James D. Isbell, student 1834-1835

James D. Isbell enlisted in Company G of the 3rd VA Cavalry as a private on May 18, 1861.  He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant September 15, 1861 and to captain on March 17, 1862.  He died of disease on August 5, 1862.

The 1860 census for Cumberland County, VA lists him as a farmer and indicates he was a fairly wealthy landowner and slaveholder.

Robert Alexander Stainback, student 1860-1861

Robert Alexander Stainback enlisted as a private in the 56th VA Infantry, Co. E, on July 10, 1861. He was taken prisoner at Fort Donelson, TN, and sent to Camp Morton, IN in March 1862. He was exchanged at Vicksburg, MS, on August 24, 1862.  Stainback was promoted to 1st lieutenant on December 31, 1863 and then to captain in August, 1864. He was taken prisoner at Sailor's Creek, VA, on April 6, 1865 and sent to Johnson's Island, OH, where he remained until he took the Oath of Allegiance on June 20, 1865.

After the war, he moved to Clarke County, MS, where the 1880 census lists his occupation as merchant. The 1888 Southern Insurance Directory lists him as the sole insurance agent in Quitman, Clarke County, MS.

Nicholas Everett Edmunds, student 1858-1859

Edmunds enlisted as a private in Company E of the 56th Virginia Infantry on July 10, 1861. He ws wounded in the head June 27, 1862 at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, part of the Seven Days' Battles, and hopitalized in Richmond. He was subsequently discharged from the infantry and then sometime in 1863 joined Company B of the 32nd VA Cavalry Battalion, where he was promoted to 1st lieutenant. By late 1863, he was lieutenant of Company E of the 41st VA Cavalry Battalion, then captain of Company H and then captain of Company I. He moved to Co. G of the 9th VA Cavalry, and he surrendered at Appomattox Court House as commander of the 9th VA Cavalry.

After the war, he moved first to Mississippi and then to Texas, where he taught school.  He died April 6, 1920 and was buried first in the Wilkinson Family Cemetery in Wilkinson Valley, Bell County, TX. His remains were moved to Cedar Knob Cemetery in Bell County, TX when the valley was flooded for a reservoir.

Gregory Weldon Claiborne, student 1854-1855

Son of a Methodist minister and younger brother of Dr. John Herbert Claiborne, Gregory Weldon Claiborne studied medicine at the University of Virginia and in New York City after leaving Randolph-Macon. He enlisted as a private in Company A of the 12th VA Infantry on April 18, 1861, and served as Hospital Steward under his brother, Dr. John Herbert Claiborne. He transferred to the 5th Virginia Cavalry, Co. D, on September 1, 1861, and then transferred Co. B of the 13th VA Cavalry on May 15, 1862, serving as Assistant Surgeon. He later was promoted to Surgeon and served in the Confederate Navy. He died January 25, 1866 of disease acquired during his military service, and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

John Williams Corbin Davis, student 1857-1858

Younger brother of Robert Beale Davis and Wilbur Fisk Davis, John W. C. Davis joined the "Potomac Rifles," Company K of the 40th VA Infantry, on May 25, 1861 with his older half-brother Robert. He was wounded on June 27, 1862 at the Battle of Gaines' Mill (VA), part of the Seven Days' Battles. He returned to duty in October, 1862 and then was discharged for disability and assigned to the Engineer Corps, serving as a  topographical engineer.

After the war, he was an instructor in mathematics at the University of Virignia in 1870, was involved in the founding of Virginia Tech, served in the state Senate, and by 1880 is listed in the census as a  farmer at Hickory Hill, a plantation in Westmoreland County, VA he and his surviving brother, Wilbur Fisk Davis, inherited in Westmoreland County, VA after the war, where he died June 19, 1913. Davis is buried with other family members in the graveyard at the Hickory Hill plantation in Westmoreland County.

Robert Beale Davis, student 1848-1849

Robert Beale Davis, older half-brother of Wilbur Fisk Davis and John Williams Corbin Davis, studied law and attended the University of Virginia after leaving Randolph-Macon. He was practicing law in Westmoreland County, VA, when he enlisted on May 25, 1861 as 1st lieutenant in the 40th VA Infantry, Co. K, the "Potomac Rifles." He was promoted to captain on April 23, 1862.

He was killed leading his men in battle October 1, 1864, near Peebles' Farm in Dinwiddie County, part of the Siege of Petersburg, VA, and buried by the Union Army. According to correspondence from General U.S. Grant to General Robert E. Lee and from General Lee to the captain's mother, his body was disinterred in January 1865 and returned to his family under a flag of truce, and was ultimately buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.

Joseph Claiborne Davis, Preparatory Department student, late 1850s

Joseph Claiborne Davis, younger brother of William Hoomes Davis and Richard Beale Davis, enlisted as a private in the "Richmond Howitzers," the 1st Company, Virginia Light Artillery. He was taken prisoner of war and was imprisoned at Hart's Island, NY, where he was released on June 20, 1865 upon taking the Oath of Allegiance. He returned to Virginia, attended the University of Virginia and then became a farmer. Davis died January 2, 1926 in Danville, VA and is buried in Blandfrod Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

Richard Beale Davis, student 1860-1861

Richard Beale Davis, brother of William Hoomes Davis and Joseph Claiborne Davis, enlisted as a private in Company E of the 12th Virginia Infantry on April 2, 1862. He was wounded by a shell two months later on June 2, 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines, VA. He was wounded again, in the right arm, on July 30, 1864 in Petersburg, VA during the Battle of the Crater. He surrendered with the remnants of his company at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

After the war, Davis attended the University of Virginia and became a lawyer in Petersburg, VA. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1875-1877 and 1901-1903, and also served as a trustee of Randolph-Macon College. He died July 11, 1917 and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA.

William G. DeGraffenried(t), Class of 1846

At the beginning of the war, DeGraffenried (variantly spelled "DeGraffenriedt") was a physician, county coroner, and small slaveholder in Colorado County, Texas, where he and his brother Thomas Tscharner DeGraffenried, also a doctor, had moved ca. 1855. In 1859, he left medicine to serve as principal of Columbus Seminary which the next year evolved into Columbus High School. In the fall of 1860, DeGraffenreid left teaching to return to medicine.

On August 17, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company A of the 5th Texas Cavalry. He was discharged on October 26, 1861 and the joined the Field & Staff of the 3rd TX Infantry as asssistant surgeon. Degraffenried resigned on May 30, 1862.  He died in Columbus, Texas on December 3, 1867.

Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, student 1857-1861

Joseph Chappell Hutcheson, brother of John William Hutcheson, enlisted as a private in the 21st VA Infantry, Co. C, on June 20, 1861 and served through at least June of 1862. There is then a gap in his service record until he enlisted in October, 1864 in Co. E of the 14th VA Infantry. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on June 15, 1862. He surrendered as captain of his unit at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 and was paroled on May 9, 1865.

Hutcheson received a law degree from the University of Virginia after the war and moved to Texas, where he practiced law and was elected first to the Texas legislature and then to the U.S. Congress, where he served from 1893-1897.  He died May 25, 1924 and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, TX.