From The Regimental Flag: Lost
part of a series from the regimental newspaper of the 2nd Delaware Infantry
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From The Regimental Flag (Vol. 2), January 23, 1862, pg. 2
Lost.
Our Devil; he is about five feet eight inches high, yellow complexion, light hair and wears No. 14 boots, and answers to the name of John P. Barney. He was last seen between this office and Camp Wilkes, but since then he has not been heard of. Any information of him will be gratefully received.
He was gentle he was kind,
And we’ll never, never find
As good a Devil as J. P. B.
John P. Barney served in Company D, 2nd Delaware Infantry. Enlisted 1861, discharged for disability March 1863. Reenlisted January 1864 and assigned to Company A, 1st Delaware Infantry. Reported wounded and missing in action May 6, 1864, at Wilderness, Va. Died August 12, 1864. Buried Poplar Grove National Cemetery, Dinwiddie County, Va. Original place of burial Lynchburg, Va.
Thanks, Eric. What a sad ending to an amusing piece. I appreciate you filling in his story for us.
I wonder if he came back from the May 6 wounding and then was killed on May 12, or whether it took him that long to die from the May 6 wound. And I wonder what the story is behind his burial in Lynchburg and his reinterment at Poplar Grove.
It’s difficult to say exactly what happened to him, as available information is confusing. His Compiled Service Record (CSR) contains conflicting information – wounded May 5 or 6, 1864 and references to possibly being in a hospital, while also stating uncertainty about what happened to him following his wounding. The CSR also states a later effort to find information about his fate was inconclusive. The August 12, 1864 date of death and original burial in Lynchburg, Va. comes from his burial record at Poplar Grove National Cemetery. One possibility is that he was wounded and captured at the Wilderness, transported to Lynchburg as a prisoner and then died there three months later. Union bodes were moved from Lynchburg to Poplar Grove after the war.
That’s really funny. Mark Twain-level dry
Thought this was a comic invention in the Flag. Sorry if I got it wrong