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Found this tonight while sorting through one of my myriad piles of ephemera. Make of it what you will:
Lafayette, Indiana Weekly Journal, 23 October 1863, p. 1. c.5:
The Indianapolis Journal mentions the case of Carolina Reynolds, who was arrested last Wednesday [21 October 1863] at Camp Morton for wearing a soldiers' uniform, and staying in camp. It says: "She had been camp several days, and though feminine in feature her sex was not discovered until Wednesday, while being carried to quarters in a fit. She says she has been in several battles as a soldier of the 51st [Indiana Volunteer Infantry], in which she has a lover named Shirley [**see note below]. She had followed him to Nashville [Tennessee] and thence here, and says he promised to marry her. She says she has a father and sister living in Kentucky, and wants to go to them. She is about twenty or twenty-two years of age, rather above medium size, light complexion and quite handsome. The Mayor sent her to jail until some disposition can be made to send her home."
**Note: There were, in fact, three men with the last name of "Shirley" in the 51st IVI:
Edmond L. Shirley [aka Edward L. Shirley or Shurley], Company A, 51st IVI (mustered in as a Private, mustered out as a Corporal)
Ira F. Shirley [or Shurley], Company A, 51st IVI (m/i and m/o as a Private)
Thomas J. Shirley, Company C, 51st IVI (m/i as a Private, m/o as a Sergeant)
The two men in Company A were undoubtedly related--probably brothers or cousins--while the man in Company C may also have been a relation as well.
This incident certainly occurred in the 51st IVI parole & reorganization camp which had also been established at Camp Morton, subsequent to its exchange, several months after it was involved in Abel Streight's "Lightning Mule Brigade" fiasco, near Rome, Georgia, the previous May.
I'm not immediately sure who held the Mayor's position in late October 1863: depending on when the elections were held, it was either Samuel D. Maxwell (Republican, 1858-1863) or John Caven (Republican, 1863-1867).
Intriguing, huh?
Mark Jaeger
Lafayette, Indiana Weekly Journal, 23 October 1863, p. 1. c.5:
The Indianapolis Journal mentions the case of Carolina Reynolds, who was arrested last Wednesday [21 October 1863] at Camp Morton for wearing a soldiers' uniform, and staying in camp. It says: "She had been camp several days, and though feminine in feature her sex was not discovered until Wednesday, while being carried to quarters in a fit. She says she has been in several battles as a soldier of the 51st [Indiana Volunteer Infantry], in which she has a lover named Shirley [**see note below]. She had followed him to Nashville [Tennessee] and thence here, and says he promised to marry her. She says she has a father and sister living in Kentucky, and wants to go to them. She is about twenty or twenty-two years of age, rather above medium size, light complexion and quite handsome. The Mayor sent her to jail until some disposition can be made to send her home."
**Note: There were, in fact, three men with the last name of "Shirley" in the 51st IVI:
Edmond L. Shirley [aka Edward L. Shirley or Shurley], Company A, 51st IVI (mustered in as a Private, mustered out as a Corporal)
Ira F. Shirley [or Shurley], Company A, 51st IVI (m/i and m/o as a Private)
Thomas J. Shirley, Company C, 51st IVI (m/i as a Private, m/o as a Sergeant)
The two men in Company A were undoubtedly related--probably brothers or cousins--while the man in Company C may also have been a relation as well.
This incident certainly occurred in the 51st IVI parole & reorganization camp which had also been established at Camp Morton, subsequent to its exchange, several months after it was involved in Abel Streight's "Lightning Mule Brigade" fiasco, near Rome, Georgia, the previous May.
I'm not immediately sure who held the Mayor's position in late October 1863: depending on when the elections were held, it was either Samuel D. Maxwell (Republican, 1858-1863) or John Caven (Republican, 1863-1867).
Intriguing, huh?
Mark Jaeger
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