Pvt. Cephus Bond [found as "Cephas Bond' and "Sephus Bond" in the military records] (b. Harrison County, MS, 1836-d. Lamar County, MS, 1906), Co. H ("Dahlgren Guards," raised in Harrison County, MS), 3rd MS Infantry. Enlisted Oct. 8, 1861, at Pass Christian, Harrison County, MS, at age 25. July 1862 Regimental Return states "[absent] sick in hospital." Present on Aug. 1862 company muster roll, with notation "present [on] duty whole time." Present on Oct. 1862 company muster roll, with notation "sick in camp." Present on Feb. 1863 company muster roll, with notation "present on duty whole time." Absent on Aug. 1863 company muster roll, with notation "absent without leave since July 16th 1863." Oct. 1863 company muster roll states "deserted -- absent without leave since July 16th 1863." Returned to service. Wounded at the horrific Battle of Franklin, TN [the high-water mark of Southern courage!], on Nov. 30, 1864. Captured at Franklin, TN, almost certainly in hospital, on Dec. 17, 1864, during the Confederate retreat from the disastrous Battle of Nashville, TN (Dec. 15-16, 1864). Admitted Jan. 1, 1865, to No. 1 USA General Hospital, Nashville, TN, suffering from "simple flesh wound of right thigh -- severe," caused by a "conical ball" [i.e., a bullet], "wounded at Franklin, Tenn., Nov. 30, 1864." Forwarded as a POW to Military Prison at Louisville, KY, and, finally, to notorious Camp Chase, OH, POW Camp, where it was official Yankee policy to starve Confederate POW's in order to render them unfit for field service upon exchange. Forwarded to Point Lookout, MD, POW Camp on March 26, 1865, where Confederate POW's were also starved, and released from same at war's end on June 9, 1865, after first taking the required Oath of Allegiance to the US. Reported to Provost Marshall General's Office, Washington, DC, on June 14, 1865, where he received "transportation furnished to Harrison County, Miss." Southern Patriot! Buried in the Coal Town Cemetery, 31.15280 -89.43310, located at the intersection of Coal Town Road and White Oak Road, Purvis, Lamar County, MS, with a Confederate marker. Francis A. Bond filed a Confederate Widow's Pension application in Lamar County, MS, in 1924, in which she stated that her husband ("Cephus Bond") was a Confederate soldier in the "3rd MS."

Contributor: Misty Dawn (48452907)