Henry Patrick Harman (1840-1863) is the third son of Martha Langford and John Harman.¹ According to his FamilySearch profile, he was born on 1 June 1840 in Lexington County, South Carolina.² When the American Civil War started about 1 April 1861, Henry was about 20 years old. He most likely served as a soldier in the war, and died, if the death year is correct. If he did serve, then hopefully there are some military records for him.

Henry P. Harman in the Census

Henry does appear in the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Census with his parents and a few siblings. While FamilySearch lists two older brothers (not in the census and undocumented), the census does connect Henry to his parents. The previous blog on Martha Langford has a table showing the family in the 1850 and 1860 censuses.³

Henry was 10 years old in 1850 and 20 years old in 1860, which supports the 1840 birth year. His birth location was South Carolina, and most likely Lexington County, South Carolina. The Langford and Harman families were both located in or near Lexington County, South Carolina, so it would make sense if Henry was born in the same place. Henry’s father frequently engaged in land transactions within Lexington County, South Carolina.

Civil War Military Records

Civil War records can vary on what information they can provide about your ancestor. Record availability will depend on the location and military unity. There have been some significant record losses, some that occurred at the time and some later. As the Confederacy struggled at the end of the war, Union soldiers burned Confederate camps and courthouses. Courthouses have burned since then. Fortunately, what records still exist have been filmed or digitized.

The types of records vary by location but consist of:

• Muster Rolls
• Pension applications
• Freedmen’s Bureau
• Unit histories and camp records

FamilySearch and Ancestry either have digital image collections or indexes for many of these record types. Some records may be found in state archives, specifically the unit histories and camp records. Freedmen’s Bureau records are not specifically military records, but were created as a result of the war and were created very often by Union soldiers or other appointed officials. Freedmen’s Bureau records are mostly about the formerly enslaved, but they do include records of poor whites also asking for assistance. A former soldier can appear in the Freedmen’s Bureau records.

Fold3 is a database of military records owned by Ancestry, which includes Civil War records. It is available as an add-on subscription. However, it can be viewed for free at a FamilySearch Center. Ancestry filmed many military records and was given exclusive access for some time. However, the Civil War records are currently being uploaded to the National Archives (NARA) site and can also be found for free. The NARA database is a little bit harder to search, whereas Fold3 is rather robust.

One option is to search FamilySearch or Ancestry Civil War indexes to see if your ancestor might be listed. There are usually enough clues to see if there might be a match, such as a name, age, and location. A search for Henry P. Harman returned several results, even though the images were not available for viewing from home.

Henry’s Civil War Record

The records listed in the Civil War index in FamilySearch were indeed a match for Henry P. Harman. My goal was to find Henry’s death date; fortunately, his Civil War packet did include a death date. His packet included several documents that laid out a timeline of what happened.

Jefferson Davis issued a call for volunteers in the Confederacy in 1861 and many young men rallied to enlistment locations all over the South. In Lexington County, many men traveled to a place in or near Columbia, South Carolina called Lightwoodknot Springs. Henry P. Harman was a part of that initial enlistment surge.⁴

Here is what happened:⁵

1. Muster-in date at Lightwoodknot Springs, 11 Sep 1861.
2. Furloughed for illness from 3 Sep 1861 to 31 Oct 1861.
3. Was present for duty on Feb 1862
4. Sick in hospital Oct-Dec 1862
5. POW and then paroled on 2 Dec 1862
6. Death 18 Jan 1863 in Winchester, VA.

In summary, Henry P. Harman spent most of the war sick and in the hospital. The conditions of the camps and hospitals probably made whatever illness he had much worse and he never really had a chance. He appears to have been involved in at least one military maneuver. In January 1863, the Confederate army evacuated Winchester and the hospital patients could not be moved.

Fortunately, a record survived of Henry’s service and death. It fills out his story that was missing on FamilySearch. I uploaded images of his Civil War packet and wrote a little summary of what happened. The final thing I did was to create source links for the records I found.

Sources

1. Henry’s last name may be spelled either Harman or Harmon. ↩︎
2. Henry’s complete birthday is unsourced, though records support the year 1840. ↩︎
3. 1850 U.S. Census, Lexington County, South Carolina, population schedule, Lexington District, p. 384 (stamped), dwelling 654, family 654, John Harman household; digital image, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 31 May 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M432; 1860 U.S. Census, Lexington County, South Carolina, population schedule, Lexington Post Office, p. 9 (penned), dwelling 70, family 70, John Harman household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 31 May 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M653. ↩︎
4. Henry P. Harman was also known as Henry T. Harman in his Civil War documents. ↩︎
5. “Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – South Carolina,” database with images, Fold3 (www.fold3.com : accessed 2 June 2024), Harman, H. P., Private, 13th Infantry; citing Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of South Carolina, National Archives microfilm publication M267, roll number 264. ↩︎