Robert A. Shropshire

Robert A. Shropshire is the son of Felix Shropshire and brother of Frank Woodruff Shropshire. Frank is the father of Velma Shropshire who is the mother-in-law of William H. Price Sr., son of Robert Joshua and Leona Reese Price. Robert was 16 when he enlisted in Company A, Lockhardt's Battalion in Talladega Alabama on November 17, 1863. According to the official records "Company A was originally known as Captain Davidson's Company of youths between 16 and 18, non-conscripts organized by authority of Brigadier General Pillow, Commanding General of the C.S.A. Bureau of Conscription, Ala, Tenn., & Miss."

Actually Robert and his comrades didn't do much between November 1863 and January 1864. In January 1864 they moved to Selma Alabama and begin the process of forming or mustering into service as Lockhardt's Battalion. Robert's records show his receipt of clothing and shoes during May and June of 1864 while the Battalion was being formed. In July 1864 Lockhardt's Battalion was sent to Chewa Station Georgia to meet a Federal Raiding Party that was ravaging Western Georgia. The young boys of the Battalion were slaughtered in the Battle at Chewa Station on July 22, 1864. The remnants of the Battalion were sent to Mobile Alabama immediately after that first battle in Georgia and the Battalion was redesignated as the 62d Alabama Infantry Regiment. After redesignation the 62d Infantry Regiment with Robert and his comrades were placed in Fort Gaines and participated in the Battle there through August 23, 1864 when they were surrendered with the Fort.

These were youngsters many 16 and 17 years old. They were sent to Ship Island in New Orleans where they were brutalized by the Federal Guards. After an agonizing period in captivity between August 1864 and January 4, 1865 they were exchanged in Mobile Bay. Immediately after being exchanged the Regiment was put in Spanish Fort and it was engaged in Battle there through April 8, 1864 when they were again captured after that Fort also surrendered. Rather than face another arduous stay at Ship Island many of the boys, chose to try to escape and were killed in the process. The survivors were exchanged again just prior to the surrender of the Department of Alabama in May 1865.

Robert was killed by a railroad agent named Jarrod in 1885 in Starkville Mississippi, allegedly in a dispute over a sack of flour. Robert is buried in Whitefield or Old Methodist Cemetery in Oktibbeha County Mississippi. Robert's wife Gussie applied for a pension from the State of Mississippi in 1916 based on his service.

Pension Images: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7