Private Joseph Addison Barber
Spaights Battalion
Confederate Army

Joseph Addison Barber enrolled in Company F of the Spaights Battalion of the Confederate Army on April 10, 1862.    He enlisted as a private, and he was thirty-six years old at the time.

Company F was a mounted infantry unit, and it was involved in many skirmishes.  They helped clear Federal troops out of Southwestern Louisiana.  In January 1863, they were sent to Sabine Pass, Texas.  They attacked the Federal gunboats named "Morning Light" and Velocity."  One hundred and nine Federals and eleven guns were captured.  On June 21, 1863, Companies A and F attacked a Federal garrison at Berwick Bay, Louisiana.  Company F blocked the escape route, and seventeen hundred Federals surrendered.  On September 28, 1863, four hundred and sixty-two Federals were captured at Bayou Fordouche.  In April 1864, gunboats named "Granite City" and "Wave," one hundred and sixty-six Federals, and fourteen cannons were captured near Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana.  In November 1864, the Spaights Battalion was reorganized into the 21st Texas Infantry.

Joseph A. Barber began receiving a Confederate service pension from the State of Texas in 1901.  He died on February 28, 1920 in Refugio County, Texas.  He was buried in Tivoli, Texas.

David Barber
Great-great-grandson

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