CSA The Clarksville Blues

The infantry company after having been in camp in this place for more than a week, received orders on Monday afternoon to repair to their Rendezvous in the city of Richmond. They left Clarksville by the Roanoke Valley Railroad on Thursday morning and doubtless reached Richmond in the afternoon of the same day.

Mecklenburg feels proud of them, as she has the right to do. They are the flower of her youth and the prime of her manhood. They go to the post of military duty not without some preparation for the glorious, yet toilsome arduous labors before them. Their gallant and skillful officers have bestowed every attention with a view to familiarize themselves with the arts of war, and it is our belief that when they enter the encampment at Richmond they will exhibit a degree of proficiency in all the exercises of a soldier, which wil (sic) surprise as well as delight the superior Officer of the army.

More than this, they go to the post of danger with stout hearts and determined spirits, resolved to drive back the dastard invader from the concecrated soil of Virginia, or to die in the attempt.

As a matter of interest to the public of Mecklenburg we append the names of the officers and privates of this company:

Captain—G. W. Finley.
1st Lieutenant—G. J. Dabbs
2nd Lieutenant—W.W. Wood.
3rd Lieutenant—N. Talley, Jr.
1st Sergeant—H. W. Carter.
2nd Sergeant—J.E. Benson
3rd Sergeant—C.W. Tisdale.
4th Sergeant—W. H. Yancey.
5th Sergeant—G. A. Wilkerson.
1st Corporal—M. A. Barner
2nd Corporal—V. V. Vaughan.
3rd Corporal—W. J. Moore.
4th Corporal—J. L. Haskins
Gautermaster (sic)—W. A. Hester
Privates—Phile Allcot, B. C. Anderson, B. A. Arnold, J. D. Arnold, W. J. Averett, J.G. Baptist, D. E. Bacon, S.H. Bardonr, E. Beal, J. L. Binford, J. L. Blanks, E. B. Brewer, J. R. Burch, R. Burrough, A. Burwell, C. S. Burwell, J. R. Clack, H. Clyborne, J. Daniel, S. Davis, C. H. Dunkley, F. B. Easley, W. A. Elam, H. E. Elam, P. G. Elam, W. L. Ellington, G. B. Finch, C. Flournoy, D. M. Garner, J. W. Geoghegan, J. Goode, J. R. Graves, E. T. Greene, R. H. Gregory, E. K. Harris, W. A. Harris, E. K. Heggesson, J. O. House, C. W. Hudson, F. A. Jeter, J. H. Johnson, S. Lackley, W. J. Lawson, C. (?) Lewellen, J. T. Lewis, Thomas Lewis, G. K. Ligon, F. I. Lipfort, A. C. Loafman, H.B(?) Loafman, W. F. Loafman, W. H. Mcfarlin, G. H. Moore, T. B. Nelson, Joe Newton, W. Newton, C. N. Park, T. A. Park, B. P. Phillips, Isiah Puryear, R. A. Puryear, Jr., R. S. Powell, J. Y. Ramsey, W. D. Ramsey, S. T. Reynolds, C. A. Riggins, J. T. Richardson, Archie Saddler, Albert Saddler, R. C. Scott, W. D. Shelton, M. Sizemore, W. J. A. Smith, J. A. Smith, J. W. Spencer, J. M. Swan, R. H. Taylor, E. A. Vaughan, C. B. Watkins, W. M. Watkins, E. Wiles, E. A Williams, J. N. Woltz, C. Yancey, R. H. Yancey, J. L. Yancey, L. G. Yancey.

(end)

Submitted 2000 Feb 11 by John Elliot Brewer

Source: The article appeared in The Tobacco Plant, a newspaper published in Clarksville, under date of May 1861.

Note from John Elliott Brewer:
I have a photocopy of a newspaper article which reprinted the 1861 story. The date and name of the publication do not show on my photocopy, which was passed on to me by my great-aunt, Mattie Pearl Brewer Walston, the youngest child of E. B. Brewer (above), who was my great-grandfather. The other underlined name, W.J.A. Smith, was E. B. Brewer’s brother-in-law-to-be. E. B. married Virginia Ann (Jennie) Elliott and W. J. A. Smith married her sister Nannie Eugenia (Lougenia) Elliott in a double-wedding ceremony in Mecklenburg County VA on 21 December 1869. Jennie and Lougenia’s brother, Lewis, enlisted in the Clarksville Blues on 14 October 1864 in Richmond VA.

Here is how I fit into the picture:

John Wyatt Brewer = Ruth H. Atkinson
Edward Byron Brewer = Virginia Ann Elliott
John Hamett Brewer = Effie Raven Capps
Hamett Elliott Brewer = Jannie Eleanor Jackson
John Elliott Brewer