Monday, June 22, 1863, must have been a hectic, tension filled day for the exhausted cavalrymen of Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton’s corps and Maj. Gen. Jeb Stuart’s division. Following the near constant combat of the past several days, Pleasonton had determined to return to Aldie on Monday morning. Col. John Taylor’s Brigade had not participated in the previous fighting and Pleasonton now charged Taylor with covering his retreat.

Once Pleasonton’s intentions became clear, Stuart sent his men in pursuit. Skirmishing continued along Ashby’s Gap Turnpike throughout the morning, until the Federals reached Aldie around noon. Union commanders then established a strong cordon of pickets around the town, with men of Col. Thomas Devin’s Brigade pushing back up Snickersville Turnpike toward Goose Creek.

Stuart probably held most of his command around Middleburg, while establishing his own picket line around the town and surrounding road network. His scouts certainly watched the Yankees going into camp and while I suspect many of the men burned to continue the fight, Stuart may have preferred to let his men and horses rest rather than push the engagement further. Still, fighting flared up around the remains of the bridge across Goose Creek on Devin’s front, when a squadron from the 5^th Virginia splashed across the stream and attacked the 9^th New York. The move resulted in several casualties before the Southerners fell back across Goose Creek and may have prompted Pleasonton to order a foray of his own toward Middleburg.

Few details are known for the events of the day, to include which units held which sections of the picket lines. Colonel Devin, however, held the area immediately west of Aldie, with his left on Ashby’s Gap Turnpike and his right near Goose Creek. The men of the 6^th New York held the area around Dover. Following the skirmish at Goose Creek, the New Yorkers received orders to reconnoiter toward Middleburg, probably with the intent of preventing another Southern probing attack. As the historian of the regiment described, “A few squadrons were sent out to feel the enemy and …ascertained that Middleburg …was full of their cavalry. Skirmishing continued till late, when it ceased, the enemy withdrawing.” Writing his report the next day, Colonel Devin gave no details of any of the events of the day. But somewhere near Middleburg, one man received a mortal wound. He is possibly the last casualty of the several days of fighting and he may still rest in an unmarked grave.

As a young man, Thomas Hathaway established a tailor’s shop at 152 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, prior to marrying Esther Ann Baker in May 1848, in Westfield, New Jersey. The Fulton Street location probably served as both business and home for the newlyweds.

On the night of September 9, a fire, believed to have originated in an upholstery shop at 122 Fulton Street, engulfed the neighborhood, fueled by tinder-dry wooden frame buildings and swept along by high winds. Hampered and frustrated by a lack of water, firemen from around the region finally resorted to blowing up several structures to create a firebreak, before bringing the inferno under control. Early estimates suggested as many as 15 acres of homes and shops had been damaged or destroyed, including the building at 152 Fulton Street, that appears to have included several businesses and apartments, including Thomas Hathaway’s shop.

Two years later, and having re-established themselves in Brooklyn, the couple welcomed their daughter Alice, or Allie, into the world. Ten years on, and now living in Milford, Pennsylvania, the couple’s second daughter, Harriett or Hattie, arrived on June 19, 1860. Following the outbreak of the war, and like so many fathers across the country, Thomas entered the army, enlisting in the 6^th New York Cavalry in September 1862. By the following June, he had been promoted to sergeant.

A faithful letter writer, Thomas, while on picket duty at Thoroughfare Gap on the night of June 18, took shelter from a storm and penned a few lines home.

“…We have not been in a fight this week but very near to it every day,” he told Esther. “There is fighting going on all around us. We can hear the cannon. I am wet through now. I am happy to say for last night we had the first rain since May 6. We are almost blind with dust. The traveling of thousands of horses and thousands of army wagons and tens of thousands of soldiers on foot has made this country like [an] ash heap. Frequently we have not been able to see the man in front of us. For miles the eyes and throat suffer terribly, so it is realy pleasant to get a wetting. [The] enemy are in PA. I am not sorry it will wake up all dead heads at home and make them feel it. They need something severe to wake them up to a sense of — duty… I will write as soon as I can get a chance. I send you some flowers gathered on the Battlefield of Bull Run. We stayed there one night expecting a battle but were disappointed. I am in hopes that the Rebs will get all they want this time, that is a good thrashing.” Asking Esther to kiss the girls, he closed by telling her, “I think of you nearly all the time.”

With the letter still in his pocket on Monday, June 22 (having lost track of time, Hathaway wrote Sunday, but he was not there until Monday), he added a PS, “at Dover’s Mills on our way to Snicker’s Gap. I am well. Expect to meet or rather catch the Rebs today. Weather wet. Love to my dear ones.” He then either handed the letter to someone to mail before heading west or he put it in his pocket to mail when he returned.

But for possibly seeing his name on a casualty list in a local newspaper, Esther may not have heard another word about her husband until she received a letter from Simon Sanger, a member of the regiment’s medical staff. Sanger wrote on July 23 from Warrenton, Virginia.

“The strong friendship which I entertain for your husband excites in me a sympathy for his family & being fearful that you may not have heard from him during the last month, I am prompted to…communicate the fact that he is now a prisoner of war & probably at Richmond… He was captured at Middleburg on the [22^nd] of June. The regiment was making a reconnaissance & coming suddenly upon an overwhelming force of Rebel cavalry…was forced to retreat. Sergeant Hathaway was unable to keep up with the column because his horse was lame. Before he was overtaken by the enemy many shots were fired at him, but I am happy to inform you that he was unhurt.”

Sanger had himself been taken prisoner while attending to wounded soldiers and thus had not been with the regiment in the Loudoun Valley. He wrote to Mrs. Hathaway after his release, telling her, “Let me express the hope that you will not grieve unnecessarily – for there is no doubt but your husband will soon be exchanged…his place cannot be easily filled & he stands very high in the estimation of his company officers. We all hold him in high consideration as a brave, noble & patriotic soldier.”

But Sanger’s letter may not have been the first letter to reach Esther. Mrs. Harriette Powell, wife of Dr. Francis Powell of Middleburg, explained, in a letter dated only July 1863, that Thomas had died on June 23. The possibility also exists that Mrs. Powell mailed Thomas’s last letter home, if he had not made other arrangements prior to leaving camp on June 22. The Powells lived on Washington Street, the name the turnpike bears through town, at the corner with Pickney Street. Jeb Stuart may have made his headquarters in their home for a few hours on June 17.

 “…Of course, as Southern people, we are all Secessionists,” Harriette wrote, “but I assure you that every care and attention was bestowed upon your husband, both by Dr. Powell, who is the Confederate surgeon here, and by the ladies who attend at the hospital. Mr. [Hathaway] expressed a perfect willingness to die, his only regret was that he could not again see his wife & children in this world, but he trusted to meet them in a better land, where there will be no more sorrow, no more parting & where all tears will be wiped away from all eyes… After he was prepared for burial, I placed upon his breast a beautiful collection of flowers & cut off the lock of hair, which I enclose to you. I did this because I have sons in the army – noble young sons, of whose sad death I may hear any moment now and I deeply sympathized with you. A battle is now being fought in Pennsylvania & before many days I too, may be bowed down with bitter sorrow & affliction… A neat coffin was made for him & his remains were carried to our cemetery.” In a PS, Mrs. Powell added, “I hope you will receive this. I send it by a Northerner.”

Doctor Powell and his wife had already shared many trials during the war, and both could have been excused had they ignored the dying soldier or his wife waiting at home with her two children. Living in the heart of Mosby’s Confederacy, the doctor had been arrested on April 4, as part of a Federal response to Mosby’s defeat of the 1^st Vermont Cavalry three days earlier. In a letter to the Richmond Sentinel, a resident of the town reported Powell’s arrest. Noting that Powell had also been arrested the previous Fall and held in Old Capitol Prison, the writer claimed the Yankees had taken Powell’s horse and gauntlets, after threatening him “with their sabres.” Undaunted, Powell reportedly told the soldiers, “…they might kill him, but give them his gloves he would not: whereupon one seized him by the throat, while two others tore the gloves off his hands.”

Following his April 1863 arrest, the Federals again took Powell to Old Capitol Prison in Washington. Writing to Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton and signing himself as the “Surgeon in Charge, CS Hospital at Middleburg, Powell described his situation.

“On Saturday, the 4^th, I was arrested by the Federal Forces while in charge of my hospital in Middleburg, VA, leaving the hospital at that place without a medical officer. I am a Surgeon by contract, not in commission, and I think should have been exempt from arrest under the cartel. I have made known the facts to some of the Medical Federal officers and by their advice I now address myself to you for relief. My arrest was made by a part of Gen’l [Julius] Stahel’s command under the command of Gen’l [Joseph] Copeland…”

In a second, undated, letter, and in a shakier hand, Powell, then 51 or 52 years of age, again sought his release. Parts of the letter are unreadable, but the doctor conceded nothing as to his beliefs. He also appears to refer to his previous arrest, without explicitly admitting as much.

“…I have not been ten miles from my home since last Sept. I was arrested in my own house [thus the incident over his gauntlets, if true, happened during the previous arrest] … I am Southern in my sympathies & principles. I am a Virginian & go for Virginia & not the Federal Gov’t. I have no written contract as surgeon – the rebel surgeon in charge (Medical Director) put the hospital under my care (verbally)…

I attended to [two or ten] Vermont Cavalry prisoners for a few days & they were brought away with me… At the time I was arrested only 5 or 6 patients were in hospital. I have a son in the rebel army.” His captors released Dr. Powell on May 20.

Esther Hathaway responded to Harriette, though her letter has not been found. The following spring, Harriette wrote back to Esther. Apologizing for the delay, Harriette explained that she had been “extremely ill, my life was despaired of for many weeks… I am almost utterly incapable of writing a few lines to you, for I am in deep affliction. My dearly loved young son, the pride of his mother’s heart & the idol of his home, only 19 yrs. old was instantly killed in action at Plymouth, North Carolina, on the 20^th of last month & buried there, far, far away from his family & friends & his crushed & heartbroken mother is here left to mourn & weep bitter tears of grief & anguish… My other son was captured 8 months ago and has ever since been in Prison, first in Washington City & now at Point Lookout… He is only 17 years old, has never been in the army, [and] was captured on his way home from school. He is deaf & consequently unfit for service.”

Her worst fears had come true. Francis W. Powell, 3^rd Sergeant with the 38^th Battalion, Virginia Artillery, Fauquier Battery, had been killed in action on April 20. William C. Powell, her 17-year-old son had been captured in Fauquier County on August 10, 1863, attempting, as he told his captors, to reach and join the same battery Francis had been in. William refused to take the Oath of Allegiance in early 1864 and remained imprisoned until released in February 1865. He then joined the army at Petersburg and surrendered at Appomattox.

Still, despite her illness and worries, Harriette’s hand is strong and her writing a pleasure to read. She enclosed a death certificate for Thomas, completed by her husband, possibly in response to a request from Esther, and explained that Thomas’s “wound was not very painful and he did not suffer long. Whenever I visit our cemetery, I see his grave – for I have five dear children buried there now & soon hope to have my darling boy brought from N.C. and placed there too. It is a sacred spot to me.

“I hope that yourself & ‘little ones’ are well & have been cared for by Him who has promised to be a ‘husband to the widow & a kind father to the fatherless.’ I will be pleased to hear from you, with kindly feelings toward you and yours…”

In the meantime, Ester had received further information from her husband’s comrades, including Capt. William Aitken.

Though Esther now knew of her husband’s death, the men in the regiment did not, as Captain Aitken still thought he had been captured, though probably uninjured. Esther communicated the news of her husband’s death to Simon Sanger, the medical assistant. In his response, Sanger echoed Mrs. Powell, telling Esther, “When Soul’s such as his go up to Heaven’s High Chancery to plead for us, how can we help believing that our cause will prosper…I…pray with you to the Father of the Fatherless & the Widow’s God – let me ask you to preserve as much as possible a spirit of Hope & resignation – do not be too much cast down in sorrow…recollect your husband still lives…his love at this moment surrounds you & exerts itself for your protection…look upon him as one who awaits you in another sphere where you will at length be united to him in happiness…”

Several other letters passed between Esther and Sanger. In one, Sanger informed her that Captain Aitken had recently been wounded and returned home. Suggesting she write to Aitken for his help in claiming her husband’s back pay and pension, Sanger included the captain’s address – 254 Fulton Ave, Brooklyn. Now facing life alone, seeing the captain’s address on Fulton Street must have brought back happier memories of her first days of marriage but also of the terrible fire.

Thomas Hathaway may still rest in the unmarked grave in Middleburg. Esther joined Thomas again on September 7, 1879.

Sources:

Documents from the National Archives

Thomas Hathaway Civil War Letters (MC177) Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries

Fold3.com

Ancestry.com

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Richmond Sentinel

Confederate Veteran

Newel Cheney, History of the Ninth Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry

Hillman Hall, History of the 6th New York Cavalry

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