James Newton Ramsey, student 1839-1840

Born June 21, 1821, James N. Ramsey of Newton County, Georgia attended Randolph-Macon College from 1839 to 1840. On April 3, 1861 he was commisioned into Confederate service as colonel of the 1st Georgia Volunteer Infantry, the first regiment organized for service by the state of Georgia and the first Georgia regiment to see combat. The regiment was officially mustered in on March 18, 1861 at Macon, Georgia (the date on which its various companies offered their services to the governor of Georgia) and was composed of companies from Newman, Perry, Augusta, Sandersville, Atlanta, Bainbridge, Quitman, Dahlonega, and Columbus, Georgia. The 1st Georgia and Colonel Ramsey saw service with R. S. Garnett and H. R. Jackson in western Virginia, during Lee's Cheat Mountain Campaign as well as with Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. Ramsey was mustered out of service on March 18, 1862 (although other records suggest that he may have resigned as early as December 3 or December 11, 1861) due to poor health. From December 11, 1861, the 1st Georgia was under the commander of James O. Clarke. On March 18, 1862, the 1st Georgia was mustered out at Macon, Georgia at its members formed new units or were folded into existing ones. Many of its members joined the 12th Georgia Artillery Battalion and many others the 53rd Georgia Infantry.

James N. Ramsey returned to Columbus, Georgia and practiced law. He died on November 10, 1870 in Columbus, Georgia of "congestion" and was buried in Linwood Cemetery.

Richard W. Jones, class of 1857 (A.B.) and 1860 (A.M.)

Richard W. Jones was born on May 16, 1837 in Greensville County, Virginia. He graduated at the top of his class at Randolph-Macon in 1857. In 1861 he received his Master's degree from the University of Virginia. Soon following his graduation from there, he entered Confederate service, eventually raising his own company of infantry of which he was elected and commissioned captain. He would later rise to the rank of major and finally lieutenant colonel. Jones surrendered while serving with the 12th Virginia Infantry on April 9, 1865 at Appommatox Court House. After the war, Jones was a professor at Randolph-Macon, president of Martha Washington College, professor at the University of Mississippi and president of the State Industrial Institute and College in Columbus, Mississippi. He died Dec. 18, 1914 in Laurel, MS. 

Nathaniel Wilson Baptist, student 1859-1862 and 1865-1968

Baptist, who had attended the R-MC Preparatory Department prior to the war, enlisted on May 27, 1863 at the age of 16 in Co. A of Farinholt's 1st VA Reserves.  He was elected 2nd lieutenant in April, 1864. He was promoted to first lieutenant on July 18, 1864. He was transferred as a private in February 1865 to Co. A of the 18th VA Infantry when he turned 18. He was taken prisoner on April 6, 1865 at Sailor's Creek, VA and sent to the prison camp at Point Lookout, MD, where he remained until taking the oath of allegiance on June 24, 1865.

A native of Mecklenburg County, he entered college at R-MC after the war, remaining through 1868 when the school relocated to Ashland. He moved to Memphis, TN in 1869 and then to Tipton County, TN where he worked in the grocery business until 1875, when he started work in the county court. He became a lawyer in 1882.  He died on July 4, 1915 and is buried in R. H. Munford Cemetery in Covington, TN.

John H. Addington, student 1859-1860

Addington enlisted on August 24, 1861 as a private in Co. E of the 4th Mounted Kentucky Infantry. He was wounded April 7, 1862 at the Battle of Shiloh and left on the field where he was taken prisoner. He was admitted on April 13, 1862 to No. 2 USA General Hospital in Louisville, KY, where he died on May 12, 1862.

William Irvine Cowles, Class of 1857 (A.B.) and 1860 (A.M.)

Cowles was the older brother of R-MC alumni Henry Brown Cowles, Jr., and James R. Cowles and son to Rev. Henry Brown Cowles, an influential Methodist minister and agent for Randolph-Macon College.  In 1860, he was living with his parents and siblings in Petersburg, VA, with no occupation listed and an indication he was attending school. He enlisted in the 21st Texas Cavalry as a private but was shortly made 1st lieutenant and assistant adjutant. A diary by his wife indicates his rank at the end of the war as captain.

Cowles was married in New Orleans in May 1866 and returned to Virginia. In 1870, he was living in Prince George County, VA, with his parents, wife and children and is listed as a farmer. He moved to Texas in the 1870s (probably after his father's death in 1874) where he was a professor and principal of the Methodist Female Academy and professor and president of North Texas Female College, both in Sherman, TX, in the late 1870s.  In the 1880 census, he is listed as a teacher in Terrell, TX. Later in the 1880s, he was a school teacher and school superintendant in Van Zandt County, TX. He was still teaching school in 1900. Cowles died December 21, 1904.

Robert Stringfellow Walker, student 1859-1861

Walker attended Randolph-Macon College from 1859 to 1861. He served in Co. B of Mosby's Partisan Rangers, later known as Co. B of the 43rd Battalion VA Cavalry . He was wounded near Mount Zion, VA, on July 6, 1864. Walker was promoted to captain on February 9, 1865, with a letter of support from Colonel Mosby commending his valor and skill.

 Walker is mentioned in James J. Williamson's 1896 book, "Mosby's Rangers." Williamson writes that,

"One part of 100 (Twenty-first New York) came to Upperville before daylight, from which place they send a detachment to the house of Jesse Richards (father of Major Richards) and surrounded it. There were in the house at the time Major Richards, Capt. Robert S. Walker and private John Hipkins. Hearing a rap at the door, Captain Walker got up and was about to open it, when one of the Federal soldiers growing impatient, thundered away at the door with the butt of his carbine. Walker immediately went back and he and the others hid themselves. Upon forcing open the door, the Federals struck a light and searched the house, but did not succeed in finding Richards or his companions, thought they got most of their clothes. They ransacked the drawer and closet in the house, taking silverware and everything they pleased."*

Robert S. Walker survived the war and in 1889 founded Woodberry Forest School, a private male boarding school still in existence, near Orange, VA. He had resided at Woodberry Forest since the early 1870s.  He died March 14, 1914 and is buried in Graham Cemetery in Orange, VA.

*Williamson, James J. Mosby's Rangers. New York: Ralph B. Kenyon, Publisher, 1896.

Benjamin Shepard Herring, student 1870-1874

Herring enlisted as a private on June 1, 1864 in Co. B of the 7th NC Battalion Junior Reserves.  He was promoted to corporal, and then served as sergeant when the company was redesignated as Co. D of the 3rd NC Jr. Reserves. He was hospitalized January 12, 1865 in C.S.A. General Hospital No. 3 in Greensboro, NC with scabies. His service included guard duty at Smithville, NC. He was at Fort Fisher in Wilmington, NC, and he engaged in a battle near Kinston, NC.

 After the war, Herring taught school and attended Randolph-Macon College, leaving after the 1870-71 school year but returning soon after. He became a Methodist minister, serving in the Virginia Conference from 1874 until 1912. Herring died June 25, 1930.

Marcellus Stanley, Class of 1841

Stanley, a mathematics teacher at the University of Georgia, enlisted as captain of Georgia's Troop Artillery, later part of Cobb's Legion Artillery. He was ill much of the first year and resigned in April 1862. After having recovered fully, he was appointed chief of artillery and served he was promoted to major of artillery on the staff of Brigadier General Howell Cobb and sent to Quincy, FL in January 1863, where he served in an administrative capacity under several different generals.

Although he had taught mathematics and natural science before the war at Franklin College in GA, Centenary College in LA, Wesleyan Female College in GA, and the University of Georgia in addition to serving a year as secretary to Ambassador Henry Hilliard, Stanley did not return to teaching after the war. He returned to Athens, GA and became a farmer and was became a director of the Southern Mutual Insurance Company. he died may 20, 1890 and is buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens, GA.

Julius Alexander Robbins, student 1851-1852

Robbins, younger brother of William McKendree Robbins, attended the University of North Carolina after R-MC. He was a lawyer in Selma, Alabama at the beginning of the war as was his brother William. He enlisted as a private in Co. D of the 8th Alabama Infantry on May 10, 1861. He served as captain and Assistant Quartermaster in the 8th AL Infantry from June 1861 until resigning the role of Assistant Quartermaster on September 30, 1863. His resignation letter indicates his desire to avenge three of his brothers who had been killed in battle by that date.  He would be the fourth of the 6 Robbins brothers to die in battle. He was killed June 9, 1864 at Mount Sterling, KY during a raid by General John Hunt Morgan's cavalry on Union forces in the town. Although his body was not recovered, his family erected a memorial stone at Hopewell United Methodist Church Cemetery in Trinity, NC. It is not known when or where he joined Morgan's Raiders.

William McKendree Robbins, Class of 1851 (A.B.) and 1854 (A.M.)

Robbins, brother of Julius Alexander Robbins (student 1851-1852)  taught for several years in North Carolina and Alabama after his graduation from R-MC and then became a lawyer in Selma, Alabama. He enlisted on April 24, 1861 as 1st lieutenant in Co. G of the 4th AL Infantry, a unit he helped organize. He was promoted to captain on May 2, 1862 and to major on October 3, 1863. He was wounded in the face and head May 6, 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness. Robbins  surrendered at Appomattox Court House, VA on April 9, 1865.

William was one of only 2 of the 6 Robbins brothers to survive the war. After the war, he moved from Alabama back to his native North Carolina, where he practiced law and served in both the state legislature and in the US Congress. He also served an important role from 1894 until his death in 1905 as the Confederate representative on the three-member Gettysburg National Military Park Commission, also known as the Gettysburg Battlefield Commission.  He died May 3, 1905 and is buried in Oakville Cemetery in Statesville, NC.

Charles Z. Sedwick, student 1862-1863

Charles Zadock Sedwick enlisted as a private in Co. H of the 17th VA infantry on March 23, 1862. He was discharged on June 3, 1862 because he was underage. In the fall of 1862, he enrolled at Randolph-Macon College under the military curriculum in place at the college, which closed for the duration of the war in february, 1863. On May 1, 1863, Sedwick enlisted in Co. H of the 4th VA Cavalry. He was paroled in Winchester, VA on May 6, 1865. His Texas pension application in 1917 ndicates he was discharged at Charlottesville, VA in late April, 1865 as the cavalry "scattered" at Appomattox.

Sedwick moved to TX prior to 1880, when he is listed as a miller in Waco, TX. In 1900, his occupation is listed as farmer. He died June 23, 1922 and is buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Alvin, TX.

Charles Edward Sears, student 1860-1861

Sears enlisted as a private in Co. A of the 34th Infantry on May 14, 1861. He transferred Co. A of the 5th
VA Cavalry on August 1,1862. In 1864, he served for several months as an ordnance clerk. Later biographies state that he was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war's end, Sears attended the University of Virginia in 1865-1866. In 1867, Sears moved to Paducah, KY where the 1870 census lists his profession as lawyer. He later moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where he became a prominent journalist and newspaper editor, and he was heavily involved in local politics. He died February 25, 1904 in Jefferson County, KY with a cause of "paralysis," probably a stroke, listed on his death certificate. Although he had never progressed beyond the rank of private in his military service, his New York Times obituary in 1904  uses the honorific "Colonel,"and indicates he served on the staff of  General Fitzhugh Lee, although the surviving military records do not support any close connection. An 1882 NY Times article about a street fight between Sears and another Louisville journalist in which both were shot calls him colonel at that time.

Albert Theodore Powell, student 1858-1860

Powell, brother of Eugene Cole Powell, enlisted in Co. C of the 3rd VA Infantry on May 23, 1861 as 1st lieutenant and resigned his commission on August 22, 1861 due to ill health. He later joined  Co. I of the 3rd VA cavalry on February 27, 1862 as a private.He was wounded at Upperville, VA on November 3, 1862 and was hospitalized in Petersburg, VA on March 7, 1865 and released on April 2 as Petersburg fell.

After the war, he taught school, farmed, practiced law, and held public offices including justice of the peace, sheriff, and commonwealth's attorney in Dinwiddie County. He died December 17, 1923 and is buried in Good Shepherd Cemetery in Dinwiddie County, VA.

Eugene Cole Powell, student 1858-1859

Powell, brother of Albert Theodore Powell, attended New York University Medical College after leaving R-MC and graduated in 1861. He enlisted in Co. I of the 3rd VA cavalry on July 5, 1861 as a private. He spent much of the war assigned as a hospital steward, serving in Atlanta and Macon, Georgia in 1863 and 1864.

After the war, he returned to Dinwiddie County, VA where he was a physician and served as superintendent of public schools for many years. He died on May 18, 1920 and is buried in Good Shepherd Cemetery in Dinwiddie County, VA.

Philip Lockett, student 1859-1861

Philip Lockett (variantly spelled Phillip), enlisted as a private in Co. F of the 14th VA Infantry on May 12, 1861, along with many of his fellow students. On August 1, 1862, he transferred to Co. G of the 14th VA Infantry. He was taken prisoner of war on July 3, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg and sent to Baltimore, MD to Fort McHenry and then sent to Fort Delaware on July 7, 1863. Lockett was exchanged on August 1, 1863. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on April 6, 1864. He was wounded in the neck and shoulder on June 19, 1864 at Bermuda Hundred, VA.  Lockett surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

Lockett was postmaster of Lombardy Grove in Mecklenburg County, VA in 1874 and in 1880 he was practicing law in Mecklenburg County.  By the late 1880s, he was practicing law in Roanoke, VA and had married.

Lockett's sister, Myrta Lockett Avary, dedicated her 1906 book "Dixie After the War" to her brother Philip Lockett: To THE MEMORY OF MY BROTHER, PHILIP LOCKETT, (First Lieutenant, Company G, 14th Virginia Infantry, Armistead's Brigade, Pickett's Division, C. S. A.) Entering the Confederate Army, when hardly more than a lad, he followed General Robert E. Lee for four years, surrendering at Appomattox. He was in Pickett's immortal charge at Gettysburg, and with Armistead when Armistead fell on Cemetery Hill.

James W. Pleasants, student 1859-1861

Pleasants enlisted as a private in Co. F of the 14th VA Infantry on May 12, 1861, joining at Lombardy Grove in Mecklenburg County, VA that day along with several other young men from Randolph-Macon College.  He is listed as absent without leave, or desertion, on June 15, 1861. Although no further information on this enlistment exists, it's possible his father, a wealthy farmer in Amherst County, VA may have intervened as his two older brothers had died in 1847 while enrolled at Virginia Military Institute.

He enlisted again on March 26, 1862, this time joining the Amherst Light Artillery (VA) as a private. He was detailed as a clerk from August 15-October 1, 1862. Pleasants was transferred on April 8, 1863 to the 2nd VA Cavalry, but the transfer never occurred as he continued on the muster rolls of the artillery battalion. He was wounded and taken prisoner on September 19, 1864 at Winchester, VA, and Union surgeons amputated his leg.  He was hospitalized in Martinsburg, WV until December and then sent to a hospital in Baltimore, MD, where he remained until January, 1865 when he was sent to the prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout, MD.  Pleasants was released on June 2, 1865 after taking the oath of allegiance.

Pleasants returned home after the war. In 1870, he was living with his parents in Pedlar, Amherst County, VA and is listed as a "farm hand" in the census. He married Betty Nelson Davis and had 4 children between 1872 and 1878, but had died by the time of the 1880 census.

Peter Allen Moses, Class of 1855 (A.B.) and 1858 (A.M.)

Moses, who had been licensed as a local preacher in August 1852 while a student at R-MC, moved to Arkansas sometime after his 1855 graduation and was a minister and educator. He served as President and Professor of Mathematics, Mental and Moral Science at Wallace Institute in Van Buren, Arkansas from 1857-1860. He then opened the Southern Literary Institute at White Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, but the school closed after a year due to the war.

He enlisted as a private in Co. D of the 34th Arkansas Infantry in July 1862. Moses was appointed chaplain of the regiment in August 1862, with some records indicating it was on the 20th and others the 23rd. Moses was one of 9 chaplains who founded the "Church of the Army" in Little Rock in March 1863. He applied for a leave of absence in April 1863 to assist his family as they had "been forced from their home in Crawford County in this state by the Federals and jayhawkers."

Moses returned to Arkansas after the war, and in the 1870 census was a "Minister of the Gospel" living in Illinois Township in Pope County, Arkansas.  He again served as president of Wallace Institute in Van Buren, Arkansas in 1869 and in 1871 became the first president of Quitman College, a Methodist college in Quitman County, Arkansas that was open from 1870-1898, serving as president for three years. Moses was also the county school superintendant in the early 1870s. He was transferred to the Columbia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in Oregon in 1874 and continued as a Methodist minister and educator, serving as principal of several schools in Linn County, OR and as pastor for several different congregations. In 1912, he was taking agricultural classes at Oregon Agricultural College, where the college magazine lists his age at 72 although he was actually 84 at the time.  He died April 7, 1919 and is buried in Crystal Lake Cemetery in Corvallis, OR.

Daniel James Turner, Jr., student 1859-1861

Turner enlisted as a private on March 1, 1862 in the 1st Co. Milligan's Independent Signal Corps. He was detailed on a blockade runner out of Wilmington, NC from August through December 1864.

He resided in Norfolk, VA after the war where in 1880 he was an agent for a steamship company. By 1900, he was a real estate developer. Turner died on November 22,1914 and is buried in Portsmouth, VA in Cedar Grove Cemetery.

Henry Wyatt Wingfield, Class of 1851 (A.B.) and 1855 (A.M.)

Wingfield was a schoolteacher in Hanover County, VA when he enlisted as a private in Co. H of the 58th VA Infantry on September 5, 1861. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on October 15, 1861 and to captain on May 1, 1862. He was wounded at Fredericksburg, VA on May 4, 1863, hospitalized in Richmond, and returned to duty on June 23, 1863. For parts of 1862, 1863 and 1864 he is listed as commanding the regiment. Wingfield was taken prisoner at Winchester, VA on September 19, 1864 and sent from Harper's Ferry, WV to the prison camp at Fort Delaware on September 24, 1864. He was released on June 17, 1865 after taking the oath of allegiance. After the war, he returned to Hanover County, VA and operated a school in Ashland, taught briefly at R-MC and was county surveyor. Wingfield died on August 11, 1902 and is buried in the cemetery at Marl Ridge, the Wingfield family home on route 54 in Hanover County, VA.

Joel Breckenridge Leftwich, student 1839-1840

Leftwich was a lawyer in Campbell County, VA and was serving in the VA House of Delegates in 1861 when he enlisted as captain of Co. D of the 42nd VA infantry, serving until April of 1862. He later joined joined the reserves and was elected captain of the 3rd VA Reserves (Booker's Regiment) on April 16, 1864 and became lieutenant-colonel on September 30, 1864. After the war, Leftwich returned to Campbell County, where the 1870 and 1880 censuses list his occupation as farmer; he was managing his wife's family estate "Walnut Hill," where he had resided since 1842. He served an additional term in the state legislature from 1883-1884. He died January 6, 1890 and is buried in the Moorman-Leftwich cemetery at the family estate "Walnut Hill" on route 683 near Lynchburg, VA.

James Thomas Lumpkin, student 1868-1870

Lumpkin enlisted as a private in Co. H of the 55th VA Infantry on May 24, 1861.  He transferred to Co. C of the 55th on May 4, 1862 after spending part of April hospitalized for illness.  He was on furlough in the summer of 1862, and is listed as taken P.O.W. in August of 1862 with no place listed.  He was exchanged on October 15, 1862., not returning to his regiment until Nov. 28, 1862. he is credited with capturing the flag of the 149th PA Infantry at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. he was wounded slightly at Chancellorsville and at Gettysburg. On April 15, 1864, he was transferred to Co. C of the 1st Battalion MD Cavalry. His biography in "Sketches of the Virginia Conference" states he was captured near Richmond, VA shortly after his transfer to the cavalry when his horse was shot and sent for six months to the prison camp at Point Lookout, MD.

Lumkin had been orphaned at 14 and not had access to much education. He went to Baltimore after the war and then to Virginia, where he engaged in business to earn enough to cover his college expenses. He became a minister in the Virginia Conference in 1870. He died in 1911 and is buried in Riverview Cemetery in Richmond, VA.

William Wilkinson Lear, student 1861-1862 and 1972-1875

Lear enlisted as a private in the 3rd Co. of the Richmond Howitzers Light Artillery on July 19, 1863. He was wounded slightly in the head on May 10, 1864 at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, VA. He surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war he lived in Richmond and in Bedford County, VA, until re-entering R-MC in 1872 to study for the ministry. In addition to his work as a minister, he served for several years on the R-MC system board of trustees. He died February 1, 1918.

Robert Sampson Lanier, student 1839-1840

Lanier, father of poet Sydney Lanier, studied law in Macon, Georgia after leaving R-MC. He practiced law in Georgia for several years prior to the war with his R-MC roommate, David Clopton. An 1889 biographical sketch of Lanier indicates he was conscripted into the army but was not actively serving to the illness of his wife. He was an honorary member of the Macon Volunteers, a unit in which his two sons and other relatives served.

He practiced law until his death on October 20, 1893. He is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, GA.

James M. Spindle, student 1841-42

James Mortimer Spindle attended R-MC in 1841-42 along with his brother, Robert Henry Spindle. He was practicing law in Culpeper, VA in 1860.

Spindle enlisted as a private in Co. D of the 4th VA Cavalry on March 10, 1862. He transferred to Co. K of the 51st VA Infantry on Feb. 3, 1863. He spent much of the war detailed as an agent to the Quartermasters Department procuring horses, mules and other captured or abandoned property, using his legal training.

After the war, he returned to Culpeper, VA where he is listed on the 1870 and 1880 censuses as a farmer. He was living in Washington, D.C. by the time of his death in July 1907.

Robert Henry Spindle, student 1841-42

Robert Henry Spindle attended R-MC in 1841-42 along with his brother, James Mortimer Spindle. Spindle was an attorney in the small town of Washington in Rappahannock County, VA, in the early 1850s and residing in a hotel operated by the Dear family, whose young son, Charles Henry Dear, would attend R-MC during the war. In 1854, he was living in Rockingham County, VA and was appointed appointed as the postmaster at Waverlie. The 1860 census lists him as a farmer in Rockingham County.

Spindle served as a private in Co. G of the 3rd VA Cavalry.  He was paroled as a prisoner of war on April 25, 1865.  In July 1865, he wrote a very eloquent letter addressed to President Andrew Johnson requesting a special pardon in which he indicates he was conscripted into the army and served a little over 5 months.

By 1880, he was living in a different Washington, this time in Washington, D. C., and practicing law. Spindle died in 1889 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Oliver H. P. Corprew, Class of 1846 (A.B.) and 1849 (A.M.)

Oliver Hazard Perry Corprew taught at Randolph-Macon College for several years after his graduation in 1846 until leaving to attend the University of Virginia.  He returned to teach for several more years at R-MC in late 1853 after completing his university studies until he left to manage his plantation holdings in Mecklenburg County, although he retained his connections to the school by serving as a trustee of the college. Corprew enlisted as a private in Co. A of the 3rd VA Cavalry on May 14, 1861. He transferred to the Quartermasters Department as captain and assistant quartermaster for the 6th VA Infantry on November 18, 1861. On September 15, 1864, he transferred to R.H. Anderson's division as quartermaster. He surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war, Corprew returned to teaching at R-MC, leaving when the college moved to Ashland. He moved to Missouri in 1871 to teach at Central College, where he served as president 1886-1888. He returned to Virginia in 1905. Corprew died October 12, 1908 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk, VA.

Edward Macon Hudson, student 1854-1855

After leaving R-MC, Hudson attended the University of Virginia, the University of Berlin,and the University of Heidelberg.  He completed his studies in Heidelberg in 1861 and was secretary of the United States legation in Berlin at the beginning of the war.  He transferred his allegiance and served as the CSA Minister to Prussia until November 1862. He went from Prussia to England to North Carolina, arriving in Wilmington, NC in Feb. 1863. He reported to the the CSA government in Richmond and was commissioned first lieutenant and assigned  in June 1863 to the staff of General Arnold Elzey as Aide de Camp, then transferred to General Jubal Early, and back again to Elzey. He was captain of an artillery company in the Army of Tennessee in 1864. He was paroled in Washington, GA en route to joining General Joseph Johnston.

After the war, he was a prominent attorney in New Orleans, LA. He declined an appointment to the Supreme Court of Louisiana and the ambassadorship to Venezuela, remaining in private law practice. He died in New Orleans September 5, 1916 and is buried in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans Parish..

William Thomas Bailey, Class of 1856

Bailey, older brother of Robert Watkins Bailey ( R-MC student 1858-1861), enlisted as a private in Co. H of the 44th VA Infantry on August 1, 1861. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on May 1, 1862. Bailey was killed at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863.  Only two months later, his younger brother Robert (see posting on 9/24/2011) would die at Gettysburg.

George Emory Butler, Class of 1862

Butler enlisted in Co. I of the 3rd Arkansas Infantry as a private on August 12, 1862 in Richmond, VA, a company in which 3 of his brothers were already serving. He was appointed the regiment chaplain in January 1863. He was reported as a "prisoner behind enemy lines" when he was left with the regiment's wounded at Gettysburg, PA in early July, 1863. He was sent first to Baltimore and then to Fort Norfolk in Norfolk, VA, on June 30, 1863. On August 10, 1863 he was sent back to Baltimore to the prison camp at Fort McHenry.  He is listed as "turned over to Major Mulford" on October 5, 1863, indicating he was being exchanged; Major Mulford was the assistant agent of exchange for the Union Army.  He returned to his regiment and was paroled on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House, VA.

After the war, Butler moved to Los Angeles County, CA, where he was a minister until his death on Feb. 5, 1891.

James Edward Sebrell, Class of 1853 (A.B.) and 1856 (A.M.)

Sebrell had been a teacher for many years when he was conscripted in January 1864 to serve in the defense of Richmond. He was assigned on February 2, 1864 to Co. A of the 18th VA Heavy Artillery Battalion. He was promoted from private to sergeant major on January 15, 1865.

He was paroled at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 and took the oath of allegiance in Richmond, VA on May 17, 1865. Sebrell was a farmer, merchant, bank cashier, and insurance agent in Southampton County after the war and held numerous public offices. He died July 18, 1924 and is buried in Norfolk, VA in Elmwood Cemetery.