Thomas moved with his family from Hancock Co., Indiana, to Jasper Co., Iowa in 1853. Following Abraham Lincoln's call for young men to serve the Union, nineteen-year-old Thomas Neal Likins signed up for duty with Company B of the 13th Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the fall of 1861. Just a year earlier, he had married his teenage sweetheart, Margaret Turck, who was now expecting their first child.
After a winter of drills and the mundane task of guarding railroad lines in Missouri, Thomas's brigade headed down to Tennessee via river in the spring of 1862 where they engaged in battle at Shiloh, a battle which alone accounted for more casualties than all combined battles the US had fought since 1776. Thomas was uninjured, but soon after became very sick due to the unsanitary conditions in the army camps., Thomas alternately served his regiment and spent times in hospitals over the next two years, at one time nearly succumbing to typhoid. During his convalescence, when unable to rejoin his regiment, he would sometimes work as a cook or nurse in the hospitals.
Thomas experienced many trials during his service, yet he reenlisted in early 1864 feeling strongly that the Union's cause must be victorious. From letters written by Thomas to Margaret, we have a detailed account of the time when his brigade regrouped in Tennessee and began Sherman's Atlanta campaign. Following a furlough back in Iowa, Margaret was again pregnant. This time the baby would be my great-grandfather, Charles Thomas. In June 1864, Thomas wrote of how he took pleasure in learning that Margaret and his red-headed newborn son were enjoying good health. Despite the difficult conditions he experienced, Thomas continually kept a positive attitude. He signed one of his last letters to Margaret, "Thomas N. Likins, a littel tired, a littel hungry, a littel sleepy, a little lousey, and auffal dirty, but in good helth and in good spirits."
Thomas's final letter was written three days before he was shot in the head at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, leaving behind his twenty-year-old widow and two young sons.
Thomas and others from his brigade that were killed on July 22 were buried near the battle site 25 yards south of a house owned by a family named Clay. While attempts were made to identify soldiers and record who was buried where, this didn't always happen. Most men from Thomas's brigade that were killed that day were identified, but two were not and one was Thomas. When the bodies were later removed to Marietta National Cemetery, they were reburied in the order in which they had originally been buried. Based on cemetery records, chaplain's records, infantry order books, and Thomas's military records, Civil War historian Brad Quinlin believes that Thomas was buried in grave number 5796 or 5798.
Thomas was five feet, nine inches tall, had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair, according to his military records.
-Andy Likins (great-great grandson)
After a winter of drills and the mundane task of guarding railroad lines in Missouri, Thomas's brigade headed down to Tennessee via river in the spring of 1862 where they engaged in battle at Shiloh, a battle which alone accounted for more casualties than all combined battles the US had fought since 1776. Thomas was uninjured, but soon after became very sick due to the unsanitary conditions in the army camps., Thomas alternately served his regiment and spent times in hospitals over the next two years, at one time nearly succumbing to typhoid. During his convalescence, when unable to rejoin his regiment, he would sometimes work as a cook or nurse in the hospitals.
Thomas experienced many trials during his service, yet he reenlisted in early 1864 feeling strongly that the Union's cause must be victorious. From letters written by Thomas to Margaret, we have a detailed account of the time when his brigade regrouped in Tennessee and began Sherman's Atlanta campaign. Following a furlough back in Iowa, Margaret was again pregnant. This time the baby would be my great-grandfather, Charles Thomas. In June 1864, Thomas wrote of how he took pleasure in learning that Margaret and his red-headed newborn son were enjoying good health. Despite the difficult conditions he experienced, Thomas continually kept a positive attitude. He signed one of his last letters to Margaret, "Thomas N. Likins, a littel tired, a littel hungry, a littel sleepy, a little lousey, and auffal dirty, but in good helth and in good spirits."
Thomas's final letter was written three days before he was shot in the head at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, leaving behind his twenty-year-old widow and two young sons.
Thomas and others from his brigade that were killed on July 22 were buried near the battle site 25 yards south of a house owned by a family named Clay. While attempts were made to identify soldiers and record who was buried where, this didn't always happen. Most men from Thomas's brigade that were killed that day were identified, but two were not and one was Thomas. When the bodies were later removed to Marietta National Cemetery, they were reburied in the order in which they had originally been buried. Based on cemetery records, chaplain's records, infantry order books, and Thomas's military records, Civil War historian Brad Quinlin believes that Thomas was buried in grave number 5796 or 5798.
Thomas was five feet, nine inches tall, had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair, according to his military records.
-Andy Likins (great-great grandson)
Thomas moved with his family from Hancock Co., Indiana, to Jasper Co., Iowa in 1853. Following Abraham Lincoln's call for young men to serve the Union, nineteen-year-old Thomas Neal Likins signed up for duty with Company B of the 13th Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the fall of 1861. Just a year earlier, he had married his teenage sweetheart, Margaret Turck, who was now expecting their first child.
After a winter of drills and the mundane task of guarding railroad lines in Missouri, Thomas's brigade headed down to Tennessee via river in the spring of 1862 where they engaged in battle at Shiloh, a battle which alone accounted for more casualties than all combined battles the US had fought since 1776. Thomas was uninjured, but soon after became very sick due to the unsanitary conditions in the army camps., Thomas alternately served his regiment and spent times in hospitals over the next two years, at one time nearly succumbing to typhoid. During his convalescence, when unable to rejoin his regiment, he would sometimes work as a cook or nurse in the hospitals.
Thomas experienced many trials during his service, yet he reenlisted in early 1864 feeling strongly that the Union's cause must be victorious. From letters written by Thomas to Margaret, we have a detailed account of the time when his brigade regrouped in Tennessee and began Sherman's Atlanta campaign. Following a furlough back in Iowa, Margaret was again pregnant. This time the baby would be my great-grandfather, Charles Thomas. In June 1864, Thomas wrote of how he took pleasure in learning that Margaret and his red-headed newborn son were enjoying good health. Despite the difficult conditions he experienced, Thomas continually kept a positive attitude. He signed one of his last letters to Margaret, "Thomas N. Likins, a littel tired, a littel hungry, a littel sleepy, a little lousey, and auffal dirty, but in good helth and in good spirits."
Thomas's final letter was written three days before he was shot in the head at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, leaving behind his twenty-year-old widow and two young sons.
Thomas and others from his brigade that were killed on July 22 were buried near the battle site 25 yards south of a house owned by a family named Clay. While attempts were made to identify soldiers and record who was buried where, this didn't always happen. Most men from Thomas's brigade that were killed that day were identified, but two were not and one was Thomas. When the bodies were later removed to Marietta National Cemetery, they were reburied in the order in which they had originally been buried. Based on cemetery records, chaplain's records, infantry order books, and Thomas's military records, Civil War historian Brad Quinlin believes that Thomas was buried in grave number 5796 or 5798.
Thomas was five feet, nine inches tall, had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair, according to his military records.
-Andy Likins (great-great grandson)
After a winter of drills and the mundane task of guarding railroad lines in Missouri, Thomas's brigade headed down to Tennessee via river in the spring of 1862 where they engaged in battle at Shiloh, a battle which alone accounted for more casualties than all combined battles the US had fought since 1776. Thomas was uninjured, but soon after became very sick due to the unsanitary conditions in the army camps., Thomas alternately served his regiment and spent times in hospitals over the next two years, at one time nearly succumbing to typhoid. During his convalescence, when unable to rejoin his regiment, he would sometimes work as a cook or nurse in the hospitals.
Thomas experienced many trials during his service, yet he reenlisted in early 1864 feeling strongly that the Union's cause must be victorious. From letters written by Thomas to Margaret, we have a detailed account of the time when his brigade regrouped in Tennessee and began Sherman's Atlanta campaign. Following a furlough back in Iowa, Margaret was again pregnant. This time the baby would be my great-grandfather, Charles Thomas. In June 1864, Thomas wrote of how he took pleasure in learning that Margaret and his red-headed newborn son were enjoying good health. Despite the difficult conditions he experienced, Thomas continually kept a positive attitude. He signed one of his last letters to Margaret, "Thomas N. Likins, a littel tired, a littel hungry, a littel sleepy, a little lousey, and auffal dirty, but in good helth and in good spirits."
Thomas's final letter was written three days before he was shot in the head at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, leaving behind his twenty-year-old widow and two young sons.
Thomas and others from his brigade that were killed on July 22 were buried near the battle site 25 yards south of a house owned by a family named Clay. While attempts were made to identify soldiers and record who was buried where, this didn't always happen. Most men from Thomas's brigade that were killed that day were identified, but two were not and one was Thomas. When the bodies were later removed to Marietta National Cemetery, they were reburied in the order in which they had originally been buried. Based on cemetery records, chaplain's records, infantry order books, and Thomas's military records, Civil War historian Brad Quinlin believes that Thomas was buried in grave number 5796 or 5798.
Thomas was five feet, nine inches tall, had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair, according to his military records.
-Andy Likins (great-great grandson)
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