Private Timothy F. Morgan is an answer
to a trivia question. Many people will refuse to believe you but Morgan’s
story, so average for the most part, has a surprise ending.
When we’re done, feel free to check it
out yourself.
Morgan was an Alabama resident when
the Civil War broke out. We find his cause repellant today, but he felt the
need to volunteer as a soldier in the Confederate States Army. That’s an
important point. He was a soldier in the CSA.
Specifically, Morgan (who was a
resident of Randolph County) joined Hilliard’s Legion sometime in the spring of
1862. He is shown on the Record Roll at Montgomery, Alabama on April 5, of that
year as a member of the Legion’s Second Battalion, Company A. At the time of
that recording, Morgan was on sick furlough.
A Private, Morgan became a soldier in
the 59th Alabama Infantry in November of 1863 when the Legion was
split into two regiments and a smaller battalion. The Legion’s first action, at
Chickamauga, was so costly that its surviving members were grouped into the 59th
and 60th regiments, plus the smaller 23rd Battalion,
Alabama Sharpshooters. The three units fought together in a brigade commanded
by Brigadier General Archibald Gracie.
Gracie’s command served in General
James Longstreet’s detachment that saw action in Tennessee before eventually moving
with Longstreet to serve in the Army of Northern Virginia. 1864 was a long,
drawn out struggle for the AoNV and 1865 did not start out any better.
Morgan survived, somehow, until he was
seriously wounded. It appears he suffered his wound at the battle of Hatcher’s
Run, March 25, 1865. There is a graphic description of the nature of Morgan’s
injury available on line, but I’ll spare the details. Suffice is to say that
Morgan died, apparently at Lincoln Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, on April 5,
1865.
Average so far, but hold on. The
kicker is coming.
Morgan, a Confederate veteran of three
years’ experience, was buried April 6, 1865. Morgan had fought at Chickamauga,
Knoxville, Drury’s Bluff and Petersburg before his luck ran out. Read it again:
Morgan was a part of the blood-stained Confederate victory at Chickamauga and
as a member of the 59th he played a role in the violent Confed win
at Bean’s Station. Morgan survived the meat-grinding months in the trenches in
front of Petersburg before finally suffering a terrible wound at Hatcher’s Run.
The Union burial service did not waste
much time. Morgan was interred April 6, the day after he passed away. You can visit
him today. His grave marker is easily found and, from the image I have seen,
the marker is in good condition.
You can find the grave of CSA Private
Timothy F. Morgan in the Arlington National Cemetery.
Thanks for reading.
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