Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 32.djvu/228

 216 Southern Historical Society Papers.

[From the Times-Dispatch, Feb. 28, 1904.]

COLONEL H. A. CARRINGTON, C. S. ARMY.

A Sketch of His Life and Services.

By Colonel GEO. C. CAB ELL, late Lieutenant-Colonel 18th Virginia

Infantry.

Henry Alexander Carrington, son of Henry and Louisa Cabell Carrington, was born at " Ingleside," Charlotte county, Va., on the 1 3th day of September, 1832. His ancestors on both sides had been distinguished in the annals of Virginia history. He was educated at the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia, at which last institution he commenced the study of law, intending to make that his profession. His plans, however, were changed by the death of his brother, the lamented William Cabell Carrington. Yielding to the entreaties of his parents, who were deeply distressed by their loss, Colonel Carrington relinquished the practice of law, and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits upon his patrimonial estate, ''Retirement," a mile from his father's residence. He was married on January 29, 1856, to Charlotte Elizabeth Cullen, daugh- ter of Dr. John Cullen, of Richmond, one of the most -brilliant women of her day. He continued farming until the alarms of war fired his patriotism, in the spring of 1861.

Colonel Carrington was opposed to secession, but when the die was cast, when Virginia decided to withdraw from the Union, like a true son, he determined to follow the fortunes of his mother State and was the first to volunteer his services from his native county.

The Charlotte Rifles, a company of the i8th Virginia Infantry, was the first organized body to enlist from Charlotte county. In May, 1 86 1, Colonel Carrington was commissioned by Governor Letcher lieutenant-colonel of the i8th Virginia. On the night be- fore his departure for the fields of battle, in the parlor of " Ingle- side," his parental home, a scene which yet lingers in the memories of those who witnessed it, and marked the character of the man and patriot.

Before taking leave of parents and friends, the church rector, an inmate of the house, was requested to appear before the assembled family and friends, and there and then this commissioned colonel,