| LOCAL CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS |
| There, Private Clapp was officially mustered into Company I (the Blodgett Volunteers) of the 3rd Regiment Infantry, commanded by Captain Foster (sometimes referred to as Lee) Blodgett. Most of the men of this company hailed from Richmond County, Georgia, as did Clapp. After arriving at the Navy Yard, which had been abandoned by the fleeing Federals, the men of Company I witnessed for the first time, the destruction of war, as the Federals burned and destroyed everything in sight, and many building remnants and ships in the harbor were still smoldering.
On May 9th, the men of the 3rd Regiment elected Colonel Ambrose R. Wright as commander of the regiment. Blodgett's Company was diligently drilled and remained in the area, but was only called-out on duty to Suffolk and Pigs Point, Virginia, for possible encounters with New York federal regiments, who were reported to be heading towards Suffolk, but never showed. In July, Captain Blodgett, apparently disappointed with Colonel Wright, put together a petition for the resignation of Colonel Wright. Wright immediately brought charges against Blodgett for his actions and for disobedience, and a court-martial ensued. Blodgett was tried and convicted in Portsmouth. He appealed to the Secretary of War, and requested a transfer, which was granted. Blodgett's Company I was then replaced by the Carswell Guards from Wilkinson County, Georgia (and given the designation "2nd Company I"). Blodgett was then allowed to take his company of men, which included Clapp, and equipped them for field artillery service, and formed the Georgia Blodgett Light Artillery, also known as Milledge’s Light Artillery, as they also served under Captain John Milledge, Jr. The Company was also assigned to C. Richardson’s and W. Nelson’s Battalion of Artillery. They served in the Richmond area until September, 1862, and then were active from the Maryland Campaign until Cold Harbor. It was later reported that they did "good service" in General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Horace Clapp served with this unit until the end of September, 1863. On October 1, 1863, Clapp mustered into Captain Thomas M. Nelson’s Independent Company, Georgia Cavalry (also known as Nelson's Rangers). Captain Nelson was from Dougherty County, Georgia and initially enlisted on April 28, 1861 into Company E, of the 4th Georgia Volunteer Infantry, from which he later resigned, and then formed his cavalry unit on May 14, 1862. The unit later became Captain George G. Ragland’s company, and served as personal escort for General Stephen Dill Lee. Clapp served with this unit for the remainder of the war, and was surrendered at Greensboro, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. He had a rich and colorful military career…especially after having served during the entire war, and in 3 classes of the military; the infantry, artillery and cavalry. Miraculously, he survived the entire war unscathed.
After the war, Horace Hamilton Clapp returned home to Augusta, Georgia, where he once again took up the simple, yet hard life of farming. During a purported visit to Jacksonville, Florida in 1875, his wife Fortuna preceded him in death and was there buried. Horace returned to Augusta from Florida, and so, after surviving the rigors of hard life and 4 grueling years in the Confederate Army, he developed heart disease, and was attended to by Dr. DeSaussure Ford, who could do little for him. At the young age of 59, he departed this life, and went to his Maker, and was put to rest on August 27, 1879 in the Guimarin Family Plot in the old section of the Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta. A Confederate military memorial grave stone was placed in his honor. Despite the horrors of war, and the harshness of life, one can still see a glimmer of a smile in the eyes of the happily displaced "Yankee", Horace Hamilton Clapp, forever a Confederate Veteran from his State of Georgia.
Lest we forget! Lest we forget!
This article was written long ago by Misters John Maurath and Rudolph Clapp. It was provided by Compatriot Alan Anderson, g-g grandson of Private Clapp. The article was slightly modified for length by Tom Holley.
Respectfully submitted:
Tom Holley, Camp 1914
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This is the story of Horace Hamilton Clapp, a displaced "Yankee" from Boston, Massachusetts.
Ten years after the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, 21-year-old Roger Clap arrived in Dorchester (south Boston), Massachusetts in 1630 aboard the Ship "Mary and John" from the town of Salcombe-Regis, Devonshire, England.
Roger Clap’s great-great-grandson was Dr. Preserved Clapp, IV, who was born in Hadley, Massachusetts and who later moved to Claremont, New Hampshire. During the American Revolution, Dr. Preserved Clapp patented a process for refurbishing abandoned British canons. This line of the Clapp family returned to Boston, and this brings us to the grandson of Revolutionary War Veteran Roswell Clapp…Horace Hamilton Clapp, our featured "Yankee".
Horace Hamilton Clapp was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 30, 1820. After Horace reached his maturity, he professed the faith of the Congregationalist Church. He had a falling-out though, which banished him from the church, around the young age of 20, and so he left home and headed south along the eastern coast, traveling through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. Everywhere that he went though, his reputation with the church preceded him. So, he decided to board a ship, most probably in New York, and headed even further south.
Horace Hamilton Clapp, with his Boston accent, finally decided to disembark at Savannah, Georgia. From there, he headed up the Savannah River, to the end of the boat line at Augusta, Georgia, where he decided to settle. In Augusta, in 1842, at age 22, he married a 20-year-old "southern belle" of French descent, Miss Fortuna Guimarin. They had 6 children, all born before the War. In early 1861, as Civil War seemed imminent to all throughout the country, Horace's family back in Boston wrote to him, and suggested that it was time for him to come back home and fight for the North. He replied that he was indeed already at home in his state of Georgia, with his family and his people, and there he was happy and would stay, and there he would fight for his country and die.
On April 27, 1861, that 41-year-old Horace Hamilton Clapp, a displaced Bostonian, joined the Confederate Army, leaving a wife and 6 children at home, ranging in ages from 17 to 6. He went into camp with the rest of the men of the 3rd Regiment, which was placed under the temporary command of Captain William C. Musgrove. Around the 1st of May, the 3rd Regiment consisting of 10 companies (A - J), left Augusta and were ordered to proceed to Richmond, Virginia, per Governor Brown, but instead were directed to the Navy Yard at Portsmouth via Norfolk, per Governor Letcher of Virginia, and there they encamped.
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The Hatcher family enjoys a rich history in the United States. William Hatcher, the ancestor immigrant, came in 1614, from Lincolnshire, England, to Virginia, aboard the ship Primrose. He patented 1600 acres of land and was a delegate for seven years in the House of Burgesses
Many family generations later, Josiah Hatcher, was born in 1761, in Virginia, but along with his family migrated to Georgia. He was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Revolutionary War in Captain Patrick Carr’s Rangers, Colonel James Mackay’s Regiment from Burke County. Josiah was married twice. His second marriage was to Sarah Hill in about 1808 in Burke County. He died 28 November 1823, in Burke County, Georgia.
Among the children of Josiah and Sarah Hatcher was Voluntine (Valentine). He was born 18 August 1811, in Burke County and died 13 December 1862, in Jefferson County. Valentine married Sarah Jane Mercer on 30 November 1843 in Columbia County, Georgia. The couple had at least nine children. The 1850 Federal census showed Valentine as a 40 year old planter with a net worth of $3,500. Valentine and Sarah are buried in the Mercer family cemetery 2 miles south of Harlem off Highway 221.
Among the children were Rufus ‘Rube’ Hatcher who was born 17 August 1844, and died in the Confederate army, and John ‘Jack’ Alpheus Hatcher was born 27 May 1845. (See the biography of John Hatcher under other Thomson Guards images on this web site).
Rufus Hatcher was a private in Stapleton’s Company, 12th (Wright’s) Georgia Cavalry (State Guards). The nickname for this company was “Pope Hill Rangers”. He was enlisted on August 4, 1863 for 6 months by Captain James Stapleton in Louisville, Jefferson County, Georgia. He enlisted with his horse, valued at $500, and equipment valued at $35. The company was called into active service and pay commenced on January 1, 1864. The muster roll dated January 31, 1864, states, “Absent without leave having never reported”.
The photograph was graciously provided by Mr. Thomas Huffman of Augusta and the enlistment information was provided by Mr. David Butler.
Lest we forget! Lest we forget!
Respectfully submitted,
Tom Holley
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| There are no notes showing any active campaign or battle in which they were present. As with many state guard units, they were mostly involved in keeping local order.
Charles Ray Hollenshead was born 5 November 1826 in Lincoln County, Georgia. He was the son of Hugh and Rachel Lavinia Carver Hollenshead. Charles first married Sarah Frances Willingham 17 February 1853. After her death 27 August 1864, he married her sister Nancy Jane Willingham on 26 November 1865. When his brother-in-law, John Clarke Willingham, Company G, 15th Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia died of disease in Richmond, Virginia on 29 October 1861, Charles rode to Richmond on horseback and brought the body back to Pine Grove Cemetery for burial.
Charles had a brother, Thomas Turner Hollenshead, who was a soldier in the “Pettus Volunteers”.
After the War, the 1870 Federal census shows Charles with wife Nancy Jane Willingham and children as well as his mother-in-law Sarah Willingham. He is shown as a farmer; he took over the lands of the Hollenshead and Willingham families. His youngest son John Clarke Hollenshead is surely named for his brother-in-law, John Clarke Willingham who Hollenshead brought back from Virginia.
John Clark Hollenshead married his 2nd cousin Erin Wright and lived until 1962 in Lincolnton.
All information and the photo were provided by Mr. Ben Willingham of Jacksonville, Florida.
Lest we forget! Lest we forget!
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During the War, every able bodied male aged 16 through 60 served the Confederate government or army in some fashion; not all fought on the front lines. For instance, Charles Hollenshead was in Company I, 3rd Cavalry (State Guards) which were known as the Northeast Regiment State Guards. The first commander of the 3rd Cavalry was Colonel Robert Toombs along with Lt. Colonel Luther H. O. Martin and Major John M. Freeman. Hollenshead was in Captain Walton’s Company of mounted infantry. They were organized on 4 August 1863, mustered into Confederate service on 4 August 1863 and entered into active service on 15 September 1863. The group mustered out of service on 31 January 1864.
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Edwin Pierce Morris was a life-long resident of Columbia County, having been born in Appling, GA, August 17, 1845, and dying there December 27, 1922. His great-grandfather, Captain Jesse Morris, had migrated to the area from Virginia about the time of the American Revolution or shortly thereafter. He was one of seven children born to Obediah Pierce Morris and Sarah Elizabeth Smith Morris and was reared on their Columbia County farm.
In the spring of 1861, a few months prior to his sixteenth birthday, he made the trip to Augusta, GA, and enlisted in Company A, Cobb's Legion, Georgia Cavalry, which formed part of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's Cavalry Corps. Battles engaged in were:
Yorktown Siege, Virginia (4/62)
Seven Days Battles, Virginia (6/25/62 - 7/1/62)
Harrison's Landing, Virginia (8/2/62 - 8/8/62)
Middletown, Maryland (9/13/62)
South Mountain, Maryland (9/14/62)
Antietam, Maryland (9/17/62)Barbee's Crossroads, Virginia (11/5/62)
Dumfries, Virginia (12/12/62)
Fredericksburg, Virginia (12/13/62)
Occoquan, Virginia (12/19/62)
Dumfries and Fairfax Station, Virginia (12/27/62 - 12/29/62)
Brandy Station, Virginia (6/9/63)
Upperville, Virginia (6/21/63)
Hanover, Pennsylvania (6/30/63)
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (7/1/63 - 7/3/63)
Hunterstown, Pennsylvania (7/2/63)
Bristoe Campaign, Virginia (10/63)
Mine Run Campaign, Virginia (11/63 - 12/63)
Wilderness, Virginia (5/5/64 - 5/6/64)
Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia (5/8/64 - 5/21/64)
North Anna, Virginia (5/23/64 - 5/26/64)
Petersburg Siege, Virginia (6/1/64 - 4/1/65)
Cold Harbor, Virginia (6/1/64 - 6/3/64)
Williamsburg Road, Virginia (10/27/64)
Carolinas Campaign (2/65 - 4/30/65)
Bentonville, North Carolina (3/19/65 - 3/21/65)
In Virginia in the spring of 1865 Pvt. E. P. Morris was given a 30 day leave to return home to get another horse, or as he stated, "off on a horse detail to come home to get me a horse." He had supplied his own horse at the time he joined and was responsible for replacing it if anything happened to it. On either the 16th or 26th of April 1865, the command surrendered near Hillsboro, NC. Pvt. Morris stated that, "on my way back to my company, I met them that had surrendered." It was due to this surrender that he, too, left the command. He was never captured during the war and never wounded, however he did suffer the hardships common to all those who served. Family members recalled his telling them about putting cardboard in the bottoms of his shoes because the soles were worn through.
Upon returning to Columbia County, he was employed by the widow of a plantation owner as overseer. With food and housing provided he needed little money to subsist on, so he had her hold most of his pay in savings for him. Therefore, by the time his left her employment he had accumulated a significant amount of money and was able to purchase property for himself. E. P. Morris first married Ida Reed. They had five children, two sons and three daughters. After Ida's death, he married Katherine Bartlett on May 23, 1889. She was the daughter of John and Charlotte Hardy Bartlett. They had eight children, three sons and five daughters. (Note: Katherine Bartlett was the niece of Columbia County Confederate Soldier Oliver Hardy whom we have as an honorary member of the SCV Maj. Gen. Ambrose R. Wright Camp)
Edwin Pierce's occupation was always that of farming, although he also had a small store which sold a limited selection of merchandise. He was never interested in politics to the extent that he wanted any public office. His interest lay in agriculture and providing for his family. Even as his family grew he continued to be very conservative in his lifestyle and with his finances, using any surplus funds to purchase additional property. It was his desire to ensure that his children would always have a home. He fulfilled that desire because at the time of his death he had acquired sufficient property to leave his wife and each of his twelve living children a farm and home.
The family of E. P. Morris honors and remembers with affection a man who at a very young age served as a Confederate soldier to defend his family and the South he loved.
Lest we forget! Lest we forget!
Submitted by Robert L. Gibson III
Great-grandson of Edwin Pierce Morris
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| Spencer Reeves and his wife had three sons: Stephen Green Reeves, Charles Reeves and Thomas Reeves. Stephen Green Reeves married Patsey Washington in Columbia County August 6, 1832. Stephen and Patsey had four sons that joined the Confederate army. Charles Reeves and his wife Margaret were married in about 1835. They had two sons that joined the service. Thomas Reeves apparently migrated from this area of Georgia; there is no additional information regarding him.
The sons of Stephen and Patsey Washington Reeves were:
Private Charles Reeves, Company K, Hamilton Rangers, 48th Georgia, Wright’s Brigade
Private William H. Reeves, Company A, 63rd Georgia Regiment
Private Robert Randall Reeves, Company A, 63rd Georgia Regiment (note photo)
Private John M. Reeves, Company B, 8th Georgia Cavalry
The sons of Charles and Margaret Reeves were:
Private David E. Reeves, Co. F, Thomson Guards, 10th GA Regiment, Semmes Brigade
Private Stephen Green Reeves, Co. F, Thomson Guards, 10th Georgia Regiment
The family of Private Charles Reeves is documented in Company K, Hamilton Rangers. Please note that this is Adjutant Herbert Gilstrap’s direct great Grandfather.
Private Robert Randall Reeves was born January 17, 1840 and died May 16, 1919. He is buried at the old Reeves Schoolhouse on a hill overlooking the home where he lived, a spot he had chosen for his burial site. Family legend says that during the battle of Kennesaw Mountain outside Atlanta, he shot a Yankee in the knee and then ran down the mountain with bullets flying all around him. He survived the war and was a member of the Georgia state legislature following.
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THE REEVES FAMILY
Among the oldest families in Columbia County is that of the Reeves. Spencer Reeves, a Revolutionary War patriot received a 100-acre land grant adjacent to Brier Creek on July 3, 1786. This land is located north and east of the intersection of present day Highway 221 where it crosses Brier Creek at Luckey’s Bridge, south of Harlem. Generations of Reeves are buried at the Reeves graveyard near the east side of the highway on what is today part of the Fort Gordon Military Reservation.
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JOHN LEWIS SINGLEY
In April 1779, Corporal Jacob Singley languished the time away in prison within the star shaped fort at Ninety Six. As part of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Innes’ Company, SC Royalists, nineteen years old Jacob expected to be hanged for his support of King George III. Fortunately, after numerous appeals from his wife and his willingness to sign an oath to quit the war, Jacob was released.
It is no wonder why Jacob would support the King. Only one family generation earlier, Jacob’s father, John, fled Germany to England because of religious persecution. King George II gave him 550 acres of land if he would leave the Parliament grounds in England where large numbers of Germans were camped and sail to America. John Singley located the property near present day Prosperity, SC.
In 1844, part of the Singley clan was moving from the Prosperity area to Tallapoosa, Alabama. Along the way, 22 years old John Lewis Singley met a beautiful young woman, Emily Jane Cole. Her family lived in Butts County, Georgia, near Jackson. John and Emily were wed 26 January 1845, and set up housekeeping on a small farm near Indian Springs. By 1862, they had eleven children; all lived to adulthood.
On 25 September 1861, John Lewis Singley became a private in Company A, Butts Invincibles, 30th Regiment, Army of Tennessee. Upon reorganization in 1862, it became Company I.
In late 1864, with operations in Middle Tennessee, the command structure read, Cheatham’s Army Corp (Major General Benjamin F. Cheatham), Bate’s Division (Major General William B. Bate), Jackson’s Brigade (Brigadier General Henry R. Jackson), 30th Georgia commanded by Colonel William D. Mitchell.
Major General William Bate wrote 20 January 1865, as reported in The Compilation of Official Records: “Major General Forrest gave me intimation of a probable attack on the main army in front of Nashville, and directed that I be ready to move with short notice. I soon thereafter received an order to move to the right flank of the Army of Tennessee, held by General Cheatham, to take part in the anticipated operations there. The sleet and severe freezes had made the surface of the earth a sheet of ice. Nearly one-fourth of the men were still barefooted, yet plodded ‘their weary way’ under these adverse circumstances (many with bleeding feet), and arrived in good time to the position assigned in Cheatham’s corps…
“Daylight (16th)… My line formed with Jackson’s brigade on the right, then Findley’s and Tyler’s in succession, with no support. The hill on which my left rested was confronted by a similar one within 400 yards and an open field in the intervening valley…The enemy opened a most terrific fire of artillery, and kept it up during the day. ..The enemy was in two lines in my front, and in the afternoon, moved by his right flank from direction of the Granny White turnpike, and massed by advancing a skirmish line at a time under the brow of a hill near the angle… I asked for reinforcement; there was none… About 4 p.m. the enemy with heavy force assaulted the line near the angle, and carried it at that point where Ector’s brigade had built the light works, which were back from the brow of the hill and without obstructions; not, however, until the gallant and
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obstinate Colonel Shy and nearly half his men had fallen, together with the largest part of the three right companies of the Thirty-seventh Georgia, which constituted my extreme left… The breach once made, the lines lifted from either side as far as I could see almost instantly and fled in confusion. Two regiments, the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Georgia, then my extreme right, commanded by Colonel Mitchell (Jackson’s Brigade), and adjoining Walthall’s division, did not break, but remained fighting until surrounded…
In this report I have dealt more in particulars for the reason there are no reports from brigade commanders, all three of whom having been captured…”
Private John Lewis Singley was wounded and captured near Nashville, Tennessee 16 December 1864. He was imprisoned in Camp Chase, Ohio and died of anasarca 29 May 1865, (widespread swelling of the skin due to effusion of fluid into the extracellular space sometimes caused by congestive heart failure or renal failure). His grave number is #2005; his name is etched in a sandstone marker but is barely readable.
When Butts County, Georgia called out her sons, eight companies were formed. The records show that Butts County men fought in all the major battles to defend their beloved Southern home. Among them John Lewis Singley made the ultimate sacrifice to the Cause.
Lest we forget! Lest we forget!
- Respectfully submitted, Tom Holley
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