Robert Alexander Shirley

In 1860 he was a 24 year old living with his parents and siblings in Copiah County, MS. He enlisted on 25 April 1861 at Crystal Springs, MS and mustered as a Private in Company C, 16th Mississippi Infantry on 26 May 1861 in Corinth, MS.

He was wounded in the back in action at Sharpsburg, MD on 17 September 1862.

He was captured at Germanna Bridge near Fredericksburg, VA on 29 or 30 April 1863, briefly at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC, and paroled there on 10 May. He was listed as a deserter on 27 January 1865 at Petersburg, VA - he surrendered to US forces there, along with Pvt. Daniel Howell and Sgt. William Slay. They were prisoners at Knoxville, TN by 14 March, took an oath of allegiance there, and were sent to Chattanooga then Louisville, KY, where all three were released on 28 March 1865, pledged to "remain north of the Ohio River during the War."

He married in Copiah County in 1865 but by 1870 was a farmer in Parker County, TX. He was licensed to preach in 1878 and in 1880 he was a carpenter in Throckmorton, TX. By 1900 was a salesman at Weatherford in Parker County, and had retired there by 1910.

His service from his Compiled Military Service Records,1 online from fold3. His Sharpsburg wound from a casualty list in the New Orleans Times-Picayune of 29 October 1862. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860-1910. His memorial is on Findagrave.

He married Caroline Rumph (1835-1867) in December 1865. He married again, Francina Elizabeth Strain (1835-1912) in December 1870 and adopted a daughter, "Minda".

See a c. 1900 photograph of Robert and his siblings over on the blog.

10/07/1836; Abbeville District, SC

11/29/1911; Millsap, TX; burial in Newberry Cemetery, Weatherford, TX