| I spoke with our archivist at the Fort Delaware Society offices this
morning. We have no record of the surname MARMION or MARMON - in fact there are no surnames in our database that start with MARM---thinking about phonetic variations such as MARMIAN/MARMAN, or MARMIEN/MARMEN. Our database was created from microfilm prison rolls and prison hospital records for Fort Delaware only and does not contain CMSR data unless a family member or other interested researchers has supplied us with a copy of the man's CMSR. I did a quick check of the National Park Service's CMSR index on line - the Louisiana state militia records for Henry and Richard MARMION are noted there. Barry and I have previously corresponded about the possible contents of those CMSR files. There is no indication at this site that a CMSR exists under the name "P. MARMION." I also did the search for MARMAN, MARMEN, MARMIN, MARMON, MARMUN, MARMIAN, MARMIEN, and MARMIUN for Louisian service. Nothing came up. My 1920 print copy of Booth's "Records" shows the entry as Private P. MARMON (not MARMION), Company H, 8th Louisiana Infantry. There are no Confederate muster roll records associated with this entry, only a Federal POW record of his capture at Waynesboro, Pennsylvania on July 5, 1864 (probably should be 1863). He was sent to Fort Delaware and "wants to take the Oath." Booth's archivist went on to cite a record identified as "1084 S. (O. C. G. P.) 1863" which stands for the Office of Commissary General of Prisoners (don't know what the "S" means - special order I suppose, but that is usually noted as S. O.). Art Bergeron's "Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units 1861-1865" (LSU Press, 1989) tells us that Company H, 8th Louisiana Infantry was recruited originally from the community of Cheneyville in Rapides Parish and was known as the Cheneyville Rifles. Colonel Henry B. Kelly was commanded the regiment until he was appointed judge of military court on April 6, 1863. I have been collecting rosters of the several companies of "galvanized Yankees" recruited from the Fort Delaware prison pen in the summer and early fall of 1863. I have not found the surname MARMION listed there either, but will keep my eyes open. Most of these men tended to use their own names. A limited number of 1863 oath takers were simply released into the general public with the understanding that they would stay in the north until the war was over. I have not yet figured out the basis for their being released at all. Many would be oath takers were held in prison until the end of the war. The fact that there are no Confederate muster roll records under this name suggests the possibility that "P. MARMON" is an assumed name made up on the spot by some Confederate soldier in lieu of using his own name. It could also indicate that he was not enrolled in Company H, 8th Louisiana Infantry but was "tagging along" with somebody who was. |