USA > North Carolina > Catawba County > The Catawba soldier of the Civil war a sketch of every soldier from Catawba county, North Carolina, with the photograph, biographical sketch, and reminiscence of many of them, together with a sketch of Catawba county from 1860 to 1911 > Part 6
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The influence exerted by Prof. Dau, as teacher, instruc- tor, and as a preacher and pastor, was of a high order. In the latter part of the 90's however, Prof. Dau gave up his professorship in Concordia College to accept a call to a charge in Indiana, and the responsibilities of President of Concordia College, fell to the lot of the present incumbent, Rev. Prof. Geo. A. Romoser, of Baltimore, Md. who had been professor in the college from 1892 to 1898.
Professor Romoser has sought to steadily further the work which Concordia College has obligated herself to do, and quietly and without ostentation the school is making good. Associated with President Romoser as instructors in
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the several departments of the College, are Profs. C. A. Weiss, Geo. Luecke and A. Haentzschel.
Space will not permit us to give a list of all those who have received instruction at Concordia College, and who have gone forth to labor and to contend with an eye single to improve the world. We mention in addition to those named above, M. H. Yount, formerly a member of the state Legislature; Dr. Eugene Yount, of Statesville; Dr. F. L. Herman, of Conover; Rev. E. T. Coyner, of Asheville, and Revs. C. O. Smith and P. C. Henry, of Catawba county. Many are in other states, and it is with keen pleasure that we can point to them and say that they are striving to pre- form the duties assigned them, and which they agreed to do when they were once students at Concordia College. Nor yet to mention those others, now aged, many of them, who have battled with the monster, ignorance, who is ever with us. One, an intimate friend of Dr. Henkel, a man who presistently and incessently preached, admonished, comfort- ed and mourned with his people, well heads the list of those whose names, for lack of space, we cannot record now-we refer to the venerable Rev. J. M. Smith, of Conover, -who was in the ministry for over thirty years, among the people of Catawba county. Well it is that he has lived to see many of those things accomplished (among them the build- ing of Concordia College) for which he had too earnestly labored and contended.
There are two churches in Conover which this sketch demands that note be made, viz: Concordia Lutheran and Trinity Reformed. The former has a history beginning with and closely following that of Concordia College. At first, services were held in the school rooms wherever they chanced to be, and Revs. P. C. Henkel and J. M. Smith conducted the services. Later, Revs. John Moser and R. A. Yoder also served the little congregation. When the college building was completed, the congregation of Concordia held its services in the Chapel of the College, and this served its purpose till the year 1894, when the congregation decided to build the present church building, the congregation having outgrown its quarters in the College. In 1896, Concordia church was completed and dedicated, Prof. W. H. T. Dau
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being the pastor of the congregation. The building is of brick, appropriate in architecture, commodious and a credit to the members of Concordia congregation by whom, largely, it was designed and constructed. The present pastor of Concordia is Rev. Paul Bischoff.
Trinity Reformed Church is the second of Conover's church buildings, and is conveniently located on Conover's main thoroughfare. It was built in the year 1891, Messrs. T. L. Hunsucker, Patrick Cline, Nelson Hunsucker, Noah Rowe, E. A. Herman and others being prime movers in its construction. Rev. J. C. Clapp, of Newton, was the first pastor of the new church. The present pastor is the Rev. J. H. Keller, of Hickory.
A new public school building for Conover was built in the beginning of the year 1911.
Three churches and a public school belong to Conover's colored population.
In closing this sketch, a few remarks are again neces- sary. Though Conover is beautiful as to location, human effort there, as elsewhere, has always been handicapped by the prevailing drawbacks incident to every section in the land. We are to have these-then which we have no choice. Yet there are many considerations obtaining at Conover which make for much that is fair and good in the future. In the first place Conover is well situated. It lies on two railways; the Memphis Division of the Southern, and the Carolina & North-Western. Mail and transportation facili- ties are, therefore, adequate so far as these concern the success of business enterprises, and the welfare of a resident population. Then the elevation of the land at this point is about eleven hundred feet above sea level, and so Conover is not subject to the fevers and the enervating influences of the lowlands further towards the east. Outlaying spurs and chains of the Blue Ridge are within easy range of the eye, even the particular and interesting mountain sights, like "Table Rock" being seen from the town when there is a clear horizon. And the water supply, much of which con- tains valuable medical properties, is excellent; the tourist readily appreciate its superior qualities. It is not strange then, that from the first beginning of the town, that Con-
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over has been visited by tourists and health-seekers both from the North (in winter), and from the more southernly points in the South (in the summer) and the reason given is, that climatic conditions of Conover being markedly equable at all seasons, must appeal quite strongly to those seeking health and comfort.
Aware of her advantages for the man with a business proposition, and knowing her advantages and inducements as a health giving place, Conover may yet come to realize that if her institutions and business enterprises which she has founded and advocated in the past have not flourished and succeeded as she would have them do, that there must have been some very important reason for their not doing so, and that it behooves her present citizenship to remove it.
A. L. BARGER.
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"CATAWBA RIFLES,"
"Co. A. 12th N. C. Troops.
On the 27th day of April, 1861, was organized in Newton Catawba county a body of soldiers that would have done honor to any cause or country. Composed of the very best men of the county, these men were cosmopolitan, that is men who can make a home every where they go. The major part of these men were descendants from "Pennsylvania Dutch." No better citizens could befound: but few of them owned slaves, so it cannot be claimed that they were enlisting to fight for slaverv; no, they were enlisting to fight for the right of the states under the constitution, and right nobly did these Catawba county men do their duty. It is sad to think that so many of those brave men never returned. Thirty-four were transferred to Ray's Rangers. I estimate that of the balance that belonged to the Co. from first to last there were 126, and of this number 88 have passed over the last river; this includes the killed and those who have died during and since the war. I make it that there are 38 living yet. When we reached Norfolk, Va. late in the night in May 1861, it was evident that some of our Catawba men had never been near salt water before, for Cain Pope, and others ran to the nearest water for a drink. which of course was tide water; then they "blessed out the man who was mean enough to salt the water." Frank Huffman, known as "Major Frank" had fixed himself a palace out of branches of trees, and arranged it so he could enter and close the door to his castle; all went well until the leaves became dry, and one night in Aug. some parties at the midnight hour set fire to the Major's "Palace," and it all burst out in a flash and it aroused the Major so he broke forth with a war whoop, and the Majors stampede made a meteoric shower to the amuse- ment of all the soldiers. Frank Murphy, our Irish comp- anion remarked, "Well Major was not careful enough in placing his guard; for the enemy surrounded his castle at
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midnight, and all was lost". Many rich stories could be re- lated on Cain Pope, Major Huffman and Franklin Murphy et. al. if we had the space to give it. After the transfer to other companies the original Catawba Rifles had six men to loose arms and six to loose legs. Of the six to loose arms, Lieut. H. P. Rudisill is the only one living; of those who lost legs-John M. Arnt, Geo. W. Rabb, Henry J. Reitzel, Miles O. Sherrill, and Peter Wilfong Whitener, are still livir g.
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COMPANY A. 12TH REGIMENT. OFFICERS.
Ray, John., Capt; Commissioned April 27, '61; resigned August '61; He died soon after the war.
Rowe, D. P., Commissioned September 16, '61; promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to Captain, from Captain to Major; killed May 2, '63 at Chancellorsville. (See sketch.)
DAVID PINKNEY ROWE
David Pinkney Rowe was born near Newton, N. C., May 3rd, 1836. He enlisted in the first company organized in Catawba county, Com- pany A, 12th N. C. Regiment, in April, 1861. In 1862 he was promot- ed to the office of major. He was wound- ed in the battle of Chancellorsville on May 2nd, 1863, and died the following day, his birth- day, at the age of 27 years. For some months previous to his death, and during the battle, he was in actual com- mand of the 12th Regi- ment. A beautiful sword given him by the mem- bers of Co. A bears tes- timony to the esteem which his own men held him, and his rapid advancement in the line is sufficient proof of his fitness to command. Idolized by his men, beloved by all who knew him, he died as courageously as he lived, exclaiming: "Dear Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit."
Sherrill, U. F., 1st Lieutenant; commissioned April 27, '61; promoted from 2nd Lieutenant; died September '61; first man who died in Company A.
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LIEUT. FRANKLIN SHERRILL
Uriah Franklin, son of Henderson and Mahala 0 Sherrill, a brother to John A., James H., Walter L., Beauregard Sherrill, Mrs. Dr. Chen- ault and Mrs. Laura Cline, was born in 1834. His father, a prom nent farmer, had represented Catawba Co. in the legis- lature. Franklin was a fine looking young man; he was a splendid school teacher as the writer can testify. When the "Cry of war" went through the land for volunteers, Sherrill was among the first to res- pond; he joined the Cat- awba Rifles the first Co. organized in old Cataw- ba, in April 1861, before reaching his 27th year. He was elected First Lieut. and was with the Co. at Norfolk, Va. While at Norfolk he became sick, and on the 3rd. day of Sept. A. D. 1861 he died. He was the first confederate soldier from Catawba Co., who sacrificed his life on the alter of his country; peace to his ashes. Had Sherrill lived we feel sure he would have filled high positions in the army as he was a man of commanding appearance, and his men were devoted to him. We who survive will soon have to follow. Jan. 1911. M. O. SHERRILL
Wilfong, Y. M., 1st Lieutenant. Killed May 12, '64, at Spottsylvania Court House; was Captain when killed.
Yount, M. A., 2nd Lieutenant; commissioned September 16, '61; promoted from Sergeant; drowned since the war in Neuse river. (See sketch.)
MILES YOUNT
Miles Yount volunteered and joined Company A, 12th Regiment at its formation in 1861. At first he was a private but at the re-organiza- tion he was elected 1st Lieutenant of the company. He was in the bat- tle with the enemy at Chancellorsville, Malvern Hill, Gainsville, and others, being wounded at South Mountain, Md., in the head which
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paralyzed his arm; for this cause he was retired. He was appointed time collector. After the war he became a bridge builder, and while at Neuse River endeavoring to move a raft from the frame of a bridge, he fell into the stream and was drowned-February, 1866.
He was a faithful soldier, and was highly esteemed by his company. This sketch was kindly furnished us by his brother-in-law, H. P. Ruda- sill.
Deal, M. S., 2nd Lieutenant; promoted from ranks; died since the war in the hospital. (See sketch.)
SYLVANUS DEAL
Sylvanus Deal en- listed with the original Company A, and served faithfully with the same company till the close. He engaged in farming, at which he was success- ful. He was elected Lieutenant and held that position to the close. In his latter days he was much afflict- ed, and died some years ago. He was a faith- ful soldier - a worthy and honored citizen of the county.
Rudisill, H. P., 2nd Lieutenant; promoted from ranks, woun- ded; lost an arm; living at Maiden, N. C. (See sketch.)
Brown, J. M., 2nd Lieutenant; promoted from ranks; now living in Asheville. (See sketch.)
Bradburn, T. W., 2nd Lieutenant; promoted from ranks; died since the war.
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HENRY P. RUDA- SILL
I volunteered in the first company that left Catawba county, April 27th, 1861. We were sent to Raleigh and formed into regiments. I belonged to the 2nd Regiment N. C. Volun- teers. We were in Raleigh when the State seceeded. We were then sent to Norfolk, Va., and stayed there about twelve months.
We fought our first battle at Hanover Junc- tion. The next were battles around Rich- mond. I was wounded in my right hand in the battle of Malvern Hill. I got a thirty days fur- lough home. I then joined my company again at Sharpsburg Maryland.
I was in the battle of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, and Fredricksburg; from there to South Mountain, Md .; then down the Valley by way of the Natural Bridge, on to Carlyle, Pa. We then went to Gettysburg. We suffered great loss in that battle. Back to Williams- port, Md. There we recrossed the Potomac back into Virginia.
I helped take Winchester twice from the Yankees. On the 19th of September, 1864, I was wounded and lost my left arm above the elbow. When Gen. Sherman drove Gen. Early from Winchester, Va., 1 was taken prisoner and stayed in Winchester one month. I was then sent to Baltimore. Then sent from Baltimore to be exchanged; the boat was stopped at Fortress Monroe nineteen days; then we got orders to go to Savannah, Ga., where the prisoners were exchanged. We were on the boat twenty-two days. We stayed in Savannah until we were able to come home. Then I went back to the army and resigned as 2nd Lieut. Company A, 12th Regiment N. C. Troops.
In a few weeks after I got back home, Gen. Stoneman came through with his cavalry. I was married the 15th of March, 1866, to Olivia C. Yount, daughter of Franklin A. and Jemina Yount. Had fourteen chil- dred, nine sons and five daughters. I served the County as Treasurer
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eight years. I am 68 years old, and enjoying reasonably good health. From first to last, I was not absent more than 37 days from the army, before I lost my arm.
On the night after the first days fight at Fredricksburg the Aurora Borealis was seen very plainly in the North. The soldiers took this as an omen of a bloody battle to follow the next day, and consequently, were very much excited thereby. The next morning about eight o'clock, a red fox was discovered between the picket lines of the two armies, which occasioned much amusement on both sides. We had strict orders not to fire unless the enemy advanced upon us; but Reynard offered a temptation we could not resist. Fired upon by our pickets, the fox ran in the direction of the Yankees, and fired upon by them, he rushed back toward us, and so on, back and forth, down the line for about three miles. Whether the fox was killed, I do not know.
Our Regiment went into the Gettysburg fight 1400 strong and came out with 127. On the retreat we passed up a stream that flowed through a gap of a mountain. We crossed and re-crossed the stream about 20 times. At many places it was waist deep and very cold. Our wagon train was in front, our thinned regiment forming the rear guard. Some Yankee Cavalry were annoying our wagons in front, taking some and riddling others with grape shot and canister. Gen. Iverson said to Capt. Wilfong: "Capt. Wilfong, Yankees are annoying our wagon train in front; go forward and give them Hell ! Don't you think you can do it ?" Wilfong answered: "We have but few men, but we will do the best we can;" but when we reached the point of trouble, there were only about a dozen men with us. We took refuge beside a huge rock and lay concealed there until morning. We could hear the enemy walk- ing and talking sometimes within five steps of us; but we did not give them hell, for we had only two guns at our command. The next morn- ing we formed a skirmish line on each side of a road further on from this spot. Capt. Wilfong took command of the right and I of the left, and as the enemies Cavalry charged the rear wagons, we captured about a dozen of them.
An amusing incident occurred at the battle of Sharpsburg. Duncan McRea was Col. of the 5th N. C. Regiment. One of his Captains was a Baptist preacher, and I believe a good, pious man. He often held services for the Regiment and Brigade. Col. McRea was ambitious to become a Brigadier General; but in the hottest of the fight his regiment faltered and fell back. The next day he said to his clericial Captain: "I always thought you were a good man; I have often heard you say that you wanted to go to Heaven, but yesterday you had an opportunity to go, and D --- you, you run from it."
At the battle of Chancelorsville, Maj. D. P. Rowe was mortally wounded. We fought on until dark and got badly scattered. About six of us got too far to the left and found ourselves within the enemies' Picket lines. We saw two of the enemies' pickets lying behind a log sighting ready to shoot at us; one of us (a prominent man of this county), fired and shot one of the pickets through the head and killed
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him instantly. He felt very sorry for having killed a man, or rather knowing that he had killed a man, and begged me not to tell it on him at home. I will not give his name, but if he reads this he will know who I mean.
I lost my arm at Winchester, September 13th, 1864, and was cap. tured at the same time and sent to the Federal Hospital. There I re- mained for a month and received good treatment. The ladies of the town would bring all kinds of delicacies suitable for the sick and wound- ed. One month from the time I was captured, our forces attempted to re-take Winchester, and all of us prisoners expected to be liberated. In the excitement, I walked out of the hospital to a three story Southern Mansion, where I was hidden in the third story; but when Sheridan drove Early back, I returned to the hospital, where I, with others of the wounded prisoners, were reported as deserters. All of us who were able to be moved, were sent in wagons to Harpers Ferry, and from there on the train to Baltimore Hospital. We were in Baltimore for three weeks where we also receivedsplendid treatment, until the day we left; the day we left, we were marched out into a very large room where all our clothing, money, etc., were all taken from us and we were marched out to a large pile of cast off Federal uniforms and commanded to dress. The pants that I received were all bloody, and the right leg ripped to the knee. One poor fellow from Georgia, wounded in the shoulder and with gangrene so bad you could see the bones, had four five dollar gold pieces, which he hid in the bowl of a large pipe. He filled it with tobacco and began to smoke; but when the Yanks came around to search him, the first place they looked, was in the pipe, which they confiscated along with the gold. He brooded and worried over his loss until he became unbalanced, and while on' the boat lying in front of Fort Monroe, he jumped over board. We threw a rope to him, which he eagerly seized and was drawn up to the boat again. He evidently found out that drowning was worse than the loss of gold.
From Baltimore we started in a tug boat. When out at sea a storm blew us into Annapolisand we landed there for safety. I accidently gave the Master Mason sign. One of the spectators, by the name of Holden, from North Carolina, came up to me and said: "What will you have?" I said to him: "What do you mean by that?". "Why," he answered, "you gave me the Master Mason sign." I said to him: "My friend, I don't want to take advantage of you; I don't belong to the Masons or ony of the other orders; if I gave you the Master Mason sign, it was not knowingly." He then tried me with several other signs, but I could not give the countersign, so he said to me: "If you are not a Mason, you are a gentleman; what will you have?" I told him we were very hungry. He then went and brought for us a load of bread, beef, boiled ham, and other good things, for which we were very grateful.
After the gale was over, we left for Point Lookout, where we were placed on a large boat called the Baltic. There were about 1600 prison- ers on board. All were either sick or wounded. From there we went to Old Fort, Va., where we were anchored for thirteen days, awaiting
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orders from the . Federal war department. From there we went to Savannah, Ga., which took us three days.
When I left Baltimore I was strong and my arm was doing fine, but when I got to Savannah my wound was so swollen and I so weak, I had to be carried off the boat. During the twenty-two days I was on the boat, my arm was washed but once and that time. with a pint of stolen water. Silas Smyre, wounded in the leg, bunked just above me, says I stole the water, while I have always thought that he stole it. We both tried to steal some water after that but never succeeded.
The physician's on the boat had the prisoners' wounds washed and dressed regularly, but all were bathed in the same water, and as quite a few of the soldiers had gengrene, Silas Smyre and I refused to have our wounds washed in the poluted water.
As we left Fortress Monroe, Ga., a prisoner who had chronic diar- rhoea, went to the doctor's office and asked for medicine. The Doctor cursed him and told him there was nothing much the matter with him and that he needed no medicine. The poor fellow turned away with a broken hearted sigh, with the remark: "Tomorrow at twelve o'clock I will be dead." I was present when this occurred. The next day about one o'clock, as we were on the hurricane deck trying to get the vermin out of our blankets and clothes, we noticed a school of fish on each side of the boat as straight as any line of battle I ever saw. They swam as fast as the boat ran. Someone shouted: "A dead man on board." A search was instantly made and the poor fellow above alluded to was found dead. Weights were tied to his feet and he was dropped over- board. The moment he fell into the water, the fish turned tails up and followed him to the bottom, and were saw no more until another was dead.
While on boat we suffered a great deal from hunger and thirst. We had no water at all during this time and were allowed but one cracker and a pint of soup a day. One of the crackers would make about five of our ordinary soda crackers; and I have often thought the soup was nothing more than the dishwater slightly flavored with vegetables.
After our exchange we stayed in Savannah until we regained our strength somewhat and obtained better clothing, when we returned home.
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LIEUT. JAMES M. BROWN
He was born in Cat- awba County, N. C. May 19, 1839. He was rear- ed on the farm and se- cured his education at the old field schools, Catawba College and Red Hill Academy, in Iredell County.
He. volunteered April 21 or 22, 1861 and helped organize Company A of the Second Regiment of Volunteers or 12th Regi- ment of State Troops. He left Newton with the Company on April 27th, 1861 as Fourth Lieut. but on reaching Raleigh and finding that there was no such office, he was reduced to the ranks.
This Company was or ginally under the command of Capt. C. W. Bradburn, but after being in Raleigh a short time, it was reorganized and John Ray was elected cap- tain. At this time, Mr. Brown was appointed Corporal and when Capt. Ray left the Company to organize his Rangers, was promoted to Fourth Sergeant.
In April, 1862, the Company was again organized, and Mr. Brown was elected Third Lieutenant. He served in that position through the battles of Hanover Junction, the Seven Days' Fight around Richmond, Chambersville, Cold Harbor, White Oak Swamp, and Malvern Hill,
At the battle of Cold Harbor, a grape shot struck him squarely on the thigh. and would have broken his leg, had it not struck his saber which had a steel scabbard. This scabbard was so badly bent by the blow that it had to be hammered straight again before the sword could be withdrawn.
At the battle of Malvern Hill, he was shot through the knee late in the evening and lay on the field that night and until about ten o'clock the next day. He was then carried off the field by L. R. Whitener and G. M. Wilfong, and was laid down in the woods until late in the evening. He was then sent to the field hospital where his wound was dressed. On the next day he was placed in an ambulance, sent over a pine pole road to the station, placed on a flat car and sent to the Moore Hospital at
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