Casper Shirk

Casper Shirk served in Company E of the 5^th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment. He was born around 1836, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, the middle of nine siblings, to parents Harriet and Casper Shirk. He was about 14 years old and attending school when the 1850 Federal Census was taken.¹ He enlisted as a private with Company E on January 29, 1864, and his Company Descriptive Book lists him as twenty-eight years old, 5 feet and 4 inches tall, with black hair, eyes, and complexion. He was working as a laborer at the time, and was married with one child, although the identity his wife and the time of his marriage are both unknown.² He died on either October 31 or November 1 of 1865, while traveling with his company down to Texas.³ He is buried in Chalmette National Cemetery, in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, section 19, grave number 7171.⁴

1. 1850 United States Federal Census for Casper Shirk.
2. U.S., Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863-1865; Co. E, 5 Reg’t Mass. Cav. (Col’d). Company Descriptive Book, Jan 29, 1864.
3. Private Casper Shirk, National Monument Cemetery. Ancestry.com.
4. Chalmette National Cemetery Burial Records.

Bibliography:

Casper Shirk. U.S., Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863-1865. Ancestry.com. Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers. NARA: Washington, 2007. U.S., Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863-1865 - AncestryLibrary.com

Casper Shirk, Co. E, 5 Reg’t Mass. Cav. (Col’d). Company Descriptive Book, Jan 29, 1864.

1850 United States Federal Census for Casper Shirk. Ancestry.com. NARA: Washington, 2009. 1850 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com

Private Casper Shirk, National Monument Cemetery. Ancestry.com.

Casper Shirk, Chalmette National Cemetery Burial Records. Chalmette National Cemetery, Chalmette, LA. January, 2000.