Alfred Ellet was born on October 11, 1820, at Penn’s Manor, Pennsylvania; he worked on his father’s farm and studied civil engineering. Living in Bunker Hill, Illinois, at the start of the Civil War, he was commissioned a captain in the 59th Illinois Infantry. In the spring of 1862, his brother Charles Ellet ...
Calvin Ellis was commissioned a colonel and assigned the task of organizing the 1st Missouri Cavalry on July 20, 1861; the organization progressed so rapidly that by September 6, 1861, twelve companies had been recruited and were mustered into service at Jefferson Barracks (St. Louis). The regiment participated in General John C. Fremont’s advance ...
Photograph of steamboats embarking Mower’s and Tuttle’s Union brigades at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Exactly when the photograph was taken is unknown. Carte-de-Visite by T. W. Bankes, Helena, Ark. Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31818
John Estes was a member of the 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry from March 7, 1862 to February 4, 1863, when he transferred to Company I, 8th Missouri State Militia Cavalry. The 8th Missouri participated in actions against Confederate regular forces and guerrillas in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas from 1862-1864, then pursued General Sterling Price ...
Thomas Ewing Jr. was born on August 7, 1829, in Lancaster, Ohio; he was the foster brother of General William Tecumseh Sherman, who also became his brother-in-law when he married Ewing’s sister. Ewing studied and practiced law from 1852 through 1856 in Canton, Ohio; moving to Leavenworth, Kansas in 1856, he became a member ...
Adolph Faes, a native of Aargau, Switzerland, enlisted in Company B, 15th Missouri Infantry on July 16, 1861 in St. Louis. Promoted to corporal and sergeant in 1863, he was wounded at Kennesaw Mountain in 1864. The 15th Missouri Infantry saw considerable action during the war, including the battles of Pea Ridge, Perryville, ...
James Fagan was born on March 1, 1828, in Clark County, Kentucky; his family moved to Arkansas in 1838. With the start of the Civil War, Fagan raised 900 men for the 1st Arkansas Infantry. Fagan led his regiment at the Battle of Shiloh, but was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department in the fall ...
Bernard Gains Farrar, Jr. was born in St. Louis on August 5, 1831. Educated at Norwich Military Academy in Vermont and the University of Virginia, Farrar became a businessman in St. Louis. When the Civil War began, he was appointed an aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon. After fighting at Wilson’s Creek ...
Daniel Farren enlisted on August 6, 1861, in Captain Samuel Wood’s Kansas Rangers. When Wood’s Rangers were combined with other independent companies to form the 6th Missouri Cavalry, Farren became a member of Company G. He was promoted to second lieutenant in December 1861 and to first lieutenant in May 1862. Farren ...
John Fealey was born in Morgan County, Virginia, and enlisted as a private in Company F, 1st Missouri Cavalry at St. Louis, Missouri, on October 1, 1862. Fealey was promoted to corporal on January 1, 1864, to sergeant on September 15, 1864, and to first sergeant on February 13, 1865. He was mustered ...
Photograph of Walton Finch and his wife; Finch joined Company F, 11th Missouri Infantry as a private on August 6, 1861 in Xenia, Illinois. He rose steadily through the ranks, attaining the rank of first lieutenant before he resigned on September 7, 1865. The 11th Missouri participated in the fighting at Fredericktown, New Madrid, Iuka, Corinth, ...
George Finnell enlisted as a private in Company E, 11th Missouri Infantry, on July 20, 1861, at Olney, Illinois. The 11th Missouri Infantry was organized and mustered into service in August 1861 at St. Louis, Missouri. The 11th Missouri participated in the fighting at Fredericktown, New Madrid, Iuka, Corinth, the siege of Vicksburg ...
Undated photograph of the First National Bank in St. Louis, Missouri; “Respectfully, John E. Downing, Lt.” appears in ink on the reverse. A Lieutenant John E. Downing was assigned to Company A, 13th Missouri Cavalry and saw duty in St. Louis, but it is unclear as to whether this is the same officer. The First National Bank ...
Eugene Fisher enlisted with his brother John A. Fisher in Company D, 23rd Missouri Infantry, on August 24, 1861, in Eagleville, Missouri. The 23rd Missouri Infantry was engaged in the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862, where Eugene and his brother were both captured and held as prisoners of war. Eugene was ...
