John Y. Beall was a Confederate navy officer hanged as a spy by Union authorities at the end of the American Civil War (1861–1865). A militiaman who witnessed the execution of John Brown in 1859, Beall joined the Stonewall Brigade, fought with Turner Ashby, and participated in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign (1862), during which he became separated from his unit. He moved to Iowa and then to Canada, where he eventually joined the Confederate navy and planned and sometimes executed various clandestine missions. After capturing a Union merchant ship, Beall himself was captured and imprisoned briefly before being exchanged. He refused a commission in the Confederate secret service, but returned to Canada where he continued his clandestine work. After being captured again at Niagara Falls, this time when he attempted to derail trains carrying Confederate prisoners, Beall was tried for spying. The charges cited a failed attempt to seize a civilian passenger boat and use it to capture a Union gunboat, an aborted mission in which Beall disguised himself as a passenger. Beall was defended by a prominent New York City attorney and ninety-two members of the U.S. Congress signed a petition for his pardon, but he was hanged on February 24, 1865.
Horace King was the most respected bridge builder in west Georgia, Alabama, and northeast Mississippi from the 1830s until the 1880s. He constructed massive town lattice truss bridges over nearly every major river from the Oconee in Georgia to the Tombigbee in Mississippi and at nearly every crossing of the Chattahoochee River from Carroll County to Fort Gaines.
James Ronald Chalmers (January 11, 1831 – April 9, 1898) was an American lawyer and politician, a state senator in Mississippi, and United States Congressman for several terms from the state’s 6th congressional district, beginning in 1876.
(January 12, 1814 – March 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer who fought during the Mexican–American War and later served as a Confederate major general during the American Civil War. He also was a lawyer, politician, and businessman from the state of Alabama.
Colonel John Singleton Mosby, son of Alfred D. Mosby. of Amherst county, was born December 6, 1833, at Edgemont, Powhatan county, the residence of his maternal grandfather, Rev. McLaurin. At the age of sixteen years, he entered the University of Virginia, where his course of study was terminated by an unfortunate difficulty with a fellow…
(October 15, 1836 – March 29, 1910) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and later an officer in the Spanish American War and railroad construction engineer. A favorite of J.E.B. Stuart, he was noted for his daring cavalry raids, efficiency in handling combat troops, and tactical brilliance. Early life and career Rosser…
Berry Benson was born on February 9th, 1843 in Hamburg, South Carolina, just across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. In 1860 Berry Benson enlisted with his brother in a local militia unit aged 17 and 15 respectively. The next spring they witnessed the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. After the surrender…
