Matthew O. Giddens, youngest son of Isbin Giddens, was born 1844 in that part of Lowndes County, GA later cut into Berrien County.
When Matthew was about nine years old his father died, on October 21, 1853. Isbin Giddens was buried at Union Church Cemetery, in present day Lanier County, GA. Matthew’s older brothers, William, Moses, and Aaron served as executors of his father’s estate. Two years later in 1855 Matthew’s mother, Kizziah Knight Giddens married the widower Allen Cone Jones. Matthew and his minor siblings were taken into their step-father’s household. Matthew, his brother Isbin T., and sister Mary all appear in the Jones household in the census of 1860. Matthew’s mother died in November 1861 and she was buried at Union Church, Lanier County GA.
Matthew and his brother Isbin T. Giddens served in the Civil War. On August 1, 1861 they went to Milltown (nka Lakeland), GA where they joined the Berrien Minute Men, Company G, 29th Georgia Infantry, a unit formed by their uncle General Levi J. Knight. Neither brother would survive the war. Matthew O. Giddens was taken prisoner on December 16, 1864 near Nashville, TN. He was imprisoned at Camp Chase, Ohio where three months later, on Feb 8, 1865, he died of pneumonia. Isbin T. Giddens, died of brain fever at Guyton Hospital in Georgia.
Federal records of deaths of Confederate prisoners of war show that M. O. Giddens, 29th GA Infantry, died of pneumonia on February 7, 1865 at Camp Chase, OH. Reel 0012 – SELECTED RECORDS OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT RELATING TO CONFEDERATE PRISONERS OF WAR 1861-65 – 21-South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, 1862-65
Camp Chase, OH ca. 1861-1865, federal prison camp for confederate soldiers. Photographer, Manfred M. Griswold. The conditions at Camp Chase were deplorable, some say nearly as bad as the prison operated by the Confederates at Andersonville, GA.
Gravemarker of M.O. Giddens, 29th GA Regiment, one of 2260 confederate graves at Camp Chase Cemetery.
Related Posts:
- Jesse Bostick and the Battle of Cedar Creek
- Isbin T. Giddens Dies of Brain Fever at Guyton Hospital, Georgia
- William A. Knight Giddens marries Mary Hall
- Civil War Bullet Dodger Hardeman Giddens Finally Catches One in 1887
- Marrying Cousins: Letitia Giddens and John Mathis Giddens
- Levi J. Knight and Lowndes First Superior Court
- Knauss, William H.; The story of Camp Chase; 1906
- Find-A-Grave: Camp Chase Cemetery
Ray City History Blog 
Isbin T. Giddens Dies of Brain Fever at Guyton Hospital, Georgia « Ray City History Blog said,
June 13, 2011 at 11:56 am
[…] O. Giddens, a subject of previous posts (Matthew O. Giddens ~ Confederate POW), fought with the Berrien Minute Men for more than three years before he was taken prisoner on […]
Curt Dalton said,
June 25, 2011 at 5:41 am
I am looking to find who I have to get permission to use the Camp Chase, OH Manfred M. Griswold photograph you have above. It will be in a book that will raise money for a non-profit to try and save buildings at the old Soldiers Home in Dayton. It will be used to tell of how the buildings from Camp Chase were used to build the first barricks at the Soldiers Home.