Private John Babcock
PRIVATE JOHN BABCOCK
John Babcock was 19 years old when he enlisted at Coshocton, Ohio, on June 13, 1861. He served in Company K as a private.
At the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, A Confederate attack broke through the Union center. The attack fell on the right flank of the 24th OVI, and the assault resulted in the capture of several Union soldiers, including Private Babcock. The 24th OVI's officers never heard of Babcock's whereabouts. During the regiment's muster out of service a final notation, "No further record found" was placed with his records.
Nearly one year after the expiration of Babcock's term of service, Federal soldiers released John from a prisoner of war camp, probably Cahaba, Alabama, Macon, Georgia, or Andersonville, Georgia. Expecting to return home Private Babcock and 2000 others crowded aboard the steamboat "Sultana" in late April, 1865. The "Sultana" had passed north of Memphis when a boiler exploded, the ship caught fire, and sunk, killing about 1600 passengers. Among the killed was Private John Babcock.
No information is known regarding Private Babcock's interment.
Source: Judy Aukerman "The Loss of the Steamer 'Sultana'" in the Ohio Genealogical Society's periodical "The Report," Spring 1984, v.24, no.1, p.28.
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