Richard Sears

An unmarried farmer in Minden, LA, he enlisted as Private in Company G, 8th Louisiana Infantry on 15 March 1862 at Minden.

He was wounded and captured in action on 17 September 1862 at Sharpsburg. His Lieutenant later wrote of the Company:

... we marched into Maryland, crossing the Potomac at Leesburg. Re-crossing at Williamsport we took Harper's Ferry on the 15th of September; and then crossing for the third time, we fought the destructive battle of Sharpsburg on the 17th. We carried only 18 men into this fight, many having been left behind on the forced march to reach this point in time, and when the wounded were borne from the field, only three of the company were left standing.

He was briefly treated at US Army General Hospital #5 in Frederick, MD on 10 and 11 October, then transferred to Fort McHenry in Baltimore and on to Fortress Monroe, VA. He was exchanged at Aiken's Landing, VA on 10 November 1862. He was absent on furlough for the rest of the war for his Sharpsburg wound.

Basic information from Booth.1 The quote above from G.L.P. Wren in History of The Minden Blues in D.W. Harris' The History of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana (1886). Frederick details from the Patient List.2