John R. Cason was born ca. 1843. He lived in Watson, Marshall County, MS, and enlisted as a private on 1 June 1861 in Company 'I' of the 17th Mississippi Infantry. He was in and out of hospitals throughout his military career, but despite that he was promoted to third Lieutenant on 27 April 1862. He was captured by Union forces in the Battle of Gettysburg on 2 July 1863. He spent the next three years in various Union prisons, and was one of the officers in the "Immortal 600" group of 600 POWs who were used by Union troops as human shields for 45 days during the assault on Charleston. Cason took the oath of allegiance and was released on 12 June 1865. On 14 August 1866, he may have married Susan M. Bryant (conflicting information in the Confederate Veteran article suggests that it may have been a different John R. Cason who married Susan M. Bryant). In 1905, at the age of 61, he entered the Confederate Soldiers Home in Higginsville, MO, which was established to house indigent veterans of the Confederate military. He died in 1909 and was buried in the cemetery associated with Higginsville, MO.
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Sources
- Joslyn, Mauriel. (1995). Biographical Roster of the Immortal 600. Shippensburg, PA: White Main.
- Cason, John R., Mrs. (Susan M. Bryant). (1905). Missouri girl's prison experiences. Confederate Veteran. Nashville, TN: S. A. Cunningham.
From the guide to the John R. Cason Papers, 22 Feb. 1864-12 Jun. 1865, (Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.)
