Civil War Discovery

[zander]

Recently when looking up records about my great-great-great grandfather, I made an interesting discovery- that not all of them came home after the war.

The Harp's of Newton County, AR tended to side with the Union during the Civil War. In June of 1862, three Harp brothers got on their horses and headed north to Cassville to enlisted in the First Union Arkansas Calvary. They waited in Cassville for a couple of months and then the regiment was ordered to go to Springfield, MO to await more recruits there. On their way there, the youngest of the three brothers William died of disease at Flat creek Missouri in August 1862. It is hard to imagine the emotional strain it would have been in the midst of war, so far from home, that these two brothers would have to bury one of their own, only to move away so quickly and probably never visit the grave again.

As far as the larger Harp clan still live around Newton County I can tell you that we didn't fair so well. The couple of Harps who sided with the Confederacy usually deserted after less than a year. Of those that fought for the Union, two brothers were killed on the same day Sept 15th, 1864 while on scout duty by bushwhackers in Newton Co, AR. Mainly the Harp clan were on garrison duty or fighting skirmishes against bushwhackers, but evidently war wasn't total hell because Lewis Harp Jr was born in March of 1864 which means either daddy got a little visit in or someone else did! It was a rough place during a rough time. If you are a Harp reading this, let me know.

Lewis Harp Sr.