PVT MIchael Bruffy

PVT Michael Bruffy was born in Ireland in about 1833. Michael was apparently working for the Virginia Central Railroad in 1860 recorded by the census enumerator as a laborer on a railroad crew in Covington, Virginia. 

Michael enlisted on 28 Apr 1861 at Staunton, Virginia mustering into G Company 5th Virginia Infantry on 14 May 1861. He was with the unit at Falling Waters and at First Manassas on 21 Jul 1861 where he was wounded. PVT Bruffy was evacuated to Staunton but succumbed to his wound on 31 Jul 1861. He is buried in Thornorse Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia one of the many unmarked burials there. 

PVT Frederick Davidson

PVT Frederick Davidson was the third of 8 children born to James Dorman and Hannah McClannahan (Greenlee) Davidson. He was born 18 Mar 1836 in Lexington, Virginia, about 2 years after his parents first-born son had died in infancy. James Dorman Davidson was a lawyer who became a prominent member of his community, a Trustee of Washington (Washington and Lee) College and as a unionist would visit with President Lincoln to discuss Virginia's succession. He was also a slave holder with 10 slaves in 1860 including 3 young children and his estate was valued at $52,000 that year (about $1.9-million in today's money). We can't find a record of Frederick attending college like his brothers nor have we found evidence of his activity prior to the Civil War although he is presumably mentioned in his father's letters which have been archived. 

Frederick enlisted on 18 Apr 1861, the day after the Virginia Succession Convention voted for succession. He mustered with B Company 5th Virginia Infantry on 18 May 1861. Although the unit marched to the lower end of the Shenandoah Valley it had only participated in the Battle of Falling Waters when it approached the railway junction at Manassas, Virginia on 19 Jul 1863. PVT Davidson was killed in action on 21 Jul 1863 in the First Battle of Manassas. His body was recovered and he was interred in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Lexington, Virginia.

CPT James "Greenlee" Davidson was killed in action 3 May 1863 at Chancellorsville, Virginia while serving with Letcher's Artillery. CPT Charles Andrew Davidson served in E Company 1st Virginia Infantry. Albert Greenlee Davidson served first as a SGT in Letcher's Artillery then 1SG and was then commissioned and promoted to 1LT, killed while arresting deserters in May 1865. 1LT William Weaver Davidson served in I Company 26th Battalion Virginia Infantry.

LTC Hazael Joseph Williams

LTC Hazael Joseph Williams was born 28 Apr 1830 in Williamsville, Virginia. He was the oldest of the seven children of Hazael and Nancy Rader (McKee) Williams. His father was a carpenter, a profession that the younger Hazael would follow. He married Mary Ann Miller on 1 Jun 1856. The couple would have three children by 1861.

Hazael began his service as a Captain, commanding D Company 5th Virginia Infantry on 17 Apr 1861 immediately after the Commonwealth of Virginia voted for succession. He was promoted to Major on 21 Apr 1862 becoming the adjutant of the regiment. He was again promoted, to Lieutenant Colonel, on 29 August of that same year. His wife had a son, named after General Lee in October 1862. He was promoted yet again, to full Colonel, on 15 Nov 1862. COL Williams was commanding the regiment at the battle of Winchester on 15 Jun 1863 where he was wounded in the thigh. Eventually returning to the unit, he was wounded again, this time in the left shoulder, at the battle of Cedar Creek on 19 Oct 1864.

After the war Hazael and Mary welcomed another son who was born in November 1865 and Hazael returned to working as a carpenter and contractor as well as a farmer. The couple had four more sons and a daughter by 1874. One of those sons died in infancy in 1872. Mary died of cancer on 28 Aug 1877 leaving eight children under the age of sixteen. Hazael married Rebecca Jane McCormick in October of the next year. He and Rebecca had a daughter a year later and a son in June 1882. Elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in December 1891 he served until December 1892. In failing health for some time towards the end of his life, Hazael died at the age of eighty-one on 18 Jul 1911.

Colonel Williams rests forever in the Mount Tabor Lutheran Church Cemetery in Middlebrook, Virginia. 

NOTE: this memorial was published on the 100th anniversary of LTC Hazael's death.