By Robin Sterling
Silas A. Sterling was born to Josiah and Elizabeth Jacobs Sterling about 1846. Silas got his name from his grandfather, Revolutionary War soldier Silas C. Sterling (1762 - 1858) who migrated to Blount County, Alabama in 1817. Silas A. Sterling was born in Blount County, but moved along with some of his siblings to the Pin Hook area of Lawrence County, Alabama sometime before 1860 and lived with a relative. His father remained in Blount County.
Silas, along with brothers Josiah Sterling, Jr. and John Thomas Sterling, enlisted in the 1st Alabama Cavalry in the Spring of 1864.
Silas A. Sterling enlisted in Company B of the 1st Alabama Cavalry at Mooresville in Morgan County 25 April 1864, the same day his older brother, Josiah Sterling, Jr. died of measles contracted while in camp. Silas survived the war and was mustered out of the service in Huntsville 20 October 1865.
Silas Sterling returned to farm life in Lawrence and Colbert County after the war. However, he was arrested for grand larceny and sentenced to ten years in prison at Wetumpka. He arrived there 21 April 1871. Apparently, he got out early, because Chilton County records report he married Ellen A. Schrader 1 June 1876. Not much else is known about Silas A. Sterling. The only other records located were letters written in 1884 in support of his father's pension application. The letters were written from Westburg, Mississippi. His final resting place and date of death is not known.
Besides the two brothers who also enlisted in the 1st Alabama Cavalry, Silas A. Sterling also had three older brothers who fought for the Confederacy.
About the Author
Robin Sterling is a descendant of William and Emily Echols.
Service records compiled by Glenda Todd and used with her permission. This and other information about the history of the First and the men who fought with the unit
can be found in her book, First Alabama Cavalry, USA: Homage to Patriotism.