Benjamin K Balkum (abt. 1838 - 1863)

Born about 1838 in Georgia

Died 27 Jan 1863 at about age 25 in Alton, Madison, Illinois, United States

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Biography

Pvt Benjamin Balkum served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: 1862
Mustered out: Died while POW, Jan. 1863
Side: CSA
Regiment(s): 37th Regiment, Alabama Infantry

Benjamin Balkum was a POW in Alton Military Prison during The United States Civil War.

Benjamin Balkum Died while a Prisoner of War in Alton, Illinois during The United States Civil War.

Benjamin Balkcom or Balkum was born in 1838. He died in 1863 at the age of 24 or 25.

Benjamin joined the 37th Alabama Infantry in 1862 and was captured at Water Valley, Mississippi on Dec 4 of that year. Along with about 800 other soldiers captured in Water Valley, Oxford, and that area in December, he was put onto the steamship Minnehaha around Dec 26 and taken to the Alton Military Prison. According to the Alton Democrat of January 10, 1863, the men arrived on January 9, with many ill. Benjamin died on January 27, 1863, of the effects of exposure. He is listed on the monument at Alton's Confederate Cemetery.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHDZ-LRC : 13 December 2017), Benjamin Balkcom in entry for Jams Balkcom, 1860.
• "United States Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FS28-Z66 : 4 December 2014), Benjamin J. Balkum, Private, Company A, 37th Regiment, Alabama Infantry, Confederate; citing NARA microfilm publication M374 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 3; FHL microfilm 821,951.
• "Alabama Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XXK3-Y94 : 27 November 2014), Benjamin J Balkum, 1862; from "Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Alabama," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing NARA microfilm publication M311 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1961), roll 368.
• Selected records of the War Department relating to Confederate prisoners of war, 1861-1865 [microform]. U.S. War Department. Published 1965. NARA publication M598 Roll 13, page 206
• "United States Register of Confederates and Civilians Who Died in the North,1861-1865," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV1W-Y6VC : 16 March 2018), Benj J Balkum, 27 Jan 1863; citing Death, Alton, Madison, Illinois, United States, p. 2, NARA microfilm publication M918 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1; FHL microfilm 1,024,456.
• Alton Democrat 10 Jan 1863

Research Notes

The father and mother and siblings are on the 1860 Census and need profiles