A package from the National Archives always means drop what you are doing and open me NOW. The unfortunate part is that it may only lead to more confusion and unanswered questions once you do, but that hasn’t slowed me down yet. The package yesterday contained information on a George W Click that joined the confederate army in 1861, registering in Memphis, Tennessee. If this is the correct George W. Click that is Mark’s great grandfather is still very unclear.
What I now know about the confederate soldier George is that he enlisted in Memphis with the 5th Regiment of Tennessee Volunteers on May 25, 1861 for a term of one year. The regiment traveled to Camp Brown, Union City, Obion County, Tennessee to become a part of Captain John A Lauderdale’s Company on Aug 9, 1861. From September 1, 1862 to January 1, 1863 he was marked “sick at hospital in Federal Lines.” The January/February 1863 Muster roll was marked “Left sick at Glascow, Kentucky.” By the March/April 1863 Muster roll he was marked as having been sick at Glascow, Kentucky but returned to duty. The final note made to his records was for November 1863 to February 1864 and noted that he was wounded on May 13 at the battle of Resaca, Georgia and on furlough. The battle of Resaca, from historical notes was a bloody one and George was one of thousands of casualties during that battle.
What we know about our George is that he was born in Tennessee, May 18, 1840, and died Sep 08, 1877. He married Nancy Catherine Yates in 1872. After George’s death, she married Lewis Jeptha Modrall and would live in Missouri until her death. Her marriage to Lewis in 1882 negated her ability to draw on George’s pension for widow’s benefits. George and Nancy would have one son, Albert Sidney Click, born Jul 26, 1873, in Tennessee.
There is a possibility that these 2 George’s are the same George. Finding the connection is proving to be a bit challenging. Confederate pension records are held by each state that the pension was filed in. From on line sources, so far, nothing has turned up that George drew on his pension at any point before his death. I haven’t been able to find George in the 1870 Census record before his marriage; all Georges born in Tennessee during that time haven’t lead to the correct George. I also can’t seem to find the correct George in either the 18 50 or 1860 Census. He seems to have come from no where and returned there when he died.