Hanover County Confederates

The Monument at Hanover Courthouse bears the names of 1096 men on four bronze tablets. The men are grouped by branch and unit, however many served with units from adjacent localities or even in another state, so they are listed under "Other Commands." Additionally, the men are denoted by last name and initials, plus rank and an indication as to being “Killed in Action,” “Wounded,” or “Died in Service” of other causes. This book is intended to more fully identify the veterans and to give a short account of their service. The Monument was dedicated August 27, 1914. Since that time other interested individuals have indicated that not all of Hanover's Confederates were included on the tablets, with one researcher indicating he had uncovered the names of fifty men qualified to be included. I was curious and in 2006 discovered the name of my great, great grandfather was not included on the Monument, so I decided to try to find out why. The original records of compilation are apparently lost to time, therefore I set out to more fully identify all of Hanover's men and to locate as many as possible who were not originally memorialized. My intent was to give each veteran’s complete name, however I became aware that many were only identified by last name and initials in the military records. While researching the men on the Monument, an additional 302 names were identified and included in this work. The author also uncovered errors on the Monument, and the various errors are denoted. When the original research was undertaken over 100 years ago, the records were not well organized and as easily accessed as today. The large number of names coupled with the passage of over forty years time obviously made data collection more difficult. The modern research utilized the books of the Regimental History Series published by H. E. Howard Publishing Company; other local history books, resources available to the Library of Virginia and the Page Memorial Library of History and Genealogy in Montpelier, as well as other genealogical resources and message boards. I hope this work will aid others in gaining insight into some of the events their ancestors endured in that time of turmoil and conflict. $5.00 of the purchase price will go toward an addendum tablet at Hanover Courthouse or preservation of other Civil War monuments.