Veterans, Civil War. Thomas Newton Crimm File prepared Hugh Simmons and submitted by David Crim adcrim@att.net ------------------------------------------------------------------ ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Thomas Newton Crimm, 12th La. Infantry The following was received in October of 2000 from Hugh Simmons of the La. 12th Infantry Webpage: My data is from the Compiled Military Service Records for the 12th Louisiana Infantry on microfilm at the National Archives. I also have an original copy of Andrew B. Booth's Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands [New Orleans, 1920] which was extracted by archivists paid by the State of Louisiana in the early 1900's from the CMSR. So the CMSR is the primary record. Thomas N. CRIMM volunteered for Confederate service in the summer of 1861 with the North Louisiana Cadets which was recruited from DeSoto, Natchitoches, and Sabine Parishes. This company reported to Camp Moore, Louisiana and was transferred into Confederate service on August 13, 1861 as Company F in the 12th Louisiana Infantry. The regiment enrolled as 12 month volunteers and was re-organized and re-enrolled on May 10, 1862 to serve for three years or the duration of the war under the terms of the Confederate Conscription Act of April 1862. The alpha designation of each of the companies was changed as part of this reorganization and Company F became Company A for the balance of the war. Company A is the designation you will find for this company in both the Compiled Military Service Records and Booth's Records. You will find my website rosters organized around these 1862 alpha designations. Thomas N. CRIMM's Confederate enrollment date is August 13, 1861 at Camp Moore with the original Company F. He was present for duty with this company for nearly three years without any service interruption. On August 1, 1864, he was sent sick from the defensive lines west of Atlanta to a Confederate military hospital at Macon, Georgia and he returned to duty with the regiment sometime after the end of August. He was wounded in action at Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864 and initially treated at Franklin. Some of the badly wounded were removed further south to Columbia for convalescence. All of those who could be evacuated were removed to northern Mississippi in the two weeks between the Battle of Franklin [November 30th] and the Battle of Nashville [December 15th and 16th]. Those still in the hospital at Franklin or convalescing in nearby homes in Columbia were captured by the Federals pursuing the defeated Confederates after Nashville. Thomas N. CRIMM was captured in Columbia, Tennessee on December 22, 1864 convalescing from his wounds. In January 1865 when he was sufficiently recovered to be moved, he was forwarded to Nashville where he was admitted to Nashville USA General Hospital No. 1 on January 21st. His wound was examined by Federal surgeons and noted to be a "simple flesh wound of both legs and shoulders." His age was noted to be 22 years, and he was released into the general prison population on January 23rd. He was forwarded to the Louisville Military Prison arriving there on January 24th, and was sent the next day on to Camp Chase, Ohio where he arrived on January 27th. On February 25, 1865, he was paroled for exchange at Camp Chase and forwarded to City Point, Virginia for exchange. The archivist who extracted this information noted that his signature appeared on the parole muster roll. While there is no record of his receipt by Confederate authorities at Richmond, the bulk of the men paroled at Camp Chase on February 25th were delivered to the Confederates around March 11th. There is no record in Thomas' file to indicate when he was actually released, nor does any record of his examination at a Richmond hospital appear in his file. He was admitted to CSA General Hospital No. 11 at Charlotte, North Carolina on March 22, 1865 suffering from "V. S. upper extremities - right." "V. S." is medical shorthand for "vul sclope" meaning flesh wounds. He was furloughed on April 7, 1865 from this North Carolina hospital to make his way home to Louisiana. City Point (modern day Hopewell, Virginia) was Grant's base of operations on the James River east of Richmond and the place of exchange was west along the James River towards Richmond in the bend of the river just beyond Fort Harrison. Previous Confederate practice was to take the exchanged prisoners into the Richmond hospitals for examination and determination of their ability to return to duty. The basis for being released on exchange at this point in the war was a Federal doctor's determination that the Confederate prisoner would not be fit for duty for at least 60 days. The Petersburg defenses south of Richmond collapsed on April 2, 1865 and Richmond was evacuated that night. It is probable that Confederate authorities were already anticipating something of this magnitude and moving wounded and sick men south by railroad. In any event, Thomas N. CRIMM's first recorded medical examination after his exchange at Richmond was at the hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. You might like to include this in your Civil War Veterans info. Thomas Newton Crimm is my great-great-grandfather. After the war he moved to Panola Co. Tx. Sincerely, David Crim Whitehouse, TX