...Flag design is based on a small torn section of a regimental battle flag which is on display in the Confederate Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana. 19 May 1865, the regiment was disbanded at Mansfield, LA. Usually when a regiment was disbanded the flag was torn into ten pieces and a piece given to each of the ten company commanders. (Placement of Battle Inscriptions is specualtive and based on similar Confederate battle flags of the same period.)

Francis, John, Pvt., Co. B., 28th (Thomas') Regt. La. Inf. En. March 29, 1862, New Orleans, La. roll for April 30 to Aug. 31, 1862, Present. Nurse in Camp Hospl., on daily duty. Roll for Sept. and Oct., 1862, Absent since Oct. 10, 1862, with leave. Sent home for clothing for Co. Present on Roll for Oct. 31, 1862, to Feb. 28, 1863. Captured and paroled at Vicksburg, Miss., July 4, 1863.

Note: The muster roll records do NOT show John Francis' promotion to 2nd. Lt., prior to or at the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. However, the Vicksburg pardon document dated July 7, 1863 does indeed show that John Francis signed the document as a 2nd Lt. The muster roll records also do not show that John [Fearn] Francis participated and was subsequently killed at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8, 1864. All records regarding John [Fearn] Francis cease as of this date. However, upon reading the biography below, one is drawn to the conclusion that John Fearn Francis was indeed killed at the Battle of Mansfield either as a participating soldier or possibly as a civilian. J. Richard

The "Surrender and Pardon document"
dated July 7, 1863 at Vicksburg and signed by
2nd Lt. John Francis, Co. B.,
28th Thomas' Louisiana Infantry Regiment.

After signing this document, some of the men of the 28th Regiment, along with other regiments would begin a long overland march to Enterprise, Mississippi, near the Alabama and Mississippi border. There, on their honor, they would remain in a "parole" camp. The men would be "fed, clothed and provided for" by the Confederate government, with NO federal gurards present while await ing their eventual exchange and return to active duty.This would happen, once an equal number of federal prisoners were accumulated. After some many months in this camp many of the men were sent home, while others were assigned to bolster the ranks of other Confederate units. It is very likely that many of the men who signed the Surrender and Pardon document immediately left for home rather that go to the camps. Such were the ways of the early years of the American Civil War.

Looking back at the men who fought in the War Between the States, and their women who kept the homefires burning, from our present day perspective often causes us to overlook certain things. Things that we take for granted, but which in 1862-1865, were very extraordinary.

For example, world travel.

This is the story of one of those Confederate soldiers. He was not born here, and he got here by going "the long 'way around", via England and Australia. The story of his arrival and subsequent participation in the war, and the picture that develops of his character, is a fascinating one!

John Fearn was born in England about 1826 or 1827. The Fearn family was well-known and well-respected, having made a name for themselves in the cutlery industry.

England in the early 19th Century was crowded, and people often lived in squalor. Every opportunity was taken to lessen the population by removing as many as possible. Records exist that show that in 1841, a John Fearn was tried and convicted. The charge: Receiving stolen goods and not knowing; Sentence: 15 years in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), Australia.

The first inkling of John's character appears here. When he arrived in Australia, he went by the name of John Francis, so as not to bring disgrace upon the family back in England. Most of the convicts who were transported to Australia gave no thought to what effect their actions may have had on other family members. It mattered to John.

The records from that time period indicate that John worked on Rocky Creek Convict Station, in northern Van Diemen's Land, a base for convicts sent to clear land for the Van Diemens Land Company. After seven years service, he was given a conditional pardon for good behavior. In July, 1852, John married Ellen Malley, a native of Tasmania, at St. James Old Cathedral in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Some time was spent on the goldfields in Victoria, which were then very reminiscent of the California gold rush of 1849. While in the goldfields, he met some American prospectors whose advice to him was to go to Louisiana and grow cotton or sugar.

The exact date of John & Ellen's arrival in America is unknown, but some clues exist. John Francis purchased two acres of land in Mansfield, Louisiana, on 21 September 1857. The property was located on Crosby Street, just off the Mansfield-Natchitoches Road. The 1860 Census of DeSoto Parish shows they had 4-yr-old Eliza and 1-yr-old Mary, both born in Louisiana. We can safely assume they were here by 1856.

When the call went out for men to volunteer for military service, John was one of the first. He enlisted as a private on 29 March 1862, in New Orleans, a member of the 28th (Thomas') Louisiana Infantry Regiment, Company B. John & Ellen's third child, William, was born shortly after John enlisted. Muster roll records reveal John was a nurse on daily duty in the camp hospital.

At one time during September and October of 1863, he was shown as "Absent with leave. Sent home for clothing for company." Probably part of a detail sent for the uniforms/clothing. More facets of his character emerge; he was honest, he could be trusted, he was reliable. His superiors would not have allowed any man to go home, for any reason, if they did not think he would return. And they knew he could be counted on to procure the clothing they needed.

The history of this unit has been so very ably documented elsewhere on this web site. The main participation of this company was the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs/Bayou, and the Siege of Vicksburg. A copy of John Francis' parole document shows him to be a 2nd Lieutenant.

When the spring of 1864 arrived, John was at home in Mansfield. The approach of the Union Army from the south, the infamous Red River Campaign, brought out every able-bodied man in the town. The Battle of Mansfield occurred on the Moss Plantation, which was three miles from John's property on Crosby Street. It is very likely that any experienced soldier, especially one who had withstood the Siege of Vicksburg, would not have hesitated to defend his home and family from the enemy at his very door.

We know John's prior military service was as a nurse in the camp hospital. It would have been very unlike him not to have done the same here. We may never know whether John Francis died carrying a weapon in the battle, or if he was killed tending the wounded. Our research is still ongoing. When we discover the facts surrounding John Fearn Francis' death, we will post them here.

No records are found for John Francis after the Battle of Mansfield, 8 April 1864. It is assumed from other details that he was killed at that battle. The numerous unmarked graves of Confederate soldiers attest to the magnitude of that fight. To our knowledge, John was not an "official" member of any unit at that time. Was he considered a civilian, not a soldier? Ellen may have known where he was buried. She may even have found him after the battle, and made the arrangements herself. The knowledge of his burial place may have gone with her.⁽¹⁾

After the surrender, the new government required that tutors (guardians) be appointed for children of deceased soldiers. Ellen Francis and W.S. Donaldson were appointed tutors for John's three children - Anola Mary, William, and John. (John Thomas was born 10 January 1865. His father never knew about him.) Somewhere between 1860 and 1865, the oldest child shown for them on the 1860 census had died.

Ellen Francis sold the property on Crosby Street in November 1865. She and the children are found on the Ship's Passenger List for the Great Britain, which departed from Liverpool, England, in February, 1866, and arrived in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in March, 1866.

And their last name is given as Fearn. Evidently she had gone from Louisiana to England where John's family lived. We can only speculate as to what transpired then. Did she go just to tell them of John's last days, and to let them see his children before she returned to her homeland?

Or did she hope to be able to stay there so the children would grow up in their father's home, only to be rejected by his family? We may never know.

Can you imagine what it must have been like to have to cope with three young children, one of them only an infant, on an ocean voyage of over four weeks duration, and to have to do it alone? We take world travel today with so little thought, and accomplish it in a fraction of the time. And she did it twice -- from Louisiana to England, then from England to Australia.

After returning to Australia, Ellen met and married Alexander Wannan. John's three children took on the name Fearn-Wannan, which their descendants bear to this day.

This family came to Louisiana, left their mark on our history, and then left our shores. They were here 10 years at the most, and half of that was the most terrible we've ever known. It would be so easy for their story to be lost, as there is no one here to keep their memory alive.

But we must not let their story go untold, or countless others like them. John Fearn Francis died for the heritage that is ours. His family had to go on without him. And we, the descendants of the men with whom he fought, are richer for the price he paid.

I have had the good fortune to become acquainted with Mr. William Fearn-Wannan, now in his 85th year, a resident of Victoria, Australia. He is the grandson, and namesake, of John & Ellen's son, William (the baby in the photo with Ellen above). My life has been greatly blessed by knowing him.

⁽¹⁾ Special notation regarding the practice of burial site locations...The federal troops were invading many parts of Louisiana...and even though the forces of General Taylor had pushed the forces of General Banks back downriver on his failed Red River Campaign, it was still a time of terror for the civilians and men left to protect the families, farms, towns, etc. It was a common practice to bury your dead soldier without ANY grave marker. The reason being, often -- when federal soldiers came upon burial sites of MARKED Confederate dead, usually the desecration of the grave was done as an additional insult to the family of the soldier.

It was also a fairly common practice to place the name and unit of a FEDERAL soldier on the marker of a fallen Confederate soldier, in order to prevent this. The truth was known usually only to the family (if the family buried the soldier) or would have been passed on to the family by the people handling the burial details. This practice was documented by the folks in southwest Louisiana, for this desecration was done as a common practice. Also burial sites of the Confederate dead was usually carried out by the family at a desolate spot, so invading federal soldiers could not find the site. So it would stand to reason, that this was not uncommon among the folks of that time." -- J. Richard, 28th Thomas' Regiment Louisiana Infantry.

The John Fearn Francis biography was written by a dear and spiritually close family friend of the Great grandson of the late John Fearn Francis---Mr. William Fearn-Wannan. Without this kind lady's tireless dedication and perservance, this new page dedicated to the Veterans of the 28th Thomas' Regiment Louisiana Infantry (Volunteers) could not have been written. We, at the 28th Thomas' Regiment web site owe a debt of gratitude to a very gracious lady---

Full credit for the above biography of
John Fearn Francis is graciously extended to:
Alice Y. Holtin, great-great-granddaughter of
Eli Arnold, 4th Alabama Cavalry, Co. M., C.S.A.

[email protected]

The above biography of John Fearn Francis relies extensively on materials contained within the "Fearn Family History -- A Snyopsis" compiled by Alan Daley & Howard Fearn-Wannan, November 1995 and exerpts used in the John Fearn Francis biography are used with the kind permission of the Fearn-Wannan family.