Family History: David Phillips

How would you feel if you entered the Army in place of your brother who was drafted, but never received any training before you reached the front?  That is exactly what happened to my great, great, grandfather, David Phillips, after he joined the Iowa 15^th Volunteer Infantry in October 1864.  The family story is that he entered the war in place of his brother who was drafted.  When he sent money back to his wife, this same brother somehow got it and kept it for himself.  Consequently, she nearly starved to death if it wasn’t for Jesse James helping her in her time of need. 

Early in my family history research, I became interested in my great, great, grandfather.  Something about the man intrigues me.  I have two pictures of him and, though David is taller, my uncle Ron looks like him.  I decided to do some research to determine if I could prove that David was a draftee substitute and if Jesse James had helped his wife, Sarah.  Let me say that until I can find letters or news articles about Jesse James specifically helping Sarah, I have to accept that it is possible but not positively true.  I have read articles about Jesse James being in Iowa and that he helped people in need from time to time.  Therefore, I believe it is plausible.  However, I felt it was more likely I could find some proofs about David. 

My first concern was the fact that military muster rolls show David was in Company B of the Iowa 15^th Volunteer Infantry.  If he joined on behalf of his drafted brother, why was it called a volunteer army?  Nonetheless, the records show he mustered in on 14 October 1864 and out on 24 July 1865.  He was 22 years old and lived in Fort Dodge, Iowa. 

In the book “History of the Fifteenth Regiment, Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry, from October, 1861, to August, 1865,” William W. Belknap notes that the last day to join the 15^th before the draft started was April 1, 1864 (page 310).  There are other records stating a draft was needed to raise the ranks of men that would be used by General William T. Sherman as he attacked Atlanta and beyond.  While I do not know which brother was drafted or when, based on the day David mustered in it may have been within a few weeks to a couple months before.  Nevertheless, Belknap notes that it took a month for David to arrive in the Atlanta area.  He states on the night of November 14^th, there was “another detachment of 189 drafted men and substitutes” that arrived in Marietta, GA."

“These men arrived at that Post without any officer who brought them, and without any descriptive papers—the officer who brought them from Davenport, Iowa, having left them at Nashville; from there they were forwarded to Atlanta while the regiment was stationed at Marietta.  A self-constituted Sergeant who was in the service before, and appeared to have taken charge of the detachment en-route to Atlanta, could not say how many of the lacking 21 men were left sick at Nashville, or some hospital on the way, and how many might have deserted.  After a long correspondence, which commenced as soon as the regiment arrived at the sea, the required muster and descriptive rolls were received at the regimental headquarters at Goldsboro, NC towards the end of the March, of the next year; meanwhile such military description of these men was made as could be had by and from themselves, for temporary purposes.  They were armed and equipped during the first days of the march, and were drilled for practical warfare whenever an opportunity could be obtained” (Page 412). 

For you history buffs, you know that on November 15^th, Sherman began his “March to the Sea.”  I sometimes wonder what David thought when he finally arrived in Atlanta.  I read that earlier in the Atlanta campaign that General Sherman placed so much importance of supplies getting through that any troops being moved by rail from Chattanooga to Atlanta had to ride on top of the cars.  By the time David traveled to Atlanta, that order had been rescinded but I can’t help but wonder if he had to ride like that.  Also, there were confederates that still attacked trains traveling from Chattanooga to Atlanta so it t wasn’t a completely safe journey.

On page 442, David is listed as one of the soldiers whose unit was unknown.  It also notes him as a “substitute.”  So we know that he is there in place of someone.  At this time, I have found no documentation noting which brother was drafted.  I am inclined to believe it was Ola Phillips.  This is due to the oldest brother, Marquiss, being 32 years old and Ola was 28. 

There is one point of the family story that can be disputed based on the documentation noted above.  That is the item of the brother getting the money sent home to David’s wife, Sarah, and keeping the money for himself.  Since Belknap notes that some men did not know the unit to which they belonged and that this information wasn’t learned until the following March, it seems more likely that no money was being sent home.  Also, I have read that General Sherman and his armies had no contact with the North during their March to the Sea until they reached Savannah in late December 1864.  Therefore, no mail could be delivered and probably no pay could be issued.

While I still have found no documentation about Sarah and her life while David was fighting the war or the family during the war, it has been tremendously satisfying to be able to prove some things about David's role in the Civil War.  I continue to search and one day hope to go to the areas where he lived in order to find concrete evidence about David and his family.  

#familyhistory #genealogy#civilwar