His name was John M. Whitmire, 19th Alabama Infantry, Company H. His name is variously spelled as Whitmeyer and Whitmore, but correct spelling is Whitmire. He was from Cherokee County, Alabama.

I have a good number of wonderful photos of him as an older man, some with his family in front of one of those "dog trot" log homes, near around Valley Head, Alabama. Also have a typewritten copy of a letter he wrote from Confederate camp in 1861 which was printed in Nell Pantel's book of the Georgia Whitmires. In it he speaks of being an ardent secessionist. What a long fall it must have been to Rock Island and the cold reality of the U.S. Army.

Still reeling from the shock of my "Pappaw" as I call him, serving in the US Army but I imagine he wanted to live. If that's what it took for him to survive, and therefore for me and mine to live today, then ainsi que ce soit, or something along those lines. :)

Thanks for your help.

Glenda