Confederate Pension Application of John R. Chambers
Application for Soldier’s Pension
Under Act 1910
Amended by Act 1919
Questions for Applicants to
Answer.
State of Georgia,
Banks County.
J. R. Chambers of said State and
County, hereby applies for the pension provided by Act of 1910, as amended by
Act of 1919, to Confederate Soldiers, and submits his sworn statement, with his
testimony to make out the same, and after being duly sworn true answers to make
to the questions propounded, answers as follows, to-wit:
1. What is your name and where do
you reside? (Give County and Post-office)
J. R. Chambers, Homer, Banks Co.
Ga.
2. How long and since when have
you been a continuous resident citizen of this State?
All my life, 73 years.
3. Did you enlist in the Army of
the Confederate States or in the organized militia of this State from 1861 to
1865?
Yes.
4. When and where, and in what
Company and Regiment did you enlist?
(Give the arm and class of Service)
In Spring of 1864 in Banks county
Georgia in Co. A 11th Ga. Cavalry.
5. How long did you remain in
actual military service with said Company and Regiment? (Give date of
discharge)
From time of enlistment until date
of discharge in May 1865.
6. When and where was your Company and Regiment surrendered or
discharged from Service?
In May 1865 at Augusta Georgia.
7. Were you actually present with
your command when it was surrendered or discharged?
No.
8. If you were not actually
present, state specifically and clearly where you were.
Was in Hospital at Augusta Ga.
a. Where was your command when you
left it?
Some 30 or 40 miles below Augusta
Ga.
b. When did you leave the command?
About 2 or 3 weeks before the
surrender.
c. For what cause did you leave?
Had severe case of Measles.
d. By whose authority did you
leave?
By order of Capt. Bush.
e. For how long was your leave
granted? In what way?
No fixed time.
f. Why did you not return to your
command after leave expired?
Was in Hospital until surrender.
g. In what way were you prevented?
Sick at Hospital.
h. What effort did you make to
return?
None.
i. Were you captured during the
war?
No.
j. If so, when and where? In what prison were you held and when were
you released?
[blank]
9. Are you drawing a pension of
any amount from this State or the United States?
No.
10. Have you ever applied for the
Georgia Pension and had it refused? and
for what cause it was not allowed?
No.
Signed: J. R. Chambers
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
this the 11 day of Oct. 1919
W. M. Thomas, Ordinary of Banks
County.
Questions for Witness as to
Service.
State of Georgia,
Banks County.
J. S. Chambers of said State and
County is hereby presented as a witness in support of the application of J. R.
Chambers for the pension provided by the Act of 1910, as amended by the Act of
1919 in said State, and, after being sworn true answers to make to the
questions propounded, answers as follows:
1. What is your name and where do
you reside?
J. S. Chambers, Homer, Banks
County Georgia.
2. How long and since when have
you known J. R. Chambers, the applicant?
All his life since 1846.
3. Where does he now reside, and
since when has he been a bona fide, continuing resident in this State, and how
do you know?
At Homer, Banks Co. Ga., since
1864. Know all this by being his
brother.
4. When, where and in what Company
and Regiment did J. R. Chambers enlist during war from 1861 to 1865?
Enlisted in Spring of 1864 in
Banks County Ga. in Co. A 11 Ga. Cavalry.
5. How did you obtain your
information of this Service?
By being in service and same
Company and Regiment with him.
6. How long within your personal
knowledge did he perform actual military service with this Company and
Regiment? (Give date)
From Spring of 1864 to Spring of
1865.
7. When and where was his command
surrendered or discharged (give date and place)
In Spring of 1865 at Augusta, Ga.
8. Were you personally present at
the surrender?
No.
9. If not, where were you and how
came you there?
Near Augusta Ga., on guard duty.
10. Was the applicant personally
present with his command at surrender?
No.
11. If not, where was he and how
came him there?
Was at Augusta Ga. in Hospital
confined with measles.
12. When did he leave his command?
About two of three weeks before
surrender.
For what cause did he leave?
Had Measles.
By whose authority did he leave?
By order of Capt. Bush.
And how long was he granted leave?
No fixed time.
How do you know all that you have
stated to be true? If of your own
knowledge, tell clearly and specifically.
Know all is to be true by being
brother of J. R. Chambers and being with him while he was in service.
13. In what way was he prevented
from returning to his command?
By being in Hospital.
14. What effort did he make to
return to his command and how do you know?
Don’t know.
15. Was the applicant captured as
a prisoner?
No.
Signed: J. S. Chambers
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
this the 21 day of October 1919.
W. M. Thomas, Ordinary
[Application returned with a
typewritten note:
“Pension Office, Feb. 18, 1920.
Applicant must amend and state and
prove was his command of the Ga. State Troops of Militia or of the C. S.
A. Give the name of his Co., Lieut.
Col., and Major, to identify command.
Then prove all his statements to be true.
J. W. Lindsey,
Com. of Pensions.”]
Georgia, Banks County.
Personally appeared before me the
undersigned officer of said State and County, J. R. Chambers, and for amendment
to his application for a pension as a Confederate soldier, on oath says, that
enlisted in the spring of 1864 in Co. A 11th Ga. Cavalry, and while
stationed at Athens was under Gen. Reynolds, Major Madison Bell, and Capt. Pate
Bush, was discharged at Augusta Georgia, I was sick in hospitle [sic] when
command was discharged.
Signed: J. R. Chambers
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
this 29 day of May 1920.
W. M. Thomas, Ordinary Banks
County Georgia.
Affidavit of W. C. J. Garrison.
Georgia, Banks County.
Personally appeared before the
undersigned officer of said State and County, W. C. J. Garrision, who first
being duly sworn on oath deposes and says that he personally knows J. R.
Chambers of Banks County Georgia, and has known him since early manhood.
Deponent further says that he
served with the said J. R. Chambers in Co. A. 11th Ga. Cavalry and
while stationed at Athens under Gen. Reynolds and from Atlanta to the coast was
under Gen. Wheeler, with Madison Bell as Major and Pate Bush as Captain.
Deponent further says that said J.
R. Chambers was in the service as a Confederate soldier for about Twelve months
as a cavalryman, in the same company and command with this deponent, and that
he knew him before he enlisted in the army and was well acquainted with him
while in the service, and knows of his own knowledge that the above stated
facts are true.
This affidavit is made for the
purpose of being used by the said J. R. Chambers to proover[prove] the
statements made in his application for a pension as a Confederate soldier.
Signed: W. C. J. Garrison
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
this 31 day of May 1920.
W. M. Thomas, Ordinary of Banks
County Georgia.
Georgia, Banks County.
I, W. M. Thomas, hereby certify
that I am the duly elected and qualified Ordinary in and for the County of
Banks, and that I personally know J. R. Chambers and W. C. J. Garrison, and
know each of them to be the persons named in the above and foregoing
affidavits, and each of them signed their respective affidavits in my presence.
Given under my hand and official
signature, this 31 day of May 1920.
Signed: W. M. Thomas, Ordinary,
Banks County Georgia.
[Reference: Cemeteries and Deaths
in Banks County Georgia by Richard J. Chambers, 2000:
Line Baptist Church;
John R. Chambers July 24,
1846-Apr. 3, 1931
Mary Cash Chambers (wife of John
R.) Oct. 26, 1847-Feb. 18, 1933]
Transcribed 2006 by Jacqueline
King