Samuel McDonald

Samuel McDonald (1839 – June 14, 1864) was a Union soldier from Scott County who died during the Civil War.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born in 1839, Samuel McDonald was the son of George McDonald (1801-1857) and Ruth “Ruthee” Lawson (1814-1865). His siblings included Malinda Smith (1834-1898), James McDonald (1835-1836), Lakie McDonald (1837-1891), Sarah Elisabeth Sutton (1841-1916), Allen McDonald (1845-1845), Franklin McDonald (1846-1892), John McDonald (1846-1904), Washington McDonald (1848-1920), Amelia McDonald (1850-1894), Mary Elisabeth McDonald (1852-1872), and George McDonald (1854-1936).

George McDonald was the son of Revolutionary War veteran James McDonald and Sarah Cox, making Samuel a nephew to Allen McDonald and James McDonald, who died during the Civil War.

Civil War

Samuel McDonald enlisted in the Union army at London, Ky. on Dec. 5, 1861. He was assigned to Co. G, 2nd Tennessee Infantry, and on Aug. 1, 1862 was promoted to sergeant.

The 2nd Tennessee was overrun by Confederate forces at the Battle of Rogersville on November 6, 1863. The entire regiment was captured, including several from Scott County. Many of them died in Confederate captivity.

Sgt. McDonald was confined at Belle Isle in Richmond, Va. On March 21, 1864 he was transferred to Andersonville, Ga. He was admitted to a hospital on May 18, 1864 and died of diarrhea and pneumonia on June 15, 1864. He is buried at Andersonville National Cemetery in Grave No. 1960.

Aftermath

According to family history, Sgt. McDonald’s mother’s home in Scott County was raided several times by Confederate troops during the war, prompting her to move herself and her children to near Somerset, Ky. She died of pneumonia there in 1865. Her husband had died in 1857.