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 |  A sporadic account of my reaction to life. |
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Over the years I have sporadically attempted to keep a journal. Each attempt has failed miserably. I think they expired because I established rules that were too ridgid for them. So, this attempt will bring with it very few rules. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** There are many incredibly kind and thoughtful people in WDC. One of them is zwisis. Out of the blue she sent me this flower gift. It reminds me of the Bluebonnets of Texas. Thanks, Sarah. And, I must not forget the very talented katherine76 who created the flower...thank you. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Well, it appears that my blog is going to the dogs. It aslo seems as if folks have gotten me pegged as a dog lover....they're right. Our very own Anyea   has gifted me with this Valentine card. Now I ask you, "How sweet is that?" Thanks, Anyea  ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I have been fortunate to encounter many generous and kind people during my tenure in WDC. Debi Wharton is one of them. She gifted me with the following sig. It shows how sensitive and caring she is. It also shows that she read some my entries. She'll never know how much I appreciate the gift and the attention to my blog. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| My study of family history has recorded many Boutwell men serving in the military during their lives. Some served briefly, some a long time, and some served often. Such is the case of my great-great-grandfather Mark Jackson. The first record I have of Mark is a Company Muster-in Roll issued on June 30, 1846. Eighteen-year-old Mark enlisted in Captain Patrick’s “C” Company of the Mounted Regiment of the Arkansas Infantry. He enlisted at Washington, Arkansas, for a twelve-month tour of service to fight in the War with Mexico. He was charged $75 for a horse and $10 for the necessary equipment. Mark was born in Georgia, so I’m not sure as to why he was in Arkansas at that time. One family researcher maintains he was there because he had fled Georgia to escape viciously assaulting a slave for disparaging his father. While that provides a plausible explanation the story, it lacks records to establish credibility. In any case, Mark was in Arkansas and he was presented with the opportunity to join the Army, as many did when running from troubles. Mark fought in the Battle of Buena Vista, on February 22 and 23, 1847, near Puerto de la Angostura in the State of Coahuila, Mexico. The US Army engaged a much larger Mexican Army, repulsing them and carrying the day. Records indicate Mark lost a horse during the battle and was resupplied but was not remounted at that time. Perhaps that was because he was discharged three months later on June 20, 1847. At the time of his discharge the Army gave his company of one hundred men the choice of returning home by boat or on horseback. Being then located at Camargo, Mexico, just south of the Rio Grande River, about half-way between Brownsville and Laredo, Texas, they chose the horse. Each man was given fresh a horse. They chose to travel as a company across country all the way back to Arkansas. On their way home they encountered hostile Indians; however, the men with their carbines were never attacked, as they presented a formidable force. Some of the men dropped out along the way and resettled in Texas, as did some of my other Boutwell ancestors. However, Mark continued on, eventually returning to Clarksville, Arkansas where he married eighteen-year-old Malvina Jane Swagerty in Horse Head, Arkansas on January 18, 1848, a mere eight months from the day he began his journey home from the Mexican War. Over the next fourteen years Mark remained in Arkansas were he and Malvina raised a family of seven children. The War Between the States began when Rebel forces attacked Fort Sumter in 1861. In spite of the fact that he had left his boyhood home in Georgia for a new life in Arkansas, Mark appears to have retained a deep loyalty to the South. As such we find he enlisted in Talladega, Alabama, into the Confederate Army. I have no idea as to how or why Mark chose to enlist in Alabama instead of Arkansas. In fact, were it not for the grave-marker placed on his grave, I would discount that fact as an error. However, the inscriptions on the grave-marker leaves no doubt as to the fact that Mark served the Confederacy as part of the Alabama Volunteer Infantry. There is little documentation to account for the role Mark played in the Civil War. This is an area where, once again, family accounts take over, which is always a dangerous happening in the course of genealogy. However, according to family researcher D.W. Melton, material associated with Mark’s family Bible indicates he was wounded in battle on July 1, 1862 and subsequently furloughed home. The only account of an engagement on July 1st by the Alabama Volunteers, in which Mark may have sustained wounds, was the Battle of Malvern Hill, which was one of several engagements associated with the Seven Days Battles fought near Richmond, Virginia. His wounds evidently were significant enough to send him home for recuperation. Often, wounded soldiers would return to the battlefield after recuperation. I have no indication that Mark returned to further service in the Civil War, but rather suspect he did not, remaining home to recuperate and tend to a family tragedy. As such, it may have been he was not officially discharged from service at the conclusion of his service at the end of the War. The Confederacy was in shambles and records were lost or destroyed. In addition, there is no indication that in later years his widow attempted to receive any type of pension from the government for his service, as she did for his service in the Mexican War. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** The Civil War ended in the Spring of 1865. Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. The last battle was fought at Palmito Ranch, Texas, on May 13, 1865. Mark’s first wife, my great-great grandmother Malvina, died never to see the end of the nation’s great conflict. She and their eight-year-old son, Sidney, were recorded as dying on the same day, April 25, 1864. In fact, the record is so specific as to record the deaths as being on a Monday evening at one-o’clock and ten-o’clock respectively. There is no account as to their death. Disease, accident and homicide are all possible. It is also curious that there is no record of their burial, other than an indication by a family researcher that they were buried in an unmarked plot (at least no headstone was provided) in the Old National Cemetery in Fort Smith, Arkansas—a very strange and mysterious conclusion for Malvina and her son. Mark would live on, taking a second wife named Trecy Jane Durham. He would raise a second family consisting of eleven children from Trecy. Counting the seven children he had from Malvina, he would father eighteen children, extending the family tree substantially. Mark would die of old age at 72 in Poolville, Oklahoma and be buried next to his second wife Trecy. I can't help but wonder about his first wife, my great-great- grandmother Malvina. It is sad to me that she seems to have been misplaced and forgotten, a final casualty of the Civil War, at least for Mark. |
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