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
