This page is about my Civil War soldier ancestors. I'm researching their lives and their regiments. My goal is to write a novel about their part in the war and how it affected them.
My purpose in posting this page is to collect more information about these men - and of course I'd be delighted to share what information I have, if you are connected to someone listed here as well. So far, I've found distant cousins who had letters and stories, places and dates - and I was able to respond with military records I'd gotten from Washington, and more places and dates to fill in more pieces of the puzzle.
I'm listing these soldiers in two groups: first, those whose stories I'm planning to include in my novel - and secondly, those not planned for inclusion. Each group is listed alphabetically by last name, then first name. But I'm showing the names first-then-last, in hopes that anybody searching for these names will type them that way into the search engine.
| Name: | Nathan Bradley |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Regiment: | 130th N.Y. Infantry → 19th N.Y. Cavalry → 1st N.Y. Dragoons, Co. H (one regiment, three names) |
| Relation: | My great great granduncle (son of Zenas Bradley below) |
| Battles: | Deserted House, Siege of Suffolk, Bristoe Campaign, Richmond prison |
| War Status: | Died in prison, a P.O.W. in Richmond VA. Robert Knox Sneden, in his memoirs "Eye of the Storm," described an encounter with Nathan Bradley in that prison (but sadly did not mention Nathan Bradley's name). Sneden went on to Andersonville, where he was held concurrently with Horton Chamberlin below. |
| Name: | Zenas Bradley |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment 1: | 104th New York Infantry, Co. F |
| Regiment 2: | 16th Veteran Reserve Corps |
| Relation: | My great great great grandfather (father of Nathan Bradley above) |
| Battles: | Injured on patrol (never experienced battle) |
| War Status: | Survived |
| Name: | Chauncey Butler |
| Rank: | Third Corporal → Third Sergeant |
| Regiment: | 26th Michigan Infantry, Co. H |
| Relation: | Husband of my 1st cousin 4 times removed (Lucy Chamberlain, sister of Edward and George S. Chamberlain below) |
| Battles: | Siege of Suffolk, New York Draft Riots, Mine Run, Wilderness Campaign, Spotsylvania |
| War Status: | Died of wound received at Spotsylvania (9 days later) |
| Name: | Edward Chamberlain |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 26th Michigan Infantry, Co. H |
| Relation: | My 1st cousin 4 times removed (brother-in-law of Chauncey above, brother of George Sumner C. below) |
| Battles: | Mine Run, Wilderness Campaign, Spotsylvania |
| War Status: | Killed in action at Spotsylvania (same day his brother-in-law was shot) |
| Name: | George Sumner Chamberlain |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 26th Michigan Infantry, Co. H |
| Relation: | My 1st cousin 4 times removed (brother-in-law of Chauncey above, brother of Edward C. above) |
| Battles: | Siege of Suffolk, Mine Run, Wilderness Campaign, Spotsylvania |
| War Status: | Survived |
| Name: | Horton Chamberlain |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 1st New York Veteran Cavalry, Co. D |
| Relation: | My great great granduncle (brother of William below, and 1st cousin of Edward and George above) |
| Battles: | New Market, Andersonville |
| War Status: | Died a P.O.W. at Andersonville. Held at Andersonville at the same time as Robert Knox Sneden, who met Nathan Bradley in Richmond, and John Ransom, whose Andersonville diary has been published. |
| Name: | William N. Chamberlain |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Regiment: | 89th New York Infantry, Co. C |
| Relation: | My great great granduncle (brother of Horton above, and 1st cousin of George and Edward above) |
| Battles: | Antietam, Fredericksburg, Mud March, Suffolk, Fort Wagner, Petersburg, Appomattox |
| War Status: | Survived |
| Name: | Ezra Chamberlin |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 7th Connecticutt Infantry, Co. K |
| Relation: | My 7th cousin 3 times removed |
| Battles: | Fort Pulaski, James Island, Fort Wagner |
| War Status: | Killed at Fort Wagner. His dogtag was picked up by Joseph Ridgaway, a Seaman of the Confederate Navy, who wore it aboard the Confederate submarine CSS Hunley. Ezra's dogtag was discovered in 2001 when the Hunley was raised from the sea bottom. |
| Name: | Charles F. Miller |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 6th New York Cavalry, Co. I |
| Relation: | My 1st cousin 4 times removed |
| Battles: | Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Camp Parole |
| War Status: | Captured at Chancellorsville, then turned over to the Union to be held at Camp Parole MD. Got tired of waiting to be exchanged, and deserted from Camp Parole. |
| Name: | Daniel M. Sloper |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 8th Virginia Infantry (Confederate) |
| Relation: | My 1st cousin 4 times removed (brother of John T. Sloper below, 1st cousin of Gilman J. Sloper below) |
| Battles: | 2nd Manassas, Antietam, 1st Winchester, Fredericksburg |
| War Status: | Deserted |
| Name: | Gilman J. Sloper |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 184th New York Infantry, Co. B |
| Relation: | My great great granduncle (1st cousin of John T. Sloper and Daniel M. Sloper above & below) |
| Battles: | Cedar Creek, Petersburg, Richmond |
| War Status: | Survived |
| Name: | John T. Sloper |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry (Confederate), Co. A |
| Relation: | My 1st cousin 4 times removed (brother of Daniel M. Sloper above, 1st cousin of Gilman J. Sloper above) |
| Battles: | Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Gettysburg, Cedar Creek, Appomattox |
| War Status: | Survived |
| Name: | George Van Arsdale |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 15th New York Cavalry, Co. G (commanded by Custer at the end of the war) |
| Relation: | My great great grandfather |
| Battles: | Ashby's Gap, 3rd Winchester, Grand Review |
| War Status: | Survived |
| Name: | Phineas Butler |
| Rank: | Private → Sergeant |
| Regiment: | 16th Michigan Infantry, Co. I |
| Relation: | Brother of the husband of my 1st cousin 4 times removed (brother of Chauncey Butler above) |
| Battles: | Peninsula Campaign |
| War Status: | Killed in Peninsula Campaign (Gaines' Mill) |
| Name: | Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain |
| Rank: | Lt. Colonel → Colonel → Brigadier General → Brevet Major General |
| Regiment: | 20th Maine Infantry - then commanded 1st Brigade, 1st Division, V Corps |
| Relation: | My 5th cousin 4 times removed |
| Battles: | Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Petersburg, Quaker Road, Appomattox (and others) |
| War Status: | Survived (NOTE: plenty enough has been written about Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top and Appomattox - my novel is going to be about the common men instead.) |
| Name: | Finley Chamberlin |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 9th Michigan Infantry, Co. I |
| Relation: | My 1st cousin 4 times removed (brother-in-law of Elliott B. Kinne, below) |
| Battles: | Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Atlanta, Nashville |
| War Status: | Survived |
| Name: | Elliott B. Kinne |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 16th Michigan Infantry, Co. K (same regiment as Phineas Butler above) |
| Relation: | Husband of my 1st cousin 4 times removed (Adelaide Chamberlin, sister of Finley Chamberlin above) |
| Battles: | Appomattox, Grand Review |
| War Status: | Survived |
| Name: | Henry Sheafe Sloper |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment: | 2nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Co. E |
| Relation: | My 5th cousin 3 times removed |
| Battles: | Fort Totten DC, New Berne NC, Plymouth NC |
| War Status: | Survived |
| Name: | Thomas Sloper |
| Rank: | Private |
| Regiment 1: | 10th Tennessee Infantry (Confederate), Co. K |
| Regiment 2: | 23rd Illinois Infantry, Cos. I & D |
| Relation: | No relation (born in Galway Ireland - but I couldn't ignore his having the same name as me) |
| Battles: | Fort Donelson, Camp Douglas, Cedar Creek, Richmond |
| War Status: | Survived. Captured at Fort Donelson, sent as a P.O.W. to Camp Douglas in Chicago. Took the oath of allegiance to the Union, and fought out the remainder of the war as a Yankee. Guard duty in Richmond VA after the city was taken. |