Wesley Jolly, confederate private

Wesley Jolly was born about 1831 in North Carolina and lived and married in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He married on 8 Oct 1850 to Nancy Cockerham. They had five children together and then he was conscripted into the North Carolina 32nd Regiment, Company I as a private on October 1, 1862. He spent some time sick as a patient in Petersburg, Virginia in November and December.
He fought in the Battle of Gettysburg and wounded in the knee on July 3, 1863. He spent time recovering at the tent hospital of Camp Letterman, right outside Gettysburg. He died on August 15, 1863 and was buried in the cemetery there. His body was moved later to the Confederate section of Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Until recently, I was unsure of his death place. I had the date, but different accounts of the place. His widow’s pension application stated that he died on the battlefield. A military record of the confederacy stated that he died at Ft. McHenry. And another record indicated that he died in “U.S. General Hospital, Camp Letterman, Gettysburg.” This discrepancy was clarified when I found the document “Camp Letterman Burials." For more information about Camp Letterman, including a video tour by a licensed battlefield guide, click here.