I am Andy Delbridge. These five of my ancestors were in the 12^th Va Infantry.

Reuben Joseph Delbridge (1839 to 1921) Brunswick County my great, great grandfather (my paternal grandfather-Herbert Sr.’s- paternal grandfather)

12th Va. Infantry

The son of Benjamin and Lucy Walton Delbridge, he enlisted Feb. 22, 1862, Greensville Co. He was a private in Company I. He was illiterate. He must have participated in all the battles the 12^th was involved in up through October, 1864. He became a POW at the battle of Burgess Mill, just south west of Petersburg, between Dinwiddie County Courthouse and Petersburg, on October, 27, 1864, during the seige of Petersburg. He was sent to Point Lookout, the Union's prisoner of war camp on the southern tip of Maryland. He was exchanged at Aikens Landing, March 28, 1865. It is unknown whether he took part in Lee's Retreat to Appomattox. He was not listed among those paroled at Appomattox in April on 1865.

The year after the surrender, on December 19, Reuben married twenty-year-old Rosa Rawlings (1845-1890), daughter of William and Nancy Harris Rawlings. Reuben and Rosa eventually had nine children. One, William A. Delbridge, 1876 to 1881, was named after Reuben's brother who died in the Civil War. That name must've been bad luck, for he died at age 5. Robert J. Delbridge, my great grandfather, was born November 13, 1883, (the eventual father of Herbert Sr., my grandfather). Robert married Pearl Stainback (1888-1967). Reuben's wife, Rosa, died in 1890. On September 8, 1897, Reuben married again. This time toSallie in Greensville. He had two more children. He died at Fitzhugh, in 1921. He was buried in a family cemetary. In 1932, his widow Sallie, living near Gasburg, applied for a Civil War widow's pension.

Reuben's brother, Robert Jarard Delbridge, was drafted on October 17, 1864, the war would be over within six months. He participated in Petersburg. Then he was part of Lee's Retreat. He was paroled at Appomattox, April 9, 1965.

Note: Reuben's daughter Sallie Sarah Rebecca Delbridge married John Augustus Gordon, son of George G. Gordon, mentioned below, 20 December, 1893. Yet another Delbridge/Gordon connection. She is my great, great, great aunt two different ways.

David Linwood Stainback (1834 to 1921) Greensville County my great, great grandfather (my paternal grandfather-Herbert Sr.’s - maternal grandfather)

12^th Va. Infantry

Enlisted June 6, 1861 at Hicksford, Va. He was a private in Company F. He became a prisoner of war at Chancellorsville, just west of Fredericksburg, Va on May 2, 1863. He was sent to Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C., He was proled a week later on May 10, 1863. It is unknown when he rejoined he regiment, but it is known he was back on duty by 1865. He was alive in 1902 in
Emporia.

George Washington Welton (1844 to 1904) Greensville County my great, great grandfather (my paternal grandmother's mother -Jimmie Welton Gordons’s - father) 12th Va Infantry.

Enlisted on March 25, 1862 in Norfolk as a Private in Company F. He was a farmer from Greensville County. He was absent due to sickness from the Summer to November of 1862. From November 1862 to January of 1864, he was with the regiment, likely involved in all action of the 12^th throught this time frame, including Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Chancellorsville In January of 1864 he was on furlough. From February 1864 through to the Battle of the Crater in Petersburg, he likely was involved in all action of the 12^th. This would include the Wilderness, Spotsylvania CourtHouse, North Anna, and Cold Harbor. He was Wounded in Action at the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864. He lost an eye. He went to Central State Hospital in Petersburg from August 1864 to September 1864. He was placed on sick furlough on September 7, 1864.

James John Pearson (1834 to 1881) born in Brunswick County, later moved to Skippers my great, great, great grandfather (my paternal grandmother's father - Vernie Gordon’s - maternal grandfather.) 12^th Va Infantry

The son of George Washington Pearson and Elizabeth Ann Delbridge, he enlisted (conscript) Feb. 22, 1862 in Greensville County. He was a private in Company I. From March 1862 to April 1862 he was at home to attend a sickness in the family. He was Wounded in Action and became a Prisoner of War at the battle of Crompton's Gap on September 14, 1862, part of South Mountain. Therefore did not fight in the Battle of Antietam Creek (Sharpsburg, Md). He was paroled twelve days later on September 26^th by order of General W. Br. Frankln of the US 6^th corp. He was with his regiment on January 1863. Therefore, he likely participated in Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. From January 1864 to February 1864 he was on furlough. He likely fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania CourtHouse, North Anna, Cold Harbor and the Crater. He became a Prison of War at Burgess Mill near Petersburg on October 27, 1864. He was at the Pt. Lookout Prison until June 30, 1865.

James married Angie Harriet Phillips on February 6, 1860. Angie had eight brothers who fought in the Civil War. They lived near Benton Post Office. They had seven children, including their oldest, Sarah Pettit Pearson, 1863 - July 20, 1945. Angie died when Harriet Wood Pearson was born, August 22, 1877. Less than four months later, James remarried, this time to Mary J. Jones. James and Mary lie buried in the Pearson Family Cemetery near Triplet. On February 12, 1880, James' daughter Sarah married James Gilliam Gordon,1857-1937, (my great, great grandfather), Vernie Gordon's father.

Note: My fourth great grandmother (Vernie's maternal great grandmother) was Elizabeth Ann Delbridge. Another Gordon/Delbridge connection.

George G. Gordon (1832 to 1898) Brunswick County my great, great, great grandfather (my paternal grandmother's father - Vernie Gordon’s - paternal grandfather)

12^th Va. Infantry* Not listed in Henderson's book of the 12^th Va, but is listed in Pritchett's book of Brunswick soldiers. Most likely the discrepancy is due to the fact that he was discharged in the early part of 1863, most likely due to physical injury. This was after his brother in law, John A. Delbridge, who shares the same exact name as I, was killed at Malvern Hill. During 1862, when George's son, James Gilliam Gordon, my great,great grandfather, was just 5 years old, he fought in the Seven Days' battles in Henrico County as well as the 2^nd Manassas (Bull Run) Battle. He also was with his regiment as they moved into Maryland. He surely fought in the battle of South Mountain, which preceded Antietam Creek (Sharpsburg). He probably fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December of 1862. He most likely missed all of the 1863 battles such as Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the early 1864 battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Courthouse, North Anna, and Cold Harbor. In November of 1864, he reenlisted in Company F fo the 12^th. This was during Grant's seige of Petersburg. Within a few weeks, however, he was taken as a Prisoner of War and sent to Point Lookout Prison in Maryland. He most likely was released in June of 1865, after Lee's April surrender.

While living near Ante, in Brunswick County, in 1898, he died of heart disease. Martha (Pinkie) (Delbridge) Gordon, his widow, lived on to 1920, She lived with her oldest son James Gilliam Gordon at his house in Skippers, Va. She was buried in Corinth Cemetery, where many Gordons, Pearsons, and Delbridges are buried, including my paternal grandmother, Dossie Delbridge. Unfortunately the church no longer stands. On a recent visit in 2006, I noticed a difference in the color of the grass in a rectangular area of where the church stood. I remember as a child visiting my great grandmother Jimmie Welton Gordon, when she lived behind the church. According to cousin Peggie Connor, the land the church stood on was donated by the Gordons(?). However, according to Sketches of Greensville County Virginia 1650-1967, the land was donated by John and Rebecca B. Welton. The Church, Corinth Methodist, was built in 1889. I have a theory that the Weltons probably sold the land around the church to the Gordons, namely, James Gilliam Gordon, who was George Gordon's son, most likely around the 1890's or early 1900's. James' son, my great grandfather, Vernie Gordon, married Jimmie Welton (Gordon). Jimmie Welton's dad, George Washington Welton, a Civil War Veteran mentioned above, died in 1904. It is possible the land then went to James Gilliam Gordon, however, this is pure speculation. My aunt and uncle Leroy and Elaine Lynch (Elaine Delbridge Lynch was Dossie's daughter, Dossie was Jimmie's daughter) bought this property after Jimmie's death in 1981.

On my maternal side, I have an ancestor, a great, great grandfather, named George Washington Branscum from Arkansas who fought in the 45^th Arkansas Militia. I know very little about him at this time.

Links

Virginia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans

American Civil War Center, Richmond, Va

Henry Kidd Art, Colonial Heights, Va