TALIAFERRO COUNTY, GA - BIOS Lyle, James (1828-1864) ***************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm *********************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Rem B. Edwards (Jr.) remb@utk.edu James Lyles, The Patriarch by Rem B. Edwards (Jr.) (Revised Dec. 4, 2004) JAMES and MARY JANE WILBORN LYLES The patriarch of the Lyle family of Taliaferro County, Georgia, was James Lyles, sometimes spelled with an "s" at the end, and sometimes not (as in this document). "Lyle" as standard spelling seems to have occurred in the next generation. James was born on Feb. 24, 1828 and died during the Civil War on November 20, 1864, from a battle- inflicted gun shot wound in a Federal hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia. My first cousin, David Edwards, who knows a lot more about our family history than I do, tells me that he does not know where James Lyles lived before he moved to Taliaferro County, but the 1860 census below indicates that he and his wife were both born in Georgia. He was not born in Taliaferro County and does not appear in the 1840 or the 1850 Census for Taliaferro County. His wife was Mary Jane Wilborn (sometimes spelled "Welborn") who was born on March 24, 1834 and died on June 6, 1884. His marriage to Mary Jane is not recorded in "Marriage Book A" covering that period, so he and Mary Jane were already married when they moved into Taliaferro County some time during the early 1850s. (For early Census and Marriage records, see Alvin Mell Lunceford, Jr., Taliaferro County Georgia Records and Notes, Spartanburg, S.C., The Reprint Company, 1988). Their tombstone says that "JAMES LYLE AND MARY JANE WILBORN WERE MARRIED JAN. 6, 1852." The James Lyle family first appears in the 1860 census, as follows, along with their nearest neighbors, the Portwood and Edwards families. 242 dwelling 240 James Lyle 32 m farmer 1800(Real) 7000(Personal) GA Mary J 26 f Mary E. 7 f John F 4 m Frances 1 f I do not know what happened to the Lyle's youngest daughter, Francis, l year old in 1860, but she also appears in the 1870 census. My grandmother, Mattie Lyle, who is not in this 1860 census, was not born until 1863. Notice [on the census page] that back then the Portwoods, having a net worth of only $200.00, were a lot poorer than the Edwardses and Lyles, each with a net personal estate worth of $7,000.00! Much of that wealth was in slaves. Geography and physical proximity had a lot to do with bringing these families together in more ways than one. Before the advent of the automobile, people tended to marry close to home, and these families certainly did. When my great grandfather, Thomas J. (Jefferson?) Edwards (1828-1859), chose a wife, he did so from the adjoining Portwood farm, though she had been previously married-Mary Jane Portwood Jarret, 1832-1916; and when my grandfather, George Thomas Edwards (1859-1937) sought a wife, he stretched all the way down to the Lyle farm to find Martha "Mattie" Lyles. [The land and cemetery are located in the northern "Sandy Cross" area of Taliaferro County ]. Crawfordville At least some and perhaps most of this property has belonged to members of the Lyle/ Edwards/Portwood families since before the Civil War. Mel Lunceford's Taliaferro County Georgia Records and Notes reports on p. 565 a deed in which James Lyle bought property from John Finley of Wilkes County on January 1, 1854. No other information is there given, but this was probably the original acquisition. Look it up some time in the Crawfordville Court House if you want more details! The Lyle pasture and some of the other land indicated above definitely belonged to Mr. Clinton Lyle when I was growing up in Crawfordville in the 1930s-1950s, and I believe that he passed it along to his descendants, some of whom may still own it. Much if not all of the Portwood/Edwards land now (in March, 2003) belongs to George Nelms and Martha Portwood Nelms, the daughter of Eulous "Uncle Doc" Portwood. James Lyles probably originally acquired much if not all of the Lyle property, then passed it along. (An update will be given in a later chapter). (Shortly after writing this, I learned of the death of Martha Nelms from pneumonia following a bad fall on March 7, 2003. Then George died on April 16th; he could not go on without her. This land now presumably belongs to their daughter, Sara Ann Pierson.) WHEN DID JAMES LYLE ENLIST IN THE CONFEDERATE INFANTRY? The most interesting part of the story of James Lyles is his participation in the Civil War, 1861- 1865. He enlisted in the 15th Georgia Infantry Regiment, Company D, which was a vital force in the 1st Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Robert E. Lee after Lee assumed command of this foremost army of the Confederacy. The 15th Georgia was heavily involved in most of the battles in Virginia from very near the beginning of the Civil War. It was composed of troops from counties in middle eastern Georgia- Elbert, Franklin, Hart, Hancock, Hart, Lamar, Taliaferro, and Wilkes. It was organized during the summer of 1861 and was in Virginia by that fall. Members of Company D of the 15th Georgia came from Taliaferro County. They were known as the "Stephens Home Guards," the connection with Alexander Stephens of Crawfordville, the Vice President of the Confederacy, being obvious. This was one of two full companies of regular infantry that Taliaferro County sent to Virginia to fight for the Confederacy. The other was Company D of the 49th Regiment, the "Taliaferro Volunteers." These units fought bravely all through The War, and what was left of them surrendered with General Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. Sadly, James Lyle was killed defending Richmond during the closing months of the war. The military record of James Lyles is summarized as follows on p. 432, Vol. II, of the Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, 1861-1865. Although this Roster entry dates his enlistment from Oct. 9, 1863, this may have been his second enlistment. Two ambiguous bits of evidence, ultimately unconvincing, suggest this possibility, (1) a military record beginning July 1, 1863 that seems at first glance to affirm that he was on furlough before he enlisted, and (2) the early date of his will. (1) The Furlough. When I was in Washington, D.C. about 10 years ago (1993), I photocopied the military records of James Lyle that are in the National Archives. They are now also available in the Georgia State Archives in Atlanta. The record given next seems initially to affirm that James Lyles was "Home on furlough" and had "time out" from July 1, 1863 until Jan. 1, 1864. These record slips are not the original records, which are not available to the public, but are copies of the essential information given on them made by a later copyist. The record given next is ambiguous. Maybe it affirms only that he was at home on furlough some time-perhaps only a short time-between July 1, 1863 and Jan. 1, 1864, but not for the entire period. It clearly affirms his induction into the infantry on Oct. 7, 1863, so the "July 1, 1863 to Jan. 1, 1864" dates may refer only to the 6 months record period, not to the length of, or even to the beginning of, the furlough. He could not have had "time out" at home before he was even inducted! Most likely he had the remainder of October at home after his Oct. 7 enlistment and entered service on the first of November, as the paymaster's receipt given later suggests. With the handwritten words in CAPS, the following military record seems to say: JAMES LYLE PVT., Co. D, 15 Reg't Georgia Infantry Appears on Company Muster Roll of the organization named above JULY 1, 1863 to JAN. 1. 1864 Inducted: When: OCT. 7, 1863 Where: DECATUR, GA. By whom: MAJ. J. F. ANDREWS Period: FOR WAR UNLESS DISCHARGED Amt paid: By whom What time , 186 Present or absent: ABSENT Remarks: "HOME ON FURLOUGH, TIME OUT." W. H. COLLINGS Copyist One of James Lyle's pay records has survived and is available to be seen and photocopied in the National Archives in Washington, DC and the Georgia State Archives in Atlanta, GA. Like all Confederate Privates, he was paid the handsome sum of $11.00 (that's right-eleven Confederate dollars) a month! Adjusted for inflation, that might not be quite as bad as it looks, but the Confed-eracy was so hard pressed for cash by late 1863 that this may have been the only time he ever got paid! The period covered is from Nov. 1, 1863 to Dec. 31, 1863, a period of two months, for which he was paid the grand total of $22.00! But he didn't get it until the 31st day of August, 1864. His actual signature in longhand is at the bottom of the next document. He could write! He was literate! If Nov. 1-Dec. 30, 1863 was his first pay period, then the "Furlough" and "time out" references in the above record probably just refer to the remaining days of October, 1863, not to his being furloughed from an earlier enlistment. Or it could refer to some other short furlough some time between Oct. 9 and Dec. 31, 1863, which is unlikely since he was paid for the entire period. Here is what this seems to say, with handwritten and already capitalized sections in CAPS. Pay receipt: THE CONFEDERATE STATES, Dr. To: J. LYLE PRVT., CO. D, 15TH GEORGIA C. S. Army For monthly pay from: NOV. 1ST 1863 to DEC. 31, 1863 being 2 MONTHS ..............at 11 per month 22.00 RETURNING TO REGT. ? Amount paid: 22.00 I certify that I have endorsed this payment on: LYLE Descriptive Roll J. S. ___?_____ Capt. Received, Richmond, this 31 day of AUGUST 1864 Maj. JOHN AMBLER, Quartermaster, C. S. Army, the sum of TWENTY TWO----Dollars being the amount in full of the above account (Signed duplicates) JAMES LYLE "Returning to Regt." here still hints at a second enlistment. Further evidence that James Lyle, who could write his name and doubtless much more, was concerned about education, and had some himself, is found in his Will, the full text of which will soon be presented. (2) The second bit of inconclusive evidence that October, 7 (or 9), 1863, might be the date of his second enlistment, rather than his first, is the early date of his Will. The Civil War began in earnest when Fort Sumpter in Charleston Harbor was shelled by Confederate forces on April 12, 1861, but the states of the south seceded from the union much earlier than that-between December, 1860 and February, 1861. Georgia seceded in January of 1861. War was clearly "in the air" even before the shelling of Fort Sumpter, and in anticipation of fighting in it, many men throughout the South made out their wills in the early 1860s-just in case. James Lyles was one of these men. His Will is dated May 16, 1862, thirteen months after Fort Sumpter, and exactly one month after the Confederacy enacted its draft or conscription law on April 16, 1862. He had just turned age 34 in February of that year. If he really enlisted for the first time in October of 1863, seventeen months or so after making out his Will, he was well into his 35th year when he "joined up." He was 37 when he was killed defending Richmond during the closing months of The War. The two bits of evidence that James Lyle's enlistment on October 9, 1863 was for a second term of service-the furlough, and the early date of his will-are very inconclusive; and unless further evidence to the contrary turns up, we will assume hereafter that this enlistment on that date was for his first and only period of military duty. JAMES LYLES AND THE 15TH GEORGIA REGIMENT The 15th Georgia Regiment, including Company D from Taliaferro County, participated in most of the important battles of the Confederacy in Virginia during almost the entire duration of the Civil War between 1862 and 1865. If James Lyles went on active duty on Nov. 1, 1863, he missed the earlier battles, though other compatriots in Company D were present for them and fought bravely in them. Let's look first at these battles, at Company D's roles in them, and then try to determine exactly when James Lyles entered into the fray. In terms of military organization, here is where Company D. belonged: The Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee who succeeded Gen. Joseph E. Johnson in May, 1862. The First Corps, commanded by Gen. James Longstreet. Field's Division, commanded by Brig. Gen. Charles W. Field At first Toombs' then Benning's Brigade, organized and commanded first by Gen. Robert Toombs from Washington, Ga., then by Gen. Henry L. Benning, for whom Fort Benning, near Columbus, Ga. is named, then later by Gen. Dudley DuBose. Company D, the "Stephens Home Guards," whose officers, from Taliaferro County, were elected by the members of the Company (See Roster..., Vol. II, pp. 435-436). From many sources, we can identify the battles and skirmishes in which Company D, the Stephens Home Guards, participated. One way is by examining its "Muster Roll," as this appears in the Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, 1861-1865, pp. 435-442. There the fate of each soldier is briefly recounted, and we can identify the battles in which the 15th Georgia Regiment was involved by noting who was killed, wounded, or captured in the battles or encounters that are mentioned. If we do this, we get the following results. Occasionally, a soldier was displaced from his unit when killed, wounded, or captured. BATTLES or encounters Killed, or later died of battle wounds Wounded but survived Captured Yorktown, Va., April 4-16, 1862 Garnet's Farm, Va., June 27, 1862 4 2 Malvern Hill, Va., July 1, 1862 5 Thoroughfare Gap, Va., Aug. 28, 1862 1 1 2nd Manassas (Bull Run), Va., Aug. 30, 1862 1 2 1 Sharpsburg (Antietam), Va., Sept. 17, 1862 1 Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1863 Gettysburg, Pa., July 1-3, 1863 1 4 Cumberland Gap, Tn., Sept. 9, 1863 1 Chickamauga, Ga., Sept. 19-20, 1863 1 3 James Lyles entered at this point-Oct. 9, 1863. Mine Run, Va., Nov. 29, 1863 1 Knoxville, Tn., (Fort Sanders), Dec. 18-20, 1863 1 3 Strawberry Plains, Tn., Feb. 12, 1863 1 2nd. Wilderness, Va., May 5-6, 1864 2 2 Spotsylvania, Va., May 8- 21, 1864 1 Cold Harbor, Va., May 20, 1864 1 Siege of Petersburg, Va., June 24, 1864 1 Richmond, Va., June 20, 1864 1 3rd. Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864 1 Fort Harrison & Chaffin's Farm, Va., Sept. 29, 1864 5 1 2 Bentonville, NC, March 25, 1865 1 Petersburg, Va., April 3, 1865 1 Richmond, Va. Hospital, April 3, 1865 3 Appomattox, Va, April 9, 1865 22 Salzbury, NC, April 12, 1865 1 To summarize, a total of 16 men from Company D died directly in battle or later from battle- inflicted wounds. Not shown above is that 9 also died of disease, and another 13 died from uspecified causes. Eleven were discharged or resigned due to disability or ill health, and six were discharged. Of the 104 men in this company listed in the Roster, only 22 were left at the end of the war to surrender with General Lee at Appomattox Court House on April, 9, 1865. Note that the battle in which the greatest number of "Stephens Home Guards" were captured, killed, or later died from battle wounds was the battle for Fort Harrison and the surrounding Chaffin's Farm, where James Lyles was mortally wounded. Before we kill him off, however, perhaps we should first get him into the army. The record shows that he joined the Confederate army very shortly after the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, just south of Chattanooga, TN. Why did he enlist, and how and why did Gen. Longstreet's First Corps, which had been fighting thus far in Virginia, get into Georgia? Just how, if not why, they got into Georgia may actually explain why James Lyles decided at this point to join forces with his other Taliaferro County friends who were fighting with the 15th Georgia Regiment. After the battle of Gettysburg in July, 1864, the major locus of combat in the Civil War shifted for a time from Virginia to Tennessee, where Confederate General Braxton Bragg's "Army of Tennessee" was intrenched in and around Chattanooga. General Lee decided to send part of his army to help him defend his position and if possible to counterattack against surrounding Union forces. Two full divisions of General Longstreet's First Corps, led by Longstreet himself, were sent. How did they get to Tennessee from Virginia? All direct Confederate rail lines leading from western Virginia into Tennessee had been cut and were held by Union forces; but one circuitous rail route was still available. The 20,000 men from General Longstreet's First Corps first traveled south by rail from the Richmond area to Augusta, Ga. From there, on a different gage rail line, all these men and their equipment were hauled under deplorable conditions in open flatcars from Augusta to Atlanta, then northward from there toward Tennessee. By the time they got to north Georgia, Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee had been forced to evacuate Chattanooga and retreat into north Georgia. Longstreet's army disembarked from their trains at Resaca, Ga. and marched from there to join Bragg for the bloody battle of Chickamauga, which was fought on September 19-20, 1863. Needless to say, the trains hauling Gen. Longstreet's army, including the 15th Georgia Regiment, had to pass directly through Crawfordville, Ga. on the Augusta-to-Atlanta leg of their journey. I know of no written accounts of the spectacle, but surely most people in the city and the surrounding county crowded the railroad line to see the many trains and railroad cars go by, especially since some of them were carrying many men from home. Did any of the trains actually stop for a break in Crawfordville? I do not know, but obviously they had to make food and "pit" stops somewhere periodically. Did the people of Crawfordville offer them food and water? Did the Stephens Home Guards have a chance for a brief stop at home? We don't know the answers for sure, but a good guess is that the spectacle of this whole army passing through Crawfordville produced much discussion and firm resolve on the part of "the folks back home" to support "The Cause." One of those active supporters was James Lyles. The train spectacle probably inspired him to enlist. Three weeks after Longstreet's army passed through Crawfordville around Sept. 17 and 18, 1863, James Lyle joined them-on Oct. 9th. He went to Decatur, Ga. to sign up and seems to have spent the rest of October at home before becoming fully active beginning November 1, 1883. Looking at the preceding list of the battles in which the Stephens Home Guards participated, we can see that James Lyles was available to fight in all the battles involving the 15th Georgia Regiment, beginning no earlier than Mine Run, Va., on Nov. 29, 1863, and ending no later than Fort Harrison/Chaffin's Farm on Sept. 29, 1864. We cannot conclude, however, that he actually participated in all of the battles listed, and his medical records, presented shortly, suggest that he was unavailable for at least some if not most of these battles. Most likely, the first serious battle for which James Lyles was present was Longstreet's Siege of Knoxville, Tenn., where I am now living, in late November, 1863. After Chickamauga, Braxton Bragg made the serious mistake of dividing his forces, a mistake that enabled Union forces ultimately to conquer. He took his own Army of Tennessee to Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, just to the south of Chattanooga, Tenn., where he was decisively defeated by General Grant's army in battles between Nov. 23rd and 26th, 1863. Meanwhile, Bragg had sent Longstreet's divisions to besiege and try to capture Knoxville, Tenn., which by then was controlled by a Union army under General A. E. Burnside. The decisive event of that siege was the battle for Fort Sanders, which occurred early on Sunday morning, Nov. 29, 1863. Union-occupied Fort Sanders was much more formidable than Longstreet suspected. It was surrounded by a wide ditch about 12 feet deep and strung with telegraph wires to trip attackers. To get into the Fort, Longstreet's men had to cross that ditch, then climb its high walls on ladders. They didn't make it! The hundreds of men committed to the attack were slaughtered in the ditch by rifle bullets, cannon balls, and fuse-lit bombs. The bloody massacre of these Confederate troops was over in 20 minutes. Fortunately, Benning's Brigade of the 15th Georgia was held in reserve and not committed to the battle, so James Lyle survived that one and then retreated with Longstreet to Greenville, Tenn., where Longstreet's army spent the remainder of the winter before moving back to Richmond the following spring. Once enlisted, did James Lyles participate in all of the other battles listed above? This is very doubtful. Like most soldiers on both sides in that horrible war, he was sick much of the time. We must correlate the battles in which Company D participated with the medical records of James Lyles to identify the engagements in which he most likely fought. In the process of doing so, we can learn much about the state of his health during his year of military service. The hospital record to the left shows that James Lyle was a patient in the C.S.A. General Hospital in Charlottesville, Va. From May 1 to July 9, 1864. He was suffering from rubeola, here spelled "rubiola," the technical medical name for measles. Correlated with the battles being fought involving the 15th Georgia Regiment, this means that he missed the battles of: 2nd. Wilderness, Va., May 5-6, 1864 Spotsylvania, Va., May 8-21, 1864 Cold Harbor, Va., May 20, 1864 Siege of Petersburg, Va., June 24, 1864 Richmond, Va., June 20, 1864 After being discharged from the hospital in Charlottesville on July 9, 1865, James remained on duty for less than a month before being hospitalized again, this time in Jackson Hospital in Richmond, Va. He was admitted to this hospital with a "spinal irritation" (aching back?) on July 29, 1864 and remained hospitalized for just over a month-until August 31, 1864. During this period of time the 15th Georgia Regiment was not engaged in any battles, so James did not miss any military engage-ments due to this second period of hospitalization Prolonged periods of illness were not at all uncommon for soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, and more of them died from illness during that war than in battles or from battle-inflicted wounds. The Company C soldier captured at the Third battle of Winchester, Va. on Sept. 19, 1884 was probably out of position for some reason; the 15th Georgia was not involved there. James Lyle was apparently healthy enough to participate in the battle at Fort Harrison & Chaffin's Farm, Va., Sept. 29, 1864, where his company was busy defending Richmond from nearby Fort Harrison. James Lyles was present for the battle for Fort Sanders in Knoxville, Tenn. in December of 1863, but since his brigade was held in reserve and saw little or no fighting there, his only real fight during the whole Civil War was probably the one in which he was mortally wounded- the battle for Fort Harrison and the surrounding Chaffin's Farm, on Sept. 29, 1864. In terms of killed, wounded, and captured, this was the most costly engagement for Company D, the Stephens Home Guards, during the entire Civil War. During the closing months of the Civil War, Confederate forces in Virginia concentrated their efforts on defending Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. This was about all that they had the strength left to do. Fort Harrison and the surrounding Chaffin's Farm, just to the southeast of Richmond, was a major bastion of defense against surrounding and constantly attacking Union armies. See National Park Service website, for location. Union forces from the Union "Army of the James" under Generals Edward O. Ord and David B. Birney slipped quietly and unnoticed across the James River during the night of September 28-29. Ord's three divisions, one of which was composed of African American or "colored" troops, launched a surprise attack on Fort Harrison at dawn on the morning of September 29, 1864. They quickly overran and captured the Fort, which at the time was sparsely manned by poorly armed Confederate forces. General Lee's army tried without success to recapture the fort on September 30th, but the federal forces that then held it were too strong to be overcome. However, at the time of the attack on Fort Harrison, the 15th Georgia Regiment was not positioned in the Fort itself. They were defending an intrenched position on New Market Road slightly to the northeast of Fort Harrison. From history books, we can find out almost the exact position occupied by Company D of the 15th Georgia and other closely affiliated companies. [See Richard J. Sommers, Richmond Redeemed (Garden City, Doubleday, 1981), map for "The Grand-Tactical Situation on the Northside, Daybreak, September 29]. On the left, in an enlarged section of the preceding map, I have marked the positions of 15th Georgia Companies E, D, C, B, and A in red ink. If you are not reading this in color, the letters are just to the right of the words "Visitor Center" near the middle. During the Civil War, companies derived from nearby counties tended to be positioned together in the campgrounds and on the battlefields. Company A was the Wilkes County, Ga. "Delhi Rangers." Company B was the Franklin County, Ga. "Tugalo Blues." Company C. was the Elbert County, Ga. "Fireside Guards." Company D was the Taliaferro County, Ga. "Stephens Home Guards. Company E was the Hancock County, Ga. "Hancock Volunteers." After Fort Harrison fell to Gen. Ord's troops, they then joined with those commanded by Gen. David B. Birney to attack Confederate intrenchments outside but near the Fort. They attacked and quickly overwhelmed the Confederate line of defense along the New Market Road, garrisoned by the above companies of the 15th Georgia Regiment; and these Confederate companies suffered heavy casualties. Confederate survivors then hastily retreated to the northwest along the New Market Road to the much better fortified and defended Fort Gilmer, which Union forced attacked next but did not succeed in taking. Somewhere along the way in this fray, James Lyles was mortally wounded, though he did not die immediately. In many different ways and circumstances, soldiers can be shot in the back in the midst of battlefield disarray, but one conspicuous way is during a retreat. An educated guess is that James Lyle was shot in the back by a rifle-fired "minnie ball" during the retreat from the New Market Road intrenchments toward Fort Gilmer, and he was probably shot by an African American or "colored" Union soldier, 14 of whom were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their heroism on that day. James Lyles was shot in the back on the right side through the 10th rib, as the following hospital record attests. Note that this record comes not from a Confederate hospital, but from the U.S.A. General Hospital at Fort Monroe, Va. After being shot, he was captured by federal forces and sent first to a Field Hospital of (General Ord's)18th Corps, as the next federal record indicates. With handwritten words in CAPS, this seems to say: J. LYLE Rank P; Co. D, 15 Reg't, Ga Complaint: GSW (Gun Shot Wound) SIDE Admitted: SEPT. 29, 1864 To: FIELD (FLYING) HOSPITAL Hosp. 18th ARMY CORPS, A. of J. (Army of the James) Remarks: PRISONER OF WAR Apparently it took almost three days to transport James Lyle from the Field Hospital where he was captured on Sept. 29th to Fort Monroe, as indicated by the admission date of Oct. 2 on the next hospital record. Fort Monroe, located at Hampton Roads, Va. on the Atlantic Coast at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, is about 95 miles from Richmond. JAMES LYLE Rank: P; Co. D. 15th Regt. GA Admitted: Oct. 2, 1864 To__________U.S.A Gen'l.Hosp. ________Fort Monroe, Va. From FIELD Diagnosis: G. S. FRACT. R. SIDE (Gun shot fracture, right side) 10TH RIB POSTERIOR (In the back at the 10th rib) _________ Missile: MINNIE (minnie ball) W'd (wounded) at: CHAPIN'S FARM, SEPT. 30, 1863 (Chaffin's Farm) Died: OCT. 19, 1864 Remarks: _?__ FROM G.S.W. R.SIDE (_?__ from gun shot wound, right side.) Age: 37 Confusion about whether James Lyles was wounded on the 29th or the 30th, as in the two preceding medical records, is understandable; but the 29th is correct. There was definitely some confusion also in the Confederate ranks about what had happened to him. He was thought at first, or at least by a later record-keeper, to have been killed on Sept. 29, as the next record indicates. James Lyle Co. D. 15 Ga. Vols. (Record volumes) Appears on a LIST of casualties, in Benning's Brigade during the campaign of 1864 List dated Near Richmond, Va. March 22, 1866 Remarks: killed Sept. 29 The word "supposed" in the next record also shows some confusion about exactly what happened to James Lyle. JAMES LYLES PVT., Co. D, 15 Reg't Georgia Infantry Appeared on Company Muster Roll of the organization named above Date: SEPT & OCT, 1864 Inducted: When OCT. 9, 1863 Where: DECATUR, GA. By Whom: MAJ ANDREWS Period: FOR WAR UNLESS SOONER DISCHARGED Last paid: By whom: MAJOR AMBLER To what time DEC. 31, 1863 Present or Absent: ABSENT Remarks: Supposed captured in action on 29 Sept, 1864. In its "Remarks" section, another barely readable but still confused record says: Wounded Sept. 29, 1864 at Fort Harrison & was CAPTURED. died about Oct. 5(?), 1864. The truth seems to be that James Lyles was wounded and captured in the battle for the New Market Road intrenchments near Richmond on Sept. 29, 1864. He was taken first to a Union field hospital, then transferred to the Union hospital at Fort Monroe, located on an island just off Hampton Roads, Va. at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Here is a satellite photo of the Fort, first construction completed in 1834, as it still exists today. Immediately following the Civil War, Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens, and Robert E. Lee were imprisoned for a time at Fort Monroe. The Union hospital near Fort Monroe, the Hampton Military Hospital to which James Lyles was taken, and in which he died, was located about two miles away from the Fort itself-in the city of Hampton Roads. Soldiers who died there, both Union and Confederate, were buried nearby in what is now the Hampton National Cemetery. A governmental website describes the Hampton Military Hospital in these words: (http://www.cem.va.gov/pdf/hampton.pdf) The great civil conflict brought about the inevitable toll of wounded, and the sick necessitated the establishment of many military hospitals. One such hospital was the Hampton Military Hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia, which had a capacity of 1,800 beds. This hospital, though better staffed and organized than some of the Civil War facilities, nonetheless had a high death rate among the wounded and ill who were committed to its care. Land set aside for a cemetery for this hospital became the nucleus of the present day Hampton National Cemetery. According to a write-up in the files of the Historic Preservation Officer, Department of Veterans Affairs, an article in Harper's New Monthly Magazine for August 1864, describes in some detail the procedure followed for the burial of those who died in the Hampton Military Hospital. The dead were accorded reverent burial in wooden coffins. The name, company, and date of death of each individual were painted on the inside and outside each coffin lid and the grave was identified by a wooden headboard similarly marked. All burials from the hospital were accorded suitable military honors with the firing of a volley over the grave at the conclusion of the burial rites. The care and attention to details incident to burials from the Hampton Military Hospital must account for the relatively small number of burials of unknowns in the Hampton National Cemetery. James Lyle doubtless died a lingering death from ever-increasing and massive infections resulting from the minnie ball wound in the back at the level of the 10th rib. It took him about three weeks to die. Throughout all the terrible wars of human history, no effective antibiotics or anti-viral agents were available up through the First World War in the 20th Century. The sulfa drugs were first available in the late 1930s, and penicillin was discovered and made available in the 1940s during the Second World War. Prior to that, serious battle wounds usually meant eventual death from infections, and this is what happened to James Lyle. A few shots of penicillin probably would have saved him. How different would our lives have been? With respect to dead and wounded, there seems to have been some communications between the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War. Jim Lyle, the son of Milton and Martha Jane, sent me the following transcription of the letter he possesses that reported the death of James Lyle. James Lyles was doubtless buried originally in what is now the Hampton Roads National Cemetery, but he is not buried there now, as a website listing those now buried there does not list his name (http://www.interment.net/data/us/va/hampton/hampnat/index_lily.htm). Another website informs us that "A cemetery was started on Fort Monroe during the Civil War...Burials from this cemetery were relocated to the hometowns of the soldiers and civilians who died here during the Civil War through the 1930s." Some time after the Civil War, the body of James Lyles was returned to Taliaferro County. Perhaps his family traveled to Virginia and brought his body home to Taliaferro County, perhaps the government just sent it. I would love to know the details of that story! At any rate, he is now buried with his wife, Mary Jane, in the Lyles/Saggus Cemetery in the Sandy Cross area of Taliaferro County, Ga. JAMES MARY JANE LYLE LYLE BORN BORN FEB. 24, 1828 MAR. 24, 1834 DIED DIED NOV. 20, 1864 JUNE 6, 1884 JAMES LYLE AND MARY JANE WILBORN WERE MARRIED JAN. 6, 1852 "There's a beautiful region above the skies And I long to reach its shore. I know I shall find my treasure with The loved ones gone before." I have not been able to find the original source of this epitaph, but it was somewhat popular during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, especially among Confederate veterans. An Internet search shows that it appears on graves all over the United States: McGuirt Cemetery, Louisiana, 1897; Cranberry Horn Cemetery, Maine, 1897; Pine Hill Cemetery, Mississippi, 1903; Ivy Cemetery, Washington state, 1906; Bass Family Cemetery, Hancock County, Georgia, 1908; Moore Cemetery, Kentucky, 1928. JAMES LYLE'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT Not long after his death, the property of James Lyles was disposed of in accordance with the "Last Will and Testament" that he made out near the beginning of The War. The following Will of James Lyle is a fascinating document in many respects. Different people will be interested in different parts of it, but I would like to call special attention to several things in it. First, James Lyle had great confidence in his wife, Mary Jane, enough so to leave his entire plantation to her for the duration of her lifetime, and to make her "Executrix" of his will and estate and payer of all his existing debts. No doubt, she was a very capable woman, and he knew it! Next, he wanted to provide for his children, and to do so equally, regardless of gender. Those children still living at the time of Mary Jane's death would equally inherit shares of the Lyle plantation. All other property went to Mary Jane, to be used not only for her own support and maintenance, but also "for the support and maintenance and education of all my children..." The list of other kinds of property in "Item 3" is intriguing: "all the balance of my property negroes, money notes, accounts, evidences of debts, produce growing crops, horses, mules, cattle, hogs, household and kitchen furniture, plantation tools, waggons, carts, pleasure carriages, and all other kinds and species of property belonging to me..." Note that the list included "negroes." The Lyles definitely were slave owners, as were their Edwards neighbors. Finally, note his special concern for and provision to educate his daughters and to make them financially independent from their husbands. Mary Elizabeth is mentioned by name, and Francis was still alive when this Will was made on May 16, 1862, but my grandmother, Martha, was not yet born. Clearly, James Lyles was, in many respects, a man ahead of his time! The Will below is not the original Will itself. It is a copy of it. The handwriting, including all the signatures at the end, is that of J. D. Hammack, who was the Ordinary of Taliaferro County during the Civil War era. It was recorded in Will Record Book A, 1826-1866 on pages 309-311. This record book still exists in the Ordinary's office in the Court House in Crawfordville, Ga. The penmanship in the Will seems to be sufficiently clear to read as it is, but a typed version of its contents transcribed by Jim Lyle will be provided immediately following the handwritten version below. Thanks to Jim Lyle for the following transcription of this Will. http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/taliaferro/wills/lyle.txt Immediately following the will in Will Record Book A, 1826-1866 are two other related documents, which I will summarize. The first, on p. 311, dated in December, 1864, is a testament by the three witnesses that they saw James Lyle sign his will, that at the time "he was of sound and disposing mind and memory, that he done it freely and without compulsion," and that they signed as witnesses in his presence and in the presence of each other. The second, on p. 312, affirms that the will was probated on Dec. 6, 1864, (a little less than two months after James's death in Virginia on October 19, 1864). In it, Mary Jane was legally authorized to be the "Executrix," and "to administer the goods, chattels, and credits of said deceased" according to his Will and Testament. She was required to report to the court an inventory of the property and an account of its disposition. "Jane" Lyle, as she appears in later records, lived long enough to appear in two more censuses, those of 1870 and 1880. In the 1870 census above, at age 35 she was still living on the Lyle plantation. Her real estate is valued at $3,000.00, and her personal estate is valued at $825.00. She is "Keeping house," with her three youngest children, Mary E., age 17, John, age 15, who was by then a "Farm Laborer," Francis, age 12, and James, age 10. I don't know why Mattie, then age 8, is not listed, or why Francis is listed as male on the 1870 census but female on the 1860 census. Since prior to the birth of Mattie, James's Will speaks of "my daughters," Francis was presumably female. In 1870, unlike most of their neighbors, no one in the Lyle household is identified as being unable to read and write. In the 1880 census the two oldest children have grown up and married, but are still living nearby, presumably on the parts of the plantation that they will inherit, or that have already been deeded to them. Francis has disappeared, and the two youngest children, James, age 18 and Mattie, age 16, are still living with their mother, who is now a "Farmer." Living very nearby are Mary Elizabeth, age 27, now married to Obed Saggus, age 30, and their two daughters, Anne, age 3, and Mary, age 1. In another nearby household live John, age 24, a "Farmer," now married to Ella (Jones), age 22, who is "Keeping house." They have two children Allie, age 3, and Freddie, age 2. In 1880, Jane, age 47, who died on June 6, 1884, had only 4 more years to live. She lived long enough, however, to see her youngest son, James, married at least once at age 20 to Nancy A. Jones on Feb. 19, 1982. After Nancy's premature death the following year, James married Lucy Saggus who was born on June 4, 1862 and died July 17, 1934. I don't know the date of this marriage, but all of James's children and descendants resulted from this marriage. Jane also lived long enough to see my grandmother, Mattie, married at age 19 to my grandfather, George Thomas Edwards, on Dec. 3, 1882. More about the children of "James the Patriarch" and his wife Mary Jane and their descendants will be given in my "Lyle Family" document. James Lyle's death during the Civil War doubtless had an enormous impact on his family, but we will never know the whole story. His wife, Jane, was only 30 years old at the time he was killed. His oldest son, John, was then only 9 years old, and his youngest son, James, was only 3 years old when he died. My grandmother, Martha "Mattie" Lyles Edwards, born August 22, 1863, was only 1 month and 18 days old when he "went off to war" on Oct. 9, 1863, and only 14 months old when he died from battlefield wounds. No record exists of a furlough after Nov. 1, 1863, so the day he finally left home for military service was the last time that he ever saw her-or any of them.