Submitted by Sid Stroupe and Mike Stroupe; Edited and vetted by Cheri Todd Molter
Wesley, Robert, Jesse, and William M. Stroup were brothers who all fought during the Civil War. Their father was Jesse Isaac Stroup Sr of Lincoln County, North Carolina.
On March 25, 1862, Wesley C. Stroup enlisted at the age of 27; his height was recorded as 5’6” tall. He was documented in his military records as “Wesley C.,” “Westly C.” and “C.W.” Stroup. According to the 1860 Federal Census, he resided in Gaston County. Wesley was a Private in Company H in the 52nd Infantry Regiment, known as the “Spring Hill Guards” in North Carolina. Robert B. Stroup, who is Wesley’s younger brother, was also a Private in the same Company and Regiment, enlisting a year before his elder brother. In late April of 1862, Wesley and his company were “mustered into service” at Camp Mangum in Duplin County, southeastern North Carolina. He was noted as “present” during the period starting on May 31 through June 30 in 1862 and received a “bounty” of $50.00 for his enlistment.
A year and a half after he enlisted, on or near July 3, 1863, Wesley was wounded by “gun shot” in his “right ankle/foot,” and he was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. According to the military records, he was hospitalized at Gettysburg on the same day. According to a roll of prisoners at the Seminary Hospital in Gettysburg, Wesley’s right leg was amputated. Another record states that his left leg was also amputated. On September 2, Wesley was admitted to the hospital at Camp Winder in Richmond, [Virginia]. He was still in the hospital in early November of 1863. According to military records, Wesley was transferred (date not indicated) to Baltimore, Maryland and was paroled on November 12, 1863, at Baltimore, MD. He was exchanged on November 17, 1863, at City Point, VA. From January 7, 1864 through August of the same year, Wesley was at home near Dallas, on “wounded furlough.” On November 8, 1864, Wesley C. Stroup received a “T.D.,” a total discharge from service as an invalid. After he was discharged, Wesley returned home to his wife, Nancy Stroup Stroup, and their eight children in the far north area of Gaston County.
On April 25, 1861, Robert B Stroup, the second son of Jesse Isaac Stroup Sr., first enlisted with the Confederate States Army in Lincoln County, North Carolina. His residence was listed as Gaston County at the time. He was a Private in Company K in the 1st Infantry Regiment and was also a Private in Company H in the 52nd Infantry Regiment in North Carolina. On September 20, 1861, Robert was discharged by reason of an “injury received with a pick on the embankment at Yorktown [Virginia]. Before he was cured, he was taken with severe cough, then with measles, then the chills and fever, and the Surgeon says he has chronic diarrhea.”
On July 6, 1862, Robert volunteered a second time with the CSA in Lincoln County, North Carolina. From August through February and September through October in 1862 to 1863, he was “present and accounted for” and still due his “bounty” at year’s end for enlisting. Robert was finally paid in January. In 1864, in either January or February, he was sent home for reason of “furlough of indulgence.” The term “furlough of indulgence” is akin to modern-day “compassionate leave” or “hardship leave,” meaning the soldier receiving the furlough was being “indulged” by the service in being granted leave.
In February 1864, Robert appears on a roll of privates who “were employed on extra duty at 3rd Corp, A, N, Virg.” The nature of his service was “laborer in the saw mill.” Apparently, Robert was at home in Alexis on leave during the month of March because he married Rachel Bisaner on March 24th in Lincoln County. Robert was back with his Company on March 31st and remained with them through April 1864. In May and June, Robert was hospitalized at the Petersburg Virginia hospital with severe diarrhea. On August 4, 1864, he was granted “sick furlough” for 30 days and was sent home to recuperate at his family home near current-day Alexis. No further records of his service have been located.
Twenty-one-year-old Jesse Isaac Stroup Jr. enlisted in the Confederate Army, along with his younger brother William, on May 7, 1862 in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Jesse was a Private in Company F of the 16th Infantry Regiment in North Carolina. At the time of his enlistment, his residency was listed as “Ironton Area, Lincoln County.” Jesse’s military records were recorded under a couple of name variations: “Jesse Strop” and “Jesy Stroup.”
Jesse was not found in his Company muster rolls until February 1863, when he was recorded as “present and accounted for.” On May 3, 1863, he was “wounded at Chancellorsville, Virginia,” during the Battle of Chancellorsville. In the muster rolls of July through October 1863, he is marked “absent, missing in action at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.” Muster rolls dated from January through April 1864 state Jesse is “absent, missing in action at Falling Waters Maryland, 14 July 1863.” The records are not clear as to the location of his capture; however, by October of 1864, Jesse Stroup’s status within his Company records was changed to “prisoner of war.”
William M. Stroup was the youngest of Jesse Isaac Stroup Sr.’s four sons. William enlisted alongside his older brother, Jesse Isaac Jr, on May 7, 1862 at the age of 19, in Asheville, Buncombe County, NC. His residence at the time was listed as Buncombe County, NC. William was described as 5’6” tall, with a fair complexion, brown hair, and blue eyes. Like Jesse, he was a Private in Company F in the 16th Regiment Infantry in NC.
On November 9, 1863, he was admitted to a military hospital due to an unknown illness. In December, William returned to duty and was “present” through May 1864. On June 26, 1864, William was admitted to Camp Winder Hospital in Richmond, [Virginia]. By August 20, 1864, he had recovered from his illness and was traveling to Sherrow, Brunswick County, NC. On that same date, William received $44.00 as compensation for his service ($11.00 per month); he confirmed the receipt with an “X.” In October 1864, he was marked as “absent without leave since 20 September 1864.”
William returned to duty in late December and he was given a clothing allowance. On April 2, 1865, William M. Stroup was captured by Union Forces near Petersburg, Virginia. He was confined as a prisoner of war to Point Lookout, Maryland and was released several weeks later, on June 20, after pledging the “Oath of Allegiance” to the United States of America.
As of this time, we have been unable to locate William or his brother Jesse Jr. in any records from after the war, despite looking in records from Gaston, Lincoln, and Buncombe County, North Carolina.
