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I do not believe that Ashley is a member of my family. I thought this
interesting enough to send along. Dean
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<HTML><FONT SIZE=3D3 PTSIZE=3D10>Subj:=09<B> Ashley C. Cameron/4th
MN</FONT=
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Date:=094/26/99 2:19:56 PM Pacific Daylight Time<BR>
From:=09schlue@dutchman.nmt.edu (John Schlue)<BR>
To:=09DCame3260@aol.com<BR>
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Dean...You may have gotten lucky. in "History of the Fourth<BR>
Regiment of Minnesota Infantry Volunteers during the Great<BR>
Rebellion" by Alonzo L. Brown (published by The Pioneer<BR>
Press Company, in St. Paul, MN, 1892), I found on page 542<BR>
an Ashley C. Cameron, who enrolled on 14 October 1861 in <BR>
Company I, and who was mustered in on 23 December 1861. It<BR>
states that he was 24 years old, and was from the County of<BR>
Mower. It also states that he transferred to Company K (of<BR>
the 4th MN).<BR>
On page 553i (Company K) I again found Ashley. Here, it<BR>
gave his birthplace as Canada, and that he resided at the <BR>
time of enlistment in Austin, County Mower (it also states <BR>
here that he mustered in on 14 October 1861; small contra-<BR>
diction to the information from Company I). It also states<BR>
that he transferred from Company I, reenlisted on 1 January <BR>
1864, and deserted on 4 April 1864. It also states that<BR>
after the war he lived in Brownsdale, MN.<BR>
At this point, if you think this is *your* surviving<BR>
brother and you want more information, I would suggest that<BR>
you attempt to get his pension record and military record.<BR>
Both can be gotten from the National Archives by filing<BR>
an NATF-80 form. The forms can be ordered by e-mail; the<BR>
easiest way for me to explain is to tell you to go to<BR>
<BR>
=09http://www.outfitters.com/illinois/history/civil/natf.html<BR>
<BR>
and follow the instructions there. The forms should arrive <BR>
in about a week; fill out one for his pension record (assuming<BR>
he or his widow (if he had one) ever applied for a pension<BR>
based on his civil war record) and fill out another for his<BR>
military record. In my experience, you should receive some<BR>
sort of reply in six weeks to six months...it's generally<BR>
well worth both the wait and the money (about 10 dollars if<BR>
they find anything). You can speed things up slightly by<BR>
entrusting them with a credit card number they can use if<BR>
they do find something. <BR>
If this isn't your ancestor, I would suggest you start<BR>
haunting some of the larger libraries in you area to see<BR>
if they have the histories of the other MN regiments (I<BR>
don't know if every regiment has had its history written,<BR>
but I suspect they have) and scanning the rosters to see<BR>
if you can find more Camerons.<BR>
<BR>
In the meantime, you might enjoy reading the following:<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
##############################################################<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
The Fourth MN was formed in September, 1861, and was sent to<BR>
the frontier forts of Ridgely, Ripley, and Abercrombie (and<BR>
probably a few others) guarding against further attacks from<BR>
the Sioux Indians. They spent a miserable winter at the<BR>
forts, and were called to the South in April of 1862.<BR>
<BR>
=09=09=09**************<BR>
<BR>
"The military career of the Fourth Regiment Minnisota Volun-<BR>
teer Infantry also resembled that of the Second Regiment. Re-<BR>
cruited at the same time as the Third Minnesota, the Fourth<BR>
Regiment left Fort Snelling April 20, 1862, on two steamboats<BR>
and arrived three days later at Benton Barracks, Mo.<BR>
"John B. Sanborn, who had been adjutant general of Minnesota,<BR>
was appointed colonel and Minor T. Thomas was transferred from<BR>
the First Minnesota to become lieutenant colonel. Also trans-<BR>
ferred as major was A. Edwards Welsh but when it developed that<BR>
he was a prisoner in the South, Capt. L. L. Baxter was named<BR>
major instead.<BR>
"Early in May, the Fourth Regiment left St. Louis by boat,<BR>
traveling down the Mississippi and up the Tennessee River to<BR>
Hamburg Landing where it joined Gen. Halleck's army besieging<BR>
Corinth. The Minnesota men became part of the First Brigade,<BR>
Third Division, Army of the Mississippi. They had left Minnesota<BR>
with about 1,000 men but malaria and typhoid fever had reduced<BR>
almost by half the number of men fit for duty.<BR>
"In September, the Fourth Minnesota participated in the Battle<BR>
of Iuka, losing three killed and 44 wounded. Then followed the<BR>
Battle of Corinth and the campaign down the Mississippi Central<BR>
Railroad during which large numbers of slaves came within Union<BR>
lines.<BR>
"The Fourth Regiment took part in the complicated maneuvers<BR>
around Vicksburg and in the Yazoo Pass expedition. The latter<BR>
was a perilous undertaking which Grant abandoned when he<BR>
realized that such a route to Vicksburg was not feasible. Here<BR>
the regiment lost one man killed.<BR>
"Grant's next move was to send gunboats down the Mississippi<BR>
to run past the Confederate shore batteries at Vicksburg. His<BR>
army, including the Minnesota Regiment, embarked upon one of<BR>
the most difficult marches of the war, 60 miles from Milliken's<BR>
Bend to a point opposite Grand Gulf, all of it over muddy roads<BR>
that were almost bottomless pits. The men were mired to their<BR>
knees and 12 to 18 horses were needed to draw a single gun or<BR>
gun carriage. The Fourth Minnesota marched steadily for three<BR>
days, resting only a few hours each day.<BR>
"After crossing to the east bank of the Mississippi at Grand<BR>
Gulf, the regiment joined in the Battle of Champion Hills. Two<BR>
men were wounded. The men pushed on toward Vicksburg where<BR>
the Fourth Minnesota took part in the fruitless attempt to take<BR>
Vicksburg by assault. At one point, the Minnesota regiment <BR>
actually gained the enemy's fortifications and remained there <BR>
several hours until darkness. When ordered to withdraw, the<BR>
troops had to abandon their wounded.<BR>
"Grant then settled down to a siege of the city, which finally <BR>
yielded on July 4th. The Fourth Minnesota had lost 12 men killed<BR>
and 42 wounded in the attempted storming of the city. Following<BR>
the surrender of Vicksburg, the regiment remained there for<BR>
several months, suffering greatly from sickness. In August, of<BR>
631 men on the rolls only 325 were present for duty. Nearly all<BR>
those absent were sick in hospitals.<BR>
"Col. Sanborn was promoted to brigadier general and, as the<BR>
war drew to a close, to brevet major general. Lt. Col. John E.<BR>
Tourtelotte took command. In September, 1863, the Fourth Minne-<BR>
sota was ordered to Helena, Ark., to take part in occupation of<BR>
the state. This was the same expedition in which the Third<BR>
Minnesota played a part but the occupation had gone forward so<BR>
rapidly that when the Fourth Regiment arrived, it was no longer<BR>
needed. Therefore, the troops were attached to Sherman's army<BR>
and marched to the relief of Rosecrans' troops, of which the<BR>
Second Minnesota was a part, besieged in Chattanooga. At the<BR>
Battle of Chattanooga, the regiment's strength was down to 261<BR>
officers and men. One man was lost in battle.<BR>
"The men's terms of enlistment were about to expire. Most<BR>
re-enlisted, went home on furlough, and returned in time to take<BR>
part in the Battle of Altoona in which a strong Confederate <BR>
attack was repulsed. The regiment lost 13 killed and 31 wounded.<BR>
The men captured the flags of the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-ninth <BR>
Mississippi Regiments.<BR>
"From this point until the end of the war, the career of the<BR>
Fourth Minnesota was similar to that of the Second Minnesota<BR>
Regiment. As part of Sherman's army, the Fourth took part in<BR>
the March to the Sea and the capture of Savannah, marched north<BR>
through the Carolinas' bottomless roads, heavy rains and flooded<BR>
streams, and stood by in reserve at the Battle of Bentonville<BR>
where three men were wounded.<BR>
"The men of the Fourth marched at the head of Sherman's army<BR>
in the grand review of the army before President Johnson in May<BR>
of 1865, then were sent to Louisville, Ky., for mustering out.<BR>
Col. Tourtelotte remained in the regular army as a professional<BR>
soldier."<BR>
<BR>
(Kunz, Virginia Brainard, "Muskets to Missiles: A<BR>
Military History of Minnesota", pp 52-54, Minnesota Statehood<BR>
Centennial Commission, St. Paul, 1958.)<BR>
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To: DCame3260(a)aol.com<BR>
Subject: Ashley C. Cameron/4th MN<BR>
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