Corporal Madison Veal: A Juneteenth Interloper

Madison Veal was born around 1842 (later recognized as October 11,1841) on Holly Grove Plantation in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. He was the fourth child born to William Veal and Mary Brent. He married Laura Cheatham on May 5, 1870, in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois. Laura was born around 1847 near Goodrich Landing, Louisiana. Her parents were Henry and Melonia Cheatham. Madison and Laura had no children.

Unlike many of his cousins and related family members who also fled the Stewart Plantations, Madison, who I suspect was not alone, chose a different path. He traveled northward along the Mississippi River to Quincy, Illinois, which served as the headquarters for the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment. In 1864, he boarded a train and, on September 22, 1864, enlisted in Company H of the 29th Regiment U.S. Colored Infantry at Camp Casey in Alexandria, Virginia, where the regiment was deployed for combat.

The Black regiments in the Potomac, including the 29ⁱⁿ, were reorganized as the XXV Corps on December 3, 1864. The XXV Corps participated in several battles leading up to the final Appomattox Campaign in April 1865, culminating in the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Following the surrender, the XXV Corps was transferred to Brownsville, Texas. Due to a storm near Brownsville, they were redirected to Galveston and were present on Juneteenth (June 19, 1865). Madison Veal was promoted to Corporal on August 1,1865 while in Brownsville, Texas. The 29^th regiment was mustered out of service in November 1865 at Camp Butler, a Civil War Confederate prison site, near Springfield, Illinois.

A biographic sketch of Madison Veal as one of “The Colored People of Springfield” was written in a book on The History of Sangamon County, Illinois, where he revealed some of the details of his life.

In 1870 the 15th Amendment gave Black men the right to vote. Madison voted for former General Ulysses S. Grant in his second term for President. Madison was a Charter member of the Grand Army of the Republic John A. Bross Post #578, an African American Civil War veterans’ organization in Springfield. GAR posts were established nationwide, assisting former soldiers in securing pensions and other veteran benefits, and advocating for veterans’ voting rights.

Madison and Laura were organizers of the annual Emancipation Day rally and participated in other civic events in Springfield. In 1876 he briefly visited his family at Holly Grove in Wilkinson County and then returned to his home in Springfield where he worked at various small jobs as a farm hand and in a stable.

Laura Veal died 30 August 1886 in Springfield. She is buried in Block 4, 30, 26, in an unmarked grave in the “colored” section of Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois. This is the same cemetery where Abraham Lincoln is buried.

August 9, 1913, Madison was admitted to Danville Branch National Home for DVS. His Civil War duty had ravaged him physically. He had scurvy, lost all his teeth, and had chronic arthritis. He lived off his Civil War disabled veteran’s pension and was accepted into a soldier’s home in Danville. Corporal Madison Veal died at age 74 on March 30, 1915, at the Danville National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and is buried at the National Cemetery in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois. His name is inscribed on Plaque B-46 at the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington D. C. with the other soldiers of the 29th Regiment US Colored Infantry.

Madison Veal’s story highlights the choices made by formerly enslaved men to fight for their freedom. He decided to escape and head North, embarking on a year-long journey from enslavement on a Mississippi plantation to Illinois. From there, he enlisted at Camp Casey in Alexandria, Virginia, traveled to Galveston and Brownsville, Texas, and eventually returned to Illinois, where he spent the rest of his life. May he always be remembered.

Next: Noland Veal Aboard the U.S.S. Kenwood