J.J. Kingrey enlisted in the fall of 1861. He served with 16th Louisiana Infantry Company K “Big Cane Rifles”
Louisiana Regiments were organized by locality. In the early days of the war, individuals with military experience would put out word that they were recruiting volunteers for a new unit. The group would travel together to Camp Moore to be commissioned as part of a larger regiment and receive training. Civil War regiments were roughly 1,000 men. They were named by number and arm of service (infantry, cavalry, artillery). Regiments were divided into companies which were assigned letter names. Companies were led by captains and typically contained around 100 troops.
16th Louisiana Infantry consisted of men from East Feliciana, Caddo, Livingston, Rapides, Bienville, St. Helena, and Avoyelles parishes (1860 boundaries do not match modern parish map). J.J. served with Company K “Big Cane Rifles” (mostly men from St Landry, Evangeline, Avoyelles parishes). These parishes are not in north Louisiana. His service with a south central Louisiana company may indicate that Kingreys had already left Minden during the first months of the war. Or J.J. may have traveled to Camp Moore alone and was simply assigned to this unit.
Kingry, J. J., Pvt. Co. K, 16th La. Inf. En. Sept. 29, 1861, Camp Moore, La. Present on Rolls to Oct., 1863. Roll for Jan. and Feb., 1864, Absent, sent to Hospl. from camp near Dalton, Jan. 25, 1864, order of Dr. Ware. Rolls from March, 1864. to Aug. 31, 1864. Present. Federal Rolls of Prisoners of War show him captured near Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 17, 1864. Recd. at Military Prison. Louisville, Ky., Jan. 5, 1865. Forwd. to Camp Chase, Ohio, Jan. 6, 1865. Paroled at Camp Chase, Ohio. Transfd. to Pt. Lookout, Md., Feb. 17, 1865, for exchange.
Ancestry.com. Louisiana, U.S., Confederate Soldiers Index, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 1997. vol2. p572.
A company history of the Big Cane Rifles was published in 2013. Since Private Kingrey was present on roll from Sept 1861 to Dec 1864, we know exactly where he was located during the war.
There was not much news of consequence in my trip through Kentucky the only thing that happened to me was that my shoes gave out and I had to travel about five hundred miles bare foot
Private J.P. Nugent, 16th LA Infantry Company K (letter to mother)
DeCuir, Randy, Big Cane Rifles: The men of Company K, 16th Louisiana Infantry from the Battle of Shilow to the fall of Mobile Bay, Marksville LA, Avoyelles Publications, 2013.
The Big Cane Rifles participated in major campaigns from Shiloh to Chattanooga to the fall of Atlanta. They even had a minor role in the Siege of Vicksburg and Siege of Jackson in summer 1863. J.J. was captured during John Bell Hood’s retreat at the end of 1864. Remnants of Company K defended Mobile Bay until the last days of the war.
There is no record that J.J. returned to his unit following release from POW camp. One of the conditions of release was a requirement to swear a loyalty oath to the Union (including a promise not to take up arms). It was not uncommon for paroled soldiers to return to combat. If a paroled soldier was re-captured, he could be executed on the spot for renouncing his oath of allegiance to the Union.
Lee surrendered at Appomattox a few weeks after J.J.’s release. Everyone knew that the war would soon be over. The last Kingrey son returned home to his family.
Statement about “The Lost Cause” interpretation of the Confederacy