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Confederate (CSV)

Sergeant

John Fleming Christian

(1839 - 1895)

Home State: Alabama

Branch of Service: Infantry

Unit: 5th Alabama Infantry

Before Sharpsburg

In 1860 he was 21 years old and lived with his widowed mother and 6 siblings at Greensboro, Greene County, AL. He enlisted as First Sergeant, Company I (later D), 5th Alabama Infantry on 11 May 1861 at Sangster's Cross Roads and was commissioned Brevet (Jr.) 2nd Lieutenant on 31 May, but he resigned on 8 (or 17) October 1861, apparently to go home and help his mother, then rejoined and resumed his non-commissioned service.

On the Campaign

He was captured in action near Turner's Gap on South Mountain on 14 September 1862.

The rest of the War

He was held at Fort Delaware until paroled on 2 October, then sent to Aiken's Landing, VA for exchange. He was declared exchanged and eligible to return to duty on 10 November 1862.

He was again commissioned, as 3rd Lieutenant, by April 1863 and was captured again, at Chancellorsville, VA on 3 May 1863 and held in the Old Capitol Prison, Washington, DC. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 30 November 1863. He was on wounded furlough by June 1864 through January 1865 and back to his Company in February. He was promoted to First Lieutenant, date not given, and was captured at Sailors Creek, VA on 6 April 1865, briefly at the Old Capitol Prison again, then sent to the prison at Johnson's Island, OH on the 19th. He was released on 18 June 1865 after taking an oath of allegiance.

References & notes

His service from the State of Alabama1 and his Compiled Service Records,2 online from fold3. He's listed as missing on South Mountain in a casualty list for Rodes' Brigade in the Montgomery Weekly Advertiser of 8 October 1862, as Sergeant. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census for 1860. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

He married Ellen Harrison Bonsal (1843-1930) in September 1865 and they had a daughter Elizabeth.

Birth

1839 in AL

Death

12/21/1895; Tuscaloosa, AL; burial in Greensboro Cemetery, Greensboro, AL

Notes

1   State of Alabama, Dept. of Archives & History, Alabama Civil War Service Database, Published 2004, first accessed 01 January 2010, <https://archives.alabama.gov/research/CivilWarService.aspx>, Source page: /civilwar/soldier.cfm?id=34199, etc.  [AotW citation 25618]

2   US War Department, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, Record Group No. 109 (War Department Collection of Confederate Records), Washington DC: US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1903-1927  [AotW citation 28029]