Samuel Nicholson, student 1847-1848

NIcholson graduated from the Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College (later the Medical College of Virginia) in 1851. He enlisted as 2nd lieutenant in Co. I of the 12th Virginia on February 22, 1862. Dr. Nicholson was court-martialed on February 23, 1863 for being AWOL  and allowed to resign his commission, stating that he had a frail constitution and had been ill from consumption and jaundice, and also that he was needed to care for his siblings and his deceased father's property. these reasons were not accepted; however, his offer to enroll a replacement allowed him to resign, and he furnished a substitute in March 1863.

After the war, he resided in Brunswick County, VA and Sussex County, VA, where he died in his native
Wakefield, VA on July 17, 1906.

Thomas Benjamin Moore Perkins, student 1856-1857

Perkins was a farmer in Nelson County, VA before the war. he enlisted as a private in Co. H of the 49th VA Infantry in June 1864. He was taken prisoner on March 25, 1865 during the Battle of Fort Stedman near Petersburg, VA and sent to the prison camp at Point Lookout, MD. Perkins was released on June 16, 1865 after taking the oath of allegiance.

He returned to Nelson County, VA, where he returned to farming and was a prominent citizen until his death in January 1913. In 1872, he was assistant principal in the Elmington Military and Classical School. He later served as postmaster, justice of the peace and magistrate in Nelson County. He is reported to be buried in the churchyard of Elmington Methodist Church in Nelson County, VA.

Algernon Epes Campbell, student 1845-1846

Campbell, who graduated from the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA in 1851, was a physician and weathy farmer in Nottoway, VA at the beginning of the war. Although he did not serve in the military, he was appointed in November 1859 to enlist volunteers for the county militia companies. Additionally, in November 1861, he was appointed as Nottoway County's Collector of Confederate War Tax. A July 1, 1864 article in the Richmond Examiner states that during a Yankee raid, Algernon Campbell's home in Nottoway County was plundered and everything taken. He apparently did not recover financially; in 1865, the family plantation home, Blendon, passed out of Campbell's hands. In an 1868 lawsuit, his wife indicated Campbell was "insolvent and has made no provision whatever for the maintenance of your complainant and her children three in number."  Campbell died on January 4, 1870.

Edwin Lyell, student 1849-1850

Lyell was a farmer in Richmond County, VA when he enlisted on September 23, 1861 as a private in Co. C of the 41st VA Infantry. He was discharged shortly afterwards by the medical board due to "feeble health" and exempted from further service.

Lyell returned to farming in Richmond County, VA where he died on Decemebr 12, 1907. He is buried in Richmond County, VA in the cemetery at Calvary United Methodist Church.

Benjamin Franklin Lockhart, student 1843-1844

Lockhart, who had served from 1852-1854 in the North Carolina General Assembly, was a wealthy farmer in Garysburg, Northampton County, NC when the war began. He enlisted in the 4th (Later 14th) NC Infantry on June 3, 1861, serving as quartermaster with the rank of 1st lieutenant. He was discharged on August 20, 1861 when his appointment as quartermaster was not confirmed. Legal documents indicate he probably remained in Northampton County, NC for the rest of the war.

Lockhart's 1867 application for a presidential pardon states that he served for 5 months. He was granted a pardon by President Andrew Johnson. At some point after 1870, he moved from Northampton County, NC to Weldon, Halifax County, NC where he died on Feb. 7, 1877 and is buried in Cedarwood Cemetery. Apoplexy was listed as the probable cause of death.

Edward Sanders, student 1847-1851

Sanders, a farmer in Johnston County, NC, enlisted as a private in February 1862 in Co. I of the 3rd NC Cavalry. He also served in Co. F of the 16th NC Cavalry Battalion, Co. F of the 4th NC Cavalry, Co. H of the 7th NC Cavalry, and finally Co. D of the 3rd NC Cavalry. In September of 1864, he was on horse detail as he had no horse, and he was declared absent without leave although he claimed to have been discharged by civil authority for a mail contract.

After the war, he returned to farming in Johnston County, NC, moving to Harnett County, NC by 1880. Sanders died on January 22, 1898 and is buried in Sardis Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Linden, NC.

Edward H. Toone, student 1853-54 and 1856-57

Toone, older brother of James T. Toone, attended RMC for one year, 1853-54 and appears to have left and then returned as he is listed in the 1856-57 catalog under the category of "irregulars." He graduated fromt he Medical College of Virginia in March 1860 and is listed in the 1860 Mecklenburg County, VA census as a doctor. Toone enlisted  on July 8, 1861 as 2nd lieutenant in Co. I of the 38th VA Infantry. In April, 1862 he was demoted to Jr. 2nd lieutenant when he failed to be reelected to his rank. In November 1861, he was granted leave due to the scarcity of physicians to attend "a very ill young lady" in Prince William County, VA.

During the war in 1864, brothers Edward H. and James T. Toone married two sisters, Ruth D. and Harriet(t) S. Sheppard in Richmond, VA. Edward H, Toone died sometime before 1872, when his widow remarried.

James Thomas Toone, student 1858-1859

Toone, younger brother of Edward H. Toone, enlisted on May 14, 1861 as a sergeant in the Boydton Cavalry, Co. A of the 3rd VA Cavalry. In February of 1862, he was granted a leave for the purpose of trying to recruit a company for the 14th VA Infantry, an attempt which appears to have been unsuccessful as he rejoined his company. In July and August, 1863, he was absent due to illness, and he was examined in September and granted a furlough due to dysentery and bowel problems.  From October 3, 1863 through 1864, he was detailed as a clerk in Richmond, VA in General Elzey's office, and he was hospitalized in Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, VA from October 9-November 10, 1863.

After the war, he was a farmer in Chesterfield County, VA in 1870. Toone's widow, Harriet Sheppard Toone, listed on her application for a widow's pension that he died from "stomach trouble" in Richmond, VA on September 11, 1898.

Charles W. Spratley, student 1853-1854

Spratley, older brother of Eugene Spratley, was a merchant in Greensville County, VA when he enlisted on may 4, 1861 as a sergeant in the Greensville Guard, which became Co. F, 5th Battn. (Archer's) VA Infantry. He was elected 1st lieutenant on February 17, 1862. On June 12, 1862, he transferred as a private to Co. E of the 5th VA Cavalry, which later became Co. H of the 13th VA Cavalry. Spratley was wounded during the at Brandy Station, VA on October 11, 1863 and was sent to the hospital in Richmond, VA and then to Petersburg, VA. He did not return to his regiment until late spring 1864. He was detailed as regiment post master in the summer of 1864. No further record of him has been found and he did not surrender at Appomattox Court House with his regiment. He was listed as killed at Brandy Station in a January 11, 1898 letter to the editor published in the Richmond, VA Dispatch written by the company captain, William N. Blow. This may be an error or Spratley may have died later as a result of that wound or in a later engagement.

Charles Gibbon, student 1853-1854

Gibbon was a farmer in Brunswick County, VA when he enlisted on May 4, 1861 as a private in the 5th Battn. (Archer's) VA Infantry. In December 1861, he was transferred to the Dinwiddie Cavalry, 2nd Co. I of the 3rd VA Cavalry.


After the war, he returned to farming in Brunswick County, VA. In January 1871, Gibbon's 860 acre farm in Brunswick County was advertised for sale at a bankruptcy auction. By 1880, Gibbon was living in Petersburg, VA and was a salesman of agricultural implements. He died on October 11, 1898 in Petersburg, VA.