Petersburg, Virginia During the Civil War Era
Weeks before the first major battle of the Civil War, a tragic event takes the life of a Virginia Baptist soldier. The Richmond Times Dispatch thus reports this week:
Our citizens were astounded … as if by a peal of thunder from a clear sky, by the intelligence of the death of Captain C. F. Fisher, of the Petersburg Cavalry. Not a week ago this splendid company left the city for the field of duty at Norfolk, and [now] the lifeless corpse of the esteemed commander [is] back, accompanied by his compatriots in arms. It is difficult to realize a change which has been so sudden.
The body was received at the depot … It was a most solemn and affecting spectacle to witness the procession moving slowly through the streets, the corpse being preceded by the companies just named, and followed by the members of the Cavalry, on foot, who had come to pay the last solemn rites to their late chieftain.
Capt. Fisher’s death was tragic in the extreme … he was laboring under unusual excitement, with decided aberration of the mental faculties; and his company was ordered from Craney Island to Suffolk, with directions that he should be sent home from thence, to enjoy a respite from the cares of military duty.–When they were within half a mile of Suffolk … he destroyed himself with his own hands by flaring two pistol balls into his abdomen and one into his temple.
Capt. Fisher was in the very prime of life. For a number of years he has been Cashier of the Exchange Bank, which, under his administration, was one of the safest and most popular institutions in the State. He was a most accomplished man of business, and enjoyed in an unlimited degree the confidence of the mercantile classes of the city ….
…. I need not speak to your citizens of the stern integrity and moral worth of Capt. Fisher. To others I may simply say, that no event has ever occurred in the history of Petersburg that produced so profound an impression there as this will. Capt. F. was an intelligent and active member of the Baptist Church …
Yet more tragedy lies ahead for the Fisher family. On July 22, North Carolina’s Fayetteville Observer carries the news of another death:
The news of the death of Capt. J.A. DeLagnel, who was killed at the recent battle of Rich Mountain, cast a gloom unfeigned and deep over this entire community. Capt. DeLagnel we believe was a resident, though not a native of Alexandria, Va. He leaves a wife but no children. His widow is now in this city, and had not recovered from the terrible blow caused by the death of her brother, the late Capt. C.F. Fisher, of the Petersburg Dragoons, when her cup of affliction is again filled to overflowing, by the decease of her husband. She has the heartfelt sympathies of the entire community.
The Battle of Rich Mountain was a minor battle fought in Randolph County, Virginia (now West Virginia) on July 11, 1861.
Source: newspaper accounts (link and link); Battle of Rich Mountain information (link); photo of Petersburg during the Civil War era (link)
