Later He Became Reverend JH Wilson And Lectured On His Experiences of the War and Andersonville Prison.

Dec 04, 1909, page 6 – The Daily Times at Newspapers.com

John Wilson was born in Tullamore in 1846. At a young age his family moved to the USA where they settled in the state of Ohio. Mentioned is made in later newspaper reports that at the age of 7 he was “thrown upon the world” which in the 1800’s was a strange way of saying that he was left as an orphan. At only 16 years of age he joined the Union Army and was assigned to Company A of the 122nd Ohio Infantry Regiment. Over the next 2 years this regiment would be active in several minor battles and skirmishes. Its first major battle came at The Second Battle Of Winchester in early June of 1863 and would prove to be a setback for the Union Army as they were forced to retreat with over 4,000 casualties.

The next major battle for the 122nd Ohio would come at the bloody Battle of the Wilderness in May of 1864. This famous battle was fought in an area of Virginia covered in thick vegetation, small trees, bushes, and shrubs. The difficult conditions would lead to confusion and disorientation for both sides as soldiers became intermingled and lost in the jungle-like conditions. Another horrible factor would be large fires ignited by exploding shells which quickly spread in the dry undergrowth. This would prove to be particularly nasty as injured soldiers, unable to move, could be heard screaming for help as the fires and smoke enveloped them. Later accounts of the soldiers who were present tell of hearing the moans and calls of their comrades through the trees but being unable to do anything to help them. The records for John Wilson’s unit at the time mention him being wounded during the battle and that he was presumed dead. John Wilson had indeed been wounded at The Battle of The Wilderness but he was in fact taken prisoner by the Confederate army.

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John was imprisoned in the dreaded Andersonville Prison in the state of Georgia. This prison became a place of infamy at the later stages of the war as word spread of the terrible conditions and the high death rate among the inmates. Over 45,000 Union troops would be held at Andersonville during the Civil War and 13,000 of those would die while in captivity.

Somehow John Wilson survived both his wounds and the harsh conditions of Andersonville when after 10 months of imprisonment the camp was liberated by Union forces in May of 1865. On their arrival at Andersonville soldiers were shocked to find what they describe as “human skeletons amid hellish scenes of desolation”.

On his return to the state of Ohio John Wilson took the decision to study in the Congressional Church and was ordained as a Minister in 1868. He will initially serve as a Minister in Toledo, Ohio. Over the next 30 years he will serve in other parishes in Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa and Illinois. He will leave his mark on all these communities and in several will be heavily involved in the building of new churches and halls. In his personal life he married Annie Lindsay in 1868 but she sadly died in 1889 at the relatively young age of 44. She is buried in South Bend, Indiana. John marries Mary Le Motte in 1892 who was a member of the same church. She was the sister of then Republican politician Mark Lindsey De Motte who was elected to represent Indiana in the United States House of Representatives from 1881 to 1883.

John will also become a renowned public speaker during his life and he will give many public talks. He will often engage in long lecturing tours and speak on several subjects but yet will always includes his experiences in the Civil War and in particular his time at Andersonville Prison as part of those presentations.

Towards the end of 1908 John’s health begins to give him problems and he decided to move to Le Claire, Iowa in an attempt to recuperate and regain his strength. Unfortunately this does not happen and over the next year his health will further deteriorate. John Wilson died on the 4th December 1909 at 63 years of age. He is buried in the family plot beside his first wife in South Bend, Indiana.

John Wilson from Tullamore in County Offaly had survived a lot during his lifetime. He had been made an orphan at a very young age, he had fought and was wounded in one the bloodiest battles of a bitter Civil War and then had been imprisoned in one of the most feared and infamous places in US history. He had left all that behind him to dedicate his life to religion and helping others. He is another one of the lost Offaly stories on amercasoffalyheroes.com that hopefully has now been in some way recognized.