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While doing some research I stumbled across an article in The Comet that peaked my interest.
While not very long, this note conveys a poignant message in just a few lines:
"NAPOLEON BOSWELL was a Confederate soldier in some Mississippi command. He was either sick or wounded, and his wife, leaving her infant daughter among strangers, went in search of him, to minister to his sufferings. She was also stricken down. Both husband and wife died, and the little orphan found its way to Trenton, Tennessee. She has sought in vain, to learn anything respecting her father. She does not know from what county in Mississippi he went, to what command he belonged, or when he died. Some comrade of Napoleon Boswell will confer a great favor upon his daughter, by corresponding with Mrs. Ora Anna Thompson, Trenton, Tenn. Exchange papers, by reproducing the above paragraph, might aid in bringing information to an anxious daughter." (The Comet, Jackson, Mississippi, July 12, 1879)
This heartfelt message from a daughter seeking information about the father she barely knew touched me, and I wanted to know more about her story. I did some research in the United States census records, and found the Boswell family living in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, at the time the 1860 census was taken. Napoleon Boswell, listed under his initials, "N.B.," was 34 years old and gave his occupation as laborer; his wife Mary C. Boswell was 30, and their daughter O.A. Boswell was four years old. The family must have been of limited means, as Napoleon listed no real estate or personal estate holdings of any value in the census. (1860 United States Census, Jackson County, Mississippi, page 887)
On June 1, 1862, Napoleon Boswell enlisted in the "Gainesville Volunteers," Company G, 3rd Mississippi Infantry. The regiment fought in the 1863 Vicksburg campaign, and on May 17, 1863, Boswell was captured at the battle of Big Black River. Not long after he was taken, Boswell and all of the other prisoners taken by the Federals thus far in the campaign were marched to the Mississippi River, ferried to Young's Point, Louisiana, and then put on four transports to be moved north into captivity. On May 23, 4,400 prisoners started this sad journey, and among them was Napoleon Boswell. The transports proceeded upriver from Memphis, Tennessee, to Cairo, Illinois, where Union authorities disembarked the rebels, put them on railroad cars, and continued their journey to Camp Morton at Indianapolis, Indiana.Camp Morton did not have the infrastructure in place to care for so many prisoners, so they moved some of the men to Fort Delaware on the Delaware River. ("From Vicksburg To Fort Delaware" by R. Hugh Simmons, Fort Delaware Notes, Volume XLV, February 1995, page 3)
When the Confederates arrived at Fort Delaware in early June, many of them were desperately sick. One Union soldier at Fort Delaware, Lammot DuPont, noted in a letter that the rebels were "in wretched condition, suffering dreadfully from destitution," and "apparently & certainly from illness." (Fort Delaware on the Delaware River. ("From Vicksburg To Fort Delaware" by R. Hugh Simmons, Fort Delaware Notes, Volume XLV, February 1995, page 6)
One of the soldiers in "wretched condition" was Napoleon Boswell, and his service record noted that he "Died in Hospital Ft. Delaware on June 27, 1863." (Compiled Service Record of Napoleon Boswell, 3rd Mississippi Infantry, accessed on Fold3.com, December 27, 2018.) Boswell's body was taken across the Delaware River and interred in the soldier's burial ground in Salem County, New Jersey. This cemetery is known today as Finns Point National Cemetery. (Email Correspondence with Hugh Simmons of the Fort Delaware Society, November 21, 2018)
Despite extensive research, I have been unable to turn up any substantial information about Napoleon Boswell's daughter, Ora Anna Boswell. Looking in the post-war census records, I did find one possible match: in the 1870 U.S. Census, there was a 14 year old girl named Anna Thompson living in Gibson County, Tennessee, where the town of Trenton is located. She was living in the household of John H. and Maggie Thompson, along with their children Joseph, Mary, Maggie, and Julia. (U.S. Census, Gibson County, Tennessee, page 267b)
The age of the girl named Anna on the 1870 Census matches that of Ora A. Boswell from the 1860 U.S. Census for Jackson County, Mississippi, but her place of birth is listed as Tennessee. It is not at all uncommon, however, for census takers to get the place of birth wrong. Anna may have been adopted by the Thompson family and taken their last name, and since they all were Tennessee natives, the census taker may have assumed she was as well. This is just speculation on my part, but hopefully some additional information will turn up about Anna.
I can't help but wonder if any comrade of Napoleon Boswell's who served in the 3rd Mississippi Infantry saw Anna's query in the newspaper and sent her word concerning the fate of her father. I would like to believe this happened, and that the young woman gained some measure of peace knowing the final fate of her father. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any indication that Anna learned the fate of her father, but if I ever do find such documentation, it will make a very satisfying addendum to this story.