Esteemed member smithr@agate.net (Ned & Diane Smith) wrote:
Can anyone tell me the fate of Lt. Robert Wicker ( likely of one of the Alabama regiments, 15th, 47th or 4th?) after Gettysburg & after the war?
and John Gross
That is a new source to me John I will have to examine it. Why are you so interested in Lt. Wicker Diane? Anyway, here's most of what I have collected to date:
Private Robert H Wicker was mustered into the Pike Sharpshooters at Perote Pike (now Bulloch) County Alabama on August 2, 1861. On March 15, 1862 near Brandy Station VA the Sharpshooters joined the 15th Alabama Regiment and became the eleventh or 'L' Company. The other ten companies had formed the regiment under the command of Col. James Cantey at Fort Mitchell, Alabama during the previous summer on July 3, 1861.
William C. Oates in his 1905 memoir _The War Between the Union and the Confederacy…_ provides the following biographical sketch of Lt. Wicker:
"Robert Wicker was 21 years old when enlisted. He was a fine soldier; served through Jackson's Valley campaign, and at Cold Harbor, June 27, 1862 was severely wounded, and was absent in consequence about two months; but returned, and was at the surrender of Harper's Ferry, in the battle of Sharpsburg, Maryland, and was thereafter present in every battle until captured at Gettysburg, and not exchanged during the war. He was promoted second lieutenant in October, 1862. He was as brave a man as any in the regiment. Colonel Chamberlain, of the Twentieth Maine Regiment, said in his report of that battle, "That he in person captured Lieutenant Wicker; that the latter stood his ground until he came on him, and that Wicker fired his pistol in his face and then surrendered." The colonel said that his gallantry was such that he protected the lieutenant from violence."
It is apparent that Lt. Wicker either did not hear Col. Oates order to retreat or did not obey it. It is truly unfortunate that Lt. Wicker did not leave us a memoir because after his capture he embarked on what can only be described as an incredible tour of federal military prisons. By July 5 he was at Ft. McHenry in Baltimore MD and by July 7 had been transferred to Ft. Delaware. Soon thereafter, on July 18, he was sent to Johnson's Island Prison near Sandusky, Ohio where he stayed until March 21, 1865 when he was received at Point Lookout MD. Little more than a month later on April 28 he was back again at Fort Delaware. Finally, on June 12, 1865 Lt. Wicker signed his oath of allegiance and was released. On his oath of allegiance Robert Wicker was described as being 5-foot and 7-inches tall, with a light complexion, dark hair and blue eyes. [Source: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers who Served in Organizations from the State of Alabama. M311. National Archives.]
Around the turn of the century Lt. Wikers's name appears on a roster of Confederate veterans from Pike County Alabama. It simply states that after the war he resettled in Texas where he died. There were at least four other Wicker's in other companies of the 15th Alabama regiment but none appear to have been related. I have other information but it is probably detail beyond your interest or that of the group.
Terry