Written by Joe W. Avery; Vetted & edited by Cheri Todd Molter
On Sept. 15, 1862, Thomas L. Morrison, my great-great-grandfather, was conscripted into the Confederate army. He mustered into Company A of the 6th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, as a private on Sept. 22, 1862. According to his military records, on Nov. 7, 1863, Morrison was captured near Rappahannock Station in Virginia and was taken to Point Lookout, Maryland, as a prisoner of war.
He was imprisoned for over a year and exchanged on February 10, 1865. He made his way home to Burke County after his release: After arriving by train at Morganton, he walked the last 18 miles to return home and be with his wife and daughter. Morrison wrote, “I was then back at home a gain a paroled prisner with my wife and child that I had not sean in two year, 5 months and one day. The war ended Apr. the 26, 1865.” That quotation was taken from the last letter of the 40 that he wrote between 1862 and 1865. He asked his wife to keep his letters, and 150 years later, I had the privilege of transcribing and typing them. After the war, Morrison picked up where he had left off before being conscripted, living his life as a farmer, husband, and father.
