" Brothers-in-Law and Brothers-in-Arms "

John's grandmother, Edith Livingston Land was also Jordan's great aunt, sister of his grandfather, Martin Livingston. She was also my paternal great-great-great-grandmother. Jordan was born abt 1840 and six years older than John. Dec.1861, Jordan married John's older sister, Sarah and volunteered for the Confederate Army. On Feb.1,1862 Jordan officially enlisted in Co.B 11th NC.Inf.( The " Bethel Regiment " ) He was severely wounded on July 1,1863 during the first day of the battle of Gettysburg and had to be abandoned on the battlefield. He briefly became a prisoner of the Yankees. After returning to his unit,( probably on a prisoner exchange ) and returning to Virginia, he was furloughed home to continue his recovery. He returned to service with the 11th in early 1864 and spent time in and out of various hospitals in Charlottesville & Richmond  throughout the remainder of the war. John, born abt 1846, was the oldest son of James Linville Land Jr. and Jane Murphy. His sister Sarah, who would marry Jordan, was their oldest, she was born abt 1842. James Linville Land Jr. was an older brother of my gr,gr,grandfather, David Land. Being only abt 15 when the war started, it must have seemed like a great adventure to John. He may have admired his new bother-in-law's crisp new uniform he probably wore when he married Sarah !!! Most likely he feared it would be over before he could take part !!! When Jordan was home recuperating from his Gettysburg wounds he may have passed time hearing him tell stories about Robert E. Lee,  Stonewall Jackson, and Jeb Stuart. About the many battles and the glory won by the Army of Northern Virginia. It may have all seemed like a game to young John Land.  Finally on 15 Nov,1864 and probably against his mothers wishes, John volunteered. I don't know how much actual training was involved but John soon found himself on the front lines in the Petersburg trenches looking at " no man's land " seperating the two armies. He probably " saw the elephant " ( his first battle ) at Hatchers Run in early Feb. The roll shows Jordan hospitalized at that time. Also in the Confederate trenches was my gr,gr, grandfather, David Land ( John's uncle and Jordan's cousin ) with the 13th N.C. Inf. In the Tennessee brigade of Lee's army was a cousin of John's, James Jefferson Land ( son of another uncle, Hasting Land ) They probably played together as little boys back in North Carolina before Hasting took his family to Tennessee in the mid-1850s. At 4:40 AM in the pre-dawn darkness of 2 April,1865 at the sound of the firing of a signal cannon from Fort Fisher, Union soldiers of the VI Corps, Army of the Potomac, rose up from the rifle-pits without a sound and started moving forward. Confederate pickets ( John and Jordan may have been among them ) could hear the TRAMP TRAMP TRAMP and rustle on the ground but could barely make out shadowy figures in the darlness getting CLOSER ! CLOSER ! CLOSER !!!! At last some Rebs opened a spattering of fire to at least warn of the attack ! The Yanks gave a MIGHTY CHEER and on they came !!!! Soon, for the Rebels, it was every man for himself !!!! The Siege of Petersburg had ended. The way to Richmond for the Federal Army was opened. The Civil War was entering it's final Week. John and Jordon became POWs on 3 April,1865 while hospitalized in Richmond,Va. They were in the same ward, in beds next to one another.  John must have been in far worse shape than Jordan. Records show Jordan re-admitted to the Richmond hospital ( In Union hands now ) on April 8th 1865 perhaps to check on his young brother-in-law who was probably very scared !!! I believe on June 2, 1865 Jordan simply walked away and started back home to Wilkes County. How he ended up remains a mystery. Oral family history says he never made it home but I believe he did. He probably didn't live long after the war or simply deserted his family. He and Sarah had a daughter they named Mary Jane born about 1866-67. She is in the 1880 U.S. Census in North Carolina living with her aunt Lucinda Livingston a sister of Jordan's who never married. In 1869 tragedy again struck this family when Sarah and her Mother both lost their lives. John never left Richmond, Virginia. He remained very ill from wounds or sickness or both. On July 3, 1865 he " made his mark " on the Oath of Allegiance to the U.S. On July 7, he was re-admitted to the hospital and died July 9, 1865. He is buried in an unmarked but numbered grave in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virgina. Oral family history says his mother kept a clean change of clothes laid out for him and set his place at the table every day till she died in 1869. By Glenn Land