Hello
My name is John Murray. I am a retired lawyer (Solicitor) and now resident in Douglas, Isle of Man. I have had a longstanding fascination with the “War between the States” and have visited CW battlefield sites regularly since the 1990s. I am a member of the American Civil War Round Table (United Kingdom).
The purpose of this email enquiry is to ascertain if your organization can put me in contact with anyone with knowledge of Manx involvement in the CW. I have been researching Manxmen and the CW for the past three years and have to date located some 50 or so individuals (mostly Manx-born but some of Manx descent) who served with the Blue or the Gray. I have obtained their Compiled Military Service Records from the National Archives in Washington and, in respect of a handful, their Military Pension Files. I have also researched their unit histories to try to piece together their wartime service. (Some of my research has featured on Manx Radio and in the Isle of Man Examiner.) I would like to find out about others, particularly those who served in Confederate forces.
I have had a number of articles published on CW related issues including one on a Manxman who fought for a Pennsylvania regiment and who, after the end of his term of service, returned to the IOM where he is buried.
Any help that you could provide would be most welcome as I am hoping to publish a book on my researches.
Regards.
John Murray
