Comrades arm-in-arm

John was born in Somerset County, Maryland, to enslaved parents owned by William Gale. When John was 6, he and his father, Ned, were separated from the family, sold to the Campbell Brothers, notorious slave traders, working markets in Baltimore and New Orleans. Father and son were shipped to New Orleans, John never to see his mother, Susan, or siblings again. Two additional terrifying sales eventually separated John from his father, by the time he was age 12. John later heard his father escaped his last owner and successfully reached Canadian freedom.

Civil War veterans Jake Rubel and John Gale walk along Broadway in Cape Girardeau in 1914.Louis Krueger Photo Collection. Used with permission.

When war broke out in 1861, John was in Carrolton, Mississippi, enslaved by Dan Russell. Russell, a colonel in the 20th Mississippi (Confederate), took John as his camp servant. In February 1862, the 20th Mississippi was defeated in battle at Fort Donelson, Tennessee. The victors recognized John as a slave, not a Rebel soldier, and offered him protection of the Union forces. John chose to go to St. Louis, where he was offered work as a mule-team driver for a Union Heavy Artillery regiment. That unit reorganized and sent the 2nd Missouri Light Artillery unit to Cape Girardeau. John accompanied the unit, serving as an undercook and liveryman. John was allowed full enlistment as private in November 1863. The 2nd Missouri was composed of many soldiers of German heritage. Heavy accents and John's illiteracy resulted in "Gill" recorded as his surname in the official muster roll, though John intended to retain the surname "Gale" in the hope someday the name would help reunite him with family. His misspelled name was sorted out, years later, in his application for military pension.

In the unusually cold winter of 1864, John's feet were badly frozen while on duty hauling water for his company. The injury to his right foot caused him to be lame, "walking crippled" the rest of his life. John mustered out in St. Louis in August 1865 and returned to make Cape Girardeau his home.

John married Hannah Russell in 1866, but she lived only until 1875. The couple had three children, but only Annie (married Edward Pite) lived long enough to provide care for her father in his last years.

In 1914, John Gale was photographed by Louis Krueger on Broadway in Cape Girardeau, walking arm-in-arm with Jake Rubel, a white comrade who also served in Battery A, of the 2nd Missouri Light Artillery. Both men were members of the local Grand Army of the Republic -- a fraternal organization for Civil War veterans. Rubel was a member of the Justi Post and Gale was a member of Louis F. Bierwirth Post (a black unit) in Cape Girardeau.

John lived in Cape Girardeau until his death in 1923. His grave is marked with a military headstone at Fairmount Cemetery. A map of the grave sites for Civil War veterans of African decent, with biographies, was compiled by the author in the booklet "African American Civil War History at Fairmount Cemetery." The booklet is available at VisitCape office, 220 N. Fountain St. in Cape Girardeau.