Archie Clark Redmond Turner, Allen Parish Louisiana Submitted by: Edric Turner ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ ALLEN PARISH, LA - BIOGRAPHY - TURNER, Archie Clark Redmond THE CIVIL WAR RECORD OF MY GREAT GRANDFATHER, ARCHIE CLARK REDMOND (A. C. R.) TURNER By Edric Turner TURNER, A. C. R., Pvt. Co. B, 1st (Nelligan's) La. Inf. En. Aug. 2, 1861, New Orleans, La. Present on all Rolls to March 1, 1864. Roll to Aug. 31, 1864. Absent, wounded, since June 4, 1864. Roll Sept. and Oct. 1864, dated Feb. 26, 1865, Present. Roll of Prisoners of War, C. S. A., Paroled at Appomattox Court House, Va., April 10, 1865. Age 21 years, eyes blue, hair dark, complexion dark, height 5 ft. 11 in., Res Claiborne Par., La., born Georgia, occupation farmer, single, age when enlisted 18. A. C. R. Turner enlisted in the Confederate Army on August 2, 1861 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was assigned to Company "B," First Louisiana Infantry. This regiment was organized in New Orleans on April 28, 1861 and received orders to go to Richmond, Virginia. From that city the regiment went to Norfolk. They remained there until early 1862 when they moved to North Carolina. They arrived too late to participate in the skirmish at South Mills on April 19. The regiment fought at King's School House June 25 and at Malvern Hill July 1. Two hundred fourteen men were killed, wounded or missing in these battles. On July 26, the regiment was placed in the Second Louisiana Brigade with the ninth, tenth, and fifteenth regiments, and the First Zouave Battalion. They fought in the battles of Second Manassas August 29 and 30 and the Battle of Fredericksburg December 13. A. C. R. Turner was in the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863 under General Stonewall Jackson on the Union Army's right flank. He was on guard duty the night Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own men. According to what A. C. R. Turner told one of his grandsons, Mr. Elbert E. "Bug" Garlington, General Jackson had given orders to let no one come down a certain road. After night fall, Jackson and some of his generals went out to scout the northern positions and came back along the road he had ordered that no one be allowed to come down. When the men on guard saw General Jackson and his men, they fired on the group, killing two generals and wounding Stonewall Jackson in the left arm. Doctors amputated his arm, but a few days later he died of pneumonia on May 10, 1863. The last words Jackson said before he died were: "Men, let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." Stonewall Jackson was one of the greatest generals of the Civil War. General Lee said Jackson "lost his left arm and I lost my right arm. The Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, was fought on May 1 through 5, 1863. The Northern commander was Hooker, the Southern commander was Lee. The casualties for the North were 11,000 killed or wounded, for the South 10,000 killed or wounded. A. C. R. Turner's regiment lost 46 of the 125 men engaged during the two day battle. At the Battle of Winchester, June 15, 1863, the regiment remained in reserve and only one man was wounded. The regiment fought in the attack of Culps Hill at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2nd and 3rd, 1863. I was at the Gettysburg battle site and walked over some of the battle grounds, and, from what I know of this battle, I walked on ground that was once red with blood from northern and southern soldiers. The battle was fought on July 1, 2 and 3, 1863. The Northern commander was General Meade; General Lee commanded the Southern forces. Casualties for the North numbered 17,500; casualties for the South, 22,500. After losing at Gettysburg, General Lee retreated back into Virginia. October 9-22, 1863, the regiment participated in the Bristoe Station campaign; the Mine Run campaign, November 26 through December 2; and, the battle at Payne's Farm on November 27. The regiment lost 28 of the 112 men engaged. On May 7-20, 1864, the regiment fought in the Battle of Spotsylvania, Virginia. This was the beginning of the Wilderness Battles. The North overran the brigade's position on May 12 and captured most of the men in the regiment. The next battle in which the regiment participated was Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864. Lee won the victory, but A. C. R. Turner was wounded in the knee. Mr. Bug Garlington gave this account as his grandfather, A. C. R. Turner, told him: A. C. R. Turner was lying in some high grass where trees had been cut when he was wounded. The Union soldier that shot him was in front of him, lying down also. A. C. R. Turner laid still for about thirty minutes. Finally the Union soldier got up. A. C. R. told Bug that no one would have to worry about him any more. You can draw your own conclusions about what happened. A. C. R. rode a mule back to the First Aid Station. The medic that treated him wanted to wash his wound in a tub of bloody water, but A. C. R. would not let him do that. The aide finally got a pan of clean water and cleaned and dressed the wounded leg. A. C. R. was absent from roll call June 4, 1864 until September, 1864. February 26, 1865 he was present. By late December 1864 the brigade had rejoined General Lee's army at Petersburg. The men served in the trenches around this city until it was evacuated on April 2, 1865. When Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, the regiment had only one officer and eighteen enlisted men present for duty. Of the approximately 906 men who served during the war, approximately 162 were killed in battle, 74 died of disease, one was killed by accident. Some 88 men deserted. When Lee gave his last farewell, A. C. R. Turner was standing only ten feet from Lee, who was on his horse. Lee told his men: "Men, we have fought through the war together. I have done my best for you. My heart is too full to say more." In terms of human casualties, the Civil War cost more than any other American war. About one million men were killed or wounded. Death, including those from diseases, totaled 618,000. The North lost 360,000 men, the south 258,000. Disease killed more men than bullets did. One hundred ten thousand Union soldiers and 94,000 Confederate soldiers died on the battle field. I wish to thank: Mr. Elbert E. "Bug" Garlington, now deceased, for his information on his grandfather in the Civil War; Mrs. Jane Manino for information from her computer; and Mr. Michael Dan Jones for his information on the First Louisiana Regiment Civil War Records.