Updated
02-29-08
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During the Civil War, many families were split, with members fighting on both sides. Chastains were no different. Including alternate spellings and misspellings (Chastain, Chastaine, Chasteen, Chasteene, Chastian, Chastine, Chesteen, Chestine), military rosters from the war list 128 Chastains in the Union Army and 355 Chastains in the Confederate Army. Most were descendants of Pierre.
The James Edward Chastain family of Northwest Alabama was loyal to the Union, but other Alabama Chastains fought for the Confederacy. The Chastangs originating in Mobile, Alabama also fought on both sides. The Civil War was a hard time for everyone.
For an extensive list of Chastains and related spellings in the Civil War (and other wars), see Chastains in the Military.
In 1859, Edward Chastain moved his family from Georgia to Thornhill in Marion County, Alabama. The next eight years were sad ones for Edward's family, with three war-related deaths and Edward's accidental death two years later.
When the Civil War began, Edward supported the Union instead of the Confederacy. This was a dangerous position anywhere in the South, and even though Northwest Alabama was a stronghold of Union sympathy some of Edward's neighbors paid dearly for supporting the Union.
It is well known that there were many Union sympathizers in the South. Every state except South Carolina had at least one regiment in the Union forces. It is also known that there were pockets of strong Union support such as Northwest Alabama, East Tennessee, and Western Virginia. Because of its proximity to Union states, Western Virginia was able to "secede" from Virginia and become the new state of West Virginia, but Northwest Alabama and East Tennessee were surrounded by the Confederacy. There was talk of creating a Union state by combining these two districts, but it never happened.
Chastains have also known, at least as far back as 1981 when Mary Avilla Farnsworth-Milligan released her work, Chastain Kith and Kin, that Edward's family in Alabama was pro-Union, but Don Umphrey's 2002 work, Southerners in Blue paints a picture of Edward that is more than simply sympathetic to the Union. It presents Edward as pro-active in supporting those who hid to avoid being drafted into the Confederate Army. He also cooperated in recruitment efforts for the Union Army. His home was a regular stop on the "underground railroad" that facilitated the hiding and movement of Alabama men on their way to join Union forces. At least once he paid a scout to lead a group of recruits safely to the Union camp, and he helped feed and support the families of local men who joined Union forces. When Edward had the opportunity, he traveled 100 miles to a Union facility in Glendale, Mississippi and took an oath of loyalty to the United States.
Umphrey's account is written as narrative rather than "an academic treatise bogged down with footnotes," so it is sometimes difficult to know what details are historical. Though his narrative is enjoyable, I would prefer a treatise bogged down with footnotes. However, the work is highly researched and is not fiction. The foundational document is a memoir written by Umphrey's ancestor, John R. Phillips, and much of the detail comes from Phillip's work. Umphrey assures us that all the incidents are true.
All the characters are real people, and all the names are actual names...In a few places the dialogue is intact as found in historical sources, but mostly I had to construct conversations as they may have occurred...Sometimes it was necessary to make assumptions relating to characterizations. There were also instances where history provided an event, but I had to hypothesize about some of the details leading up to it. (p. 12)
Edward Chastain is not a fully developed character in Umphrey's book, and the few mentions of Edward, though important, are not embellished, so I assume the statements made about him are taken from Phillip's memoir.
Edward had four sons, at least three of whom were in the fight. Pierre Chastain and His Descendants, (henceforth PCD) contains an error. Volume 2, page 139, states that James K. Polk Chastain "was a Confederate soldier in Company K. 1st Alabama Cavalry." The information is correct except that the 1st Alabama Cavalry was Union.
James K. Polk Chastain enlisted in the 1st Alabama (Union), in July of 1862. He was promoted to sergeant less than three months later. He was a prisoner of war in November of 1862 and evidently was returned as part of a prisoner exchange. He was missing in action at the battle of Vincent's Crossroads in October, 1863. He was mustered out July 19, 1865. His younger brother, David D. Chastain, enlisted in the 1st Alabama (Union) in January 1864. David was mustered out June 12, 1865, but died February 22, 1866 of complications from military service.
Ryan Dupree has compiled a tremendous amount of information on the 1st Alabama Cavalry and participates in a 1st Alabama reenactment group. The recruitment flier above was created by Ryan Dupree for the reenactment group and is used with his permission.
The 1st Alabama was an important element of Sherman's march through Atlanta, Savannah, and the Carolinas, serving as scouts in the march to Atlanta and as Sherman's personal escort in the march to Savannah. Apparently, all three of Edward's sons were involved in the march across Georgia.
Current states:
From April to September 1864 the First Alabama then took part in William T. Sherman's campaign for Atlanta, acting as scouts (whose value Sherman himself acknowledged) and as rear guards for the supply line. And from September to December the Alabamians joined in the march from Atlanta to the sea...
During January - March 1865 Spencer led the Third Cavalry Brigade as Sherman's army moved from Savannah up though the Carolinas...After advancing into North Carolina, Spencer's brigade fought off another Confederate attack in what developed into the battle of Monroe's Cross Roads. One morning at reveille his men awoke to find the enemy charging their camp from opposite directions - under the lead of two of the most famous rebel cavalry commanders, Wade Hampton and Joseph Wheeler. The rebels overran almost the entire camp before Spencer's men, "By desperate fighting behind trees," succeeded in driving them off. For two and a half hours the Federals stood up against repeated charges, until finally "the enemy retreated in confusion," leaving behind more than a hundred of their men killed, a larger number wounded, and a few dozen captured. "Our loss... was 18 killed, 70 wounded, and 105 missing."
James K. Polk Chastain had been captured by the Confederates at the battle of Vincent's Crossroads, Mississippi on October 26, 1863 and was released in Savannah on November 20, 1864 as Sherman's army approached the city. There is no evidence that he rejoined the 1st Alabama at this time, as he may have been sent north by the Confederates. He is next found in the hospital at Annapolis, Maryland on December 4, 1864, by which time Sherman had not yet taken Savannah.
Among the missing at the battle of Monroe's Crossroads, North Carolina was David Chastain who became a prisoner of war in that battle.
Meanwhile, Edward's older son, Martin Shelton Chastain, whom he had left in Georgia, served in Georgia's 52nd Regiment Volunteer Infantry, Company E of the Confederate Army. The Georgia 52nd served in the west, like defending Vicksburg, Mississippi, but the 52nd was moved the east to confront Sherman's army in the Atlanta campaign, along with many other units. The 52nd was in North Georgia from May to September, 1864 and participated in a number of battles: Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, New Hope Church, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Ezra Church, the Atlanta Siege (July-Sept 1864), and Jonesboro. It is possible that David and Martin unknowingly fired on each other, but we really do not know whether the Georgia 52nd ever engaged the 1st Alabama.
Martin contracted measles, apparently during the Atlanta campaign and traveled home while he was still recovering. Shortly after he arrived, he died at his uncle's home in Acworth, Cobb County, Georgia on August 4, 1864 (PCD, volume 2, page 136). Disease was often rampant in military camps on both sides and resulted in a high number of deaths. Since the Georgia 52nd was in North Georgia, perhaps Martin's journey home was a short one.
Edward's youngest son, William Howell "Cobb" Chastain, was just over 10 1/2 years old when Alabama seceded from the Union., so he was too young to fight in the army. However, by the time of Lee's surrender on April 9, 1865, Cobb was almost 15. There is no documentation in the Chastain family that Cobb was in the military, but a W. H. Chastine is listed in the Confederate 22nd Regiment, Alabama Infantry. It is possible that Cobb was drafted in the last years or months of the war, as the Confederacy practiced widespread conscription, and, due to the manpower crises, impressed both older and younger Alabamans into service toward the end of the conflict.
Umphrey expresses confusion concerning David's service in the Union Army. In his appendix regarding the families named in his book, Umphrey states:
The cemetery also contains the grave of D. D. Chastain, a son of Edward and Sarah. His marker indicates that D. D. served in the First Alabama Calvary, but records indicate that the only Chastain in the regiment was James. It's possible that James and D. D. are the same person.
Umphrey's assumption was incorrect. Edward had two sons in the 1st Alabama Calvary, James K. Polk Chastain and David D. Chastain. The error is understandable, however, as military records list David as David D. Chestaine instead of Chastain. James is absent from the family cemetery because he moved away from the area and was buried in Missouri.
Umphrey happily accepted the revised information when Chastain Central shared it with him. In correspondence with Chastain Central, Umphrey wrote,
Thanks for clearing up the identity of D. D. Chastain for me. It never occurred to me that they may have spelled his name wrong (but it makes perfect sense that they would based on the many other misspelled names that I've seen in those records). --Correspondence of April 25, 2005.
We understood that the Thornhill cemetery mentioned above was at the Thornhill Church of Christ, but a John R. Phillips descendant-in-law, Jan Curtis, clarified it for us to our great joy. There are four Chastains buried in the Phillips family cemetery about a mile away from the Thornhill Church of Christ cemetery:
Edward Chastain, b: 5/10/1806 d: 5/17/1867; David D. Chastain Co A, 1st AL Cav (no dates given); Sarah Chastain (wife of Edward) b: 6/11/1810, d: 7/17/1891; and Chastain Infant, William Thomas, son of Wm & M.H., b: 9//7/1899, d: 12/9/1899. (Correspondence of January 16, 2008).
Umphrey mentions that Edward already had a son, James, and two sons-in-law in the 1st Alabama Cavalry (p. 98). The timeline of the statement is September of 1863 when a large Union recruitment was organized in the area. Indeed, James was in the 1st Alabama at that time, and David did not enlist until a few months later in January of 1864.
Don Umphrey shared with us that his source is a statement made without elaboration in the memoir of his great-grandfather, John R. Phillips, written in 1922, more than 50 years after the war. Assuming Phillips is correct, whom can these sons-in-law be?
One of Edward's sons-in-law, Hiram Lambert, husband of Sarah Chastain, served in the 1st Alabama, but not until January of 1864. He and David Chastain joined at the same time. Six months later Hiram was in the hospital with typhoid fever. He was discharged June 28, 1865. However, he was not Edward's son-in-law at that time. He and Sarah were married October 7, 1867, after the war was over. Perhaps Phillips remembered him as Edward's son-in-law in retrospect.
Nancy Ann married John Sterling Cantrell, and they had a son born in Georgia in 1860, but they could have moved to Alabama within the next couple years, and Nancy is buried in Marion County. Pierre Chastain and His Descendants, volume 2, page 137, shows that Cantrell died in the Civil war, but does not state how, nor whether he served in either army. The records of the 1st Alabama lists a John S. Cantrell. This is likely our John Sterling. However, it indicates that he enlisted in October of 1863, perhaps as part of the very recruitment Phillips describes. He became a prisoner of war on January 18, 1864 and was killed by Confederates while a prisoner of war June 18, 1864 in Franklin County, Alabama, not far from his home.
Lydia Ann married Thomas Jefferson Cowart, and they lived in Alabama in the 1860s and were both buried in Marion County, but I do not find him in the 1st Alabama roster. There were several Thomas J Coward/Cowarts in the Georgia Confederate 52nd Regiment Volunteer Infantry, one or more of whom could have been Lydia's husband, Thomas Jefferson, though if so they must have moved to Marion County, Alabama by 1866. There is also a Jason Cowart in the Confederate 52nd Regiment Volunteer Infantry, Company E, the same company in which Martin Chastain served. Jason Cowart may have been the husband of Edward's daughter, Artimissa.
Theresa Emmaline married James Johnson Osborne, and they lived in Marion County by 1858, but I do not find him in the 1st Alabama roster.
Thus we see that two of Edward's sons, James and David, and two of his sons-in-law, John Cantrell and Hiram Lambert, served in the 1st Alabama Cavalry of the Union Army, but it remains unclear whom are the two sons-in-law mentioned by Phillips.
Many families in the South had members in both the Union and the Confederate Armies. Edward had two sons in the Union Army and one in the Confederate. Edward's own brother, Renny Marion Chastain, served in the Confederate Army, and his first cousin, Elijah Webb Chastain, was a confederate colonel. Edward's sons had at least six first cousins in the war, and there were probably many more as they had 20 sets of aunts and uncles on the Chastain side alone.
Confederate first cousins we know are: W. J. Chastain, Rainey Franklin Chastain, Edward Harold Chastain, John Milton Chastain (died of disease), William Jasper Chastain (not the same as W. J. above), and a double first cousin, George Washington Shelton, son of Polly Chastain and Joel Thomas Shelton. Joel Thomas Shelton and Edwards's wife, Sarah Shelton, were brother and sister. Cousin James Maxwell Chastain tried to join the Confederates at 15 years old, but was sent home. There were at least 2 husbands of first cousins in the Confederate Army: Green Berry Strawn (died of measles) and Ned Chastain.
We know of only one first cousin who served in the Union Army--Nathan P. Chastain (Missouri Calvary). A second-cousin, Edward Jordan Chastain, who lived in Itawamba County, Mississippi, which abutted Marion County, Alabama, was a Confederate soldier and was wounded at Shiloh.
This document was discovered in a brown book at a PCFA reunion. Out of habit, I wrote it in printed uppercase letters, so the capitalization below may be incorrect in places. The text, however, should be correct. Note that David is listed as serving in both the 19th Kentucky Infantry and the 1st Alabama Infantry. This is very interesting.
This document, as I found it, states that the family is said to have lived in Thomas County, Georgia before moving to Alabama. This makes very little sense. Though there was an early population of Chastains in Thomas County, it was from an entirely different line of Pierre's family. There is no reason I can think of that they should have been in Thomas County. Welcome input comes from personal correspondence with researcher Richard Wood, who says the family actually moved from Hiawassee, in Towns County, Georgia. This makes perfect sense! His correction is based on census records and other local research.
David D. Chastain
Civil War - Co R, 19th Kentucky Infantry (Union)
Sarah (Shelton) Chastain - Mother
Pension Application #447700
Certificate #377660
By deposition, 12 May 1886, Thornhill, Marion County, Alabama.
Sarah Chastain states she was the widow of Edward Chastain and the mother of David D. Chastain. She was 75 in 1886. They were married in October 1825 in her father's house in Hayward County, North Carolina. She was Sarah Shelton prior to her marriage to Edward Chastain. Children of this marriage were:
Martin - Born January 1827; Died in Confederate Army; Married and lived in Georgia. Wife's name not mentioned
Nancy - Born March 1829
Elizabeth - Born May 1831
Artemesia? - Born June 1833
Lidia - Born August 1815
Emline - Born January 1837; Died April 1884
James - Born 1839
David D. - Born August 1841; Never married; Died 22 February 1866
Sarah - Born May 1843
William H. - Born May 1851
The family moved from Hiawatha, Thomas County, Georgia, to Marion County, Alabama in 1859. Edward Chastain was thrown from a horse and died in May.
Deposition CX
Case of Sarah Chastain No 93355
On the 12th day of May, 1886 at
Thornhill, County of Marion
State of Alabama....
Married by John Love, a JP at my father's house
I was always a loyal woman and never aided in any way in the rebellion against the government of the United States. My two sons James and David both served in the Union Army in the 1st Ala
James and David were the only Alabama Chastains we know of in the Union Army, but there were a dozen Chastains in the Confederate Alabama Army, most of whom we cannot match:
1. Castan, James S.
2. Chastain, Alexander
3. Chastain, John P. * Tenuous Match
4. Chastain, T. W. * Possible Match
5. Chasteen, G. E.
6. Chasteen, Henry
7. Chasteen, J. W. * Possible Match
8. Chasteen, L. E.
9. Chasteen, S. P. * Tenuous Match
10.Chastine, J. P. * Tenuous Match
11.Chastine, W. H. * Tenuous Match
12.Chatain, C. B. * Tenuous Match
Some of these may have been recruited or conscripted from outside Alabama. W. H. Chastain could be Edward's young son, William Howell (see more about this above). Some may be members of other early Alabama Chastain families. There are five such families known besides Edward's.
1. William Chastain (3-John, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre), Edward's uncle, was a Baptist minister who served churches in North Alabama and South Tennessee. His first child was born in Alabama in 1827 and his last in 1852. The 1860 census shows him in Madison County, N Alabama (Huntsville area), so his sons are candidates for the Alabama military. By the 1870 census, William is in Illinois. However, none of his sons matches the Chastain names in the Confederate list, though PCD indicates that John D., born 1834, possibly died in the Civil War. (PCD, Volume 1, pages 77, 78, 192-194).
2. William Firth Chastain (4-Elisha, 3-Abraham, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre) had eleven children in Clarke County, SW Alabama between 1847 and 1873, the year of his death in Clarke County. His son, John W. (born 1849) is a candidate for the J. W. Chastain on the Confederate list. However, he died January 26, 1861 in the short time between the election of Lincoln on November 6, 1860, which precipitated the formation of the Confederate Army, and the first hostilities in South Carolina on April 12, 1861. This would not be unusual, though, in that there were more deaths among Civil War soldiers from accidents and disease than from battle. (PCD, Volume 1, page 198; addenda to Volume 1, page 61).
3. Rainey Chastain (4-William, 3-Abraham, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre) had children born in Alabama between 1839 and 1843 (his last child). The county is unknown, though his brother, Joseph Berry Chastain, lived in DeKalb and Cherokee Counties in NE Alabama. Rainey's son, Thomas William L. Chastain (born 1836) may be the same as T. W. Chastain on the Confederate list. (PCD, Volume 1, page 206).
4. Samuel D. Chastain (Lineage Unknown) lived in Cherokee County in NE Alabama at the 1850 census. His children ages 1-10 were all born in Alabama. His sons, William, Baldwin, Samuel, John, and Washington would all have been at or near military age during the war. William or Washington could be W. H. in the list; Baldwin could be C. B.; Samuel could be S. P.; John could be John P. and/or J. P. Without middle initials, it is difficult to know. Forum Posting by Joy Gallagher.
5. Joseph Berry Chastain (4-William, 3-Abraham, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre) had children born in DeKalb and Cherokee Counties in NE Alabama in the 1850s. His children were all girls. (PCD, addenda to Volume 1, page 63).
Chastain descendants with different last names may have served in Alabama forces, but we have not researched their names in the military rosters. Here are other early Chastain descendents in Alabama arranged by date. Some of them left Alabama before the Civil War period.
1. Littleberry LeSueur (3-Peter LeSueur, 2-Elizabeth, 1-Pierre) was married in 1813 in Madison county, North Alabama and had children there from 1819 to 1824 before having additional children in Tennessee. Some of his grandchildren were born in Alabama. (PCD, addenda to Volume 1, page 32-33, 107-110).
2. Elijah Blythe (4-Martha, 3-John, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre) had a son in Jackson County, NE Alabama in 1820 before moving on to NE Mississippi. (PCD, Volume 1, page 155).
3. Mary Lavina Chastain Bowling (3-John, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre) seems to have lived briefly in Madison County near her brother, William Chastain. Her children were born from 1821-1844 in Franklin County, Tennessee, except for one who was born in Alabama in 1826. (PCD, Volume 1, page 78).
4. Violet Chastain Akin (3-John, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre), another sister, lived in the same area for an unspecified period. (PCD, Volume 1, page 77).
5. Ammon Carter (3-Judith, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre). Ammon and his family lived in Lawrence County, NW Alabama. He was in Lawrence County by 1830 and died there before 1851. (PCD, Volume 1, page 62, 139-141).
6. Samuel LeSueur, Jr. (3-Samuel LeSueur, 2-Elizabeth, 1-Pierre) moved his family to Russell County, SE Alabama. He died there in 1841. All six of his children were married there between 1839 and 1845, and many had children there in the 1840s. (PCD, addenda to Volume 1, page 30-31, 103-105).
7. Edward Jordan Chastain (5-Rainey, 4-Edward Brigand, 3-John, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre), was a traveling teacher. He taught for a while in Marion County, Alabama, which was the same county in which Edward's family was to live. Edward Jordan married one of his students there in 1847, but they had settled in Mississippi before their first child was born in 1848, more than 10 years before Edward moved from Georgia. (PCD, Volume 2, page 94).
8. Joseph Chastain (4-Edward Brigand, 3-John, 2-Peter, Jr., 1-Pierre) had a child in Georgia in 1844, another in DeKalb County, NE Alabama in 1848, and another in Mississippi in 1849. (PCD, Volume 1, page 163).
9. James Milton LeSueur (4-James LeSueur, 3-Samuel LeSueur, 2-Elizabeth, 1-Pierre) was married in 1849 in Tuscaloosa County, West-Central Alabama, and had children born there and in Fayette County, West-Central Alabama between 1850 and 1859. (PCD, addenda to Volume 1, page 102, 103).
The Chastangs and Chestangs are a separate family group from the Chastains. They originated in Mobile in S Alabama. See more information on this family at Chastangs and Chestangs.
Cyrus, Henry, R. B., Rufus, and W. H. Chastang served in the Alabama 2nd Artillery Battalion of the Confederate Army. Cyrus, William H., and William Rufus Chestang are also listed with the Alabama 2nd Artillery Battalion.
According to the Index to Alabama Civil War Soldiers, "The 2nd Alabama Artillery Battalion, was formed at Mobile in January 1862, with five companies later reduced to three. It was attached to the Department of the Gulf, and after January, 1864, the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. The unit was stationed at or near Mobile throughout the war and participated in the conflicts at Forts Gaines and Morgan, Spanish Fort, and Fort Blakely. With 64 officers and men, it surrendered on 4 May 1865."
Harrison Chastang and Harrison Chestang are listed as serving in the 8th Infantry Regiment, and R. Chastang in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment.
Amazingly, there are few candidates in the Chastang genealogy to match the various names listed, though there are gaps in the genealogy that allow for potential unknown candidates. Civil War rosters often include duplicate names with different spellings, so based on a search of the Chastang genealogy it is very possible that the names listed can be reduced to five:
No matches were found for William Rufus.
The National Park Service Civil War Soldier List contains names not found on the Alabama List. Click on Research On-Line; scroll down the left column and click on Colorado; click on Soldier List; enter last name and hit Submit Query.
Raymond Chastang, and August and Raymond Chestang, served in the 32nd Regiment, Alabama Infantry. The 32nd Infantry Regiment was assembled at Mobile, Alabama, in April 1862. Raymond is unknown among both Joseph's and Dr. John's descendants. There are 10 Augustus' or Augustins in the first six generations, six in Joseph's lineage and four in Dr. John's. However based on birth and death dates only three are likely candidates.
Born 1833 (3) John (2) Joseph Eugene (1) Joseph Pierre
Born 1842 (4) Augustin (3) Sidoine (2) Joseph Eugene (1) Joseph Pierre
Born 1842 (3) Catherine (2) Bazile (1) Dr. John
Of these three, the most likely is Augustin born in 1833. The descendant of Dr. John through Bazile would have been a Creole and, due to the changed social situation by the 1860s, it is not likely he would have served in the Confederate military unless he could pass for white. The same is true of the 1842 descendant of Joseph because he was also a Creole descendant of Dr. John. His lineage from Dr. John is (4) Augustin (3) Isabella [married Sidoine] (2) Marguerite (1) Dr. John.
The list also shows two Union soldiers--John B. and Zedo Chestang of the 96th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry. Dr. John's middle name was Baptiste, but there is no John B. Chastang among his known descendants during the appropriate time period. However, there is one John (born 1834), and he is son of John Baptiste, Jr., so there is good reason to think he may have been John Baptiste, III. There is also one John during this period in Joseph's line, born in 1828.
No Zedo is found in either genealogy, but if this is a misprint for Zeno, there are numerous children and grandchildren of Dr. John's son, Pierre Zeno, Sr., who carry the name Zeno or the initial Z in their names.
Pierre Chastain Family Association, Pierre Chastain and His Descendants, 2 volumes, Southern Heritage Press, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1995-2002.
Umphrey, Don, Southerners in Blue, Quarry Press, Dallas, 2002.
1st Alabama Cavalry, United States Volunteers