Daniel W. Barefoor - Let Us Die Like Brave Men: Behind the Dying Words of Confederate Warriors

LET US DIE LIKE
BRAVE MEN

ALSO BY DANIEL W. BAREFOOT

General Robert F. Hoke: Lees Modest Warrior
Haunted Halls of Ivy
North Carolinas Haunted Hundred: Haints of the Hills
North Carolinas Haunted Hundred: Piedmont Phantoms
North Carolinas Haunted Hundred: Seaside Spectres
Touring South Carolinas Revolutionary War Sites
Touring North Carolinas Revolutionary War Sites
Touring the Backroads of North Carolinas Lower Coast
Touring the Backroads of North Carolinas Upper Coast

P rivate Stringfellow Houston of Missouri was aiding in the Confederate defense of Vicksburg when he was badly wounded. His captain thought the young man dead as he was being horne from the field-until he heard a voice from the stretcher: No, Captain, they have not killed me; they have just shot out my eye, and vvhen I get hack from the hospital I can shoot that much faster, as I wont have to shut it.

Stonewall Jacksons last recorded words were more poetic. His amputated left arm had already heen buried in its own grave following his wounding at Chancellorsville. The Confederate nation ;nvaited news ofJackson's fate as he lay at nearhy Guiney's Station in May 1863. Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees, he said at the last.

Let Us Die Like Brave Men tells the stories behind the dying words of fifty-two warriors who fell for the Southern cause. It includes soldiers from every Confederate state and gives equal play to men high-ranking and obscure. A few were not even part of the military. For example, James F. Jackson was a boxer and former militiaman who heard a Yankee colonel proclaim, Behold my trophy, upon tearing down the Stars and Bars in Alexandria, Virginia. Jackson nodded at the shotgun in his own hands and coolly replied, Behold mine.

Though the men in this hook fell tragically, their voices continue to speak from beyond the grave. Their courage in the face of death serves as an uplifting example to all Americans who cherish the ideals of bravery, self-sacrifice, and duty.

D ANIEL W. B AREFOOTS ten books reflect his broad interests in the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, biography, travel, and folklore. Barefoot is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law. He lives in Lincolnton, North Carolina.

Jacket Image

Painting by Don Troiani, www.historicalprints.com
The Boy Colonel shows Colonel Henry "Harry" King
Burgwyn, Jr., at the Battle of Gettysburg

JOHN F. BLAIR, PUBLISHER

1406 Plaza Drive
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103
www.blairpub.com

Copyright 2005 by Daniel W. Barefoot
All rights reserved under
International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions

The paper in this book meets the guidelines
for permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources.

Cover Image
Painting by Don Troiani, www.historicalprints.com
The Boy Colonel shows Colonel Henry Harry King Burgwyn, Jr.,
at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barefoot, Daniel W., 1951
Let us die like brave men : behind the dying words of Confederate
warriors / by Daniel W. Barefoot.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 13: 978-0-89587-311-8
ISBN 10: 0-89587-311-7 (alk. paper)
1. SoldiersConfederate States of AmericaDeath. 2. DeathSocial
aspectsConfederate States of America. 3. United StatesHistory
Civil War, 18611865Social aspects. I. Title.
E545.B37 2005
973.7420922dc22 2005007429

DESIGN BY DEBRA LONG HAMPTON

James F. Jackson, Innkeeper
One Flag, Two Martyrs

Colonel Francis Stebbins Bartow
The Martyr of First Manassas

Second Lieutenant William Preston Mangum, Jr.
Earning a Regiment Its Famed Nickname

Captain Dabney Carr Harrison
In His Brothers Footsteps

Private Charlie Jackson
His Fathers Son

Brigadier General Robert Hopkins Hatton
A Grand Final Review

Brigadier General Turner Ashby
To Kill the Yankee-Killer

William Bruce Mumford, Disabled Soldier
Treason or Patriotism?

Color Sergeant James Hunt Taylor
The Stained Banner

Private John Frederick Krenson
Just One of the Beardless Boys

Corporal James Cal Jones
The Final Farewell

Captain Hugh Augustus White
Exerting a Wider Influence for Good

Unidentified Confederate Soldier
Praying with a Stranger

Colonel William Peleg Rogers
Honor at All Costs

Hiram T. Smith, Civilian
The Substitute

Lieutenant Nathaniel D. Renfroe
The Fighting Parson

Captain Peter Bramlett
Gratitude for a Good Samaritan

Major John Pelham
The Gallant Pelham

Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Stonewall

Captain William Francis Corbin
A Worthy Example

Colonel William Orton Williams
The Curious Case of Colonel Williams and Lieutenant Peters

Private Stringfellow Houston
The Indefatigable Spirit of Youth

Colonel Henry Harry King Burgwyn, Jr.
The Boy Colonel

Colonel Isaac Erwin Avery
Cemetery Hill

Brigadier General William Barksdale
Living and Dying the Dream

Colonel James Keith Marshall
Sinking at the High-Water Mark

Brigadier General Lewis Addison Armistead
That Sublime Four-Letter Word

George Cummings, Body Servant
Undying Loyalty

Brigadier General James Johnston Pettigrew
From High Tide to Falling Waters

Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm
Brother-in-Law vs. Brother-in-Law

Lieutenant Richard Rowland Kirkland
Death of an Angel

First Lieutenant John E. Wilson
Brothers in Blood

Private Samuel Davis
But One Life to Give

David Owen Dodd, Telegrapher
Too Young to Die

Major General James Ewell Brown Stuart
Lees Eyes and Ears

Artilleryman Edward Cooper
From the Firing Squad to the Firing Line

Dr. David Herbert Llewellyn, Assistant Surgeon
Every Man for Himself, Save One

Lieutenant Isaac Lightner
Three Years behind the Big Guns

Private William Youree
Billy Reb

Private Dewitt Smith Jobe
Action Rather Than Words

Chaplain Emmeran Bliemel
Under the Din of Battle

Lieutenant Colonel David Berkley Lang
Wherever Duty Calls

Private William Thomas Overby
The Nathan Hale of the Confederacy

Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur
From Birth to DeathIn the Company of Friends

Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne
The Wearing o the Gray

Colonel Mike Farrell
The Fighting Irishman

Captain John Yates Beall, Confederate States Navy
Master of Intrigue

Captain Robert Cobb Kennedy
Burning and Hanging in New York

Colonel William Johnson Pegram
Tempting Fate

Edmund Ruffin, Fire-Eater
The First and Last Shots of the War