Thornsbury Bailey Brown
Encyclopedia
Thornsbury Bailey Brown of Taylor County, Virginia
(now West Virginia) is generally considered the first Union
soldier killed by a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War
. Brown, a member of a Virginia militia or volunteer company which supported the Union with the grade of private, was killed by a member of a Virginia militia or volunteer company which supported the Confederacy at Fetterman, Virginia
(now West Virginia) on May 22, 1861. The members of both companies were from the same general vicinity of Taylor County.
to a rally in Pruntytown, Virginia
to recruit men for the Union army
. When they returned that evening, they encountered three members of a Virginia militia company with Confederate sympathies, George E. Glenn, Daniel W. S. Knight, and William Reese of the Letcher Guards, who were on picket duty at the Fetterman
Bridge. The Letcher Guards would become a company of the Confederate 25th Virginia Infantry Regiment. The bridge was located at the crossing of the Northwestern Turnpike with the tracks of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
. The pickets ordered Wilson and Brown to halt. Brown responded, possibly at Wilson's order to test the Confederates, by firing his pistol. The shot injured Knight's ear. Knight, and perhaps his two companions, then fired at Brown and killed him. According to the official and more generally accepted story, T. Bailey Brown thus became the first Union combat death of the American Civil War, or perhaps more precisely, the first Union soldier to be killed by a Confederate soldier during the Civil War.
surrender ceremony, on April 14, 1861, Union Private Daniel Hough was killed and Private Edward Galloway was mortally wounded when a Union cannon or shells near the cannon accidentally exploded while the Union garrison was giving a cannon fire salute to the American flag. These deaths were accidents, however, and were not due to enemy fire. The famous death of the first Union Army officer to be killed during the war, Union Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth
, who was killed at Alexandria, Virginia while taking down a secessionist flag by hotel owner James W. Jackson
, who was a Confederate sympathizer, occurred two days later than the incident in which Brown was killed, May 24, 1861. Assuming the incident at Fetterman was not a battle, the first Union soldier to be killed in battle was a Private Saintclair of the 2d U.S. Cavalry Regiment who was killed at the Battle of Fairfax Court House (June 1861)
on June 1, 1861. The web site of a Civil War re-enactor group states with respect to the picket duty performed by the regiment in the early days of the war, and obviously with reference to the Battle of Arlington Mills
, also on June 1, 1861: "21-year-old Henry S. Cornell of Company G, a member of Engine Co. 13, was killed and another man wounded one night on the picket line." Eighteen Union soldiers were killed at the Battle of Big Bethel
on June 10, 1861.
at first refused to return the body. When they learned of this refusal to return Brown's body, a group of the Union-oriented Grafton Guards militia company, under Captain George R. Latham
, started for the Confederate camp in order to take the body by force if necessary when it was met by a group of Confederates who were returning the body to Grafton. Initially, Brown was buried in a family plot.
Brown's body was moved to the Grafton National Cemetery
in Grafton, West Virginia
in June, 1903. A 12-foot-high obelisk commemorating Private Brown as the first Union combat casualty of the war was placed on his grave in the national cemetery in 1928 by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and a marker also was placed near the spot where he died.
Taylor County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,089 people, 6,320 households, and 4,487 families residing in the county. The population density was 93 people per square mile . There were 7,125 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile...
(now West Virginia) is generally considered the first Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
soldier killed by a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Brown, a member of a Virginia militia or volunteer company which supported the Union with the grade of private, was killed by a member of a Virginia militia or volunteer company which supported the Confederacy at Fetterman, Virginia
Fetterman, West Virginia
Fetterman is a community or populated place located in Taylor County, West Virginia. The elevation is . Fetterman appears on the Grafton U.S. Geological Survey Map. Taylor County is in the Eastern time zone and in postal zip code 26354. Fetterman was one of the early settlements in what became...
(now West Virginia) on May 22, 1861. The members of both companies were from the same general vicinity of Taylor County.
Death
On May 22, 1861, two members of the Grafton Guards, Lieutenant Daniel Wilson and Private Thornsbury Bailey Brown went from Grafton, VirginiaGrafton, West Virginia
Grafton is a city in, and county seat of, Taylor County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 5,489 at the 2000 census. The only two national cemeteries in West Virginia are located in Grafton. Mother's Day was founded in Grafton on May 10, 1908; the city is the home to the International Mother's...
to a rally in Pruntytown, Virginia
Pruntytown, West Virginia
Pruntytown is an unincorporated town at the junction of the Northwestern Turnpike and U.S. Route 250 in Taylor County, West Virginia. It is the site of the Pruntytown Correctional Center, formerly known as the West Virginia Industrial School for Boys.- External links :**...
to recruit men for the Union army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
. When they returned that evening, they encountered three members of a Virginia militia company with Confederate sympathies, George E. Glenn, Daniel W. S. Knight, and William Reese of the Letcher Guards, who were on picket duty at the Fetterman
Fetterman, West Virginia
Fetterman is a community or populated place located in Taylor County, West Virginia. The elevation is . Fetterman appears on the Grafton U.S. Geological Survey Map. Taylor County is in the Eastern time zone and in postal zip code 26354. Fetterman was one of the early settlements in what became...
Bridge. The Letcher Guards would become a company of the Confederate 25th Virginia Infantry Regiment. The bridge was located at the crossing of the Northwestern Turnpike with the tracks of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
. The pickets ordered Wilson and Brown to halt. Brown responded, possibly at Wilson's order to test the Confederates, by firing his pistol. The shot injured Knight's ear. Knight, and perhaps his two companions, then fired at Brown and killed him. According to the official and more generally accepted story, T. Bailey Brown thus became the first Union combat death of the American Civil War, or perhaps more precisely, the first Union soldier to be killed by a Confederate soldier during the Civil War.
Other early deaths of Union soldiers
At the Fort SumterBattle of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina, that started the American Civil War. Following declarations of secession by seven Southern states, South Carolina demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. On...
surrender ceremony, on April 14, 1861, Union Private Daniel Hough was killed and Private Edward Galloway was mortally wounded when a Union cannon or shells near the cannon accidentally exploded while the Union garrison was giving a cannon fire salute to the American flag. These deaths were accidents, however, and were not due to enemy fire. The famous death of the first Union Army officer to be killed during the war, Union Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth
Elmer E. Ellsworth
-External links:* * * * * *...
, who was killed at Alexandria, Virginia while taking down a secessionist flag by hotel owner James W. Jackson
James W. Jackson
James W. Jackson was an ardent secessionist and the proprietor of the Marshall House, an inn located in the City of Alexandria during the time of the Civil War. During the capture of Alexandria Jackson used an English-made double-barrel shotgun to kill Col...
, who was a Confederate sympathizer, occurred two days later than the incident in which Brown was killed, May 24, 1861. Assuming the incident at Fetterman was not a battle, the first Union soldier to be killed in battle was a Private Saintclair of the 2d U.S. Cavalry Regiment who was killed at the Battle of Fairfax Court House (June 1861)
Battle of Fairfax Court House (June 1861)
The Battle of Fairfax Court House was a skirmish between a small Union Regular Army cavalry force and a Virginia militia infantry company in the village of Fairfax Court House in Fairfax County, Virginia on June 1, 1861, during the early days of the American Civil War...
on June 1, 1861. The web site of a Civil War re-enactor group states with respect to the picket duty performed by the regiment in the early days of the war, and obviously with reference to the Battle of Arlington Mills
Battle of Arlington Mills
The Battle of Arlington Mills, Virginia was a small skirmish that was one of the first military engagements of the American Civil War. It occurred at about 11:00 p.m. on the night of June 1, 1861. The Battle of Fairfax Court House took place earlier that day...
, also on June 1, 1861: "21-year-old Henry S. Cornell of Company G, a member of Engine Co. 13, was killed and another man wounded one night on the picket line." Eighteen Union soldiers were killed at the Battle of Big Bethel
Battle of Big Bethel
The Battle of Big Bethel, also known as the Battle of Bethel Church or Great Bethel was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War after the surrender of Fort Sumter...
on June 10, 1861.
Questions about combat status
At least two accounts add an aspect to the story of Brown's death which has raised questions about its combat status or even whether it was war related. The first account states that at an earlier date Brown had turned Knight over to the sheriff for stealing a cow. This may suggest a personal motive for the shooting and call into question whether Knight's killing of Brown was in fact combat related or perhaps was instead a matter of revenge. Another account states that Knight had vowed revenge at the time of his earlier arrest and that at the confrontation on May 22, 1861 Brown was agitated that a known trouble-maker such as Knight was blocking his path. Regardless of the technicalities of transfer of militia units to Union and Confederate forces or whether the confrontation of Brown with Knight was a combat situation or had a personal aspect, Brown and Knight encountered each other as soldiers, at least militia, for their respective causes and Brown was the first Northern or Union supporting soldier to be killed by a Southern or Confederate supporting soldier in the Civil War.Aftermath and reburial
The Confederates took Brown's body to their camp and their commander, Colonel George A. PorterfieldGeorge A. Porterfield
George Alexander Porterfield was a junior officer of United States forces in the Mexican-American War, colonel in the Confederate States Army during the first year of the American Civil War and longtime banker in Charles Town, West Virginia after the war...
at first refused to return the body. When they learned of this refusal to return Brown's body, a group of the Union-oriented Grafton Guards militia company, under Captain George R. Latham
George R. Latham
George Robert Latham was a nineteenth century politician and lawyer from Virginia and West Virginia and colonel of Company B of the 2nd West Virginia Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War.-Biography:...
, started for the Confederate camp in order to take the body by force if necessary when it was met by a group of Confederates who were returning the body to Grafton. Initially, Brown was buried in a family plot.
Brown's body was moved to the Grafton National Cemetery
Grafton National Cemetery
Grafton National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia. It encompasses a total of . Along with West Virginia National Cemetery, it is one of the two national cemeteries in the state of West Virginia, both of which are located in Grafton...
in Grafton, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
in June, 1903. A 12-foot-high obelisk commemorating Private Brown as the first Union combat casualty of the war was placed on his grave in the national cemetery in 1928 by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and a marker also was placed near the spot where he died.