I thought I should document this story for it impresses upon us the importance of thorough research, and encourages us not to be hasty in our conclusions. I attempted to recall this story today in a seminar, and thought it best to record it accurately.
Will The Real WHC Stand?
As an early researcher I was led to Camp Butler cemetery by Civil War records. So when the intials WHC appeared on a tombstone at the gravesite I thought my questions were answered. Here among all the tombstones, we thought, was the burial place of Wiley Harvey Charles (W.H.C.) But yet on the tombstone, it also states “unknown”. What was unknown?
Will The Real WHC Stand?
As an early researcher I was led to Camp Butler cemetery by Civil War records. So when the intials WHC appeared on a tombstone at the gravesite I thought my questions were answered. Here among all the tombstones, we thought, was the burial place of Wiley Harvey Charles (W.H.C.) But yet on the tombstone, it also states “unknown”. What was unknown?
It was this clue that led a further search. Perhaps W.H.C. was not our Wiley. The best explanation thus far is WHC stood
for William Henry Chase Whiting (1824-1865). Whiting was captured at the Battle
of Fort Fisher with the rest of the Fort defenders and transferred to the
Officers Prisoner of War Camp: Governor’s Island, where he died of dysentery. Much
can be found at the United Daughters of the Confederacy website. Like many civil war vets his wife had
his body exhumed and reinterred. Whiting’s final resting place was at the Oakdale
Cemetery in Wilmington, NC.
Major General WHC Whiting was captured at Fort Fisher and
died at Governor’s Island, in New York March, 1865 (his obituary states). Many of his men were also captured or killed and
their tombstones gave tribute to their Confederate service to WHC’s army. The story of Whiting, William Henry Chase can be found at the Texas State Historical Society.
The Opposite of
Galvanized Yankees
Galvanized Yankees were prisoners of war who in exchange for
their freedom traded their gray uniforms for blue. But WHC Whiting left the Unites States Army
(West Point Grad), resigned from the Army Corps of Engineers, and picked up the
rebel flag in the Confederate States Army.
 |
| From: Princeton Alumni Weekly |
After a closer study of confederate tombstones, a repeat of WHC popped up everywhere: in cemeteries,
in civil war books, in birth records, etc. There’s Wiley Harvey Charles, also a
confederate soldier who went by WHC, and many who named their sons after WHC
followed by the family name. Just google
WHC +confederate or +civil war and be amazed at the number of people named WHC.
Another twist to this story is that the Fort Fisher captured
defenders who were not injured were imprisoned at Elmira (POW camp) in New York. And, the wounded captured Confederate
soldiers were taken to Point Lookout Maryland POW camp upon recovery. So why was this WHC tombstone at Camp Butler
in Illinois?
Well, maybe, I don’t have my ancestor’s exact tombstone
after all. What I have probably located is an unidentified soldier who served
under Whiting or (perhaps?) one of the unidentified soldiers captured with him
or killed on the battlefield.
For More Information
on Confederate Prisoners of War
For more information reference the National Archives
Publication M598: Selected Records of the War Department Relating to
Confederate Prisoners of War, 1861–1865; Department Collection of Confederate
Records, Record Group 109; National Archives, Washington, D.C. This collection has been digitized on
ancestry.com.
Accurate, accessible answers
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