The Civil War
Our Grandfather William Frank Eads was a soldier in the United States Civil War. Frank enlisted in Company A, North Carolina 34th Infantry Regiment on 01 Sep 1863. North Carolina contributed more troops to the Confederacy than any other state. According to Wikipedia, 34th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry was assembled at High Point, North Carolina, in October, 1861. Reorganized 18 April 1862. It Surrendered 9 April 1865 at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Many of our Eades family members also fought in the Civil War along with Grandpa Eades, however, for the purposes of this website, I have chosen only to focus on William since he is our Direct Ancestor. Williams military record file states he served at Camp Vance under Captain McLean for a period of three years. The Muster roll for the period of May-June, 1864 shows him as Absent-Missing in Action.
Hanover Junction, Pa. Passenger train at depot. Hanover Junction Pennsylvania United States, None. [Between 1860 and 1865] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/cwp2003000187/PP/. (Accessed March 12, 2018.)
Frank Eades was captured by Union Soldiers at Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania on 23 of May 1864 and taken as a Prisoner of War, he was confined at Point Lookout Maryland upon arrival on 30 May, 1864. He was held captive for 288 days. Point Lookout was one of the worst POW Camps and the largest. Prisoners were forced to sleep in tents in all kinds of weather, the drinking water was contaminated that, along with very little rations set the stage for malnutrition, starvation and all sorts of illness such as Malaria and Typhoid Fever. A lot of the prisoners died during their capture and confinement, history tells us that nearly 4,000 prisoners of war died at that camp. Two cemeteries were established for the Confederate Soldiers who died and one for the Union soldiers who died while being treated in the hospital there. I have shared a video below which shows how the area of Point Lookout looks today along with some history of the POW Camp there. The Muster roll dated Sep-Oct, 1864 shows Grandpa Franklin as Absent Without Leave since 23 May, 1864,, which coincides with the time that he was in captivity.
Grandpa Frank was granted Parole on 14 March, 1865 and transferred to Aiken's Landing, Virginia on 16 March, 1865. His actual file states he was exchanged on 15 March, 1865,
I have attached a PDF file with Grandpa Franks actual Military Record, it will open in another tab once you click on it from there you can choose to download it to your computer if you would like a copy of it.
William F Eades Civil War File.pdf |