As described in the previous post when the III Corps traveled down Summerduck Road toward Kelly’s Ford they passed the Mount Holly Baptist Church.

David Birney commanding the corps would place two artillery batteries on Mount Holly Ridge during the battle. The ridge served as a natural barrier that prevented Confederates from detecting the corps as it approached the ford. Just to the right of the church sat a solitary grave.

This was odd given that the church cemetery itself was a little further up the road. The relationship between the church and the grave can be better seen in the third picture below, which I found on the findagrave website.

The gravestone was hard to read but said- In memory of Capt. John G., Son of the late Rev. J.G. Witherspoon, of Iredell Co., N.C., Died Nov. 8, 1863, Aged 26 years. If he died on November 8th, 1863, near Kelly’s Ford this would suggest that he was killed at the Second Battle of Kelly’s Ford, which was fought one day earlier. His grave location would have been behind Union lines on the Fauquier County side of the Rappahannock River.

Who was Captain John G. Witherspoon? Information on Ancestry and genealogy websites provided some clues.

His obituary which appeared in The Telescope a newspaper published in Due West, S.C. on December 17, 1863, showed that he fought for the Confederacy. Due West was his mother’s hometown. Captain John Grier Witherspoon was born on November 13, 1837, in Concord, North Carolina, and died on November 8, 1863. He enlisted in Company K, North Carolina 30th Infantry Regiment on September 13, 1861. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on September 25, 1861, and full Captain on May 1, 1862. Captain Witherspoon was mortally wounded on November 7, 1863, at Kelly’s Ford, Virginia. Captain Witherspoon, son of the late Reverend John Graham Witherspoon, leaves his mother, Mrs. Martha Boyce of Due West, S.C. and his widow, Mary Hawthorne Witherspoon and two young children, Martha Isabel and John Oliver to grieve his loss.

Witherspoon enlisted in the North Carolina State Troops at Mecklenburg County on September 13, 1861, and was assigned to Captain Benjamin F. Morrow’s Company at Camp Lamb, NC near Wilmington, as First Sergeant. Captain Morrow’s Company was redesignated as Company K, 30th NC Regiment of Infantry Volunteers, Cox’s Brigade, Rode’s Division, Ewell’s Corps, Army of Northern Virginia on September 26, 1861. He was commissioned as 3rd Lieutenant the next day. He was promoted to Captain and became Company Commander of Company K on May 1, 1862. Captain Witherspoon fought at the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He was wounded on November 7th at the Second Battle of Kelly’s Ford and died the next day.

I found additional information about Captain Witherspoon regarding the day of the battle in the 30th NC regimental history- The 30th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War by William Thomas Venner. Parts of the book are excerpted below. Witherspoon’s unit (Company K) was in reserve, protecting the solitary artillery battery three-quarters of a mile from the Rappahannock River near Kellysville. The 30th NC were in the edge of the woods nearest the ford only 15 minutes away from the fight when ordered forward (see map below).

The right wing which included Company K reached the fence line, one company at a time, with each unit struggling to cross the stout barrier. As they reached the fence they received orders to withdraw. Unfortunately, by now several hundred had already made their way into Kellysville. Captain Witherspoon had already climbed over the fence, and was attempting to corral men and turn them away from entering the town. He found Captain Willis Moore and together they got another group of men to retreat, this group following Moore to safety. The 30th’s riflemen sought shelter within the town’s brick structures. Some took refuge in the large mill house, its thick brick walls providing some protection. A few went to the upper story windows and began shooting at the Yankees (see sketch below).

Captain Witherspoon tried to assemble a small force within the confines of a vegetable garden, but his efforts failed. Private Aaron DeArmond (Co. K) wrote, “Capt. J. G. Witherspoon was shot through the breast.” Captain Weldon Davis (Co. B), also with Witherspoon in the garden, fell, his right leg shattered by a minié bullet.

Northern surgeons did what they could for the injured soldiers. Captain Witherspoon and Captain Weldon Davis were sheltered in John Kelly’s house in Kellysville. Kelly, wrote, “[Witherspoon and Davis] were put in the room adjoining my room and I made them as comfortable as I could. The poor creatures suffering greatly all night. I had buckets of cold water brought and gave it frequently all night to keep them from fainting.” Mr. Kelly added, “They expressed a great wish to be at home with their family.” Captain Witherspoon died from his wounds the next morning. Weldon Davis recovered enough to be transported to a hospital in Washington, D.C. Surgeons there amputated his leg, however, infection set in and he died from tetanus two weeks later.

Sources

The 30th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War by William Thomas Venner