SUBMITTED BY: Michael P. Brown
He was a volunteer for the Confederate Army, July 3, 1861, at age 20 in Rowan County.
He fought in the Battle of Manassas and Williamsburg before he was taken prisoner in Maryland in 1862. He fell ill in prison.
He served as a nurse in hospital in Staunton, VA December 1, 1862 to January 31, 1863
He was present for roll call in January,1863 but was absent since May 6, 1863. He was back for roll call July and August, 1863.
He was wounded twice in the Battle of the Wilderness and was captured on May 12, 1864 at Spotsylvania Court House, VA, and was sent to the Federal prison at Point Lookout, MD, then was moved to the Federal prison at Elmira, NY on August 3, 1864.
He took the Oath of Allegiance on May 19, 1865.
He walked home from New York to North Carolina and married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Levina Yost. He gathered all their personal belongings and, with the assistance of a wagon train, they moved to Dongola, IL. He prospered as a cabinetmaker and built a home, but at Christmas 1871 the house caught fire, and Henry, apparently exposed while fighting the fire in the cold of an Illinois winter, became ill. He died of pneumonia in February 1872, leaving a wife and 3 small children. She moved back to Rowan County. (Images below are from the Salisbury Post.)
