It could have been a movie script...the opening shots of a war...the call for men to fight...tearful goodbyes as they left...death, pain, and suffering...joyful reunions and heartbreaks over losses. In this script, the cast of characters consisted of my Scott ancestors.
When news of the attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on 12 Apr 1861, reached the state of Indiana its citizens immediately responded. Two mass meetings were held on 13 Apr in the state capitol where the state's decision was that Indiana would remain in the Union. The governor issued a call for volunteer soldiers to answer the state's quota requested by President Abraham Lincoln and Indiana became the first western state to mobilize for the Civil War. Within a week nearly 12,000 Hoosier men had volunteered to join the fight to suppress the rebellion.
Among the young men who volunteered during the war years were six brothers, sons of Caleb and Mary Ivins Scott. The sons, in birth order were:
Samuel b. 28 Jan 1832 my 2x great-grandfather
William b. 14 Feb 1836 my 2nd great-granduncle
Caleb Shreve b. 16 Jun 1838 my 2nd great-granduncle
Isaac b. 23 Sep 1840 my 2nd great-granduncle
Joseph b. 29 May 1842 my 2nd great-granduncle
Joshua b. 6 Jul 1845 my 2nd great-granduncle
First to leave home to serve were Caleb Shreve (23 yrs.) and Isaac (21 yrs.) on 24 Sep 1861. Both joined the 30th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company B.
Two months later on 14 Nov 1861 Joseph (19 yrs.) joined the 46th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company F.
The following summer William (26 yrs.) enlisted on 9 Aug 1862 in the 12th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company I.
Just two weeks later on 22 Aug 1862 Samuel (30 yrs.) left to join the 30th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company B, where Caleb and Isaac were already serving.
Last to leave was Joshua (18 yrs.) who left home on 16 Mar 1864 to serve in the 74th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company A.
I have to imagine that every time one of their sons left Caleb and Mary's hearts broke a little more. Undoubtedly they were proud that six of their eight sons volunteered but it must have been so hard not knowing if they'd ever see those sons again. The Scott family was more fortunate than many other families. Of the six who left, five returned home to Indiana. Only Caleb Shreve was lost.
Caleb was captured at Chickamauga, the second most deadly battle of the war, on 19 Sep 1863 and sent to the infamous Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, GA. The camp at Andersonville consisted of open fields surrounded by wooden stockades where the captured soldiers suffered from over-crowding, poor sanitation, disease, exposure, and inadequate food. Of the 45,000 prisoners at Andersonville, nearly 13,000 died.
On 12 Dec 1863 Caleb was admitted to a hospital at Danville, VA, where he died a few weeks later from the Variola virus (smallpox). Caleb is buried in Danville in the Danville National Cemetery, Section H, Grave #699. I've often wondered if any of Caleb's immediate family were ever able to visit his grave, saw a photograph of his headstone, or received any of his possessions.
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