Benjamin
Ralls Felts
Civil
War ancestor of Jim Epperson
My ancestor was Benjamin Ralls Felts of the
128th Illinois and 9th Illinois.
His was an interesting war service.
The 128th was mustered into Federal service
in the fall of 1862. The men were from
Williamson County, Illinois, a hot-bed of Copperheadism. In the wake of the
Emancipation Proclamation, perhaps because of it, many of the men deserted and
the regiment was disbanded to be consolidated with the 9th Illinois, which was
serving in the Corinth, Mississippi, area.
The consolidation took place in August, 1863. Benjamin is listed as having deserted, but also as having returned
to the ranks.
In October, 1863, the 9th Illinois (now
mounted on mules) took part in the pursuit of Chalmers's Confederate cavalry
which launched a raid into West Tennessee aimed at the Memphis and Charleston railroad. During a sharp skirmish at Salem,
Mississippi, on October 8th, Benjamin was wounded in the right arm and left
behind to be captured. He was initially
taken to Richmond (probably to Belle Isle) and then later to
Andersonville. He was paroled in
December, 1864, at Charleston, South Carolina, and finished his military obligation
at Tripler Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
There he became interested in a medical career, which led to his
becoming a doctor. He returned to
Southern Illinois after being mustered out in June, 1865, where he married his
sweetheart Nancy Everitt. They had ??
children, one of whom was my grandfather Harvey A. Felts, born in 1890 (I
think). Benjamin died in 1914.