John R. Pendroy - Civil War Information
John R. Pendroy was born in Greene County, Ohio to William Elllis and Mary Pendroy
John R. Pendroy was a Corporal - 3rd Colorado Infantry and 2nd Colorado Cavalry. Three Pendroys were in the Civil War, James Martin Pendroy and John Wiseman Pendroy both enlisted in Iowa, and John R. Pendroy enlisted in Colorado.
Mathew Brady Civil War photograph: National Archives and Records Administration: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer: Record Group 111 - Camp scene showing winter huts and corduroy roads. ARC Identifier: 524642
Mr. Pendroy was married at Perry in1868, to Miss Josephine M. Terrell. This lady was born in Iroquois County, Ill. Feb. 4, 1850, and is the daughter of the Rev. Josiah Terrell, a pioneer minister of Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri.
.... he joined a band of men bound for Denver, Colo., crossing the plains in twenty-seven days. He engaged in mining in that region until September, 1862. Then deciding to join the Union Army, he enlisted in the 3d Colorado Infantry, serving until June, 1865, after the close of the war. .....he went with his regiment through Missouri to Iron Mountain, where they camped for a time, and were then ordered to St. Louis, Mo. At that point they were consolidated with the 2d Colorado Regiment, and mounted as cavalry, going thence to Sedalia, Mo., and engaged in scouting.
Mr. Pendroy subsequently joined in pursuit after the Rebel General, Price, and participated in the battles of Lexington, Big Blue, Westport, Mine Creek and Newtonia, and followed Price to the Arkansas River, and on the return march went up through the Cherokee Nation.
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NPS_CW_at_a_Glance_Western_1864.jpg
Source: "Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson, Jefferson and Pottawatamie Counties, Kansas - Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens. 1890 - by Chapman Bros."
Author Note: Below is more information from Colorado State Archives on the 3rd Colorado Infantry which became the 2nd Colorado Calvary.
Excerpted from article by Elswick for the Colorado State Archives
Colorado became a territory just a few weeks before the firing on Fort Sumpter signaled the official beginning of the Civil War. Although sentiments were somewhat divided in the early days of the war, Colorado was a Union territory. When President Lincoln called for volunteer soldiers to supplement the regular army, Colorado responded. Eventually, nearly 4,000 men from the Colorado Territory served in the volunteer Union forces authorized by the United States War Department. Hundreds more served in militia companies, authorized by the territorial governor, most of which were formed to fight Indians rather than Confederates.
The 3rd Colorado Infantry was raised by "General" William Larimer, one of the founders of Denver, in the fall of 1862. Because of the competition for recruits, Larimer only managed to raise five complete companies and part of a sixth. He resigned in December, 1862, and was replaced as colonel by James H. Ford, the First Major of the 2nd Colorado Infantry. This incomplete regiment marched to Pilot Knob, Missouri in April 1863, where they remained on guard and fatigue duty until combined with the 2nd Colorado Infantry to eventually become the 2nd Colorado Cavalry. The Colorado State Archives has casualty records from this regiment; enlistment records are found with the records of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry.
The 2nd Colorado Cavalry was formed in November 1863, by consolidation of the incomplete 2nd Colorado Infantry and 3rd Colorado Infantry. The first and only colonel of the regiment was James H. Ford; Theodore Dodd was the lieutenant colonel. At the time of consolidation, Company A of the 2nd Colorado Infantry (Dodd's former company) became Company B of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry. Company B of the 2nd Colorado Infantry (originally Ford's Independent Company) became Company A of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry, in a move which has confused researchers for more than a century. Abstracts of records of men who served in the independent companies, infantry regiments, and the cavalry regiment generally list all three affiliations.
In January, 1864, the 2nd Colorado Cavalry was ordered to the Missouri border counties of Jackson, Cass, and Bates, (part of the new Department of Kansas), to relieve Kansas troops defending against Confederate "bushwhackers," loosely-organized guerillas. Beginning in late April, 1864, the regiment fought several skirmishes with bushwhackers throughout the summer months, while John Evans, the new governor of Colorado Territory, pleaded for their return to Colorado. Just as the 2nd Colorado prepared to return for Indian-fighting duty in Colorado, the Confederate General Sterling Price began his invasion of Missouri. The 2nd Colorado was attached to the Union force raised to repel the invasion, and took part in the battles of the Little Blue, Westport, Marias des Cygnes, and Mine Creek in October, 1864. When Price withdrew, the 2nd Colorado was part of the pursuit, meeting him for the last time near Fayetteville, Arkansas, in November, 1864.
The 2nd Colorado Cavalry was moved to Fort Leavenworth (Kansas) in December, 1864, where Colonel Ford, with the brevet rank of Brigadier General, commanded the military District of the Upper Arkansas. As the first companies of the regiment began to muster out in December, the remaining troops moved to Fort Riley, Kansas. As the Indian war which began the previous summer continued, the 2nd Colorado was largely devoted to escorting supply and wagon trains across Kansas, and occasional skirmishes with Indians.
The Independent Battery raised at the same time as the 2nd Infantry regiment remained with the 2nd Colorado after the summer of 1864, until it mustered out in August 1865. The last troops of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry were mustered out in September 1865. Records of this regiment in the Colorado State Archives include muster rolls, transcripts of records, and casualty records.
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