2nd gr grandfather, Wm F. Irwin, volunteered for the Union Army Jun 1861 in Portland, ME, age 18. He was captured by the Southern Army at Spottsylvania, Court House, VA, June 1864. He was imprisoned a Salisbury Confederate Prison, To escape starvation, he and others were forced to sign on to the 8th North Carolina Infantry. He was captured by the Union Army, allowed to take the Oath of Allegiance to the USA and to this day his grave is marked with an American Flag on July 4 and May 31.
