Emails from
Rosemary Holdredge
about her g-grandfather
James B. Isbell
who was
Captain Company "H"
12th Mississippi Cavalry
From: "Rosemary Holdredge"
To:
Subject: Armistead's Brigade
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005
Hi, Tom!
I stumbled on your Web site through a Google search. I am another descendant of a member of the 12th Miss. My great-grandfather was James B. Isbell, captain of Company H.
Sorry to say, but I don't have any personal information about the activities of the unit. In fact, that is what I am looking for. The family records I have say that Granpa refused to speak about what he did during the Civil War and even stared down children when they asked. He was very proud of his service, though. He loyally attended reunions, and probably is in your picture. He also bought a new Confederate uniform as he went on in years so that he could be buried in it. His sword, regretfully, he gave away during his lifetime. He died in 1904.
It is so nice you have put this history together, and I printed it all out to add to my family records. Thank you very much!
Rosemary Isbell Holdredge
From: "Rosemary Holdredge"
To:
Subject: Co. H, Armistead's Brigade
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005
Tom,
My name is Rosemary Isbell Holdredge, and I am the great granddaughter of James B. Isbell, captain of Company H, 12th Mississippi. About 65 years ago my father obtained photostats of his amnesty agreement and the report he made to his commanding officer upon being elected to captain of Company H. He was only 20 years old. After reversing the image and enhancing it in PhotoShop, I was able to transcribe the letter. I cannot make out some of the names; someone familiar with Confederate officers may know who they are.
I thought you might want to include this on your Web site.
Rosemary Isbell Holdredge
From: "Rosemary Holdredge"
To: "Tom McKnight"
Subject: Re: Co. H, Armistead's Brigade
Date: Thu, 12 May 2005
After I sent you that initial transcription, I found more information in my father's records about the 12th Miss. He also transcribed the account of the election and interpreted some of the writing a little differently than I did. It appears to be addressed to "Col." and the general is Pillow. The rest I can't swear to.
There are five typed pages here, and included in them is the complete roster of Co. H as surrendered at Citronelle, AL, by Lt. Gen. Taylor. It runs to 52 names. McKnight, W.T., is listed as a private from Livingston, Sumter Co., Ala. It also names the noncomissioned officers. I don't know where Dad got this information, but he was a reporter for the Washington Post (in DC) during the 1930s and a reserve Army officer. He frequented the War Department, National Archives, and the Library of Congress, all of which he had easy access to with a press pass or Army identification looking for genealogical information.
This is too much for me to retype - we're all busy to some extent - but I would be happy to scan in these pages and send them to you if you would like to have them.
From: "Rosemary Holdredge"
To: "Tom McKnight"
Subject: Co. H Scans H-1, H-2
Date: Fri, 13 May 2005
Tom, these files are large, so I am going to split them up. I also am including a typed obituary, which tells a little more about Capt. Isbell. As I said before, Dad did not list his sources, but I am quite sure they came from government/military sources. This means of course the originals could be retrieved again.
Rosemary Isbell Holdredge
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Armistead's Cavalry Brigade
12th Mississippi Cavalry
16th Confederate Cavalry
