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..