Josiah Trotter

So Grandma Leach's great granddad was David Crocket Trotter. He had a much younger brother, Josiah Trotter. This is his story.

During the Civil War, the South wanted to keep their slaves, and the North, led by Abraham Lincoln, wanted to free them. Most of the men in the South were Confederates, fighting the "Union" to break off from the US. Well, there were pockets of calvaries in the South who supported Lincoln, and fought against their brothers. When Josiah Trotter was 19-20 years old, he joined the 1st Alabama Calvary - who stood with maintaining the union of the country and freeing the slaves. Josiah died just 8 months later of smallpox.

I haven't found whether David Crocket Trotter fought in the same calvary. He died one year later. Makes me wonder if these 2 brothers fought against each other.

Here is the website that gives the story of the 1st Alabama Calvary: http://www.1stalabamacavalryusv.com/ . This picture is of a man serving in the same group. Wish I had pictures of the family members.