Keeping It
All In The Family

A Bit of "family" Trivia
And Photos from
 The War of Northern Aggression

Did You Know...?
Yankee Gen William Rufus Terrill, killed October 8, 1862 at Perryville, and his brother,
Confederate Gen James Barbour Terrill, killed May 30, 1864 at Bethesda Church, were
supposedly buried by their father in a single grave over which the tombstone reads:

'Here lies my two sons. Only
God knows which was right'.

Confederate Gen James Terrill & his brother,
Yankee Gen William Rufus Terrill

In the midst of the Battle of Burgess' Mill VA October 27, 1864, cavalry commander Confederate Gen Wade Hampton came upon his sons - mortally wounded Frank Preston Hampton and Wade Hampton, Jr. who had been shot while coming to his brother's aid.

Confederate Gen Wade Hampton
The honor of the most generals in the Confederate army from a single family fell to the Lees of Virginia with Robert E. Lee, his two sons George Washington Custis Lee and William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, and his nephew, Fitzhugh Lee.

Gen Robert E. Lee

Gen George W. Lee   William Henry Lee   Fitzhugh Lee

Mary Anna Custis Lee
Mary Custis Lee, wife of CSA Gen Robert E. Lee, was the GGranddaughter of
President George Washington and wife, Martha  Custis Washington.  She was captured by Union soldiers at a family estate, 'White House', in Virginia. She was passed through the lines to Richmond by Yankee Gen George Brinton McClellan.

Yankee Gen George McClellan

Confederate Gen Lewis Addison Armistead entered West Point in 1834. In 1836, he was
dismissed for breaking a mess-hall plate over the head of classmate and future Confederate
Gen Jubal Anderson Early.

The youngest child and only son of former US President Zachary Taylor was Confederate Gen Richard Taylor. His daughter, Sarah Knox Taylor, was the first wife of CSA President Jefferson Davis. She died of malaria 3 months after her  marriage.

President Zachary Taylor & his son Confederate Gen Richard Taylor

CSA Precident Jefferson Davis

Born and buried at 'Monticello',  Secretary of State George Wythe Randolph
was a grandson of Thomas Jefferson and a Confederate  General

Confederate Gen George Randolph
Yankee Gen Philip St. George Cooke was the father-in-law of Confederate
Gen James Ewell Brown, 'Jeb' Stuart and father of
Confederate Gen John Rogers Cooke.

Yankee Gen Phillip Cooke

CSA Gen John Rogers Cooke-his son
and
CSA Gen Jeb Stuart-son-in-law

Confederate Gen George Bibb Crittenden was the son of  Senator John Crittenden
and brother of Yankee Gen Thomas Leonidas Crittenden.

 Confederate  Gen George Crittenden &
his Yankee brother Thomas Leonidas Crittenden

Yankee Gen Ulysses Simpson Grant was introduced to his wife, Julia Dent, by her cousin,
Confederate Gen James Longstreet.

Grant, wife Julia, and cousin Gen. Longstreet
Yankee Gen John Gibbon had three brothers who fought for the Confederacy including Dr.
Robert Gibbon, Surgeon in Lane's NC Brigade.

Gen John Gibbon
Virginia-born George Henry Thomas, a Yankee general who became known as
'The Rock of Chickamauga', remained loyal to the Union even though his family disowned him
and his property was seized by his native state. While in great need after the war, his sisters
rejected Thomas' aid saying they had no brother.
(Can you blame those  Proud Steel Magnolias?.)
.
Yankee Gen. George Thomas
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter absolved Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd of any involvement
in the conspiracy to kill Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Mudd, while treating John Wilkes Booth's
 broken leg, had continually insisted he was innocent of the conspiracy charges.
TV anchorman Roger Mudd is a descendent of Dr. Mudd.

Dr. Samuel Mudd
Confederate Gen and Secretary of WarJohn Cabell Breckinridge was US Vice President
under James Buchanan 1856-1860

John Cabell Breckinridge.

Two brothers, Jack and Jasper Walker, of Charlotte, North Carolina, fought at Gettysburg with the 13th
 North Carolina. Jasper, the younger, was wounded and a surgeon amputated his leg.
Jasper was captured and sent to a Northern prison.
 On the retreat from Gettysburg, Jack Walker was also shot and lost his left leg by amputation. He went
to another Federal prison.  The brothers returned home after the war to become prosperous citizens,  and
very well known in the town as they stumped about on cork legs. When Jasper married, in the course of the
festivities he accidentally fell and broke his artificial leg, he borrowed the leg of his brother - a perfect fit.

If Private Sam Blalock of the 26th North Carolina seemed to be an old friend of messmate Keith
Blalock, it was understandable. "Sam" Blalock was really Malinda Blalock, wife of Private Keith
  Blalock. She had chosen to follow her husband into service and had successfully disguised her sex
for months of camp, drill, and regimental duties.

Archibald Gracie III, a West Point graduate and son of CSA Gen Archibald Gracie, Jr.,
survived the sinking of the Titanic and wrote a book about it.

Abe Lincoln's Buddy..!

On May 24, 1861, Col Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth of the New York Fire Zouaves became the first to die for the Union when he took down a Confederate flag flying over the Marshall House Inn at Alexandria VA and was shot in the chest by the hotel's proprietor. Ellsworth, a friend of Abraham Lincoln, had studied law at Lincoln's office and worked on the president's campaign. An honor guard, sent by Lincoln, escorted Ellworth's body to lay in state at the White House before being returned to New York. Ellsworth became a martyr to the Union cause.

Elmer Ellsworth

Next -"The Spies Who Loved Us"

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