James Fielding: Civil War

This is the second in a series of posts about my ancestor, James Fielding, an illustrious man.  To read the first post about his early life, click here.

Like most of the men in his generation, James Fielding was part of the great conflict known as the Civil War.

James volunteered for service at Pittsburgh on 21 August 1862 for a three-year term.  He had been married to his wife, Sarah McDonald, for nine months, and their first child, a boy they named James Henderson, was just nine days old when James signed up.  Information seems to suggest that the couple was living with Sarah's mother, Emeline, at 56 Fourth Street in Allegheny at the time, though they could have also been staying at John Fielding's home on Ohio Street as well.

He was twenty-four years of age.

James was assigned to Company E of the 155th Pennsylvania Volunteers, under the command of Captain Joseph B. Sackett.

The regiment was organized at Camp Copeland, three miles outside Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and moved by cattle cars on a train first to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to collect the last two companies of the regiment.  It then moved on 4 September 1862 to Washington, D.C., where it was attached to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 5th Army Corps, Army Potomac.

This regiment was also the one that a man named William Woods was assigned, though he was assigned to Company B.  William Woods' nephew, Charles Wesley Chapman Wood later married James' youngest daughter, Birdie.

James' stay was extremely brief.  

According to pension records he filed in later years, James was assigned to assist the quartermaster in moving supplies.  Some time on either the 8th or 10th of September, 1862, just a few days after establishing camp in Alexandria, Virginia, he incorrectly lifted a barrel off the wagon.  In doing so, he apparently injured his right shoulder, dislocating it, but he merely got some liniment from the medical supplies and applied it to the hurt shoulder.  He assumed it would heal soon, so he refused to seek correct medical treatment.

On 11 September 1862, James was assigned the duty of waking the officers for the day.  He rose before four in the morning and began his trek to the officers' tents.  However, because it was still fairly dark that time of the morning, he could not see well.  In the darkness, he tripped over a bayonet left out of a recruit's tent.  The bayonet impaled the upper part of his foot, disabling him.

The incident was memorialized in the regiment's history, Under the Maltese Cross, which had this to say about it:

"This claim of first blood, however, was later seriously disputed on behalf of Private James Fielding, of Company E. Fielding insists that a jab from a protruding bayonet, which a recruit carelessly left sticking out of a tent at night, drew blood from his big toe. From this wound Fielding was forever afterward rendered hors du combat." (Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, 155th (1862-1865), Under the Maltese Cross, Antietam to Appomattox, (Pittsburgh: 1910) 55)

He was taken to the field hospital, where he was treated for his wound.  The injury had to have been serious because he was never given active duty again but was released from the Union Army on 4 Jan 1863 with a certificate of disability.

James never saw combat, but because he was injured in the line of duty, he did receive a pension for his injuries.  His commander, Captain Sackett, wrote an affidavit for him.

Undated Affidavit of Capt. Joseph B. Sackett in Brief in the Case of James Fielding, Private, Company E, 155th Regiment of Pa. Vol.: Claim for Invalid Pension Proof Exhibited, dated 29 April 1863, from James Fielding's civil War Pension File, copy provided to Kelley Wood-Davis by Deidre Erin Denton, genealogist

James was eligible to apply for the pension due to the Act to Grant Pensions that was passed by Congress on 14 July 1862 (37th Congress. Sess. II. Ch. 166. 1862), as he had been partially "disabled by reason of any wound received.... while in the service of the United States."  Being as how the ratio of men wounded in the war to the general population was nearly 14 per one thousand per Rothbard's "Beginning the Welfare State: Civil War Veteran's Pensions" (70), James was one of many who applied.

Witnesses for the original affidavit for pension file claim (filed 8 Jan 1863) were Alexander McCracken, aged 40, and John Flinn, aged 43, both residents of Pittsburgh.  The affidavit was signed by W. A. Herron, clerk of the orphan's court.  The surgeon's certificate attached to this claim was not filled out.

Fielding was entitled to a pension beginning 4 January 1863 of $5.33 a month on account of the bayonet wound.  One inflation calculator equates that to $113.75 per month in 2020 money.  Incidentally, one of the physicians who examined him in August of 1863 stated that the disability was "probably temporary."

James returned to his previous life before the military, having served in active duty less than a month.  He moved in with his mother-in-law at 172 Robinson, and it is that address from whence he applied for his first military pension.  Both his shoulder and the wound from the bayonet plagued him for the rest of his life, according to documents he filed.

Interestingly enough, because he was back amongst civilians in late spring and early summer of 1863, he was recorded in the Civil War Registrations done in Pennsylvania at that time.  He was recorded as living in the Second Ward of Allegheny City and had no occupation at the time of the registration.  No mention of his service was given in the column listed "Former Military Service." Because of his disability, he of course was not drafted back into the war.

**Note here: I had done a bit of digging on the other men mentioned above, as I am a firm believer in the FAN method, as I have stated in other blog posts. **

Joseph B. Sackett, the captain of James' company, met with a sad fate a year after James had been discharged.  While returning from a picket near Warrenton, Virginia on 24 January 1864, he attempted to cross Kettle Run, fording the river on horseback.  He drowned in the process.

William Wood, who is also related to me as a second-great-granduncle, did survive the Civil War and probably saw many battles with his unit.  He eventually was promoted to Corporal on 14 March 1865 and mustered out with his company on 2 June 1865. (Side note here: he died in 1885 unmarried and childless, long before his nephew married his comrade's daughter.)

Both John Flinn and Alexander McCracken were shoemakers in the area and were probably men James knew from working with his father.

James' stint in the Civil War was a chapter that closed, but a new chapter was just beginning.  But that's a story for the next post.

Sources used:

Brief in the Case of James Fielding, Private, Company E, 155th Regiment of Pa. Vol.: Claim for Invalid Pension Proof Exhibited, dated 29 April 1863; Scanned copy provided in the pension file for James Fielding from NARA sent to Kelley Wood-Davis 29 Jan 2020 by Deidre Erin Denton, genealogist; citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); Records Relating to Pension and Bounty-Land Claims 1773-1942, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, RG 15; 2,807 rolls, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Certificate of Disability for Discharge for James Fielding, Private, Co. E, 155th PA, filed 11 Jan 1863; citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); RG 15, 2,807 rolls, NA–Washington.

Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, 1861-1862 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: G. H. Thurston, 1861), 218, "McDonald Emily, widow Henderson, dressmaker, Robinson n Darragh, A(llegheny)"; digital image, University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, Historic Pittsburgh (http://historicpittsburgh.org : accessed 31 July 2016).

Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, 1862-1863 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: G.H. Thurston, 1862), 216, "McDonald Emeline, widow Henderson, 172 Robinson, A(llegheny)"; digital image, University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, Historic Pittsburgh (www.historicpittsburgh.org : accessed 31 July 2016).

Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, 1863-1864 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: G. H. Thurston, 1863), 100, "Fielding James, machinist, 56 Fourth"; digital image, University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, Historic Pittsburgh (www.historicpittsburgh.org : accessed 30 July 2016).

Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, 1863-1864, 236, "McDonald Emeline, wid Henderson, 46 Fourth".

Evans, Samuel M. Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the war for suppression of the rebellion, 1861-1865: roll of honor, defenders of the flag, attack on Fort Sumter, S.C., April 12, 1861, surrender at Appomattox, Va., April 9, 1865 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: s.n, 1924), 152.

Examining Surgeon's Certificate for the case of James Fielding, private, Company E, 155th Pennsylvania Volunteers, 7 Aug 1863; citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); RG 15, 2,807 rolls, NA–Washington.

Hawks, Steve. The Civil War in the East (https://civilwarintheeast.com/ : accessed 11 March 2021), United States Regiments & Batteries > Pennsylvania > Infantry> 155th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Hospital Statement for J Fielding, Co. E, 155 Regiment of Pa Volunteers, no. 11390, dated 13 July 1889; citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); RG 15, 2,807 rolls, NA–Washington.

Invalid Pension Claim Declaration for James Fielding filed 8 Jan 1863; citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); RG 15, 2,807 rolls, NA–Washington.

National Archives and Records Administration, "U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 July 2016), Entry for James Fielding, roll number T288_151, Application number 7786, Certificate number 11390.; Applied 10 January 1863 for pension; citing "General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934". Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 546 rolls.

Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, 155th (1862-1865), Under the Maltese Cross, Antietam to Appomattox: the Loyal Uprising in Western Pennsylvania, 1861-1865; Campaigns 155th Pennsylvania Regiment (Pittsburg, Pennsylvania: 155th Regimental Association, 1910).

Prechtel-Kluskens, Claire. "A Reasonable Degree of Promptitude": Civil War Pension Application Processing, 1861–1885," Prologue, Spring 2010, Vol 42. No. 1; online, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/spring/civilwarpension.html : accessed 4 March 2021).

Rothbard, Murray N."Beginning the Welfare State: Civil War Veteran's Pensions," The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 22:1 (Spring 2019): 68-81.

Undated Affidavit of Capt. Joseph B. Sackett inBrief in the Case of James Fielding, Private, Company E, 155th Regiment of Pa. Vol.: Claim for Invalid Pension Proof Exhibited, dated 29 April 1863; citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); RG 15, 2,807 rolls, NA–Washington.

"U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 July 2016), Entry for James Fielding, born about 1837 from 2nd Ward Allegheny City, Pennsylvania; citing "Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registrations, 1863-1865". NM-65, entry 172, 620 volumes. NAI: 4213514. Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War), Record Group 110. National Archives at Washington D.C; listed as married in 1863.

U. S. Congress, The Statutes at Large, Treaties and Proclmations of the United States of America, vols. 1-18 (Little, Brown and Company: Boston, 1789–1875), 12: 566-569, 14 July 1862, "An Act to grant Pensions," 165

Voucher circular questions for James Fielding, certificate number 11390, dated 5 July 1898; citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); RG 15, 2,807 rolls, NA–Washington.