Date: circa 1910.

Biography:

Milton Asberry Ryan 

Milton Asberry Ryan was born on August 12, 1842, in Jasper County, Mississippi. His father was George Washington Ryan, a prosperous farmer, a Mason, a Congregational Methodist minister, a captain in both the Mexican and Civil wars, and a probate judge. His mother was Clementine Chatham of Greene County, Mississippi. His wife, Nancy Elizabeth Skaggs, was born on October 29, 1845, in northern Mississippi.

Ryan was seventeen years of age and a student when the Civil War began. With his parents' approval, he traveled with three friends to Corinth to enlist as a private in Company B of the Fourteenth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, in June of 1861. He attained the rank of corporal by the end of the war. After military training and a brief assignment in Russellville, Kentucky, his unit was sent to Fort Donelson, Tennessee. The Confederates were forced to surrender, and Ryan's unit was sent to the Union prison, Camp Douglas, near Chicago, Illinois. Ryan's unit was later exchanged, returned to Mississippi, and ordered to assist in the defense of Vicksburg. From there, his unit fell back to Jackson, Mississippi, then went on to Atlanta to engage General Sherman's forces, fighting in several skirmishes along the way. After being outmaneuvered by Sherman, Ryan's unit returned to Tennessee, this time to Franklin and Nashville. Ryan was severely wounded in the thigh and captured at Nashville. He was taken to a private residence being used as a temporary hospital. After surgery and a brief recovery, he was sent to the Union prison, Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio, and there he remained until the end of the war.

After the war, Ryan became a farmer at Rose Hill, near Paulding, Jasper County, Mississippi. He and Nancy Elizabeth Skaggs were married in 1867 or 1868. They had three boys and two girls, one of whom died in infancy. Besides farming, Ryan also held several public offices in Jasper County: justice of the peace (1871, 1873), supervisor (1877, 1879, 1888, 1889), and state representative (1892, 1894). In later years, he was also a postmaster. Ryan was active in the Jasper County Camp of the United Confederate Veterans, and he became commander of that chapter. Nancy Ryan died on January 18, 1916. Milton Ryan died that same year on August 9 and was buried beside his wife in the Green Valley Independent Congregational Methodist Church Cemetery near Rose Hill.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains a photocopy of a typescript of Milton Asberry Ryan's memoir of his service as a Confederate soldier and prisoner of war. Ryan describes the battles of Fort Donelson, Franklin, and Nashville in Tennessee. He also describes the Union prisons, Camp Douglas, near Chicago, Illinois, and Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio. His graphic details of landscapes, people, and battles will be quite interesting to scholars of the Civil War. His tone is clearly that of an ardent Confederate, but Ryan is careful to note the compassionate treatment he received at the hands of Union soldiers or sympathizers.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Memoir. ca. 1910. 0.10 c.f.