Member: 1st New York Dragoons Co. E
Enlisted at 21 on 18 Aug 1862 at Wellsville, NY Mustered in PVT Co E to serve 3 years; captured Jun 1864 Absent at muster out of the company but a family letter, dated 9 Jan 1865, from Marvin Green to home, notes he was captured Captured June 23, 1864; initially sent to Andersonville, GA and later died at Lawton/Millen, GA as pow.
(SOURCE: NYS Adj Gen Rpt, Muster Card, Town Clerk; Green Family Letters)
Research Notes Garland H. Green Sr. (my Dad)
Green Brothers of the first New York Dragoons
Sun, Mar 16, 2014 at 1:01 AM
From: Garland H. Green
To: Tom Warner
Tom:
Received your letter today I guess via my son in Israel. I do not care how it got to me, I am just so glad that it did. Please allow me to introduce my self. My name is Garland Herbert Green (22 Oct 1942 – 26 Nov 2017), son of Garland Milton Green (18 Apr 1920 – 9 Sep 1987) , Father to Garland Herbert Green Jr., grandfather to Garland Omar Green. Confused yet? If not, hang on there is more. The grandson to Herbert Levi Green (1891 – 1961 ), great grandson of Lorenzo Erastus Green (1851 – 1929) , who was a brother to John S. (1844 – 1915), Marvin W. (1840 – 1903) and Levi D. Green (1842 – 1864) .
Your e-mail has cleared up two questions that have been causing me some problems. They were What Township the family lived in and what ” regiment ” that John Sterns Green enlisted in. I knew that he did not enlist when the others did. I was thinking that he might have enlisted in the 93rd New York, but I could not find him there. Knowing this my investigation has been given a bump forward. Thank you.
Here is my mission if you will, it is to locate the final resting place of the “brothers”. My son found Marvin in California, I knew where John is resting, so we had two out of three. Now where is Levi? After about a year of searching and with the help of my son and Brother we picked up his trail at CAMP FLORENCE located in Charleston SC.
He was transported via train to CAMP SUMPTER, better known as ANDERSONVILLE prison in Georgia. He was there from late June or early July 1864 until he was transported on the first or second train to CAMP LAWTON in Millen Ga. That camp was only in use for six weeks but during this time Levi Green expired. The exact cause is unknown but I would assume starvation or being exposed to the cold as he died in November 1864. *
His body was buried in one of three common graves at Camp Lawton. He was then reintered to a small National cemetery at Millen Ga. where he stayed for about two years and then again buried in the National cemetery in Beaufort SC. He is there at section 1- grave 549.
Now I have not seen that grave but My brother and myself are going to visit it in the second week of may 2014. When we do I will send you photos and the all the information we find there. It is my hope that my son will take the information I gather and write some kind of book about the brothers. He is a published writer and I am a simple investigator.
I want you to know that your are welcome to any and all information I gather, as I feel that the legacy of the brothers will be in good hands with you. First off do you have your own copy of the letters? A copy of the history of the FIRST NEW YORK DRAGOONS ? if not I will transfer one of each to you. feel free to contact me at any time if you find anything in the letters of importance. I think that the letters need a new set of eyes. Know that there is more information in them we just need to find it. Do I have your permission to keep your emails and use them in any publications we might generate? Let me thank you for any kindness you have shown us in this matter.
Your friend in history.
G H Green
Researcher’s Note: Levi’s father was William Erastus Green. When William Erastus Green was born on 25 January 1816 in Voluntown, New London, Connecticut, United States, his father, Coggeshall ‘Caswell’ Green, was 28, and his mother, Content Reynolds, was 26.
William married Zilpha Ann Wheeler in 1838 in New York, United States. They were the parents of at least seven sons and three daughters. William lived in Hallsport (Willing Township), Allegany County, New York. He died in 1884 in Altoona, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, at the age of 68
To: “Garland H. Green Sr..
On Friday, December 6, 2013, at 9:04 PM,
Subject: RE: I THINK WE FOUND HIM
DENNIS GREEN wrote:
WAY TO GO: You did it; you found him. If we had tried to Beaufort without all this information, we would have missed the prize by a few feet. I’m proud of you and all your hard work. I can’t wait for the road trip and the tee shirt.
D
From: garland green sr.
To: D Green
Sent: Friday, December 6, 2013 6:46 PM
Subject: I THINK WE FOUND HIM
D. man
Just got off the phone with the people at the National cemetery in Beaufort. we were getting no where fast and the historian was about to leave when I told him that I had a list of over six hundred names of people interned from camp Lawton to his cemetery. He asked me how I got that list and I told him about the book and the names. He was a sceptic and I read him three names at random and he checked them with his list of names of the buried with their regiments.
They all matched. I told him how to order book so in case some one else was looking a prisoner. Then a bell rang in my head. What if our Levi is only listed on their records as L D Green, and not as Levi Green. I asked him to check. Five minutes later, he came back and said that there is a grave with only L D Green, and his records show that he was from the Battery k…… I
said stop and continued with 1st. United States Light Artillery? He said yes, and they have the paperwork to match. They said that they would send a photo and a scan of all their paperwork today or Monday. Nothing today, but I will forward it as soon as I get it. I believe our Levi Green is buried in section 1, grave 549, Beaufort National Cemetery.
I do not believe that the Levi Green in grave 225 was ever in Andersonville or Millen. I believe he was killed somewhere else and buried there. The sextant asked what were the odds that two Levi Green could be buried in the same cemetery, much less 70 feet apart. Duke we could have stood over grave 225 and put up flags and flowers and not have done this for the right Levi. perhaps within sight of the one who we were looking for. We won’t know for sure if we have found him until we get a photo of the stone and their paperwork but if this were a police case I would think we have enough evidence to present to a grand jury so to speak.
Let me know if there is another place to check to get some of the loose ends tied up. But I think we are damned close tonight.
love ya your brother
Researcher’s Note: It is believed that Levi was captured during Wilson’s Raid on the Southside & Danville Railroad, a military operation conducted by Union General James H. Wilson during the American Civil War. It took place from June 22 to June 30, 1864, and aimed to disrupt the Confederate supply lines in Virginia.
The raid was part of a more considerable Union effort to isolate the Confederate capital of Richmond by cutting off its rail connections to the south. The Southside & Danville Railroad was a crucial rail line that connected Richmond to the Confederate-controlled areas in southern Virginia and North Carolina.
Wilson led a force of approximately 12,000 cavalry troops on a fast-moving expedition that covered over 200 miles in just eight days. The Union forces captured or destroyed supplies, railroads, bridges, and other key targets, disrupting Confederate supply lines and communications.
The raid was a success, as it forced the Confederate army to divert significant resources to repair the damaged railroads and restore their supply lines. It also provided a boost to Union morale and had a significant impact on the outcome of the war.
Wilson’s Raid on the Southside & Danville Railroad is considered one of the most successful cavalry raids of the American Civil War, and it is still studied today as a model of fast-moving, mobile warfare.