Identity of Lt. Simmons in the Myra Inman Diary
Myra Inman was a young lady who lived in Cleveland, Tennessee, during the Civil War. She was very Southern in her sympathies, empathizing with the Confederates. Her family ran a boarding house in Cleveland, so during the northern occupation, officers would sometimes stay at the house, and often came for meals. The Inman diary has been published as Myra Inman: A Diary of the Civil War in East Tennessee.The Myra Inman diary mentions Lt. Simmons, also known as A. Simmons, who courts her in the Spring of 1864 while he is stationed at Cleveland, Tennessee. She is Southern and says that she dislikes him (though there were signs that she liked him, at times). This Lt. Simmons has his 31st birthday on March 16, 1864 (Inman Diary pg. 254). After he leaves Cleveland, he gets married. On December 27, 1865, she learns the news about Mr. Simmons from a friend, Lizzie Lea, who received a letter. Myra hears "that he was married to a woman from Lynchfield, Mass. (Inman Diary 333)."
William R. Snell, ed. Myra Inman: A Diary of the Civil War in East Tennessee, (1859-1866), (Macon: Mercer University Press, 2000), 254, 333.
Bibliog. info on Myra Inman: A Diary of the Civil War in East Tennessee
http://musescivilwar.blogspot.com/2016/08/myra-inman-diary-bibliographic.html
My identification, based on genealogy profiles and sources, is that he is:
Louis Alden Simmons, 1st Lieutenant and 2nd Major, 84th Illinois Infantry, and author of the regimental history of that regiment. He is the son of Hezekiah and Zoa (Daily) Simmons, who married in North Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1830. Louis Simmons was born in Massachusetts on March 16, 1833 (which would make him 31 in 1864). He married (1) Maria Theresa Harwood on November 20, 1865, in Fitchburg, Worcester, Massachusetts (not Lynchfield, as Myra recalled the town. The marriage occurred about a month before Myra heard the news). Simmons moved to Illinois by about 1850, eventually settling in Macomb, McDonough, Illinois. Simmons died December 6, 1888, and is buried at Prairie Lawn Cemetery, Wellington, Sumner, Kansas, US.
I attached some notes about the Inman diary to this soldier's profile on FamilySearch.org.
Current Individual ID:
Louis Alden Simmons • L8HQ-W3W
16 March 1833 – 6 December 1888
URL (requires account and log-in):
https://familysearch.org/tree/#view=ancestor§ion=details&person=L8HQ-W3W
BOOK BY L.A. SIMMONS:
The History of the 84th Reg't Ill. Vols
https://archive.org/details/historyof84threg00simmo
L.A. Simmons, (Macomb: Hampton Brothers, Publishers, 1866). Archive.org
U.S. Census References (index and images):
1850: Warren county, Warren, Illinois, pg. 476: Lewis A Simmons, age 17, white, male. Birth: 1833, Massachusetts; listed in the household of Hezekiah Simmons.1860: Macomb 4th Ward, McDonough, Illinois, pg. 205: L A Simmons, age 27, male, apparent head. Birth: 1833, Ills. Occupation: Atty at Law.
1870: Ward in city of Macomb, McDonough, Illinois, pg. 9: S A Simmons [as indexed; should be 'L A.' Compare 'L' in 'Louisa']. Male, age 37, born Massachusetts. Occupation: Attorney-at-Law.
1880: Macomb, McDonough, Illinois, pg. 462 B: Louis A Simmons, age 47, male, self (head). Birth: 1833, Massachusetts.
Various NARA microfilm publications (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); as indexed at FamilySearch.org (with viewable document images).
84th Regiment Illinois Infantry
84th Illinois Infantry was attached to Oliver O. Howard's 4th Army Corps from October 1863 to June 1865. It was one of the regiments of Col. William Grose's Third Brigade, in Maj Gen. David S. Stanley's First Division. Note that even though this was an infantry regiment, it was placed in a cavalry brigade. This is not so unusual in the Civil War. General Oliver O. Howard's Fourth Army Corps was headquartered at Blue Springs, five miles in advance of Cleveland, Tennessee, in February 1864.
The following extract is courtesy of
Illinois in the Civil War:
That website cited A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, vol. III, Regimental Histories
by Frederick H. Dyer [1908]
84th Illinois Infantry
- Organized at Quincy, Ill., and
- mustered in September 1, 1862.
- Left State for Louisville, Ky., September 23.
- Attached to 10th Brigade, 4th Division, 2nd Army Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862.
- 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, Left Wing 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863.
- 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 21st Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October, 1863.
- 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, to May, 1865.
- 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, to June, 1865.
- Passage of Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22.
- Reconnoissance from Rossville September 17.
- Ringgold, Ga., September 17.
- Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., September 19-20.
- Siege of Chattanooga, Tenn., September 24-November 23.
- Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27.
- Lookout Mountain November 23-24.
- Mission Ridge November 25.
- Pursuit to Ringgold, Ga., November 26-27.
- Ringgold Gap, Taylor's Ridge, November 27.
- March to relief of Knoxville November 28-December 17.
- At Whiteside, Tyner's Station and Blue Springs till May, 1864.
- Demonstration on Dalton, Ga. February 22-27, 1864.
- Near Dalton February 23.
- Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost Gap, and Rocky Faced Ridge February 23-25.
- Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May to September.
- Tunnel Hill May 6-7.
- Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8-11.
- Buzzard's Roost Gap May 8-9.
- Demonstration on Dalton May 9-13.
- Battle of Resaca May 14-15.
- Kingston May 18-19.
- Near Cassville May 19.
Related, Muse's Civil War blog: Oliver O. Howard HQ at Blue Springs, Tennessee ; Location and Description of Blue Springs, Tennessee
NOTE: THIS WAS ALSO PUBLISHED ON MY CIVIL WAR BLOG.
NOTE: THIS WAS ALSO PUBLISHED ON MY CIVIL WAR BLOG.
