Ancestor
of the Month
John West, civil war hero
John was from Sumner County, Tennessee.
In 1861, he enlisted in the 33rd Tennessee Infantry for the Confederate
cause of the War Between the States. He was captured in Nov 1863
and held at the infamous Rock Island Prison in Illinois.
Conditions were horrendous and all prisoners suffered greatly.
Invalid, he was transferred for exchange in Feb 1865. He remained
in the hospital until parole in May 1865. He walked roughly 500
miles home.
So even though he wasn't an officer or
recognized hero of any particular battle, we pay tribute to him as a
soldier and honorable man - our ancestor.
