Private Caswell Calloway
Pvt. Caswell Calloway
Private Caswell Caloway was born in Franklin County, Virginia, c. 1843 and enlisted on April 26, 1865, at Greenville, TN, for three years and served in the 40th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry Company H. His military records described him as 22 years old, 5’6” tall with dark complexion, dark eyes, and dark hair. His occupation is listed as farmer, and he signed his name by making a mark. He had most likely been enslaved up until his enlistment.
Pvt Calloway’s regiment provided railway guard duty. He defended the Louisville and Nashville Railroad until June 1865. Chartered in 1850, there were about 250 miles of track in the L & N system at the outbreak of the Civil War. Its strategic location, spanning the Union/Confederate lines, made it of great interest to both governments. During the Civil War, different parts of the network were pressed into service by both armies at various times, and considerable damage from wear, battle, and sabotage occurred. Scholars believe that gaining control of the railroad contributed to the Union’s eventual victory.
Calloway was marked sick and in the hospital at Greenville, TN, on the muster roll for August and September 1865 but returned to his regiment to defend the North Western Railroad in western Pennsylvania until December. Later, with his regiment, he was again defending the Louisville and Nashville Railroad until his was mustered out at Chattanooga, TN on April 25, 1866.
The fact that the Louisville and Nashville railroad survived, and subsequently flourished is significant. Operating under one name continuously for 132 years, it survived civil war and economic depression and several waves of social and technological change. Under Milton H. Smith, president of the company for 30 years, the L&N grew from a railroad with less than three hundred miles of track to a 6,000-mile system serving fourteen states. Today L & N is part of the freight line CSX Transportation.
Census research found a Tom C. Calloway born in 1845 in Virginia, who died September 17th, 1902, in Chattanooga, TN. This person appeared on several family trees in Ancestry.com. Efforts were made to contact several individuals to ask what the ‘ C ‘ stood for, in the hope that it was USCT soldier Pvt Caswell Calloway. A response was never received.
Contributors: Toni Smith, Lydia Callabresi and Cathie Cummins
