JOHN C. HOSKINS

John C. Hoskins was born in about 1837 shortly after his family arrived in Ft. Bend County, Texas, from Alabama. He was the son of Hugh C. and Sarah Hoskins, and the brother of Thomas J. Hoskins. Hugh C. Hoskins received a 1280-acre land grant from the Republic of Texas.
The family was enumerated on the census of Walker County in 1850, and in 1860 was in Danville, Montgomery County. In 1860, John was still living with his parents.
Hugh C. Hoskins and Sarah Cooper were married on July 10, 1832 in Lawrence County, Alabama. This couple is likely the parents of John C. and Thomas J. Hoskins. Several of the soldiers who served under Captain S. W. Wooldridge were from Lawrence County, Alabama, as was the captain's wife.
Answering the Texas Governor's Call to Arms, John joined the Danville Mounted Riflemen, Texas State Troops, and was listed on the muster roll of February 14, 1862, as a private. The next month, he enlisted along with forty-five other Riflemen in the Second Texas Lancers at Danville under Captain S. D. Wooldridge, and was sworn in by John E. George.
John was mustered in at Camp Carter at Hempstead on April 28. He had to ride his horse fifty miles to rendezvous, and the horse was valued at $200.00 and his equipment at $30.00. He trained in cavalry tactics with the other soldiers at Camp Carter.
He marched with his regiment to Arkansas, where the men were all dismounted. He was listed as present in the muster rolls through August of that year; but by September he was sick in the hospital. It is likely he was in the hospital at Camp White Sulphur Springs while his regiment was being trained as infantrymen at Camp Holmes near Pine Bluff. He became well enough to his regiment after their move to Ft. Hindman, Arkansas Post. He fought in the Battle of Arkansas Post, where he was captured on January 11th, 1863, by Union forces. He appears on the roll of prisoners.
During the battle, John received a serious shell wound to his face, and he was admitted to City U. S. A. General Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 22nd. He was placed in Ward Four. Several other men from Company B were also admitted to the hospital, several dying there from wounds or disease.

Gratiot Street Prison, St. Louis
From the hospital, John was sent to Gratiot Street Military Prison.
He is on the roll of prisoners received May 7th. On June 2nd, 1863, John signed his mark on the roll of prisoners. He is on an undated roll as being discharged from there. Note that he was one of the lucky few who did not die at Gratiot prison.
John was on the roster for being exchanged in April of 1863, but is listed on the muster rolls of July and August with the notation that he was “Absent, Sick in Hospital.” On the muster roll of October, 1863, a notation shows that he was discharged from the service on the twelfth of October.
In John's files is a CERTIFICATE OF DISABILITY FOR DISCHARGE. It reads in part:
Private John C. Hoskins of Capt. Wooldridge's Company of the 24th Texas Cavalry Regiment of Confederate States was enlisted by John E. George in the state of Texas Regiment of Cavalry at Danville Montgomery Co. Texas on the 28 of March 1862 to serve Three years; he was born in Fort Bend County in the state of Texas, his age is Twenty-four, 24, years of age, Five feet five inches high, Fair complexion, Blue eyes, Dark hair, and by occupation when enlisted, a Farmer. During the last two months, said soldier has been unfit for Sixty Days.
Following this are signatures of physicians and commanding officers, and a notation: To be Discharged by Command of Gen'l Bragg. Kinlock Falconer, AAG
Following are images of the discharge certificates. You may click on them to see an enlarged version. Below that is a picture of Kinlock Falconer stirring a frying pan. He was from Mississippi, and became Assistant Adjutant General to General Bragg in the Army of Tennessee.

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Kinlock Falconer stirring pan; he signed John's Discharge Certificate as Assistant Adjutant General of the Army of Tennessee

John made it back to Texas after he was discharged. On April 24, 1864, he was married to Virginia A. Hoskins in Walker County by W. F. Sandel, J. P. She was probably his cousin and was likely the Virginia Hoskins in the household of Nancy Hoskins in Brazoria County in the 1860 and 1870 censuses of that county.
John C. Hoskins died at age thirty years, seven months, and twenty-eight days, and was buried near his father, Hugh, in Thomson Cemetery north of Chriesman in Burleson County. There is no date of death on the stone, but John apparently died in about 1867, about three years after his marriage to Virginia.
Virginia Hoskins, living in Brazoria County in 1870, was age 29, with children Fannie and Charles. She was living in the household of sixty-five year old Ann Hoskins, who was born in Virginia. It is likely that Virginia was John C.'s widow. Nothing further is known of her or the children.

Sources for the above include the Compiled Service Records, county and census records. Thanks to Carolyn Terrell for information on the burial place of John C. Hoskins.
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