Tombstone Tuesday~Corp. Lewis J. Rivers

Corp. Lewis J. Rivers
b. 1845
d. Mar. 2, 1865

bu. Rivers Cemetery¹

Photo Courtesy of Julious Burr

Photo Courtesy of Julious Burr

Lewis J. Rivers was born about 1845, a son of Frederick C. Rivers and Sarah Jane Hurst. He was the ninth born of fifteen children with 6 brothers and 8 sisters.

Lewis enlisted with Company “B”, 26th Infantry on 2 July 1863. On 30 July 1864 he was captured near Petersburg, Virginia and became a Prisoner of War (POW). He was sent to the POW camp at Point Lookout, Maryland. On 8 August 1864 he was given a break and shipped to Elmira Prison in New York. On 11 October 1864 he was transferred for exchange. Then on October 29, 1864 he was exchanged and released into the hands of the Confederate representative. His military record on-line at Fold3 clearly shows he was released back to Confederate forces. There is no death date listed.²

Lewis J. Rivers death is recorded in Randolph W. Kirkland, Jr. book "Broken Fortunes" as L. I. Rivers, Pvt. Company B, 26th SCVI died 03/02/1865, Charleston, South Carolina, DOD, buried Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston.³

DOD – indicates he Died of Disease, at Charleston on 2 March 1865.   He was buried in the Confederate section of Magnolia Cemetery. His grave can be viewed by clicking here.

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[1] Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 1 November 2012); Memorial page for Corp. Louis J. Rivers; (Unknown-Unknown); Find a Grave memorial # 47258802, Citing Rivers Cemetery; Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.
[2] Randolph W. Kirkland Jr., Broken Fortunes: South Carolina Soldiers, Sailors and Citizens Who Died in the Service of Their Country and State in the War for Southern Independence, 1861-1865 (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina, 1997), page 298.
[3] Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 1 November 2012); Memorial page for Pvt. Lewis J. Rivers; (1845–2 March 1865); Find a Grave memorial # 20752288, Citing Magnolia Cemetery; Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA.