly improve my collection of information about the soldiers of the ill-fated 16th Connecticut Infantry on the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Among several fine photographs he sent me from his collection is this one of Robert Hale Kellogg.

    He was an 18 year old Private at Antietam and was promoted to Sergeant of Company A, then Sergeant Major of the regiment in 1863.

    After his experience as a prisoner of war in 1864 he wrote Life and Death in Rebel Prisons: Giving a Complete History of the Inhuman and Barbarous Treatment of Our Brave Soldiers by Rebel Authorities, Inflicting Terrible Suffering and Frightful Mortality, Principally at Andersonville, Ga., and Florence, S.C. (1867) – GoogleBooks offers a copy online.

  • The Creech brothers of Barnwell, SC

    This is John J Creech, late 3rd Lieutenant of Company H, 17th South Carolina Infantry, a veteran of the Maryland Campaign of 1862. He was one of 6 brothers with War service, and all of them survived it.

      Starling Jeter Creech (1827-1912) – Corporal, Co. B, 2nd SC Reserve Infantry; Private, Battery G, 2nd South Carolina Light Artillery
      John Jackson “Jack” Creech (1832-1883) – 3rd Lieutenant, Co. H, 17th South Carolina Infantry
      George William “Billy” Creech (1836-1909) – Private, Co. H, 17th South Carolina Infantry
      Richard C Creech (1837-1913) – Private, Co. H, 17th South Carolina Infantry; Private, Battery G, 2nd South Carolina Light Artillery
      James Stafford “Jimmy” Creech (1838-1926) – Private, Co. H, 17th South Carolina Infantry
      Lewis Barnwell Creech (1843-1919) – Private, Co. H, 17th South Carolina Infantry

    Thanks to descendant Larry Hutto for the pointer to the Creech family and for John’s photograph.