Friday, January 31, 2014

Henry M. Montgomery, student 1861-1863

Montgomery enlisted on November 1, 1863 as a private in Captain Epes' Company, Johnston Heavy Artillery (VA).

After the war, Montgomery returned to Brunswick County, living with his father, a Methodist minister and 1837 graduate of the college. He attended the University of Virginia in 1868-1869. His occupation in the 1870 census is farmer, but at the time of his death on November 27, 1874, he is listed as a lawyer in Brunswick County,, VA.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Richard A. Benson, student 1839-1840

Benson, a farmer in Bibb County, GA, enlisted as a private in Co. D of the 30th GA Infantry, the Huguenin Rifles, on September 25, 1861. He served as Acting Commissary Sergeant for the regiment during most of his time. Benson was discharged on September 26, 1862 when his one-year enlistment term was over.

After the war, he farmed in Bibb County until his death on October 10, 1877. Benson is buried in Macon, GA in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

James G. Fanning, Class of 1844

Fanning was a teacher in Talbot County, GA 1850. By 1855, he was living in Union County, AR. Fanning, a farmer, enlisted as a corporal in Co. F of the 19th AR Infantry on an unknown date. Fanning was discharged on June 9, 1862 at Camp Priceville, MS. There is some indication that Fanning may have served as a recruiting officer.

After the war, he continued to farm in Union County, AR, where he also served as county surveyor from 1872-1874 and from 1878-1884. Family histories list that Fanning died in Ravenna, TX around 1885.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Robert Riddick Allen, student 1862-1863

Allen enlisted as a private in Co. C of the 13th VA Cavalry on March 1, 1864, the company in which his older brother Edward (RMC student 1861-1862) was serving. He was paroled at Lynchburg, VA on April 15, 1865.

After the war, Allen returned home to Suffolk, VA, where he became a merchant. Allen died November 15, 1920 and is buried in Suffolk, VA in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Monday, January 27, 2014

John Conyers Allen, student 1858-1861

Allen, a native of Barnwell County, SC, enlisted as a private in Co. F of the 3rd SC Cavalry on July 15, 1862.  He likely had enlisted earlier when the company was an independent cavalry company, but no records supporting this have been found.  During 1864, he spent much of the year detailed to the Signal Corps.

After the war, he returned to farming in Barnwell and Hampton Counties, SC. Allen died on November 20, 1907 and is buried in the cemetery of Swallow Savannah Untied Methodist Church in Allendale, SC.

Friday, January 24, 2014

James Madison Anderson, student 1856-1857

Anderson, a Methodist minister, was appointed chaplain of the 40th VA Infantry on June 12, 1862. His letter of resignation, dated November 14, 1863 and accepted on November 20, 1863, states that while serving as chaplain, he had not  been able to study for and take the examinations required to continue as a Methodist minister.

Reverend Anderson did pass the examinations and remained a minister in the Virginia Conference for the rest of his life. He died on February 4, 1906. He is buried in the cemetery at White Stone United Methodist Church in White Stone, Lancaster County, VA.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Lawrence Frederick Battle, student 1853-1854

Battle, a farmer in Nash County, NC, enlisted as a private in Co. I of the 30th NC Infantry on January 1, 1862. he furnished a substitute on September 1, 1862 and returned to Nash County. He then served as the enrolling officer for Nash County, then Franklin County, and held the rank of second lieutenant. In April 1864 after being transferred to Franklin County, he attempted to resign so he could return to Nash County. In his letter he indicated he suffered from rheumatism, needed to oversee his property and slaves, and had been threatened by army deserters. The resignation was approved.

Battle was a farmer after the war and served one two-year term in the North Carolina legislature as senator in the 9th district from 1870-1872. He died sometime around 1900.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

William Townes, Jr., student 1852-1853

Townes raised Co. G of the 38th VA Infantry, the Mecklenburg Rifles on May 18, 1861 and became captain.On April 16, 1862, he was hospitalized in Williamsburg, VA with diptheria and was given a sick furlough and was not present when the company was reorganized later that month.. He officially left the company on April 29, 1862 when he was not reelected as captain. In a letter dated January 21, 1864 to the bureau of conscription, he requests to be made enrolling officer on Mecklenburg County rather than be put back into service because ill health caused by typhoid fever had caused him to earlier leave the service and he had provided a substitute. No further war record has been found.

Townes remained in Mecklenburg County, VA where he was a farmer, miller and landlord. He died on April 26, 1910 and was originally buried in the Wimbush Family Cemetery, which is located on an island in Kerr Lake. His remains were reinterred in La Crosse Cemetery in Mecklenburg County.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

William Hunt Townes, student 1850-1851

Townes was a farmer in Granville County, NC when he enlisted on April 2, 1861 as 2nd lieutenant in Co. B of the 12th North Carolina Infantry. He left the regiment on May 1, 1862 when he was defeated for reelection. On October 19, 1862, he mustered in as 2nd lieutenant of Co. D of the 55th NC Infantry. He was wounded on August 18, 1864 at the Battle of Globe Tavern, Virginia, also known as the Second Battle of the Weldon Railroad. Townes died from his wounds on September 27, 1864 and is buried in Machpelah Cemetery in Townsville, NC.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Walter S. Tucker, student 1851-1852

Tucker was a merchant in Halifax County, VA when he enlisted on May 20, 1861 as 2nd lieutenant in Co. C of the 3rd VA Cavalry. He resigned on August 10, 1861 due to ill health.

After the war, he moved to Wake County, NC and farmed. He died December 18, 1879 after an accident with a cotton gin and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Felix H. G. Taylor, Class of 1843

Taylor was a wealthy planter with holdings in Louisiana and Arkansas before the war. During the war, he served in Louisiana's Confederate legislature as a senator. He also enlisted on March 8, 1862 as a private in Co. C of the Louisiana Confederate Guards, a militia regiment, serving until at least May 1862..

After the war, he remained a farmer in East Carroll Parish, LA He is listed in the 1880 as deputy sheriff and was postmaster in Providence, LA from 1885 until his death on February 7, 1898.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

William B. Featherstone, student 1855-1856

Featherstone was a farmer in Lunenburg County, VA when he enlisted as a private in Captain Allen's Company of the Lunenburg Light Artillery on February 2, 1863. In late 1863 and early 1864, he was detailed as a nurse. He surrendered and was paroled at Appomattox Court House, VA on April 9, 1865.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

John S. Feild, student 1840-1841

Feild was a farmer in Mecklenburg County, VA when he enlisted on July 1, 1861 as 1st lieutenant of Co. I of the 38th VA Infantry. Feild also served as recruiting officer and did quartermaster duties for the company. He was not reelcted lieutenant and left the company in April 1862.

Feild returned to farming in Mecklenburg County after the war. He died on March 13, 1910 and is buried in Saint James Episcopal Church Cemetery in Boydton, VA.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

James L. Moss, student 1850-1851

Moss was a clerk and bookkeeper when he enlisted as a private in Co. A of the 3rd VA Cavalry on May 14, 1861. On June 21, 1861, he was discharged for disability due to rheumatism. In November 1862, he applied for a clerk position in the war department, but by March 1863, Moss was serving in Co. B of the 4th Battalion Heavy Artillery. He again requested a clerk position, but it is unknown whether his request was granted.

After the war, he moved to Mississippi, where he was a farmer in Carroll in 1870 and a dry goods merchant in Winona in 1880. Moss died on September 26, 1883 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Winona, MS.

Monday, January 13, 2014

John Robert Moore, student 1861-1863

Moore enlisted as a private in Co. B of the 6th VA Cavalry on September 1, 1863. He was wounded during the Battle of Yellow Tavern, VA, on May 11, 1864. He is listed as absent without leave from December 1864 through March 1865, when he was officially declared a deserter and known to have returned to Rappahannock County. Moore was paroled at Winchester, VA on April 29, 1865.

After the war, he farmed in Rappahannock County, VA. Moore died December 8, 1896 and is buried in Rappahannock County in the Moore Family Cemetery.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Andrew Jackson Davis, student 1859-1861

Davis enlisted as a private in Co. B of the 56th VA Infantry on June 25, 1861. He was discharged on November 26, 1861 at the request of his older brother George, who was captain of the company, whose letter requesting Andrew's discharge indicates it is at the request of his mother so that Andrew could recover from typhoid fever and then resume his studies at R. M. College. As RMC closed for the duration of the war in January 1863, Davis went to VMI in February 1863 and joined Company C as a private. He fought at the Battle of New Market with an artillery unit. Davis left the cadets in February 1865 and is believed to have served in the Carolinas for the remained of the war.

After the war, he returned to Mecklenburg county and farmed. Davis died on October 15, 1915 and is buried in Mecklenburg County in the Davis Family Cemetery at Oakland.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

William Norfleet Carter, Class of 1855

Carter is listed as a teacher in Mecklenburg County, VA in the R-MC Catalogs in the late 1850s. He enlisted as a private in Co. A of the 3rd VA Cavalry, the Boydton Cavalry, on June 28, 1861.  He was captured on July 10, 1862 and exchanged on august 5, 1862 at Aiken's Landing, VA.

After the war, he returned to Mecklenburg County, VA and served as agent for his father, a farmer, and later was a farmer himself. He applied for a pension in 1902. Carter died on August 10, 1920 and is buried in the Boydton Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Boydton, VA.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

James B. Dugger, Jr., Class of 1855

Dugger was a clerk in Camden, Ouachita County, Arkansas when he enlisted as aprivate in Co. C of the 1st AR Infantry, the Camden Knights. He was discharged for disability on October 14, 1861. On May 8, 1862, he enlisted as a sergeant in Co. E of the 1st AR Infantry and was appointed quartermaster for the regiment in June 1862. This company later became Co. E of the 37th AR Infantry.  Dugger's fate after 1862 is unknown at this time.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

John W. Wilkinson (a.k.a. Wilkerson), student 1856-1857

Wilkinson, whose name variantly appears as Wilkerson, enlisted as a sergeant in Co. C of the 20th VA Infantry on May 20, 186 and served until it was disbanded. On August 1, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Co. G of the 9th VA Cavalry, serving until the end of the war.  He was captured and paroled on April 17, 1865 at Blacks and Whites, now Blackstone, in Nottoway County, VA.

After the war, Wilkinson returned to Lunenburg County, VA and farmed. He died on January 29, 1908 and is buried in Antioch United Methodist Church Cemetery in Lunenburg County, VA.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Edward Washington, student 1855-1856

Washington was a farmer in Hampshire County, VA (now WV), when he enlisted as a private in Co. K of the 13th VA Infantry, the Hampshire Guards, on May 18, 1861. He was hospitalized with pneumonia on December 31, 1861 in Danville, VA. On September 1, 1862 following the 2nd Battle of Manassas, he was wounded in the shoulder at Chantilly, VA. Washington was detailed as a courier on February 7, 1863 and was still listed as a courier in the spring of 1864.

After the war, he returned to Hampshire County, WV and farmed. Washington died on June 2, 1901 and is buried in Romney, WV in Indian Mound Cemetery.

Friday, January 3, 2014

David Prince, student 1860-1861

Prince enlisted as a private in the Huger Grays, Co. F of the 12th VA Infantry, on May 8, 1861. He was hospitalized on June 15, 1862 at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, VA with dysentery and then transferred tot he Confederate States Hospital in Petersburg, VA, where he deserted on September 19, 1862. He is listed as AWOL through the fall of 1862, but returned in November. Prince furnished a substitute on March 31, 1863 and was discharged.

After the war, he was a farmer in Greensville County, VA. Prince died in 1880.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Francis Asbury Pinckard, student 1860-1861

Pinckard enlisted as a sargeant on June 1, 1861 in Co. F of the 47th VA Infantry. By late 1864, his rank is listed on the rolls as private.

After the war, he attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and graduated in 1867. He practiced medicine and farmed in Northumberland County, VA until his death in Pinckardsville, VA in November 1903.