Extracting the information from Alexander Mathison's letters has given me a better idea of the man's history and it has also suggested many more avenues of research. As Alex himself was not my direct ancestor, being the brother of my 2 x great grandmother, I haven't done much research on him. His story is so interesting that I will be looking further. That will be helped by the details I've found in his letters.
Those missives have contained helpful clues like information about his family with the places they lived and how long they stayed. I've now moved on to Civil War records. According to the muster rolls, Alexander Mathison joined the Union Army on May 24, 1861 in Freeport, Illinois for a period of three years. Of course the war lasted longer than that, which was reflected in those same muster rolls. He reenlisted on February 25, 1864 in Hebron, Mississippi. That's when the records change.
At that point, Alex was no longer able to muster in as he had become a prisoner of war and what happened to him was not clear. Later pension forms record that he was injured and disabled. I can't imagine that being an injured POW was good.
While going through the records, many areas of research have suggested themselves, like whether the intermittent special musters relate to particular battles. A closer study of the information I've extracted will, no doubt, point to even more promising avenues to explore. I've just begun to get into the documents in his pension file, so more on that next time.
Sources:
The National Archives, Soldiers Certificate No. 74172,
Veteran: Alexander Mathison Rank: Private Service: Co. “B” 15 Ill. Inf Can No.:
1185 Bundle No.: 30
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