Thank you to all of you for the help you are giving me on this mystery. Today I did some more research today following the new insight I got from some of your comments yesterday. I started looking at Vandenburgh and Vanderburgh. I was able to find a link with the National Park Service that allows you to search for a soldier by name and side. So I searched both names on both sides. Here are my results:

For the Confederate side:

R.K.W. Vanderurgh – General and Staff Officers -Non-Regimental Enlisted Men, CSA

For the Union side:

Minard A. Vandenburgh – 2nd Regiment, Wisconsin Cavarly

Martin Vanderburgh – 168th Regiment New York Infantry

Martin Vanderburgh – 2nd Regiment New York Heavy Artillery

Martin Vanderburgh – 9th Regiment New York Heavy Artillery

William Vanderburgh – 20th Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps

William Vanderburgh- 22nd Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps

William C. Vanderburgh- 3rd Regiment California Infantry

William H. Vanderburgh – 177th Regiment New York Infantry

William J. Vanderburgh- 56th Regiment New York Infantry National Guard

William H. Vandenburgh – 5th Regiment New York Infantry

William H. Vandenburgh- 125th Regiment New York Infantry

William Vandenburgh- 22nd Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps

William Vandenburgh- 15th Regiment New York Cavalry

William Vandenburgh- 1st Regiment Engineers and Mechanics Michigan

William Vandenburgh- 91st Regiment New York Infantry

William C. Vandenburgh- 3rd Reigment California Infantry

Whew…..

The good thing about this link is that it lists the service duty stations of each of the Regiments. So I pulled all the information on the service duty station and I was able to narrow it down to just two that could have come close to the plantation and would have had a chance to meet Carrie.

1. William H. Vandenburgh – 125th Regiment New York Infantry – Served in Washington DC. Was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac in the field and joined 2nd Army Corps. Served on the lines of the Rappahannock and Rapidan. Served in Spotsylvania.

125th Regiment New York Infantry Soldier                (not Vandenburgh)

2. William H. Vandenburgh – 5th Regiment New York Infantry – Was in Baltimore, Maryland. Served in Falmouth, Virginia. Was in the Battlefield of Fredericksburg December, 1862 Back to Falmouth. Was in the Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-5, 1863. Mustered out on May 14, 1863, expiration of term.

5th Regiment New York Infantry      (not Vandenburgh)

Of the two, I am thinking number 2. He had more time in the general area. He was never stationed at Port Royal or Port Conway from what I could see. But Fredericksburg is only 20 miles away. Could they have meet in Fredericksburg?

Also the first William was a private and the second William was a drummer. When I read that, my first thought was that the second couldn’t be it. My thought was that most drummers were between the ages of 13-15. But in doing some research into drummers during the war, the average age was 17-21. That would place him closer to her age during that time. Carrie would have been 14-15 between 1862 and 1863.

Cavalry at Rappahannock

But then could it be the first William who served on the lines at the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers? It doesn’t say just where they were on the Rappahannock. Could they have been at Port Conway?

So the question is….

Could it be the Private that served at the river’s edge or was it the little drummer boy?