I joined the Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-1865, this year, under Great, Great Grandfather John Wesley Duart. I didn’t know too much about him or his regiment, so I’ve endeavored to write an article about him. It also spurred me on to look for other ancestors who fought in the Civil War and I found Great, Great Grandfather, Joseph S. Shoemaker.
I started by requesting Joseph’s pension file from NARA, I already had John Wesley’s. Well, 200 pages later I have finally waded through his file. Most of it was repeated applications for an increase in his pension, however it was interesting reading. Private Shoemaker was in Company C, 7th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry. He enlisted May 9, 1863 and was discharged August, 23, 1865 in Harrisburg, PA. He was in the battle at Shelbyville, Tennessee (later listed as Alabama) where he was thrown from his horse in a cavalry charge. His horse fell on him, injuring his right arm. He also contracted “malarial poisoning”, both which plagued him the remainder of his life.
Many of my other relatives wrote affidavits testifying that Joseph was totally disabled. This included: John Wesley Duart, Winfield Packard, S.B. Morse and second wife of Joseph, Sarah Shoemaker.
I’ll keep you posted on my research into this company and the battle at Shelbyville.