Following my records request that I filed with the National Archives a few weeks ago I
decided to do a little more digging into the service of George William
Clapsaddle during the Civil War. It seemed odd that he would have been
discharged less than a year after enlisting in the 28th Virginia
Infantry. This was especially intriguing as there was little information on
ancestry.com including the vague details found in his application for assistance from the Federal Government that he filed on
10 November 1902.
While
I am still waiting on the documents from the National Archives, the next
logical step was to reach out to the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate
Veterans. With the few details that I had been able to record, I posted my
query to their Facebook page and, through the assistance of a very helpful
member of the group, I was able to learn about a few more details about my 3rd
great grandfather. Following our discussion, I turned my focus to fold3.com (I
have a membership but, too often, I neglect to search this site) and was able
to get a much more complete picture regarding his service in the Confederate
Army.
George
William Clapsaddle was born on August 29, 1834 to John Jacob Clapsaddle (who
also served in the Confederacy even at his advanced age at the time) and
Catherine Rinehart. One of four known children, he grew up on a farm in Botetourt
County, Virginia. According to records, he
enlisted in the 28th Virginia Infantry (Company K) in Amsterdam,
Virginia by Lieutenant Robertson on 20 July 1861 (one day before the regiment’s
participation in the First Battle of Bull Run (Battle of First Manassas) and,
despite originally enlisting for a period of one year and having not received
any pay, he was “Discharged from military service… by Secretary of War” at
Fairfax County Court House in Virginia on 30 September 1861. Later
documents recording the receipt of back pay show that he was discharged on
December 28, 1861.
While
there is no supporting documents from 1862, it is likely that, after having
received compensation for his previous service, he immediately reenlisted in
the Confederate Army this time serving in the 12th Virginia Calvary
(Company E and D). It is possible that, during this time, George Clapsaddle
participated in what would late be called Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign
in the spring of 1862. However, it was while in service of this company that he
was captured by Union forces at Charleston, Virginia on June 15, 1863, charged
with assisting in the capture of cavalry officers and sent to Fort McHenry,
Maryland and later Fort Delaware, Delaware.
After
being included in a prisoner exchange on July 30, 1863, he returned to the 12th
Virginia Calvary where he was once again discharged. In early 1864, he enlisted
for a third time this time serving as a private in Captain W. Hays Otey’s
Company of Virginia Light Artillery in charge of local defense and assigned to
the Confederate Arsenal Ordinance Depot in Danville, Virginia as a machinist
where he served until the end of the war.
After
the war, George Clapsaddle returned home, resumed farming, and married Margaret
Ann Bowyer (daughter of Joseph Brown Bowyer and Elizabeth Betsy Stevers) on
November 30, 1865 in Fincastle, Botetourt County, Virginia. They would go on to
have eleven children including my 2nd great grandmother, Sallie
Betty Clapsaddle, who was born June 20, 1870 and married Roy H. Teaford on June 21, 1892.
Late
in life, while living with his oldest surviving son, Ray, he did apply for assistance from the Federal Government which
he filed on 10 November 1902. While
it is unknown whether he ever received assistance, what we do know is that he
passed away on December 16, 1916 at the age of 82 not from old age but rather “epithelioma
of upper lip, nose, and cheek”. While not specified, it is likely that it was a
cancerous growth from which he has been living with for two years prior to his
death. He was laid to rest, along with his story, in the cemetery at Galalia
Church in Gala, Virginia.
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