"ROLL OF THE CAMP CHASE DEAD"
"W.H. Lastinger writes from Waco, Tex., that among the dead Confederate prisoners buried at Camp Chase, Ohio, published in the January Veteran, is ""W.H. Leatinger,"" Twenty-Ninth Georgia Regiment, of which he was a member. Knowing nothing of the name ""Leatinger,"" Mr. Lastinger supposes it was intended for himself. He is glad to report that he is ""still on the top side of terra firma, and in the enjoyment of good health. Mr. Lastinger continues: ""Until I read the January Veteran I knew not where lay G.W. Bonds, William Hodge, R. McKinney, John T. Sirmons, Elihu H. Tygart, and William Anderson, orderly sergeant- all members, as was I, of Company G, and, as appears from the honor-roll, buried at Camp Chase. The invocations of thousands of Confederates will go up to Almighty God in behalf of Col. Knauss, who has done so much to preserve the memory of our departed comrades. The name of John T. Sirmons recalls to memory the fact that during the campaign of 1864, and before his capture in front of Atlanta, he marched and fought for weeks without pants, except the waistband and pockets. In all probability he was captured in that condition.""
Mr. Lastinger, referring to typographical errors, states that ""S.S. Smith was evidently ""Levi T. Smith, a member of Company G.
The comrade makes this remarkable statement: ""I can call the roll of Company G by heart, having committed it to memory from hearing it called so often by Serg. Anderson; and I remember the face of every member of the company, which numbered one hundred and twelve when the campagin opened at Dalton, in 1864. Our number was greatly reduced when we reached Jonesboro, August 31. In that battle there were only thirty to enter, and we lost ten of them. David T. Carroll, Henry Stokes, and J.M.J. McCranie were killed, and H.H. Knight, M.D. Knight, James Deloach, John W. Peeples, and Aaron Moore were wounded. Two of these, Peeples and M.D. Knight, have died since the war.""
The following is part of the obituary that pertains to William Hiram's Lastinger's roll with the 29th Georgia.
"During the civil war Mr. Lastinger served as a member of company I, 29th Georgia regiment. He was a faithful and most consistent member of the Methodist church, and he had been a member of the Masonic fraternity for at least 50 years.
Besides his wife, Mr. Lastinger is survived by two sons and three daughters, W.W. Lastinger, Waco; E.G. Lastinger, Monterey Mexico; Mrs. W.B. McKinley, Melrose, N.M.; Miss Martha Lastinger, Waco, and Miss Gladys Lastinger, Grand Rapids, Mich. He also has four brothers and four sisters in Georgia. The survivors have the sympathy of many in their great bereavement."
Right away we see different compaines. William Hiram Lastinger says he was with Company G and his obitz says he was with Company I. The following is a letter written by Judge Lacy E. Lastinger who was William Hiram Lastinger's brother during the War. The letter was written to William Hiram Lastinger's grandson between 1932 and 1936. Both William Hiram and Lacy E. Lastinger were attorneys after the War.
"About the 30th of August we were at Jonesborough below Atlanta and brother William came over to my Company and I would not let him report for duty the next morning. We then pulled off the Jonesborough fight where a number of your Grandpa's company were killed. I gave your Grandpa my drum wiich took care of him and as I was personally known and an officer, I had no need for a passport. We both went to the hospital and waited on the wounded and it was not long before they came back in a large number. We fought all day and fell back that night. The next day your Grandpa and I were standing by a rifle pit, when we should have been in it, but there had been no firing all day. Your Grandpa was changing his shirt and had his hands up trying to get them through the sleeves and I was standing close by when two Yankees at long distance took a double shot at us, Zip - zip. They missed but we heard the guns and bullets, too. As above stated your Grandpa fell out under an attack of pneumonia on Hood's march into Tennessee at Tuscumbie."
And finallly a short decription of William Hiram Lastinger life as provided by his family.
"William Hiram Lastinger (son of William, son of Andrew, son of John) was the great-grandson of our immigrant ancestors, John and Barabra Lastinger grandson to Andrew and Mary (Parker) Lastinger, was born to William and Louisa (English) Lastinger, 23 April 1845, in Ware County, Georgia. Reared in Milltown, now Lakeland, Lowndes County, Georgia, he enlisted in the Confederacy at Savannah in July of 1863, and was assigned to Company G, 29th Georgia Infantry under the command of Captain E.B. Carroll, Col. Wm. D. Mitchell, Walker's Division of Hood's Army, being later transferred to Company I. Due to his diminutive size, he was assigned as drummer. He was in the battle of Jonesborough at the surrender of Atlanta. He also participated in the fighting at Decatur, Alabama, he was overcome with pneumonia and was returned to Columbus to the hosptial and was there at the time of the surrender."
According to the CMSR's of Lt. Lacy E. Lastinger he had enlisted as a private and had been a drummer boy. This would explain in the above letter why the Lt. had a drum. It seems as though William Hiram Lastinger was in the 29th Georgia but does not explain why he did not know about William Hart Lastinger. Oddly enough both William H. Lastingers had brothers as Lieutenants in the 29th Georgia. Although most of us would not know who our third cousins are if we even had any it does not explain why such an uncommon name as Lastinger would not be known by other Lastinger's in the 29th Georgia. There were about 10 soldiers in the 29th Georgia with the last name of Lastinger. Perhaps less than 15 Confederate Lastingers in the entire Confederate Army.
In 1925 Mrs. Georgia A. Lastinger did file for a widows pension. She was denied due to filing in the wrong state. However, the government also pointed out that no one by the name of William H. Lastinger could be found in Company G of the 29th Georgia. The government did say that there was a William H. Lastinger in Company K of the 29th GA., but he had died at Camp Chase in 1864. I wonder how many other Confederates did not have CMSR's?