CPT Edwin L. Curtis

CPT Edwin L. Curtis was born 12 Nov 1824 in Saratoga Springs, New York. He was the eldest of eight children born to Henry D. and Electa (Abell) Curtis. His father worked as a hatter. The details of Edwin's education are lost to us now but he moved to Augusta County in 1852 and worked as a school teacher in Burke's Mill, then a thriving village north of Staunton. It seems that his wife, Adria Anna (Keppell) who was born in Vermont accompanied him on this move and that it may have been shortly after their marriage because their son was born in Virginia in 1854. He would be the couple's only child. It was in this time frame that Edwin probably joined a local masonic lodge.

When the Civil War became a seeming inevitability, Edwin enlisted in the local militia unit, the "Ready Rifles" commanded by CPT Oswald F. Grinnan who was also a teacher (professor) at the Loch Willow School headed by Jedidiah Hotchkiss (later to be famous as GEN Jackson's cartographer). Edwin was elected CPT of the Ready Rifles, now I Company 5th Virginia Infantry on 17 Apr 1862. Present for the Valley Campaign, CPT Curtis was wounded at Sharpsburg (Antietam) on 17 Sep 1862 but remained on duty. Although it was only temporary, this was the first time CPT Curtis took command of the regiment. He was wounded again at Fredericksburg on 13 Dec 1862 and did not return to duty until February 1863. He continued to command the company through the battles of Chancellorsville, 2nd Winchester, Stephenson Depot, Gettysburg, Mine Run, The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. It was at this last battle that the 1st Virginia (Stonewall) Brigade was nearly destroyed and afterwards the remaining 249 soldiers of the brigade were consolidated with the remnants of 14 other regiments. CPT Curtis was among those soldiers. He then was present for the the battles at Monocacy, 3rd Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek and in the seige of Petersburg. He is known to have been commanding the remnants of the 5th Virginia in March 1865 and is presumed to have been commanding the 8 officers and 48 enlisted men who surrendered at Appomattox on 9 Apr 1865. 

After the war CPT Curtis returned to Augusta county and resumed teaching, now near Mount Sidney, where he lived with his wife, son and widowed mother-in-law. He continued teaching and also reportedly worked as a tax collector for the Internal Revenue Service even though he continued to suffer from the effects of the wounds he suffered in 1862. His son still lived with them and also began teaching in this period. 

Edwin received word that his mother was dying and while enroute to visit her he was killed on 7 Aug 1887 in a train accident at the Greenwood Station in Albemarle county. His body was recovered and he rests forever in the Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia. 

Edwin's great-grandsons all served in WW2. 

Note: this memorial was published on the 100th anniversary of CPT Curtis' death.