Lee County AlArchives Photo Person.....McGinty, Pinckney Harrington April 12, 2000 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Gerald K. Sr McGinty mcgintyboy@aol.com May 12, 2005, 1:26 pm Source: Civil War Photo Name: Pinckney Harrington McGinty Date Of Photograph: April 12, 2000 Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/lee/photos/mcginty556ph.jpg Image file size: 56.6 Kb Pinckney Harrington McGinty, b. July 6, 1839, Osanippa, Chambers Co., AL, d. January 8, 1918, in Beulah, Lee Co., AL, according to his gravestone. However, his death certificate shows a death date of 8:00 am, January 14, 1918. He married Celia Tolen Pitts on September 8, 1860, in Chambers Co., AL, by his uncle, W. D. Harrington, MG (marriage book 5, pg. 594). They were married at the residence of her father, William Pitts. Celia was b. January 2, 1839 in AL and d. February 18, 1915 in AL. They are both buried in the Beulah Baptist Cemetery, Lee Co., AL (photo). They produced six children, Permelia Elizabeth, b. 1861, James Thaddeus, b. 1866, William Washington, b. 1871, Nannie E., b. ca. 1873, Oscar Lee, b. 1874 and John Luther, b. 1877. (Lee Co., AL was formed from Chambers and other adjoining counties, December 5, 1866 and was named for Gen. Robert E. Lee). Additional Comments: Notes on Pinckney Harrington McGinty and the 14th AL Infantry: Pinckney or “Uncle Pink” as his nephews and nieces called him was one of three McGintys that enlisted as a private in Co. A of the 14th AL Volunteer Infantry Regiment (photo). His enlistment date is shown as April 7, 1862, in Yorktown, VA. This date is after the 14th had already moved to VA. It is possible that he actually enlisted at an earlier date, with the other two McGinty boys, and that the date of April 7, 1862, is actually the date when the 14th AL was accepted into the Confederate army. At this time, his uncle Capt. William D. Harrington, was the commanding officer of Co. A. He had been commissioned May 9, 1861. Capt. Harrington was the son of Jepta Harrington and the brother of Elizabeth Harrington McGinty, wife of Washington McGinty. Capt. Harrington resigned from the unit on August 2, 1862, reason unknown. The Harrington family came to Chambers Co. in 1836 and joined the Bethlehem Baptist church. William Harrington, a minister, was ordained there in 1839 and served several churches in the area, both before and after the war. He died June 17, 1871, at age fifty- one. This regiment was known as the “Cusseta Grays”; named for Cusseta, AL (pronounced Cu-seet-a) which is the district where he lived in the 1860 census. Before the war, he had probably inherited his father's rather large farming operation and shows real estate worth $2500 and a personal estate of $10000. The 14th AL infantry regiment, in which Pinckney, James and Joshua McGinty were members, was organized at Auburn, AL, in 1861. It was raised under the call of the Confederacy for volunteers to serve three years or for the duration of the war. The unit was ordered to Richmond, VA, in October 1861. From there, they moved to Evansport, VA, where the real service began. In January 1862, the unit was transferred back to Richmond to recover from health problems described as “camp sickness.” Then in March 1862, orders were received to move to Yorktown. They fought with distinction at Williamsburg, May 5, 1862. At Seven Pines and during the seven-day fight with McClellan before Richmond, the company suffered severely in killed and wounded. At the opening of the seven- day fight at the end of June 1862, the company had forty-seven men for duty. During the seven-day fight, the surgeon sent eight men to the hospital. Thirty- eight were killed or wounded, leaving only one man, W. A. Prather, to answer roll call. The company went from this fight and through the battles of Second Manassas, Sharpesburg and Booneboro without any commissioned officers. In 1863, the company was in all the important battles of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was part of the small force that fought at Salem Church, driving General Sedgewick across the river, and preventing his flank movement towards Richmond. At Gettysburg and Deep Mine, Co. A did its part. During the fall of 1864, and into 1865, until the retreat from Petersburg, the company fought daily. In January and February 1865, the company was in several engagements on the right of Lee’s army. The duties from January till the surrender at Appomattox was very difficult and said to “try men’s constitutions as well as their souls.” At Appomattox, Company “A” surrendered her arms and afterward took the oath of allegiance to the country. [This from the records of Stephen Hodge, 3rd Sergeant. Elected to 1st Lieutenant, October 8, 1862, and promoted to Captain, June 2, 1864. He was still living in AL in 1901]. It is interesting to note that James Judge Havis was elected 1st Lt. in Co. A. He was one of the builders of the Riverdale mill in River View after the war in 1866, and his name shows on the cornerstone. Havis was postmaster at Oakbowery, AL in 1858 and owned a store there. He was also a surveyor in 1840 and built a home near McGinty Crossroads. Pinckney was captured April 6, 1865, near High Springs, VA, as Lee’s army retreated from Petersburg and was imprisoned in Newport News, VA. He was released July 2, 1865. According to his personal statement, he participated in twenty-one battles from Yorktown to the siege of Petersburg. He also claimed to have taken care of Robert E. Lee’s horse, Traveler, at some point during the war. The 14th AL was always near to Lee, and he is said to have been very fond of his “Alabama Boys.” As long as Pinckney lived, he kept a framed picture of Lee’s horse near him. After Lee died in 1870, Traveler was taken on tour through the South for the veterans to gaze at once more. Pinckney told many “war stories” to his family. He would laugh and say “how we made those Yankees run with our Rebel Yell.” His records are in the National Archives, M374, roll 30. (It is interesting to note that, according to war records in the National Archives, there were over one hundred McGinty men who fought in the Civil War, both for the north and the south. By 1860, there were McGinty located in many parts of the country.) Pinckney joined the Beulah Baptist Church in Beulah, AL, July 19, 1873, “by letter.” There is a deed showing his purchase of land from W.J.H. Carlton on April 4, 1874, Chambers Co. Deed Book 8, Page 311. Pinckney was also said to have been a dentist after the war and had an office with a “barber pole” which identified a dentist office at this time. This is confirmed by his wife’s obituary in the Opelika News, February 19, 1915, where she is shown as Mrs. Dr. P. H. McGinty. On July 1, 1911, at age seventy-two, Pinckney made an application for Relief of Confederate Soldiers under the act of the AL general assembly passed April 24, 1911. The application claims that he was wounded at Yorktown and at the Second Battle of Manassas and that he is unable to make a living because of age and infirmities. On his application, he shows ownership of 70 ½ acres of land and personal property worth $397. Family history says that he died at the home of son, Oscar Lee McGinty in Opelika, AL, which is probably correct because the attending physician is shown on his death certificate as being in close by Cusseta, AL. Cause of death was pneumonia. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Photo has been resized/compressed for use in the USGenWeb Archives Project ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/lee/photos/mcginty556ph.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/alfiles/ File size: 8.1 Kb