Portion of Tillman Gordon’s Civil War Records
The following are select documents from Tillman’s Civil War military file. They include his enlistment papers, muster rolls, and disability discharge papers.
As stated in the Gordon Family: Black Pioneers section, many formerly enslaved persons of African descent found it difficult to serve a full term after years of hard labor. Such was the case with Tillman who served a short stint with the United States Colored Troops (USCT) / United States Colored Infantry 34th Regiment.
Elizabeth Gordon’s Declaration for Widow’s Pension (Civil War Service)
Widows of soldiers and sailors had to prove their relationship to the servicemember. This often proved to be a challenging or difficult task for many African Americans who served in the Civil War because prior to then, their marriages were not recorded. Moreover, many formerly enslaved persons changed their names either during the time of their service or shortly thereafter, such having been the case with Cato Gordon who enlisted as Cato Fleming. (Fleming was the last name of his former slaveowners, presently assumed to be the Flemings of Hibernia Plantation / Fleming Island, Florida). Various issues like this hindered some widows, and even servicemembers who sought disability pension, from receiving their promised pension.
In the the following documents, Elizabeth provided immense detail and members of Gordon Chapel served as witnesses to her relationship with Tillman.
