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My great uncle William Henry May (my grandfather's oldest brother) served in Co D of the 47th Regiment NC Troops
Respectfully ....... Michael May Class of 1961
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My great uncle William Henry May (my grandfather's oldest brother) served in Co D of the 47th Regiment NC Troops
Respectfully ....... Michael May Class of 1961
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- A project researched and presented by Dwight V. Murray
- Class of 1962
The Brothers Confederate
John A. Murray, Jr. and his wife Drucilla, also known as Lilly, and/or, Drucy, had many children to love. Two were sons born 6 years apart; the eldest named Joseph and the 2nd, William “Gus”. There were other children in addition to these two born to my great great-grandparents, John and Lilly, but these two sons are the subjects of this historical work.
Joseph and Gus, entombed in the red clay-hard soil of Nash County, North Carolina, existed for untold decades merely as names on weather-beaten, age-worn, and pitted tombstones and grave plaques found in the Murray Family graveyard near the non-descript crossroads center of Samaria, North Carolina. Years of research have resurrected the two brothers to an honored place among their now living descendants. To read of their involvement in the largest and bloodiest war ever fought on American soil, is to step back into a time of butternut clothing and to march mile after mile, sometimes barefooted while burdened with the necessary accruements of war.
The heart of Samaria was then and still remains the Samaria Baptist Church. Standing in the north-western quadrant of the crossroad intersection, it is an elaborate and beautiful building dedicated to the worship and service of God and the spiritual welfare of the small community.
Today, the crossroad does not see much traffic—even on a busy day—and most of what passes through are neighbors going and coming, attending to daily affairs. The graveyard welcomes the occasional visitor seeking knowledge of lost relatives as they walk slowly from headstone to headstone, plaque to plaque, taking digital pictures, jotting notes, and searching for hints of their own past.
The community is and always has been a close knit community. Most families in and near Samaria have lived there for generations and harbor no desire to see if the world can offer a nicer paradise. Yet, wanderlust occasionally lures away the son of this family or daughter of that, and they leave thinking they no longer have a need of family or Samaria. Scattered, they become homesick. It is hard to leave Samaria.
***
Such is the story of:
The Brothers Confederate
by Dwight V. Murray
I have been an avid student of the Civil War for most of my life. And I want to tell you a story, a true story.
As a child, my Father spoke, but not often, of his Grandfather serving in the Civil War. I desperately wanted and needed to know who this mysterious warrior had been. But time passed quickly and then my Father passed into the ages, also. Before leaving, he never told me the story.
A few years ago I search-engined “Does anyone know of the relationship of the Murray’s and the Denton’s?” Within hours I received an e/mail from someone who said her name was Georgia Murray and that she thought the two of us were related. She implied she was my cousin and I soon found that to be true.
Georgia explained she had searched extensively for her lost relatives and said there was indeed a relationship between the Murray’s and Denton’s and quickly proved herself a living library of all things Murray. She encouraged me to check her site. That, I did immediately.
In doing so, I felt myself sitting within a panorama dedicated to the memory of the Murray’s, and close and distant relatives. Scanning picture after picture, I found both those of Murray’s and Denton’s—Denton obviously being my mother’s maiden name. Also, I discovered pictures and brief biographies of Confederate soldiers. And I was hooked.
Over the coming years, Georgia and I developed a close relationship. Her love of family members long gone was impressive and enduring to me. My immediate family, brothers and sisters, had long since departed my life and to my great joy, I found myself in my element—the history of the American Civil War.
The following dates and events are well documented by myself and Georgia. Trip after trip was made to North Carolina to find everything I could of my family’s involvement in the Civil War. Trips to battlefields became vacations dedicated to research. Archives found in the new Gettysburg Museum provided indisputable proof of things I’d hoped for. The battlefield, itself, proved to be a mother-lode.
The Confederate Museum in Richmond, Virginia, authenticated information found by myself. An uncounted number of books from libraries have been devoured from which I gleaned ‘tid-bits’ of information. Records of the Confederacy, few as there are, have been scanned and recorded and books purchased to serve as proof of claims made within this story. Even with such documentation, it should also be noted that the actual time-line of the campaigns and battles of that monstrous war are all dated and set in stone.
By using the combination of the dates of battles, and knowing which States and regiments were involved in certain battles, I could follow the movements of the Confederacy—much like following a trail of torn pieces of ribbon left by someone wishing to be found.
The younger son.
William G. Murray, the G standing for “Gus”, is my Great-grandfather. Georgia is his Great granddaughter. Gus was born in 1840 in nearby Franklin County—and by the age of 22, he is listed as being a farmer in Nash County, North Carolina. On February 23rd, 1862, he is recorded as enlisting to fight for the “Southern Cause.” By that time the war had raged for almost a full year and the sons of the Confederacy had quickly proven themselves superior warriors, winning practically every significant battle in which they fought. William Gus Murray was one of many men from Nash County who joined the 47th N C [North Carolina] Infantry Regiment and formed Co. A—also known as the “Chicora Guards.” [*See footnote] After a month and a half ‘lay-over’ in which the newly enlisted William Gus Murray ‘got his affairs in order,’ on April 11th, 1962, he, along with 192 other Nash County men were mustered, [summoned as a group, and once sworn in, provided with the needed, but scarce accruements of war,] at Camp Mangum, northwest of the ‘then’ center of the State Capital, Raleigh,—that land now being commonly referred to as the State Fairgrounds.
The North Carolina 47th Infantry Regiments, in total, was composed of Companies A through K, each company of varying numbers of men and each independently recruited from different areas [re: counties, districts, etc.]. Company A of the 47th, North Carolina Infantry, and its Nash County men, was assigned duty in North Carolina until May of 1863. During that period it served as bodyguards and defenders for the coastal towns of North Carolina. Co. A and it’s one hundred ninety -plus, infantrymen’s primary job was to protect the commercial interest of the South which existed in New Bern, as well as other towns and cities along the coastal waterways. And this included the need to protect the important and growing network of railways used to transport war supplies to the needy Confederate troops. It should be noted by the reader, within the Confederacy, there still existed an urgent and considerable amount of trading of textiles with England and other countries, as well as a prohibited trade with the far away ports of the northernmost states. This new country, the “Confederate States of America,” desperately needed money and was determined to fight for their rights [as would any sovereign nation,] to market wherever they pleased. But that trading was being reduced daily by Union blockades.
The entirety of the NC 47th Infantry Regiment was made up of Co. A—the aforementioned “Chicora Guards,” Co. B—men form Franklin County, Co. C—men from Wake County, Co. D—the “Castalia Invincibles,” Co. E—men from Wake county, Co. F—the “Sons of Liberty,” men from Franklin County, Co. G—men from Franklin and Granville county, Co. H—“North Carolina Tigers,” from Wake County, Co. I—men from Durham and Wake County, and lastly, Co. K—“the Almanac Minute Men.” The 47th remained a viable regiment throughout the war. As men were killed, or wounded beyond further service, deserted or taken prisoner, and with the near decimation of entire units, their numbers dwindled, and new men and units were inserted to steady the count.
In May of 1863, and ordered to join The Army of Northern Virginia, under Robert E. Lee’s command, the 47th Regimental Infantry, Companies A-K, marched, some towards the foothills of western Virginia [this event occurring before the western portion of the state of Virginia broke ties with the eastern portion, thereby becoming forever known as the State of West Virginia, who for the most part became a northern ally] and using the long, narrow valley west of the outlying foothills as a blind, joined General Lee’s vast Army and headed north with the great man, himself. Other regiments were ordered along the eastern portion of Virginia where horrific battles were being fought or soon would be. They would eventually join their ‘brother Company’s’ on the battle
- “audacious” plan to attack Washington from the north. But that grand plan was cast aside at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
William Gus Murray, as did all Companies of the North Carolina 47th, served at different times, under the commands of Generals James J. Pettigrew, William W. Kirkland, and William MacRae. And theirs was an honored and storied service.
At Gettysburg, the 47th North Carolina Infantry as a ‘combined group’ formed from those in Co,’s A-K, numbered approximately 1200 foot soldiers, and fought under General Pettigrew, another North Carolinian. Pettigrew’s infantry was the first to lead the way into Pickett’s Charge and the first to break through the stone wall behind which the Yankees fired into them, point blank, cannon loaded with grape and shrapnel. They were cheered by the Confederate soldiers following them for “braving the bullet and bleeding the enemy,” but such was not to be the case. Instead, the 47th North Carolina Infantry Regiment Co. A, was almost totally decimated during their act of bravery and devotion. An often told story is only 14 men of the Co A. were still standing when the firing ceased. [So far, I have been unable to substantiate the number who managed by the grace of God did survive that moving wall of lead and steel, and I think the number is more romantic-wish than truth.] But it is a recorded fact many of Co. A were taken prisoners. And another interesting fact uncovered during research; out of all the men killed in Pickett’s Charge, and from the thirteen states of which the Confederate soldiers came, 25% of the dead laying on the field were from North Carolina.
Such a huge, disproportionate loss of life can only verify the bravery and devotion of the North Carolinian’s fierce determination to see their new country, the “Confederate States of America,” survive.
With the battle at Gettysburg now a part of history, General William W. Kirkland was placed in command of the entirety of North Carolina 47th.. They being re-constituted shortly after the battle of Gettysburg. With him, they entered into what was to become a running battle, known as the Wilderness Campaign. The South’s defensive lines were formed inside that of the Northern armies’ outer and offensive lines, the outer line's singular purpose being to destroy the South—the inner line's to protect the Capitol of Richmond, Virginia. Those two parallel lines, that of the Union and that of the Confederacy extended from the north, northwest of Richmond and south by southeast to within sight of Richmond. Each side won and lost battles on the long march. Every inch gained on that snaking battlefield was an inch drenched in blood. And the Confederacy was bleeding profusely.
During this battle, fought on the run as it were, William Gus Murray was wounded at Bristoe Station, October 14th, 1863, and severely enough that he was unheard of until he reported present for duty in January of 1864, during which time the running battle continued. On a circuitous route from the north of Richmond, the Confederacy fought its way eastward, then south, and the defensive rush ended at the southwestern outskirts of Petersburg, Virginia. Untold numbers of Confederates and Yankees fell dead and hundreds, if not thousands of the South’s gallant men had been badly wounded, unfit for service or taken prisoner.
And again, prior to the siege of Petersburg, in April of 1864, William Gus was reported as missing. Evidently, he was ill or wounded. He was found in a hospital in Wilson, North Carolina.
His wound or illness appeared to be severe. He returned to duty approximately seven months later, on or about November 1st. of 1864, and to the besieged Petersburg. But Gus’ war was nearly over. The 47th was now under the command of General William MacRae. They, along with the rest of the unfortunate Southern warriors, were now in dire straits, and under siege along the southern and western outskirts of Petersburg. Trapped within the very trenches and pits used to protect Petersburg they, too, became prisoners, but prisoners with guns and a fierce love of their homeland. As winter faded and the first sprigs of spring budded upon the stems of wild flowers and long dormant pine needles began to find the bit of green they had lost to sleet and snow, Petersburg became untenable for the South. To stay was to die—to flee was to possibly live and fight another day. General William MacRae had led the 47th honorably—but in vain.
William Gus Murray, had returned to Petersburg in time to flee with General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia as it fled to the small, Appalachian foothill town west of Petersburg—Appomattox Court House. During the greening day of April 9th, 1865, the victors—the Union soldiers parted, as Gus and 15 of the original remaining 193 of the N.C 47th Regimental Infantry of Co A, of the “Chicora Guards,” joined the defeated South and stacked their muskets in the center of the road on the far side of the small Court House for which the town was named. Waiting in line, he received the terms of parole presented to him, signed his name in agreement with those terms and started the long walk home. It is crucial that the reader reflects on the 16 Rebel soldiers who surrendered with Lee—the balance of the warriors of Co. A, who ‘mustered up’ in Camp Mangum in a April of ’62, had given their all for the ‘Cause—many killed in battles now ‘famous,’ others so badly wounded they died on the march to ‘next killing field’ , and an untold number held prisoner in Union prisons more deplorable than death.
The older son
Joseph Murray, six years older than his brother Gus, enlisted in the “State Troops.” Let the reader be aware there appears to be not much difference between the terms “State Troops” and “NC Infantry Regiment.” Each is used synonymously with the other.
Company E of the 7th NC Infantry, also known as the "Stanhope Guards,” was one of many regimental units, approved and authorized to form by convention in 1861. This occurred prior to the aforementioned addition of the ‘newer’ units being added to [the 47th.] the following year. [1862]
The 1861 roster was formed and received their scant supply of accruements at Camp Mangum, as well. The Stanhope Guards, Co. E were assigned duty for the full extent of the war. In New Bern, N.C. Gus' unit, the, 47th NC infantry Co. A, and Joseph’s, Co. E of the 47th. initially were to guard the coastal areas against Yankee infiltration. But that assignment did not last long.
The time-line shows Joseph and his unit, Company E. of the 7th N.C. Infantry was soon ordered to Richmond, Virginia. Ironically, during Joseph’s brief stint in N.C., the two brothers would have been near each other many times, but there is no proof one was aware of the other’s presence. Still, one could only surmise that Gus and Joseph spent many nights together, reminiscing of the loved ones back home, or listening to stories of the battles being fought up north. Letters from home would have surely mentioned the brother was nearby, as well.
In Virginia, the Stanhope Guards, then under the command of the “firebrand’ Brigadier General Lawrence O. Branch, fought bravely and successfully during the Seven Days/Seven Pines campaign. [also known as the Peninsula Campaign.] General McClellan, the Commander of the Northern Army of the Potomac attempted an ill-advised, and far to the east, march upon Richmond with the intent of destroying Richmond, the new Confederate Capital which only recently had been re-located from Montgomery, Alabama. McClellan was in for a very rude awakening. The South fought hard and overpowered the union, chasing their enemy, battle after battle, winning most, while others were fought to a draw, until “Little Mac,” as the vainglorious Union General was known by his adoring soldiers, in fear for his life fled to the southern tip of the peninsula where his army had invaded only a short few weeks before, and cowered while awaiting transport home by gunboat.
The Seven Days battle finished, Joseph and his fellow infantrymen settled in and awaited orders. And those orders were quick in coming. General Branch led the 7th into the battles of Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas and into the Maryland Campaign in which the battle of Sharpsburg, also known as Antietam by the North, was fought. The valiant Brigadier General was killed during the battle to be forever known as having the largest body count of any one day’s fighting of the entire war, or for that matter, in any war America has ever fought—before or since.
Joseph had seen the “elephant”—that killing “Beast” of war—and he’d had his fill of it. But there was so much more awaiting him.
With General Branch lost, General James H. Lane became the new commander of the 7th NC Infantry. It was he that led his men at such battles as Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Petersburg. And at Gettysburg.
***
While William Gus and his brother Joseph remained in N.C., protecting waterways, railroads and small towns, awaiting their respective units to be summoned north, names and dates of battles suggest General Lee was amassing the Army of Northern Virginia for an invasion of the north. Gus and his fellow soldiers, Co A. were sent to join General Lee marching toward Gettysburg and Joseph—toward the Maryland battlefields. But before Gus and the 47th could arrive, the great man, Robert E. Lee left, by way of the Shenandoah Valley, to invade the North, fearing the news of his intentions to fight north of the Mason/Dixon line would get there before he did. William Gus and Co. A would catch up with the Army of Northern Virginia prior to entering Gettysburg, while Joseph headed north towards the battles being fought in the Maryland Campaign.
The battles fought in Maryland served as a harbinger of things to come. Within a few short weeks, the “Battle of Gettysburg,” forever thereafter to be known as the “High tide of the Confederacy” was fought in Pennsylvania. It was indeed the turning point for the South. The Confederate States of America began its slow death at Gettysburg. Its death throes lasted nearly another two years.
***
In that great battle, William Gus Murray’s unit the 47th NC Infantry Regiment, the “Chicora Guards” was led by General Pettigrew.
After finding out from Georgia of our kinship, imagine if you will, how filled with pride I was to find my Great grandfather William “Gus’” unit fought in Pickett’s Charge. Imagine, too, the pride in knowing our Great grandfather’s unit was in the lead position and that they broke through the stone wall. Such bravery, such devotion. What could be greater than that?
Well, here’s the rest of the story.
The Stanhope Guard, Joseph Murray’s unit, marched that long mile up that hill, also. They, too, were under the ultimate command of General Pettigrew, yet still under General Lane’s immediate, but secondary, command and leadership. The 7th was ordered to co-join General Trimble, and his butter-nut clad warriors, in the march that ended in what was to become a long lingering death for the Confederacy.
Each brother, William Gus and Joseph, survived that bloody mile. The South fought off the inevitable for almost two more years. Retreating to the south and by established dates and unit names, they both fought through the extended Wilderness Campaign on their way back to help defend the Confederate Capitol, now established in Richmond, Virginia. It would be merely a thing hoped for and wished, to find they fought side by side, brother next to brother, through that historical series of battles.
Joseph and the Stanhope Guard were sent to North Carolina February 26th 1865, in hopes of stemming Sherman’s march through the State. But the fight once in them was spent, and they existed dog-eared and ragged, and in Bentonville, North Carolina, Sherman plowed through them. On April 26th the Stanhope Guards, along with the Army of Tennessee surrendered. Defeated, Joseph and his fellow warriors surrendered in Wilson. Ironically, his war ended 20 miles from where he decided to join and defend the Southland.
Did The Brothers Confederate occasionally see one another during their marching? Was there ever a glimpse, wished for, hoped for, of the face they’d seen all of their lives before the war? I would hope so, but there appears to be no proof of such. I have prayed a letter home, in which Joseph and Gus would have said, “I saw … and he is well.’ would eventually surface, but thus far, none have.
The odds seem good, though. Surely, as previously suggested, letters from home would have told each of their brother’s presence. And being told such a thing, if you were William or Joseph, would you not have searched the faces about you? Perhaps. I think I would have. Maybe at first. Or, after a while, would you have quit looking, searching? As the war tore on, I believe I would have quit. Not for lack of love, but from a gnawing fear.
I extend my thanks for your interest in my beloved ancestors. If you enjoyed this true story, please let me know.
Dwight V. Murray
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William Gus & Joseph Murray, brothers and sons of John A. Murray, Jr. and wife Lilly, grandsons of John Murray Sr., and Great grandsons of the 1st John Murray, fought in one of the worst events that has ever occurred on American soil, that Civil War, which cost America 625,000 lives.
As a descendant of the Murray’s, if you ever make it to Gettysburg, perhaps the following will be helpful.
How to find the start and finish of Pickett’s Charge:
The gentle rise and fall of Missionary Ridge rambles southwestward, from the new state road once known as the Cashtown/Chambersburg Road. A small, clear stream, Willoughby’s Run, itself a famous natural landmark, flows through the woods below and along the ridge. The woods below the ridge are thick with oaks and hardwoods and were used as a blind by the North Carolinians waiting within. Today those woods provide shade and beauty for tourists visiting the Gettysburg National Battlefield. Turn south from the Cashtown/Chambersburg Road, and drive approximately one mile, maybe a bit less, along the Southwest Confederate Road, a one lane asphalt affair, wending through the trees. Along each side stand monuments to great men and great events. Look on the left, east toward the battlefield proper, for the North Carolina Monument. It will be hard to miss. Look for markers, as well. The monuments are the chapter headings, the markers—each a paragraph of the story told that July day of long ago. See that tall monument, blackened with age and inclimate weather, and those men of aged and tarnished copper, their arms pointing across the wheat field forever to be known as Picket's Charge? You are at the base, the starting point, the place were soldiers stood face to back, bunched together, awaiting the start of Pickett’s Charge.
Now walk to the North Carolina monolith. On the way, notice the engraved granite tablet near—but not touching the dirt below. It lists all the regiments who made the charge up the hill. The 47th is there, so is the 7th.
Face east and slightly to the north. A mile distant, see the clump of trees standing alone? Think of it as the noon position of a clock. That is ground zero of the "High Water Mark" of the Confederacy. You need to walk up that hill and become part of the past. My Great grandfather Gus and his brother, Great granduncle Joseph did. They marched slightly to the east toward the eleven o'clock position of the far away ridge, and nearing a fence made of field-stone, they abruptly turned towards the clump of trees. With bayonets being thrust at them, while men all around were busy killing one another, and as the black smoke of gunpowder blinded them, they crawled over a portion of the stone wall now known as "The bloody Angle" and charged toward Union cannon not more than a few feet away.
The field upon which men fought and died now is worn with footpaths of tourist who have heard incredible stories of a once divided country—tourists who wish to see if they can feel remnants of Pickett’s Charge in the air.
Returning from the hill, you may be tired and in need of the air conditioned comfort of your car, but stand in front of that North Carolina monolith for a moment. Think of your feet, planted where others placed theirs a hundred and fifty plus years earlier. Give free rein to your emotions. Study that hill. Look closely. Bend and touch the ground. Do you feel the spilt blood? Can you hear the rattle of musket, the boom of cannon? Breathe in the air. Do you smell the spent gunpowder? Was that flutter the wing of a fast flying bird, or was it a ‘minie’ ball in search of someone to kill?
In church, sitting on hard or cloth covered pews, many say they feel “The Spirit” of a Heavenly Father. Perhaps they do. But no one, either those of the north or those of the south, has every left the blood-soaked battlefield known as Gettysburg and not felt the spirit of dead soldiers. It is as if they are telling us something—“We did this for you.”
I walked that long mile up the hill. I sat on the angled stone wall and wept.
***
Much of the above is found in Joseph H. Crute, Jr's book entitled Lee's Intrepid Army, which was purchased from the Confederate Museum in Richmond, Virginia. The rest is in plain view. All we have to do is look.
Dwight V. Murray is a life long student of the American Civil War. He writes of the war as if he were there. Please see his work on the website: www.wildponypublishing.com. Read the chapters included for your enjoyment.
* The author of this work has exhausted every lead concerning the usage of the name “Chicora Guards” and has found little as to why the N.C Regimental Infantry, Company A, chose to adopt that name. He found many references to the early native Americans who occupied the land his forefathers eventually settled upon.
Theirs was a vast area in which many different Indian nations co-existed. It extended west beyond the capital of North Carolina, Raleigh, southwest through the foothills of the Smoky Mountains of South Carolina, east towards Florence, South Carolina, and finally back into North Carolina and as far north as Lumberton.
The Lumberton area was home to the “Lumbees” a tribe which fought a vicious guerilla war against the Northern invaders on behalf of the Confederacy.
The names “Chica” and “Chickasaw” showed up in my research often. I am inclined to believe that the Chicora Guards is a derivative of an Indian name used to identify the unity of all of those tribes which existed as a collective group.
Further, I found that there existed a peaceful [for the most part] relationship between the “white” newcomers and the Native Indians. It seems to the author, that the North Carolina Infantry, Co. A, respected the Indians and proudly called themselves “The Chicora Guards.”
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