John Johnston: Military Prisoner of War

This entry is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series.  This week’s prompt is Military.  To see other posts in this series, view my 52 Ancestors in 2019 index


Memorial Day honors our veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for our country. This week I want to focus an ancestor who came close to dying during his military service — my 3x-great-grandfather John Johnston who spent a year as a Civil War prisoner of war.

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15 Sep 1861: John Johnston Enlists in the 24th Mississippi Infantry

On this day — 155 years ago — my 3x great-grandfather, John Johnston, enlisted in the 24th Mississippi Infantry as a private in the Confederate army.  He joined the Helen Johnstone Guards, later known as Company E, in Madison County, Mississippi.   Continue reading 15 Sep 1861: John Johnston Enlists in the 24th Mississippi Infantry