Rufus Morgan - Great grandfather
Rufus Granville Morgan (great grandfather, Confederate States of America)
Rufus was born Jan 12, 1840 in Pulaski County, Virginia. On Apr 01, 1861, 11 days before the start of the Civil War, he married Virginia Antionette Brown. Many 21 year old men excitedly and voluntarily joined the Confederate forces at the beginning of the war. Instead he stayed home and began a family. On Feb 27, 1864, 12 days after the birth of their second child, he enlisted in the Virginia Botetourt Light Artillery Battery. The Botetourt Artillery unit had recently suffered many casualties and was captured at the Battle of Vicksburg. After being exchanged for union prisoners they returned and were assigned to defend the New River railroad bridge of the Virginia-Tennessee Railroad. It was during this time that Rufus enlisted. The bridge connected Radford with Pulaski County at the community of New River (near present day Fairlawn). After the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain (north of Dublin in Pulaski County) on May 9, 1864, the victorious Union forces captured the railroad depot in Dublin and turned toward the New River bridge. On May 11 Union forces attacked the Confederates defending the bridge. After running out of ammunition, the Botetourt Artillery pulled back to Christiansburg and then continued on to Lynchburg. From then to the end of the war they were engaged in many conflicts including the Battle of Marion. They likely were captured during the Appomattox Campaign in Apr 1865 and later disbanded in Christainsbug. After the war Rufus and Virginia had eight more children including Clifton Newton Morgan, my paternal grandfather. They named their last, born in 1882, Robert E. Lee Morgan in honor of the beloved commander of the Confederate forces. Rufus died Jun 28, 1912 in Belspring in Pulaski County and was buried in Morgan Cemetery, Fairlawn, Pulaski County.
Rufus had three brothers. John Wesley was born May 29, 1831. Trying to find if he served in the Civil War demonstrates the problems that are often incurred, especially when the person has a common name as John Morgan. I found three John W. Morgans and five John Morgans who served for the Confederacy in the Civil War . Yet none appeared to match Rufus' brother. His other two brothers, Newton and Josephus, did serve.
Newton Jasper Morgan (great great uncle, CSA)
Newton was born July 24, 1838 in Giles County, Virginia. He enlisted June 25, 1861 in Company I, Virginia 50th Infantry Regiment. He was hospitalized due to illness and returned home Oct 1861. He apparently returned to service. He was mustered out at Bowling Green, Kentucky due to a disability, possibly about the beginning of Feb 1862. This would turn out to be fortunate since the 50th was captured at the Battle of Fort Donelson in western Tennessee on Feb 16, 1862 and sent to POW camps for a period of time. He married Elizabeth Hickman Sept 26, 1865 and they had six children. Newton died July 25, 1916 and was buried in the Morgan Cemetery, Pulaski County.
Rev. William Patton Hickman (uncle of Elizabeth Hickman, wife of Newton Morgan)
(While Rev. Hickman is a more distant relative than the others in this list, I include him because of his unusual story and involvement in a Pulaski County battle. While many older men in the south were members of a local home guard they did not often see combat.)
"Margaret Hoge married Rev. William Hickman. He was a Presbyterian minister of unusual force and powers in the pulpit, was a brave and heroic figure during the Civil War. Though exempt from military duty, he volunteered with the home guard, and was ever found in line ready to defend his home and fireside. He had a firm belief in the righteousness of the southern cause. He fell in the battle ranks at Cloyd Mountain, on the ninth day of May 1864. His wound was a severe one through the thigh, and he bled to death before relief could be given." DeVault Genealogy, Excerpt from THE FAMILY OF HOGE http://www.devault.net/fthtml/nti02791.html
Rufus was born Jan 12, 1840 in Pulaski County, Virginia. On Apr 01, 1861, 11 days before the start of the Civil War, he married Virginia Antionette Brown. Many 21 year old men excitedly and voluntarily joined the Confederate forces at the beginning of the war. Instead he stayed home and began a family. On Feb 27, 1864, 12 days after the birth of their second child, he enlisted in the Virginia Botetourt Light Artillery Battery. The Botetourt Artillery unit had recently suffered many casualties and was captured at the Battle of Vicksburg. After being exchanged for union prisoners they returned and were assigned to defend the New River railroad bridge of the Virginia-Tennessee Railroad. It was during this time that Rufus enlisted. The bridge connected Radford with Pulaski County at the community of New River (near present day Fairlawn). After the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain (north of Dublin in Pulaski County) on May 9, 1864, the victorious Union forces captured the railroad depot in Dublin and turned toward the New River bridge. On May 11 Union forces attacked the Confederates defending the bridge. After running out of ammunition, the Botetourt Artillery pulled back to Christiansburg and then continued on to Lynchburg. From then to the end of the war they were engaged in many conflicts including the Battle of Marion. They likely were captured during the Appomattox Campaign in Apr 1865 and later disbanded in Christainsbug. After the war Rufus and Virginia had eight more children including Clifton Newton Morgan, my paternal grandfather. They named their last, born in 1882, Robert E. Lee Morgan in honor of the beloved commander of the Confederate forces. Rufus died Jun 28, 1912 in Belspring in Pulaski County and was buried in Morgan Cemetery, Fairlawn, Pulaski County.
Rufus had three brothers. John Wesley was born May 29, 1831. Trying to find if he served in the Civil War demonstrates the problems that are often incurred, especially when the person has a common name as John Morgan. I found three John W. Morgans and five John Morgans who served for the Confederacy in the Civil War . Yet none appeared to match Rufus' brother. His other two brothers, Newton and Josephus, did serve.
Newton Jasper Morgan (great great uncle, CSA)
Newton was born July 24, 1838 in Giles County, Virginia. He enlisted June 25, 1861 in Company I, Virginia 50th Infantry Regiment. He was hospitalized due to illness and returned home Oct 1861. He apparently returned to service. He was mustered out at Bowling Green, Kentucky due to a disability, possibly about the beginning of Feb 1862. This would turn out to be fortunate since the 50th was captured at the Battle of Fort Donelson in western Tennessee on Feb 16, 1862 and sent to POW camps for a period of time. He married Elizabeth Hickman Sept 26, 1865 and they had six children. Newton died July 25, 1916 and was buried in the Morgan Cemetery, Pulaski County.
Rev. William Patton Hickman (uncle of Elizabeth Hickman, wife of Newton Morgan)
(While Rev. Hickman is a more distant relative than the others in this list, I include him because of his unusual story and involvement in a Pulaski County battle. While many older men in the south were members of a local home guard they did not often see combat.)
"Margaret Hoge married Rev. William Hickman. He was a Presbyterian minister of unusual force and powers in the pulpit, was a brave and heroic figure during the Civil War. Though exempt from military duty, he volunteered with the home guard, and was ever found in line ready to defend his home and fireside. He had a firm belief in the righteousness of the southern cause. He fell in the battle ranks at Cloyd Mountain, on the ninth day of May 1864. His wound was a severe one through the thigh, and he bled to death before relief could be given." DeVault Genealogy, Excerpt from THE FAMILY OF HOGE http://www.devault.net/fthtml/nti02791.html
From The Southwest Times, 2014, The Battle of Cloyd's Mountain, Part IV:
"One unit is not recognized in any of the official records. That is those brave men of the Home Guard, and what might be known in today’s vernacular as walk-ons. One such walk-on was Rev. William Hickman, pastor of the Belspring Presbyterian Church. A unit of Confederate soldiers was marching through by his home on the day before the battle, and he, realizing that many of his parishioners were in this unit, fell in with them and ended up at Cloyd’s Farm. He was wounded in the battle and left the field when the rebels retreated. Because he was not in military uniform, the Yankees, who were moving the wounded to field hospitals, considered him a bushwhacker and left him without attention, and he later died from his wounds." https://www.southwesttimes.com/2014/02/the-battle-of-cloyds-farm-part-iv
Josephus Morgan (great great uncle, CSA)
Josephus was born July 3, 1845 in Pulaski County, Virginia. At the age of 18y 3m he enlisted in the same unit as his brother Rufus, the Virginia Botetourt Light Artillery Battery, as the unit was sent to Wytheville to join with other forces preparing to defend southwest Virginia from a union force from Tennessee. These forces met at the Battle of Marion, Dec 17 and 18, 1864. The Battery then served with the Army of Northern Virginia, were likely captured during the Appomattox Campaign in Apr 1865 and later disbanded in Christainsburg. Josephus married Elizabeth Brown Feb 12, 1868 and they had seven children. Elizabeth died in 1882. On Sept 2, 1884 he married Nannie Lowman and they had three children. Nannie died in 1923. Josephus died Feb 28, 1933 and was buried in the Morgan Cemetery.
Robert Clifton Noftsinger (great great uncle by marriage, CSA)
Robert was born January 6, 1837 in Botetourt County, Virginia. He married Martha French Morgan (great great aunt, sister to Rufus Morgan). May 15, 1861 he enlisted in Company H, Virginia 28th Infantry Regiment then transferred to the Virginia Botetourt Light Artillery Battery. "While in service he received a wound that seriously affected his spine from which he never fully recovered."[obituary] He suffered from what today would probably be diagnosed as PTSD. He committed suicide Nov 6, 1906 and was buried in the Noftsinger Cemetery, Buchanan, Virginia. [His sister Margret H. Hoftsinger married John Wesley Morgan Feb, 1865.]
Josephus Morgan (great great uncle, CSA)
Josephus was born July 3, 1845 in Pulaski County, Virginia. At the age of 18y 3m he enlisted in the same unit as his brother Rufus, the Virginia Botetourt Light Artillery Battery, as the unit was sent to Wytheville to join with other forces preparing to defend southwest Virginia from a union force from Tennessee. These forces met at the Battle of Marion, Dec 17 and 18, 1864. The Battery then served with the Army of Northern Virginia, were likely captured during the Appomattox Campaign in Apr 1865 and later disbanded in Christainsburg. Josephus married Elizabeth Brown Feb 12, 1868 and they had seven children. Elizabeth died in 1882. On Sept 2, 1884 he married Nannie Lowman and they had three children. Nannie died in 1923. Josephus died Feb 28, 1933 and was buried in the Morgan Cemetery.
Robert Clifton Noftsinger (great great uncle by marriage, CSA)
Robert was born January 6, 1837 in Botetourt County, Virginia. He married Martha French Morgan (great great aunt, sister to Rufus Morgan). May 15, 1861 he enlisted in Company H, Virginia 28th Infantry Regiment then transferred to the Virginia Botetourt Light Artillery Battery. "While in service he received a wound that seriously affected his spine from which he never fully recovered."[obituary] He suffered from what today would probably be diagnosed as PTSD. He committed suicide Nov 6, 1906 and was buried in the Noftsinger Cemetery, Buchanan, Virginia. [His sister Margret H. Hoftsinger married John Wesley Morgan Feb, 1865.]
Virginia Antionette Brown Morgan - Great Grandmother
Virginia's brothers were too young to enlist. As far as known none of her sisters married a man who had fought or would fight in the Civil War.
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