Was My Great Grand Pappy Really a Civil War Soldier?   
                                                                                                 Carla Love Maitland 
As a native Memphian and a former history teacher, I’ve learned so much about the city of my birth over the years and at one time even developed and taught special interest courses about Memphis to middle school students. Nevertheless, I constantly learn new and amazing things about the city’s history. Since the beginning of the commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War in 2011, I’ve acquired even more knowledge about Memphis and the surrounding area. The involvement and significance of this area during the Civil War is so much more than most people realize.

I do know that my understanding increased tremendously after the presentation given to the Tennessee Genealogical Society by Dr. Lee Eugene Wilson on Saturday, June 22, 2013. Dr. Wilson, a dentist by profession, is a Civil War enthusiast and author of two published books* relating an ancestor’s story of love, war, and survival in the turbulent years in the Western Theatre of Operations in the Civil War. The stories are based on facts and documents passed along through his family. He has a third book in the series due to come out in July. The name of his presentation was "Genealogy and the Civil War - or Was my Great Grand Pappy Really in the Civil War and How do I Find Out?" 

Lee, as he asked us to call him, explained that he caught the “history bug” due to those many family stories told over the years. He is a native Mississippian, born in the small town of Duck Hill, who has lived in the Memphis area for around thirty years. The knowledge he’s gained of the history of this region is extraordinary. Lee described the numerous Union encampments that were established after the fall of Memphis to Union forces on June 6, 1862. He described the importance of these areas as well as the Confederate bases and forays into those Union forts, resulting in frequent battles in this area.  He used a series of modern-day photos to help the audience put into perspective exactly where those camps, forts and engagements took place, as well as other places of historical significance.

As Lee said, most people who live in this area don’t realize how much activity actually happened during the 1860s around Memphis, Germantown and Collierville. In truth, most of us in attendance didn’t. He also brought with him a sampling of some of the sabers, swords, bayonets and rifles used during the Civil War. Even more interesting was his own family’s Bible and other memorabilia that were on display for people to look at and examine.
  
Lee’s presentation began with a chart showing what an incredible toll the Civil War took as far as the loss of population in the United States. Although around 650,000 casualties are the current numbers generally given, historians are increasing those numbers based on census records that continue to show the actual ‘missing generations’ of men after the 1860 census. 

Another part of Lee’s presentation had to do with the many websites, books, and other resources that he used to research his own family and that are available for anyone to use in order to find out if their own ancestor or ancestors participated in the Northern or Southern forces during that time period. He went into detail regarding a few of them, describing how to use them for the best research results.                                             

Lee told so many engaging stories that people were truly disappointed when his presentation ended. The time went by way too quickly. It is a certainty that Dr. Lee Wilson will be asked back soon to delight us with even more of his vast knowledge of this time period.  After all, the Sesquicentennial won’t end until 2015!

*Once a Southern Soldier: A Novel of the Civil War; Copyright @2011 by Dr. Lee E. Wilson.

Always a Southern Soldier (The second book in the series Once a Southern Soldier); Copyright @2012 by Dr. Lee E. Wilson. 

Forever a Southern Soldier (The third book in the series Once a Southern Soldier); July 2013 release by Dr. Lee E. Wilson. 
                                                                                       Photos by Jim Bobo
                                                                                                                                                                   

Unless otherwise noted, all classes and programs are: 1) free and open to the public, and 2) held in the Tennessee Genealogical Society lecture room in the Germantown Regional History and Genealogy Center, 7779 Poplar Pike, Germantown, TN 38138. For details call 901-413-7995 or email Tina Sansone: [email protected]

Genealogy and the Civil War or . . . was my Great Grand Pappy Really in the War, or Not?
Dr. Lee Eugene Wilson ~ Saturday, June 22 ~ 10:30 am ~ TnGenSoc Lecture Room 

Dr. Lee Wilson will be the guest lecturer for the Tennessee Genealogical Society on Saturday, June 22 at 10:30 a.m. He will speak on the subject "Genealogy and the Civil War or . . . was my Great Grand Pappy Really in the War, or Not?" Wilson will look back at the Civil War and its effect on the United States as we know it today and also on the difficulties it creates for genealogists as they try to trace their families during this turbulent time in our history.

Wilson has just completed his third novel based on his family and their struggles during the Civil War years. He will explain how his genealogy research led him to write his series of novels Once a Southern Soldier, which chronicles his great grandfather, Bill Ayer, as a young newlywed going off to war and coming to grips with its horrors at bloody Shiloh. The story follows Ayer through the war and to his surrender at Greensboro, North Carolina on April 16, 1865. The books also show the reader the desperate plight the soldier's families faced on the home front.

Wilson says, "One of the first questions I have asked of me is 'How do I find out if my relative was even in the Civil War and then, what unit was he in?'" Wilson will explain his methods for researching his ancestors in the war by using the Internet, various military search sites, era newspapers, and the library. He will also discuss the many reasons that the Civil War was fought in the first place and the political climate that led to hostilities. His collection of Civil War weapons will be on display, and Wilson will explain why there was such a high rate of casualties in the war. He will also explain why some families 'just evaporated' between the 1860 and 1870 census.

"I hope that I can help people in their efforts to find out more of what our ancestors faced in one of our country's most difficult times. And you just might find proof that 'Yes, my Great Grand Pappy was indeed in the Civil War!' --Lee Wilson

Let's Discuss It (genealogy/computer discussion group)
Saturday, June 29 ~ 10:00 am to 12:00 n ~ TnGenSoc Lecture Room 
Participate in a genealogy/computer discussion group led by Debbie Atchley. Bring up your topic of interest and/or soak up the knowledge from the round table. No registration is required for this program. "Let's Discuss It" handouts available for download.