New posts to resume Jan. 3, 2012

Postings to the blog will be suspended from December 22, 2011 through January 2, 2012, while Randolph-Macon college is in winter recess.

John Henry Maclin, student 1854-1855

John Henry Maclin, brother of Thomas B. Maclin, initially enlisted as a private in the Brunswick Guards, Company A of the 5th Battalion VA Infantry but on August 19, 1861 he transferred to Company E of the 12th Virginia Infantry (the Petersburg Rifles). He was discharged for disability on April 28, 1862. Sometime in 1863, he enlisted in the Petersburg Cavalry, Company E of the13th VA, and served until the war's end.

After the war, he started a tobacco firm in Petersburg, VA, which became one on the largest in the state. He died April 1, 1923 and is buried in Petersburg's Blandford Cemetery.

James D. Isbell, student 1834-1835

James D. Isbell enlisted in Company G of the 3rd VA Cavalry as a private on May 18, 1861.  He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant September 15, 1861 and to captain on March 17, 1862.  He died of disease on August 5, 1862.

The 1860 census for Cumberland County, VA lists him as a farmer and indicates he was a fairly wealthy landowner and slaveholder.

Robert Alexander Stainback, student 1860-1861

Robert Alexander Stainback enlisted as a private in the 56th VA Infantry, Co. E, on July 10, 1861. He was taken prisoner at Fort Donelson, TN, and sent to Camp Morton, IN in March 1862. He was exchanged at Vicksburg, MS, on August 24, 1862.  Stainback was promoted to 1st lieutenant on December 31, 1863 and then to captain in August, 1864. He was taken prisoner at Sailor's Creek, VA, on April 6, 1865 and sent to Johnson's Island, OH, where he remained until he took the Oath of Allegiance on June 20, 1865.

After the war, he moved to Clarke County, MS, where the 1880 census lists his occupation as merchant. The 1888 Southern Insurance Directory lists him as the sole insurance agent in Quitman, Clarke County, MS.

Nicholas Everett Edmunds, student 1858-1859

Edmunds enlisted as a private in Company E of the 56th Virginia Infantry on July 10, 1861. He ws wounded in the head June 27, 1862 at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, part of the Seven Days' Battles, and hopitalized in Richmond. He was subsequently discharged from the infantry and then sometime in 1863 joined Company B of the 32nd VA Cavalry Battalion, where he was promoted to 1st lieutenant. By late 1863, he was lieutenant of Company E of the 41st VA Cavalry Battalion, then captain of Company H and then captain of Company I. He moved to Co. G of the 9th VA Cavalry, and he surrendered at Appomattox Court House as commander of the 9th VA Cavalry.

After the war, he moved first to Mississippi and then to Texas, where he taught school.  He died April 6, 1920 and was buried first in the Wilkinson Family Cemetery in Wilkinson Valley, Bell County, TX. His remains were moved to Cedar Knob Cemetery in Bell County, TX when the valley was flooded for a reservoir.

Gregory Weldon Claiborne, student 1854-1855

Son of a Methodist minister and younger brother of Dr. John Herbert Claiborne, Gregory Weldon Claiborne studied medicine at the University of Virginia and in New York City after leaving Randolph-Macon. He enlisted as a private in Company A of the 12th VA Infantry on April 18, 1861, and served as Hospital Steward under his brother, Dr. John Herbert Claiborne. He transferred to the 5th Virginia Cavalry, Co. D, on September 1, 1861, and then transferred Co. B of the 13th VA Cavalry on May 15, 1862, serving as Assistant Surgeon. He later was promoted to Surgeon and served in the Confederate Navy. He died January 25, 1866 of disease acquired during his military service, and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

John Williams Corbin Davis, student 1857-1858

Younger brother of Robert Beale Davis and Wilbur Fisk Davis, John W. C. Davis joined the "Potomac Rifles," Company K of the 40th VA Infantry, on May 25, 1861 with his older half-brother Robert. He was wounded on June 27, 1862 at the Battle of Gaines' Mill (VA), part of the Seven Days' Battles. He returned to duty in October, 1862 and then was discharged for disability and assigned to the Engineer Corps, serving as a  topographical engineer.

After the war, he was an instructor in mathematics at the University of Virignia in 1870, was involved in the founding of Virginia Tech, served in the state Senate, and by 1880 is listed in the census as a  farmer at Hickory Hill, a plantation in Westmoreland County, VA he and his surviving brother, Wilbur Fisk Davis, inherited in Westmoreland County, VA after the war, where he died June 19, 1913. Davis is buried with other family members in the graveyard at the Hickory Hill plantation in Westmoreland County.

Robert Beale Davis, student 1848-1849

Robert Beale Davis, older half-brother of Wilbur Fisk Davis and John Williams Corbin Davis, studied law and attended the University of Virginia after leaving Randolph-Macon. He was practicing law in Westmoreland County, VA, when he enlisted on May 25, 1861 as 1st lieutenant in the 40th VA Infantry, Co. K, the "Potomac Rifles." He was promoted to captain on April 23, 1862.

He was killed leading his men in battle October 1, 1864, near Peebles' Farm in Dinwiddie County, part of the Siege of Petersburg, VA, and buried by the Union Army. According to correspondence from General U.S. Grant to General Robert E. Lee and from General Lee to the captain's mother, his body was disinterred in January 1865 and returned to his family under a flag of truce, and was ultimately buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.

Joseph Claiborne Davis, Preparatory Department student, late 1850s

Joseph Claiborne Davis, younger brother of William Hoomes Davis and Richard Beale Davis, enlisted as a private in the "Richmond Howitzers," the 1st Company, Virginia Light Artillery. He was taken prisoner of war and was imprisoned at Hart's Island, NY, where he was released on June 20, 1865 upon taking the Oath of Allegiance. He returned to Virginia, attended the University of Virginia and then became a farmer. Davis died January 2, 1926 in Danville, VA and is buried in Blandfrod Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

Richard Beale Davis, student 1860-1861

Richard Beale Davis, brother of William Hoomes Davis and Joseph Claiborne Davis, enlisted as a private in Company E of the 12th Virginia Infantry on April 2, 1862. He was wounded by a shell two months later on June 2, 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines, VA. He was wounded again, in the right arm, on July 30, 1864 in Petersburg, VA during the Battle of the Crater. He surrendered with the remnants of his company at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war, Davis attended the University of Virginia and became a lawyer in Petersburg, VA. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1875-1877 and 1901-1903, and also served as a trustee of Randolph-Macon College. He died July 11, 1917 and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

William G. DeGraffenried(t), Class of 1846

At the beginning of the war, DeGraffenried (variantly spelled "DeGraffenriedt") was a physician, county coroner, and small slaveholder in Colorado County, Texas, where he and his brother Thomas Tscharner DeGraffenried, also a doctor, had moved ca. 1855. In 1859, he left medicine to serve as principal of Columbus Seminary which the next year evolved into Columbus High School. In the fall of 1860, DeGraffenreid left teaching to return to medicine.

On August 17, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company A of the 5th Texas Cavalry. He was discharged on October 26, 1861 and the joined the Field & Staff of the 3rd TX Infantry as asssistant surgeon. Degraffenried resigned on May 30, 1862.  He died in Columbus, Texas on December 3, 1867.

Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, student 1857-1861

Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, brother of John William Hutcheson, enlisted as a private in the 21st VA Infantry, Co. C, on June 20, 1861 and served through at least June of 1862. There is then a gap in his service record until he enlisted in October, 1864 in Co. E of the 14th VA Infantry. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on June 15, 1862. He surrendered as captain of his unit at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 and was paroled on May 9, 1865.

Hutcheson received a law degree from the University of Virginia after the war and moved to Texas, where he practiced law and was elected first to the Texas legislature and then to the U.S. Congress, where he served from 1893-1897.  He died May 25, 1924 and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, TX.

Wilbur Fisk Davis, Class of 1857 (A.B.) and 1860 (A.M.)

Davis enlisted in the Charlottesville (VA) Light Artillery on March 20, 1862. He was promoted to corporal on April 30, 1863 and then to sergeant major a month later on June 1, 1863. he was taken prisoner on May 12, 1864 at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, held at Fort Delaware, and paroled on October 31, 1864. He rejoined his unit in December 1864, but was transferred to the Veteran Reserve, or Invalid, Corps' Topographical Engineer Department in February 1865. 

Davis was a teacher in Westmoreland County in 1870.  He became a Methodist minister in 1876 and served several circuits in Virginia, finally settling back in Westmoreland County, where the 1910 census lists him as "Preacher of Gospel" and where he died in 1912 and is buried in the Hickory Hill Cemetery.

Thomas Tscharner DeGraffenried(t), student 1849-1850

At the beginning of the war, DeGraffenried (variantly spelled "DeGraffenriedt") was a physician residing in Texas, where he and his brother William G. DeGraffenried, also a doctor, had moved ca. 1855.  He enlisted at Columbus TX  as a private in Co. B of the 5th Texas Infantry ("Echo Company") on July 10, 1861. The company arrived in Richmond, VA in September 17, 1862. The company saw significant action in the summer of 1862 before DeGraffenried was sent back to Texas where he served as a hospital nurse from September 1862-December 1863. He returned to Virginia, where he was hospitalized himself for much of 1864 before being assigned as  brigade dentist in November 1864.

He surrendered with 8 other remaining soldiers from his company at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 and was paroled. Dr. DeGraffenried returned to Columbus, TX and practiced dentistry, discontinuing his practice shrotly before his death on August 15, 1875 due to consumption and tongue cancer. He is buried in Clear Creek Cemetery in Colorado County, TX.

John William Hutcheson, student 1846-1850

John William Hutcheson, brother of Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, enlisted as captain of the "Grimes County Greys," later Company G of the 4th Texas Infantry on July 19, 1861. Hutcheson was mortally wounded on June 27, 1861, leading his unit at the Battle of Gaines' Mill (also known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River), part of the Seven Days Battles in the Peninsula Campaign in Virginia. He died in Richmond, VA two days later on June 29, 1862 and was buried in the family cemetery, the Charles S. Hutcheson Cemetery, also known as the Hutcheson-Riddick Family Cemetery, in Mecklenburg, County, VA.

Prior to the war, Hutcheson received a law degree at the University of Virginia in 1852, then moved to Texas in 1853, where he practiced law. He was a member of the Succession Convention responsible for passing Texas' Ordinance of Secession on February 1, 1861.

Robert Augustus Armistead, student 1852-1853

Robert Armistead, brother of George Wesley Armistead, enlisted in Confederate service on April 4, 1861 at Richmond Virginia as a private. Serving in the "1st" company of the Virginia Howitzers, Light Artillery, he was twice promoted, first to corporal within a month of his enlistment and then to 2nd Lieutenant in November, 1861. Robert Armistead survived the War and died in 1894.

George Wesley Armistead, class of 1857 (A. B.) and 1860 (A.M.)

George Armistead served in the "4th" company of the Virginia Howitzers, Light Artillery (his brother, Robert Augustus Armistead, served in the "1st" company). In 1863 he transferred into the Surry Light Artillery. In November 1863, he reenlisted as Acting Master in the Confederate Navy. George Armisted survived the war and died in 1895 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

John Cowper Granbery, class of 1848 A.B.; 1869 A.M.

John Cowper Granbery enlisted in Confederate service on July 4, 1861 as Chaplain of the 11th Virginia Infantry. He was captured on June 28, 1862 at Mechanicsville, Virginia and was later exchanged on July 15. he lost the sight in one eye from his wound during the Seven Days' Battles. Granbery was known as one of the  "Fighting Chaplains."

After the war, Granbery taught at Vanderbilt University. In 1882, he was elected Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  He went to Brazil in the 1880s, where he organized the Brazil Mission Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He returned to the U.S., retiring to Ashland, VA, near Randolph-Macon College.

Edward Archibald Allen, student 1861-1862

Edward Archibald Allen enlisted in Company C of the 13th Virginia Cavalry as a private.  After the war, Allen attended the University of Virginia, graduating in 1868. He was an English professor at the University of Missouri for 25 years and published extensively on grammar and other topics. He died in 1922 and is buried in Suffolk, VA, in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Algernon F. Grizzard, student 1860-1861

Algernon F. Grizzard joined the 16th Virginia Infantry, Company E, on July 11, 1861 as a private. Grizzard was discahrged for disability on October 30, 1861 due to pulmonary disease.  He re-entered his unit on December 15, 1861, but was hospitalized October 29, 1862 at Camp Winder Hospital in Richmond. He died December 30, 1862.

Littleton W. Godfrey, student 1852-1853

Littleton W. Godfrey, who is recorded as owning over a hundred slaves in the 1860 slave cansus, enlisted on April 22, 1861 as a private in the 41st VA Infantry, Co. F. He was promoted to corporal in July, 1861, and later to 2nd lieutenant. Godfrey transferred to Co. E of the 7th VA Battalion on Decemnber 15, 1861, and then transferred to the 61st VA Infantry, Co. E (the "Border Rifles") on August 8, 1862.  Godfrey was wounded at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, and was hospitalized twice in 1864 in Richmond, once for sunstroke and once for fever. He mustered out on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House.

Ashland C. Gale, student 1861-1862

Ashland C. Gale, a Norfolk native, served in Captain Taylor's Company, Virginia Volunteers, known as the "Young Guards." Service is also recorded in the James City Light Artillery and the 4th Bn. Local Defense Infantry.  He was a private in Richardson's company of the James City Artillery when he was taken prisoner at the end of the war and released in June, 1865. After the war, Gale was a clerk and bookkeeper in family member's businesses through the 1890s. The 1900 census lists him as a patient at the Virginia Southwestern State Hospital, an asylum for the mentally ill.

William W. Garey, student 1859-1861

William W. Garey enlisted as a private in Company B of the 15th Virginia Infantry on May 14, 1861.  He was promoted on July 10, 1864 to corporal. Garey was taken prisoner at Petersburg on April 3, 1865 and sent to Point Lookout, MD, where he was released on June 12, 1865. He was the brother of Allen Thornton Garey.

Allen Thornton Garey, student 1859-1861

Allen Thornton Garey enlisted in Company A of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry, the "Boydton Cavalry" or "Mecklenburg Dragoons," on May 14, 1861 along with many of his schoolmates. Garey was taken prisoner at Williamsburg, VA on May 4, 1862 and sent to Fort Delaware, where he was released through exchange on August 5, 1862. He was the brother of William W. Garey.

In 1880 Garey was a miner living in Pima Arizona. By 1900, he had left to mine gold in California. He returned to Virginia sometime later and was admitted to the Robert E. Lee Confederate Soldier's Camp in Richmond on September 12, 1910, with the cause of admission listed as "old age and disability." He was discharged from the home on April 20, 1919, but readmitted on the day of his death, January 5, 1920. Garey is buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery

Jesse Talbot Bernard, student 1845-1846

Bernard, who attended the College of William & Mary after leaving Randolph-Macon College, was practicing law in Florida when he enlisted as a private in the Leon Light Florida Artillery on April 24, 1862. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and was assigned as Assistant Quartermaster of the 8th Florida Infantry on October 1, 1862, with a later promotion ot Captain.
After the war he was a judge, the mayor of Tallahassee, FL, and served on the state's Board of Education. He died October 29, 1909 and is buried in Tallahassee's Old City Cemetery.

James Leroy Ewell, student 1856-1857

James Leroy Ewell, older brother of John Chowning Ewell, joined the 9th Virginia Cavalry, Company D, on June 16, 1861 as sergeant. Ewell was promoted to 1st lieutenant on May 12, 1862. He was detailed as Acting Qurtermaster for his regiment on May 15, 1863, returning to his company in June of 1863.

Ewell died July 18, 1866 as a result of disease caught during the war and is buried in the family plot in the cemetery of St. Mary's Whitechapel Episcopal Church in Lancaster County, VA.

John Chowning Ewell, student 1859-1861

At the age of 18, John Chowning Ewell enlisted as a sergeant in the 47th VA Infantry, Company F, in Lancaster County VA in January, 1861. He transferred to Company D of the 9th VA Cavalry on November 11, 1862, joining his older brother, James Leroy Ewell, in the unit.  He sustained a wound to his left side at Boydton Plank Road, VA on October 27, 1864. His final rank was corporal.

After the war he returned to Lancaster County where he became a surveyor and studied law, which he began practicing in 1874. He later served as commonwealth's attorney and became a judge. he was active and prominent in the local business community and in Confederate veteran activities. Judge Ewell died August 26, 1919 and is buried at St. Mary's Whitechapel Episcopal Church in Lancaster County, VA.

Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell, Class of 1844

Gartrell was a lawyer, judge, and Georgia congressman, serving in the US House of Representatives from 1857-Jan. 1861 before he enlisted as Colonel of the 7th Georgia Infantry on May 31, 1861, a unit he organized. Gartrell led the unit at Manassas/ (Bull Run), where his 16 year old son, Henry C. Gartrell, was wounded, dying a week later. Gartrell resigned his commission on January 3, 1862 to take his elected seat in the Confederate Congress.  On August 22, 1864, he accepted a commission as Brigadier-General of the 2nd Brigade of the Georgia Reserves.  He was wounded on January 15, 1865, leading his brigade at Coosawhatchie, South Carolina while trying to halt Sherman's army on its March to the Sea. This wound disabled him and he spent the rest of the war at home in Augusta, Georgia.

After the war, he moved to Atlanta and resumed his legal and political careers. He died April 8, 1891 and is buried in Atlanta's Oakwood Cemetery.

Philander Chinn George, student 1847-1848

Philander Chinn George enlisted in Company C of the 9th Virginia Cavalry as a private on May 25, 1861. He was detailed as an ambulance dirver in April, 1862. he was taken prisoner at Amelia Couth house on April 3, 1865 and sent to Point Lookout, MD, where he was kept until he took the oath of allegiance on June 12, 1865.

George attended Dickinson College after leaving R-MC, graduating in 1850.  In 1870 he was a farmer in Westmoreland county, VA, but by1880, he was a public school teacher in Montross (Westmoreland County0, VA. According to his widow's pension application, he died July 11, 1899 of heart trouble.

Grief C. Chumney, student 1858-1860

Grief C. Chumney enlisted as a private in Co. E of the 9th VA Cavalry on June 7, 1861. From September 15, 1862 until his parole at Burkesville, VA in April 1865, he was detached to the Signal Corps.

He received a Confederate disability pension in 1900 claiming near complete disability due to "stomach troubles and from varicose veins caused by long marches which disables me from labor." Chumney is listed as a lodger or boarder with different families in Lunenberg County in the 1900 and 1910 censuses.

John W. Fitzgerald, student 1858-1859

John W. Fitzgerald enlisted as a private in Company E of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry in May of 1861 in Nottoway County, Virginia. He was captured at Williamsburg during the Peninsula Campaign, exchanged on May 4, 1862. He was promoted to corporal on July 15, 1863. He was captured again on May 8, 1864 at Spotsylvania, VA and sent to Elmira Prison Camp in New York on July 23, 1864 where he spent the remainder of the War.He was paroled on July 16, 1865

John William Anthony, student 1859-1860

John William Anthony was 19 when he enlisted on may 23, 1861 in Company B of the 11th Virginia Infantry. He was wounded at the battle of Seven Pines in 1862 and Second Manassas. He mustered out of the 11th when he furnished a substitute on February 26, 1863.  The substitute, Patrick Murry, deserted the following day.  He also saw service in Company I of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry, and was promoted to sergeant. He was wounded again April 1, 1865 and hospitalized in Petersburg with a wound to the right thigh. Anthony November 8, 1920 in Campbell County, Virginia and is buried in the Anthony Family Cemetery at Evington, VA.

Berthier B. Bott, student 1836-1837

Bott enlisted as a private in Company F of the 5th Virginia Cavalry on April 20, 1861. He was discharged due to lung problems on October 15, 1861. Bott later served in company C of the 3rd Regiment, Virginia Reserves. He was a lieutenant at the time he was taken prisoner at Petersburg, VA on June 9, 1864 and sent to the prison camp at Fort Delaware, DE. He died May 15, 1894 and is buried in Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, VA.

Richard Overton Wyatt, Class of 1858 (A.B.) and 1860 (A.M.)

Richard Overton Wyatt was a doctor who enlisted as a hospital steward but was promoted to Asst. Surgeon. He attended the University of Virginia after leaving R-MC. 


Wyatt died December 16, 1861 and was buried in a family cemetery on the grounds of the family home, Clifton, in Albemarle County, VA. In 1926, several family graves were moved to Maplewood Cemetery in Charlottesville, VA. 

M. C. Cardozo, student 1861-1862

M.C. Cardozo served as a sergeant in Company K of the 1st Regiment, Virginia Reserves. Known as Farinholt's Reserves, this unit of "old men and boys" helped to save the Confederacy's rail supply lines during the Battle of Staunton River Bridge in June of 1864.

James Robb Cowles, student 1857-1861

James R. Cowles enlisted in Co. E of the 12th Virginia Infantry as a private on July 22, 1861. Cowles was the younger brother of Henry Brown Cowles, Jr., who served in the same unit, and son to Rev. Henry Brown Cowles, an influential Methodist minister and agent for Randolph-Macon College. He was wounded on August 1, 1863 at Brandy Station, VA. He was given light duty in September 1864 when he was detailed to the Quartermasters Department. Cowles surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

He attended the University of Virginia after the war and then moved to Texas, where he became a lawyer and judge. Tragically, an article in the February 10, 1883 issue of a newspaper published in McKinney, TX, states "Our people will regret to learn that Hon. J. R. COWLES, of Sherman, has become hopelessly insane, through induration [sic] of the brain. He had gone to Hot Springs, Ark., in the hope of finding relief, but dispatches from that place report his case hopeless. His friends will have him sent to the Asylum at Austin." He died in 1895 and is buried in West Hill Cemetery in Sherman, TX.

Archer Dibrell Crenshaw, class of 1858

Archer D. Crenshaw was a 23 year old teacher when he enlisted in the Confederate Army on May 25, 1861. Enlisting in the 18th Virginia, Company G, he eventually rose to the rank of captain before being killed on March 31, 1865 at the Battle of White Oak Road in Dinwiddie County, Virginia.

Walter Mandeville Irby, Class of 1858

Walter Mandeville Irby enlisted as a private in the "Nottoway Cavalry," Co. E of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry, on May 27, 1861 at Nottoway Court House, VA.  He lost two horses in 1863, one at Kelly's Ford, VA in March and the second in June at Snickersville, VA.  Irby was paroled at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. he had been promoted to seargeant by the end of the war.

Irby died Jan. 4, 1925 and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Blackstone, Nottoway County, VA. One her application for a Confederate pension, his widow Petronella lists his cause of death as "broken leg and old age."

David Seth Doggett, Jr., student 1859-1861

David Seth Doggett, Jr. joined the VA 1st Co. Howitzers Light Artillery  as a private on April 19, 1861. Doggett was discharged from the company on March 7, 1862.



He was the son of a prominent Virginia Methodist minister, David Seth Doggett, who had been a professor at the college from 1840-1846 and postwar in 1866 was both elected Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and was again appointed to a professorship at Randolph-Macon College. He was living in San Frnaciso, California in 1876 and 1878 but had returned to Richmond by 1880, where he resided with his paerents and was listed as unemployed for the previous 12 months in the census. Doggett, Jr. died March 16, 1893 and is buried in the family plot in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.

Caius Junius Jones, student 1858-1861

Jones joined the Co. I of the 3rd VA Cavalry as a private on July 20, 1861 at Dinwiddie Court House, VA. Jones was wounded on June 24,1864 at the Battle St. Mary's Church (also known as "Samaria Church" or "Nance's Shop"). He was later promoted to sergeant. He was wounded twice and reportedly used up 9 horses during the war.

After the war he moved to Norfolk and taught for several years before becoming a traveling salesman and then a grocer. Jones died in 1924 in Dinwiddie County, VA.

Edward T. Adams, student 1857-1858

Adams joined the Amelia Light Dragoons, company G of the 1st VA Cavalry, as a private on May 9, 1861. He survived hospitalization in early January of 1862 with measles, mumps, and pneumonia simultaneously. On May 12, 1862 he was detailed to Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond as hospital steward and ward master. He was promoted to Surgeon on the staff of General Bradley T. Johnson.

The 1860 census lists him as a "student of medicine" and he studied medicine first at the Medical College of Virginia and completed his degree at the the Medical College of Richmond.

William Dabney Adams, student 1860-1861

William Dabney Adams, brother of Edward T. Adams, enlisted in Co. G of the 1st Virginia Cavalry at the age of 17 as a private on September 1, 1862 in Amelia County, VA, in the company. He survived a wound in his foot on May 9, 1864 at Spotsylvania Court House and was agian wounded on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House. Adams was a 30 year old farmer in Amelia County at the time of his death October 26, 1874.

Samuel Hardy, Class of 1846

Hardy was a teacher and joint principal of Union Academy in Nottoway County, VA, when he enlisted as sergeant in Company G of the 18th Virginia Infantry (the "Nottoway Grays") on April 22, 1861. He was promoted to lieutenant on November 29, 1861. Hardy lost his left arm to amputation as the result of a wound near his shoulder at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, VA, on June 27, 1862 and  resigned on  October 8, 1862.  Hardy died in 1881.

Landon Brame Edwards, student 1861-1863

Landon Brame Edwards, youngest son of prominent Methodist minister and college trustee John Ellis Edwards as well as borther to Leroy Summerfield Edwards and William Emory Edwards, enlisted at the age of 18 in the  VA Southside Heavy Artillery at Drewry's Bluff, VA, on September 20, 1863 as a private. His older brother William was serving as the post chaplain. Edwards was diagnosed with heart disease in 1864 and spent November 1864-March 1865 in Richmond attending Richmond Medical College. He was discharged for disability due to his heart disease on March 18, 1865, just two weeks before he left Richmond with his oldest brother Leroy to join the fleeing Confederate army on April 1, 1865.

After the war, he attended medial school at New York University, where he received is M.D. in 1867. Dr. Edwards became editor of the Virginia Medical Monthly and secretary of the Medical Society of Virginia, of which he was a founding member. He  died in 1910, and is buried with his parents and brothers in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA.

William Emory Edwards, Class of 1862 (A. B.) and 1883 (D.D.)

William Emory Edwards, younger brother to Leroy Summerfield Edwards (class of 1859) and middle son of prominent Methodist minister John Ellis Edwards, received a commission as chaplain in the Confederate army in the summer of 1863 and served as post chaplain from July 1863-1865 at Fort Darling at Drewry's Bluff, VA. After the war, he served as a minister in a several Virginia churches until he became Professor of Moral Philosophy (religious studies) at R-MC in 1899, where he remained until his death in 1903. His reminiscence of the college from 1860-1862 was published in Richard Irby's History of Randolph-Macon College. Several of the letters in the Leroy S. Edwards collection are to his brother "Will" or "Willie," and other letters ask of news about him.

Benjamin Irby Scott, Class of 1860

Benjamin Irby Scott was a schoolteacher residing in Athens, TN, when he enlisted on May 29, 1861 in Co. G of the 18th VA infantry. On April 20, 1862, he was promoted to corporal. He was wounded June 27, 1862 at Gaines' Mill, Va, and then killed and left on the field on September 14, 1862 near Boonsboro, MD, at the Battle of South Mountain. Captain Richard Irby, class of 1844, refers to Scott as "one of the best men in the Regiment" in his regimental history published in 1878, Historical Sketch of the Nottoway Grays: Afterwards Company G, Eighteenth Virginia Regiment, Army of Northern Virginia.

George Beverly Finch, Class of 1860

Finch was a teacher when he enlisted in Clarksville, VA as a private in Company E of the 14th VA Infantry. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on August 1, 1862. The Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography indicates he was captain of his company at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded in the hip on July 3, 1863 during Pickett's Charge while leading his company in the charge. The bullet would not be removed until 20 years later. After the war, he was a lawyer in Mecklenburg County, VA, and served as the President of the National Bank of Boydton. Finch died in Boydton on September 13, 1900.

William H. Farrar, student 1859-1862

William H. Farrar enlisted in Company F of the 14th Virginia Infantry on July 21, 1861 at Boydton, Virginia when he was 19 years old. He was wounded and captured on the third day at Gettysburg and returned to Confederate forces on April 1, 1864. He was wounded again on May 10, 1864 at Chester Station, Virginia which resulted in the amputation of his thumb at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond. After, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on November 3, 1864. He surrendered with the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865 at Appomatox Court House. Farrar died in 1916 in Baskerville, Mecklenburg County, Virginia.

William Thomas Merritt, Class of 1856 (B.A.) and 1859 (M.A.)

Merritt graduated from Randolph-Macon's medical school in 1859 and continued his medical studies at the University of Virginia.  He enlisted on November 13, 1861 as Assistant Surgeon of the 6th VA Infantry at the rank of captain. He died of typhoid fever in Richmond in August, 1862.

John Summerfield Jenkins, student 1849-1850

Jenkins enlisted in Portsmouth, VA, on April 22, 1862 as a private in Co. C of the 16th VA Infantry. He was promoted on November 17, 1862 to Adjutant and transferred to the 14th VA Infantry. He was killed during Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863.

Jenkins attended the University of Virginia and was a lawyer at the time of his enlistment.

J. G. S. Boyd, Class of 1845 (A.B.) and 1848 (A.M.)

John Granville Sharpe Boyd, a lawyer in Buckingham County, VA, joined Co. E of the 20th VA Infantry, the Buckingham Lee Guard, on May 20, 1861 as 2nd Lieutenant. He was killed shortly thereafter, on July 11, 1861 at the Battle of Rich Mountain, WV. Boyd is buried in Mt Iser Cemetery, Randolph County, WV. On November 11, 1861, a resolution from the bar deploring his "tragical and untimely end" and praising his  "dauntless courage and self-sacrificing heroism" was entered into the court session record in Buckingham County.

Brigadier General Nathan George “Shanks” Evans, student, dates unknown

Born on February 6, 1824 in Marion County, South Carolina, Nathan George Evans attended Randolph-Macon College before he was eighteen. He graduated from West Point in 1848 with a lieutenancy in the U. S. 2nd Cavalry. Evans saw duty in the 1850s and earned notoriety as an Indian fighter. In 1860 Evans resigned his cavalry commission to enter Confederate service as a colonel. He is best known for the role he played at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, but also saw action from Second Manassas to Petersburg. After the War, Evans became a high school teacher and died in 1868.

Olin M. Dantzler, Class of 1846

Olin Miller Dantzler was a wealthy planter serving in the S.C. legislature at the outbreak of the war. Though he strongly opposed the war and had proposed several compromise measures in the legislature, he enlisted  on April 11, 1861 as a private. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 20th South Carolina Infantry on Jan. 11, 1862. Dantzler was promoted to Colonel of the 22nd SC Infantry in April, 1864 shortly before he was killed on June 2, 1864 while leading his men in an effort to take Fort Dutton during the Bermuda Hundred campaign. A promotion to brigadier general did not reach  him before his death. He is buried in South Carolina at Tabernacle Cemetery in Saint Matthews, Calhoun County.

The earthworks at Battery Dantzler (originally called Fort Howlett), the battery located on the northern end of the Howlett Line named for him on June 13, 1864, are preserved in a Chesterfield County park (see map and directions at http://www.chesterfield.gov/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=16243).

Abel T. Ashby, Student 1858-1861

Abel Thomas Ashby of Northumberland County, VA, enlisted on June 22, 1861 at Franktown, VA as a private in Company C of the 39th VA Infantry. He was taken prisoner of war on November 15, 1861 on the Eastern Shore of VA. After the war, Ashby became a prominent citizen in Northumberland County until his death on October 5, 1901, including serving on the first Board of Directors of the Eastern Shore Historical Society organized in 1890. He is buried in Belle Haven Cemetery in Accomack County, VA.

Joseph D. Arnold, Class of 1860

Joseph David Arnold, one of 3 sons of Methodist minister Hartwell Arnold to attend Randolph-Macon College (see Benjamin W. and Peterson H. Arnold), was a teacher when he joined his brother in enlisting in Company G of the 14th Virginia Infantry on May 9, 1861.  Arnold was wounded at Malvern Hill, VA on June 1, 1862 and his right arm was amputated. He was discharged on April 23, 1864. He became a Methodist minister after the war and died in 1920 in Waynesville, NC. he is buried in Walnut Grove Union Church Cemetary in Bedford, County, VA.

Benjamin W. Arnold, Class of 1860 (A.M.)

Benjamin W. Arnold was the older brother of Peterson H. Arnold and a son of Methodist minister Hartwell Arnold. He enlisted on May 12, 1861, as a private in Co. E of the 14th VA Infantry. Arnold was promoted to Adjutant on September 10, 1863 and to 1st Lieutenant on December 14, 1863. His record indicates a numebr of absences due to illness in 1862 and 1863. he was wounded at Drewry's Bluff, VA, on May 16, 1864 and returned to his unit a month later. He was taken Prisoner of War at Sailor's Creek, VA, on April 6, 1865 and sent to Old Capitol Prison in Washington. He was transferred to Johnson's Island, OH, on April 17, 1865 where he remianed for two months until his release on June 17, 1865. he died in 1920 in and is buried in Walnut Grove Union Church Cemetary in Bedford, County, VA, where his tombstone indicates his final rank was major.

Peterson Hartwell. Arnold, Student 1859-1862

Arnold, son of a Methodist minister in Mecklenburg County, VA, joined the Boydton Cavalry, Co. A of the 3rd VA Cavalry, as a private in Winchester,VA on August 20, 1862. He was listed as missing on July 3, 1863 in Gettysburg, PA and disappears from the historical record. The 1906 "Catalog of the Members of the Fraternity of Delta Psi" lists him as killed at Gettysburg. He was the younger brother of Benjamin W. Arnold and Joseph D. Arnold, all sons of Methodist minister Hartwell Arnold.

W. Townes Boyd, Student 1858-1860

W. Townes Boyd, born in 1844 into the Boyd family of Boydton, enlisted as a private in company A of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry, the "Boydton Cavalry," on August 8, 1862 in Hanover County, VA.  On August 6, 1864, he transferred to the 1st Company Virginia Howitzers Light Artillery, where he remained until he took the oath of allegiance at Farmville, VA, on April 14, 1865.

After the war, W. Townes Boyd moved to Covington, TN, where he was the longtime publisher of the Tipton Weekly Record newspaper.He died June 2, 1932 and is buried in Munford Cemetery in Covington, Tipton County, TN.

W. Townes should not be confused with a second cousin with the same name (Captain William Townes Boyd, 1837-1916) who joined the Boydton Cavalry in 1861 and also moved to Covington, TN after the war.

James Land Hite, student 1842-1843

James L. Hite enlisted as a private in Company C of the 20th Virginia Infantry in May, 1861. He transferred to Company G of the 9th Virginia Cavalry on September 1, 1863. His two nephews, Robert M. and William O. Hite were in Company A of the 3rd VA Cavalry. He is listed as absent due to illness on July 7, 1864 and died of typhoid fever a month later on August 15, 1864. He is buried near his nephew William O. Hite, who died a few months earlier, in the Edmund Mitchell Hite family cemetery in Mecklenburg County.

William Olin Hite, student 1858-1861

William O. Hite was a student at Randolph-Macon when he and his older brother, Robert M. Hite, enlisted in Boydton, VA on May 14, 1861 as privates in Company A of the 3^rdVirginia Cavalry. William did not survive the war and died May 15, 1864, and is buried in the Edmund Mitchell Hite family cemetery in Mecklenburg County.

Robert M. Hite, student 1858-1861

Robert M. Hite was a student when he and his younger brother, William O. Hite, enlisted in Boydton, VA on May 14, 1861 as privates in Company A of the 3^rd Virginia Cavalry. He was promoted to sergeant in July 1863 and to 2^nd lieutenant in December 1864. He was apparently pretty lucky – he had two horses killed, one at Sharpsburg, MD (Antietam) on Sept. 17, 1862 and the other in Jan. 1865. There are no indications he was wounded and he did survive the war.

Otis Allan Glazebrook, student 1860-1861

Otis Allan Glazebrook left Randolph-Macon in 1861 after the college trustees had announced the school would close for the duration of the war. Although that decision was reversed and R-MC reopened in the fall of 1861, Glazebrook had joined the student cadet corps at the Virginia Military Institute. He was part of the VMI cadet corps that distinguished itself at the Battle of New Market. He graduated from VMI in 1866, co-founded the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, and served a number of years as an Episcopalian minister before entering the U.S. Consular Service in 1914.

Adolphus Williamson (A.W.) Mangum, class of 1854 (A.B.) and 1857 (A.M.)

A.W. Mangum was a 27 year old Methodist minister in Salisbury, N.C., when he enlisted as a private in the 6th North Carolina Infantry in 1861. He served as chaplain for the unit but left the unit after the Battle of First Manassas, resigning on October 31, 1861. He returned to Salisbury, where he spent considerable time working with the Union prisoners at Salisbury Prison. In 1863, he moved to a church in Goldsboro, N.C., wher he remained for the duration of the war. After the war he served a number of churches and taught at the University of North Carolina from 1875-1890.

Dabney Jordan Waller, student 1859-1861

 Dabney Waller enlisted as a private in the 9th Virginia Cavalry, Company B, on July 25, 1861, soon after the college year ended. He was promoted to corporal in March, 1863 and then to sergeant in November 1863. After the war he was a farmer in Caroline County, VA. He applied for and received a Confederate pension in 1923, not long before his death in 1925.

Arthur Lee Wynne, student 1857-1861

Arthur Lee Wynne joined the Richmond Howitzers, the 1st Co. Howitzers VA Light Artillery Battery, in June 1862 as a private. He was hospitalized and then furloghed in 1863 due to illness. He was transferred to the Veterans Reserve Corps. in the summer of 1864, dying of disease on December 2, 1864.

Tazewell Hargrove, class of 1848

Hargrove, a lawyer in Granville County, NC, was a delegate in North Carolina's secession convention. He enlisted on March 10, 1862 in Company A of the 44th NC Infantry and was immediately made captain. He was promoted to major shortly afterward, on May 3, 1862, and was a lieutenant colonel by June 26, 1863, when he was wounded and captured at a skirmish in Virginia at the Battle of the South Anna Bridge. He spent the rest of the war in prison, first at Fort Delaware, DE; then at Johnson's Island, OH; then at Point Lookout, MD; back to Fort Delaware; on to Hilton Head, SC; then to Fort Pulaski, GA; back to Hilton Head; and finally back to Fort Delaware, where he refused to take the oath of allegiance until late July, 1865, when he was finally released.

Oscar Wiley, Medical Department class of 1851

Oscar Wiley graduated from the Medical Department of Randolph-Macon College in 1851 and Pennsylvania's Jefferson Medical College in 1852.

Randolph-Macon's medical school was located in Prince Edward Court House, several miles from the Boydton campus. He enlisted in Pulaski County, VA, as a private in the 2nd Cavalry, Company I. On September 3, 1862, Dr. Wiley was commissioned into Co. F of the 54th Virginia Infantry, with a promotion to the Medical Staff. He practiced medicine until his death in 1904.

David Robinson Duncan, class of 1855

David R. Duncan was born at Randolph-Macon College, where his father served as a professor.After graduation, he moved to South Carolina where he studied law while teaching high school for one year. He then practiced law until enlisting in August 1861 as first lieutenant in Company C of the 13th South Carolina Infantry. He was made captain, then was promoted to Major in the spring of 1864. After the war he served in the S.C. Legislature and Senate, practiced law, and was a prominent businessman.

Thomas Taylor Boswell, class of 1845

Thomas Taylor Boswell, Randolph-Macon class of 1845, enlisted as the captain of Company A of the 56th Virginia Infantry in July 1861. He would have seen action throughout Lee’s campaigns in Virginia, as well as Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. He is most notable for his defense of the Staunton River Bridge on June 25, 1864. The January 1920 issue of Confederate Veteran mentioned his efforts.

“It was Maj. Thomas Taylor Bowell, who with scarcely twelve hundred men … defended and held Staunton River Bridge against a Federal raiding force of more some ten thousand picked cavalry. Over this bridge the food for General Lee’s army had to pass, and when late in the day word was flashed to Richmond that the Federal force was retreating, there came back to order promoting Major Boswell to the rank of colonel ere the smoke of battle had blended with the darkness of the night.”

Colonel Boswell survived the war and died in 1887.

Contributed by Matthew Guillen '14

Robert W. Bailey, student 1858 - 1861

Robert W. Bailey attended Randolph-Macon College from 1858 to 1861 and enlisted as a private in Company H of the 44th Virginia Infantry when he was 21. On May 1, 1862 he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and saw action during the Seven Days campaign. He was wounded at Chancellorsville and again on the second day of the fighting at Gettysburg. He would die as a result of his wounds on the same day. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.

Benjamin Lee Arnold, class of 1862

Benjamin Lee Arnold, Randolph-Macon class of 1862, enlisted as captain on November 18, 1862 at Drewry's Bluff overlooking the James River south of Richmond, Virginia. Serving in the 14th Virginia Infantry, Arnold survived Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, along with his classmate, Benjamin James Hawthorne who attended Randolph-Macon College from 1858 to 1861. The two survived the War and went west to Oregon in 1874. There, Arnold served as President of Corvallis College, what is today Oregon State University.

-Contributed by Matthew Guillen '14

Thomas Wiley Branch, class of 1859

He enlisted in the 12th VA Infantry, Co. C on April 19, 1861 as a corporal, and was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on May 20, 1862. He was taken prisoner on May 2, 1863 at Chancellorsville and imprisoned at Old Capitol Prison, Washington, D.C. on May 15, 1863. Branch was discharged January 15, 1864. After the war, he was a Life Insurance Agent in Asheville, NC.

John W. Jones, class of 1859 (A.B.) and 1894 (A.M.)

He enlisted in the 56th VA Infantry, Co. B (the “Mecklenburg Spartans”) on July 29, 1861 in Richmond.  He was wounded at Frazier’s Farm, VA on June 30, 1862.  Jones was promoted to Captain on January 9, 1863, and participated in Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg on July 3. 1863. By the time of the surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, Jones was commander of what was left of his regiment.

He moved to Arkansas where he taught in a female college and served in the state legislature. In 1885, Jones moved to Idaho where he became a newspaper editor, establishing the Blackfoot News in 1887. He received his A.M. degree from R-MC in 1894. It is indicated as having been received "under the old law existing when his A.B. was taken." This meant that the recipient had graduated with honors and pursued a rigorous independent study for at least three years, demonstrating proficiency to the faculty. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel by the Idaho governor in 1898 and served in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He died November 21, 1901 and is buried in Blackfoot, ID in Grove City Cemetery.

William S. Davis, class of 1859

In May 1861, he left classes at the University of VA and enlisted in the 12th NC Infantry, 2nd Co. C (the “Warren Rifles”). He was elected 1st Lieutenant in 1861, promoted to Captain in 1862, and promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1863.  He was wounded at The Battle of Belle Grove (Cedar Creek), VA, on October 19, 1864 and his arm was amputated. Davis resigned due to disability on February 10, 1865.

William Hoomes Davis, class of 1859

He enlisted in the 12th VA Infantry, Co. E on April 19, 1861 in Petersburg as a private with his friend Leroy Edwards. Davis died of a fever in a field hospital at Chancellorsville, VA on May 7, 1863 shortly after being promoted from corporal to sergeant on April 1, 1863.

Edwin S. Hardy, class of 1859

Hardy, a school teacher, enlisted in the 20th VA Co C on May 20, 1861. He was discharged for disability (a “hepatic disorder,” or liver disease) on August 24, 1861. 

Thomas J. Overby, class of 1859 (A.B.) and 1866 (A.M.)

Overby, also spelled Overbey, was a school teacher in Granville County, NC at the outbreak of the war when he enlisted in the 23rd NC Infantry, Co I on June 17, 1861. Overby was discharged for disability August 27, 1863 due to heart and nervous disorders. He was awarded an AM degree by R-MC in 1866.

Luther Wright, class of 1859

A teacher in Caroline County at the beginning of the war, Wright enlisted in 47th Va Infantry, Co. G on August 2, 1861 as a 1st lieutenant. He was wounded on June 27, 1862 at Gaines’ Mill, VA; promoted to Captain on August 30, 1862; and wounded again on December 13, 1862 at Fredericksburg, VA. Wright resigned on April 25, 1863, citing family illness and the fact that the company had dwindled in size, and his resignation was accepted.

After the war, he was a farmer in 1870 in Caroline County, VA. In 1880 and 1900, he was a working for the railroad. By 1910, he is listed in the census as having his "own income." He died November 24, 1921 and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA. 

William Gabriel Starr, class of 1859; R-MC President 1899-1902

Starr enlisted as chaplain in the 47th Alabama Infantry on March 18, 1863. He was promoted to Captain, and then discharged for disability in 1864 at Petersburg. He was a Methodist minister and educator, serving as President of Marengo Military Institute in Alabama at the beginning of the war.  He was awarded an AM degree by R-MC in 1862, and became the 9th President of Randolph-Macon College, serving from 1899-1902. He is buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.

Tigmal J. Morton, student 1858-1859

Born in 1843 in Boydton, Virginia, Tigmal J. Morton attended Randolph-Macon from 1858 to 1859 at the age of 15. He later attended the Virginia Military Institute until he left to join the Confederate army. On May 3, 1862, when he was 19, Morton enlisted as the Captain of Company B, 56th Virginia Infantry and was described at the time of his enlistment as six feet, two inches tall, with a fair complexion, dark eyes and light hair. He saw action during Lee’s Seven Days campaign during which he was wounded at the Battle of Glendale or Frazier’s Farm on June 30, 1862. On January 9, 1863 he was dropped from command “because of prolonged absence,” presumably due to his wounding. On August 15, 1863 he was commissioned into the Field and Staff of the 53rd Tennessee Infantry with the rank of Colonel. He was again wounded on October 15, 1863 and a year later, on October 14, 1864 he was declared “permanently disabled.” After this, he married Suzanne Davis of Alabama, with whom he would have two children. On May 4, 1865 he surrendered to Federal forces at Citronelle, Alabama and on June 15, took the oath of allegiance to the government of the United States at Mobile. Morton died of tuberculosis six years later in 1871 at the age of 28.

Contributed by Matthew Guillen '14

Christopher Thrower, class of 1859

"Kit" Thrower enlisted in the 1st AR Infantry, Co C (the "Camden Knights") on May 8, 1861 and served until the end of the war.  His profession is listed as lawyer. After the war he was a lawyer, judge, and newspaper editor, and served in the Arkansas legislature. Thrower died in Camden, AR in 1882.

Henry Brown Cowles Jr., class of 1859

He enlisted in the 12th VA Infantry, Co. E on July 9, 1861 as a private, and died August 20, 1863 of typhoid fever at Virginia Hospital in Petersburg, VA. His father was a prominent Methodist minister and an agent for Randolph-Macon College.  Henry Jr. was a school teacher in Petersburg at the time he enlisted.

John W. Heartsfield, class of 1859

He enlisted in the 1st NC Infantry, Co I on July 16, 1861 as 1st sergeant. Heartsfield was killed at Ellerson’s Mill, VA on June 26, 1862. The Battle of Ellerson's Mill is also known as the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek or the Battle of Mechanicsville, and is part of the Seven Days Battles in the Peninsula Campaign.

Frank X. Miller, class of 1859

Miller enlisted in the NC 1st Light Artillery, Co. B on June 21, 1861. He was promoted to Sergeant Major on December 27, 1862 and to Ordnance Sergeant on May 17, 1863. He was taken POW at Fort Macon, NC on April 26, 1862, and exchanged on August 15, 1862. from September, 1863 through August, 1864, he was detailed as engineer in Goldsboro, N.C. After the war, Miller moved to Florida.

Richard G. Morris, class of 1848

Richard Morris was in the Randolph-Macon class 1848. He served as a private in Company D of the 44th Virginia Infantry. He was captured on the first day of the fighting at the Wilderness on May 5, 1864. Two days later he was taken to Belle Plain, Virginia along with hundreds of other Confederate soldiers. On May 18, he was transferred to Point Lookout, Maryland, another holding location for prisoners of war. By July 30, 1864 he had been taken to the notorious Elmira Prison in Elmira, New York where he died of “chronic diarrhea.” Richard G. Morris is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York in grave number 341.

Contributed by Matthew Guillen '14

William Arthur Shepard, class of 1857 (A.B.) and 1858 (M.A.),

A native of Boston, MA, William Arthur Shepard entered the college as both a student and as Adjunct Professor of Chemistry. Upon graduation in 1857, he remained as Assistant Professor of Chemistry until June 1861. He enlisted in Company E of the 12th Virginia Infantry on July 22, 1861. After recovering from a wound received at Chancellorsville, he was detailed to the Commissary Department in Weldon, N.C.,  discharged from the 12th VA, and commissioned as major in the Quartermaster Department. After the war, Shepard taught in Petersburg, VA, before rejoning the R-MC faculty in 1870 as Professor of Chemistry in its new Ashland location, where he died in 1895.  Shepard in buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.

John Davidson Blackwell, class of 1859 (A.B.) and 1862 (A.M.)

JOHN DAVIDSON BLACKWELL, class of 1859, enlisted in the 20th VA Infantry as 1st Lieutenant, serving from 1861 through Oct. 18, 1862, when the unit was mustered out; on March 29, 1863 he enlisted in the 57th VA Infantry, Co A. He was captured at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, imprisoned at Fort McHenry, MD, and Fort Delaware, DE, and exchanged on July 15, 1863. He surrendered at Appomattox Court House, VA on April 9, 1865. Blackwell was the son of John Chapman Blackwell, R-MC's first graduate in 1835, as well as the nephew of John Letcher, governor of VA 1860-1864, who had also briefly attended the college. Blackwell was awarded an A.M. degree by R-MC in 1862, and after the war practiced law, serving as Commonwealth’s Attorney for Danville, VA in 1873.

James Lee Gillespie, class of 1844 (A.B.) and 1861 (A.M.)

JAMES LEE GILLESPIE, awarded an A.B. in 1844 and an A.M. in 1861, served as surgeon with the rank of major in the 1^st West Virginia Infantry and the 14^th West Virginia Infantry. He remained in the Union Army until March, 1864, when he resigned for health reasons. At this time, he is the only R-MC alumnus known to have served in the Union Army.

William Anderson Hightower, student 1859-1861

WILLIAM ANDERSON HIGHTOWER attended R-MC from 1859-1861, leaving school to enlist as a private in the 23rd Virginia Infantry, Company E. He was wounded in September of 1862 and taken prisoner of war, then was paroled and exchanged in October, 1862. Returning to his unit, he was promoted to First Sergeant in January, 1863.

He would not survive his second wound at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863, and he died on May 21, 1863 three months before his 20th birthday. His uniform is on display at the National Park Service’s Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center, showing where his right leg was amputated.

Robert Watkins Bailey, student 1858-1861

ROBERT WATKINS BAILEY died while serving as 2^nd Lieutenant in the 44^th Virginia Infantry, Company H. He had enlisted in June 1861 as a private and was promoted in May 1862. Bailey had survived a wound on May 3, 1863 at Chancellorsville only to die July 3, 1863 from a wound received on July 2, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. A native of Amelia County, his remains were reburied in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery after the end of the war.

A chair that belonged to Bailey while he was a student at R-MC from 1858-1861 is held in the College Archives.

Leonidas Irvin Gee, student 1858-1859

LEONIDAS IRVIN GEE, a native of Mecklenburg County, Virginia, attended Randolph-Macon College from 1858 to 1859. When the conflict erupted in 1861, Gee enlisted as a Sergeant in Company B of the 56th Virginia Infantry. He saw action during the Seven Days’ fighting around Richmond during which time he was shot in the hand at the Battle of Gaines’ Mill on July 27, 1862. As a result, he was taken to Chimborazo Hospital overlooking Rockett’s Landing in Richmond. Gee would again see combat, this time outside the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. On July 3, 1863, his regiment would, quite literally, be in the center of the front line of one of the most infamous infantry assaults in military history: Pickett’s Charge. Gee, with wounds in his arm and leg, was left on the field and taken by the Federals to the II Corps’ field hospital. Days later, a result of his wounds, Leonidas Gee’s leg would be amputated by Federal Surgeons. Leonidas Gee died of his wounds in Gettysburg on July 17, 1863 (the date on his burial record), where he was buried in a Pennsylvania cornfield. His body was disinterred on June 13, 1872 to Richmond where it rests today in Hollywood Cemetery.


Contributed by Matthew Guillen, R-MC Class of 2014

Henry Harrison Sneed, student 1856-1861

HENRY HARRISON SNEED, who attended R-MC from 1856-1861, enlisted as a corporal in the 38th Virginia Infantry, Company G, on May 18, 1861. he was promoted to sergeant in 1862, and was detailed to the Commissary Department from Dec.1862-Dec. 1864. Sneed became an Episcopalian minister in Tennessee after the war.
His unpublished memoir, Recollections of the Civil War and Other Items of Family History, is available in the College Archives.

John Letcher, student 1833-1834, governor of VA 1860-1864

Governor JOHN LETCHER of Virginia attended R-MC briefly in the winter of 1833-34 before being called back to Lexington for political reasons. He graduated from Washington Academy, now Washington and Lee University. Letcher served as governor from 1860-1864.

Letcher married the sister of R-MC's first graduate, John Chapman Blackwell, who received his A.B. in 1835.

John Herbert Claiborne, class of 1848 (A.B.) and 1853 (A.M.)

JOHN HERBERT CLAIBORNE, who received his A.B in 1848 and his A.M. in 1853, joined the 12th Virginia Infantry on April 19, 1861 as surgeon with the rank of captain. Claiborne left the 12th Virginia before its first battle when he was placed in charge of all Petersburg military hospitals on February 15, 1862, where he remained for the duration of the war. He evacuated with the army and surrendered on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House. Dr. Claiborne was a prominent physician after the war, and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.

A copy of his 1904 memoir, entitled Seventy-five Years in Old Virginia; With Some Account of the Life of the Author and Some History of the People Amongst Whom His Lot Was Cast,--Their Character, Their Condition, and Their Conduct Before the War, During the War and After the War (available online), is available in the College Archives.

James W. Hunnicutt, student 1834-1836

JAMES W. HUNNICUTT, a Methodist minister who attended R-MC from 1834-1836, had a different war experience and perspective on the conflict from most of the students, alumni, and faculty who sided with the South in the conflict. An ardent Unionist, Hunnicutt was editor of the Christian Banner newspaper in Fredericksburg at the outbreak of the war. He was forced to suspend publication during the first year of the war, then resumed publication for several months in 1862, but fled Fredericksburg under threat of death before the Confederate occupation in late 1862, spending the reminder of the war in Philadelphia.

In 1863, while in exile in Philadelphia, Hunnicutt published The Conspiracy Unveiled. The South Sacrificed; Or, The Horrors Of Secession (available online). A copy of this book is in the College Archives.

Anthony M. Keiley, student, dates unknown

ANTHONY M. KEILEY attended R-MC in the 1840s or 1850s, possibly the preparatory department or law school rather than the college; the official records of his attendance do not survive. Keiley, a newspaper editor in Petersburg, had enlisted in the Petersburg Rifles (12th Virginia Infantry, Company E) at the start of the war. He resigned in 1863 after being elected to the Virginia legislature, but later joined the reserves during the Siege of Petersburg, where he was captured. He was a prisoner of war at Point Lookout, MD and Elmira, NY from June-October, 1864.

Keiley published an important work on his imprisonment after the war.  To read it and for more information on his later career, go to Personal Accounts of the Civil War by R-MC Alumni

Jefferson Waite Duffey, student 1867-1870

JEFFERSON WAITE DUFFEY attended Randolph-Macon College after the Civil War, from 1867-1870.


On May 1, 1864 at age 16, he enlisted as a private in McNeill’s Rangers, an independent irregular military company. This partisan ranger company was involved in guerilla warfare in western Virginia and West Virginia, and was known for daring raids on railroad lines, Union supply shipments and federal camps. In February, 1865, the Rangers captured two Union Major Generals, George Crook and Benjamin Kelley, spiriting them out of downtown Cumberland, MD., a railroad town occupied by several thousand Union soldiers.
 
Duffey published two accounts of his unit's raids. To read them and find out more about Duffey, go to Personal Accounts of the Civil War by Randolph-Macon Alumni

James Clayton Reed, student 1859-1861

JAMES CLAYTON REED, son of a Methodist minister and older brother of Walter Reed of yellow fever and military hospital fame, attended R-MC from 1859-1861, dropping out to enlist in the Bedford Light Artillery. His memoir, Some of the Experiences of James C. Reed : As a Soldier in the Army of the Confederate States, is available in the College Archives. In it, Reed candidly recounts losing his hand in battle. While walking home for recuperation after leaving the military hospital, he heard a buzzing sound behind him. The sound was a swarm of flies pursuing his bleeding handless arm. Reed’s wound healed, and he returned to active duty with one hand. An excerpt from his memoir describing this incident was published in the August, 2000 issue of Civil War Times Illustrated ("On my way rejoicing,"vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 22+). He was present at his company's surrender at Appomattox.

John Willis Ellis, student 1836-1837, governor of North Carolina in 1861

JOHN WILLIS ELLIS, governor of North Carolina from 1859-1861, presided over his state when it seceded in May 1861. Ellis died of consumption shortly after, in July, 1861. His famous response to President Lincoln's call for troops from North Carolina was “I can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of the country and to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina.” Ellis attended R-MC for one year, 1836-1837, before transferring to the University of North Carolina.

Leroy Summerfield Edwards, Class of 1859

LEROY SUMMERFIELD EDWARDS attended R-MC from 1857-1859, graduating with an A.B. in 1859 and receiving an A.M. in 1866. He was teaching at Petersburg Female College in 1861 when he enlisted as a private in the 12th Virginia Infantry, Company E.

He was wounded in the arm September 14, 1862 at Crampton’s Gap, MD, and was promoted to sergeant in 1863. On May 8, 1864, he was taken prisoner of war, imprisoned at Point Lookout, MD from May-August 1864, and then transferred to the prison camp in Elmira, NY, referred to by prisoners as “Helmira,” where he remained from August, 1864 until February 1865 when he was paroled and exchanged. He returned to Richmond in March, 1865, left the city with the retreating army in early April, and surrendered at Appomattox Court House.

The LeRoy S. Edwards Papers 1853-1899, consisting of his Civil War letters in addition to diaries from his school days and from after the war, as well as many other personal materials, resides in the R-MC Archives. The letters have been digitized. For more information, see http://library.rmc.edu/specialcollections/exhibits/RMCCivilWar/RMCLeroySEdwards.html