CPT Lycurgus Grills

CPT Lycurgus Grills was born in 1839 in Augusta County, Virginia. He was the 3rd of the 5 children of Charles F. and Isabella (Abney) Grills. His mother died age 36 in 1845 and his father died at about age 45 just 5-years later. In 1850 Lycurgus and his siblings were living with their grandmother, Elizabeth Parks (McClanahan) Abney on her farm near Mint Springs, Virginia. Valued at $1800, Lycurgus' oldest brother John farmed it for the family. The younger children undoubtedly helped with the farm work. Another brother, Byrd, moved with some Abney cousins to Morgan County, Missouri and had built up an estate of $3912 by 1860 but he died in 1861. Lycurgus went to Charlottesville, Virginia and enrolled at the University of Virginia attending 1859-1861. 

Lycurgus enlisted on 30 Aug 1861 at Centerville, Virginia serving as a PVT in E Company 5th Virginia Infantry with younger brother Charles. Commissioned as a 2LT in that same company where his younger brother ranked him. He was present at the 2nd Battle of Manassas when his brother was wounded and was also wounded there. Nevertheless he was promoted to Captain on 30 Aug 1862 and now commanded the company although he didn't return until 2 Oct 1862. CPT Grills became so ill on 20 Jul 1863 that he was sent to a hospital in Culpeper, Virginia. He was then sent nearer to home to a hospital in Staunton, Virginia. He died there on 15 Nov 1863. 

CPT Grills was buried in the Abney Family Cemetery in Mint Springs, Virginia. 

Lycurgus brother Charles Washington Grills served as a 1LT in E Company 5th Virginia Infantry until he was wounded and later died of his wound.

 

COL Reginald Heber Kelley

COL Reginald Heber Kelley was born in Fresno, California on 23 Jan 1880. He was the 4th of the 8 sons of Reverend Douglas Ottinger and Anna Amelia (Fletcher) Kelley. His parents had lost their 3rd son soon after birth, just 2 years previous. His father had been born on Kelley's Island, in Lake Erie about 8-10 miles due north of Sandusky, Ohio. Douglas had moved to California in 1867 first working as a lawyer then becoming an Episcopal priest and missionary in California. The Kelleys lived in San Francisco, Watsonville, Alameda and Fresno. The family's home when Reverend Kelley died in 1915 was at 2206 Durant Avenue in Berkley, California. Reginald attended public school in Fresno and is first noted as being on the honor roll in the spring of 1889. He also attended public school in Alameda and San Francisco graduating as valedictorian from Trinity School in San Francisco in 1898. He attended the State University at Berkley and received a scholarship in 1901. 

Enlisting as a PVT on 18 Jun 1898 Reginald served in I Company 7th California Infantry until 2 Dec that same year. He was commissioned as a 1LT in D Company 1st Infantry Regiment, California National Guard in March 1902 where he served while attending university. He was commissioned a LTC in the California National Guard in May of that year due to his outstanding performance in the university's corps of cadets and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. As a result of this he was offered a Regular Army commission as a 2LT of infantry which was accepted and he received the commission in 1903 when he graduated from the University of California. Assigned to the 4th Infantry Regiment, 2LT Kelley departed with the regiment for the Philippines in June 1903. Once there he was posted to Sorsogon in southeastern Luzon. Allowed leave in mid-1905, 2LT Kelley then reported to Fort Thomas, Kentucky. It is probable that 2LT Kelley served with the 4th Regiment in the Ute campaign in1906. Reginald was promoted to 1LT and reassigned to the 5th Infantry Regiment in May 1909 but returned to the 4th after only 1 month and returned to the Philippines until 1910 when the regiment returned to the United States. 

Reginald married Ione Candace Dille on 28 Jun 1910. He was assigned to the 4th Infantry Regiment at Fort Crook, Nebraska at that time. A daughter, Esther Myrick Kelley, was born at Fort Crook on 11 Dec 1911. She would be the couple's only child.

Promotions came quickly during the first World War. Promoted to MAJ on 20 Aug 1917 and assigned as inspector (IG) 29th Division at Camp McClellan near Anniston, Alabama. He went to France with the 29th in 1918 and was detailed at the Division Machine Gun officer to plan and coordinate the machine gun defense in the 29th Division sector. MAJ Kelley was promoted  to LTC on 30 Jul 1918 and to COL on 1 Nov 1918 commanding the 116th Infantry Regiment in the Meuse-Argonne offensive after relieving COL Harris on 10 Oct 1918. He was gassed in training on 4 Dec 1918 and returned from France, 3 Aug 1919. COL Kelley was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his service during the war. The citation reads as follows:

"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Colonel (Infantry) Reginald H. Kelley, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. First as Division Machine-Gun Officer and later as Commanding Officer, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, Colonel Kelley displayed sterling qualities of leadership. By his high military attainments, sound judgment, and self-sacrificing devotion to duty he proved to be a material factor in the successes achieved by the 29th Division in the offensive actions in which they participated."

He served in the Quartermasters Corps from 13 Aug 1919 to 24 Aug 1919. He graduated from the School of the Line in 1922. COL Kelley then graduated from General Staff School 1923 and from 1923 to 1927 was an associate professor of military science and tactics and the University of California. He attended and graduated from the U.S. Army War College in 1928. COL Kelley was assigned 1929-1932 to Minneapolis, Minnesota as instructor of the National Guard in that state. In 1933 he was at Fort Benning as Director of Department of Experiment.

Ione passed away from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Newnan, Georgia in 1935. COL Kelley then returned to the Philippines and commanded the 45th Infantry Regiment of the 23rd Infantry Brigade (Philippine Scouts) in 1937 at Fort McKinley, Philippines. It was in 1937 on this tour of duty that he met and married Ruth Steere Reno Fuller on 18 Sep 1937 in a ceremony attended by General and Mrs. Douglas MacArthur. He was next assigned as Chief of Staff of the 87th Infantry Division from 25 Aug 1940 to when he retired 9 Jun 1942 due to disability in line of duty. He was 62 years old at that time. However, it appears that he may have returned to active duty in some roll from 1 Jul 1942 to 20 Feb 1944 due to wartime exigencies. 

After retirement Reginald and Ruth lived a more normal life moving to Melrose, Florida. Reginald became the senior warden of the Trinity church in Melrose and Ruth worked in the Women's Auxiliary of the Diocese of Florida becoming president of that organization. There is little to no public record after his retirement possibly due to health concerns.

COL Kelley died on 18 Oct 1963 in Jacksonville, Florida. He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Brother of CPT (Chaplain) Leslie Constant Kelley. They were the great, great, great-grandsons of Elihu Stow who was a soldier in the Revolutionary army during nearly the entire war. He enlisted as a private in Capt. Alden's company, Samuel Webb, Colonel, April 21, 1777, was mustered in Nov. 1777, taken prisoner, exchanged, July l, 1778, promoted to Corporal, March 20, 1780; Sergeant, July 1, 1781. Reginald's father had served as a 2LT in B Company 100th Ohio Infantry (USA) during the Civil War. Reginald's daughter together with her husband and 3 of their children were interned in the Philippines by the Japanese during WWII.

Note: This memorial was published 50-years after his death.

MG Charles Draper William Canham

MG Charles Draper William Canham was born 26 Jan 1901 in Kola, Mississippi. He was the 4th of the 5 children born to Thomas and Helen (Moll) Canham. His father was a lumber dealer in Mississippi, After the death of his mother in childbirth in 1903, Charles' aunt Gertrude Canham moved to live with the family and help her brother raise his children. They lived for a time in Oregon where his father farmed but he then moved to Detroit, Michigan where he got a job in an auto factory. Thomas Draper died in 1936.

Charles Canham enlisted in the U.S. Army on 23 May 1919. He shipped to France on 13 Jun 1919 as a Field Artillery PVT with the 33rd Company Camp Meade Replacement Unit. Returning to the United States, he married Alma Isabelle Brayton on 18 Aug 1920. By 30 Jun 1921 he was a SGT in the 19th Field Artillery Battalion. SGT Canham tested for and was accepted to the United States Military Academy (West Point) preparatory school and was appointed to USMA effective 1 Jul 1921, graduated in 1926 and commissioned as 2LT 12 Jun 1926. Charles' and Alma's first son was born in January 1922 His first assignment was to Fort Benjamin Harrison.  It was there that his second was born March 1925 followed by a third son in July 1927. In May 1928 he was sent to Camp Knox, Kentucky as the camp personnel adjutant. He attended the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia in September 1930 graduating in June 1931. 2LT Canham  then departed New York on 19 Aug 1931 and arrived in Manial on 3 Oct 1931. He served a period of time in the Philippines and then in Shanghai, China. During this period he was pomoted  to 1LT on 26 Feb 1932 and promoted to CPT 12 Jun 1936.

CPT Canham was assigned to Fort Francis E. Warren, Cheyenne, Wyoming 1937 followed by assignments at Fort Leavenworth, Fort Devens and Providence, Rhode Island. He was promoted to MAJ on 31 Jan 1941 and assigned to European Theater of Operations (ETO) where he was made Deputy Chief of Staff of the 29th Infantry Division. He was promoted to LTC on 1 Feb 1942. LTC Canham was promoted to COL 7 Mar 1943 and assumed command of 116th Infantry Regiment.  COL Canham led the 116th Infantry Regiment on 6 Jun 1944 (D-Day) and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for his actions in leading troops while wounded. The citation reads as follows:

"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Colonel (Infantry) Charles Draper William Canham, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Commanding Officer, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 6 June 1944, at Normandy, France. Colonel Canham landed on the beach shortly after the assault wave of troops had landed. At the time, the enemy fire was at its heaviest and had completely arrested the attack. Though wounded shortly after landing, Colonel Canham, with utter disregard for his own safety, continued to expose himself to the enemy fire in his efforts to reorganize the men. His personal bravery and determination so inspired and heartened the men that they were able to break through the enemy positions. Colonel Canham's outstanding leadership, gallantry and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 29th Infantry Division, and the United States Army."

Promoted BG 1 Aug 1944 and assigned as Assistant Division Commander of 8th Infantry Division. 8th Infantry Division Commander. It was while he was the ADC of 8th Division that BG Canham was sent to accept the surrender of the German forces in Brest. When General Ramcke asked him for his credentials BG Canham pointed to his accompanying soldiers and said, "These are my credentials." Widely reported at the time, the phrase has become the motto of the 8th Infantry Division.

He continued to serve with the 8th Infantry Division after the war's end and then in December 1945 assumed duties as ADC 4th Infantry Division. Sometime about May 1947, he was assigned as ADC of the 82nd Airborne Division. Late in 1949 BG Canham assumed command of the port of embarkation Bremmerhaven. On 5 Jun 1952 BG Canham was promoted to MG and assumed command of 82nd Airborne Division. Reported as being in Pusan, Republic of Korea on 26 Jan 1953 end of tour in Pusan, ROK. In October 1952 he was named Deputy Commander 3rd Army and in 1953 named for promotion to MG and assumed command of the 3rd Army with headquarters at Fort McPherson, Georgia. 

Then from December 1954 to sometime in 1958 he served as Director of the Army Council of Review Boards after which he assumed command of the 11th U.S. Army Corps (Reserve) in Saint Louis, Missouri. MG Canham retired on 31 Jan 1961. His awards include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with 2 Bronze  Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, and Purple Heart. 

MG Canham died of an unspecified lung ailment on 21 Aug 1963 and he was interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. He was survived by his wife, sons and their families. 

Note: the published date of this memorial is the 50th anniversary of his passing.

CPL John Armentrout

CPL John Armentrout was born 26 Aug 1832 in Augusta County, Virginia. He was the first born of 9 children of Thomas Hamilton and Barbara (Burkholder) Armentrout. The family farmed near Staunton, Virginia.  Thomas valued his farm at $1,100 in 1850 and in 1860 he valued his farm at $10,300 and reported his personal estate as being worth $2,800. These were very prosperous farmers and John was still farming with his father at that time.

John enlisted as the Commonwealth prepared for war, signing up for the Augusta Greys on 18 Apr 1861 in Greenville, Virginia. The unit was actually mustered into service as E Company 5th Virginia Infantry Regiment on 19 May 1861. John would then have been with the unit when it fought at First Manassas, First  Kernstown, First Winchester, Port Republic, Seven Days Battles, Gaines' Mill, Malvern Hill, Cedar Mountain, Groveton and 2nd Manassas where he was wounded on 30 Aug 1862. CPL Armentrout apparently returned to the unit on or before 30 Jun 1863 just in time for the Battle of Gettysburg where he was wounded in the head on 3 Jul 1863 and captured. Sent to the Federal hospital facility on David's Island in New York, and he died of his wound there on 5 Aug 1863. 

CPL Armentrout's body was eventually returned home and he is now interred in the Pilson Cemetery in Stuart's Draft, Virginia. 

Brother Jacob Christian Armentrout served as a SGT in E Company 5th Virginia, was captured at Winchester in 1862 and spent the rest of the war in the POW camp at Camp Chase, Ohio. John had a 1st cousin 4-times removed  who served as a MSG in Afghanistan in 2004 with the 3rd battalion 116th Infantry.. 

BG Richard Brooke Garnett

BG Richard Brooke Garnett was born at Rose Hill, the family home, in Essex County, Virginia on 21 Nov 1817. He and twin, William Henry Garnett, were the fourth and fifth of the nine children born to William Henry and Anna Maria (Brooke) Garnett. Richard received his early education near home and in Norfolk. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1841. He served in the Seminole war with the Sixth Infantry Regiment as a second lieutenant, during the Mexican War and he held a staff position in New Orleans. Promoted to first lieutenant in 1847, Garnett later commanded Fort Laramie (about ninety miles north-northeast of modern Cheyenne, Wyoming) against the sometimes troublesome Sioux, traveled as a recruiting officer, and, after his promotion to captain in 1855, He aided in quelling the Kansas disturbances in 1856-57; was engaged in the Utah expedition. It was while at Fort Laramie that he had a relationship with a Lakota woman, Akitapiwin (Looks At Him Woman also known as Molly Campbell), and had a son born in 1855.

With the coming of the Civil War, CPT Garnett resigned his US commission on 17 May 1861. He was commissioned Major CSA, and in November 1861 Brigadier General in the Provisional Army. Subsequently, he was appointed second-in-command of then Colonel Thomas R.R. Cobb's Georgia Legion, and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in early September. After brief service with the legion on the Peninsula, Garnett received his promotion to Brigadier General and was immediately assigned to the Shenandoah Valley, coming under command of General Thomas J. Jackson. By spring 1862, BG Garnett commanded Jackson’s old troops, now known as the Stonewall Brigade.  He commanded the Stonewall Brigade in the Shenandoah Valley campaign and at Kernstown, 23 Mar 1862. During the Maryland campaign he commanded Pickett's brigade. General Garnett commanded a brigade in Pickett's Division consisting of the Eighth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-eighth and Fifty-sixth Virginia regiments, which he finally led in "Pickett's Charge" on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg. The brigade went into action with 1,287 men and 140 officers, and after the fight only about 300 effectives remained. General Garnett's part in this fatal action is thus reported by his successor in command, Maj. Charles S. Peyton: 

"Of our cool, gallant, noble brigade commander it may not be out of place to speak. Never had the brigade been better handled, and never has it done better service in the field of battle. There was scarcely an officer or man in the command whose attention was not attracted by the cool and handsome bearing of General Garnett, who, totally devoid of excitement or rashness, rode immediately in rear of his advancing line, endeavoring, by his personal efforts and by the aid of his staff, to keep his line well closed and dressed. He was shot from his horse while near the center of the brigade, within about 25 paces of the stone wall." Source: Confederate Military History, vol. IV, p. 597  

BG Garnett's burial location is unknown. It is believed that his body was stripped of valuables and buried in a mass grave of CSA soldiers at Gettysburg. It may have been later recovered and reinterred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. His sword was discovered in a Baltimore pawn shop some years later and returned to the family. 

His cousin, BG Robert Seldon Garnett, was killed commanding CSA forces at the battle of Corrick's Ford on 13 Jul 1861. Son, William P. Garnett, served the U.S. Army as an interpreter and "scout" working primarily from the Pine Ridge Reservation. BG Garnett is survived by numerous living descendants of his son. 

One last note. There is some controversy about the various photographs said to be of BG Garnett with some scholars convinced that all those identified as Richard are of his cousin Robert.

BG Elisha Franklin Paxton

BG Elisha Franklin Paxton was born on 4 Mar 1828 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He was the sixth of seven children of Elisha Hays and Margaret (McNutt) Paxton. He was descended from the Paxton family which had immigrated to America from northern Ireland in 1730 and settled in Pennsylvania. His father farmed and owned a mill a few miles southeast of Lexington, Virginia. The younger Elisha attended local schools before graduating Washington College in 1846. He then attended Yale University and graduating from there in 1847. He next attended the University of Virginia where he graduated with a law degree in 1848. He had attended the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington but didn't graduate. Elisha married Elizabeth Hannah White in 1854 and the couple had their first child, a daughter, who died in infancy in June of 1856. They would go on to have three more children, all sons. Elisha became president of a bank in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Paxton enlisted in April 1861 as a First Lieutenant (1LT) in H Company 27th Virginia Infantry. 1LT Paxton fought at First Manassas and was commended for gallantry in bearing the colors of a Georgia unit after their color bearer was shot down. He was detailed an Aide-de-Camp on Lieutenant General (LTG) Stonewall Jackson's staff in August 1861. He was then promoted to Major on 14 Oct 1861. In August 1862, he was appointed Major and Quartermaster on Jackson's staff and served as Assistant Adjutant General. On 1 Nov 1862 he was promoted to Brigadier General (BG). Paxton died on 3 May 1863 from a wound received while leading a charge of the Stonewall Brigade at Chancellorsville. Paxton's body was brought back to Lexington and buried at the Stonewall Jackson Cemetery in Lexington, Virginia. He has a number of living descendants. 

Elisha's grandfather, William Paxton served as a Major of militia during the Revolution.

PVT Flemming B. Carroll

courtesy of BigFrench

PVT Flemming B. Carroll was born in 1844 in Augusta County, Virginia probably near the community of West View. He was the 6th of the 9 children of Flemming Solomon and Margaret (Welch or Welsh) Carroll. His father was a fairly prosperous farmer who owned over 500 acres of land in Augusta County. The younger Flemming and his brothers undoubtedly grew up helping their parents with the farming. Margaret died in 1849 or early 1850. The elder Flemming married Sarah Ann Miller in Feb 1851. Sarah was about 24-years younger than her husband and the couple would have several children.Young Flemming grew up to also work as a farm hand. 

Then, when he was just 17-years old, the Civil War began with the shelling of Fort Sumter in South Carolina and Virginia voted for succession about 1-month later. Flemming enlisted in F Company 5th Virginia Infantry on 15 Mar 1862. PVT Carroll was wounded at the 2nd battle of Manassas onn 30 Aug 1862 but recovered by February 1863 and was again with his unit until he was killed in action at Chancellorsville on 3 May 1863.

Originally buried near the Van Wort house at Chancellorsville, PVT Carroll's remains were recovered and re-interred in the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery through the efforts of the Ladies Memorial Association of Fredericksburg.

Some of Flemming's brothers also served. Samuel Woodward Carrol served as a PVT in F Company 5th Virginia Infantry and was captured in 1863 serving out the war as a POW at Camp Chase and Rock Island. George Franklin Carrol served as a CPL in D Company 5th Virginia Infantry, was captured 11 Jun 1864 near Fairfield, Pennsylvania and spent the rest of the war as a POW at City Point.

PVT John T. A. Beard

PVT John T. A. Beard was born about 1844 in Augusta County, Virginia. He was the 3rd of 11 children born to John Link and Martha Margaret (Shields) Beard. His father was a chair maker whose personal estate was valued at $200. The younger John traveled to Mount Jackson and enlisted in I Company 5th Virginia Infantry on 23 Mary 1862. He was with the company all through the Valley Campaign and then the 2nd Battle of Manassas. It wasn't long after the Battle of Fredericksburg when he became ill and was sent to Howard's Grove Hospital in Richmond, Virginia where he died of disease on 24 Jan 1863. PVT Beard was buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Father, John Link Beard, served as a PVT in I Company 14th Virginia Cavalry. Brother, William Sumpter Beard, served as a PVT in D Company 5th Virginia and was wounded at First Kernstown.