Richmond County GaArchives Biographies.....Clapp, Horace Hamilton 1820 - 1879 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: John L MAURATH conlaeth@juno.com October 13, 2004, 4:51 pm Author: John L. MAURATH and Rudolph M. CLAPP HAPPILY DISPLACED YANKEE by John L. MAURATH and Rudolph M. CLAPP The formal annals of American history, necessarily fail to reveal all of the rich details of every American family, who has ever had a physical presence in our land. It is therefore the responsibility of each family historian, to record and preserve the posterity of their familial fore-bearers for future generations and for other historians. Pieced-together below therefore, from several sources, is such the story of one, Horace Hamilton CLAPP…a displaced "Yankee" from Boston, Massachusetts. The CLAPP family, one of the first families in America, had a rich and colorful history. Ten years after the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, 21-year-old Roger CLAP arrived in Dorchester (south Boston), Massachusetts in 1630 aboard the Ship "Mary and John" from the town of Salcombe-Regis, County Devon (or Devonshire), England. He was a descendant of Osgod CLAPA or CLAPPA, a Danish noble at the Court of King CANUTE, who was King of England from 1017 to 1036. The town of CLAPHAM ("CLAPHAM", meaning ham or house of CLAPPA) in County Surrey, where he had a country house, was supposedly named for Osgod, who was also thought to be a Saxon. The family name eventually evolved from CLAPPA to CLAP and then finally to CLAPP. Captain Roger CLAP in Boston, gained notoriety through his long and productive life, and one can still see his gravemarker from the year 1695 in Kings Chapel Burying Ground, Boston. Roger CLAP's great-great-grandson was Dr. Preserved CLAPP, IV, who was born in Hadley, Massachusetts and who later moved to Claremont, New Hampshire. During the American Revolution, Dr. Preserved CLAPP patented a process for refurbishing abandoned British canons, which the British had sabotaged by breaking-off the trunnions, and by spiking the fuse holes ... in an effort to prevent our Continental Army from re-using them. Preserved's son Roswell CLAPP, was also a veteran of the New Hampshire Volunteers during the Revolution. This line of the CLAPP family returned to Boston, and this brings us to the grandson of Revolutionary War Veteran Roswell CLAPP…Horace Hamilton CLAPP, our featured "Yankee". Horace Hamilton CLAPP was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 30, 1820, and he was the son of Horace CLAPP and Hannah IVERS. After Horace reached his maturity, he professed the faith of the Congregationalist Church. He had a falling-out though, which banished him from the church, around the young age of 20, and so he left home and headed south along the eastern coast, traveling through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. Everywhere that he went though, his reputation with the church preceded him. So, he decided to board a ship, most probably in New York, and headed even further south. Horace Hamilton CLAPP, with his Boston accent, finally decided to disembark at Savannah, Georgia in the Deep South. From there, he headed up the Savannah River, to the end of the boat line at Augusta, Georgia, where he decided to settle. In Augusta, in 1842, at age 22, he married a 20-year-old "southern belle" of French descent, Miss Fortuna GUIMARIN. They had 6 children, Frances, Adele, Alice, William John, Laura, and Norman, all born before the Civil War. In early 1861, as Civil War seemed imminent to all throughout the country, Horace's family back in Boston wrote to him, and suggested that it was time for him to come back home and fight for the North. He replied that he was indeed already at home in his state of Georgia, with his family and his people, and there he was happy and would stay, and there he would fight for his country and die. No doubt his younger brother William, and cousins back in Boston, were joining Union forces, in preparation for a war that would truly pit "brother against brother". Civil War had erupted in America, after the events at Fort Sumter, and Georgia quickly offered her services to the South, when Georgia Governor Joseph E. BROWN, issued an order on April 22, 1861 for the organization of 20 volunteer companies, to be organized as the 3rd and 4th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiments. The men of these companies were recruited from various counties in the State, and brought to Augusta, where they were partially organized, armed and equipped. It was during this time, on April 27, 1861, that 41-year-old Horace Hamilton CLAPP, a displaced Bostonian, joined the Confederate Army, leaving a wife and 6 children at home, ranging in ages from 17 to 6. He went into camp with the rest of the men of the 3rd Regiment, which was placed under the temporary command of Captain William C. MUSGROVE. At this time, there was much pomp and festivities all around Augusta, and few realized the horrors of war that awaited them. Around the 1st of May, the 3rd Regiment consisting of 10 companies (A - J), left Augusta and were ordered to proceed to Richmond, Virginia, per Governor BROWN, but instead were directed to the Navy Yard at Portsmouth via Norfolk, per Governor LETCHER of Virginia, and there they encamped. There, Private CLAPP was officially mustered into Company I (the Blodgett Volunteers) of the 3rd Regiment Infantry, commanded by Captain Foster (sometimes referred to as Lee) BLODGETT. Most of the men of this company hailed from Richmond County, Georgia, as did CLAPP. After arriving at the Navy Yard, which had been abandoned by the fleeing Federals, the men of Company I witnessed for the first time, the destruction of war, as the Federals burned and destroyed everything in sight, and many building remnants and ships in the harbor were still smoldering. On May 9th, the men of the 3rd Regiment elected Colonel Ambrose R. WRIGHT as commander of the regiment. Blodgett's Company was diligently drilled, and remained in the area, but were only called-out on duty to Suffolk and Pigs Point, Virginia, for possible encounters with New York federal regiments, who were reported to be heading towards Suffolk, but never showed. In July, Captain BLODGETT, apparently disappointed with Colonel WRIGHT, put together a petition for the resignation of Colonel WRIGHT. WRIGHT immediately brought charges against BLODGETT for his actions and for disobedience, and a court- martial ensued. BLODGETT was tried and convicted in Portsmouth. He appealed to the Secretary of War, and requested a transfer, which was granted. Blodgett's Company I was then replaced by the CARSWELL Guards from Wilkinson County, Georgia (and given the designation "2nd Company I"). BLODGETT was then allowed to take his company of men, which included CLAPP, and equipped them for field artillery service, and formed the Georgia Blodgett Light Artillery, also known as MILLEDGE'S Light Artillery, as they also served under Captain John MILLEDGE, Jr. The Company was also assigned to C. RICHARDSON'S and W. NELSON'S Battalion of Artillery. They served in the Richmond area until September, 1862, and then were active from the Maryland Campaign until Cold Harbor. It was later reported that they did "good service" in General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Horace CLAPP served with this unit until the end of September, 1863. On October 1, 1863, CLAPP mustered into Captain Thomas M. NELSON'S Independent Company, Georgia Cavalry (also known as Nelson's Rangers). Captain NELSON was from Dougherty County, Georgia and initially enlisted on April 28, 1861 into Company E, of the 4th Georgia Volunteer Infantry, from which he later resigned, and then formed his cavalry unit on May 14, 1862. The unit later became Captain George G. RAGLAND'S company, and served as personal escort for General Stephen Dill LEE. CLAPP served with this unit for the remainder of the war, and was surrendered at Greensboro, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. Today, it would be considered, that he had a rich and colorful military career…especially after having served during the entire war, and in 3 classes of the military; the infantry, artillery and cavalry…and because we have a nearly complete military history for a Confederate Private. And miraculously, he survived the entire war unscathed, although tragedy struck at home, with the heart-broken loss of two of his daughters in a horrible fire. After the war, Horace Hamilton CLAPP returned home to Augusta, Georgia, where he once again took up the simple, yet hard life of farming. During a visit to a local store in town, he had just missed seeing his brother William, who had come from Boston, looking for him after all these years, but Horace could not find him, and they never saw each other again. And, during a purported visit to Jacksonville, Florida in 1875, his wife Fortuna preceded him in death and was there buried. Horace returned to Augusta from Florida, and so, after surviving the rigors of hard life and 4 grueling years in the Confederate Army, he developed heart disease, and was attended to by Dr. DeSaussure FORD, who could do little for him. At the young age of 59, he departed this life, and went to his Maker, and was put to rest on August 27, 1879 in the GUIMARIN Family Plot in the old section of the Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta. The wooden marker that identified his grave has long ago rotted and disappeared, and his exact burial spot is now unknown. A Confederate military memorial gravestone, was placed in his honor, in the Clapp Family Plot of the Magnolia Cemetery. Despite the horrors of war, and the harshness of life, one can still see a glimmer of a smile in the eyes of the happily displaced "Yankee", Horace Hamilton CLAPP…forever a Confederate Veteran from his State of Georgia. NOTE: Rudolph McCarty CLAPP is the great-grandson of Horace Hamilton CLAPP, and is also the CLAPP Family genealogist and historian. An avid Civil War buff, he hails from Byron, Georgia, but currently resides across the state line in South Carolina. Rudy's stepson, John Louis MAURATH, is the MAURATH Family genealogist and historian, and hails from St. Louis, Missouri. Also an avid Civil War buff, John is also a cavalry Honor Guard member of the new Missouri Civil War Museum, located at historic Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis (the oldest military post west of the Mississippi River), where many Confederate Officers and Generals (including General LEE) were stationed at some point during their military careers. Visit http://www.missouricivilwarmuseum.org SOURCES FOR THIS MILITARY HISTORY " Family Oral Tradition " Family Written Records " Family History Book, "The Clapp Memorial, Record of the Clapp Family in America", 1876 " Online Civil War sources " Government's online "Soldiers and Sailors System" " Online email Mail Lists " Ancestry.com (online) " FamilyResearch.org (online) " USGenweb.com (online) " Rootsweb.com (online) " Online correspondence with Bruce LONG, Researcher of the 3rd Georgia Infantry Volunteers " "History of the Georgia 3rd" from the "MADISONIAN" newspaper, 1890 (on microfilm at the University of Virginia). Thanks to Paul R. LINDSEY for information about this source. " "The History of the Georgia Third Infantry Regiment" (The Regimental History of the GA 3rd Infantry Regiment, Volume 159 of the Confederate Regimental History Series) " The Compendium of Civil War Regiments " "Roster of Confederate Soldiers of Georgia 1861-1865", by LONGINO & PORTER, 1955 " Roster of Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, by Historical Data Systems, Inc. (online at www.civilwardata.com ) " "Muster Roll of (1st) Company I, 3rd Regiment Georgia Volunteer Infantry CSA, Richmond County, Georgia (thanks to Robert N. HALE, Sr. for this source) " National Archives, Washington, DC " Georgia State Archives " Local, state and federal archives, and historical and genealogical societies " Compilation by Johnnie P. & Mary A. PEARSON, of various writings and publications in 1864 by William W. TURNER (1st Lt., Adjutant of the 3rd Georgia Regiment - from Putnam County, Georgia), written for "The Countryman", a local newspaper in Putnam County, Georgia. These writings are on microfilm at the University of Georgia, Athens, and are an excellent source of personal and detailed information about the Georgia 3rd Regiment Volunteer Infantry. " Thanks to all, for the many other sources which have been misplaced, lost or forgotten " Picture source: From the family collection of Elizabeth WICKER- ANDERSON, of Evans, Georgia, great-granddaughter of Horace Hamilton CLAPP. " Written September, 2004 by John L. MAURATH and Rudolph M. CLAPP Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/richmond/photos/bios/gbs157clapp.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/richmond/bios/gbs157clapp.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 13.3 Kb