LegalBill, your little book reading project has now set off a huge research project for me. After reading Killer Angels and after having spent all of my life living here in this incredible state of Virginia, my curiosity has been piqued. I have now discovered that one of my ancestors served in the 11th Regiment, Virginia Infantry, and first served under Longstreet. It also was assigned to General A. P. Hill, Kemper and Terry's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia, and went on to Gettysburg. Well, then I decided if that gr-gr grandfather served, then perhaps others did as well since my family has been in Virginia since the 1700s. Okay, now I have to do genealogical research to figure out which of my grandfathers was one of the three with the same name who served with the 46th Regiment, Virginia Infantry. STOP, BILL, STOPPPP -- don't make me get curious about this stuff ANYMORE!!!!

 

Ha! A new hobby. Find all those relatives before the meet Val. We can find where they were positioned when we go to Gettysburg. All my relatives lived in foreign countries at the time, so I can't enjoy the quest myself.

 

^^ Okay, here's what I know according to the government records that I've found (and I won't have time to find out anymore before we go to Gettysburg). The 11th Regiment, Virginia Infantry in which my grandfather, Marquis de Lafayette Webber, fought in, was organized in Lynchburg (here), first fought at First Manassas under Longstreet and at Dranesville under JEB Stuart. Later it was assigned to Gen'l. AP Hill's, Kemper's and Terry's Brigade, Army of NOVA. It served from Williamsburg to Gettysburg. There were other battles in Plymouth, in NC and then back in Virginia and fought in two more battles before Petersburg and then ended the war in Appomattox.
My other grandfather, Silas, participated in the battle at Roanoke Island, the Seven Days' Battles, the seige against Charleston and came back to Virginia in 1864 and fought in Petersburg and also ended the war in Appomattox.

 

This is amazing to me. I heard an elderly lady here talking about her mother moving south after the war, I thought she meant WWII but she meant the civil war. It is all so recent, I'm having difficulty processing that thought.