Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/1064

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CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY.

the remainder of his service was rendered. He participated in the battles of First Manassas and Dranesville, the Seven Days' fighting before Richmond, the action at Drewry's Bluff, in 1862, where he was wounded, the fight with Dahlgren's raiders when their commander was killed, and the disastrous action at Sailor's Creek, where he was wounded in the right leg and captured by the enemy. After this misfortune he endured life as a prisoner of war at Johnson's island until June 20, 1865. Soon after his release he returned to the university of Virginia and completed his course of study in law. In 1866 he embarked in the practice at Lynchburg, where he has since resided and successfully practiced his profession.

Lieutenant John Henry Lewis, a well-known citizen of Washington, D. C, was born at Portsmouth, Va., in 1834, the son of Samuel Morgan Lewis, also a native of the Old Dominion, who served as a private in the war of 1812 and died in 1862, at the age of seventy-seven years. Lieutenant Lewis was reared and educated at Portsmouth, and embarked in the business of a contractor and builder, which took him, in the spring of 1860, to Savannah, Ga., where he perceived the growth of the apprehension of evil to result from the political campaign of that year. He hoped that the evil might be averted, but when, after a rapid succession of exciting events, Virginia adopted the ordinance of secession, he was among the first, as a citizen of Portsmouth and a private in the Third Virginia regiment of militia, to answer the call of April 20. On the night of the same day he witnessed some of the terrors of war in the destruction of the Gosport navy yard. While with the militia regiment he participated in the affair at Pig's Point and in the occupation of Norfolk, and, on the disbandment of the regiment, was assigned to Company G of the Ninth Virginia infantry. With this command he served, receiving promotion to lieutenant in the spring of 1863, in the divisions of Generals Huger, R. H. Anderson and Pickett, until captured while participating in the charge made by Pickett's division at Gettysburg, on July 3, 1863. A long and wearisome life as a prisoner of war followed this misfortune. He was transported from the battlefield to Fort Delaware, and thence with other officers to Johnson's island, Ohio, where he was held until June, 1865. At that date he was started for Richmond for exchange, but was detained at the prison at Point Lookout until after the surrender at Appomattox. Among the battles in which he participated were Seven Pines, the Seven Days' fighting before Richmond, the Second Manassas, White Sulphur Springs, Sharpsburg, Harper's Ferry, Fredericksburg, Suffolk and Gettysburg. On being paroled at Norfolk, in July, 1865, he returned to his family at Portsmouth, and with a courageous spirit, manifested at this juncture no less than in the heat of battle, endeavored to start in life anew. After two years in Portsmouth he removed to Washington, where he has since resided, and has met with gratifying success in his business projects. Lieutenant Lewis was married July 18, 1854, at Portsmouth, to Mary F., daughter of the late Thomas Emerson, of Virginia, and they have five sons and one daughter, Mrs. G. W. Talbert, of Washington. Lieutenant Lewis has published the story of his military life in an interesting brochure, entitled, "Recollections from 1860 to 1865," embracing, in mingled prose and verse, a graphic account of the experiences of a private