PVT John M. Cloud

courtesy of George Seltz

PVT John M. Cloud was born in 1833 in Frederick County, Virginia. He was the 3rd child of 9 and youngest son of William and Nancy Jane (Butterfield) Cloud. His father supported the family as a laborer before becoming a miller. John and his brothers were also working as laborers as early as 1850 when John was 17 and he was working as a farm hand while living with his parents (perhaps on their land) in 1860.

John and his brother enlisted in K Company 5th Virginia on 8 Jun 1861 just 2-days after his brother. The brothers would have fought together at First Manassas and through Jackson's Valley Campaign before the Second Battle of Manassas on 29 and 30 Aug 1862. PVT John Cloud was killed in action on 30 Aug 1862. His body was recovered and he was ultimately buried in the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia.

John's brother, Amos Cloud, served in C Company 2nd Virginia Infantry and was wounded 3 times but survived the war and brother, Uriah Cloud, served in K Company 5th Virginia Infantry wounded at Hainesville.

COL William Smith Hanger Baylor

COL William Smith Hanger Baylor was born in Augusta County, deep in the Valley of Virginia, on April 7, 1831, the only son of Jacob and Eveline Hanger. His father was an ex-judge who owned a prospering farm near Staunton. Even in his early youth Baylor displayed an unusually pleasing personality. He received his local schooling at the Staunton Academy and, in 1850, graduated from Washington College in Lexington. An outstanding debater, Baylor earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1853 and returned home to hang out his shingle. In 1857 he was elected commonwealth's attorney for Staunton and held the post through successive elections until his death. When a local militia company was organized in the late 1850’s, Baylor also was elected captain of the West Augusta Guards, and quickly elevated it to one of the finest militia companies in the state. This unit was one of the first called out to repel John Brown’s raid in October, 1859. But Baylor was not there to lead it. He had gone to New York on his honeymoon, where he was stricken with typhoid fever. However, he was present with the unit at the execution of John Brown.

When several volunteer companies from Augusta County were organized at the beginning of the war in the spring of 1861, Baylor was chosen their colonel. In April the units were ordered to Harper's Ferry and mustered into Confederate service as the 5th Infantry Regiment, Virginia Volunteers; in the reorganization Baylor was appointed major. Thomas J. Jackson wrote at least one letter to Richmond in which he upheld Baylor as his most dependable and deserving subordinate during the critical weeks of organization at Harper's Ferry.

Baylor served with distinction in a skirmish at Falling Waters and again, three weeks later, at Manassas. With the reorganization of the Stonewall Brigade in mid-April, 1862, Baylor was named to the command of the 5th Virginia Infantry. From that moment on, in a unit distinguished for its valor, he set an example. LTC Baylor fought with distinction in Jackson's Valley Campaign and had his horse shot from under him while leading a charge at Winchester forcing him to lead the final assault on foot. During the Seven Days he was cited several times for conspicuous bravery. After the battle of Cedar Run/Cedar Mountain in August 1862, Baylor was given command of the Stonewall Brigade. However his courage and disregard of personal safety made him an easy target in battle, Baylor’s first campaign at the head of the Stonewall Brigade was his last. Just 10 days after assuming command, before his promotion to brigadier could be confirmed, he was killed towards the end of 2nd Manassas, carrying the flag of the 33rd Virginia. Baylor's body was taken from the battlefield and returned to Augusta County where he was buried in the Hebron Presbyterian churchyard.

PVT Smith Bateman

PVT Smith Bateman was born in 1841 in Augusta County, Virginia the 7th of 8 children of Smith and Susan (Lohr) Bateman. His father was a farmer whose property near Staunton, Virginia was valued at $1488 in 1850 $3720 in 1860. 

Smith had enlisted in the 32nd Virginia Militia Regiment before March 1860 but he didn't enlist in H Company 5th Virginia Infantry until 10 Mar 1862. This was just prior to the first battle of Kernstown on 23 Mar 1862 and the beginning of BG Jackson's Valley Campaign. PVT Bateman fought in the battles of that campaign and was apparently noticed because he was promoted to CPL on 16 Jul 1862. He was with the unit in the 2nd battle of Manassas on 30 Aug 1862 in which he was one of the 14 men killed in action.

We believe that he was buried on the battlefield.

His 4 brothers also served during the war PVT William F Bateman was killed in action on 30 May 1864 at Bethesda Church in G Company 52nd Virginia Infantry commanded by brother CPT Elijah Bateman.  George W. and James P. Bateman  served as PVTs in E Company 1st Virginia Cavalry.

BG Charles Sidney Winder

BG Charles Sidney Winder was born in Talbot County, Maryland on 18 Oct 1829. He was the fifth of seven children of Edward Stoughton and Elizabeth Tayloe (Lloyd) Winder. The Winder family was well established in Maryland and wealthy, owning several thousand acres in the state. Charles' father was an officer in the 2nd Dragoons, commanding A Company in 1837-1840 and away from home much of the time. Charles was educated, as many were at the time, by tutors and being self-taught.

Charles graduated twenty-second in the West Point class of 1850 and then served on garrison and frontier duty for the next ten years. While on board a ship to California in 1854, he displayed outstanding heroism when the the ship was caught in a hurricane. This act earned him promotion to Captain, supposedly the youngest man of that rank in the army at the time. Charles was married in 1855 to Alice Lloyd and the couple would have three children over the next five years. Resigning his commission on 1 Apr 1861, he entered Confederate service as a Major of artillery. He participated in the bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and on 8 July of that year he became Colonel of the 6th South Carolina Infantry. COL Winder was promoted to Brigadier General on 7 Mar 1862 and he was selected by Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to command the Stonewall Brigade. A strict, disciplinarian, he enforced the rules, and veterans despised him. BG Winder commanded the Brigade during Jackson's 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Then, on 9 Aug 1862, during the Battle of Cedar Mountain, he was badly wounded by an exploding shell and died on the field a few hours later.

BG Winder rests forever at Wye House Cemetery in Easton, Maryland.

BG Winder is survived by several living descendants.  His father died at home of an unknown disease contracted while serving at Fort Heilman, Florida in the Second Seminole War. Grandfather, MG Levin Winder, served in the Maryland Line during the revolution and commanded the Maryland Militia after the war and was elected Governor of Maryland, 1812-1815.