Civil War Veterans

Several of our ancestors served in the Civil War, or what we Southerners call the "The War Between the States". On this page you'll find information collected from their military service records and other documents. I've used the basic information in the service records to research their units, battles in which they fought, places where they engaged in action. Fortunately, most of this information can be found in the Virginia Tech library, including the service records for Virginia army and navy personnel.

Francis P. Jarvis

First enlistment: 61st Virginia Militia (Mathews Battalion) Company A

enlisted Saturday, 7/20/1861 at Mathews Courthouse, for 1 year
present 7/20/1861-10/31/1861
present 11/1/1861-5/15/1862
discharged Monday 7/28/1862

The following information is shown on his discharge paper:

born in Mathews County
age 38, height 5'9", gray eyes, black hair
occupation: seaman
last paid 10/31/1861
paid 8/5/1862 for service from 11/1/1861-5/15/1862 $71.50+ $25 for clothing = $96.50
Rank: private

History of the 61st Virginia Militia shown on service record cards:
The 61st Regiment Virginia Militia (also called Mathew's Battalion) was called into service July 18, 1861, under proclamation of the Governor of Virginia dated July 13, 1861. Company H was an artillery company which reorganized March 22, 1862, and subsequently became Captain Armistead's Company Virginia Light Artillery. Company I reenlisted in March and April 1862, and subsequently became (3d) Company F, 5th Regiment Virginia Cavalry. The regiment appears to have been disbanded in May 1862.

Several Jarvis men appear in the service records for the 61st Va. Militia. Most enlisted the same day as Frank. However, none of them served in Frank's Company. Click here to read their service records in the 61st Militia. In general, men would agree to serve for one year's time in the militia. Frank served for a year and was discharged at the end of July 1862.

Second enlistment: 5th Virginia Infantry Company F

Rank: Private, listed as F. P. Jarvis
Company F was the West View Infantry, led by Capt. St. Francis C. Roberts
enlisted Saturday 12/5/1863 by conscript
paid 12/31/1863
present 2/29/1864 for Jan and Feb 1864
paid 4/27/1864 $29.98 (after transfer costs?) for service during 1/1/1864-4/6/1864 ($11 per month)
transferred to CS Navy Wednesday 4/6/1864
transfer request under Special Order #95/15
transfer approval under Special Order #90/3 4/18/1864

In December 1863, Frank enlisted again by order of conscript. Conscript was sort of like a draft. At this point midway through the war, the Confederate army was enlisting as many men as possible to replace the casualties. I wonder why he wasn't enlisted into a Mathews unit (such as the 26th infantry or the 5th cavalry) but due to the conscript he must have been set where the need was great. At any rate, at this time the 5th Virginia was located fairly close to Mathews, in Caroline County.

According to the regimental history of the 5th Virginia, the unit was formed in Augusta County. At the time of Frank's enlistment (12/1863) the 5th Virginia had just moved from the Valley to a camp ten miles south of Fredericksburg. They were under the command of Major Elisha Franklin Paxton, a former staff member of Stonewall Jackson when they fought in a brief skirmish there on December 12. The unit moved to winter quarters shortly before Christmas, at Moss Neck, home of Richard Corbin in Caroline County, three miles from Guiney's (railroad) Station, near Camp Winder. Interesting stories about how the men spent their days in winter camp appear in the regimental history (pages 45-46) (building log houses, lots of mud, the "Stonewall Minstrels" where acts were put on to raise money for clothing for the Winchester companies). The 5th regimental band played concerts, and during December while on picket duty along the Rappahannock, the band would exchange songs with the Union bands across the river. The unit left camp on April 21st, shortly after Frank was transferred to the Navy. So, he probably didn't see much action at all during his time with the 5th Virginia. (He is listed as F. P. Jarvis in the back of the regimental history book, which states that he transferred to C. S. Navy 1864 and served on the Virginia II.)

[Above information taken from Wallace Jr., L. A. 5th Virginia Infantry: Regimental History.1988.]

Service aboard the ironclad C.S.S. Virginia II gunboat

Microfilm roll "Reference Cards and Papers Relating to Naval Personnel": F.P. Jarvis (the writing is so swirly on the names on this roll it makes the "P" look like a "B", maybe this is the problem with him listed as F. B. on some records) C. S. Navy [transferred from] Army, S. O. 90 A.G.O. [Adjutant General's Office] '64 Par III
appears on Virginia II muster roll (Nov/Dec 1864) as F. B. Jarvis, rank O. S.
appears on a Register of oaths taken by deserters, Headquarters Provost Marshall, Bermuda Hundred, Virginia

indexed under F. P. Jarvis confederate in service on the Gunboat Virginia
where captured: department headquarters
when captured: 10/13/1864
when confined: 10/13/1864
turned over to Lt. D. W. Shelley
when: 10/14/1864
remarks: to go to Norfolk, Va.

admitted 11/3/1864 to U.S.A. General Hospital, Ft. Monroe, Va from military prison

indexed under F. P. Jarvis, sailor, ship Virginia (Rebel)
diagnosis: intermittent fever
returned to military prison 12/5/1864
age 37

The Virginia II was part of the James River Squadron, a group of boats in 1864 commanded by Cmd. John K. Mitchell. The squadron was stationed along the portion o the river near Petersburg to defend Richmond, and engaged in several battles during the summer of 1864. This link further describes the dimensions of the ship and the major actions of the gunboat, shown below:

served for a time as the squadron flagship, crew of 150
passed below Drewry's Bluff obstructions 5/24/1864
fired on Union river squadron in Trent and Varina Reaches 6/21/1864
shelled Union positions on Signal Hill 8/17/1864, forcing a retreat
helped defeat Union advance on Chaffin's Bluff 9/28/1864
engaged at Dutch Gap 10/22/1864
engaged USS Onondaga at Trent's Reach 1/23/1865
destroyed to prevent capture above Drewry's Bluff 4/3/1865 (at the time of the burning and evacuation of Richmond)

Bermuda Hundred earthworks

Bermuda Hundred was U. S. General Benjamin Butler's base, located on a peninsula between Petersburg and Drewry's Bluff, at the convergence of the James and Appomattox Rivers. The camp was established in spring 1864 as part of Butler's campaign to join with other Union forces to take Richmond and Petersburg (which was unsuccessful). By the time Frank deserted there and was taken into custody of Union forces (10/1864), the Bermuda Hundred area "served only as a quiet haven for battle-weary units of both sides."

[Source: Robertson, W.G. Back Door to Richmond: The Bermuda Hundred Campaign April - June 1864. 1987.]

Fort Monroe (Union officers and ladies)

(These pictures are from the
Library of Congress.)

From Bermuda, Frank's service record states that he was to go to Norfolk. He was confined in a military prison, I would think somewhere in the Hampton Roads area, since he was admitted to Ft. Monroe hospital. He does not appear on the Newport News prison roster, so I don't know where he was being confined. I am working on trying to identify when he was released from prison, and when he returned to Mathews County.

In April 1910, Frank's widow, Sarah Jarvis, applied for a confederate pension. You can view this document on-line through the Library of Virginia. Lot of interesting information -- this is where I first learned that Frank served on the Virginia.

Return to Frank Jarvis page

Other soldiers to be added: Absalom and Thomas Wootten (32nd Virginia), Manuel Bernard (Capt. Young's Howitzers)