Levi Miller (Virginia soldier)
Levi Miller (January 9, 1836 – February 25, 1921) was a preacher and farmer from
Early life
Levi Miller was born a slave on January 9, 1836, in Rockbridge County, Virginia[2] near Hayes Creek[3] and Brownsburg.[4] He had European,[3] African, and Native American ancestry.[2] He was born to Hannah and Samuel Miller, both enslaved persons.[5] At birth he was owned by Anne Maria McChesney McBride, widow of Col. Isaiah McBride.[3] He was religious and a gifted orator and began preaching to other slaves in the area.[2] Levi is known to have had several siblings that lived in Rockbridge County including George Miller [6] and Samuel "Johnson" Miller.[5]
Civil War
In 1861, when the American Civil War started, Miller was owned by Anne's son, Robert McBride.[4] In September 1861, Robert's brother, Captain John J. McBride of Company E of the Fifth Texas Infantry Regiment in the Confederate Army, secured Miller as a personal servant. When Captain McBride was wounded in the Second Battle of Bull Run in late August 1862, Miller attended him in the hospital until his recovery. McBride recovered and Miller attended him at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862 and in the Suffolk Campaign the next spring.[2]
Miller was with McBride when General
In the spring of 1864, Longstreet returned to Lee in Virginia, and McBride and Miller to their regiment. At the
After the fight, another member of Company C (Jim Swindler[4]) proposed Miller be made a full member, and with the support of the rest of the company, Anderson enrolled Miller. That evening, Miller returned to Captain McBride who had been taken to a hospital at Charlottesville, Virginia where the pair remained until October 1865. Although not expected to survive the war, McBride lived until 1880, and Anderson later said; "He owed his life to Levi Miller's good nursing."[2]
Post war
After the war, Anderson worked to gain for Miller a full soldier's pension for his service based on muster rolls which Anderson claimed to have in his own possession.[7] However, as of 2013, researchers have not found Miller on any muster rolls collected by the Confederate government. That is, his service may not have been officially accepted as slaves were not permitted to enlist as soldiers.[8]
Miller was present at the 1913 reunion of the
Legacy
The existence of black Confederate soldiers is a controversial subject, and Miller has frequently been a center of the controversy.[7] This controversy includes whether or not he was officially mustered in, and in which battles he participated, and in what capacity.[8]
References
- ^ Alexandria gazette. (Alexandria, Va.), March 11, 1912
- ^ a b c d e f g Ellis, Edward Sylvester (1918). Library of American History from the Discovery of America to the Present Time ... Jones brothers publishing Company.
- ^ a b c Confederate Veteran. S.A. Cunningham. 1921.
- ^ a b c [No Headline]. Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), Monday, March 11, 1912, Page: 3
- ^ a b Levi Miller Will, November 1920, Frederick County, Virginia, Will Book 47, Page 49-51
- ^ Lexington Gazette 6 Mar 1912
- ^ a b c Barrow, Charles Kelly, Segars, J.H. Black Southerners In Confederate Armies: A Collection of Historical Accounts Pelican Publishing Company, 31 Jan 2007 p196-197
- ^ a b Williams, Richard, Jr. Lexington, Virginia and the Civil War. The History Press, 12 Mar 2013 p 124
- ^ Gannon, Barbara A. The Won Cause: Black and White Comradeship in the Grand Army of the Republic. Univ of North Carolina Press, 2011
- ^ West Virginia, Marriages Index, 1785-1971
- ^ West Virginia, U.S., Births Index, 1804-1938
- ^ 1910 United States Federal Census
- ^ Frederick County, Virginia Will Book 47, Page 49-51