Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/763

Rh gallant young men of Winchester, under the command of Capt. A. M. Baker, who has been prominent in the formation of the association, and is entitled to much credit for its success. The public appearances of the Guard, uniformed in full gray, and bearing swords, are always a subject of flattering comment. This organization, the first of its kind in the country, is deemed worthy of mention here, as an instance of the honor paid to the Confederate cause by the generation which has taken the place of the soldiers of 1861-65.

Lieutenant William W. Athey, of Leesburg, a distinguished veteran of the Seventeenth Virginia infantry, was born near Mount Vernon, Va., August 15, 1836. In the spring of 1855 he removed to Leesburg, which has been his home since that date, except during the period of his service in the Confederate army. He enlisted among the first, in the spring of 1861, as a member of Company C of the Seventeenth regiment of infantry, under command of the gallant M. D. Corse. At the time of enlistment he was appointed third sergeant, and on the organization was promoted to the rank of sergeant-major of the regiment. On July 1, 1861, he was promoted first sergeant of the company, and on April 29, 1862, first lieutenant, the rank in which he served during the remainder of the war. He participated in the battles in 1861 of Blackburn's Ford and Manassas, and in 1862, during the Maryland campaign, fought at South mountain or Boonsboro, where his gallantry received special mention in the official report of Colonel Corse. Here he was slightly wounded. In the Peninsular campaign of 1862, he fought at Williamsburg, Seven Pines and Frayser's farm, and was captured by the enemy in the latter engagement, but fortunately was exchanged after a month's imprisonment. Subsequently he participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, the siege of Suffolk, Manassas Gap, July 21, 1863; Flat Creek Bridge, May 14. 1864, and Drewry's Bluff. At the time of the surrender at Appomattox he was absent on leave, and soon afterward was paroled. He then quietly resumed the duties of civil life, and became engaged in the tailoring business, which was his occupation before the war. He maintains a membership in the Clinton-Hatcher camp. Lieutenant Athey was married in 1858, and his family includes five children.

Colonel T. P. August. After Virginia had passed the ordinance of secession (April 17, 1861), T. P. August, one of her prominent citizens, at once began to raise a regiment, and on May 21, 1861, was on the peninsula at the head of a regiment of Virginia volunteers in the army operating under General Magruder. His regiment became the Fifteenth Virginia and he received from the Confederate government the confirmation of his rank as colonel. He continued to serve under General Magruder until after the Seven Days' battles around Richmond in the summer of 1862. In his report of these battles General Magruder says: "Col. T. P. August was particularly distinguished." He was wounded and was unable to participate in the Second Manassas and Maryland campaigns. At Fredericksburg he was again at the head of his regiment. At the time of the battle of Chancellorsville he was with Longstreet in southeast Virginia. He was afterward on detached duty, and was not engaged in active campaigning again