William Waugh Smith, Class of 1871 and R-MC President 1886-1897

Smith enlisted as a private in Co. C of the 49th VA Infantry on an unknown date. His father was editor of the Richmond Enquirer newspaper during the war and the son wrote for the paper periodically through the war. He was wounded in the finger at the battle of Seven Pines, VA. Smith was again wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg and left on the field, believed to be mortally wounded. His death was reported in his father's newspaper, the Enquirer. Smith was taken prisoner and hospitalized in Baltimore, MD. He was paroled on August 23, 1863 and transferred to City Point, VA for exchange the following day.

After the war, he attended the University of Virginia and then Randolph-Macon College, graduating in 1871. After teaching for several years at Bethel Academy in Fauquier County, VA, he became a professor at Randolph-Macon College in 1878 teaching first "moral and mental philosphy," then Greek, and then Latin. He became president of the College in 1886 serving until 1897, when he became chancellor of the Radnolph-Macon System, which included several preparatory academies and a woman's college in addition to R-MC. Smith died on November 29, 1912 and is buried in Richmond, VA in Hollywood Cemetery.

Samuel Granville Staples, student 1837-1838

After leaving Randolph-Macon, Staples attended the University of Virginia and then the College of William and Mary, where he received a law degree. He served in a number of public offices including deputy county clerk and member of the VA House of Delegates. He was a lawyer and large landholder who was listed as a farmer in the 1860 census in Patrick County, VA. He represented Patrick County at Virginia's secession convention, where he was an anti-secessionist delegate although he ultimately voted for secession. Staples served only briefly in a military capacity as a volunteer aide-de-camp to General J.E.B. Stuart from approximately April to July 1862, when he was injured in a fall from his horse. Staples' military records are incomplete and unclear as to his specific dates of service and rank, and his letter requesting a presidential pardon states that he was assigned to the staff of J.E.B. Stuart "without any rank." He apparently returned to his estate in Patrick County and farmed for the remainder of the war.  Staples took the oath of allegiance on August 1, 1865.

After the war, he remained in Patrick County, where he farmed and became a judge. Staples died August 6, 1895 and is buried in Fair View Cemetery in Roanoke, VA.

Ethelbert James Hudson, Jr., student 1855-1856

Hudson, a druggist in Richmond, VA in 1860 and brother of Edward Macon Hudson, enlisted as a private in Co. F of the 1st VA Light Artillery on May 3, 1861. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant and  was commissioned into Co. G of the 5th VA Cavalry on April 1, 1862. He was captured after the Battle of Gettysburg on July 4, 1863 and sent to Fort McHenry in Baltimore and then to Fort Delaware, DE, from which he was exchanged on July 30, 1863. By the time that he was paroled on April 14, 1865 in Burkeville, VA, Hudson had been promoted to captain.

Hudson committed suicide on September 1, 1869 in Baltimore, MD.

Benjamin Lyons Farinholt, student 1855-1856

Farinhold enlisted  as 2nd lieutenant in Co. E of the 53rd VA Infantry on July 8, 1861. On April 22, 1862, he left the company on advice of the surgeon due to an unknown illness, returning in May. He was injured on June 25, 1862 by a falling tree limb, fracturing several ribs In the early fall of 1862, he was absent for some weeks due to illness, and was then detailed to enroll conscripts in New Kent County, VA. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on September 30, 1862 and to captain on March 5, 1863. Farinholt was taken prisoner on July 3, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg and sent first to the prison at Fort McHenry, MD, then transferred to the prison camp at Fort Delaware, DE, and finally sent on July 18, 1863 to the prison camp at Johnson's Island, OH, arriving there on July 20, 1863. He escaped from the prison camp on February 22, 1864, making his way back to Virginia, and had rejoined the army by May 1864.  He was dispatched with 296 reservists to defend a bridge over the Staunton River. Farinholt is best known for leading a small group of 938 men and boys, mostly his reservists and local residents with only 150 regular troops,  in the Battle of Staunton River Bridge on June 25, 1864, holding off an attack of over 5000 Union soldiers until Confederate forces could arrive. The successful defense of this bridge ensured the safety of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, an important supply line for the defense of Petersburg and Richmond. This battle has been called the "battle of old men and young boys." Farinholt was promoted to lieutenant colonel of reserve forces on July 18, 1864 and to colonel on August 12, 1864, in command of the 1st Regiment VA Reserves.

In 1870, he was a dry goods and grocery merchant in Essex County VA and in 1880 he is listed as a "country merchant." By 1900, he was a glass merchant in Baltimore, MD. He had relocated to West Point, Virginia and was an insurance agent. in 1910. Farinholt died December 24, 1919 and is buried in Sunny Slope Cemetery in West Point, King William County, VA.

John Kelly Abbott, student 1852-53, 1855-56

Abbott, a teacher in Camden County, NC in the 1860 census, enlisted as a private in Co. L of the 17th NC Infantry on July 28, 1861. He spent some time on detached duty with the engineers, probably due to his training as a surveyor. He was taken prisoner on February 8, 1862 at Roanoke Island, NC and paroled on February 21, 1862 in Elizabeth City, NC. He is listed on a muster roll as absent "within the enemy lines" in May 1862.  By March 1863, he was serving as color corporal in Co. A of the 8th NC Infantry, having been transferred when his previous company was disbanded. He spent much of his time detailed as commissary sergeant. He was paroled at Greensboro, NC on May 1, 1865.

Abbott returned to Camden County and became a farmer. He served in the 1870s and 1880s as county surveyor, and served a number of terms in the NC state legislature. He died September 14, 1906.

David Clopton, Class of 1840 (A.B.) and 1851 (A.M.)

Clopton, who practiced law in Georgia and then Alabama after graduating from R-MC, was in the U.S House of Representatives in 1861 at the outbreak of the war.  A strong supporter of States' Rights, Clopton  resigned his seat in Congress and joined the 12th AL Infantry. He was appointed quartermaster for the regiment on July 17, 1861. He resigned November 18, 1861 after his election to the Confederate Congress,  where he served from 1862-1864. On July 18, 1865, he took the oath of allegiance and later received his presidential pardon.

After the war, he returned to law and politics in Alabama, serving in the Alabama legislature in 1878.  In 1884, he became a judge in Alabama's Supreme Court, a position he held until his death on February 5, 1892. Clopton is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, AL.

William Bernard Harrell, student 1839-1840

Harrell's unpublished autobiographical notes place him and his brother James at R-MC in January,1839 although the dates in the college records, 1834-1835, don't coincide. The earlier dates in the College's records may indicate attendance in one of the preparatory schools and the lack of signatures in the matriculation book may be due to the timing when the brothers arrived at the College. The Harrell brothers were dismissed from the College when they were caught with several others attending a circus in Clarksville, VA. After his time at R-MC, Harrell became a doctor, receiving his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 1849. He was practicing medicine in North Carolina at the war's beginning, with his occupation in the 1860 census listed as instructor in Chapel Hill, NC, where he was probably teaching medicine. He served as Assistant Surgeon at the Camp of Instruction in Dublin, VA in 1863 and 1864. He was Assistant Surgeon for the Examining Board of the 11th Congressional district when he took the oath of allegiance on May 1, 1865 in NC.  In addition to his medical service, Harrell wrote the patriotic song "Ho! For Carolina!" in 1861, supposedly inspired by crowds cheering trains of soldiers leaving for war. He also wrote a ballad in 1863 dedicated to the 4th NC Infantry entitled "Up With the Flag." 

Harrell returned to NC after the war and was practicing medicine in Durham, NC in 1880. Sometime after the war, he had also become a Baptist minister. Harrell died in Dunn, NC on November 22, 1906.

Sterling Peebles Thrower, student 1848-1849

Thrower, who attended the University of Virginia after leaving R-MC and was the brother of Christopher Thrower of the class of 1859, was conscripted into the army but recommended for light duty by the Board of Surgeons. He requested to be assigned to the Auditors section of the Confederate Treasury Department in 1864, with a letter of support dated in August. His inquiry concerning the request dated October 6, 1864 includes an indication the request was approved dated on October 11, 1864. It is unknown how long he served in the Treasury Department.

Thrower was a lawyer in Boydton in Mecklenburg County, VA in 1860, and he returned to practicing law Thrower died September 12, 1882 and is buried in Boydton, VA in St. James Episcopal Church Cemetery.

Tennent Lomax, Class of 1840 (A.B.) and 1851 (A.M.)

Lomax, a veteran of the Mexican-American War, was an extremely wealthy planter and lawyer in Alabama when he was commissioned on April 28, 1861 as lieutenant colonel of the 3rd AL Infantry.  He was promoted to colonel on July 10, 1861.  He was killed on May 31, 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines, VA shortly after receiving the news of his promotion to brigadier general. Lomax is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, AL.

Bennett W. Bagby, student 1856-1861

Bagby, a schoolteacher like his older brother Jesse P. Bagby, enlisted on May 28, 1861 as a private in Co. D of the 20th VA Infantry, the Powhatan Rifles. He was taken prisoner at Rich Mountain, WV on July 11, 1861 and paroled on July 17, 1861. Bagby was discharged by order of the Adjutant-General for an undisclosed reason on September 21, 1861. On June 22, 1863, Bagby enlisted as a private in Co. C of the 2nd LA Cavalry. He surrendered in Washington, GA on May 29, 1865.

After the war, he was teaching school in Appomattox County, VA in 1880.

Jesse P. Bagby, Class of 1854 (A.B.) and 1857 (A.M.)

Bagby was a teacher when he enlisted as a private in Co. G of the 38th VA Infantry on May 19, 1861. He was discharged for disability due to bronchitis on October 2, 1861.

Charles Edward Hooker, student 1841-1842

Hooker attended Harvard University after leaving R-MC and graduated from Harvard in 1846. he moved to Mississippi, where he became a prominent lawyer in Jackson, MS. He served as district attorney prior to his election to the MS House of Representatives, from which he resigned to join the military. He was commissioned 1st lieutenant in Co. A of the 1st MS Light Artillery on October 1, 1861. Hooker was wounded at Vicksburg, MS, losing use of his left arm, and was captured there on July 4, 1863. He was paroled on July 7, 1863. He was promoted to colonel of cavalry in September 1863, serving in the military court in General Pemberton's Corps. He was paroled at Meridian, MS on May 10, 1865.

Hooker returned to Jackson, MS, where he practiced law, He was elected to numerous terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1875-1883, 1887-1895, and 1901-1902. He died January 8, 1914 and is buried in Jackson, MS in Greenwood Cemetery.

William Augustus Trotter, student 1850-1851

Trotter, a farmer in Greensville County and brother of Isham Edward Trotter, was excused from regular service with an agriculturalist exemption.  He enlisted in Co. A of the Greensville Home Guard, Captain Scott's Company of the Virginia Local Defense, in July 1863.

He continued farming in Greensville County, VA after the war. Trotter died on June 21, 1912 and is buried in Mount Pleasant Methodist Church Cemetery in Greensville, County, VA

Isham Edward Trotter, student 1853-1854

Trotter, a farmer in Brunswick County, VA and brother of William Augustus Trotter, enlisted as a private in Co. E of the 56th VA Infantry on July 10, 1861. he was taken prisoner on February 16, 1862 at the Battle of Fort Donelson, TN and sent to the prison camp at Camp Morton, IN in March 1862. He was exchanged at Vicksburg, MS on August 24, 1862. Trotter returned to Virginia, rejoined his regiment, and was promoted to corporal on an unknown date prior to being captured again on July 3, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he had been wounded. He was sent first to the prison at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, MD and then sent on to the prison at Fort Delaware, DE on July 12, 1863.  He was transferred to the prison camp at Point Lookout, MD on October 27, 1863, where he remained until he was paroled and exchanged on May 3, 1864. He again rejoined his company, was promoted to sergeant, and was taken prisoner a third time at Burkesville, VA on April 6, 1865. He was once again sent to the prison camp at Point Lookout, MD, where he was released on June 20, 1865 after taking the oath of allegiance.

After the war, he returned to farming in Brunswick County, VA. He was admitted to the Lee Camp Soldier's Home in Richmond, VA on July 9, 1922, where he died on November 18, 1923. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Brunswick County, VA.

Ashley L. Davis, student 1848-1849

Davis, a farmer in Lunenburg County, VA in 1860, enlisted with his younger brother, Nicholas Edmunds Davis, Jr., on June 7, 1861 as a private in G of the 9th VA Cavalry. A Lunenburg County history indicates Davis was wounded at Fredericksburg, VA on an unknown date. Davis does not appear on company rolls after Feb. 1862 and it is unknown when he left the company.

He was a farmer in Pittsylvania County in 1870 and by 1880 was a tobacco dealer in Danville, VA. He died April 7, 1903 and is buried in Mathews County, VA in Christ Church Kingston Parish Cemetery.

Nicholas Edmunds Davis, Jr., student 1858-1859

Davis, younger brother of Ashley L. Davis, enlisted as a private with his brother in Co. G of the 9th VA Cavalry on June 7, 1861. He was promoted to sergeant on January 31, 1862, to 2nd lieutenant on December 19, 1862, and to 1st lieutenant on January 17, 1863. He was killed October 17, 1863 at Manassas, VA during cavalry action there.

Oliver P. Bendall, student 1853-1854

Bendall attended the University of Virginia after leaving R-MC. He was a schoolteacher in Sussex County, VA in 1860, when he enlisted as a corporal in Co. E of the 16th VA Infantry on April 27, 1861. He transferred as a private to Co. G of the 5th VA Cavalry on September 14, 1861 after providing a substitute to the 16th VA Infantry. This cavalry company later became Co. A of the 13th VA Cavalry. Bendall surrendered on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House, VA.

After the war, he was a grocer in Dinwiddie County, VA in 1870. By 1881, he was a partner in Bendall Brothers, a leaf tobacco firm in Danville, VA, and he remained in the tobacco business until at least the mid-1890s. In the 1900 census, he was a farmer in Pittsylvania County, VA. He died July 4, 1904 and is buried in Green Hill Cemetery in Danville, VA.

John R. Billups, student 1839-1840

Billups was a farmer in Russell County, AL at the outbreak of the war. He joined Co. E of the 39th AL Infantry as a private on September 1, 1863. He was discharged on December 17, 1863.

After the war, Billups returned to farming in Russell County, AL. He died January 13, 1883.

Thomas Booth Gilliam, student 1846-1847

Gilliam, a lumber merchant in 1860 in North Carolina, was conscripted as a private at the age of 44 into Co. C of the 3rd NC Light Artillery, also known as the 40th Regiment North Carolina Troops, on March 5, 1864. He transferred from Co. C to Co. H on July 16, 1864.

After the war, he was a confectioner in the 1870 census and a merchant in the 1880 census in Wilson County, NC. He died on August 20, 1904 and is buried in Wilson County's Maplewood Cemetery.

Robert Caldwell Gillam, Class of 1841

Gillam was a prominent farmer in Abbeville County, SC prior to the war. He had served as road commissioner and the postmaster at Lodi. Gillam first enlisted as a private in the Co. B of the 5th SC Reserves Infantry, a 90 day company, in November 1862, but does not appear to have ever reported for duty. He enlisted as a private in Co. F of the 1st Regiment SC State Troops on August 1, 1863. He was hospitalized shortly after and then furloughed through January 1864.

After the war he continued to farm. Gillam died on September 18, 1897 and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Greenwood, SC.

Henry Joyner, student 1839-1840

Joyner is listed in the 1843-1844 catalog of the University of Pennsylvania as a medical student, and was a physician in Halifax County, NC at the start of the war. He enlisted as surgeon of the 30th NC Infantry on October 1, 1861. He resigned his commission on May 1, 1862. Joyner represented Halifax County in the North Carolina legislature during the remainder of the war, having been elected in 1862 and 1864. He took the oath of allegiance on June 29, 1865 in Raleigh, NC and applied for a presidential pardon, in which he claims he opposed secession.

Joyner served as a Councillor of State in 1866. He died between 1867 and 1870, and is buried in Poplar Grove Cemetery in Roanoke Rapids, Halifax County, NC.

John Garland Ayres, student 1859-1861

Ayres joined Captain Anderson's Company of the VA Light Artillery, the Richmond Howitzers, sometime prior to December 1863. He was transferred to the 14th VA Infantry in October 1864, but no further records for him have been found.

Ayres moved to California before 1871, when he appears on voter registration rolls, and was a stockbroker in Oakland, CA in the 1880 census. He is listed in San Francisco city directories through 1882. He is believed to have died about 1884 and to be buried in the San Francisco, CA area.

Claudius G. Phillips, Class of 1858

Phillips, a teacher in Nansemond County, VA in the 1860 census, enlisted as a private on May 18, 1861 in Co. F of the 9th VA Infantry, the Chuckatuck Light Artillery. He was hospitalized with typhoid fever at Chimborazo in Richmond, VA on May 31, 1862. He was detailed for hospital duty first as a clerk and later as a nurse. He was back with his company by April 1, 1864. His fate after 1864 is unknown at present.

Hunter B. Phillips, student 1859-1861

Phillips enlisted in Co. B of the 8th VA Infantry on June 13, 1861 as a private. He was hospitalized at Chimborazo in Richmond, VA with dysentery in April 1862 and transferred to the hospital at Richmond's  Camp Lee in May. He returned to duty in December 1862. He was detailed to the Quartermaster Department in Richmond on February 28, 1863, where he remained until discharged.He was discharged due to physical disability in October 1863, suffering from tuberculosis. Phillips died on January 15, 1864.

Robert Thomas Priddy, student 1862-1863

Priddy enlisted in the Staunton Hill Artillery, also known as Capt. Paris' Co. of VA Artillery or the VA Charlotte Light Artillery, as a private on November 27, 1863. His handwritten and signed oath of allegiance is dated April 23, 1865.

After the war, Priddy returned to Charlotte County, VA.  He is listed as a country merchant in the 1870 census, a dry goods merchant in 1880, and a farmer in 1900. Priddy died on December 20, 1931 and is buried in Merry Oaks Cemetery, the Priddy family cemetery located at the location of the former family home, at Keysville, VA.

Francis A. Prichard, student 1860-1861

Prichard enlisted as a sergeant in Co. A of the 20th VA Cavalry on December 25, 1862. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on September 14, 1863. Prichard was wounded at the Third Battle of Winchester (VA) on September 19, 1864, taken prisoner and sent to the Union Army's Depot Field Hospital, where he died the same day.

Joseph Richard Manson, student 1846-1849

Manson, a farmer in Greensville County, VA in 1860, enlisted as 2nd lieutenant in Co. I of the 12th VA Infantry on February 22, 1862. On September 14, 1862, he was taken prisoner at Crampton's Gap. MD, part of the Battle of South Mountain, and sent to the prison camp at Fort Delaware, DE. He was exchanged at Aiken's landing, VA on October 6, 1862. He was promoted to captain on July 15, 1864. Manson surrendered at Appomattox Court House, VA on April 9, 1865. He took the oath of allegiance in Richmond, VA on May 30, 1865 and was paroled.

After the war, Manson returned to farming in Greensville County, VA. He later moved to Brunswick County, VA, where in addition to farming he served as a public school trustee and Sunday school superintendent. Manson died in April, 1918 and is buried in the Manson family cemetery in Brunswick County, VA.

Richard Irby, Class of 1844

Irby was a farmer and ran a foundry making farming implements in Nottoway County, VA when he was commissioned as first lieutenant on April 22, 1861 in Co. G of the 18th VA Infantry, the Nottoway Grays. He resigned his commission in November 1861 when he was elected to the Virginia legislature as a representative in the House of Delegates. He resigned his elected office in the spring of 1862 and reenlisted.  He was promoted to captain on March 29, 1862, taking command of the company on April 23, 1862. He was wounded in the neck and breast on August 30, 1862 at the Battle of Second Manassas. He was hospitalized on September 4, 1862 in Farmville, VA, where his wound is recorded as a gunshot wound in the shoulder, and then sent to Lynchburg, VA. He was placed on detached service in January 1863, and resigned from his company on June 26, 1863 and was transferred to the commissary department retaining his rank as captain. He was captured at Blacks and Whites, now Blackstone, VA on April 19, 1865.  He took the oath of allegiance on July 17, 1865 at Nottoway Court House, VA.


After the war, he resumed farming in Nottoway County, VA. He became president of Petersburg Iron Works in 1867, and became a partner in  a Richmond stove manufacturing business in 1868.  Irby later moved to Ashland and was R-MC's Secretary and Treasurer from 1886 until 1902, resigning shortly before his death. He also served as a trustee of the college for 50 years. He was the author of the first history of R-MC in the late 1890s and the college has him to thank for collecting and preserving many of its old records, and for his extensive correspondence with alumni. Irby's History of  Randolph-Macon College, Virginia (available online) only briefly touches upon the war and its effect upon the college. The Captain, as he was known to the Randolph-Macon College community for the rest of his life, published a regimental history in 1878, Historical Sketch of the Nottoway Grays: Afterwards Company G, Eighteenth Virginia Regiment, Army of Northern Virginia (available online), which is in the College Archives. The college's copy is inscribed to “His old friend and fellow Pilgrim,” Leroy S. Edwards. The Captain died on July 4, 1902 and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Blackstone, Nottoway County, VA.

William Addison Branch, student 1861-1863

Branch, son of long-time R-MC trustee Thomas Branch and brother of Thomas Plummer Branch and James Read Branch, enlisted as a private on September 1, 1863 in his brother James' company, the VA Branch Light Artillery, later to become Pegram's Co. VA Light Artillery. He was detailed as Acting Adjutant from Fall 1863 until Summer 1864, while his older brother James still commanded the company. He is listed on a roll of prisoners in Richmond, VA on April 17, 1865. Branch took the Oath of Allegiance in Richmond, VA on May 24, 1865.

Shortly after the war's end, he emigrated to California and became a rancher. Branch died November 16, 1880 in Modesto, CA and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

Thomas Plummer Branch, student 1854-1855

Branch, son of long-time R-MC trustee Thomas Branch and brother of James Read Branch and William Addison Branch, attended the University of Virginia for a year after leaving R-MC. He was working in the banking firm of Thomas Branch and Sons in Petersburg, VA at the start of the war. Branch enlisted in Co. D of the 5th VA Cavalry on May 27, 1861. He was commissioned as 2nd lieutenant in his older brother James Read Branch's artillery unit sometime before July 1, 1862, and served much of his time on detached service as an enrolling officer in Petersburg, VA. He was promoted to major and became Acting Assistant Adjutant General to General Robert Ransom on June 16, 1863. He was captured May 16, 1864 at Drewry's Bluff, VA and sent via Fort Monroe to the prison camp at Point Lookout, MD on May 18, 1864. On June 23, 1864 he was sent to the prison camp at Fort Delaware, DE. He was transferred to Hilton Head, SC and on to Morris Island, SC and became one of the group of imprisoned officers known as the "Immortal Six Hundred," of whom only 300 would survive the war. Branch, one of the 300 survivors of the 600, was exchanged on December 3, 1864 at Fort Pulaski, GA. He returned to service on General Rosser's staff and surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war, he moved to Augusta, Georgia where he was involved in cotton, banking and railroads. Branch died on May 14, 1900 and is buried in Augusta's Magnolia Cemetery