Biographies of VMI Cadets from Augusta County, Virginia

Genealogy Trails logo

Augusta County
Biographies of VMI Cadets

ARCHIBALD MAGILL FAUNTLEROY was graduated in 1857. He was the son of Colonel Thomas Turner Fauntleroy, of the United States Army (later Brigadier-General in C. S. A.), and his wife Ann Magill.
After graduating at the Institute, he studied medicine at the University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania, receiving the degree of M. D. from the last-named institution. On June 23, 1860, he was appointed assistant surgeon in the United States Army, which position he resigned, on May 9, 1861, to enter the Confederate service. He was surgeon on the staff of General Joseph E. Johnston; afterwards, medical director of North Carolina; and, at the close of the War, he was medical director of the Valley of Virginia.
After the War, he was elected Superintendent of the Western Insane Asylum, at Staunton, Virginia, where he served with great distinction till his death, June 19, 1886. He was at one time President of the Virginia Medical Society, and was the author of several monographs on medical subjects. He was a noted surgeon during the War, and made a great reputation by his “Hip joint operation.” When he died, he was among the most distinguished Alienists of this country.
Dr. Fauntleroy married Sallie Conrad, daughter of the Hon. Robert Y. Conrad, of Winchester, Virginia, who died in 1908, leaving four daughters and four sons.
(Source: The Military History of the Virginia Military Institute from 1839-1861, by: Jennings C. Wise, Publ: 1915. Transcribed by: Helen Coughlin)

C. W. GAY, (Augusta Co) OF STAUNTON, VIRGINIA;
PRIVATE, DANVILLE ARTILLERY.
Charles Wyndham Gay, eldest son of the late Charles S. Gay, a retired merchant of Richmond, and Margaret S. Gay, formerly Erskine, from the county of Greenbrier, was born on the 8th of August, 1841, in the city of Richmond. In the year 1854 he removed with his parents to the vicinity of Staunton, where the family still resides.

From his earliest childhood Charlie manifested those qualities of mind and heart which, as he developed into manhood, gained for him the affection and esteem of all who knew him, and so well* fitted him to adorn society. Tenderly and indulgently reared,—the idol of a loving household,—there was found no trace of effeminacy in the man, unless it were a womanly purity of character. His devotion to his mother and his sisters seemed to be for him a talisman that kept him throughout his boyish history unspotted from the world, and gave him in after-years that chivalrous regard for the sex which is an essential element of true manhood, and was for Charlie an effectual safeguard against all that was gross. His tastes were all refined. His fondness for the classics, and especially for poetic literature, ancient and modern, was shown at an early age, and ripened into an appreciation of, and familiarity with, the beautiful in letters, which would have done credit to any devotee of the aesthetic arts. From his boyhood he was a reader and a student, and when he first left home for boarding-school, his scholarly attainments gave him place among his compeers beyond his years.

At the school of Mr. William Dinwiddie, in Albemarle, where we find him from 1859 to 1861, he was a universal favorite. He was social in his disposition, and finding congenial companionship among his school-fellows, young gentlemen from the Southern States, his kindly and cordial manners won him many friends. And never were his genial qualities displayed to more advantage than when at Christmas-time he would gather those friends beneath his father's hospitable roof and devote himself entirely to their enjoyment.

In the spring of 1861, when it became apparent that the war-clouds, so long impending, were about to burst upon his native State, young Gay did not hesitate for a moment as to his course. His proud spirit could not brook the thought of tame submission to tyranny, nor would he consent to remain in ease and security while others sought the tented field. With no personal or political inducements, with a physical constitution and a temperament all unsuited for the life of a soldier, caring not to inquire the causes of the struggle, waiting not to calculate the prospects of success, he sprung to arms at the first summons of Virginia, knowing only that her soil was threatened with insolent invasion, and animated by a sentiment of patriotic duty as lofty and devoted as ever inspired warrior of old to deeds of heroism.

On the very day that Virginia cast in her fortunes with her sister States, Charlie threw aside his books and hastened home, resolved to volunteer at once as a private soldier. In vain did his friends urge the condition of his health as a reason why he should seek some position less exposed. His chosen place was in the front of battle, and finding his purpose unshaken, they only prevailed upon him to postpone enlistment until he could gain some acquaintance with his new sphere of action at the Virginia Military Institute.

He went to Lexington and entered as a cadet, and for some two months devoted all his energies to perfecting himself in the various drills and acquiring the elements of military science. But longer than this he would not stay, and in the latter part of June wrote his mother, who had urged him to remain until the close of the half-session, that after mature consideration he had concluded it was his duty to leave, and that he deemed it more honorable to take the field as a private soldier than to wait until a commission should be procured at the instance of his friends. Accordingly, Charlie, together with a younger brother, left the Institute, and, tarrying only a few days at home, both enlisted on the 1st of July, 1861, as members of the University Volunteers, commanded by Captain J. P. Crane. This company was composed almost entirely of students of the University of Virginia, of whom no small proportion were graduates, and no command in the army possessed for Charlie so many attractive associations. His conscientious performance of duty was soon observed by his officers, and gained for him, while almost a stranger in the company, the appointment as sergeant. Being assigned to Wise's Legion, then on duty in the department of Western Virginia, under General Lee, they marched through Staunton, en route for Lewisburg, on the 4th of July, 1861. Moving thence with the Legion to Gauley Bridge, after participating in a campaign of unusual hardship, they fell back at length to Sewell Mountain, and fortified against the superior forces of Rosecrans.

In the fall of 1861 the Wise Legion was withdrawn, and ordered to Roanoke Island, and upon reaching Salem the University Volunteers were disbanded by order of the War Department Charlie and his brother returned home, and remained there while hostilities were suspended by the winter. But with the approach of spring they set out again to join the army of the Shenandoah, which was breaking up its camps to advance upon the enemy in the lower Valley. The command was already in motion, but the boys came up with it a few miles from Strasburg, after a fatiguing tramp, on Sunday morning, as it was forming to move on to Winchester. Without waiting for rest or food, they joined themselves at once to the Rockbridge Artillery, then commanded by Captain William L. McLaughlin, and in an hour or two were taking active part in the battle of Kernstown, in which the battery did memorable service. It had been first commanded by Captain, afterwards General, Pendleton, and was part of the "Stonewall" Brigade of Jackson's Division. Nearly every section of the South, and all of the learned professions, were represented on its rolls. In Charlie's mess of eleven, there were eight students of divinity,—an evidence of the sort of association which he preferred.

They remained with this battery but a short time, however, its great popularity having increased its numbers beyond due proportion. General Jackson ordered that all members who had joined after a certain date should be stricken from its rolls, with the privilege of joining any other commands. This occurred at Swift Run Gap, and Charlie and his mess at once united themselves in a body with the Danville Artillery, commanded by Captain George Wooding, and attached to the 3d Brigade of Jackson's Division. A few weeks after, this brigade, joining the forces of General Edward Johnson, moved, all under command of General Jackson, against Milroy in the western counties, driving him from Jack's Mountain and McDowell, pursuing as far as Franklin, and thence returning by rapid marches to the Valley.

The history of the brilliant campaign of the spring of 1862 needs not to be repeated in this brief memoir. In nearly every engagement of that eventful month Charlie's battery took active part, and he himself did gallant service. In the glowing description he wrote of his sensations as they charged the routed columns of Banks through the streets of Winchester, amid the wild cheers of welcome, it appeared how complete was the transformation from the quiet student to the daring and enthusiastic soldier.

The battery narrowly escaped capture on the Harper's Ferry hills, being the last part of the army withdrawn in the retreat Sullenly retiring between the flanking columns of the enemy, they avenged themselves at Port Republic, where their guns completed the rout of Shieids's army, and "Stonewall" himself followed for miles in pursuit with two of their pieces, Charlie's gun being one, pouring grape into their ranks from every eminence.

Immediately after these battles, the army of the Valley moved to the lines about Richmond, menaced by McClellan. The Danville Artillery took position near Mechanicsville, and, during all the heavy fighting which followed its arrival, occupied advanced positions on the line.

For six long, bloody days the battle raged with unabated fury. Charlie Gay never once left his post, nor did his brave spirit ever falter through all that Pandemonium of shot and shell. He stood to his gun as calmly as if it were but a holiday exercise, never shrinking from the messengers of death, and by his example and his cheering words inspiring his comrades to equal fearlessness.

The night of the sixth day's fighting found him quite unwell, and so exhausted by excessive marching and fatigue as to be really unfit for duty. A messmate procured medicine for him, and next morning, which was the 1st of July, the memorable day of Malvern Hill, endeavored to dissuade him from going into the engagement. But he refused to report to the surgeon, and resumed his place at the gun. The battery went into position for action under a heavy fire from the gunboats on the James. As his piece was being brought into line, a shell burst over it, and a fragment struck Charlie in the shoulder and neck, causing instant death.

His body was borne from the field by his brother, and received a soldier's burial in a neighboring churchyard. Thence on the following day it was removed by friends, who came from Richmond for the purpose, to the family burial-place in Hollywood, where now he lies under the shadowing oaks, awaiting the last great reveille.

So lived and died our friend, leaving to us the memory of a blameless life and a heroic death, and the sincere belief that for him it was but a step from the clash of arms to a realm of perfect peace.
In his private relations we would only say that he was as modest and retiring as he was deserving; the very soul of honor and of truth; a devoted son and brother, and a sympathizing friend. As a soldier, the most fitting tribute to his worth is the language of his battery commander, who afterwards so nobly fell at Fredericksburg, and who wrote from this battle-field to Charlie's parents, to whom he was a stranger, words of sympathy for the loss of a manly and high* toned gentleman, and a faithful and gallant soldier,—one who knew his duty, and was never known to shrink from its performance.
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)

THOMAS C. KINNEY, OF STAUNTON, VIRGINIA;
LIEUTENANT, STAFF GENERAL EDWARD JOHNSON.
Thomas C. Kinney, son of N. C. and Mary A. Kinney, was born near Staunton, Virginia, on the 21st of April, 1840. In September, 1859, ne became a cadet at the Military Institute. The following editorial obituary from the Staunton Spectator of August 4,1863, must suffice for an account of his military life.

"Died at Staunton, on the 24th of July, 1863, of typhoid fever, Lieutenant Thomas C. Kinnev, son of the late N. C. Kinney. He graduated at the Virginia Military Institute in 1861, repaired immediately to the field, and was assigned to the command of General Wise as lieutenant of artillery, and served with him in his western campaign and at Roanoke Island, where, after firing in that disastrous fight the last round of ammunition from his howitzer, which was mounted in a three-gun battery, on the flank of the sea-coast batteries, he fell from the effects of the concussion of a shell, and was taken prisoner by the forces under Burnside.

"After his exchange Lieutenant Kinney was assigned to the staff of General' Stonewall' Jackson, and served as lieutenant of engineers until the fall of his great chief at the battle of Chancellorsville. He was then transferred to the staff of General Edward Johnson, Ewell's Corps, and bore up under impaired health until the return of the army of General Lee from Pennsylvania to his native soil, when he was stricken down by disease and brought home to die.

"He was a young gentleman of high worth, gallant bearing, affectionate disposition, dutiful as a soldier, and has died in the very beginning of a promising manhood, a martyr to the cause of his country."
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)

T. L. HARMAN, OF STAUNTON, VIRGINIA;
FIRST LIEUTENANT, STAUNTON ARTILLERY.
Thomas L. Harman, son of Lewis and Sarah Jane Harman, was born in Staunton on the 14th of October, 1831. Receiving his earlier education in his native place, on the 24th of July, 1848, he entered the Virginia Military Institute, where he remained a few months; then resigning his cadetship he went to California, where he remained a little more than a year. Returning to Staunton he went into business with his brothers; was an energetic and successful business man, and at the early age of thirty years had laid the foundation of a large fortune. At the organization of the "Staunton Artillery," in the winter of 1860, he joined that company and was elected its first lieutenant, under Captain (afterwards General) John D. Imboden. Lieutenant Harman left Staunton with his company on the 17th of April, 1861, and was present at the occupation of Harper's Ferry by the Virginia troops. Soon after this event he was detached with two of the guns of his battery to guard the bridge over the Potomac at Shepherdstown, and acquitted himself with credit in that separate command. Rejoining his command at Harper's Ferry, in May, he retreated with the army under General J. E. Johnston to Winchester after the evacuation of Harper's Ferry, and thence proceeded with the army to Manassas Junction, when General Johnston marched to reinforce General Beauregard after the battle of Bull Run, on the 18th of July, 1861. He participated with his battery, which had been assigned to the brigade of General Barnard E. Bee, who was killed on that day. In the battle of Manassas Plains, July 21, 1861, Bee's Brigade was stationed on the extreme left, and became engaged with the enemy early in the morning; besides the irreparable loss of its gallant commander, it suffered severely in losses of killed and wounded. Lieutenant Harman's battery made for itself on that memorable day a name and fame which it sustained throughout the entire war. Lieutenant Harman himself behaved with the greatest skill, coolness, and gallantry. After the battle of Manassas, his battery being ordered into camp at Bristow Station, four miles south of Manassas Junction, he obtained, during the month of August, a furlough to return to his home in Staunton, for the purpose of arranging his large and extensive business, which he had left on a few hours' notice. During his stay at home of two weeks, he complained of being slightly unwell; he returned to camp, however; but after a few days his disease developing symptoms of typhoid fever, he was again granted a furlough, and returned to his home, where he died on the 15th of September, 1861. His service was short, but it was well done. In his one battle he had showed his metal, and 'twas true to the cause in which he had embarked.
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)

WILLIAM H. RANDOLPH, OF AUGUSTA COUNTY, VIRGINIA;
CAPTAIN, 4TH VIRGINIA INFANTRY.
William H. Randolph, son of John Randolph, of Middle-brook, Augusta County, Virginia, was born in 1834. In his eighteenth year he entered the Virginia Military Institute, during the session of 1852-53, but did not complete his course at that school. Just after the John Brown raid he became a member of an infantry company, and with this company entered the service, in April, 1861, joining the forces collecting at Harper's Ferry. His company was here assigned to the 4th Virginia Infantry. Mr. Randolph's great coolness and bravery at the first battle of Manassas, after his captain (William H. Nelson) was wounded and taken from the field, so endeared him to his comrades that, at the reorganization, they elected him their captain over both lieutenants. Serving with soldierly skill in command of this company, he was killed in one of the battles around Richmond, in June, 1862.

Captain Randolph was a tall, well-developed man, every inch a soldier. A member of the old Stonewall Brigade, he was well worthy of the honor of holding office in that unsurpassed command.
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)

WILLIAM D. STUART, OF STAUNTON, VIRGINIA;
COLONEL, 56TH VIRGINIA INFANTRY.
William Dabney Stuart, the eldest son of Thomas Jefferson Stuart and Martha M. Stuart, was born in Staunton, Virginia, on September 30, 1830. He was descended from a Scotch-Irish family, which settled in Augusta County in 1738. Their progenitor, Archibald Stuart, having been engaged in one of the rebellions in Ireland, was compelled to fly for safety to America. He" remained secluded in the western part of Pennsylvania for seven years, when, in consequence of some act of amnesty, he was enabled to send to Ireland for his wife and children. Shortly afteiVards he removed to Augusta, then a wilderness, and acquired large landed estates. Archibald Stuart died in 1761, leaving four children, viz., Thomas, Benjamin, Alexander, and a daughter, Mary, who married Benjamin Hall. This Benjamin Hall was the father of Judge John Hall, of North Carolina, and of Dr. Isaac Hall, an eminent physician of Petersburg.
Alexander Stuart left a number of children, among them Judge Archibald Stuart, of Staunton, who was the grandfather of Colonel William D. Stuart. Another son, Judge Alexander Stuart, of Missouri, was the father of the Hon. Archibald Stuart, of Patrick, who was often in public life, as member of House of Delegates, State Senate, Conventions of 1829-30 and 1849-50, and also served several terms in Congress. This Archibald Stuart was the father of General James Ewell Brown Stuart, commonly known from his initials as Jeb Stuart, the cavalry officer.

The father of the subject of this memoir, Thomas J. Stuart, was a man of fine abilities, and served frequently as a member of the Legislature from the county of Augusta.

William D. Stuart received his early education at the Academy at Staunton, and at the age of seventeen, in July, 1847, entered the Military Institute. In his studies here he distinguished himself throughout the course, standing third in his class on general merit when he graduated, July 4, 1850. After his graduation he was appointed assistant professor in the Institute. While acting in this capacity he was closely associated with General T. J. Jackson, and a firm friendship sprang up between them, which continued during life.

About the year 1853, Mr. Abbott, of Georgetown, D. C, who had been in charge of a large classical school in that city, died, and Mr. Stuart was invited by the patrons of the school to take charge of it. He accepted the appointment, and went to reside in Georgetown. Whilst there he formed the acquaintance of Miss Frances Harris, a native of Loudoun County, and soon afterwards married her. The fruits of this union were three children, two daughters and a son. After spending two years in Georgetown, Mr. Stuart was invited to take charge of a classical school in Richmond, Virginia. Desiring to return to his native State, he removed to Richmond, and continued in charge of a flourishing school in that city until the commencement of the war.

In May, 1861, he was appointed first lieutenant in the Provisional Army of Virginia, and in the course of a few weeks promoted lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Thomas P. August's regiment. While he held the office of lieutenant-colonel the command of the regiment devolved on him, in a great measure, as Colonel August's health disqualified him generally from active service. While in command of that regiment, he participated gallantly in the fight on the Peninsula, when Butler was repulsed at Big Bethel.
When the 56th Regiment was formed, as it was made of companies and fractions of companies from a number of counties, Governor Letcher felt at a loss to select a colonel for it, and allowed the officers to designate the man of their choice. With almost perfect unanimity they chose Colonel Stuart, and he was appointed. He remained in command of that regiment until his death, and shared all its perils, and participated in all its triumphs.

It is proper to add that, when General Jackson was appointed to his first command, he immediately wrote to Colonel Stuart, who was then in charge of his school in Richmond, offering him a place on his staff as quartermaster. In his letter he stated that he was sorry he could offer nothing better, but said that whenever an opportunity occurred he would look to his promotion. He further stated that, when he (Jackson) was called into service, Colonel Stuart was the first man to whom he looked for assistance.
After the battle of Antietam, in which Colonel Stuart had greatly distinguished himself, General Jackson was very desirous of having him promoted to the office of brigadier, and he would have received the appointment but for the fact that his health had given way under the exposure, privations, and fatigue of the first Maryland campaign, and he was compelled to go to his home in Staunton to recruit. The necessity for having a brigadier was so urgent, that it was indispensable to make the appointment before Colonel Stuart was sufficiently restored to take the field, and thus he failed to receive it

His military history, from the time of his recovery till the battle of Gettysburg, is simply that of the army of Northern Virginia. In this great battle, July I, 2, and 3, 1863, he was mortally wounded, was carried to Staunton, where he died in about three weeks. On the day of his burial a letter came addressed to him, the object of which was to ascertain whether his condition was such as to enable him to accept the office of brigadier-general, and enter at an early day upon active service.

We close this meagre and imperfect sketch with an extract from a letter of his uncle, the Hon. Alexander H. H. Stuart. He says,—
“It only remains to say that a purer, braver, nobler gentleman never lived. I watched over him from his infancy, and if there was anything in his conduct or his character, from his childhood to his death, which was unbecoming a high-toned gentleman, I certainly never saw it or heard of it. He was universally esteemed and beloved, and, though a man of positive character, of high spirit, and outspoken, he had no enemies. He was to me almost as a son, and I shall never cease to mourn his untimely end. Had he lived, he would have established a reputation which would have been a rich legacy to his family."
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)

E. S. TROUT, OF STAUNTON, VIRGINIA;
CAPTAIN, CO. "H," 52D VIRGINIA INFANTRY.
The subject of this memoir, Captain Erasmus Stribling Trout (the eldest child of the Hon. Nicholas K. Trout and Matilda Stribling Trout), was born April 15, 1844.

In early boyhood he attended the Staunton Academy, where he evinced a marked aptitude for the acquisition of knowledge. Subsequently he became a student of Mossy Creek Academy, where he prosecuted with commendable zeal and gratifying success the more advanced studies. He was only seventeen years of age when the late civil war occurred. With all the earnestness of his nature he became interested in the Confederate cause, and would at once have entered the Confederate army, but he was restrained by friends, who feared that his delicate constitution could not withstand the hardships and exposures of field-service. He was sent to the Virginia Military Institute in 1861, with the view of completing his studies, and with the hope that the admirable physical training there enforced would render him somewhat robust. He remained at the Virginia Military Institute until the corps was disbanded, in July, 1861. Without delay he attached himself to the 52d Virginia Infantry in the capacity of a drill-master, wherein he displayed great efficiency.

He returned to the Virginia Military Institute in January, 1862, when the Institute was opened by order of the Governor of Virginia. He was a member of the corps of cadets when the latter was ordered to march with General T. J. Jackson's army to Franklin.

When he left the Virginia Military Institute he entered the ranks of the 5 2d Virginia Regiment. Colonel James H. Skinner, then commanding, appointed him the sergeant-major of the regiment. "For conspicuous gallantry in the battle of Cedar Mountain," August, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in Co. "H," 52d Virginia Regiment.

After the battle of Sharpsburg he was further promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. During General T. J. Jackson's brilliant Valley campaign, in 1864 (in which the 52d Virginia Regiment acted a most conspicuous part), he was commissioned captain of Co. "H."

He was present with and participated with his regiment in all the battles fought by Pegram's Brigade, from Cedar Mountain till the close of the war, with one exception, when sickness compelled him to be absent.

He was in command of the 52d Virginia Regiment at the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court-House, and signed the parole for the men of his regiment. What more honorable record could be made of a soldier than that his name is enrolled with that patriotic band who followed their noble chieftain, General Robert E. Lee, through many of the dangers and vicissitudes of a four-years' war, and, in the trying hour of military disaster, was still at his post of duty?

Upon his return home, after the surrender, he at once engaged in business, as a druggist, with all his usual ardor. Very soon it became evident that the exposures of the war had made most serious impressions upon a constitution naturally delicate. Consumption attacked his lungs, and he most rapidly declined. Though a great sufferer, he bore his troubles with manly fortitude up to the close of his life, October 20, 1866.

Thus ended the earthly career of a noble, generous, and gallant youth ! Though it was not his privilege to die upon the field of battle "with his back to the field and his face to the foe," yet he was no less a victim of the war,—as its hardships and discomforts developed and hastened the march of the disease which closed his mortal life. Young, gifted in mind, of a mainly, noble nature, he has left a name and a record which will be honored as long as manly worth and virtue are appreciated.
Dr. A. M. Fauntleroy.
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)