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Id’d Confederate Imprint – Manual for Troopers, Dragoons and Riflemen by Col. J. Lucius Davis Owned by Thomas W. Colley Co. D 1^st Va. Cavalry – This rare Confederate imprint authored by the distinguished Confederate officer, Col. J. Lucius Davis, was the wartime possession of Private Thomas W. Colley of Co. D 1^st Virginia Cavalry. The manual, entitled: “The Troopers Manual or Tactics for Light Dragoons and Mounted Riflemen” was printed and published in Richmond, Va. in 1861, by A. Morris. A penciled inscription on the opening blank page, under a hand drawn image of a bird, states:

“Thomas W. Colley”

The book has marbled boards and a black leather covered spine – the latter has the following title embossed in gold lettering:

“TROOPER’S

MANUAL”

Additionally inked in white on the spine is an old library catalogue number. The book remains in overall good condition, with some fraying to the marbled boards, but both remain firmly attached to the spine. All of the interior pages remain in good condition with all firmly affixed to the binding. The book is complete with 284 pages, including a full index.

The author of this manual, Col. J. Lucius Davis, was a West Point graduate and a cousin of Jefferson Davis. Davis was born in Clarke County, Virginia, on January 25, 1813. He attended the U.S. Military Academy in 1829. After graduating, he served as an artillery officer at Fort Monroe in Virginia and Fort Macon in North Carolina. He also spent time in the Creek Nation and in Texas before it achieved statehood. As did his cousin, Jefferson Davis, James Lucius Davis fought in the Mexican War. When the Civil War broke out, Davis received a commission in the Confederate army, where he became colonel of the 10th Virginia cavalry regiment. His sons, who were in their teens when the war broke out, served in the same regiment. Colonel Davis fought with the Army of Northern Virginia and was wounded on the third day at Gettysburg. As Lee’s forces were retreating, Federal forces captured him at Hagerstown, Maryland. He was sent to Point Lookout, the prisoner of war camp for Confederate officers, in Maryland. He was exchanged in March of 1864.

The war period owner of the book, Thomas Wallace Colley, is aptly described in a brief biography written in a post of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine:

Saddle to Crutches: A Virginia Trooper’s Medical Journey

Posted on: January 24th, 2019 – National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Joining the Washington Mounted Rifles in May 1861, Thomas Wallace Colley – from Abingdon, Virginia – had no idea of what the future held. Like most young men, North and South, Colley had a burning desire to join the fray before the one great battle all believed would end the war. Soon, folks across the land realized the conflict would prove long and bloody. Tom Colley realized his share of the fighting and incurred three wounds while riding with the 1^st Virginia Cavalry.

Maneuvering his command into position before the Second Battle of Manassas, Major General Jeb Stuart’s cavalry engaged in a skirmish at Waterloo Bridge on August 22, 1862. Colley later recalled: “…another ball came spurting through the leaves and struck me on the instep of my right foot and made a slight but painful wound. I crouched down and grunted awhile and examined my foot and saw it was not serious. I soon found that I could not let my foot hang down in the stirrup, so I fixed a cushion out of my blankets in front and carried my foot upon the horse withers.” This first wound, while slight, marked the first of three Colley received during the war. The second wound nearly took his life.

Thomas Wallace Colley.

While riding toward Kelly’s Ford on March 17, 1863, the Federal horsemen of Brigadier General William Woods Averell’s command encountered Confederate resistance, as, in increasing numbers, they crossed the ford and approached dismounted Southern sharpshooters. Confederate Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee then charged with his cavalry, Colley among them. The intensity of the action grew, and Colley, still mounted, approached a stone wall and began firing toward the Bluecoats with his carbine. Suddenly, things went wrong! Colley’s horse nervously halted, “…when all of a sudden some 15 or 20 shots came from a clump of pines at an old fence row some 80 yards away from where we stood.” Colley’s comrades began to fall back. Tom had dismounted to remove a heavy coat, when “…a bullet came under my horse’s neck and struck me some 2 ½ inches on my left side, from the pit of my stomach, and passed through my body coming out some 2 inches lower down near the small of my back, slightly injuring the spinal column.” Falling to the ground, Colley, barely conscious, heard his comrades avow, “Tom is killed.”

Falling back to a position in the rear, his comrades left Tom on the field to die. Thankfully, a trooper of the 16^th Pennsylvania Cavalry found Colley, gave him water, and summoned a Federal surgeon to inspect the wounded foe. Upon examining the wound, the surgeon declared “…it was impossible for me to live but a short time and desired to know if I had any words to loved ones.” Colley requested they transport him to the nearby Wheatley farmhouse, where he could live out his last moments inside a comfortable home instead of breathing his last while lying in the mud. Once inside the home, Tom listened “…to my ‘Life’s Blood’ fast trickling away.”

Wartime sketch of Kelly’s Ford

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Confederates rallied and drove Averell’s men from the field. Once the gray-clad troopers discovered Tom continued to cling to life, they summoned a Confederate surgeon to report to the Wheatly home quickly. Much as the Federal physician had told Colley, the Confederate surgeon “…examined my wound, pronounced it fatal; as there were no bones broken he could do nothing.” Tom’s father, learned of his son’s dire-condition and traveled to care for him, although he expected to find him dead based on the reports he had received. However, Tom lived! His father “…stayed with me until I was able to start home – twenty-five days after I was wounded. I gradually improved and done quite well until my appetite came to me and I began to crave solid food. The doctor and I had it hot and heavy for several days before he would agree for me to have bread and milk.”

Convalescing until late May of 1864, with a period of service at a horse depot in Gordonsville sprinkled in, Tom rejoined the 1^st Virginia Cavalry a few days after Jeb Stuart died of his mortal wound at Yellow Tavern. Joining his comrades again made Tom incredibly happy.

Federal Major General Philip Sheridan sent Brigadier General David Gregg’s Division to Haw’s Shop in Hanover County, Virginia, just north of Richmond, to hold the critical position where five roads converged. Major General Wade Hampton had overall command of the Confederate forces on the field, and Brigadier General Williams C. Wickham led the brigade with Colley and the balance of the 1^st Virginia Cavalry.

At some point during the seven hours of fighting at Haw’s Shop on May 28, 1864, Colley and five other members of the 1^st Virginia advanced to a fence line amid the dense undergrowth on the field. Fighting dismounted, Colley recalled a “…ball struck me ½ inch in front of my boot heel and passed through the sole and up to the ankle bone on the outside and ran around the joint lodging against the ankle bone on the inside, completely shattering the joint. As the shock deadened my limb I did not feel any immediate pain.” Later, he “…began to feel a stinging sensation on my ankle bone and the blood was running up my boot leg. When I rose and attempted to put my weight on it, the bones crushed and I would have fallen to the ground had not two of my companions…ran to me and caught me.” Next thing Colley knew, “Our Chaplain was giving me some whiskey in a glass tumbler. I was put in an ambulance and hurried off to Atlee Station, and some 40 of us, all wounded, were packed in a ‘horse car’ and sent down to Richmond that night.”

Surviving a painful ambulance ride, Colley occupied a bed in the Old Jackson Hospital. His spirits darkened, and he “…was quite low for some three weeks. I do not know anything that went on around me. I had a violent fever. I was insensible to pain; attributed my condition to the deadly effects of the Chloroform.” Writing to his brother, Colley shared the ordeal of amputation. “I thought I would have it [left foot] amputated before I would risk suffering what I am. I am doing quite well. My physician says he never saw a wound doing better in all his experience.” Colley continued to recover from the amputation, and writing to his brother again, expressed a special request. “I wish you to ask Doctor Owens to give me a piece of sponge. There is so much Erysipelas and Gangrene here that I would like to have a piece [sponge] of my own.”

Thomas Colley circa 1917

Tom survived the war, later enrolled in a business college in Baltimore, and married in 1872. He and his wife eventually had 12 children, and Tom struggled to support a growing family. Holding several jobs, including deputy-sheriff of Washington County, presented the veteran with many challenges. Yet, he persevered.

Read more about this trooper’s fascinating wartime exploits, and his postwar struggles with what we now call PTSD, in this writer’s newest book from the University of Tennessee Press, In Memory of Self and Comrades: Thomas Wallace Colley’s Recollections of Civil War Service in the 1^st Virginia Cavalry. Readers can learn more at www.civilwarhistorian.net.

Thomas W. Colley

Residence Emory, Washington County, VA; a 23-year-old brick mason, Plasterer.
Enlisted on 5/14/1861 at Abingdon, VA as a Priv.

On 5/14/1861, he mustered into “D” Co. Virginia 1st Cavalry.
(Date and method of discharge not given.)

He was listed as:

• Wounded 9/3/1861 Winchester, VA (Lost little finger, left hand)
• Wounded 8/28/1862 Waterloo Bridge, VA
• Returned 9/5/1862 (place not stated) (Estimated day)
• Horse wounded 9/12/1862 Boonsboro, MD
• Wounded 3/17/1863 Kelly’s Ford, VA (Through the body)
• Detailed 9/29/1863 Quartermaster Department
• Returned 5/15/1864 (place not stated) (Estimated day)
• Wounded 5/28/1864 Hawes’ Shop, VA (Left foot amputated)

Promotions:

• 2nd Corpl 5/15/1864 (Estimated day)

Born 11/30/1837 in Abingdon, VA
Died 9/24/1919
Buried: Washington Chapel Cemetery

(Helped to build Emory & Washington College. Postwar, Deputy Sheriff, Commissioner of Revenue, Washington County, VA)

After the war, he lived in Washington County, VA

Name:	Thomas W Colley
Enlistment Age:	23
Birth Date:	30 Nov 1837
Birth Place:	Abingdon, Virginia
Enlistment Date:	14 May 1861
Enlistment Place:	Abingdon, Virginia
Enlistment Rank:	Private
Muster Date:	14 May 1861
Muster Place:	Virginia
Muster Company:	D
Muster Regiment:	1st Cavalry
Muster Regiment Type:	Cavalry
Muster Information:	Enlisted
Rank Change Date:	15 May 1864
Rank Change Rank:	2nd Corporal
Rank Change Information:	Estimated day
Casualty Date:	3 Sep 1861
Casualty Place:	Winchester, Virginia
Type of Casualty:	Wounded
Casualty Information:	Lost little finger, left hand
Side of War:	Confederacy
Survived War?:	Yes
Residence Place:	Emory, Washington County, Virginia
Last Known Residence Place:	Washington County, Virginia
Death Date:	24 Sep 1919
Cemetery:	Washington Chapel Cemetery
Occupation:	Brickmason, Plastere
Notes:	1862-09-05 Returned, Estimated day; 1862-09-12 Horse wounded, (Boonsboro, MD); 1863-09-29 Detailed, (Quartermaster Department); 1864-05-15 Returned, Estimated day
Additional Notes:	Helped to build Emory & Washington College. Postwar, Deputy Sheriff, Commissioner of Revenue, Washington County, VA
Additional Notes 2:	Casualty 2 Date: 28 Aug 1862; Casualty 2 Place: Waterloo Bridge, Virginia; Casualty 2 Type of Casualty: Wounded; Casualty 3 Date: 17 Mar 1863; Casualty 3 Place: Kelly’s Ford, Virginia; Casualty 3 Type of Casualty: Wounded; Casualty 3 Information: Through the body; Casualty 4 Date: 28 May 1864; Casualty 4 Place: Hawes’ Shop, Virginia; Casualty 4 Type of Casualty: Wounded; Casualty 4 Information: Left foot amputated
Title:	The Virginia Regimental Histories Series; The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War

First Virginia Cavalry Report of Col. J. E. B. Stuart, First Virginia Cavalry. HDQRS. FIRST VIRGINIA CAVALRY REGIMENT, July 26, 1861. GENERAL: I have the honor to make the following report of the operations of my regiment in the battle of Manassas: I received your order to charge the enemy’s flank, and proceeded immediately across the run to his left flank, but finding that it would be easier to attain his right flank, I immediately returned and marched rapidly towards the heaviest fire. As I approached the ground Gen. Jackson, whose brigade was then engaged, sent me word to protect his flanks, but particularly his left flank. I divided the regiment, giving Maj. Swan half (I had but 300 men for duty), and with the remainder hurried up to Jackson’s left, leaving his right to Swan. Entering a skirt of woods, I received intelligence that the enemy was rapidly outflanking us. I hastened forward through several fences just as a regiment dressed in red was running in disorder towards a skirt of woods where the fire had been heaviest. I took them to be ours, and exclaimed with all my might: “Don’t run, boys; we are here.” They paid very little attention to this appeal. When passing in column of twos through a narrow gap to gain the same field and very close to them I saw in their hands the U. S. flag. I ordered the charge, which was handsomely done, stopping their flank movement and checking the advance upon Jackson. I rallied again for another charge, as only a portion of my command was in the first, owing to the difficulty of closing up; but finding the enemy had gained the woods to my right and front, leaving no ground for charging, I retired to the next field to give them another dash if they penetrated beyond the woods, which, however, they did not attempt. In this encounter the enemy’s line, or rather column, was broken and many killed. Capt. Carter’s company, on which the heaviest of the action fell, lost 9 men killed or mortally wounded, and-wounded, and 18 horses killed. Capt. Carter’s horse was shot dead as he was gallantly leading his company in to the enemy. Of the gallantry of those engaged I cannot speak in too high terms. The regiment charged was the Fire Zouaves, and I am informed by prisoners subsequently taken that their repulse by the cavalry began the panic so fearful afterwards in the enemy’s ranks. Just after the cavalry charge our re-enforcements arrived upon the field and formed rapidly on right into line. The first was Col. Falkner’s regiment (Mississippians), whose gallantry came under my own observation. As these re-enforcements formed I gradually moved off to the left, where I soon found myself joined by a battery, under the direction of Lieut. Beckham, which my cavalry supported. This battery made great havoc in the enemy’s ranks and finally put them in full retreat. The principal credit here was due to this battery; but having thrown forward vedettes far out on the eminences, the important information I was thus enabled to give the battery as to position and movements must have contributed greatly to its success, and here I may add that this information was also sent back to the infantry, which was still far to our right, notifying what woods could be gained, &c. The enemy being now in full retreat, I followed with the cavalry as rapidly as possible, but was so much encumbered with prisoners, whom I sent as fast as possible back to the infantry, that my command was soon too much reduced to encounter any odds, but I nevertheless followed our success until I reached a point twelve, miles from Manassas, when, by sending back so many detachments with prisoners, I had but a squad left. The rear of the enemy was protected by a squadron of cavalry and some artillery. We cut off a great many squads, many of whom fired upon us as we approached, and the artillery gave us a volley of grape. One man of ours was killed and another wounded at this point. I have no idea how many prisoners were taken. I encamped that night on Sudley farm, where was a large church, used as a hospital by the enemy, containing about 300 wounded, the majority mortally. I cannot speak in too high praise of those whom I had the honor to command on the field, but to Mr. L. T. Brian, and Mr. P. W. Hairston and J. F. Brown, having no commissions, whose meritorious conduct and worth have been made the subject of previous letters to the general, I was specially indebted for valuable assistance. Of my regiment the acting chaplain, Rev. Mr. Ball, was conspicuously useful, while my attention was particularly attracted to the adjutant, Lieut. W. W. Blackford; the sergeant-major, Philip H. Powers, and Lieut. Cummings, whose good conduct on this as on every other occasion deserves high commendation. Lieut. Beckham deserves high praise for the success of his battery, as he acted as gunner to each piece himself. In the pursuit Lieut. William Taylor alone captured six of the enemy with arms in their hands. A large number of arms, quantities of clothing and hospital stores, and means of transportation were found abandoned on the road. Most respectfully, your obedient servant, J. E. B. STUART, Col. First Virginia Cavalry. Gen. JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON.

Pvt. Thomas W. Colley, Co. L (Washington Mounted Rifles), 1st Virginia Cavalry, on the March to Manassas and the Battle

The subject of this sketch, Thomas W. Colley was born in Washington County, Virginia, Nov. 30th, 1837 of poor but respectable “parentage.” I was sent to the old field schools [on the job training] until 14 years of age, when I was apprenticed to the “Blacksmith trade” at which I served for some two years and then by consent of my father decided to quit that trade and learn the Brick Masons trade which I continued to work at until April 1861. I learned to make & burn brick and to lay them up, and also learned the “Plasters business,” and became quite an expert in the Plasters part of his trade. The war between the States coming on in 1860 & 61 I volunteered on the 7th of April 1861 in a cavalry company then being organized at Abingdon, Va., the county seat of my county, by Captain Wm. E. Jones [William Edmondson Jones], {who had served] previously as a Lieut. in the Mounted Rifles U.S.A. In honor of his old command, Jones named this co. the Washington Mounted Rifles.

We were known as such until we merged into the 1st Regiment of Virginia Volunteer Cavalry [cavalry] first as Co. G and afterwards as Company D. This regiment was composed of companies from the upper and lower Valley of Virginia with one Co. from Amelia County and one from Maryland. At first the “Maryland Co” & the Washington Mounted Rifles formed the 1st squadron in the regiment and were armed with carbines and were used as sharpshooters. Afterwards all the companies were armed with rifles & the whole regiment were sharpshooters and continued in that line of service until the closing scenes around Appomattox C.H. April 9th 1865.

I was constantly with my command from the day I left home for Richmond until I was finally disabled and wholly unfit for any kind of duty. I was in the Valley of Virginia with my regiment in front of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston whose forces in June 1861 and up till July 21st were at Winchester. My command was on picket duty in the medical front [unclear the position Colley references as ‘Medical front’] and scouting in the country watching the movements of Gen. Patterson. [Major General Militia, Robert Patterson] Was on camp guard the morning Gen. Patterson advanced towards Winchester in his “first” movement to hold Johnston there, while he went to the aid of Gen. Banks [Major General Nathaniel Banks] at Manassas and in this advance , where I heard the first shell “fired” from an enemy gun; the thing most dreaded by raw recruits “the peculiar whizzing sound of those missiles of death” as they pass through the air caused the hair to rise on one’s head and a creepy horrible sensation run over his flesh and a great desire to be back at home with Ma. And at this particular time and place this horrible feeling seized almost the entire regiment and they started down the Pike, one co. actually going into Winchester 12 miles from the point they started from.

At the time the shell passed over us Co. D was drawn in marching order by 2, with horses heads turned toward Winchester. Captain Jones was on the front with the advance picket watching the enemy’s movements. Some of the boys were dismounted searching among a lot of blankets & other camp equipment that had been thrown away by a stampeded wagon driver. We had been hurried out of camp and left our baggage to the care of the wagoners. I was among the dismounted ones and would have sworn the shell that passed over the mounted mens heads some 50 or so feet in the air did not miss me 2 inches. This was a signal with out a word of command.

The whole mounted positions hit out down the pike. Captain Jones seeing or hearing the movements dashed up cursing the cowardly wretches for running away. Came in time to save me from running with the rest. Captain sent Lieut. Blackford [William Willis Blackford] after the boys, and he over hauled them and brought them back.

The captain gave us a lecture on the harmlessness of these terrible missiles, especially if they were as high in the air as that one was; in 12 months from that time the sound of artillery and the whizzing of shells would only lull a soldier to sleep. He ordered me to dismount and open a place in the fence so our company could be drawn up in line to oppose any forward movement of the enemy. General Johnston succeeded in deceiving Gen. Patterson after all his shrewd maneuvers and left him in the lower valley.

Whilst Johnston was rushing the whole force to Manassas to join Gen. Beauregard [Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard] Gen. Stuart [at the time, Colonel James Ewell Brown Stuart] took all the companies of the regt. and pressed on with Johnston except our co. under Captain Wm. E. Jones. We were left to hover around the front of Pattersons army and keep up a bold front until the line was joined at Manassas. We left for Manassas and arrived there Saturday, and were there, ready for the memorable 21st Sunday morning, a day never to be forgotten by any who participated in its terrible coverage. I shall never forget I know, until my eyes close in death. I was out on one of the advanced picket posts near Jermanna [Jermantown] Ford on Bull Run. Just as the sun was brightening the tops of the trees “the signal gun was fired.” A tremendous gun. I thought I never heard such a report and the whizzing and whining of that awful shell, “I thought it would never stop.”

It went far out across the Manassas Plains into the skirting forrest. I thought if we had to charge and capture such tremendous guns, there would be none of us left to tell the tale. But I was not permitted to summarize or reflect long on these terrible unforeseen results. The picket firing commenced all along the line and the cavalry were all drawn together and were moved here and there all day through clouds of road dust so thick we could not see the horse in front of us. We were finally ordered at about 2 pm to support Gen. Bartow’s [Colonel Francis Stebbins Bartow] & Be Brigades [Brigadier General Barnard Elliott Bee, Jr.] near Stone Bridge, and arrived there at the time they were both killed. My stirrup leathers broke and I had to fall out of ranks and repair them. As I came over a hill I could see the enemy’s batteries and masses of infantry to my left. Farther up on the hill I saw two or three officers and I rode up to them and asked where my regiment was, and Col. Thomas G. Preston pointed out to me the direction they went, and I was satisfied it was a soldier’s duty to be with his command.

When the fight was on, and about that time of day it was on in all its fury and fearfulness, the face of the hill in my front was literally rent and torn with shells and shot. How I was ever to pass through that spot I could not tell, but my duty led in that direction and I must go. So I put spurs to my horse and ran the gauntlet safely and soon found my command drawn up in line in a small ravine. I had hardly gotten over my run before the Hampass Legion [Brigadier General Wade Hampton’s Legion] of S.C., whose officers had been killed and who were badly cut up and stampeded, came running down through a clump of pines and our company commenced cursing and abusing them for running. I asked who they were & they said South Carolinians. Damn you. You were the first to secede, now you are the first to run. It was always shocking to me to see a soldier run and especially at that time, our first fight. They said we are whipped and ruined, our cause is gone. We told them they were liars, we were not whipped there.

About this time Col. Stuart took 3 companies of our regt. and charged the 14th Brooklyn Zouaves, “Red Briches” fellows[.]

He broke their lines, and fresh forces were coming on through the night. They soon gone away, and the greatest stampede and run for dear life that was ever imagined since history commenced recording the events of the various ages. We were soon in the chase. The first fellow I saw on crossing Bull Run Bridge was an ambulance driver; his horses had ran away with him and straddled a tree, broke the breast yoke and smashed the front end of the vehicle up against the tree and smashed the drivers face up and tumbled him out insensible. He was just coming to when we run up on him and we wanted to know what he was doing over here invading our country. Some of the boys wanted to kill him and others thought best not to hurt the poor fellow. We had not learned then that wagoners and ambulance drivers were not at all dangerous. As belligerents we soon left him and went on after the fleeing blue coats [underlined in original].

We followed them to Cub Run and there the bridge crossing that stream was blockaded with wagons and other vehicles disabled by our artillery. If we had known as much that night as we did 2 or 3 years later, not many of the boys would have ever reached Washington D.C. That night it was getting quite dark and we were brought back over the battlefield. The excitement of the dog “gone” and now it was our time to see and hear the shrieks and groans of the wounded and dying of both armies. I thought “oh horrors of horrors” is this war? It was a terrible scene. We could hear the awful groans and sighs and the calls for water and the torches going in every direction searching for friends. We were hurried on towards the junction where we started from.

From In Memory of Self and Comrades, pp.1-7

Contributed, annotated, and transcribed by Michael K. Shaffer

The Civil War

Confederate Cavalryman Thomas Wallace Colley

Historian Michael Shaffer looked at the life of Thomas Wallace Colley, who served in the Confederate 1st Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War. Using Colley’s voluminous journal entries and letters, Mr. Shaffer discussed the trooper’s experiences at key battles such as Bull Run and Antietam, as well as his severe wounding in 1863 and the amputation of his left foot a year later. Mr. Shaffer also examined Colley’s post-war life and writings detailing his struggle with what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder. The Powhatan Civil War Roundtable hosted this event.

https://www.c-span.org/program/the-civil-war/confederate-cavalryman-thomas-wallace-colley/538319

Saddle to Crutches: A Virginia Trooper’s Medical Journey

Posted on: January 24th, 2019 – National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Joining the Washington Mounted Rifles in May 1861, Thomas Wallace Colley – from Abingdon, Virginia – had no idea of what the future held. Like most young men, North and South, Colley had a burning desire to join the fray before the one great battle all believed would end the war. Soon, folks across the land realized the conflict would prove long and bloody. Tom Colley realized his share of the fighting and incurred three wounds while riding with the 1^st Virginia Cavalry.

Maneuvering his command into position before the Second Battle of Manassas, Major General Jeb Stuart’s cavalry engaged in a skirmish at Waterloo Bridge on August 22, 1862. Colley later recalled: “…another ball came spurting through the leaves and struck me on the instep of my right foot and made a slight but painful wound. I crouched down and grunted awhile and examined my foot and saw it was not serious. I soon found that I could not let my foot hang down in the stirrup, so I fixed a cushion out of my blankets in front and carried my foot upon the horse withers.” This first wound, while slight, marked the first of three Colley received during the war. The second wound nearly took his life.

While riding toward Kelly’s Ford on March 17, 1863, the Federal horsemen of Brigadier General William Woods Averell’s command encountered Confederate resistance, as, in increasing numbers, they crossed the ford and approached dismounted Southern sharpshooters. Confederate Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee then charged with his cavalry, Colley among them. The intensity of the action grew, and Colley, still mounted, approached a stone wall and began firing toward the Bluecoats with his carbine. Suddenly, things went wrong! Colley’s horse nervously halted, “…when all of a sudden some 15 or 20 shots came from a clump of pines at an old fence row some 80 yards away from where we stood.” Colley’s comrades began to fall back. Tom had dismounted to remove a heavy coat, when “…a bullet came under my horse’s neck and struck me some 2 ½ inches on my left side, from the pit of my stomach, and passed through my body coming out some 2 inches lower down near the small of my back, slightly injuring the spinal column.” Falling to the ground, Colley, barely conscious, heard his comrades avow, “Tom is killed.”

Falling back to a position in the rear, his comrades left Tom on the field to die. Thankfully, a trooper of the 16^th Pennsylvania Cavalry found Colley, gave him water, and summoned a Federal surgeon to inspect the wounded foe. Upon examining the wound, the surgeon declared “…it was impossible for me to live but a short time and desired to know if I had any words to loved ones.” Colley requested they transport him to the nearby Wheatley farmhouse, where he could live out his last moments inside a comfortable home instead of breathing his last while lying in the mud. Once inside the home, Tom listened “…to my ‘Life’s Blood’ fast trickling away.”

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Confederates rallied and drove Averell’s men from the field. Once the gray-clad troopers discovered Tom continued to cling to life, they summoned a Confederate surgeon to report to the Wheatly home quickly. Much as the Federal physician had told Colley, the Confederate surgeon “…examined my wound, pronounced it fatal; as there were no bones broken he could do nothing.” Tom’s father, learned of his son’s dire-condition and traveled to care for him, although he expected to find him dead based on the reports he had received. However, Tom lived! His father “…stayed with me until I was able to start home – twenty-five days after I was wounded. I gradually improved and done quite well until my appetite came to me and I began to crave solid food. The doctor and I had it hot and heavy for several days before he would agree for me to have bread and milk.”

Convalescing until late May of 1864, with a period of service at a horse depot in Gordonsville sprinkled in, Tom rejoined the 1^st Virginia Cavalry a few days after Jeb Stuart died of his mortal wound at Yellow Tavern. Joining his comrades again made Tom incredibly happy.

Federal Major General Philip Sheridan sent Brigadier General David Gregg’s Division to Haw’s Shop in Hanover County, Virginia, just north of Richmond, to hold the critical position where five roads converged. Major General Wade Hampton had overall command of the Confederate forces on the field, and Brigadier General Williams C. Wickham led the brigade with Colley and the balance of the 1^st Virginia Cavalry.

At some point during the seven hours of fighting at Haw’s Shop on May 28, 1864, Colley and five other members of the 1^st Virginia advanced to a fence line amid the dense undergrowth on the field. Fighting dismounted, Colley recalled a “…ball struck me ½ inch in front of my boot heel and passed through the sole and up to the ankle bone on the outside and ran around the joint lodging against the ankle bone on the inside, completely shattering the joint. As the shock deadened my limb I did not feel any immediate pain.” Later, he “…began to feel a stinging sensation on my ankle bone and the blood was running up my boot leg. When I rose and attempted to put my weight on it, the bones crushed and I would have fallen to the ground had not two of my companions…ran to me and caught me.” Next thing Colley knew, “Our Chaplain was giving me some whiskey in a glass tumbler. I was put in an ambulance and hurried off to Atlee Station, and some 40 of us, all wounded, were packed in a ‘horse car’ and sent down to Richmond that night.”

Surviving a painful ambulance ride, Colley occupied a bed in the Old Jackson Hospital. His spirits darkened, and he “…was quite low for some three weeks. I do not know anything that went on around me. I had a violent fever. I was insensible to pain; attributed my condition to the deadly effects of the Chloroform.” Writing to his brother, Colley shared the ordeal of amputation. “I thought I would have it [left foot] amputated before I would risk suffering what I am. I am doing quite well. My physician says he never saw a wound doing better in all his experience.” Colley continued to recover from the amputation, and writing to his brother again, expressed a special request. “I wish you to ask Doctor Owens to give me a piece of sponge. There is so much Erysipelas and Gangrene here that I would like to have a piece [sponge] of my own.”

Tom survived the war, later enrolled in a business college in Baltimore, and married in 1872. He and his wife eventually had 12 children, and Tom struggled to support a growing family. Holding several jobs, including deputy-sheriff of Washington County, presented the veteran with many challenges. Yet, he persevered.

Read more about this trooper’s fascinating wartime exploits, and his postwar struggles with what we now call PTSD, in this writer’s newest book from the University of Tennessee Press, In Memory of Self and Comrades: Thomas Wallace Colley’s Recollections of Civil War Service in the 1^st Virginia Cavalry. Readers can learn more at www.civilwarhistorian.net.

Corp Thomas Wallace Colley

Birth

30 Nov 1837

Washington County, Virginia, USA

Death

24 Sep 1919 (aged 81)

Washington County, Virginia, USA

Burial

Washington Chapel Cemetery

Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia

 

Who was Colonel James Lucius Davis?

Colonel James Lucius Davis

By Colin Woodward

In the collection of carte de vistes at Stratford Hall is an image of Colonel James Lucius Davis. Who was this man, and what was his connection to the Lee family, if any?

Davis was born in Clarke County, Virginia, on 1813 January 25. He attended the U.S. Military Academy in 1829. After graduating, he served as an artillery officer at Fort Monroe in Virginia and Fort Macon in North Carolina. He also spent time in the Creek Nation and in Texas before it achieved statehood. As did his cousin, Jefferson Davis, James Lucius Davis fought in the Mexican War. Davis also was the author of The Trooper’s Manual; or, Tactics for Light Dragoon and Mounted Riflemen, which was published during the Civil War.

When the Civil War broke out, Davis received a commission in the Confederate army, where he became colonel of the 10th Virginia cavalry regiment. His sons, who were in their teens when the war broke out, served in the same regiment.

Colonel Davis fought with the Army of Northern Virginia and was wounded on the third day at Gettysburg. As Lee’s forces were retreating, Federal forces captured him at Hagerstown, Maryland. He was sent to Point Lookout, a prisoner of war camp for Confederate officers in Maryland. He was exchanged in March of 1864.

Married Elizabeth Harriet Peck on 1/8/1841 in Richmond, Virginia.
Father of Frank Tudor Davis (c. 1845), Ludowick Kossuth (c.1850), Llewellen Catesby Davis, Mervyn Bathurst Davis, Reginald Channing Davis, and James Lucius Davis, Jr., also of the 10th Virginia Cavalry, who was mortally wounded 6/24/1864 at Samaria Church, VA., and also is buried at Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery.

Field & Staff, 10th Virginia Cavalry, Beale’s Brigade, W.H.F. Lee’s Division, Cavalry, Army of Northern Virginia, C.S.A.

Residence Henrico County VA.
Enlisted on 6/6/1861 at Sussex, he was mustered into “F” Co. VA 46th Infantry.
Promoted to Colonel 6/24/1861.
On 8/13/1861 he was commissioned into Field & Staff VA 10th Cavalry.
1861 detailed at the Wise Building as Cavalry Commissary.
On all rolls 9/13/1861 through 6/9/1863.
Wounded 7/3/1863 Gettysburg, PA.
Wounded, POW 7/6/1863 Hagerstown, MD.; hospitalized 7/7/1863 Frederick, MD for a sprained ankle; hospitalized 7/12/1863 Patterson Park Hospital, Baltimore, MD.; confined 7/13/1863 Fort McHenry, MD.; confined 8/1863 Johnson’s Island, OH.; confined 11/1863 Point Lookout, MD.; exchanged 3/10/1864.
On rolls 7/31/1864.
Commanding Brigade 8/10/1864 Petersburg, VA.
Commanding Brigade 9/27/1864 Stoney Creek, VA.
Commanding Brigade 9/30/1864 Petersburg, VA.
On leave 10/23/1864 – 11/01/64.
Resigned on 2/2/1865 because he was not promoted to Brigadier General.
———————————————————–
– DEATH OF COL. J. LUCIUS DAVIS.—
This gallant soldier and good citizen died at his residence, near Buckingham C.H., on the 11th inst. His disease was brain fever and his sickness, though short, was severe.
Col. Davis was born in Clarke county, Va., on the 25th of January, 1813.
Educated at West Point, he entered the U.S. army when quite young, and afterwards served with distinction as a volunteer in the Mexican War, and as Colonel in the late war. The Progress-Index (Petersburg, VA.), May 16, 1871.
———————————————————————–
The 10th Cavalry Regiment, formerly called 1st Cavalry Regiment, Wise Legion, and 8th Battalion, was organized in May, 1862. Many of the men were from Richmond and Albermarle, Rockingham, and Henrico counties.

 

Col James Lucius Davis Sr. Veteran

Birth

25 Jan 1813

Clarke County, Virginia, USA

Death

11 May 1871 (aged 58)

Buckingham, Buckingham County, Virginia, USA

Burial

Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery

Brook Hill, Henrico County, Virginia, USA

Pvt James Lucius Davis Jr.

Birth

1842

Richmond, Richmond City, Virginia, USA

Death

25 Jun 1864 (aged 21–22)

Charles City County, Virginia, USA

Burial

Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery

Brook Hill, Henrico County, Virginia, USA

Davis, as did so many people during the war, suffered the loss of a loved one. His son, James, Jr., was killed at the battle of Samaria Church (also called the battle of Saint Mary’s Church or Nance’s Shop) on 1864 June 24, one of the many engagements during the fateful Overland Campaign in Virginia. James, Sr., fought on, commanding a brigade in the battle for Petersburg. Frustrated with not being granted the rank of brigadier general, he resigned on 1865 February 2.

After the war, Davis worked as the superintendent of schools in Buckingham, Virginia. He died on 1871 May 11 and is buried in Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery in Henrico County.

Davis’s son Mervyn moved to Texas after the war, where he worked as a prominent journalist and Texas Ranger. He was also a conservationist.

“Father of Llewellen Catesby Davis, Mervyn Bathurst Davis, Reginald Channing Davis, and James Lucius Davis, Jr., also of the 10th Virginia Cavalry, who was mortally wounded 6/24/1864 at Samaria Church, VA., and also is buried at Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery, Henrico, Va. Field & Staff, 10th Virginia Cavalry, Beale’s Brigade, W.H.F. Lee’s Division, Cavalry, Army of Northern Virginia, C.S.A. Residence Henrico County VA. Enlisted on 6/6/1861 at Sussex, he was mustered into “F” Co. VA 46th Infantry. Promoted to Colonel 6/24/1861. On 8/13/1861 he was commissioned into Field & Staff VA 10th Cavalry. 1861 detailed at the Wise Building as Cavalry Commissary. On all rolls 9/13/1861 through 6/9/1863. Wounded 7/3/1863 Gettysburg, PA. Wounded, POW 7/6/1863 Hagerstown, MD.; hospitalized 7/7/1863 Frederick, MD for a sprained ankle; hospitalized 7/12/1863 Patterson Park Hospital, Baltimore, MD.; confined 7/13/1863 Fort McHenry, MD.; confined 8/1863 Johnson’s Island, OH.; confined 11/1863 Point Lookout, MD.; exchanged 3/10/1864. On rolls 7/31/1864. Commanding Brigade 8/10/1864 Petersburg, VA. Commanding Brigade 9/27/1864 Stoney Creek, VA. Commanding Brigade 9/30/1864 Petersburg, VA. On leave 10/23/1864 – 11/01/64. Resigned on 2/2/1865 because he was not promoted to Brigadier General. The 10th Cavalry Regiment, formerly called 1st Cavalry Regiment, Wise Legion, and 8th Battalion, was organized in May, 1862. Many of the men were from Richmond and Albermarle, Rockingham, and Henrico counties.”

Publications

The Trooper’s Manual: or, Tactics for light dragoons and mounted riflemen, published by A. Morris, Richmond.