Washington Civil War Round Table

Lucy Bolling Anthony Willis (1836-1900) of Wilkes County married Wylie Hill DuBose (born 1834), settling into a life of family, socializing, and farming. Two da...ughters were born to them less than a year apart, Sarah Toombs (Sallie) DuBose on Sept. 1, 1859, and Bettie Vance DuBose on July 21, 1860. With the advent of Civil War, Wylie DuBose--husband, father, farm manager--chose family and home. He accepted the captaincy of the 177th Georgia Volunteers, a local militia, at the end of May 1861. When the Irvin Guard headed off to the front in June, Wylie was not with so many of his friends and kinsmen. He welcomed a son, Wylie Jr., on Feb. 21, 1862, healthy and hardy. A month later, Wylie the elder had joined his Wilkes County brethren of the Irvin Artillery in Virginia. Three months after that he was dead. By June 1862, the Irvin Artillery with now Private Wylie in the ranks was almost daily engaging Federal troops skirmishing around Richmond. What would become known as the Seven Days Battles had begun. Just before the conflict, on June 27th, Wylie wrote, "My dearest wife, I expect before you receive this you will be very uneasy about us. I thank God that I have been spared safe thus far. We had one man killed yesterday; poor Tom Lewis...He never breathed after he was struck...I expect it will not be long before the fight commences again." In an irony of history, Wylie DuBose, considered by many the first Wilkes County Confederate killed in combat, actually identifies the true first, Thomas J. Lewis with his death on June 26th at Mechanicsville. Two days later, John Vance of the Irvin Artillery writes, "My very dear Mother...I know that it will be sad to all that knew my best friend [Wylie]: he has fallen and a better and nobler man never died for his country... Poor fellow--he stood up to his post bravely, all that saw him say so...Steve Palmer got the coffin; it was a very nice one, made of walnut. He tried to get a metallic case but could not find one. Dear Mother, I must stop." It was Friday, the 28th, near Simon Golding's farm, that Wylie sustained his injuries, caught in the barrage of Union artillery. John Fielding Ficklen wrote wife Julia the next day about "our dear cousin Wylie." Ficklen continues, "Dr. Steiner attended [Wylie] and did everything he could for him, but he knew, as we all knew, he could not be with us long. He was most terribly wounded." By early July word had reached Wilkes County. Thomas Willis, Lucy DuBose's brother, made the trip to Virginia to gather Wylie's personal belongings and accompany the body home to its final resting place: Resthaven. Likely, Thomas Willis also brought a poignant letter to Lucy from Chaplain John W. Talley, a Methodist minister, who had comforted Wylie on that last day. Leaving to attend to others, Rev. Talley wrote, "On returning from the trenches 4 hours after, I found Wiley [sic] H. DuBose's peaceful spirit had fled away to rest with Jesus." Lucy DuBose would raise her three children well and later marry W.W. Simpson. She consistently honored Wylie's grave with floral tributes and led the efforts to memorialize the community's Confederate dead. For her it was deeply personal. She was first president of the Washington chapter of the Ladies Memorial Association on May 1, 1891. The local group encouraged ceremonies on Confederate Memorial Day (April 26th) along with cemetery beautification and identification of graves for those who fought for the Confederacy. For Lucy she carried on a legacy of devotion to her husband and to his brethren in arms. After the 1898 fire that destroyed much of the south Square including the Simpson property [Pop-Lahr corner], she hired Edward Bonner to build a new brick structure still there today. It was the first downtown building designed and constructed by a Black contractor and his workmen. Lucy died Dec. 23, 1900. See more

New tangled photograph techniques! Matthew Brady would be shocked!

The Washington Civil War Roundtable in Wilkes Co., Georgia, will be suspended indefinitely due to concerns for our membership’s health. While this Pandemic plays itself out, we will err on the side of caution and honor our Governor’s guidelines. We have hoped each month that the Roundtable might resume, only to be disappointed. So this fall, we are accepting that we might be suspended for longer than expected. But hold fast to hope! We will let you know when the ‘coast is clear’ and we can resume our meetings once again.

The Washington Civil War Round Table is suspending our monthly meetings until further notice. This decision is made out of respect for Gov. Kemp’s guidelines and especially out of concern for the health of our members. We will eagerly resume our meetings when the time is right. We look forward to that day since we miss our members, our ongoing education, and the honoring of our rich heritage.