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Next, Erastus McAninch and the 29th Miss. Inf. went to south-eastern Tennessee. “From the last days of September through October 1863, Gen. Braxton Bragg’s army laid siege to the Union army under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans at Chattanooga, cutting off its supplies” [Gn-10]. At this time, two (half) brothers were both at the siege of Chattanooga -- Elias B. McAninch, of Texas, in Hood’s Texas Brigade, and Erastus, G. McAninch, in the 29th Mississippi [see also “The Blue and Gray Trail, The Civil War in North Georgia and Chattanooga” (Ms-16)]. |
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In late November, 1863, Union and Confederate forces clashed at the Battle of Lookout Mountain, above Chatanooga, and Erastus G. McA. was taken prisoner on Nov. 24, 1863 [Jan.+Feb. 1864 card], “captured by the forces under command of Maj. Gen Thomas”. Initially, on Nov. 30th, he was sent to Louisville, Kentucky (Remarks: “For Exchange”), but then, on Dec. 3, 1863, he was sent west to the new Prisoner of War camp at Rock Island, Illinois, where he was one of the first group of prisoners at the new camp, on a cold, low island in the Mississippi River: |
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“In 1863, the Union brought the war to a small, rocky island in the Mississippi. [Dec. 23, 1863] Two days before Christmas, a train rustled into Rock Island and passed over a wooden bridge to the island where a landmark clock tower was being built, and unloaded 468 Confederate soldiers” captured at the Battle of Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tenn. [Notes Ms-19, Ms-20] |
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During that first winter of 1863-1864, there was a shortage of blankets. The temperature that winter is said to have fallen to 33 degrees below zero … [Note Ms-20]. In June [1864], Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ordered prisoner rations at Rock Island cut in response to the harsh conditions that Union soldiers faced in the infamous prisoner of war camp at Andersonville, Georgia. [Ms-19]. In her famous Civil War novel, Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell called the Rock Island Prison camp “the Andersonville of the North” [Ms-19]. However, while nearly 2,000 Confederate soldiers died at Rock Island, more than 13,700 Union soldiers died in Andersonville. [Ms-20] |
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Erastus McAninch survived there for the remainder of the war, and was not released until June, 1865. As a condition of his release, Erastus signed an ‘oath of allegiance’ to the United States [two copies in his file, June 17th and June 19th]. His home was listed as Elm Grove, DeSoto County, Mississippi, and his physical description is given n the document as “... dark complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes; and is 5 feet, 9 1/2 inches high, age 22 years”[Note Ms-5]. |
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His complete service record shows only “Co. I, 29th Miss.”, so, apparently, Erastus did not serve in any other company (Co. D, Co. H and/or Co. J, which is probably just a transcription error anyway). |
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Back home, Erastus married Harriet M. Smith, 15 Jan. 1867, DeSoto County, Miss., and they had a daughter, Harriet Marta McAninch, born 18 June 1869. His first wife Harriet died (1869?), and he married (2nd) Mary Jane Miller, 9 Aug. 1869 , DeSoto County; there are no children by Mary Jane. In the 1870 Census, Erastus, age 28, Mary Jane, age 20, and his daughter Harriet, age 2, are living in Senatobia, DeSoto County, Mississippi [Ms-11; Ms-21] [Senatobia, Tate County, set off in 1873]. The 1900 census confirms that Erastus and Mary Jane did not have any children [Ms-22]. |
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Erastus died on the 4th of July, 1915, Senatobia, Tate Co., Miss., and is buried in Bethesda Cemetery, Senatobia. His widow, Mary Jane, applied for a pension, and “Drew Pension 1924-1927” [Ms-11]; she died 21 Aug. 1930, Shelby County, Tenn., and is also buried in Bethesda Cemetery, Senatobia. |
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McAninch for the Confederacy, Eight Who Fought for Southern Independence Conf Sold .doc |
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McAninch Family History NL, v.X.n.1 January 2002 Copyright Frank McAninch page 2002-05 |