|
a.
|
Note: Compiled Military Service Record indicates he was born in Chatham County, NC
Probably buried in EdgeHill cemetery, in the Confederate Section, in one of the unknown graves.
The primary purpose of our trip to this part of West Virginia was to follow the march my gg grandfather, Samuel Gilmore made August 21, 1864, the day he was kia while serving with Co I, 43rd Inf Regt, NC Troops, CSA, at the battle of Cameron's Depot, which is located about 2 miles from Charles Town, WV (see pic). This battle took place during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign from May thru September of 1864, with General Jubal Early as commander of the Confederate Forces, and General Phil Sheridan as commander of the Union Forces. The area involved, the Shenandoah Valley of WV, was important from both the Confederate and Union perspectives, as it lies only about 65 miles from Washington, about the same to Baltimore, and only a few miles to Maryland, across the Potomac River, and also close to the Pennsylvania border. It was the breadbasket for the northern part of the Confederacy, and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad ran right thru the valley south to lower Virginia, and north to Baltimore, Washington, and points north. The union and confederacy had battled over this valley since the early days of the war in 1861. This 1864 campaign resulted in the union forces driving the confederate forces out of the valley for good by late 1864. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox in April, 1865, and confederate forces to the south and west had all surrendered by the end of May, 1865, thus ending the war. I had all the information about the battle of Cameron's Depot from the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion", and other researched information, to include an 1864 map of the area done by a topographical engineer with the Army of Northern Virginia, and used by the southern commanders at that time. This map had not only the towns and roads, but showed the location/names of all the landowners. Surprisingly, many of the roads today are exactly as they were in 1864, except they are paved. And, many of the old estates/manor houses still exist today (see pics of Harewood and Richwood). Also I have a copy of my gg grandfather's widow's application for a confederate pension, which describes in detail how he was killed, etc. My gg grandfather's unit camped at Bunker Hill the night of August 20th, and left there about 6:00 AM. They encountered a few union pickets at Middleway (or Smithfield), and encountered the main body of the Federal forces at Cameron's Station (train station on the B & O railway, about 2 miles west of the town of Charles Town, about 9:30AM. The confederates formed their battle line at "Richwood" plantation (see pic), and drove the Yankees back toward Charles Town, and by late that night, the Union forces had retreated to Halltown, which is just west of Harper's Ferry. My gg grandfather was probably mortally wounded at "Richwood", or close by, and he died that night from a gunshot wound to the lower abdomen. I really wanted to see if I could find a grave for him. From a microfiche copy of the NC Argus, Wadesboro, Anson County, NC, newspaper, dtd September 8, 1864, I found the report of his death in action, as well as the names and units of others in his regiment who were killed or mortally wounded that day August 21, 1864. In the Confederate section of Edge Hill Cemetery in Charles Town, I found the marked graves of all those listed in the newspaper report of above, except my gg grandfather. There are two CSA unknown markers there next to those killed and identified who were in my gg grandfather's unit. Most probably one of those graves is his (see pic). The gravestones were marked and placed by the Lee Memorial Association of Jefferson County in 1871, according to a large monument placed in the middle of the Confederate section of Edge Hill Cemetery, Charles Town, Jefferson County, WV.
July 2004
|
