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Grayson Blue/Gray Society of Southwest Virginia |
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Co. C,63rd VIRGINIA INFANTRY |
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 Co. C of the 63rd Regiment of Virginia Infantry CSA Army of Tennessee "Marshall's Rifles" 1862-1865 recruited in the mountains of Grayson County, Virginia
PVT Lilbourne Blevins Co. C, 63RD Virginia Infantry
The 63rd Regiment of Virginia Infantry was organized in March and
April, 1862 under the command of Col. John J. McMahon. The troops enlisted for three years or the duration of the war. The
regiment was made up of 10 companies recruited in the following counties. Co.A--Washington Co. B--Washington Co., Virginia and Sullivan Co., Tennessee Co.C--Grayson Co. D--Montgomery Co., Virginia and Monroe Co., West Virginia Co. E--Washington Co. F--Washington Co.G--Carroll and Grayson Co. H--Wythe Co. I (1st)--Floyd. Co. I(2nd)--Carroll Co. K--Smyth One company, Co. I (1st), Named
the Floyd Blues or Dunn's Co. had already seen action when it was Co. G of the 50th Va. This company upon its reorganization
on April 1, 1862 transferred to the 63rd. It had originally been organized on July 5, 1861. This Company was an experienced
nucleus for the new 63rd Virginia Infantry. After its organization the 63rd
was assigned to BGen. Humphrey Marshall's Command. General Marshall, a politically appointee, styled his command as the "Army
of Eastern Kentucky". This "Army" was actually no more than a few brigades of troops. From May until December of 1862
the regiment was involved in operations in southwest Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky, seeing its first combat as a unit
at the Battle of Princeton, West Virginia. In December, 1862, the regiment,
along with several other units in Marshall's command, was transferred to another theater of operations in the Tidewater region
of Virginia. It took part in several engagements while operating in this sector. In March, 1863 the regiment returned to southwest
Virginia. During the summer of 1863 the regiment was charged with the security of the saltworks at Saltville, Virginia. In August, 1863, the 63rd,
along with the 54th Virginia(Col. Robert Trigg, commanding), and the Nottoway Artillery(Jeffress's Battery), was transferred
to the Army of Tennessee where it would remain for the duration of the war. The 63rd was placed in the brigade of Col. John
H. Kelly. Kelly's Brigade 63RD Virginia Infantry 5TH Kentucky Infantry 65TH Georgia Infantry 58TH North Carolina Infantry The first action seen with the Army of Tennessee was at Chickamauga,
Georgia in September, 1863. The 63rd lost over one third (1/3) of its troops at Chickamauga. This is a casualty rate of 33%.
During the battle the 63rd Virginia, along with Kelly's Brigade, was
involved in the intense fighting at Snodgrass Hill where the Union forces of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas' Division put up stubborn
resistance. Thomas' troops held out longer than the rest of the Army of the Cumberland thereby preventing the destruction
of the Union force. Thomas' stubborn defense allowed Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans to extract his army and retreat to Chattanooga.
For his dogged tenacity Thomas earned the sobriquet "The Rock Of Chickamauga". After Chickamauga Col. Kelly was promoted and transferred to a Cavalry
command. The brigade came under the command of BGen. Alexander W. Reynolds. The brigade was reorganized with the transfer
of the the 5th Kentucky and the 65th Georgia. Another North Carolina regiment, the 60th, was added and the 54th Virginia was
transferred to the brigade. This would be the makeup of the brigade for the rest of the war. Reynolds' Brigade 63RD Virginia Infantry 54TH Virginia Infantry 58TH North Carolina Infantry 60TH North Carolina Infantry From its organization until the end of 1863 the 63rd Virginia had
moved around quite a bit. Its involvement in combat had not been intense until joining the Army of Tennessee in September.
The battles at Chickamauga and the siege of Chattanooga had been its most severe test. The year of 1864 would be altogether
different. 1864 would be very costly for the 63rd Virginia Infantry Regiment. In December, 1863 Gen. Braxton Bragg was relieved of command of the
Arny and replaced, temporarily, with Gen. Richard Taylor who held command until Gen. Joseph E. Johnston could assume command.
This pleased the troops in the rank and file. In the Spring and Summer of 1864 the 63rd would become involved in
some of the most devastating campaigning of its service, for the tenuous struggle for the vital city of Atlanta was about
to begin. It was vital to the Union war effort that Atlanta be taken from the Rebels, thereby eliminating a major supply and
communication hub of the Confederacy. One of Reynolds' Virginians noted on July 15, 1864 they had
not been out of the sound of artillery fire since May 7. He also felt the food had improved, writing, "We have been the best fed army I ever saw. It is not of the nicest king but plentie corn bread & bacon but we
are lacking vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, etc." Following the Atlanta Campaign, due to depletion by combat, Reynolds'
Brigade was consolidated with Brig. Gen. John C. Brown's Tennessee Brigade in September, 1864. Reynolds'/Brown's Consolidated Brigade 54TH Virginia 63RD Virginia 58TH North Carolina 60TH North Carolina 3RD Tennessee In November, 1864 Brig. Gen. Joseph Palmer assumed command of the
brigade. After the fall of Atlanta in September, 1864 Gen. Johnston was relieved
and replaced with Gen. John Bell Hood, much to the chagrin of the troops. Hood was considered a "go getter" by his superiors,
and go he did. Under the assumption that if he took his army back into Tennessee,
Sherman would follow, Hood proceeded with his ill fated Tennessee Campaign. However Sherman did not take the bait. Leaving
Hood to his own devices, Sherman proceeded to make his now infamous, March Through Georgia. Under Hood's command, The Army of Tennessee moved up through Georgia,
Alabama, crossed the Tennessee River, and then entered Tennessee. The Army of Tennessee, with S.D. Lee's Corps in the lead,
encountered the Federals at Columbia and Spring Hill, driving the enemy before them. November 30, 1864 had been a beautiful Indian summer day. At dawn,
the Confederates marched north from Spring Hill, Tennessee in pursuit of fleeing Federal forces. General Hood was determined
to destroy the Union Army before it reached Nashville. At the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864 Hood’s
reckless nature wrecked the Army of Tennessee. Ever the lion in combat, Hood, without consideration for his troops, ordered
a frontal assault on the entrenched Federals at Franklin even though he lacked the artillery to soften up the enemy positions.
The Rebels through their tenacity carried the day but a dozen charges across open ground against Union fortifications had
killed or wounded 7,000 veteran Confederate troops and cost the army six(6) of its ablest generals killed in action. Seven other Confederate generals were wounded. 13 regimental commanders
were killed and 32 wounded. The 63rd Virginia had taken part in the fighting at Spring Hill and
Columbia in the days before the fight at Franklin. The 63rd Virginia and Palmer's Brigade were in the vanguard of S.D. Lee's
advance against the Union forces on November 28, pushing back a dozen regiments and six batteries of artillery. The 58th North
Carolina had been detailed to guard the prisoners taken at these fights. Being split due to this, Palmer's Brigade, was assigned
to guard the ordinance trains during Hood's assault at Franklin and was spared the bloodbath on November 30th. The 63rd was
part of the train guard and, though on the scene, did not take an active part in the bloody assaults taking place. After the
Federals abandoned their positions the men of the 63rd could see the results of brutal fighting as they passed over the field. While Palmer's Brigade did not actively participate in the Battle
of Franklin, members of the 63rd Virginia were on the field as stretcher bearers, and suffered casualties in their efforts
to aid the wounded. The Battle of Franklin has been called "the bloodiest hours of the
American Civil War." Called "The Gettysburg of the West," Franklin was one of the few night
battles in the Civil War. It was also one of the smallest battlefields of the war (only 2 miles long and 1 1/2 miles wide).
The main battle began around 4:00 pm and wound down around 9:00 pm. More than 1,750 men were killed outright or died of mortal wounds,
3,800 seriously wounded and 702 captured (not including cavalry casualties). 15 out of 28 Confederate Generals were casualties.
65 field grade officers were lost. Some infantry regiments lost 64 % of their strength at Franklin. There were more men killed
in the Confederate Army of Tennessee in the 5- hour battle than in the 2-day Battle of Shiloh and the 3-day Battle of Stones
River. A soldier in Maney's Brigade of Brown's Division, wrote, after the
Battle of Franklin......... "Daylight has come
there is no enemy near us and we now look for ded and wounded which are many oh how bad I feel to look at my comrades torn
to peaces by those missels of death one of my old company was killed ded they are all buried side by side and ech grave was
marked it is horable thought ti think of the many friends we leave on the battle field the enemys loss was very heavy we killed
a great many the ground was covered with blew coats we have got our men all buried we now take a little rest as we have not
taken any in two days and nights." Resinor Etter...Co. H, 16th Tenn.
Vol. Inf. Regt. CSA Generals Lost at Franklin Killed Another Soldier wrote.... "(Franklin) is the
blackest page in the history of the War of the Lost Cause. It was the bloodiest battle of modern times in any war. It was
the finishing stroke to the Independence of the Southern Confederacy. I was there. I saw it." -- Pvt. Sam Watkins, Co.
H, 1st Tennessee Infantry Pvt. Calvin Livesay, Company C, 63rd Virginia, of Grayson
County, Virginia wrote that the 63rd and its Brigade were detailed to guard the wagon train while the battle of
Franklin raged. He wrote in 1913: “I knew there was severe fighting going on,
for I had never heard such cannonading.” Livesay was on the battlefield the following day and saw the vast numbers of
dead and “was able to step from one to the other without touching the ground.” “This was one of Hood’s
rash moves, not caring how many men he sacrificed. He was a born general, but inhumanly heartless when it came to the battlefield.”
according to Livesay The Army of Tennessee died at Franklin, Tennessee on November 30,
1864. The Federals retreated to Nashville and Hood followed but his efforts
were ineffectual. As the army pursued the retreating Federals the 63rd was part of the force. Upon reaching Nashville and
after several unsuccessful assaults on the Federals, Hood’s army had to abandon the campaign and save itself from complete
destruction. The retreat took a roundabout route through Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and South
Carolina where the army arrived in February, 1865. As the Army of Tennessee retreated from Nashville, Palmer's Brigade,
of which the 63rd Virginia was now a part, was assigned to the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest as part of the rear
guard of the Army. Col. James T. Weaver, commander of the 60th North Carolina, was Killed in Action during this period. On December 7 the 63rd took part in the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Following the bloody debacle of Hood's Tennessee Campaign the 63rd
continued to soldier on. The retreat from Tennessee in the cold winter months took a great toll on the 63rd Virginia and the
rest of the Army of Tennessee. In the 200 mile retreat, the 63rd Virginia would, as rear guard, constantly
be in contact with the enemy, fighting not only human adversaries, but hunger and physical plus mental fatigue. All this in
the cold of the harsh Tennessee Winter.The men were ill clad with no greatcoats. Many did not even have shoes. Some of the
more fortunate ones did have blankets. One Virginia soldier wrote.....“I was so exposed coming out
of Tennessee that it became very sore.... Many men have lost their toes & some their entire feet." While in camp at Tupelo, Mississippi, 2nd Lt. Samuel
Robinson , Co. G/I, 63rd Virginia Infantry, wrote home to his wife Lydia in Virginia......... Tupelo, Mississippi January 15, 1865 "We have been marching and fighting
all of the time on the 30 day of November we had the hardest little fight that has bin during this campaign but we was too
hard for them. We drove them out of their works but our loss was heavy. It is reported to be thirty eight hundred kiled and
wounded and I han’t any dout but it is true for I want over the battle field the next morning and it was the turiblest
sight that my eye ever beheld. The men lay piled and crossed upon each other where or men charged them. I think that we had
about 3 to the yankeys one kiled. This fight took place at franklin. Tennessee and we run them on to Nashville where we skirmished
with them several days when our Brigade was ordered to murfreesborough, we reached there on the 6 day of December and in the
7 we had a faight there with the yankeys but they was too many for us. We had several kiled and wounded our colonel was shot
through the arme and was left in the hands of the enemy. They was one of my Co. that was left there but I don’t know
whether he was kiled or captured and we fell back some three or four miles and took appsition so as to keep them from reinforcing
at Nashville and on the 15 and 16 was a big fight on the night of the 16 Janeral hood commenced retreating from Nashville
with a heavy loss and we have retreated some too hundred miles through the wet and cold mud half leg deep and a great many
of the men was entirely barfotted and almost naked. The men marched over the frozen ground till their feet was worn out till
they could be tracked by the blood and some of them there feet was frosted and swolen till they bursted till they could not
stand on their feet now this is what I saw my self and our Brigade left back with Jeneral Forrest Caveraly to Bring up and
cover they retreat which left us in danger of being captured at any time but we got out safe or the mos of them, we had to
stop and fight them most every day. On the 25 of the month which was Christmas day we pased through the town that is called
Pulaski and we crossed the river and the caveraly aim to burn the bridge but the yankees run up and drove our men away about
too o’clock they overtaken us and we form a line of battle and they came up and we let loose a volley at they which
turned them and we charged after them and captured several horses all one brass pees of artillery and that given them a sear
till was not pestered with them any till we reached Tennessee River and we crossed over where we joined the rest of the army,
or what got out. They was at least one third of the men left in Tenn kiled wounded and captured. So I will stop writing for
this time. I am truly thankful that I am spared with they has so many hundred yeas thoughsands killed by and round me and
I have yet escaped.”
The men of the 63rd Virginia and of Palmer's Brigade were
by now nearly naked--each soldier only a single blanket--or less. Rations were very scarce. The Army of Tennessee passed the
severe winter of 1864-65 in active field service. Despite severe exposure of the men and officers, there were no complaints.
The men knew complaints would do no good. Gen. Hood resigned after the Tennessee Campaign and once more the
beloved Joe Johnston was in command of the army. Arriving in South Carolina the Army of Tennessee moved north. Palmer's
Brigade was in the rear guard burning bridges behind the army, encountering the enemy at the Edisto River in several skirmishes. Palmer's Brigade had the "honor" of acting as a rear guard to hold
the south bank of the Congaree River until February 16. Palmer's command then withdrew and burned the bridge behind it. Johnston
was operating a delaying action so that Columbia could be evacuated. The Army of Tennessee began its march north on February
17. On March 8-10, 1865 the 63rd met the Federals in another rear guard
action at Wilcox's Bridge near Kinston, North Carolina. This would cost the dwindling Army of Tennessee 1500 more casualties. The 63rd Virginia would encounter the Yankees for one last big fight
at Bentonville, North Carolina in March, 1865. On March 19, 1865, S.D. Lee's Corps was officially given to Major
General Daniel Harvey Hill. The next day the Army of Tennessee met the enemy in its last major engagement. General Hill reported on Palmer’s Brigade in the Battle of Bentonville. "At 3:15 p.m. the whole corps advanced in two lines,
Deas' brigade and Palmer's, Stovall's and Jackson's constituting the front line; Manigault's Pettus' and Baker's the rear
line, 300 yards retired." Palmer's troops passed through the first Federal line in under 15 minutes. The Yankees retired to
breastworks 300 yards in the rear of their first line. Palmer's Brigade led the efforts that pushed them from there as well.
Hill received a map made by the engineers of the Federal position, and found them to be parallel to the Goldsborough and Fayetteville
Road, and a second set of trenches perpendicular to the first fronting on the swamp. At this point Hill was ordered to halt
and reform. At this point in the battle General Palmer's Brigade assaulted the field works perpendicular to the road. Other
events required the withdrawal of the small reserves, which the Federals discovered. The Yankees counterattacked, flanking
Palmer, Baker and Carter. Hill realized this, but not before 200-300 of his Tennessee troops under Colonel Anderson Searcy
of the 45th Tennessee were cut off. They made their way completely through Sherman's bummers and rejoined Hill's command 9
days later. Hill stated, in his battle report, that there would have been a disaster but that General Walthall arrived "to
fill the gap and check the Yankee advance." General Palmer's troops disengaged to join General Pettus' Brigade by Hill's order.
They rested until about sundown. At dusk the Federals advanced on Pettus, but he "drove them back without difficulty." Major General Carter L. Stevenson also highly praised
Palmer and his men. Much depleted after the Bentonville fight, Palmer's Brigade was reorganized.
On April 9, 1865 the 63rd Virginia was consolidated with the 54th Virginia. ( Between the two regiments, they could barely
muster 100 men).The new organization was designated the 54th Battalion of Virginia Infantry under the command of Lt. Col.
Connelly H. Lynch. Brig. Gen. Palmer was placed in command of a brigade of 43 consolidated Tennessee regiments in Gen. Bates'
Division. The 58th and 60th North Carolina Regiments were consolidated and transferred to Brantley's Brigade in D.H. Hill's
Division which was under the command of Col. J. G. Coltart. Pettus’ Brigade 19TH Alabama Infantry Regt. 20TH Alabama Infantry Regt. 23RD Alabama Infantry Regt. 31ST Alabama Infantry Regt. 54TH Virginia Infantry Bn. Affter the reorganization of the units, the 54th Va. Inf. Bn.( 63rd
Va. and 54th Va. consolidated) with Pettus' Brigade was sent back to the Yadkin River as a rear guard to secure the bridges.
The 63rd was here when news of Lee's surrender in Virginia reached them. While the 63rd was guarding the Yadkin River Bridge,
President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet crossed the bridge and headed to Salisbury. Johnston surrendered his Army of Tennessee
shortly after this. Some soldiers, upon hearing of Lee's surrender just went home. One 63rd Virginia soldier wrote many years later: ""From Charlotte we started for
Raleigh and from there we went to Salisbury stopping there only a few days. There was a big distillery at this place. A guard
was put around it at once to keep the men from appropriating its juices. From Salisbury we marched to Goldsboro. Near here
we met the enemy and Captain Hampton was killed and Lieutenant Nels Ingoldsby was wounded, losing a leg. This was a drawn
battle. ( This was probably the Battle of Bentonville) Here we rested for a few days, reorganized, and put the Virginia troops
in Pettus' Brigade. This brigade was sent back to the Yadkin River to guard the bridges as General Johnston who was put back
in command after the Battle of Nashville, now had charge of the army. While we were at this bridge President Davis and his
cabinet crossed it and spent the night in Salisbury. They crossed on the Railroad bridge on horseback and in carriages. They
were going south. This was about the time of Lee's
surrender. Johnston surrendered at Greensboro in about a week. We were ordered to Salisbury. Here
Captain Waugh told us he was going home and we could do as we pleased. Some one said he wanted water and Major Anderson said
he knew of some fine springs in Grayson [County] and with one accord we started for home. There came home with me Captain
Waugh, the Records, Lieutenant Sheffey, and of the old mess, only Preston Parks. Others in our group returning home were Mike
Delp, and some of the Collins boys, the Captain of Company H from Wythe, and others I could mention. As we came we met General
William Terry who was going south. He talked with us a while. We came to Randall Collins' and
spent the night. There they sent Preston Parks and myself across the river on horseback. None of the boys from the upper end
of the county were with us. I arrived home on Sunday, April 23, 1865 with only such feelings as a tired, hungry, and beaten
soldier could have. I was glad the war was over and glad to see home and loved ones again, but sorry the enemy have overcome
us. I was conscious of the fact that we had battled for the right and that our cause was just, wondering what was in store
for us for we were in the hands of a heartless government now that Stevens, Staunton, Bill Chandler and Charles Sumner had
the reins”" PVT Calvin Livesey….Co. C,
63rd Virginia Infantry During its service in the AOT the 63rd Virginia fought in Ten states
and by the time of its surrender on April 26, 1865, at Durham Station, North Carolina, it had fought in over seventy (70)
engagements. The 63rd took part in fighting at places that will be forever etched in the annals of the American Civil War.
Places with names such as Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, Ringold Gap, Resaca, Peachtree Creek, New Hope Church,
Kennesaw Mountain, Franklin, Stones River and many others. After it became a part of the Army of Tennessee the 63rd served under
some of the Confederacy's ablest Generals. James Longstreet, Patrick Cleburne, Nathan Bedford Forrest, William J. Hardee,
Stephen D. Lee, and Daniel Harvey Hill. After the surrender, by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston on April 26, 1865,
the 63rd,along with the 58th North Carolina, was paroled and taken by rail to Statesville, North Carolina where they proceeded
to MARCH !.....Not Walk!...home. This was a distance of more than a hundred miles! The 63rd Virginia was an outfit that saw much hard duty and got very
little recognition. It had the distinction of being one of only three Virginia units to serve with the Army of Tennessee.
The others being the 54th Virginia Infantry and the Nottoway Artillery. The Army of Tennessee was a hard marching army whose area of operations
covered Ten states. This encompassed an area of approximately 540,000 square miles! In contrast, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern
Virginia campaigned in a relatively small area, approximately 43,000 square miles from Richmond to Washington, D.C. and to
the western areas of Virginia for most of its existance. While the ANV had its back to the wall bottled up at Petersburg,
Virginia, the Army of Tennessee continued to march and fight the enemy over most of the Confederacy's territory, even after
Lee's surrender. The Army of Tennessee has been called, by historians, the "Hard Luck
Army". Though the soldiers of the army were brave and tenacious they were blessed with very few capable commanders. Most of
the proficient commanders, who were diligent and had the abilities and courage to properly handle the army, were either killed
in battle, or were driven from its ranks by the petty jealousies of less capable officers. Although the fighting abilities and courage of the soldiers in the
ranks were second to none, miscalculations and blunders by sub-standard commanders caused the Army of Tennessee to attract
a less than admirable reputation in the minds of historians. The 63rd Virginia itself has not been well treated by historians,
labeled by them as a below par regiment. Most historians tend to praise the regiments in the Army of Northern Virginia and
degrade those units who did not serve directly under the great Robert E. Lee. However no unit in the ANV can lay claim to
having marched so far, and served in so many different locales as the 63rd. To be fair, the 63rd fought in battles which were
just as bloody as those in which its eastern counterparts took part. In its career the 63rd was in over 70 engagements. (See
paragraph below) **** 2ND Lt. Troy Spencer, Co. C, 63RD
Virginia Infantry
Shot for Desertion, 1864** ** Lt. Spencer had gone home on leave due to his mother
being ill. After she passed and the funeral was over, Lt. Spencer was a bit "tardy" about reporting back to his unit. A situation
which could be deadly during that time. Usually leniency was shown to wayward soldiers but the Confederate Army was in desperate
need of manpower. To show mercy to "deserters" was to make it appear that the act was condoned. Sometimes examples were made
of deserters and the solution appears to have worked occasionally. Lt. Spencer was one of the unfortunate ones who fell
into the example category.** Casualties in the 63RD Virginia Infantry Total Serving......1550 KIA......87 WIA......216 POW......313 DOD......117 Per Cent Dead......13.3 ******When the Army of Tennessee surrendered on April
26, 1865 the 63rd had been consolidated with the 54th Virginia. The new unit was designated the 54th Va. Inf. Battalion. It
must be noted that this new unit contained less than 100 men. This small number was a long way from the original numbers that
had enlisted in the beginning. The two original regiments had, at one time or another, a combined strength of over 2,000 men.
These great numbers were but a distant memory at the time of the surrender.****** ****A note from the webmaster.
One of the reasons I maintain this page is that two of the men on the 63RD Virginia’s roster, at the bottom
of this page, are my ancestors. Pvt. Andrew Jackson Hoover and Pvt. Henry Hoover both of Company B, were the older brothers
of my Maternal Great-Grandmother, Callie Emmaline Hoover Terry. Their names are highlighted in blue. Len Robbins****
Corporal William Spencer Co. C, 63RD Virginia Infantry |
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