Thursday, March 11, 2010

Another "Golden Domer" is also a Johnny Reb!

I have posted before (Part I here, Part II here) about Michael Quinlan - a University of Notre Dame student who enlisted with the Confederacy.

It looks like I found another one: Felix Zeringue - a native of Orleans Parish - who fought with the 30th Louisiana Infantry!

Between footnote.com (where I accessed his compiled service record) and the great folks at the University of Notre Dame Archives, I have some great info:

Felix Zeringue of New Orleans, Louisiana:
  • Enrolled at Notre Dame in 1860 and attended until April 21, 1861 (just days after the firing on Sumter)
  • He was given money to go home (with an unpaid balance of $32.29)
  • After returning home to Orleans parish, Felix, along with eight other men of the Zeringue clan, enlisted with the 30th Louisiana Infantry, also known as the “Sumter Regiment.”
  • Except for a short stint in the hospital, Felix Zeringue was with the 30th Louisiana for the duration
  • He may have seen some hard fighting, especially late in the war in the Atlanta campaign, including the Battle of Ezra Church, July 28, 1864,
  • Felix survived that engagement but was captured at the Battle of Nashville, December 17, 1864, and sent as a prisoner to Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois
  • He was released in New Orleans in July 1865
I've also got a letter into the Research Library of the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office...they have a great Confederate pension application database, in which Felix is listed...perhaps there is more there!

You'll be able to read about Michael Quinlan and Felix Zeringue - and dozens of boys who enlisted with the Union army - in my forthcoming book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, Fall 2010)!