Jacob H. Cridlin

Son of a carriage maker, he was an officer in the pre-war Washington Guards militia company in Fredericksburg, VA, and was probably at Harpers Ferry during John Brown's raid in October 1859. In 1860 he was a married 35 year old blacksmith with 4 children living in Fredericksburg. He enlisted there on 22 April 1861 and mustered as a Private in Company A, 30th Virginia Infantry. He was promoted to Corporal and Sergeant by 15 July 1861. He was commissioned First Lieutenant on 15 April 1862.

At Sharpsburg on the morning of 17 September 1862 ...

his company was in the thickest of the fight [in and near the West Woods], and though several balls passed through his clothing, he was not wounded: he always believing that "no Federal ball was made to hit him."

He was sent to a hospital with malaria on 28 February 1865 and furloughed on 20 April with no later military record.

By 1870 and to at least 1880 he was a blacksmith in Baltimore, MD.

His service from his Compiled Service Records,1 online from fold3, and Krick.2 The quote above about Sharpsburg and other details from his obituary in the Fredericksburg Free Lance of 23 February 1896. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860-1880. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

He married Harriet Southard (1837-) and they had 4 children between 1850 and 1857.

03/10/1826; Westmoreland County, VA

04/19/1896; Baltimore, MD; burial in Loudon Park Cemetery, Baltimore, MD