The Custer Connection

The Civil War often produced some surprising connections between major figures on the two sides of the conflict. One little-known incident involved John W. Lea from the 5th Carolina, which would later become part of Iverson's Brigade. Lea was born on Sept. 16, 1838 and spent his early years in Caswell County, North Carolina. Following the death of his father in 1855, financial problems forced his family to move in with his uncle at Holly Springs, Mississippi. Lea received an appointment to West Point from that state two years later. During his time at the academy, he became best friends with his fellow cadet, George Armstrong Custer, who gave him the nickname "gimlet." Lea resigned from West Point in December of 1860 and helped raise a volunteer company in his home state. 

 He entered the war as captain of that company, which soon became part of the 5th North Carolina. In early May of 1862, Lea was cited for bravery during the fighting at Williamsburg, where he was wounded and captured. While being held  under house arrest in Williamsburg, Lea married Margaret Durfey, who was one of the local women who attended his wounds. The guests at his wedding included his old friend Custer, who served as the best man. Custer noted in a letter to his sister that they "were both struck by the strange fortune which had thrown us together again under such remarkable circumstances."  

Lea remained a prisoner until early in November, when he finally rejoined the regiment. He later received promotion to the rank of lieutenant Colonel and served with his regiment in Iverson's Brigade.  Following the war, Lea became a minister in West Virginia and died there in 1884.

 

New Focus on Mystery Officer

Until recently, few details were available on Adjutant Junius B. French from the 23rd North Carolina, who was mortally wounded during the fighting on July 1. He first appeared as the acting adjutant in the official report for Chancellorsville. The report for Gettysburg noted that he was mortally wounded. Because he served with the regiment for such a short time, his complied service record adds almost no additional information. Some further sleuthing has uncovered many additional details on this mystery officer.

 French has a detailed biography in John Lipscomb Johnson, The University Memorial: Biographical Sketches of the Alumni of the University of Virginia Who Fell in the Confederate War (Baltimore, MD: Turnbull Brothers, 1871), 485-487. Junius Butler French was born in Virginia in 1837. During his early years, he live in Washington, D.C., Brooklyn, New York, and Texas. French enrolled in law school at the University of Virginia in 1859. Two years later he took up the study of law with a judge in Charlotte, North Carolina. During the following year, the young Virginian opened his own practice.

At the outbreak of war, he joined the 1st North Carolina regiment and served at the battle of Bethel. French later served briefly in another Tar Heel regiment. Just prior to Chancellorsville, he took the position as adjutant of the 23rd North Carolina.

The source also adds several additional details on the lieutenant's  death at Gettysburg. The former University of Virginia law student suffered horribly when his foot was "shattered by a ball" as he was "urging his men forward" from Oak Ridge into town on the first day of the battle. While lying on the field, French was "struck with two other bullets, one of which entered the thigh, and ranging upward penetrated his abdomen." The injuries proved so severe that the young officer died "at day break" on the following day.