John Henry Friday
Description:
A photo of my great-grandfather, John Henry Friday, who fought with the 8th Regiment Ohio Cavalry. He was seriously wounded in Virginia and spent time incarcerated in the infamous Andersonville Prison. He later homesteaded in Nebraska. For a story about his life-go to pixleyblair.tribalpages.com scrolling to the bottom of the homepage to 'Stories'. Click on: 'John Henry Friday-Soldier, Prisoner, Pioneer' A copy of this photo - which was probably done at the time of his enlistment in 1861 - was sent to what is now Andersonville National Park for their archives.
(A small portion of his story if you click the link: He was captured and incarcerated for about 8 months in Andersonville Prison in Georgia and he was exchanged just before the end of the war. According to wikipedia the 8th Regiment Ohio Cavalry..."served primarily in West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia..." According to most government documents, John Henry was "Captured in action in Liberty , Va. June 19/64 admitted to the Hospital at Andersonville, Ga., treated for diarrhea and returned to
prison quarter Nov 11/64. Sent to Savannah, Ga. Nov 15/64 where he was paroled Nov 20/64 and sent to Camp Parole, Md. Nov 27/64 where he reported and was furloughed for 30 days. Return
date not stated and sent to U.S. Genl Hospital, Annapolis, Md. Febr. 1865." Camp Parole was built outside Annapolis where Union prisoners paroled from Confederate prisons could get a bath, a shave, fresh clothing and, if needed, medical attention. They would then
either be sent home or join their regiments.
Disability for Discharge papers dated June 19, 1865-describe him as "unfit to perform
his duties of a soldier because of a Gunshot Fracture of the left tibia and fibula causing ulceration of the anterior muscle of the leg". The document Declaration -- Invalid Pension State of Ohio, County of Franklin July 1865 states that "he was engaged with his company and regiment
(Co. 'G' 8th Ohio Cavalry) in Battle with the Rebel forces & that while so engaged he was wounded by a gunshot which struck him in the left leg about halfway between the knee and ankle, the ball passing entirely through the said leg, fracturing both bones of the same-that by reason of said wound he is almost totally disabled." That after being wounded, he was first taken to the Rebel Post Hospital in Liberty, Virginia-having been taken Prisoner by the said Rebel forces, in different Prisons until the 20th of November 1864." Therefore, John Henry was wounded and taken prisoner at or near Liberty, Virginia. Located between Lynchburg and Roanoke. (The town was renamed Bedford in the 1890s.)
John Henry's gravestone in the cemetery in Fairbury, Nebraska-has a marker noting his Civil War service.
(A small portion of his story if you click the link: He was captured and incarcerated for about 8 months in Andersonville Prison in Georgia and he was exchanged just before the end of the war. According to wikipedia the 8th Regiment Ohio Cavalry..."served primarily in West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia..." According to most government documents, John Henry was "Captured in action in Liberty , Va. June 19/64 admitted to the Hospital at Andersonville, Ga., treated for diarrhea and returned to
prison quarter Nov 11/64. Sent to Savannah, Ga. Nov 15/64 where he was paroled Nov 20/64 and sent to Camp Parole, Md. Nov 27/64 where he reported and was furloughed for 30 days. Return
date not stated and sent to U.S. Genl Hospital, Annapolis, Md. Febr. 1865." Camp Parole was built outside Annapolis where Union prisoners paroled from Confederate prisons could get a bath, a shave, fresh clothing and, if needed, medical attention. They would then
either be sent home or join their regiments.
Disability for Discharge papers dated June 19, 1865-describe him as "unfit to perform
his duties of a soldier because of a Gunshot Fracture of the left tibia and fibula causing ulceration of the anterior muscle of the leg". The document Declaration -- Invalid Pension State of Ohio, County of Franklin July 1865 states that "he was engaged with his company and regiment
(Co. 'G' 8th Ohio Cavalry) in Battle with the Rebel forces & that while so engaged he was wounded by a gunshot which struck him in the left leg about halfway between the knee and ankle, the ball passing entirely through the said leg, fracturing both bones of the same-that by reason of said wound he is almost totally disabled." That after being wounded, he was first taken to the Rebel Post Hospital in Liberty, Virginia-having been taken Prisoner by the said Rebel forces, in different Prisons until the 20th of November 1864." Therefore, John Henry was wounded and taken prisoner at or near Liberty, Virginia. Located between Lynchburg and Roanoke. (The town was renamed Bedford in the 1890s.)
John Henry's gravestone in the cemetery in Fairbury, Nebraska-has a marker noting his Civil War service.
Date & Place:
Unknown
1842 - 1909
Added
Updated Apr 05, 2019
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Barbara Pixley
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Comments
Ancient Faces
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KellieAnne Foreman
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I don’t think they had time or energy for PTSD. They probably had to get back to farming.
Shirley K. Brown For the most part they could come home and work at least for sometime but it was a parent to their families that something was wrong. A lot of them found solace my meeting and pubs and bars and commiserating
Shirley K. Brown Mental illness is real and it's not a choice. Let's not pretend that it's something new that the younger generations have adopted. These men suffered from shell shock many harmed themselves and many harmed their families.
Jeanne Walsh Heyworth I just surmised what became of these men became I didn’t personally know any descendants of that war but I had three brothers who were in WW11 and the brother who was injured on Iwo Jima came home and got to work even though he was badly injured during their landing on Iwo Jima and laid in the water injured for many hours until the bullets died down enough to rescue him and his injured comrades. I suppose that is why I thought as I do.
In the series “Hell on Wheels”, the character “Swede” was a prisoner there. It definitely effected him.
My wife’s ancestor was a guard that escorted prisoners from the railroad to the prison. We visited in 2014. The visitors center is also the National Prisoner of War Museum, covering all conflicts.
doubt very much if many 'suffered' from ptsd as people were cut from a different cloth back then, more able to handle the 'facts' of life...
Jean Salger they learned to keep stepping forward. Life was hard.
Kate Van Dyck
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Apr 05, 2019
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Kate van Dyck or he's been drinking A LOT MORE since he's been back
People are people no matter what time frame, countless were commited for acute mania as they called it back then, many commited suicide afterwards, read Living Hell: The dark side of the civil war.
How did our grandfather's handle it when they came back after WWII? Same thing. People were tough as nails then too. Bad nightmares, hard drinking, suicide. Lost a sweet, farm raised uncle after Vietnam that way too.
Nola Rains
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Apr 05, 2019
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Nola Schieferstein-Rains Yeah these people saying they were cut from a different cloth are silly, they didn't all suffer from Psychopathy with impared empathy and remorse responce just because they are from a different time frame.
I think that is absolutely true and it's evident in the servicemen who fought in WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam....nothing is new but hopefully the treatments are
Nola Rains
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Apr 05, 2019
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I believe there was PTSD but it was handled differently. People didn't have the service of going to therapy and working through their emotions. There was work to be done and life to live . It had to be incredibly hard.
Nola Rains
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Nola Schieferstein-Rains I bet back then that teacher was beat to death after that. Things were much different then.
Nola Rains
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Apr 05, 2019
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Sure they did. It was called by a different name back then. It was called "Shell Shock". There are old black and white videos of vets from WW1 suffering from Shell Shock. They are very hard to watch. These guys must have literally went through hell.
Daniel Wagar they called it shell shock in WWII as well.
No different then the torture given our civilian men held prisoner in Japan those who made it out where true Heros
And for those who didn't come home they fought untill they could no more ❤️
And for those who didn't come home they fought untill they could no more ❤️
Brigitte Cherubini
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Apr 05, 2019
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I’m surethey suffered PTSD it was probably just called something else or ignored. So many families have those stories about Uncle Bud who went off to war and didn’t return right. Most probably turned to alcohol. 😢
Melissa Lowman I had seen as well addictions/overdose/suicide.
Melissa Lowman it was usually known as being “shell shocked”, and little was known or taken seriously about the full effects of PTSD at the time. Civil War was absolutely brutal, home life afterward for thousands and their families was never the same
Denise Fiorina-Brzezinski
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Denise Fiorina-Brzezinski it was what was called shell-shock. But it was regarded as a weakness in the person generally.
My gr great grandfather died of starvation in that hellhole. Those were horrible times that I hope we never see again (countryman against countryman).
Ellen Payne Whitley I pray you are right. I am very concerned the way this country is going. 😢
Ellen Payne Whitley we can't fathom it. And today colleges need a safe space for people who can't tolerate words🙄
I have 3 great grandfathers who were in the civil war. All three on my dad's side, 2 from his mother's and one from his dad's. The two from my grandmother (born in 1892) were her father Jackson Andrew Ratcliff and his father Rufus King Ratcliff. When J.A.Ratcliff joined, he was 16. He told my dad he stole food and buried the dead for the army as they didnt want to put the really young ones on the front line. He was however injured in the lower leg and was sent back to Jasper, Texas where he was from. When he recovered, he wanted to go back to the war. His dad, Rufus, decided to go with him. Rufus was in his late 30's. He was a saddle maker and made shoes for the Confederate army. When they were discharged at war's end, they were sent home via train to the closest train depot near Jasper which was 75 miles away in Nacogdoches, Texas. They walked the 75 miles home together. These people-no matter North or South - had a tenacity and strength we can't grasp today. 16 year olds were men. Period. My dad (born 1915) was working at 14. I could go on and on but just wow. I'm very humbled to come from Texan pioneer stock. You can view the grave of Rufus King Ratcliff in find-a-grave website and there is a shoemaker's form as a headstone.
Ellen Payne Whitley fabulous family and American history!! And today we tear down and destroy American history.
I love the old cemetary where J.a.Ratcliff is buried. This is the sweet headstone of his and my grandma Nan's last child. Crockett lived only 15 months and his headstone is just the sweetest. When I put flowers on the graves, I leave him a little truck or toy. I'm so sentimental 😞 I can't help it.
People were tougher back then. They probably suffered from forms of ptsd after wars but they got back to their lives as much as possible. I do know of a man though who served in the 7th cavalry In 1876 and survived Little Bighorn because he was with Major Reno. A few years later his nephew found him living on the streets of Detroit and took him home with him to Virginia. I’m guessing he had survivor’s guilt.
Liz Cain
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You can see in his eyes that this man has been to hell and back and witnessed much trauma and sadness.
Darla Anne the picture would have been before the went to battle. His uniform and hat look new, not like he's been out in field fighting.
Well if this is how he looked before, I'd hate to see how he looked after. This just doesn't look like a happy man at all to me.
People were not tougher back then. They lived in a society where you didn't allow others to see hurts or weaknesses. So they dealt with it by drinking or beating family members or just falling apart. My 2nd cousin fought in WW2 for most of the almost six years that Canada was in it. He spent that time operating in foreign countries where there was no law or justice. You were the man with the gun. He said that when he came back that the hardest part was living in a society with rules. If someone picked a fight with you in a bar, he said his natural instincts were to want to kill that person; not to settle it with fists. He said it took more than 20 years to get over those kinds of feelings.
Civil war was the largest amount of casualties of any war ever --- by hundreds of thousands lives. 644,000 deaths. Children were fighting. You better believe survivors suffered...
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everyone is a loser in war... even if you won, it still is pyrrhic victory!.. my deceased parents used to tell me first-hand stories of world war ii in manila, philippines and the word "horrible" to describe the scenario is an understatement... whether you are a civilian or a soldier, it really is pathetic... love not war!!! praying that there will always be peace on earth all through the years of our lives. 😿
Im willing to bet EVERYONE in the country suffered PTSD by the end of the Civil War.
Christine Maglinger Hubbard Battle fields were backyards. There wasnt anyone touched by the Civl War. Or the Revolutionary War before that. You just NEVER KNEW when someone was gonna kick your door down, or burn your home down, or steal what food you had and leave you to starve, or rape and kill you. And no one was immune. It was Hell on Earth. :'(
Agreed. Even civilians were targeted, women and children. Sherman declared "total war" on the entire Southern population as his army marched through.
Barbara Pixley
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