Hildreth, Belzer and Faurot Civil War Veterans





Hildreth, Belzer and Faurot Civil War Veterans


 In a previous post (link), we discussed the many descendants of Hinchea Gilliam (1775-1858) who fought in the Civil War. In this post, we take a look at the Civil War veterans in the Hildreth, Belzer and Faurot branches of the family.

My generation's second great grandfather, Rees Hildreth (the father of Annie and Maggie Hildreth Gilliam) enlisted in the 27th Missouri Infantry Regiment on March 26, 1864, as an 18 year old. Rees joined the same unit with his older brother, Henry Hildreth (Henry was 22) and both enlisted for three year terms. Rees was in Company C; Henry was in Company F.

The 27th Missouri Regiment was formed in the Chillicothe, Missouri area between September 1862 and January 1863 and formed part of the guard for St. Louis until the unit was fully formed. The unit moved first to participate in the sieges at Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi until July of 1863. When those operations concluded, the unit maneuvered through Tennessee, from Memphis to Chattanooga through the winter of 1863-1864. Rees would have joined the unit that spring, when it joined the march on Atlanta and maneuvered through Georgia and Alabama for the remainder of the year. Once those operations completed, the unit moved North through South Carolina and North Carolina to Virginia. The unit participated in the Grand Review of the Armies in Washington, D.C. and was mustered out on June 13, 1865. Both Rees and Henry survived the War; Rees was officially discharged July 18, 1865. His discharge certificate appears here:


None of our Hildreth soldier ancestors lost their lives in battle during the Civil War, although several (noted below) died as a result of sickness or disease. Two were killed in the war despite not being soldiers of either army. Both were sons of Henry Thomas Hildreth (1796-1850). Henry Hildreth made the same migration from Virginia to Kentucky and Indiana as his brother Rees Bowen Hildreth. However, Henry migrated to Fentress County, Tennessee just a few years after arriving in Indiana. Henry's two eldest sons, Pierson Miller Hildreth and Reece Thomas Hildreth were both Confederate sympathizers. Neither enlisted; Pierson due to his age and Reece due to disability. 

Prior to the war, Reece had studied to be an attorney and was elected as a representative in the Tennessee General Assembly. Due to wartime tensions, he moved to Overton County, Tennessee and was teaching school. According to family stories, Reece was dragged from the school one day by the Union home guard and shot while his daughter stood by. The story was told differently in newspaper reports in the Jonesborough, Tennessee Herald and Tribune from November 23, 1871 (link). A Union officer, Captain Rufus Dowdy, had been ordered to search the county for Confederate arms caches and to recover any Union stock that had been run off by guerillas. On July 24, 1864, Dowdy's troops chased a number of guerillas from Reece's house and in the pursuit, the soldiers lost some clothing and equipment. The soldiers returned the following day to recover the lost items and found only Reece's wife at the house. After threatening her with burning down their house, she identified where the items could be found. In the course of searching for the items, the soldiers found a stable that hid both one of the Union horses and Reece. He was arrested and was shot before he was turned over to the authorities. 

On December22, 1864, five months after Reece's death, Pierson Hildreth was also killed by Union soldiers after he had been identified as a Confederate guerilla. Both incidents caused some longstanding hard feelings and seven years after their 1864 deaths, the Union officers responsible were indicted for murder. Both murder cases were dismissed after the judges ruled that the cases came under the jurisdiction of military commissions and were outside the jurisdiction of the federal courts (link).

Jeffrey Hildreth and Lily Bowen Hildreth had several grandchildren who fought and died in service of both sides of the war.

    Sons of Abigail Hildreth Richardson (1785-1860)

        Henry Hildreth Richardson Co. F, First Field’s Infantry, Tennessee CSA

        Howard Richardson, Co. I, 47th Indiana Infantry (died Oct 1862 from disease)

    Sons of William Hildreth (1786-1850)

        Jacob Hildreth 23rd Battalion, Virginia Infantry CSA

        William A. Hildreth, 68th Virginia Regiment CSA

        Andrew J. Hildreth, Co. H, 63rd Virginia Regiment, CSA (died while a POW at Camp Douglas, Illinois) 

    Sons of Rees Bowen Hildreth (1790-1849)

        Henry Hildreth Co. F, 27th Missouri Infantry Regiment

        Rees Hildreth Co. C, 27th Missouri Infantry Regiment

    Sons of Henry Thomas Hildreth (1796-1850)

        Pierson M. Hildreth, killed 22 Dec 1864 by Union soldiers as an alleged guerilla

        Reese Thomas Hildreth, killed 25 July 1864 by Union soldiers as an alleged guerilla 

        Abner B. Hildreth, 25th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, CSA

        William H. Hildreth, Smith’s 4th Tennessee Cavalry, CSA

    Son-in-law of Elizabeth Lillian “Lilly” Hildreth Goodwin (1809- 1856)

        U. H. Myers Co. C, 14th Iowa Infantry Regiment

    Son of Joseph Hildreth (1816-1895)

        Alexander Hildreth Co. H, 139th Indiana Infantry Regt (died of disease)

    Son-in-law of Gabriel Hildreth (1818-1911)

        Wilson Morrow Co. K, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment

The sons and grandsons of Jesse Belzer and Angeline Mack Belzer all fought on the Union side of the War.

    Sons of Frederick Felix Belzer (1797-1880)

        Albert R. Belzer Co. F, 65th Missouri Infantry

        Son-in-law Bolin Baker Co. F, 25th Missouri Engineers

    Sons of Jesse Belzer (1801-1868)

        John M. Belzer Co. K, 42nd Missouri Infantry

        Francis Marion Belzer, Co. K, 7th Missouri Cavalry (died of cholera at Camp Lyon, Missouri)

        Richard Belzer Co. F, 25th Missouri Volunteers (died of typhoid fever and buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery)

        Son-in-law Thomas Couch Cos. C & I, 35th Missouri Infantry

        Son-in-law Henderson McCollum 7th Missouri Cavalry (medically discharged during war)

        Son-in-law James A. Baker, Co. F, 25th Missouri Infantry

    Grandson of John M. Belzer (1801-1854)

        Francis Marion Bray Co. F, 12th Missouri Cavalry Regiment (died from disease)

The descendants of Jacob Faurot and Hannah Cory Faurot all fought for the Union.

    Son-in-Law of John Holliday Faurot (1802-1887)

        John Robeson Co. H, 68th Indiana Infantry Regiment

    Sons of Mehitable (May) Faurot Enyart (1804-1876)

        John Enyart Co. F, 52nd Indiana Infantry Regiment (died of disease)

        Son-in-law Carey Knox Co. G, 11th Missouri Cavalry Regiment

    Sons of Martha Faurot Chapman Hildreth (1808-1874)
        
        Marvin W. Chapman, Co. D, 42nd Missouri Infantry Regiment

        Isaac C. Chapman Co. L, 5th Iowa Cavalry Regiment

        Henry Hildreth Co. F, 27th Missouri Infantry Regiment

        Rees Hildreth Co. C, 27th Missouri Infantry Regiment

    Sons of Anna Christena Faurot Abercrombie (1812-1863)

        Samuel D. Abercrombie, Co. H, 7th Missouri Cavalry Regiment

In our next post, we will pick up with the lives of Rees and Rachel Hildreth and examine the genealogy of the Belzer branch of the Hildreth family tree.

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