Hampton P. Pruitt, CSA

Hampton P. Pruitt was born around 1840, the son of Joel Pruitt and Elizabeth Durham Pruitt. [1]

Hampton married Mary Wagoner on June 1, 1862. [2] They had one son, Adam Hampton Pruitt. [3]

Hampton was conscripted into the Confederate Army, entering into service on September 27, 1862. He was a Private with Company G, 30th North Carolina Infantry. [4]  A few months after entering the military, Hampton was in the hospital at Camp Winder in Richmond, Virginia, with "debilitas" from mid-November to mid-December of 1862. (The current definition of "debilitas" is debility, infirmity, or weakness. We don't know precisely what the term meant in the 1860's.) [5]

Hampton Pruitt, 30th NC, Co. G, CSA  (Click to enlarge)

Hampton was listed as having deserted June 10, 1863, on a Company Muster Roll for May and June 1863 (but dated August 12, 1863). [6]

Hamption Pruitt deserted June 10, 1863  (Click to enlarge)

No record survives which indicates when Hampton returned to his unit, but he obviously did return, since he died on December 15, 1863, while a soldier in the Confederate Army. [7]

Hampton Pruitt died December 15, 1863  (Click to enlarge)

Hampton's death is included in a Register of Deaths from Grove Hospital Records, Winchester, Virginia, in December 1863:

Name: Hampton Pruitt
Rank:  PR
Reg't:  30 N Ca    Co. G
Complaint:  Febris cert cun
Date of Admittance in Hospital:  Dec 12
Date of Death:  Dec 15
Remarks:  None

Febris is Latin for fever, but I don't know what the other words (or abbreviations) stand for. [8] While Hampton's military service records do not indicate the cause of his death, the hospital records from Grove Hospital state that he died from fever. [9]  The other words (or abbreviations) may indicate the cause of the fever.

In 1901, Hampton's widow, Mary, applied for a Widow's Pension. Her pension application stated that her husband received a "severe wound in the arm and was carried to Orange Court House and while there in the Horse pittle contracted pneumonia fever and died".  [10]

Mary Pruitt's Widow's Application for Pension  (Click to enlarge)

Mary's pension application contains the only surviving information about Hampton being wounded.
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Hampton Pruitt was conscripted and assigned to Company G nearly a year after the 30th NC Infantry was formed.

His regiment fought at the battle of Fredericksburg. [11]  Hampton may have been hospitalized with debilitas at this time. [12]  The 30th NC Infantry fought at the battle of Chancellorsville. Hampton was likely involved in this battle.  There are no records about him that would suggest otherwise.

The 30th NC Infantry fought at Gettysburg, but since Hampton deserted on June 10, 1863, he may have missed this battle. [13]  He might have headed home  from Virginia to check on his family, rather than going to Pennsylvania. [14]  On the other hand, he might have been temporarily separated from his unit and returned in time to participate in the battle at Gettysburg. We don't know when Hampton returned to his unit (but we know he did return, because he died while a soldier with the Confederacy).

Following the battle at Gettysburg, the Army of North Virginia (the Confederates) and the Army of the Potomac (the Union) established lines with Virginia's Rappahannock River between them. The two armies skirmished in September and October, followed by the Mine Run Campaign between November 26 and December 2, 1863 in Orange County, Virginia. [15]

The battle at Mine Run was inconclusive, hampered by heavy rain that was followed by sub-zero temperatures. The Union forces withdrew, and both sides prepared to camp for the winter. [16] Hampton may have been injured in the battle at Mine Run, or he may have been injured in a skirmish following the Mine Run battle. Hampton was admitted to Grove Hospital ten days after the Mine Run battle ended, and died three days later of fever. [16]  His widow, Mary, indicated on her pension application that he sustained a serious injury in his arm and was carried to Orange Courthouse, where he died. [17]  He may have been moved to Grove Hospital where he subsequently died, or a field hospital in Orange County might have been using Grove Hospital forms. We just don't have enough information to be certain about when Hampton was injured.

His widow, Mary, reported on her application for a widow's pension, that Hampton was wounded in the Richmond battle. [18]  However, Richmond is some distance from Orange Court House, which she also mentioned.  Her Pension Application was filed in 1901, thirty-eight years after Hampton's death. Mary probably had little knowledge of the geography of Virginia, and may have been mistaken about (or mis-remembered) the name of the battle. She apparently had knowledge about the events leading to Hampton's death, although we don't know who provided this information to her. It seems likely that she would remember the name "Orange Court House" as the place that her husband died. [19]


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[1]  1850 U.S. census, Wilkes County, North Carolina, population schedule, p. 310, Image 123, dwelling 906, family 906, Joel Pruett household; digital images, Ancestry.com; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll M432_649.

[2]  North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868, Ancestry.com;  Prewitt-Wagoner bond, 1862, Bond # 168664

[3]  1880 U.S. census, Wilkes County, North Carolina, population schedule, Walnut Grove Township, enumeration district (ED) 207, p. 59.3, dwelling 170, family 170, Hampton Pruitt; digital images, Ancestry.com; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll T9_987.

[4]  Compiled service record, Hampton Pruitt, Pvt., Co. G, 30 North Carolina Infantry; Carded Records of Confederate Soldiers, Civil War; Record Group 109; digital images, "NARA Roll 0360," (Fold3.com : accessed 2 Jan 2015).

[5]  Ibid.

[6]  Ibid.

[7]  Ibid.

[8]  www.antiquusmorbus.com/Latin/Latin.htm; Latin/English Glossary of Causes of Death and other Archaic Medical Terms

[9]  Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society Journal, Volume VII, 1993; The Register of Deaths From the Grove Hospital Records, August 3, 1863, to September 20, 1863, transcribed by Fred Broening; Register of Deaths at Hospital 2 Corps. A. N. VA., entry for December 1863 for Hampton Pruitt.  The Journal editor provided the following comment:

"This register is among the holdings of the Archives of the Handley Library. Nothing more exists, and no one seems to know anything about the Grove Hospital - where it was located, how long it operated, how many patients survived, what kind of staff it had. It is, however a striking reminder that more combatants died in hospitals than on the battlefield during the Civil War."

[10]  North Carolina Civil War Confederate Pensions, Hampton Pruitt; digital images, State Archives and State Library of NC, "1901 Confederate Pension Applications,"  North Carolina Digital Collections  (http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/home).

[11] National Park Service, Battle Unit Details, Confederate North Carolina Troops, 30th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry (http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units.htm)

[12]  Compiled service record, Hampton Pruitt

[13]  Ibid.

[14] http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/desertion_confederate_during_the_civil_war

[15]  http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/Army_of_Northern_Virginia

[16]  http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/Mine_Run_Campaign

[17]  Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society Journal, Volume VII, 1993, page 68

[18]  North Carolina Civil War Confederate Pensions, service of Hampton Pruitt

[19]  A "Map of the field of operations in Virginia and Battle of Mine Run, during November 1863" can be viewed at the Library of Congress website (http://www.loc.gov/item/gvhs01.vhs00049/)