William Minor Porter, 2nd Michigan Cavalry, Company C., fought at Franklin

23rd Michigan soldier fought at Franklin, survived

Found this on eBay recently. CDV of James K. Wellman, 23rd Michigan. Served at Franklin and survived. The 23rd Michigan was in Moore’s Brigade on the Federal right flank.

2nd Michigan Cav played a key role at Franklin

Auction listing: 2nd Michigan Cavalry, no back mark, ink-signed “Shirk Miller/2nd Mich. Cavalry” on verso. Miller enlisted in Company F, 2nd Michigan Cavalry in September 1861 as a private and rose through the non-commissioned ranks to become a lieutenant in July 1865, finally mustering out in August. Lacking chevrons, this view probably taken shortly after joining as Miller still wears civilian corduroy pants or, alternatively, during veteran’s furlough in March 1864. The regiment served exclusively in the western theater from the siege of Corinth to Chickamauga, Atlanta and Franklin ending the war in Wilson’s Cavalry Corps having lost 74 men killed and wounded.

Source: Cowan’s auction, 2006

Where did Union burials from Franklin go? Can’t be found at STRI

A blog reader needs help with this:

I talked to you a year ago or so. I am still looking for graves from the 2^nd Michigan Cav. Buried at Franklin . One thing I have found is a lot of Union Soldiers confirmed as buried in Franklin , many that died at the Battle of Franklin, just never made it to Stone’s River National Cemetery. An Ohio Civil War veterans group tried to find several of Battle of Franklin KIA sometime in the early 1900’s and determined that they were not interred at Stones River even though all the Union Graves in the Franklin Area were supposedly all moved there. They are listed on the Stone’s River register even though there is no grave. But then again out of 6,100 graves at Stone’s River 2,562 are unknown. It appears to me that the re-internments from Franklin to Stone’s River were careless and haphazard, compared to the more meticulous re-interments in the Northern VA and Pa area…. I say that because even those that died before the Battle of Franklin and placed in Identified graves never turned up at Stone’s River. A lot of dead just never made it, or maybe they were just put into wagons without respect to identity and moved to Unknown Graves at Stone’s River…  Maybe that is unfair, because I notice that the confederate cemetery in Franklin also has about 1/3 Unknowns….

Lyle Borton

Lyle Borton <lyle.borton[at]comcast.net>