Samuel Jellison, a mechanic from Decatur, Illinois, enlisted in Company B, 8th Illinois Infantry when the war began. Mustered out of that unit in July 1861, he enlisted in the 61st Illinois Infantry that December; promoted to quartermaster sergeant and transferred to the regimental staff, he was reduced to private and transferred to Company F on October 10, 1863; Jellison was discharged two months later for promotion to lieutenant with the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry.

Jellison mustered into the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry as a first lieutenant on December 3, 1863, and assumed the duties of commissary officer.

The 3rd Arkansas Cavalry was organized in February 1864 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The 3rd participated in General Frederick Steele’s Camden Expedition and in various scouts against guerrillas in Arkansas for the remainder of the war. Jellison resigned his commission on March 1, 1865.

Carte-de-Visite by Unknown Photographer.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31623