Location:
Highway 69
DeKalb County, Alabama
N 34° 17.526 W085° 55.438
Date of Visit: October 8, 2011
Pvt
WH Freeman
Co G
49 Ala Inf
CSA
1843
1862
His record indicates that he died May 18, 1862. - Compiled
Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the
State of Alabama. Original data from: The National
Archives, Retrieved from at 3-Fold November 11, 2017. (http://www.fold3.com)
According
to Brewer’s History of Alabama units, the 49th was organized at
Nashville, in January 1862, and attached to the Kentucky brigade of Gen.
Breckinridge. It took part in the battle of Shiloh. A few weeks later, the
Forty-ninth was sent to Vicksburg, with Breckinridge's brigade. The Union bombardment of Vicksburg begin
on May 18. It would seem that that he probably died in route to or in Vicksburg before hostilties and
was possibility buried there.
Brief Historical Sketches of
Military Organizations
Raised In Alabama During the
Civil War, Reproduced from Willis Brewer's Alabama:
Her History, Resources War
Record, and Public Men From 1540 to 1872, www. archives.alabama.com
Report of Brig. Gen. M.L. Smith, Official
Record War of the Rebellion, Volume 15, page 6
Pvt
David C Freeman
Co B
3 Ala Cav
1839
1863
According to his Find a Grave Memorial this marker was added
as a memorial to a soldier who drowned crossing the Tennessee River with
Captain Wheeler. His actual burial site is unknown. Find A Grave Memorial
#102679745, accessed November 11, 2017. Private Freeman does not appear in the
records of the 3rd Alabama Calvary, nor does a DeKalb County unit. There
was a Company B of the 3rd Confederate Calvary from DeKalb County. I
cannot confirm if he served in this regiment.
Note: These brothers were sons of Elisha and Ann Freeman and their
service records were almost as problematic as locating the family cemetery. It
sits on a narrow shelve on the east face of Sand Mountain. Traveling up or down the face on Highway
69 one has to be looking in the exact “right” location to see the tombstones in
the winter. Forget it in the summer. Finding a place to park is also pretty challenging.
