Union Tennessee Volunteers Cavalry 3rd Regiment

I just wanted to share a few more details about the Tennessee Cavalry 3rd Regiment that Josiah Locke served in from 1863-1865. The details were all found at the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System run by the National Parks Service. I've melded the information found on that site with Josiah's service records for this post.

It is always interesting to note the conditions that these men served under. The death tolls from this large regiment (the NPS website shows 1682 men in the regiment) are a prime example of the death tolls of the Civil War at large. Of the 3rd Tenn Cavalry only 10 men (2 officers, 8 enlisted) actually were killed or mortally wounded in battle. The remaining 536 men (4 officers, 532 enlisted) died from disease. As we think of Gettysburg, Fredricksburg, Antietam & the other famous battles, we think of bloodshed and the fire of muskets and cannons. However, filthy camps, dirty water, malnutrition, and other basic elements of public health and sanitation were the actual cause of most of the deaths.

Below is the history of the 3rd Tenn Cavalry regiment. I've bolded the events from Josiah's personal service records to enable comparison to the rest of the regiment history. I have not included battles/locations that took place while Josiah was a POW. I've also left the links from the NPS website to all the battles--check them out!

One point to think on as you read through these battles is that Josiah could have fought those battles against any number of his Locke relatives serving as Confederate soldiers, including the widower and sons of his half-sister Ruth Reeves; his paternal uncle, Jesse Locke, & Jesse's sons; and his cousin Josiah H. Locke (son of paternal uncle Benjamin Locke), to name just a few.


3rd Tennessee Cavalry:

• Jan 27, 1863: Regiment was organized at Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tenn.
  
• Oct 16, 1863: Josiah joined up in Nashville, TN.
• Nov 12, 1863: Josiah was mustered in as a Private in Co H in Nashville, TN
• Nov/Dec 1863: Duty at Nashville.
• Dec 24-28: Operations about Dandridge and Mossy Creek.
• Dec 28-Jan 4, 1864: Expedition to Memphis, TN.
• Jan 14: Moved to Colliersville.
• Feb 11-26: Smith's Expedition to Okolona, Miss. [Locations noted as Pontotoc (Feb 17), Okolona (Feb 18), Egypt Station (Feb 19), West Point (Feb 20-21)]
• Feb 22: Ivy's Hill or Okolona.
  
• Mar- Jun: Duty at Nashville.
• Jun- Sep: Duty on line of Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad and in the District of North AL (about Decatur).
• Jun 24-Aug 20: Operations in District of North Alabama.
• Jul 25-28: Expedition from Decatur to Courtland and Moulton and skirmish.
• Aug 9: Near Pond Springs.
• Aug 17-20: Expedition from Decatur to Moulton
• Aug 18-19: Near Antioch Church
• Sep 10: Florence.
• Sep 16-25: Operations against Forest.
• Sep 23-24: Action at Athens, AL by a detachment, captured. Josiah captured by Confederates.
  
• Sep 24, 1864-Mar 21, 1865: Josiah held as a POW by the Confederates
  
• Mar 21, 1865: Josiah released by the Confederates at Vicksburg, Mississippi
• (Apr 7, 1865: General Lee surrenders at Appomattox)
• May 7- Jun 27, 1865: Josiah at Camp Chase, Ohio
  
• Jul-Aug 1865: On post duty at Nashville (Regiment had been there since Dec 1864).
• Aug 3, 1865: Josiah (& regiment) mustered out from Pulaski, TN

Josiah would have served only about 10.5 months before being captured. Most of his time seems to have been spent traveling and waiting, as he really only saw 2 battles & a few small skirmishes. He was then held as a POW for 6 months. He was then returned to a Union Camp where he stayed until after General Lee surrendered and the end of the War was imminent.