Genealogy Trails
Jackson County, Illinois
BUTCHER, JOHN
JR.1844-1868
Submitted by Andrew Butcher
Service Record
Joined When: AUG 12, 1862 Joined Where: MURPHYSBORO, IL
Joined By Whom: C S WARD Period 3 YRS
Muster In :AUG 26, 1862 Muster In Where :CAMP ANNA, IL
Muster In By Whom :N/A Muster Out AUG 5, 1865
Muster Out Where :VICKSBURG, MS (should be :Chicago, IL) Muster Out By Whom CPT LANDER
Remarks: PROMOTED TO CORPORAL.------------------- Additional info: John Butcher Side: Union
Unit Name :81st Illinois Infantry Regiment
State: Illinois
Function: Infantry
Company: D
Rank: Private
Type: Held at Andersonville prison and survived.
Capture Date: (believed to be:10 June 1864.)
Brice's Cross Roads, MS
Other Names: Tishomingo Creek--Guntown
Location: Prentiss County and Union County, MS.
Campaign: Forrest’s Defense of Mississippi (1864)
Date: June 10, 1864
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis [US]; Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest [CS]
Forces Engaged: Three-brigade division of infantry and a division of cavalry (about 8,500 ) [US]; cavalry corps [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 3,105 total--US 2,610 (including 1500 captured); CS 495.Re: Battle of Brice's Crossroads.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Aftermath:
The Confederates suffered 492 casualties to the Union's 2,164 (including 1,500 prisoners). Forrest captured huge supplies of arms, artillery, and ammunition as well as plenty of stores. Sturgis suffered demotion and exile to the far West. After the battle, the Union Army again accused Forrest of massacring black soldiers. However, historians believe that charge unwarranted, because later prisoner exchanges undermined the Union claim of disproportionate death.
Description: At the beginning of June 1864, Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest set out with his cavalry corps of about 2,000 men to enter Middle Tennessee and destroy the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, which was carrying men and supplies to Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman in Georgia. On June 10, 1864, Forrest’s smaller Confederate force defeated a much larger Union column under Brig. Gen. Samuel Sturgis at Brice's Cross Roads. This brilliant tactical victory against long odds cemented Forrest’s reputation as one of the foremost mounted infantry leaders of the war.
Result: Confederate victory
CWSAC Reference #: MS014
Preservation Priority: I.3 (Class B)
National Park Unit: Brice’s Cross Roads NBS <http://www.nps.gov/brcr/>)
Capture Site: Brice’s Crossroads, MS
Alternate Name: Buster
Remarks :RE: Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System (CWSSS) website. (2) Buried 1868?: Holiday Farm Cemetery - 268 Maes Road, Murphysboro, Il. (3)
[This article appeared in an abbreviated form in North & South magazine Vol. 6 No. 6 (September) 2003 pp 23-32 under the title "What Killed the Yankees at Andersonville?" ].
The terrible things which happened in [the Civil War prison camps] seems to have taken place not because anyone meant it so but simply because men were clumsy and the times were still rude. About 41,000 Federal soldiers shuffled into Andersonville between February 1864 and the end of the war. Although only 13,000 of the prisoners are buried in the National Cemetery at Andersonville, it is probably no exaggeration to state that 50% of the prisoners who entered Andersonville died before reaching home or arrived home mere wrecks of men.
Many more soldiers from the 81st IL Inf Regt were captured in the battle at Brice's Crossroads, sent to Andersonville, some died there, some returned home and died shortly thereafter. All these men were true hero's of Jackson and surrounding counties of Illinois.
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