131 - 4 Henry 4919 Gotts early years

This second one shows he has transferred to Arkansas City, so they tell us where Henry was in 1882-1890, in Arkansas City and Council Grove, also in Kansas. Quite why he was there we don’t know, maybe because thousands of settlers were moving into Indian Territory?

 Prior to this Henry was called up or volunteered in 1863 as a private in the 12th Ohio Cavalry, though he was invalided out after a horse fell on him in Mar 1864. His brother Frederick joined up a month later.

Henry joined the Ohio 70th Infantry on 5 Aug 1864 until 29 May 1865 when he was discharged at the end of the war.

We know this information through the Kansas Grand Army of the Revolution (GAR) records, a community support organisation for veterans similar to the Royal British Legion in UK. The information has been cross-checked against the official military records.

The GAR record below is a ledger entry across two pages split into four to make it readable. It is called a Muster Roll as the person joins that GAR ‘Post’. The service detail is provided by the veteran, so this is Henry’s description, starting in April 1883 when he was ‘mustered‘ into Wadsworth’s Post no 7 at Council Grove. It describes his enrolment into the 12 Ohio Cavalry and his final discharge at the close of war from the 70 Ohio Infantry.