Benjamin G. Boisseau, student 1859-1860

Boisseau enlisted as a private in Co. A of the 12th VA Infantry on April 23, 1861. He was discharged for disability on May 1, 1861.  A later service record indicates he joined Co. I of the 3rd VA Cavalry, but no further details have been verified.

After the war, he is listed as a farmer in the 1870 and 1880 censuses in Dinwiddie County, VA.  Boisseau died of a stroke on July 17, 1897 and is buried in a family cemetery in Dinwiddie County, VA

William Hayes Cheek, Class of 1854

In 1861, Cheek was a lawyer in North Carolina serving in the legislature. He resigned his legislative seat in order to raise a military company, Company E of the First NC Cavalry. Cheek was commissioned as captain on May 16, 1861. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on September 28, 1863 and then to colonel on October 17, 1863. Cheek was wounded at Goodall's Tavern, NC on May 11, 1864, and was sick in hospital in Richmond, VA in August 1864. He was captured at Burkesville Junction in Nottoway County, VA in April 1865 and sent first to Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC and then to the POW camp at Johnson's Island, OH, where he was released July 25, 1865 after taking the oath of allegiance.

After the war, he returned to the family farm in North Carolina, then became a businessman in Norfolk, VA, and settled in 1882 in Henderson, NC, where he returned to practicing law. Cheek died March 23, 1901.

William Carter Stubbs, student 1861-1862

Stubbs attended Randolph-Macon during the time the military curriculum had been instituted. In September 1862 he joined Clopton's Partisan Rangers as corporal, a unit that later that became Co. D of the 24th VA Cavalry and the 40th Battalion VA Cavalry. He became sergeant March 21, 1864. He was hospitalized at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond VA in later July and early August 1864 with a fever. He was paroled at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war, Stubbs entered the University of Virginia.  He taught in colleges in Alabama before becoming state chemist. Stubbs moved to Louisiana, where he taught at LSU and became the director of the State Experiment Stations and state chemist. He became a recognized expert on sugar cane and sugar manufacturing. He died Died July 7 1924 and is buried in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.

Jordan P. Ware, student 1857-1860

Ware enlisted in the 47th VA Infantry, Co. K, as a private on July 23, 1861. He was promoted to sergeant on November 11, 1861 and to captain on April 30, 1862,  Ware was wounded on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg. He was killed in action on October 1, 1864 at Petersburg, VA.

Thaddeus Luther Howard Young, Class of 1854 (A.B.) and 1857 (A.M.)

Thaddeus Luther Howard Young joined Co. E of the 19th VA Battalion Heavy Artillery as a private on an unknown date. Company E was formerly Co. E of the 44th VA Infantry, moving to the 19th in September 1862. On September 1, 1862, Young provided Patrick Burke as a substitute.

Young is listed as a trustee of Southern Female College in the act to incorporate the school which passed in the Confederate legislature in January 1863, so it is likely he returned to Petersburg after his service. Although no record of further service is known for Young, it is highly likely he joined in the defense of Petersburg as did many of the other men involved with the school, although specific service records for only a few of them survive.

Young was a businessman in Petersburg for many years after the war. He eventually moved to North Carolina. He died July 9, 1911 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Dunn, NC.

Benjamin Boisseau Weisiger, student 1851-1852

Weisiger enlisted May 1, 1861 as a sergeant in Co. I of the 16th VA Infantry. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on Jan. 4, 1862. On Dec. 15, 1862, he was transferred to Weisiger's (VA) Light Artillery and then on April 13, 1863 to the 6th VA infantry. In early 1863, he was seeking a clerical position in the Confederate government; it is unknown whether he suffered from a wound or illness. He surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 with the Powhatan Light Artillery.

Weisiger is listed as a railroad clerk in Manchester, VA (later incorporated into Richmond) in the 1880 census, and was serving as Manchester postmaster in 1900.  He died in 1905 and is buried in Maury Cemetery in Richmond, VA.

Henry E. Peyton, student 1852-1853

Henry E. Peyton enlisted as a lieutenant colonel on July 21, 1861, serving as a staff oficer to General Beauregard from 1861 to 1862. He was appointed Major and Assistant Adjutant General on May 10, 1862. He served as major and Assistant Adjutant and Inspector General to Robert E. Lee from Oct. 6, 1862 through Sept. 20, 1864, when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, still serving as Assistant Adjutant and Inspector General to Lee. He was paroled at Appomattox Court House in April 1865.

He lived in a variety of places after the war, including Texas, Missouri, Baltimore, and Virginia. He died indigent on September 14, 1900 in St. Louis, Missouri and was buried in an unknown pauper's grave.

William H. Talman, student 1859-1861

Talman, whose name is also recorded as Tallman, enlisted as a corporal in Co. D of the 3rd VA Cavalry on May 18, 1861. He was officially discharged due to disability for ill health on February 6, 1863. Upon recovery, he joined the 24th VA Cavalry.

After the war, he served as a policeman in Richmond, chief of police in Newport News (VA),  and inspector at the port of Newport News.

Adolphus E. Richards, student 1859-1861

Adolphus E. "Dolly" Richards joined Co. B of Mosby's Partisan Rangers, the 43rd VA Cavalry Battalion, as a private. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant in Co. C on Dec. 7, 1863. Richards became captain in April 1864, and was again promoted to major on Dec. 7, 1864 for "valor and bravery." At the time of his parole in Winchester, VA on May 17, 1865, Richards was just 21 years of age.

He attended the University of Virginia and the University of Louisville after the war, and is listed in the 1870-1920 censuses as a lawyer in Louisville, KY, also serving as a judge during the 1880s and City Attorney.  Richards died Feb. 20, 1920 and is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

Richards wrote an account of his war experiences entitled Mosby's "Partizan Rangers" for the book Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War published in 1893 by The Century Co. The Richards family home in Loudoun County, VA, Greengarden Farm, was used by Mosby's Rangers as a safe house.

Lewis M. Shumate, student 1856-1857

Shumate enlisted in the 8th VA Infantry, Co. C, on July 15, 1861. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on June 18, 1862.  Shumate was taken prisoner on April 6, 1865 at the Battle of Sailor's Creek, VA and sent to the prison at Johnson's Island OH, where he was released after taking the oath of allegiance on June 20, 1865.

After the war, he returned to his home in Loudon County, VA, where his occupation was farmer on the 1870-1920 censuses. He died on April 27, 1925 and is buried in Union Cemetery in Leesburg, VA

Isham Eppes Hargrave, student 1857-1860

Hargrave enlisted as a private in Co. E of the 3rd VA Cavalry. On June 12, 1864, he was assigned to the Chesterfield (VA) Light Artillery and promoted to sergeant on September 1, 1864. Hargrave was admitted to a hospital in petersburg, VA on August 10, 1864, and was apparently demoted after deserting from the hospital on September 22, 1864, as he is listed as private on later muster rolls and when he was paroled at a hospital in Farmville, VA, where he had been admitted on April 7, 1865.

Hargrave died at age 27 on March 4, 1869 and is buried in the Pegram and Hargrave family cemetery in Dinwiddie County, VA.

James R. Worrell, student 1859-1860

Worrell enlisted as a private in the Norfolk Light Artillery on May 22, 1862. He spent several months in the Camp Winder military hospital in Richmond in late 1862 and early 1863 due to illness. He was wounded on May 1, 1863 at Chancellorsville, VA. He is listed on a hospital roll in Charlottesville, VA June 2-17, 1864 with a "contusion of the hip."

In 1870, Worrell was living in Townesvile, NC and was "working on the land." By 1900, he was back in his native Norfolk, VA and is listed as a clerk in the census. He was admitted on June 6, 1907 to the Soldiers' Home in Richmond, VA, where he died on August 12, 1907.

Robert Emory Dunn, student 1860-1861

Dunn enlisted as a private in the 13th VA Infantry, Co. D, on July 3, 1861, shortly after the college trustees announced in june that Randolph-Macon would close for the war, a decision later rescinded. He was wounded in the hand on June 27, 1862 at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, VA, part of the Seven Days Battles. He died after being shot through the shoulder on May 12, 1864 during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.

Bennett Puryear, Class of 1847 (A.B.) and 1850 (A.M.)

Puryear served as a professor at Richmond College prior to his appointment in 1858 as professor of chemistry at Randolph-Macon College, where he held that role at least through 1862.  He enlisted as a private in Co. E of the 14th VA Infantry. He surrendered on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House. Nothing else of his war service has been recorded.

After the war, he became Professor of Natural Science at Richmond College (now University of Richmond) in Richmond, VA, where the chemistry building is named for him. Puryear was also a Baptist minister. He died March 30, 1914 and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA.

James H. Peay, Class of 1860

Peay enlisted as a private on April 11, 1862 in Co. F of the 16th VA Infantry. Peay was hospitalized with typhoid fever in June 1862, shortly after his enlistment. He was captured on April 29, 1863 on a bridge over the Rapidan River near Fredericksburg, VA and imprisoned briefly at Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC. He was released May 10, 1863. Peay was killed on August 29, 1864 at Burgess' Mill, VA, near Petersburg.

Nelson McClees, student 1850-1851

Nelson McClees was commissioned on February 4, 1862 as 1st lieutenant of Co. B of the 3rd Battalion NC Light Artillery, the "Edenton Bell Battery." He had been captain in the12th NC Militia prior to this service. McClees was paroled on April 28, 1865.

After the war, McClees returned to his home in Tyrell County, NC and resumed his life as a farmer, his occupation on the 1860 and 1880 censuses.

Update 4/26/12: McClees moved to Wichita, KS. He died on Jan. 19, 1890 and is buried in Wichita's Highland Cemetery.

William J. Barradall, student 1854-1855

William J. Barradall enlisted as a private in Co. F of the 9th Virginia Infantry on May 18, 1861. He was promoted to corporal on May 3, 1862. He was taken prisoner at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863 and sent to the prison camp at Fort Delaware on July 5, 1863. He was transferred from Fort Delaware to the prison at Point Lookout, MD in October 1863. Barradall died of disease (diarrhea) at the prison camp at Point Lookout on March 25, 1864 and was buried in an unnumbered grave, and a note on the record indicates his "effects given to friends before death."

George Washington Alston, student 1861-1863

Alston enlisted as a private in North Carolina's Mallett's Battalion Camp Guard. He transferred to Co. E of the N.C. 1st Cavalry on February 29, 1864.

Alston returned to the family plantation "Cherry Hill" in Warren County, N.C. and became a farmer for the rest of his life, dying on November 8, 1916.

Richard H. Bagby, student 1859-1860

Bagby enlisted July 16, 1861 as a private in the Powhatan Light Artillery.  He surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war he moved to Harris, Texas, where he was  a railroad clerk in 1900. He died March 23, 1913 and is buried in Washington Cemetery in Houston, Harris County, TX.

James H. Carter, student 1859-1860

Carter enlisted on May 31, 1861 as a sergeant in Co. E of the 4th NC Infantry. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on May 31, 1862, to 1st lieutenant on June 22, 1862, and to captain on October 1, 1862.  Carter was killed on December 10, 1862 at Fredericksburg, VA. 

Robert Alexander Boyd, student 1858-1861

Boyd attended VMI after leaving R-MC in 1861, and upon his graduation in 1863, he enlisted as a sergeant in Co. D of the 1st Regiment of Engineers.He surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

Boyd returned to Mecklenburg County, VA after the war and became a farmer. He died June 24, 1909 and is buried in a family cemetery in Mecklenburg County.

Charles B. Stuart, class of 1845 (A.B.) and 1848 (A.M.)

Charles B. Stuart was Professor of Moral, Mental, and Natural Science as well as President of Mansfield Female College in Mansfield, LA when he enlisted as a private in the 8th Louisiana Cavalry. A Methodist minister, he served as the regiment's chaplain. He was paroled in Shreveport, LA on June 22, 1865.

He returned to Mansfield after the war's end, where he resumed his position as president of Mansfield Female College. He later moved to Texas, where he was president of Marshall Masonic Female Institute from 1874-1886. He died January 24, 1890 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Marshall, TX.

John William Stuart, student 1851-1852

Stuart taught school for several years in Virginia and also taught at Randolph-Macon College prior to moving to Louisiana in 1859 with his brother, Charles B. Stuart. He was Professor of Ancient Languages and Mathematics at Mansfield Female College, a Methodist school where his brother also taught and was president at the beginning of the war.  He was commissioned as a 1st lieutenant in Co. B of the 1st battalion of LA Infantry (the Young Greys) on March 5, 1863, and was promoted to captain on May 19, 1863. In 1864, the company became Co. C of the 2nd LA State Guards Cavalry Battalion.

After the war, he returned to Mansfield and became principal of the "Male School, Classical and Mathematical." The school closed in 1872 and Stuart moved to Shreveport, LA in 1873 and entered the insurance business. He died later in 1873 from yellow fever.

Edward Archelaus Flewellen, student 1837-1838

Flewellen attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia after his years at R-MC, and was practicing medicine in Thomaston, GA when he enlisted as a surgeon on May 17, 1861 and was commissioned into the Field and Staff of the 5th Georgia Infantry at the rank of major. On June 28, 1862 he was detailed as Assistant Medical Director of the Army of Tennessee, and in January 1863 became Medical Director. On May 29, 1863 Flewellen was assigned as Medical Director on the staff of General Bragg. He resigned in November 1863 due to ill health, but was not released from duty until February 1864. He was detailed on August 8, 1864 as Inspector of Hospitals for the Army of Tennessee.  At one point, he was sent to the notorious prison camp at Andersonville, Ga, as prison surgeon to conduct an inspection, and his findings were used in the trial against Andersonville's commandant, Henry Wirz, who was sentenced to death.  Dr. Flewellen was paroled in Macon, GA on May 18, 1865.

After the war, he returned to Thomaston, Ga, where he held several public offices and served in the state government.  He died December 9, 1910 and is buried in Thomaston's Glenwood Cemetery.

Charles Macon Wesson, student 1862-1863

Charles Macon Wesson attended Randolph-Macon during the year the college had instituted a military curriculum.  After the college closed in February 1863, Wesson enrolled at VMI in August 1863 and went on to become one of the famous New Market cadets.

Several biographical articles on Wesson erroneously indicate he attended R-MC after the war, but the college's records place him here before his time at VMI and he attended the University of Virginia directly following the war. Wesson practiced law and then became a journalist with the Richmond Times. He died January 15, 1924 and is buried in Saint Lukes Cemetery in Powhatan County, VA.

Maryus Jones, student 1861-1862

Maryus Jones enlisted as a private in Co. D of the 24th VA Cavalry on Feb. 1, 1862. He was a corporal at the time of his capture on July 27, 1864 at Darbytown Heights, just 3 days after participating in the Battle of Samaria (St. Mary's) Church in Henrico County, VA. He left City Point, VA on August 5, 1864 arriving at the prison camp at Elmira, NY, on August 8, 1864. Jones was paroled and exchanged as an invalid prisoner in October, 1864, leaving Elmira October 11, arriving at Point Lookout, MD on October 14, and finally being exchanged on October, 29, 1864. He took the oath of allegiance in Ashland, VA on April 25, 1865.

Jones completed his schooling at the University of Virginia after the war, then taught school for four years before practicing law in Gloucester, VA and then later in Newport News, VA, where he also served from 1908-1912 as mayor.  He died January 26, 1923 and is buried in the cemetery of Abingdon Episcopal Church in Gloucester County, VA

Alexander Henry McIlhany, student 1854-1855

Alexander McIlhany was a school teacher in Mississippi when he enlisted as a private in Company B of the 17th Mississippi Infantry on May 27, 1861. McIlhany was wounded on June 29, 1862 at the Battle of Savage's Station, part of the Seven Days Battles, near Richmond, VA. His wound proved mortal and he died on July 21, 1862.

Atwell W. Burruss, student 1850-1851

Atwell Burruss was a farmer in Caroline County, VA. when he enlisted as a private in the 9th VA Cavalry, Co. B on May 18, 1861. He transferred to the 5th VA Cavalry on October 31, 1862.

Burruss returned to his farm in Caroline County after the war. The 1860 census lists Burruss' property and personal wealth in Caroline County at about $25,000. By 1870, his worth had declined to about $7500. He died March 8, 1908 and is buried in a family cemetery in Caroline County.

Thomas Asbury Gatch, Class of 1855 (A.B.) and 1858 (A.M.)

Gatch had been a school teacher in Norfolk, VA before he enlisted in the Norfolk (VA) Light Artillery on April 13, 1862 as a private. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on April 7, 1863 and transferred to the 6th VA Infantry, Co. H. Gatch was promoted to captain on July 30, 1863, and surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war, Gatch taught school in Maryland, residing in Baltimore in 1870 and Frederick, MD in 1880. He was residing in Baltimore in 1900. He died in 1901 and is buried in Norfolk, Virginia's Cedar Grove Cemetery.