Ebeneezer H. Gatlin was born in 1841 near Johnston Station in Pike County, Mississippi. He was the sixth of eight children born to James S. Gatlin and Rosalba Wells Gatlin. He and his four brothers served in the Confederate Army. Two of his brothers -- Thomas I. (born 1843) and William (born 1847) -- died in the Civil War. Thomas J., also a member of Company A, 16th Mississippi, died of a non-combat related illness in a hospital in Richmond, Va. in November 1861. William R., a member of the 4th Mississippi Cavalry, was killed at the battle of Harrisburg, Mississippi, near Bryce's Cross Road, in July 1864.

Ebeneezer H. Gatlin joined the Summit Rifles in April, 1861. The unit was mustered into State service on April 20, 1861 in the town of Summit, Mississippi, by R. J. Bower. Ebeneezer's name appears routinely on the Company Muster Rolls and other documents with various notations. The muster rolls show that he was wounded at Sharpsburg on 17 Sept. 1862. During this battle, the 16th Mississippi was sent in as reinforcements at the Sunken Road. He was present when the 16th Mississippi participated in the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. In February, 1864 he was promoted to Captain, Company A. At the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, he was seriously wounded during the savage fight at the Bloody Angle. He was removed from the battlefield to a hospital in Richmond. Somehow he managed to make it back to his home in Pike County Mississippi where he subsequently died "on the 26th day of June, 1864 of wound received 12th May near Spotslyvania Court House, Virginia, leaving no wife nor children in the 23rd year of age." In October, 1864, his father, James S. Gatlin, filed a claim for the back pay due his deceased son. Some of the most legible and significant of the muster rolls are listed below:

Enrollment (April 1861)-- Muster Roll showing enrollment in Summit Rifles
June 1861-- Traveling to place of rendezvous (Corinth, Mississippi)
December 1861 -- Enlistment extended for two years
April 1862 -- Promotion to 2nd Lieut
October 1862 -- Wounded in Action at Sharpsburg, home on furlough of 60 days
April 1863 -- Promoted to 1st Lieut
February 1864 -- Special Order No. 9, Promotion to Captain, Company A, 16th Mississippi
May 1864 -- Hospital record: Seriously wounded at Spotsylvania Courthouse, 12 May, 1864
June 1864 -- Died at home June 26, 1864 of wounds received at Spotsylvania Courthouse.

As an officer of Company A, Ebeneezer Gatlin routinely signed requisitions and pay vouchers.

Note: The records reproduced above were obtained from the National Archives, Washington, DC. The Compiled Military Service Records for Civil War soldiers are housed at the National Archives, Washington, DC. Procedures are in place whereby individual soldier service records may be mail-ordered from the Archives. The first step in a mail-order search at the Archives requires that you obtain from the National Archives copies of their NATF Form 80, National Archives Order For Copies of Veterans Records. Copies of the NATF Form 80 can be obtained by writing:

Military Service Branch (NNMS)
National Archives and Records Service
National Archives
8th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20408.

Once NATF Form 80 has been obtained, fill out the form and mail to the address specified in the instructions accompanying the form. Upon receipt of the completed NATF Form 80, a staff person at the National Archives will perform a search of the Civil War records. If they find some records, they will inform you by return mail and tell you the cost associated with reproducing and mailing the records. Upon receipt of your payment, they will produce a copy of the records and mail them to you. It is important to remember that a successful search depends on you providing the searchers with as much information as possible including: the soldier's full name (or at least the last name and first initial), and his military unit (e. g., 16th Mississippi, Company A).

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