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R.O. Bennett

R.O. Bennett

Confederate (CSV)

Corporal

Richmond Oliver Bennett

"Rich"

(1836 - 1895)

Home State: Texas

Branch of Service: Infantry

Unit: 1st Texas Infantry

Before Sharpsburg

He arrived in Texas from Georgia before 1850, and served in the Texas Mounted Rangers for 3 months from December 1857 to March 1858. He enlisted in Company M, First Texas Infantry when they organized in Trinity County, and mustered for Confederate service as 3rd Corporal on 5 May 1862 at Sumpter, TX.

On the Campaign

He was wounded in a finger in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862.

The rest of the War

He was wounded again, by gunshots to the right knee and head, and captured at Gettysburg, PA on 3 July 1863. He was exchanged from the De Camp General Hospital on Devil's Island, New York Harbor on 8 September 1863. He was captured again, near Richmond, VA in October 1864 and exchanged at Point Lookout, MD on 17 March 1865.

After the War

He returned home to Trinity County, TX.

References & notes

Service information from Davis1 and Simpson,2 who both have him as R.O. Bennett. His Sharpsburg wound detail from a 22 September casualty list by Lt. Col. Work published in the Galveston News of 1 November 1862. Gettysburg details from the Buseys,3 as Richard O. Bennett. Personal details from family genealogists, especially the document collection of Tom McCabe. His gravesite is on Findagrave, source also of his picture, from a photo from grandson Omer (Omie) Kennedy (1918-2013).

He married Sarah Jane Moore Rogers (1837-1931) in Trinity County in 1860 and they had at least 9 children together between 1861 and 1884; one before the War, the rest after.

Birth

03/11/1836; Fayette County, GA

Death

01/15/1895; Groveton, TX; burial in Bennett Cemetery, Apple Springs, TX

Notes

1   Davis, Rev. Nicholas A., The Campaign from Texas to Maryland, Houston: Telegraph Book and Job Establishment, 1863, pg. 143  [AotW citation 1588]

2   Simpson, Harold Brown, Hood's Texas Brigade: a Compendium, Hillsboro: Hill Junior College Press, 1977, pg. 85  [AotW citation 21073]

3   Busey, John W., and Travis W. Busey, Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg: A Comprehensive Record, Jefferson (NC): McFarland & Company, 2017, pg. 1421  [AotW citation 21074]