Capt. Sampson Snyder

This is a statement by Captain Sampson Snyder of his military service, written at Harman, January 9, 1904, in an attempt to prove entitlement to a U.S. Civil War pension. This is a transcript of text written by his own hand.

Note: It is not known whether this attempt was successful, although it is thought that a bill was introduced before congress to make it so.
CCS

Harman W Va              Jan 9th 1904              

This is a Sketch of facts of Sampson Snyder's Services & Experiences in the late civil war.   I was Drove away from my home by the Rebels in the summer of 1861.   The rebels threatened my life & seized my property.   So I went to the United States forces at Grafton and Soon after that the Laurel Hill fight came off & I carried[??] my Self there with the Union Army I was Sworn in to the service as a Scout and a guide.   So I was with the first [??] army at the Laurel Hill fight & at Corrick's Ford fight where Gen [Robert S. [CSA]] Garnett was killed.   I was kept out on duty nearly all the time.   So I was connected with the U.S forces from that time to the end of the war.   I was in from 50 to 100 Battles & skirmishes from first to last & might have been in more.   The first injury I received was I was with Capt. Jarbo [sic - actually spelled "Jarboe," Capt. James A. Jarboe] of [??]

Muster roll of the Tenth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment:
Muster Roll: Company I Tenth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment

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10   W. Va Regiment as a Scout in Pendleton County we was Surrounded by the Rebels & we got Bush whacked & in the fight I was on a horse & it fell & caught my right leg under the horse and [???] & Badly hurt me.   The wound injured me for life.   I was laid up for weeks with it.   So in the Summer of 1863 I take in Typhoid fever was very near dying with it confined to my bed for 6 or 7 weeks & there was a leader that lead from my hip to my knee that corded[??] and has hurt me ever since and it injured my badly & I contracted Rheumatics from it. And in 1863 I was sent out in charge of a Squad of about 15 men to capture one noted guerilla with orders to first locate his whereabouts & then capture him at all hazards, dead or alive.   So I did and in the combat with him I was cut twice with a bowie knife & was badly injured for life.  

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And it was a hand-to-hand fight & he, the guerilla [William "Bill" Harper], cut the leader off that closes my little finger that leads to the nerve that was over the elbows knuckle.   It paralyzed my arm for the time   & the same lick he cut off the leader that lifts my thumb.   So neither leader ever united and it hurts me ever since caused my arm & shoulder to shaking [...??] & has caused me great pain & aching ever since & the loss of the use of my finger entirely & thumb partially.

[Capt. Sampson Snyder]