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Civil War Veteran
William Jefferson Ferrell, son of Josiah Benjamin Ferrell (1786 Ireland - 1839 Georgia) and Margaret Jane Forsyth, was born October 7, 1833 in Washington County, Georgia. He and eldest brother Josiah Benjamin Ferrell moved to Florida in the 1850s. On January 9, 1857 William married Margaret S Floyd, daughter of James Floyd and Martha Cross. The couple had 3 sons before the war: James D (abt 1859); William A (1859) and Ozias W (1861). Ozias was actually born seven months after his father enlisted.
William enlisted at Rico's Bluff (Bristol) on April 28, 1862 at the age of 28, with A Company, 6th Regiment, Infantry, Florida. 6th Infantry Regiment was organized at Chattahoochee, contained men from Gadsden, Jackson, Union, Collier, and Washington counties. Soon after William enlisted the unit moved to East Tennessee. Later it was assigned to Colonel R.C. Trigg's, and General Finley's and J.A. Smith's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. It served on many battlefields from Chickamauga to Atlanta, was active in Tennessee with Hoods, and ended the war in North Carolina. The field officers were Colonels Jesse J. Finley, Daniel L. Kenan, and Angus D. McLean, and Lieutenant Colonel Robert H.M. Davidson.
William was promoted to Full 4th Corporal on June 5th, 1863. Eighteen months later, on December 15 of 1864, when his unit was fighting in the Battle of Nashville, he was captured and sent to Camp Douglas (Illinois) POW camp. Camp Douglas, located on the south side of Chicago, became a place of brutal misery to many Confederate prisoners; overcrowding, starvation, scurvy and a complete lack of medical attention made the place into a living hell.
After his parole on June 19, 1865, William returned home to Liberty County. A year later his daughter Martha (1866-1870) was born. Having survived the horrors of war and incarceration at Camp Douglas, William's luck took a turn for the worse. In 1866 he received an accidental gunshot to his stomach and afterwards fell and dislocated both wrists. These disabling injuries were given as justification for receiving a veteran's pension.
William lived until April 24, 1917 and Margaret until September 9, 1925. They, and other family members, are buried in Hosford Cemetery.
Pension Application Nr. A01955 (Click to search and view at the Florida Memory Project)
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