Joseph M. Justice (1839-1863) – 52 Ancestors #21, Military and Memorial Day

When I was a little girl in Indiana back in the Dark Ages, May 30 was still sometimes called Decoration  Day as well as Memorial Day.  As a schoolgirl, it marked the beginning of our summer vacation, and for my mother it was the day of the Indianapolis 500 (which she loved listening to on the radio).  I have vague memories that there was a parade – Lebanon had a National Guard Armory and I think there was always a group of uniformed soldiers marching, and maybe older men from past wars as well.  But I digress.

Decoration Day was begun as a day to decorate the graves of those fallen in service, and started just after the Civil War.  It became Memorial Day alternatively as we memorialize those military deaths and came to include all wars and conflicts.  First it was a state holiday, and only in 1971 became part of the federal, Monday holiday stable, celebrated on the last Monday in May.

The first (collateral) ancestor I learned about having died during a war was appropriately enough a Civil War soldier who died from wounds sustained in 1863.  Joseph M. Justice (my 1st cousin 4 times removed) enlisted in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry in August 1962 and was mustered in as a Private in the 89th Regiment, Co. F.  He was 22 or 23 years old, and had been married just two years when he enlisted.  He and his young wife had a 3 month old son.   Given these life circumstances I am not sure why he immediately enlisted when the President called for enlistments in August of 1862 but he did.

The 89th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was recruited from Clermont, Brown, Highland, and Ross counties for a three year commitment.  There are various online sites that give the history of this Regiment and it saw heavy fighting from June 1863 to the end of the war.  The battles Joseph Justice fought in included Chickamauga, Brown’s Ferry, Chattanooga, and Mission or Missionary Ridge.  Missionary Ridge was a particularly deadly fight as the 89th pushed uphill against Confederate rifle pit positions that fired down on them from close range.  I am not a military historian or very knowledgeable about battles but I was told early on in my family research that Joseph died on Missionary Ridge.

I have obtained a copy of the widow’s claim and pension awarded to Joseph’s wife which provides rich information (86 pages worth!).  It is interesting that on the first page of the file, a summary of Joseph’s service says he was wounded in the Battle of Mission Ridge October 25 1863 and later died of the wounds received (in the knee joint).  So he didn’t die on Missionary Ridge but in Chattanooga in hospital.  The Battle of Mission Ridge took place November 25 not October.  This report may be an error by the Examining Clerk who created the summary, or based on another page it may have been an error on the muster roll of the Company.  A summary of Joseph’s medical record found twice treated for diarrhea, and then for the gunshot wound of which he died.  This would suggest he had been pretty healthy since more men died in the Civil War of disease than of wounds.  Given all this, I clearly need to get Joseph’s medical card and the muster rolls to see for myself what those records say.