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John McPike - 55th Indiana

I've just received the Compiled Military Service record of my gg-grandfather, John Wesley McPike of the 55th Indiana Infantry, a 3-month regiment recruited in Indianapolis in July of 1862. There are three (3) cards included in this record:

1) Company Muster-in Roll dated Indianapolis, July 30, 1862 as a member of Capt. Layman's Co.
2) Co. Muster-out Roll dated Indianapolis, Ind., Oct 23, 1862; Remarks: Deserted Sept 6/62
3) Notation from the Record and Pension Office dated Feb 8, 1898, Washington, DC., which states: "The charge of desertion of Sept. 6, 1862 against this man is removed and he is discharged to date Sept. 6, 1862, under the provisions of the act of Congress, approved March 2, 1889. Discharge certificate prepared by War Department Feb. 8, 1898 and filed."

Here are some of my questions:

1) The 55th Indiana was engaged and roughly handled at the battle of Richmond, KY, August 29-30, 1862. Most of its members were captured and paroled by the Confederates under Kirby Smith. Does the lack of a parole or reference to John McPike being captured mean that he was NOT captured in this battle?

2) Ten days after John McPike's "desertion" from the 55th Indiana Infantry, he joined the 22nd Indiana Infantry, Company I, which included his younger brother and a number of friends and in-laws. John was seriously wounded in the thigh at the storming of Missionary Ridge and spent the following year in a number of different military hospitals. Post-war, John became a Baptist minister in Southern Indiana and later in Central Arkansas where he is buried. I have searched for a pension record for John W. McPike; however, none seems to exist. Does the final card removing the "desertion" charge from his record indicate he was attempting to obtain a pension and needed this information changed or was this done by the War Department in 1898 as a sort of mass pardon?

Any input would be appreciated.

Jim Martin

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John McPike - 55th Indiana
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