ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 13 September 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160014407 APPLICANT REQUESTS: * The applicant, a descendant of the deceased former service member (FSM), requests that records be corrected to show that the FSM, a Civil War Soldier, did not die in the Confederate prisoner of war camp at Andersonville, Georgia, on 5 September 1864, but died in El Centro, California, on 19 January 1911. * The office of Senator Boxer endorsed the application for correction of military records from the applicant by letter requesting to learn what options were available to correct the FSM's military service record concerning his death. APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record) * timeline from FSM's memoir * Profile of FSM, Private in Company K, 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry * Ancestry.com page: FSM in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 * National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) 1890 Veterans Schedules for the FSM * Ancestry.com page: FSM in the Andersonville Prisoners of War * Casualty Sheet, Andersonville, Georgia * Memorandum from Prisoner of War Records dated 1887 * Record of Marriages, New York City, 1600s-1800s * FSM's death certificate, California State Board of Health * Fort Howard Memorial Park Cemetery Records on the FSM * Obituary for the FSM * Letter from Office of Senator Boxer, California FACTS: 1. The applicant did not file within the three year time frame provided in Title 10, United States Code (USC), section 1552 (b); however, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records conducted a substantive review of this case and determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file. 2. Civil War military records are held at NARA, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC. The FSM’s paper military service record there shows that the FSM enlisted in the Union Army, Company K, 15th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers, on 23 January 1864. His Declaration of Recruit document shows that on 23 January 1864 he was 29 years and 2 months old making his birth date approximately 23 November 1834. His Civil War military records show he was born in Denmark. 3. The records of Company K, 15th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry show that on 27 May 1864, the FSM was captured by Confederate forces near New Hope Church, Dallas, Georgia. He was imprisoned at the Confederate prisoner of war camp at Andersonville, Georgia. His Civil War military records contain a casualty sheet that states he died on 5 September 1864. No cause of death was shown. The source of information was from a roll of prisoners. Company K, 15th Wisconsin Infantry records show Company K was mustered out of the U. S. Army at Chattanooga, Tennessee, on 10 February 1865. The muster-out roll shows the FSM as a prisoner of war since 27 May 1863 (sic) who had been taken at Dallas, Georgia – not mustered out. 4. The FSM in his memoirs stated that rather than dying at Andersonville, he was moved from Andersonville in September of 1864 to prisoner of war camps at Charleston, South Carolina, and then at Florence, South Carolina, and then at Charlotte, South Carolina. He escaped from Charlotte, returned to Federal forces, and then made his way to Ohio. 5. In the FSM’s Civil War military record is also a document, Memorandum from Prisoner of War Records, issued by the Adjutant General’s Office, U.S. Secretary of War, dated 8 October 1887, which states that the FSM, formerly a private from Company K, 15th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers, was: Captured near Marietta, GA, May 27, 1864. Enlisted in 8th C. S. [Confederate States] Infantry at Salisbury, N.C.; was recaptured by Genl Stoneman [Union Forces] while in arms against the U. S. Govt at Salibury, N.C. He voluntarily made known that he formerly belonged to the U. S. Army and claimed that he deserted from camp of Pris. [Prisoner] of War to escape starvation. Confined at Nashville, Tenn, and was released on taking the Oath of Allegiance, July 5, 1865. By order of the Secy of War. The reverse side of this memorandum, dated 8 October 1887, states that the memorandum is accepted as referring to Soren Pederson, Private, Company K, 15th Regiment, Wisconsin, and records will be corrected accordingly. This was authorized by the signature of the Assistant Adjutant General. (The applicant provided the memorandum side of this document but did not provide the reverse side that shows it is a correction of records.) 6. General George Stoneman, in command of the Union Army’s District of East Tennessee, captured the town of Salisbury, North Carolina, on 12 April 1865. 7. The FSM’s Oath of Allegiance to the United States, dated 5 July 1865, recorded at NARA in the Confederate Army records, shows that the FSM was a private in the 8th Regiment, Confederate States Infantry; took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States; and was released at Nashville, Tennessee, on 5 July 1865. The Oath of Allegiance document contains an indorsement which states, “Roll of Prisoners of War released at Nashville during the month of July, 1865, on taking the Oath of Allegiance, who formerly belonged to U. S. Army but enlisted in Rebel Army while held as prisoners of war, and were captured in arms against the U. S. Army.” His military records further show that he was not mustered out of the U. S. Army nor given a discharge from the U. S. Army. 8. The Eleventh Census of the United States (1890); Special Schedule; Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Windows, Etc., for the County of Shawano, Wisconsin, page 1, dated June 1890, records the name of XXXXX XXXXXX as having been a private in the Wisconsin Infantry, enlisted 21 January 1864; taken prisoner 25 May 1864 at New Hope Church, Georgia; escaped and was lost on way. Remarks section shows, “Said Soldier has no discharge proof, was taken prisoner, escaped and lost his way.” 9. It is noted that the FSM’s last name is shown as XXXXXXX, XXXXXX, and XXXXX in the various civil and military records, all with the first name of XXXX, and often corrected by historic authorities to XXXXXX. 10. The submitter provided a death certificate from the California State Records of Health, dated 19 June 1911, shows that XXXXX XXXXX died in XXXXXX, XXXXXX, on 19 January 1911. The certificate shows the FSM’s birth date as XX November XXXX, born in XXXXX. 11. It is noted that the FSM’s record was corrected by the Adjutant General’s Office on 8 October 1887 by issuing a Memorandum from Prisoner of War Records which shows that subsequent to the Andersonville record of his death, the FSM was captured on or about 12 April 1865 at Salisbury, North Carolina, as a Confederate Soldier and showed that he stated he had formerly been a Soldier in the U. S. Army. He was imprisoned at Nashville, Tennessee, in the Union prisoner of war camp and released on 5 July 1865 after taking the Oath of Allegiance to the United States. 12. With reference to what corrections can be made to the FSM’s records, the Civil War military service records are NARA archive records and cannot be subtracted from or edited. Corrections can be noted in the paper record by addition to the paper record of a paper copy of the decision of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR). The records of the Confederate prisoner of war Camp at Andersonville, Georgia, are on NARA microfiche and cannot be added to or subtracted from. The NARA maintains a file of ABCMR record corrections at the Washington, DC, Pennsylvania Avenue archive which are correlated to the applicable NARA records. The National Park Service maintains the cemetery records for the Andersonville Confederate prisoner of war camp. They can place a copy of the FSM’s NARA Civil War Military Records, which includes the 1887 correction of records, and the ABCMR decision in a file and annotate their data base accordingly. BOARD DISCUSSION: 1. The Board agreed that the available evidence confirms the following events during the FSM's military service: * 23 January 1864 – enlisted in the Union Army, Company K, 15th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers * 27 May 1864 – captured by Confederate forces * On or about 12 April 1865 – captured by Union forces * 5 July 1865 – released after taking the oath of allegiance 2. The Board agreed that all available evidence confirms the FSM did not die at the Andersonville, Georgia, prisoner of war camp, but died many years later on 19 January 1911 in XXXXX, XXXXXX. 3. The Board agreed that it would be appropriate to file this Record of Proceedings in the applicable NARA and National Park Service Civil War records repositories. BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 X: X: X: GRANT FULL RELIEF : : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING : : : DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that this Record of Proceedings be filed in the applicable NARA and National Park Service Civil War records repositories. I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. REFERENCES: Title 10, USC, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within three years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant's failure to timely file within the three-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160014407 5 1