Civil War

Mosby's Rangers, from Clarke County Historical Association

Both sides report Edward's death by horse.

At least 620,000 military deaths in the Civil War 1861-1865

But how many died has long been a matter of debate. For more than a century, the most-accepted estimate was about 620,000 dead. A specific figure of 618,222 is often cited, with 360,222 Union deaths and 258,000 Confederate deaths


Following are direct relations on my family tree that served in the Civil war on the Confederate side, there are more from other branches of the tree and many served on the Union side both during and after the war. Especially descendants from the first family divide around 1744 when many stayed in NY or went North to Canada and among other loyalists.


Castleman, Charles D 1830-1862

Rank: Private

Company: I

Regiment: 2nd (Infantry).

The Clarke Rifles, Strother H. Bowen Captain

WIA (lung) at 2nd Manassas between 08/28/1862 and 08/30/1862; DOD: 11/07/1862?


Castleman, Charles T. 1844-1862

Rank: Private

Company: F

Regiment: LA Cavalry

Gravestone says 1840-1864 


Castleman, (Ned) Edward Prebble 1842-1863 

Rank: Private

Company: A 

Regiment: 5th Infantry 

Injuries?;"Thrown by horse and died of injuries"; DOD: ??/??/1863; after 05/30/1863

Injuries?; thrown/fall from horse; DOD: between 05/30/1863 and 01/01/1864

1/11/1940 Courier article says that Ned was a deserter at Harpers Ferry, that Mosby offered a reward for, and he was returned to Runnymeade by a detail of Yankee soldiers.


Castleman, George W 1824-1897

Rank: Private (most likely).

Company: A.

Regiment: 122nd Militia (Infantry).


Castleman, James R 1845-1885

Rank: Private (most likely).

Company: D.

Regiment: 6th (Cavalry).


Castleman, John Randolph 1846-1908

Rank: Private (most likely).

Company: A.

Battalion: 43rd.

Mosby's Rangers. Lynnwood.


Castleman, Mann Randolph Page 1838-1899

Rank: Private (most likely).

Company: D.

Regiment: 6th (Cavalry).

Color Guard, VA Assembly 1863-65


Castleman, Robert H 1827-1904
Rank: Private (most likely).

Company: D.

Regiment: 6th then 12th (Cavalry).


Castleman, Rev Thomas Taylor (TT) 1813-1861

Born 1813 Son is Thomas W


Castleman, Thomas W, Gen., d. January 11, 1914 

Born: 1845, Staunton, Virginia.

Service Unit: 5th Louisiana Cavalry, 1st Mississippi Cavalry, Company A, General

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70585569/thomas_william-castleman


Castleman, William Albert Jr. 11/13/1842-09/17/1862

Rank: Private (most likely).

Company: H.

Regiment: 17th (Infantry).

Died Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg)


Paul, Robert Castleman, Lt., d. April 14, 1918
Born: April 22, 1842, Winchester, Virginia.

Service Unit: 17th Virginia Infantry, Company I, 1st Lieutenant.


Rev. Robert Allen

Born 1828, Clarke County

Student UVW 1844-46

CSA Chaplain, died 13 Oct 1865 in Gaston, NC


Castleman, John Breckenridge (2nd cousin four times removed, served on both sides and after exile heartily repented spent his life working for USA)

Rank: General

Regiment: 2nd Kentucky Cavalry 

A book General Castleman wrote titled "Active Service"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Breckinridge_Castleman


1868 25 December Andrew Johnson issues full unconditional pardons to all former confederates.

Dr. Alfred Lewis Castleman

Dr. Alfred Lewis Castleman 1808-1877, surgeon of the 5th Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers (USA), author of "The Army of the Potomac, Behind the scenes, a diary of unwritten history" is another descendant of Johannes Lewis, one of the brothers that left Hampshire Virginia to Kentucky. Father is Brig Gen Jacob Castleman 1777-1837.

From Findagrave.com: Civil War: Field & Staff (Surgeon), 5th Wisconsin Infantry


Dr. Alfred L. Castleman was born in Shelby County, KY, on Dec. 17, 1808, the son of Jacob and Sarah (White) Castleman. He died in Oakland, California, on Aug. 22, 1877. (Source: The Hamlin Family, A Genealogy of Capt. Giles Hamlin of Middletown, Connecticut by Hon. H. Franklin Andrews, self-pub. 1900; available on Ancestry.com.)


The Castleman family moved from Indiana to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in October of 1835. They later settled in Waukesha County. Alfred L. Castleman represented the county in the second constitutional convention and served as a surgeon in the 5th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers during the Civil War, until he had to resign as a result of an injury contracted during service which never fully healed. He later published a work of his observations and experiences during the war.


An interesting account of Dr. Albert L. Castleman appears in the book Tarnished Scalpels: The Court-martials of Fifty Union Surgeons by By Thomas Power Lowry and Jack D. Welsh (Stackpole Books, 2000). Like many physicians and surgeons in the mid-19th century, Dr. Castleman lacked formal medical credentials. When he enlisted in the Union army, a board of three surgeons did not find his papers sufficient to prove that he met the requirements for office: he held an "honorary" medical degree from University of Wisconsin, a partially illegible medical license from Indiana, and letters from witnesses who claimed to have seen his medical diploma. He was nevertheless appointed to a medical post, only to be court-martialed five months later. According to the authors of the above book, the charges were trumped up. For example, he was accused of interfering with the duties of the apothecary because he believed that mercurial compounds were toxic and refused to prescribe them to his patients. His views about the toxicity of mercury was controversial at the time, but science later proved him totally correct. He was also accused of bribing employees because he used his own money to purchase food for patients and pay his hospital workers' wages. His superiors testified to his great care for his patients. He was was acquitted of all the charges, but his army days were soon ended when he developed an ulcer on his hand after treating a gangrenous wound.


The Castlemans were living in Milwaukee in 1870. They arrived in Oakland, California, by train on May 5, 1875 (Oakland Tribune, "Arrivals" list). On Sept. 14, 1876, the San Jose Daily Herald reported that Dr. A. L. Castleman had been appointed Health Officer for the city of San Jose. His death in Oakland on Aug. 22, 1877 was reported in the San Francisco Bulletin.


In 1900, Alfred's daughter Mary (Castleman) Start paid her husband's (George Start's) nephew $1 to purchase the north half of the Start family burial plot in Section Q, Block 13, Lot 1. The south half of this plot has a monument to Mary's husband George Start and his first wife Laura. The names "Castleman" and "Start" are inscribed on the round granite finials that mark the entrance to the burial plot. There are two headstones on the north (Castleman) side which read "Father" and "Mother."


The grave of "A. L. Castleman, Surgeon 5th Wis." was decorated at Oak Hill Cemetery on Memorial Day in 1880, according to an article in the San Jose Daily Morning Times (June 1, 1880).