George "Tall Pine" Beard

He got married in 1850 and had seven children before the war started. He was sent to Rock Island Prison after capture and enlisted in Union Army to get out of Prison on October 13, 1864. His U.S. Enlistment papers describe him as Eyes: Gray, Hair: Dark, Complexion: Dark, Height: 5'11". It lists that he was born in Stephenson, TN and is a farmer. He was assigned to Company I of the 2nd U.S. Volunteer Regiment and sent to Kansas to protect against Indian attacks. George spent most of his U.S. career as a nurse at a hospital. He was discharged from Fort Leavensworth, KS on November 7, 1865. After the war many of his neighbors were upset that he had joined the Union army and one day his wife rang the dinner bell and he didn't answer. She found him near his plow with a bullet in his back. Based on the time of his discharge he was probably killed in 1866.

Family lore says he was shot in the back because of local prejudice against American Indians.