52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a series of weekly prompts to get you to think about an ancestor and share something about them. The weekly prompt is provided by www.amyjohnsoncrow.com. The prompt for the week of March 9 is "Turning Point."
A turning point is a specific moment or event at which a decisive change in a situation occurs—the "hinge" upon which the rest of a story swings. It is the point after which nothing can ever go back to the way it was before.
I am calling this turning point "The Elmira Intersection: Two Soldiers, Two Fates." Originally, I intended to write solely about the defining event of Josiah Bagby’s life: his service in the Civil War. However, as I dug into the records, a haunting connection emerged. Josiah, a Virginian, is my father-in-law's great-grandfather. Thomas G. Rogers, a South Carolinian, is my mother-in-law's great-great-grandfather. Decades before my in-laws ever met, the fates of these two distinct family lines intersected in a place neither man ever expected to see.
In the winter of 1865, the geography of my wife's family history converged on a few acres of frozen, disease-ridden ground in upstate New York. Elmira Military Prison, notoriously nicknamed "Hellmira," became the stage for a profound intersection between Josiah W. Bagby and Thomas G. Rogers
Both men were Sergeants during their service—battle-hardened leaders who had survived years of campaigning. But as their paths crossed in the shadow of the Chemung River, the "Turning Point" led to two very different ends: one man became a survivor who returned to rebuild, while the other became a memory in a northern grave.
Josiah’s service began at the very outset. He enlisted on June 6, 1861, at New Canton, joining Company C of the 44th Virginia Infantry. He wasn't just a soldier; he was a leader, rising to the rank of 5th Sergeant.
The Shenandoah Valley (1862): Josiah was with the 44th during Stonewall Jackson’s legendary Valley Campaign. A dramatic moment in his record shows him "Absent without leave" starting May 9, 1862. This was the day after the Battle of McDowell. It is highly likely that in the chaos of Jackson’s rapid maneuvers, Josiah was temporarily cut off from his unit or searching for food before rejoining.
The Great Campaigns: By 1863, Josiah had been promoted to 5th Sergeant. He likely fought through the smoke of Chancellorsville and stood in the lines at Gettysburg.
The Breaking Point: His final "Turning Point" in the field came on May 12, 1864, at the "Mule Shoe" salient in Spotsylvania. During one of the most terrifying hand-to-hand fights of the war, the 44th Virginia was virtually overwhelmed. Josiah was captured in the melee and sent to the prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout, Maryland, before being transferred to Elmira in July and processed as Prisoner #4590. He would remain behind the stockade for the rest of the war where he would endure ten months of starvation, the 1864 floods, and a brutal New York winter.
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| Roll of Prisoners of War Received at Elmira. The entry for J.W. Bagby is highlighted in blue. "United States, Records of Confederate Prisoners of War, 1861-1865," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9535-9PJ9?cc=1916234&wc=M8VN-QTL%3A203216101%2C203239101 : 22 May 2014), NY, Elmira, Military Prison > Prisoner registers, 1862-1865, v. 218-220 > image 147 of 394; citing NARA microfilm publication M598 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). |
Thomas Rogers’ service began in the coastal marshes of South Carolina. He enlisted on December 20, 1861, with the 21st South Carolina Infantry.
The Defense of Charleston (1862–1863): Thomas spent the early years of the war defending his home state. He was likely on Morris Island during the summer of 1863, enduring the relentless naval bombardment of Battery Wagner—a hellish landscape of sand and heat where his regiment suffered heavily.
The Virginia Trenches (1864): In May 1864, just as Josiah was being captured at Spotsylvania, Thomas’s unit was moved to Virginia as part of Hagood’s Brigade. He fought at Port Walthall Junction and in the trenches of Petersburg, surviving the explosion of The Crater.
The Fall of the Gibraltar: Thomas was eventually sent back south to defend Fort Fisher, NC. On January 15, 1865, the fort—the Confederacy’s last open port—fell under a massive naval bombardment. Thomas was captured as the Union forces breached the walls. He arrived at Elmira on January 30, 1865, processed as Prisoner #1121—exhausted, likely malnourished, and unprepared for the -20°F New York winter.
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| Roll of Prisoners of War Received at Elmira January 30, 1865. The entry for Thomas G. Rogers is highlighted in blue. "United States, Records of Confederate Prisoners of War, 1861-1865," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9535-9LTJ?cc=1916234&wc=M8VN-QTL%3A203216101%2C203239101 : 22 May 2014), NY, Elmira, Military Prison > Prisoner registers, 1862-1865, v. 218-220 > image 352 of 394; citing NARA microfilm publication M598 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). |
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| "Rebel Pen" by Moulton & Larkin, photographer - Library of Congress Catalog. Image download: http://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/41700/41754v.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66612569. |
For sixteen days in February 1865, these two men were in the same place at the same time—long before anyone could have imagined their families would one day merge. Josiah (#4590) was by then a ten-month "veteran" of Elmira, likely hardened to the routine of roll calls in the bitter New York cold. Meanwhile, Thomas (#4516) arrived fresh from the fall of Fort Fisher and was almost immediately fighting a losing battle in the hospital barracks. Did they ever actually see each other? It's impossible to know for sure. At the very least, we know that these two family lines intersected at this one specific, grim location nearly a century before their descendants met and married.
On February 16, 1865, the intersection ended. Thomas died of "Chronic Diarrhea"—the clinical term for the slow death caused by malnutrition and the camp's contaminated water. As you scan through the Prision Roll for Thomas, you'll note quite a few others that were transfered to Elmira with Thomas died the same way. Josiah survived long enough to walk out the gates in June 1865. Thomas was carried to Woodlawn National Cemetery and laid to rest in Grave 2187. Thomas' grave can be viewed at his Find a Grave Memorial
The "Turning Point" at Elmira dictated the future of both families for a century.
For Thomas Rogers, the turning point was The End of the Line. His death just 17 days after arrival cut his personal story short, leaving a young son, Sydney D. Rogers, to grow up without a father and shifting the burden of survival entirely onto his widow.
For Josiah Bagby, the turning point was Survival. Had he not survived the starvation and disease of Elmira, his entire post-war branch of the family—the move to Richmond, his children, and his eventual legacy—would simply not exist. Josiah returned to Virginia to a "rough life," laboring in poverty as he helped rebuild the state he fought for.
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