Civil War Soldier: Fredrick Myers

By: Ashlynn Stayton

The American Civil War was a civil war fought between 1861 to 1865, to determine the integrity of the United States of America, as it defeated the bid for independence by the breakaway Confederate States of America. War broke out in April of 1861 when they attacked a U.S. Fortress, Fort Sumter. The Civil War was a time for blood-shed and standing up for what you thought you was right. Many men risked and lost their lives trying to battle each other. Neighbor against neighbor. Father against son. The people they all knew, quickly became their biggest enemy. A brave and courageous man, Fredrick Myers was a civil war soldier in the 1860’s for a few years.

Though I looked through the 1860 census many times, regrettably I found nothing on this man. On ancestry.com Private Myers is a ghost man. I moved on looking for information by going to Confederate Service Records of the Sixth Virginia Calvary on Fold3; a great website for war soldier’s information! Here I found 7 documents worth of information. Little pieces to see this man’s life, which at the time was a jumbled puzzle. Now, it is about to be unjumbled.

On December 8, 1860, for the months of January and February Fredrick Myers enlisted into in the Confederacy at Camp Letch, now known as Letchworth Park. He was signed in by R. H. Dulany. Myers was part of Company A, 6th regiment Virginia Calvary. His acceptance was approved by J. W. Love. Fredrick Myers always signed up for only two months at a time. This was repeated many times throughout the remainder of the Civil War. In November and December of 1860, Private Myers was signed into the same company for a two month period. He was accepted again by J. W. Love. He stayed in the same Company each time he went in to server more time during the United States Civil War.

“Third times a charm” as the saying goes, but for Fredrick Myers, that is not the case. For a final time, sometime between May and June, at the battle of Strasburg in Virginia Private Myers went missing. This was reported by one of the company A members. Later on, his body was found in the wilderness of Shenandoah, Virginia. He was pronounced “deserted” on June 1, 1862. S. F. Sykes pronounced him officially gone on June 3, 1862.

In closing, many people fought in the Civil War. Many people died in this time as well. The American Civil War has been commemorated in many capacities ranging from the reenactment of battles, to statues and memorial halls erected, to films being produced, to stamps and coins with Civil War themes being issued, all of which help shape public memory. Though Fredrick Myers may not be a well-known name in today’s community, he has helped play a huge role in becoming the nation we are today. The Civil War was a major turning point in U.S. history, and Private Myers was lucky enough to partake in it.

Citations

"Americn Civil War." EssayTyper. EssayTyper, n.d. Web. 06 June 2016.

Ancestry. "Fold3 Browse." Fold3. Ancestry, n.d. Web. 06 June 2016.