Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/961

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CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY.
897

the old field schools and the Episcopal high school at Alexandria, and then studied law with Judge Edward R. Chambers, of Boydton, gaining admission to the bar in 1848. He engaged in the practice of his profession at Boydton and speedily became prominent at the bar as well as in public affairs generally. In 1856 he was elected commonwealth attorney, an office which he held until the outbreak of war, and for a short time after the close of the same. He was a member of the famous State convention of 1861 which adopted the ordinance of secession, and with true loyalty to his State, though in delicate health, entered thoroughly into the work of preparing for military defense. He organized and was given the rank of captain of the Mecklenburg troop of cavalry, which subsequently became Company A of the Third Virginia cavalry regiment. During the first year of the war he commanded his company, unattached, in General Magruder's department, the peninsula, and upon the organization of the regiment was promoted major, and soon rose through lieutenant-colonel to colonel. In May, 1862, commanding the Third regiment, he served under Stuart in guarding the withdrawal of the forces from Yorktown, and during the fighting on the Telegraph road was sent by Stuart with a hundred men to pursue a body of the enemy. Stuart reported that when Colonel Goode came upon the enemy "a spirited conflict ensued, in which the enemy's cavalry, after repeated charges, was entirely routed and betook themselves to the shelter of artillery and infantry." Stuart added: "Colonel Goode's gallant conduct and the bravery of his men deserve the highest praise. He captured the enemy's flag and withdrew, bringing his wounded in in a very orderly manner." In his report of the battle of Williamsburg, which soon followed, General Stuart alluded again to the "unfaltering intrepidity" and patient endurance of the regiment under Colonel Goode's command. But it soon became apparent that, while Colonel Goode's gallantry and efficient soldiership were such as to attract the admiring mention of the famous Stuart, his health would not permit him to follow his regiment through its glorious career. After the battle of Seven Pines, and when he had been recommended for promotion to brigadier-general, he was compelled to retire from the active service. He served in the legislature a portion of the term of 1863-64, but resigned on account of ill health. After the close of hostilities he resumed the practice of law, but gave this up because of his health in 1875. Soon afterward, at Buffalo Springs, he discovered the famous lithia water there, in the development of which he took a leading part. He is now a resident of Boydton, Va. In 1861 he was married to Rosa C., daughter of Edward R. Chambers, and they have five children: Edward C., commonwealth attorney for Mecklenburg county; Thomas F., banker at Boydton; John C.; Marian K., wife of T. J. Briscoe, Knoxville, Tenn., and Kate.

A. J. Goodrich, a well-known business man of Norfolk, who served throughout the war as a private in the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues, was born in Southampton county, Va., in 1839. He is the son of E. L. Goodrich, who before the Confederate period was an inspector of grain at Norfolk, and during the war was connected with the navy yard at Charlotte, N. C. At the secession of Virginia A. J. Goodrich went into active service as a member of the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues, a company organized thirty-