First Slaves, Then Soldiers

      Sorry for the long gap in postings but its taken awhile to find info! That being said, I've been very successful - birth dates, death dates, post-emancipation life, and even Military records. While I'll certainly be posting about all of this in the coming weeks, today I'm going to discuss the military service of some of the enslaved people at the Gaines plantation.

As I came to find out, the following men served in the United States Colored Troop:

Jerry Gaines   16th Infantry Reg, Co. F
Wiley Gaines   16th Infantry Reg, Co. K
Harris Gaines   16th Infantry Reg, Co. K
George Gaines   16th Infantry Reg, Co. K

There were a few others in the 16th Regiment with identical names to other enslaved men at the Gaines plantation, but I was able to rule them out after examining their pension records.

To start, I examined the Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR) via Fold3.com or Ancestry.com. These records are searchable by name. They indicate service unit, promotions, pay, place of enlistment, and a short physical description of the soldier.

Wiley Gaines CMSR   Fold3.com

Jerry Gaines CMSR  Fold3.com

George Gaines CMSR Fold3.com

Harris Gaines CMSR  Fold3.com

These are only the first card in a series that give info on service. These are very exciting for me as they better enabled a mental picture of what these men looked like. It show that they all enlisted in Clarksville around the same time. This was at Fort Defiance, a former incomplete Confederate fort taken by the Union immediately after the fall of Fort Donelson in Feb. 1862 and completed. Confirmation of the location comes from the pension records, which will be discussed soon!

Now that I knew which of the men had served in the War, it was time to see if they had later filed for pensions. There are few a different types of pensions, but the most common were 'Invalid', which meant the soldier had become disabled as a result of the war, and "Widow", which was for the support of widows of former soldiers. Some received both. Applying for a pension didn't necessarily mean one was received. In fact, the U.S. Government used a great deal of scrutiny to ensure only valid claims were paid out. This scrutiny helped create very detailed records as neighbors and family members gave depositions to help give the individuals story and identity credibility.

To locate pension records requires examining the Pension Index file. These are a series of cards (also available through Fold3.com) that have the individuals name, the application number, and, if applicable, the pension certificate number.

Harris Gaines Pension Index Card. Fold3.com

After finding these numbers, you can then find the Pension. While some of these have been digitized, the ones I was looking forward had not, though they will be in the near future. To get my hands on them I had to either order them and have the digital file sent to me, or actually go to the National Archives in Washington D.C. Turns out, my best friend was moving to Williamsburg, VA and had me go along with him to help move. Since D.C. isn't that far, I opted to visit the Archives.


Let me tell you, the information contained in these pension records is amazing! There's so much, in fact, that I'm going to devote one post per soldier. Stay tuned!