Civil War Commemorations

Now that the first salvos have been fired to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, one wonders what memories were being provoked fifty years after the conflict when some of those who participated were still alive.  The few available newspapers for April 1911 in Rockingham and Page Counties seem nearly mum on the subject of the battles.  A typical concern focused on the assembly of memories of comrades.  The Page Courier printed on April 6, 1911 an open letter by C. W. Finter to members of Company D, 7th Regiment Va. Cavalry. CSA.  In the letter Mr. Finter requested a “muster roll” call of the first company from Page County, which reported for duty on June 1, 1861.  The Company began with 93 men in the ranks, at times increased to over 100 men, and near the end of the war had less than fifty men in this company who were incorporated into the Laurel Brigade. 

The Finter letter listed over 190 names of men who may have mustered with the company at one time or another.  The letter concluded with an invitation to a reunion on July 21, 1911 “for old confederates” before the “taps for lights-out will sound for the last of us.”

Do you have a relative who answered this “muster” in 1911.  Please, share your memories or knowledge in the box below.

If you want more information, the Main Library Branch has The Rockingham Register and the Page Public Library has The Page Courier on microfilm.  Also, the Main Library Genealogy room has materials on many of the names listed in the letter.