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My Civil War Ancestor

by | Mar 22, 2015 | Confederate affiliation, Watauga

I had three ancestors in the Civil War. This is about one from Watauga county. Benjamin Moody was conscripted/drafted by the Southern side; but after he had been in a few months, he deserted and made his way over into Tennessee, where he joined the 13th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, a Union outfit. He served till the end of the war with them and was discharged at Strawberry Plains, near Knoxville. Benjamin, along with his two brothers, his stepdaughter’s husband and his sister’s brother-in-law, served with a group of men from Watauga and surrounding counties in the 13th. All during the time he was serving with the 13th, the Confederates, who regarded him as a deserter, were on the lookout for him. Once, they even threatened his sister with hanging if she did not tell them where he was. Supposedly, the lieutenant with them said she was too pretty to hang, and let her go. After the war was over he came home and lived quietly among all of his neighbors, southern, guerrilla and northern, until his death. One of Benjamin’s brothers died soon after the war of chest problems and his children received support until they were eighteen years of age. The third brother moved to Kansas and lived there for many years, eventually moving back to Johnson City, Tenn. I have a copy of Benjamin’s discharge paper, his Confederate records and his application for a pension from the Union army.

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