COL Mifflin Belsterling Clowe Jr.

receiving Bronze Star from COL Thrasher, 1944

COL Mifflin Belsterling Clowe Jr. was born 16 Jan 1917 in Winchester, Virginia. He was the first of the 3 children born to Mifflinn Belsterling and Eugenia Laura (Snapp) Clowe. His father had worked as a jeweler and engraver in Winchester in the family store and owned their large home at 106 North Washington Street in Winchester. Young Mifflin attended Handley High School in Winchester where he played basketball and baseball on the school teams and was in the drama club as well as student body president for 2 years. Mifflin graduated from Handley in 1937 and went to work in the family business as a clerk.

Mifflin enlisted in the local Virginia National Guard unit on 19 Jun 1935.  He was commissioned 2LT 3 Feb 1941, the same day as the units of the 116th Infantry were federalized and called to active duty. He married Mary Elizabeth Beckwith on 30 Jun 1941. At that time the 116th was still at Fort George Meade, Maryland. He was promoted to 1LT 21 May 1942. He departed with the unit for England in September 1942 and was again promoted, this time to CPT, on 15 Dec 1942 and given command of a company.

CPT Clowe commanded I Company 116th Infantry on D-Day. His actions in the amphibious assault resulted in the award of the Bronze Star Medal. CPT Clowe was wounded shortly after the landing and sent to a hospital in England where he found himself in a bed next to his friend, PVT Beverly Byrd, son of U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd. He was promoted to MAJ 16 May 1945. After the war he returned to Winchester and he and Mary had a son in March 1947. Mifflin was a MAJ serving again in the Virginia Army National Guard when elected Mayor of Winchester, Virginia in June 1948 and he would hold that office until 1956. He was promoted to LTC on 10 Jan 1952. LTC Clowe assumed command of 2nd Brigade 29th Infantry Division in 1959 and was promoted to COL 10 May 1960. COL Clowe's command ended in 1964. He then served as chief of the office of military support at National Guard Bureau. He was considered as a possible State Adjutant General by Governor Linwood Holton. COL Clowe was also Civil Defense Coordinator for Winchester.

Mifflin was a member of several civic and fraternal organizations. He was a master mason, president of the Winchester American Legion post, member of VFW and Elks, and president Retail Merchants Association.

Mrs. Clowe died in 1997 and COL Clowe died in 2001. They rest forever in the Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia. 

Great, great-grandfather Charles Bell Clowe, had served in the War of 1812. His great-grandfather, COL Henry Wyatt Clowe, served as Superintendent of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry and was there when it was attacked by John Brown in 1859.

BG James Alexander Walker

BG James Alexander Walker was born at Mount Sidney, Virginia on 27 Aug 1832. He was the oldest of 3 children of Alexander and Hannah Mary (Henton) Walker.  James received his early education at private schools, later attending the Virginia Military Institute. During his senior year there, he was dismissed on charges preferred by a professor, his future commander, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Although James challenged Jackson to a duel, the two did not meet. He then worked for the Carrington and Ohio Railway before studying law at the University of Virginia. Following his graduation, he practiced his profession in Pulaski County, Virginia. James married Sarah Ann Poage in November 1858 and the couple's first child, a daughter, was born in September 1859. James was elected as Commonwealth's Attorney for Pulaski County in November of that same year. The Walkers would have another daughter born in November 1860.

When Virginia seceded, James entered Confederate service as Captain of the Pulaski Guard. He initially served under Jackson at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, then became Lieutenant Colonel of the 13th Virginia Infantry. In February 1862 he succeeded BG Ambrose Powell Hill as Colonel of the regiment, leading it in the 1862 Shenandoah Valley, Seven Days', and Second Bull Run Campaigns. A skillful, ferocious combat officer, he commanded Trimble's brigade at Antietam, where he suffered a wound. He commanded another brigade at Fredericksburg in December 1862 and at Chancellorsville in May 1863. His prowess as an officer so impressed Jackson that "Stonewall" specially requested his promotion to Brigadier General. He received his commission, and command of the Stonewall Brigade, which he led at Gettysburg, Bristoe, Mine Run, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania. At the battle of Spotsylvania Court House, in the "bloody angle" he was grievously wounded when his left elbow was shattered by a bullet. On his return to duty, he commanded a division at Petersburg, and in the surrender at Appomattox. 

After the war, he returned to Pulaski County, where he farmed and resumed his legal practice. He was elected to the state legislature as a Democrat in 1869 and served two terms. The following year, the Virginia Military Institute granted him an honorary degree, in recognition of his war career and listed him on the rolls as a graduate of the Institute. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 1876. He eventually split with the Democratic party and, as a Republican, served 2 terms in the United States House of Representatives. James' great-grandson, Manley Caldwell Butler, would years later also serve in the Congress as a Republican. 

BG Walker died on 21 Oct 1901 in Wytheville, Virginia. He rests forever in Eastend Cemetery in Wytheville. 

Note: this was published 100-years after his death.

COL James Carr Baker

2nd Virginia Infantry Staff at Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville, Florida - 1898

 

Colonel James Carr Baker was born at "Greenwood," Winchester, Frederick county, Virginia, on 7 Oct 1851. He was first taught by private teachers, then entered Shenandoah Valley Academy, a notable  educational institution in Winchester. He witnessed the constant fighting in the area during the Civil War. James left the academy and continued his studies at Romney Institute in West Virginia then under private tutors until he began the study of law under Judge James W. Allen. James was admitted to the Virginia bar at the age of 21 and practiced law privately and as commonwealth attorney in the states of Virginia and West Virginia. Colonel Baker married Ada H. Keene on 7 Apr 1874. The couple would have 5 children. He began practice at Moorefield, West Virginia and continued there until 1876 when he accepted a position in the West Virginia government at Wheeling, where he remained until 1880. James returned to Virginia in that year, locating at Woodstock. He remained at Woodstock for nineteen years, spending 7-years in the private practice 12-years as Commonwealth's Attorney of Shenandoah county, to which he was first elected in 1884. An officer in the Virginia militia, James was a colonel of the Second Regiment Virginia National Guard in 1898 and he served with his regiment in the Spanish-American war, his regiment being held in Jacksonville, Florida, until their release from the United States service in 1899. After the war Colonel Baker re-located to Newport News, Virginia, where he practiced law from 1899 until 1906. He again re-located in 1906 to Stephens City, Virginia, and practiced law there. He was a member of the bar associations of the district, is a past master of Moorefield Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, is a companion of Wheeling Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, belongs to the Knights of Pythias, and a practicing Episcopalian. He was a Democrat, serving for 2-years as mayor of Stephens City, 1912-13, and then as a justice of the peace. His military service in the Virginia National Guard began in 1886 and in 1898 he was elected colonel of the Second Regiment, holding that command until 1900.

COL Baker died of influenza on 17 Jan 1917 in Winchester, Virginia. He rests forever in the Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia. 

This memorial was published on the 150th anniversary of COL Baker's birth.

MG John Glover Castles

MG John Glover Castles was born 1 Jan 1925 in East Orange, New Jersey. He was the youngest of the 3 children born to Eugene Franklyn and Julia L. (South) Castles. His father was a native of New York City and a fabric designer and manufacturer. His mother's family had long been living in Franklin County, Kentucky and several ancestors had been keepers or assistant keepers at the state penitentiary, postmasters,and in other government posts. The couple had met when Eugene was working as a manager of a Frankfort, Kentucky store and delivered the then Miss South's wedding dress for her marriage to another New York City man. The couple hit it off and were married in 1909 and they initially lived in Louisville, Kentucky.

Soon after John was born the family was living at 428 Ridgewood Avenue in Glenn Ridge, New Jersey in a home valued at $75,000 in 1930 together with 2 servants one of whom was the butler. However, the Great Depression had an obvious impact on the family as there were no live-in servants in 1940 and the family had moved down the block to 443 Ridgewood Avenue to a home then valued at $25,000. His father reported a 1939 income of $5,000 and was still designing fabrics. Being from a well-to-do family, John (or "Jack" as he would be called later in life) was able to graduate from Valley Forge Military Academy in 1943. He attended University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In 1943 he enlisted in the Army and attended OCS class 362-44 at Fort Benning, GA. He was initially commissioned as a 2LT on 22 Nov 1944. 2LT Castles would go on to serve as a platoon leader in Europe with the 345th Infantry Regiment in the 87th Infantry Division during WWII during which time he was awarded the Bronze Star. Discharged in April 1945 he returned to school. He married Dorothy Towles Rowe on 15 Apr 1950 and completed his BS degree in Economics at the University of Virginia shortly after in that same year. John originally joined the Virginia National Guard’s Charlottesville-based K Company 116th Infantry in May 1949 while he was attending the University. Promoted to CPT on 2 Mar 1953 and MAJ on 11 Mar 1957. John began work for the Farmers Home Administration in Fredericksburg before that office closed and moving to the Culpeper office as supervisor in 1959.

John and Dorothy had their first child, a daughter in January 1961. A near tragedy occurred on 30 Aug 1961 when John's stalled car was struck by a train at a crossing near Barboursville, Virginia. His left leg had to be amputated below the knee and he suffered a fractured pelvis. However, this didn't stop his military career, John attended the United States Command and General Staff College again in 1964. In May of that same year John and Dorothy had a son. Confirmed as a BG in 1974, he commanded the 116th Infantry Brigade (Separate) from 1977 to 1980. BG Castles was appointed the Adjutant General of Virginia (TAG) in August 1982 and confirmed as a MG on 24 Feb 1983. During his tenure as TAG, the Virginia National Guard went from ranking 50th in the nation to 1st in 1994. 

MG Castles died at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia on 18 Jun 2001. He rests forever in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Virginia.