Freston, Walter, born in Abingdon, Virginia, son of John M. Preston. He was educated for the bar, and became distinguished in his profession. Previous to the civil war he was a candidate for attorney-general of Virginia. He was a member of the Confederate provisional congress, and a representative in the first regular congress under the Confederate constitution, defeating Fayette McMullen. He died shortly after the war.

[Source: Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography; Edited by Lyon Gardiner Tyler; Publ. 1915; Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack.]

Fulkerson, Samuel V.

Samuel V. Fulkerson, of Washington County, Virginia; Colonel, 37th Virginia Infantry
     Samuel V. Fulkerson, son of Captain Abram Fulkerson, a captain in the war of 1812, was born in Washington County, Virginia, on the last day of October, 1822. When he was thirteen years old his father removed to Granger County, Tennessee. Here he was employed most of the time on his father's farm, and attended school in the less busy seasons of the year. His rather limited education was obtained at Madison Academy, in the village of Rutledge, not far from his father's residence. After leaving school, when he had but just entered the more advanced classes, he continued his classical and mathematical studies during those hours usually employed by youths of his age in rest or pleasure, and by close application, and the appropriation of every moment that could be spared from domestic duties, he made astonishing progress. Hence it may be safely assumed that he was self-taught, certainly so in the classics.
     In the autumn of 1843, about the time he attained his majority, after having served his father faithfully and well, and contributed largely to the support of the family, as well as the education of several of the younger members, he began to seriously consider his future course in life, and, after weighing the matter deliberately and advisedly, chose the profession of law. Having determined upon this, the next thing to be considered was, how was he to enter upon an undertaking of such magnitude, without means? While others under like circumstances would have despaired, he looked at the brightest side of the rather dark picture, and at once made his arrangements. His father had given him a young horse, worth about fifty dollars. His plan was to sell the animal for an outfit, travel to a suitable place on foot, and teach school for the means of living while prosecuting his studies for the law. After his necessary outfit had been made, he had but sixty-two and a half cents left; and with this capital in his pocket, and a manly determination in his heart to carve his way through the world, he started out on foot across the mountains, with his scanty wardrobe and provisions swung upon a stick across his shoulder. His destination was Jonesville, Lee County, Virginia, where he arrived the second day, weary but hopeful. Here he at once went to work, obtained a school, and entered upon the study of his future profession, under the instruction of Colonel John D. Sharp, a kind-hearted and eminent gentleman, who had not failed to discover promise in the young adventurer. His prospects, without means and among strangers, would have seemed gloomy to a less ardent temperament; but having fixed his standard, he determined to struggle up to it regardless of temporary obstacles.
     There were other barriers that seemed to hedge his pathway,—even personal appearance was against him, going, as he did, among comparative strangers with a haggard look and shorn locks, the effects of fever a short time before. A noble ambition to work his way up to usefulness, competence, and position, combined with a strong will, self-reliance, and gentle and social manners, soon won for him many warm and appreciative friends among the hospitable and generous people among whom he had cast his lot for the time being.
     He thus taught and studied and struggled on for about three years, and such was his progress that, in May, 1846, under the sanction and advice of his friend and preceptor, he applied for and obtained license to practice law, his examination by the several circuit judges, before whom he was required to appear, having been full, critical, and highly satisfactory. He qualified at the bar in Abingdon in August, the same year. A few months after this, his first efforts having been successful, he formed a connection with Samuel Logan, Esq., one of the most prominent among the many eminent lawyers of Southwestern Virginia; and while the latter resided in Abingdon, he located at Estillville, Scott County, where he remained till the last of October.
     About this time the tocsin having sounded for volunteers in the war with Mexico, and having an inherent fondness for military life, as had his father before him, he laid aside his books and briefs, foregoing his aspirations and promising prospects of success in the profession he had so manfully struggled to attain, and determined to try his fortunes on a theatre where he could contribute his mite to the honor and glory of his country, which he loved with no ordinary devotion. His military aspirations, however, were several times nipped in the bud, as a greater number of troops had been offered than were needed or could be received, but the indomitable will and perseverance that had borne him up and urged him onward from his father's little farm in Tennessee to a rapidly-increasing practice at the bar in Virginia were still in exercise and unconquerable.
     His preference was to join a command in his native State, but after repeated failures to do so, he made his way into Tennessee, where the drums were still beating for volunteers, and was more successful. Hearing that Captain G. W. Bounds was recruiting a company in Hawkins County, he sought him out and enrolled himself as a private. On arriving at Knoxville, where the company was ordered to join the regiment of Colonel McClelland, he was mustered into the service of the United States on the 4th of December, 1847, and was soon after elected first lieutenant They left Knoxville on flat-boats, and the long and tedious voyage down the crooked and dangerous Tennessee, in open boats, and across the Gulf in mid-winter in packed steamers, was attended 'with considerable privation and peril, but they passed through all safely, and landed at Vera Cruz on the 6th of January, 184S. His firmness and decision of character, celerity in acquiring a knowledge of tactics, and withal his kind and considerate treatment of the men, soon made him a favorite with both rank and file, and on the 1st of February he was promoted to the adjutantcy of his regiment.
     As the command was late in reaching the theatre of war, — after most of the forces had "reveled in the halls of the Montezumas,"—there was no active service particularly for those of them who had an ambition to test "the pomp and circumstance of glorious war." Hence the regiment was employed in scouting, guarding wagon-trains, and in occasional guerrilla warfare among the chaparral,—all dangerous and laborious, but not exactly the service the gallant prefer. When they reached Jalapa, they met the proclamation of peace. This, to be sure, was a disappointment to the ardent young soldier and officer, who had sacrificed so much and suffered so many privations to promote the cause and the progress of his country; but, as he himself afterwards remarked to a friend, " it was a happy disappointment in view of the cessation of hostilities, the effusion of blood, and the devastation of that beautiful republic." The troops embarked at Vera Cruz for home on the 28th of June, 1848, and the regiment to which Adjutant Fulkerson belonged was disbanded and paid off at Memphis on the 20th of July following.
     Thus ended young Fulkerson's Mexican campaign. He returned to Estillville, resumed the practice of his profession, and soon became as popular in civil life as he had been among his comrades in the tented field. In 1850, in obedience to the solicitations of his friends and neighbors, he announced himself a candidate for the convention to amend the State Constitution, was elected, and served in this capacity with credit to himself and the fullest approbation of those he represented. After this he resided at Estillville and Jamesville alternately until 1855, when he removed to his native county with a view of making it his permanent home. He purchased a handsome property near Abingdon, to which he removed his aged parents, who, through pecuniary misfortunes, had become dependent upon him for support, and never was filial affection more beautifully and happily illustrated. He took great delight in improving his residence and adorning his grounds, and every moment that could be spared from professional duties was devoted to adding comfort and attractiveness to his home. He never married, and hence his undivided affections were lavished upon his parents, sisters, and brothers, educating some of the younger, and defraying the expenses of one of his brothers at the Virginia Military Institute, of which institution Mr. Fulkerson had been appointed a Visitor by the Governor.
His practice by this time yielded him a handsome income, and such was the confidence with which he inspired all who knew him that, in 1857, he was elected judge of the thirteenth judicial district, as one of the ablest and most popular jurists in Southwestern Virginia, which position he held, with the entire approbation of the people, until the cloud of the late " cruel war" overshadowed the land. When the storm came, he was among the first to respond to the call for volunteers and to offer his services to his menaced and invaded section. On the 28th of May, 1861, he was elected colonel of the 37th Regiment; the first organized in this end of the State, and started for the scene of action a day or two after.
He arrived in Richmond with his regiment, where, after being kept some ten days in the camp of instruction, he was ordered to Laurel Hill, in West Virginia, the army of General Rosecrans having invaded that part of the State. This was, perhaps, one of the hardest campaigns of the whole war, as a large number of the men, being raw recruits and unused to the unavoidable exposure, became sick and discouraged. He was here assigned to the command of General Garnett, and for three months the gallant brigade, though not favored with a general engagement, was kept constantly employed in skirmishing, scouting, advancing, and falling back, the 37th usually occupying the post of danger and of honor. At one time another regiment, every man of which, fit for duty, was a soldier, having been driven from its position, Colonel Fulkerson was ordered to take its place with the 37th, when, without the loss of a man, it repulsed the enemy and regained and held the position.
     A limited sketch like this cannot embrace all the details, but in all that long, hazardous, and terrible retreat before an overwhelming force from Cheat Mountain, through Maryland, to Monterey, in Virginia, in which the gallant General Garnett lost his life, Colonel Fulkerson's regiment was either in the front or rear, both deemed alike dangerous, as the enemy were both before and behind. When our broken and retreating forces reached Cheat River, which was deep, cold, and rapid, the men seemed reluctant to wade, seeing which Colonel "Fulkerson dismounted, gave his horse to a disabled soldier, plunged in and the men all followed him cheerfully. His regiment bringing up the rear, he was ordered to form and remain on the farther bank to keep the enemy in check till the balance of the brigade with the wagon-train should get out of immediate danger. He remained several hours, and marched all night through darkness, rain, and mud to overtake the command For three days and nights his regiment and himself were without food or sleep, and many of his men almost destitute of shoes and clothing.
     A few days after this damaging retreat the scattered forces were reunited at Monterey, in Highland County, West Virginia, were soon removed to Greenbrier River, and again ready for any emergency. Here they found the enemy in their front, occupying a strong position on the summit of Cheat Mountain, and only some six or seven miles away. From October, 1861, to March, 1862, Colonel Fulkerson's regiment had a great deal to do in marching and countermarching, scouting, skirmishing, and picketing. The weather in that high latitude was extremely cold and inclement, and a large portion of the men toil-worn, shoeless, ragged, and half famished. During this time the officer in command ordered Colonel Fulkerson, on a very dark and stormy night, to proceed with his regiment some four miles upon the mountain-side. He started, but before he had proceeded a mile the clothes were frozen stiff on his men. He halted, and sent an officer back to the commander with the message that he would be compelled to return to camp, as his men, not being allowed fire, would freeze to death. The commander repeated his order. The colonel, on consultation with his officers, determined to return, and did so. Next morning he was put under arrest, and kept from his regiment several weeks. The facts having been reported to General Loring, the division commander, as soon as an opportunity offered he released the colonel, who rejoined his regiment at Winchester in March. This is mentioned to show his feeling for his men. In writing to a friend about the time of his arrest for this disobedience of a cruel and inhuman order,—' obedience to which would probably have resulted in the death of half his men,—he remarked, "I felt it to be necessary for the protection of my men against such inhuman exposure as the execution of the order would have imposed upon them, and I would do the same again, let the consequences to myself be what they might."
     In the interim between rejoining his regiment at Winchester and the first general battle in which he was engaged, Colonel Fulkerson performed a vast deal of hard service, in which his regiment suffered greatly from cold and destitution, and long and rapid marches, to say nothing of severe skirmishes at Capon Bridge, etc.
     The first great battle in which he bore a prominent part was that of Kernstown, near Winchester, on the 23d of March, 1862. For the better understanding of the part he acted, it will be necessary to give the particulars somewhat in detail. He was now in command of a brigade. On the night of the 22d of March, while in camp near Strasburg, he received an order from General Jackson to have his baggage packed and to be ready to move his command, consisting of the 37th, the 23d, and the Danville Artillery, at daylight the following morning on the road toward Winchester. He made his arrangements accordingly, marched at the specified hour, and in about ten miles came to the vicinity of Kernstown, where the enemy was posted in strong force. Here he was filed half a mile to the left of the road, and placed in a piece of woods. He was then ordered to scout the woodland with his infantry still farther to the left, and extending parallel with the road leading to Winchester. He threw forward his skirmishers and proceeded through the woods, followed by the 2d Virginia Volunteers. Reaching the open land without finding an enemy in the woods, he reported to the general, who rode forward and ordered him to turn a battery of the enemy which had opened fire upon our troops from a commanding hill across the fields in front, and at the same time informed him that he would be supported by General Garnett, brother of the gallant general who fell in the retreat from Laurel Hill. Colonel Fulkerson then threw his command into column by division at full distance, the 37th in front, and, after tearing away a portion of a plank fence intervening, entered the field directly in front of the enemy's position, from which a galling fire was instantly opened upon him. After proceeding some distance in that direction, he turned a little to the left, which brought the right flank of his command next to the enemy's position. The ground at this point being marshy, with several fences in the way, the advance was a good deal retarded, but steady and unfaltering, the enemy all the while throwing round shot and shell into the column with great rapidity.
     On the enemy's right, and near his position, stood a small cluster of trees. The colonel thought if he could so direct his course as to place that cluster of trees between the enemy's guns and himself, he would be protected from the fire that was annoying him. But as soon as he had reached the desired point, a battery placed in the open ground, beyond the trees, opened a terrible fire upon him. He then turned still farther to the left, and took shelter in a piece of woodland, into which the enemy poured a very hot fire of shell and grape for half an hour or more. He also threw a heavy body of infantry on the brow of the hill below his guns, seemingly for the purpose of resisting a charge upon the position. Colonel Fulkerson's advance, up to this point, was under fire for a mile that might well have made veterans quail, but his officers and men pressed steadily forward, instantly closing up when a break was made in the column by the enemy's shot.
     He then moved across a hill and took shelter in a hollow where General Garnett had sheltered his brigade, and reported his position to General Jackson. At this point he was much annoyed by the enemy's shell. In a short time the 27th moved forward as skirmishers and engaged the enemy, when Colonel Fulkerson instantly put his command in line under cover of some timber, and moved forward across a field under a most destructive fire of musketry. Here he had a struggle with the enemy for the possession of a stone fence which extended from the left flank of our forces already engaged on the right, behind which he took position, thus forming the left of the Confederate line. On reaching the stone fence, he found two regiments of the enemy in the field a short distance beyond, upon which he opened a very destructive fire, covering the ground with the killed and wounded. The enemy withstood this fire but a very short time, when they gave way and fled to the woods in their rear, and to a stone fence which joined to, and ran at right angles with, that behind which Colonel Fulkerson had taken shelter. He immediately detached a portion of the 37th and placed them in position at the junction of the two fences, for the purpose of dislodging that portion of the enemy which had there taken shelter. This was soon effected, and the enemy driven entirely from the field, leaving a stand of colors.
This was about the close of the day as well as the close of the fight, as our forces, overpowered by numbers, began to fall back, and eventually left the field in good order, ready to renew the struggle whenever the enemy might feel like it. The loss was heavy, and the battle of Kernstown will be recorded in history as one of the most bloody for the number engaged during the war. Colonel Fulkerson went into the fight with three hundred and ninety-seven men in the 37th and one hundred and sixty in the 23d, making a total of five hundred and fifty-seven. The artillery was not engaged. His loss was very heavy, aggregating in killed, wounded, and missing one hundred and sixty-two.
     From this time till the battle of McDowell, Colonel Fulkerson's command was kept in active duty during the month of April, marching up and down the Valley, crossing back and forth into the passes of the mountains, skirmishing and scouting both day and night, till the infantry in that department was known by the name of "Jackson's Foot Cavalry."
     On the morning of the 8th of May a portion of the Valley forces were moved toward McDowell, a village among the mountains of Highland County. General Johnson was sent forward with his brigade as the advance, Colonel Fulkerson following with another brigade. When within a mile of McDowell, where Milroy was posted with a strong Federal force, light skirmishing commenced, and towards evening the advance brigade became engaged in a general fight. Colonel Fulkerson was then ordered forward at double-quick. A portion of the way over which he had to lead his men was up a very bushy and rocky hollow, and when he reached the line of battle his men were nearly out of breath. All the way along they were exposed to the enemy's fire, the balls falling thick and fast among and around them. When Colonel Fulkerson reached the field, the officer commanding ordered him to the support of the 31st, which was trying to hold the overwhelming force of the enemy in check, when he double-quicked into position. When he got there he found that he had but two companies, the others having been unable to keep up, and not exactly knowing the position of either the 31st or the enemy, as they were not firing at the time, he entered the woods between them, but nearer the enemy, and gave the order to charge, which his men did with a shout, scattering the enemy in every direction through the woods. This was a bold move, but his position made it necessary. The remainder of his command was in the main fight, where he joined them with the two companies in a short time. By this time it had become so dark that the enemy could not be seen, and Colonel Fulkerson ordered his men to fire at the flash of their guns. The fight lasted till nine o'clock at night, when the enemy withdrew, leaving General Johnson in possession of the field. In this engagement Colonel Fulkerson's loss was forty men in killed and wounded. At one time during the action some of his men got out of ammunition, when he ordered them to supply themselves from the boxes of the dead and wounded, and thus kept them shooting. The whole loss in the action was about four hundred,—that of the enemy much greater.
     Things were now getting pretty warm in the Valley, and the "Foot Cavalry" were kept busy watching the movements of the enemy, with occasional skirmishing, till the 25th of the month. On the morning of the 24th, Colonel Fulkerson, again in command of a brigade, left his bivouac, four miles south of Front Royal, at daylight, and marched to Middle-town, and thence down the Valley in the direction of Winchester, reaching the mills south of the latter place early next morning, while a vigorous artillery duel was going on. A general engagement soon ensued, in which Colonel Fulkerson's Brigade acted a prominent part. He drove the enemy in his front, and suffered but slight loss, although for some time exposed to the enemy's batteries and long-range small-arms. His command was among those that made the last charge, when the enemy broke and fled through Winchester in the wildest confusion.
     Those acquainted with "Stonewall Jackson's way," know that his men never had rest, except at such times as were set apart by the President for prayer and thanksgiving. Hence Colonel Fulkerson was kept constantly employed until the morning of the 5th of June, when the little army reached Port Republic and went into camp. A considerable skirmish had taken place that day between our rear-guard and the enemy, in which the gallant Ashby lost his life. Although the enemy was in the vicinity in very strong force, no engagement came on till the 9th, when General Jackson, for the first time during the campaign, was very nearly taken by surprise. This was the battle of Port Republic, and the last hot engagement in which Colonel Fulkerson participated in the Valley, and never was a more daring charge made than he led that day. Nothing but a narrow stream divided the contending armies, and before General Jackson knew of the enemy's immediate presence, a piece of artillery was planted at the opposite end of a covered bridge, some hundred and fifty yards long, through which he had to pass. This gun was well manned, and fired grape rapidly. Colonel Fulkerson was ordered to charge that gun through the bridge with the 37th Regiment, in face of the terrible fire, which he did, himself not less than fifty yards in advance of his men. He captured the gun, together with several horses and prisoners, but sustained considerable loss in doing so. The wonder is that his regiment was not decimated.
     On the 26th of this month—June, 1862—Colonel Fulkerson appeared at Richmond, where General Jackson had been suddenly ordered with his command. All that night the command lay upon its arms. The morrow came, and all that long, hot day, while the fierce conflict was going on in full view, Colonel Fulkerson and his men were exposed to the terrible fire. Late in the afternoon they were ordered up at double-quick, and placed in the second line of the supporting column. Just at this time Colonel Fulkerson, on stepping to a little eminence a few paces in his front, received a mortal wound and fell. His comrades picked him up and carried him to the rear, but in a few hours his eyes beheld the last of earth, and his dust now mingles with that of his native hills in the old cemetery at Abingdon.
Thus ended the career of Colonel Samuel V. Fulkerson, one of the purest, most disinterested, and unselfish patriots, who linked his fortunes and his all with the lost cause, whose character was without a blemish, and whose life had been devoted to usefulness, and that quiet and sublime benevolence that permitted not the left hand to know what the right performed. His men had the affection for him that children bear to a father, and many a manly tear was shed upon the bloody field of Gaines's Mill when the gallant Fulkerson fell.
(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)

Fuqua, C. E.

     The subject of this sketch, one of the farming residents of Washington County, was born in Bedford County, Virginia, on July 25, 1835. He married, at Big Spring, Virginia, June 22, 1858, Lucy Gordon, who was born near Salem, Roanoke County, Virginia, December 27, 1835. The record of their children is: Mary F., married Charles B. Stone, of Abingdon, on January 18, 1881, and died December 4, 1883; Frank M., died November 11,1861, aged ten months; Eolia S. and Gordon C., living at home.

     The father of Mr. Fuqua was Hezekiah Fuqua, of Bedford County, son of Joseph Fuqua, who was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and in battles of Brandywine and Cowpens. His mother was Sarah, daughter of Simon Noel, formerly of Bedford County. A number of the Noel family served in the war of 1812. The Fuqua’s were Huguenots, emigrating from France under religious persecution, settling first in South Carolina. Mrs. C.E. Fuqua is a daughter of John Gordon, of Roanoke County, whose father was Isaac Gordon, of Manchester, Virginia. The Gordon’s of Virginia trace their ancestral line to a Gordon of Scotland, made a Peer by King Malcolm for bravery, serving after as a trusted guard of honor, near the person of the King. One branch of the Gordon family emigrating from Scotland in colonial days, settled in Manchester, another branch founded Gordonsville, Virginia. The mother of Mrs. Fuqua was Eleanor, daughter of John Zircle, of Roanoke County, the family coming from the Shenandoah Valley.

     C. E. Fuqua was six months in service in light artillery, C. S. A., in 1862, then discharged for disability, after that served as railroad supervisor. His brother C. T. Fuqua was killed in battle of Seven Pines; another brother was killed in the seven days fighting around Richmond; still another was captured in 1865, and sent north as prisoner of war.

[Source: Virginia and Virginians: History of Volume 2; by Robert Alonzo Brock, Virgil Anson Lewis; publ. 1888; Pgs.722-764; Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack]