Here's another surname that was generously represented in the 4th TN Cav. Most of the Watkins soldiers were in Company D.

Half of these Co D Watkins soldiers died during the War.

Two of these Co D Watkins soldiers were enumerated in the 1890 TN Veteran's Census.

I have located Benjamin Watkins in the 1850 census, living in Hamilton Co. (p 444B, household #1025). He's age 21, living with his mother and two brothers - Robert and James. I'm pretty sure that the James in this household is one of the soldiers - the problem is that I'm not sure which one, since James Sr. and James Jr. are close in age.

The brother of Benjamin is age 23, which would make him born about 1827. James Sr. was age 38 when he enlisted, and James Jr. was age 36, so I would tend to match James Jr. to Benjamin, especially since they were both born in Hamilton County. However, the personal descriptions match for Benjamin and James Sr., and those two also enlisted on the same day (1/9/1863) and in the same place (Morgan Co., TN), while James Jr. has a different physical description and enlisted a month earlier. James Sr. died at home in Hamilton Co., while on furlough, so perhaps he could be placed in Hamilton Co. instead of his stated birthplace of Jefferson Co.

So, unless I get some conclusive evidence that would indicate otherwise, I am going to match up James Sr. as the brother of Benjamin.

It wasn't too difficult to locate Martin in the 1850 census. He was living in Hamilton Co. (p 403, household #465), in the home of father Samuel (not the soldier Samuel) and mother Loucia. There is a brother James in this household, age 20, which would make him born abt 1830. That's a bit younger than the soldier James Jr., who was born about 1826. However, both of these soldiers have similar physical descriptions, and both enlisted at the same time and place. So, I am going to assume that James Jr. was the brother of Martin.

That leaves two soldiers in Co D - Samuel and William. There is a fair possibility that these two were brothers - the physical descriptions are similar, and they both enlisted in Louisville in Dec, 1862, both having been recruited by Col. Edwards. While Knox and Monroe Counties are not contiguous, they are in the same region. I have found a possible family for these two in Jefferson Co. (p 456A, household #1817.) This household has a Samuel A. age 13, and a >William S. age 15. However, I need to collect more data before I will conclusively match these two with this family.

Any additional information about these Watkins soldiers would be appreciated.