Civil War Saturday - Rose

(This post was inspired by the meme started here)

These Civil War Saturday posts have been immensely helpful to me because they not only help me organize and see what information I have, but also show me where my weak spots are.  This is especially true for my third great-grandmother's family, the Motts and Rose/Smiths.  I had kind of written off all the lines that were in California at the time of the war, forgetting that many of them had family back east who were caught up in everything that was happening.  I learned that my fourth great-grandmother, Mary Johanna Rose Mott (and by extension her husband, Isaac Thomas Mott, who was also her first cousin), had a few nephews who fought in the war:

John Irwin, 1832-1901.  He entered the Naval Academy in 1847 and went on to achieve the rank of Rear Admiral, serving as commander of Mare Island among other posts.  At the time of the Civil War he was serving on the frigate USS Wabash and was at the battle for Fort Pulaski among others.  At his death he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.  John's mother,  Frances Everallyn Rose, was Mary Johanna Rose Mott's sister.  John's father was William Wallace Irwin, a Senator and mayor of Pittsburgh.  John's half-sister, from his father's second marriage, was Agnes Irwin.

Charles Shaler Smith, 1836-1886.  An engineer from the North, he chose to fight on the side of the Confederacy.  He was a Captain in Company G, 1st Georgia Infantry (Local Troops) out of Augusta.  As an engineer, his wartime projects including repairing the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad (after it was damaged by Sherman's troops) and serving as the architect of the Confederate Powder Works.  Several books mention Charles' work, both during and after the war.  More recently, the book Never For Want of Powder:  The Confederate Powder Works in Augusta, Georgia devotes a section to Charles.

Frederick H. Smith, 1839-1898.  The brother of Charles above, Frederick also went south to Georgia.  His obituary mentions his service on the side of the Confederacy and I have seen a picture of him in a Confederate uniform.  Unfortunately, the commonality of his name has made it difficult to learn more about his war record.  Frederick and Charles above were the sons of Mary Johanna's brother, Augustus Frederick Rose.

Comments

  1. I'm so glad you're finding the meme helpful. Like you, I needed some structure - and time - to thoroughly research our family's involvement.

    Fascinating about your Smith relatives. I haven't heard of much crossing over beyond the border states where it was common.

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  2. Hi Leah, we've communicated previously about the Rose family and the divorce of William L. Rose and Charlotte Clara Smith. Frederick Augustus Rose (I think you mention him as Augustus Frederick Rose) who took the name Frederic Rose Smith and Frederick H. Smith are both in my direct line. My Uncle Shaler Gordon SMith, Jr., who did a great deal of research on the Rose family, believed that there were twins, Augustus Frederick Rose and Frederick Augustus Rose. I have just found information on Ancestry.com about a possible source of information for Augustus Frederick Rose who according to the Ancestry source, died in New South Wales in 1833 and did not marry. From my family information, I don't think that my ancestor Frederick Augustus Rose attended West Point, so it is beginning to look as though there really were twins with similar names.

    I do have quite a bit of information on Frederick H. Smith, if you are interested.

    Sue Martin

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