Upon returning to Company “K”, following his injury at Manassas, T.F. would take part in several skirmishes along the Nansemond River and in Fort Huger. His beloved Captain, Isaac “Ike” Newton Moreland Turner was killed on April 14th, 1863 inside Fort Huger. He was struck by a ball from a sharpshooter across the river. He was carried to a field hospital where he died the following day. These skirmishes would continue through May of 1863. It was on to Gettysburg.
Based on my research, Theophilus Franklin Meece (T.F.) and James Pickney Meece, who was mortally wounded, were both injured at Little Round Top in Gettysburg, PA. Calvin Meece was not injured but he was captured there (educated guess). The fighting was so close and intense that many soldiers found themselves behind enemy lines. T.F. and his brothers were a part of Jerome B. Robertson’s Texas Brigade under General John Bell Hood. Robertson’s brigade sustained losses of 84 killed, 393 wounded, and 120 missing, a total of 597 casualties.
T.F. and John were treated at the John Edward Planks farm which was one of the largest Confederate field hospitals. General Hood was treated there for a serious arm injury, which he suffered at the beginning of the battle for The Little Round Top. Officers, such as Hood, were treated in the farmhouse. Regulars were treated in the barn. According to Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray, 1861-1865 T.F., “Was severely wounded in the right arm and slightly in left groin at Gettysburg, Pa., on July 2, 1863. According to the Civil War service record, he had a slight wound from a ball to the right arm. Once there, he was detailed to stay with the wounded. T.F. was taken prisoner at the field hospital and declared a POW’s on July 5th, 1863.
James was wounded in the thigh on July 3rd, 1863. His leg was amputated at Plank farm and sadly he died from his wound on July 10th, 1863. He was only (20) years of age. I can only imagine that Theophilus was by his bedside when he passed. There were more than 60 documented burials on the property and James was one of them. James was buried at “John Edward Planks Farm”, north of house under walnut tree: right and front of house toward Fairfield Road and Gettysburg.” according to Gettysburg’s Confederate Dead by Gregory A. Coco.
Thanks to Dr. Rufus Benjamin Weaver and the ladies of the Hollywood Memorial Association James was disinterred at Gettysburg, along with 881 other remains, and shipped in the 2nd lot on 08/03/1872 to Hollywood Cemetery. Dr. Weaver basically charged $3.25 for each set of remains. He billed $2,866.00 for this particular lot. In the end, he exhumed 2,935 remains, most of which were reburied at Hollywood Cemetery. Unfortunately, at the time of his death, Dr. Weaver was owed over $11,000.00, which was never paid.
In July of 1862 Congress gave the President the authority to accept blacks into the Army. The south was outraged. In May of 1863 a joint resolution declared that captured black soldiers would be turned over to the states and presumably returned to slavery. Their white officers would be “deemed as inciting servile insurrection, and shall if captured be put to death or otherwise punished at the discretion of the court.” In response the Union cancelled all exchanges.
T.F. was sent to David’s Island as a POW on “the forenoon (time period between dawn and noon) of July 21, 1863 from Gettysburg, PA.” David’s Island is located off the coast of New Rochelle, New York in Long Island Sound. Fortunately Theophilus Franklin Meece was released from De Camp General Hospital on David’s Island in New York on Sept. 13th, 1863.
The prisoners from Gettysburg, entering David’ Island, were described as follows: ‘They were in a wretched condition, ragged, and covered with vermin; their soiled and torn uniforms, if such they may be called, were stained and soaked with blood; and their wounds, which had not been dressed from the time of the battles at Gettysburg until their arrival here, were absolutely alive with maggots. Many of them had suffered amputation; some had bullets in their persons; at least a score have died, or were at the point of death when the boat touched the wharf. On their arrival here they were dressed in the dirty gray coats and pants so common in the Southern army. Shakespearean army of beggars must have been better clad than were these Confederate prisoners”.
According to T.F. he, “Was never in prison as I was paroled and returned to Richmond to await exchange. Was furloughed and went home where I remained till exchanged in May following.” According to an Indorsement from Grant’s headquarters in City Point, VA T.F. was part of an exchange involving 685 Confederate POW’s paroled for exchange. The terms of the agreement between the two sides sometimes prohibited paroled prisoners from returning to the military in any capacity.
Unfortunately Calvin Wood Meece would not be so lucky. Calvin was sent to Fort Delaware, which was built in 1859 and sits in the middle of the Delaware River on Pea Patch Island across from Finn’s Point National Cemetery. The conditions of the prison were deplorable, and prisoners were afflicted with smallpox, measles, diarrhea, dysentery and scurvy. The prison was set up to house 4,000 prisoners, but by the end of the war, there were over 12,000 inmates.
The prison became known as “Andersonville of the North,” because of similar inhumane conditions at the Andersonville Prison in Sumter County, Georgia, where almost 13,000 Union prisoners died of malnutrition, exposure and disease. Andersonville and Fort Delaware became synonymous with the atrocities that both Northern and Southern soldiers experienced as prisoners of war. The commander of Fort Delaware during the Civil War was General Albin F. Schoepf. He was not fond of the Confederate prisoners, who nicknamed him “General Terror.”
Approximately 2,700 Confederate soldiers died while being held captive at Fort Delaware. 2,436 Confederates are interred at Finn’s Point National Cemetery. According to Union records (see attachment), Calvin succumbed to chronic bronchitis on June 15th, 1864. He was only (22) years old. Calvin was buried at Finn’s Point National Cemetery. Rumor has it that many of the Confederates were buried in common graves.
There is one glaring error on one of the cards. “Appears on a Register of sick and wounded Confederates in the hospitals in and about Gettysburg, PA, after the battle of July 1, 2 and 3, 1863.” It describes T.F. as a Private in Co. K. The wound is described as “Ball thigh amputated and it states that he died on July 10th. If anything I think that T.F. was mistaken for his brother John.
