The Cost of the Civil War to PASCHAL M. MEADOR

George Townsend and Ann E Meador, my generations great grandparents, were distant cousins, which really could explain a lot.

George's father was a Virginia farmer by the name of PASCHAL M. MEADOR.

Paschal and his wife, Quintina Wright Meador, had a least 8 children. The six oldest were boys followed by two daughters and from the oldest to the youngest there was a 15 year difference in age. (I have another interesting story about Quintina's family history.)

On July 23, 1861, at the age of 43, Paschal enlisted in Virginia's 58th Infantry and was assigned to Company D as a Sergeant. On that same day, his oldest son, James O. Meador also enlisted in the same unit and was assigned to his father's Company...at the age of 19. ALSO, on that same day, his 18 year old son, John J. Meador did the same thing.

Apparently, 17 year old Henry and 16 year old George were left to take care of the family and the farm.

Paschal's and the boy's first engagements were what became known as Jackson's Valley Campaigns during the Spring of 1862 in the Shenandoah Valley, under the command of "Stonewall" Jackson, and ran from March to June.

On May 28th, during these battles, John was killed in action with his father and brother nearby.

Paschal and oldest son, John, fought together in The Seven Days Battles in Hanover and Henrico Counties in Virginia from June 25th to July 1st.

They followed that with participation in The Battle of Second Manassas in Prince William County, Virginia on August 29th and 30th, 1862.

Also, they were together during The Battle of Antietam on September 17th in Washington County, near Sharpsburg, Maryland.

On October 25, 1862, Paschal mustered out of the military (minimum tour of duty at this point was one year...he had completed 15 months in some of the biggest battles of the early part of the war).

On November 3, 1862, number three son Henry died, as far as I can tell, back home in Franklin County, Virginia at the age of 18. I have found no cause of death, but I DO believe that he was seriously ill, and that is why Paschal decided to leave the military and go home, because it was leaving young Granddaddy George as the oldest to handle the family and the farm.

Paschal also had a half-brother, Andrew Terrell Demoss Meador, who also fought for the Confederacy, and who died on October 4, 1864 in the Union POW Camp at Fort Delaware.

But, James fought on.

He fought at The Battle of Fredericksburg, The Battle of Chancellorsville, The Overland Campaign, The Valley Campaigns of 1864 (returning to the Shenandoah Valley, where his younger brother had been killed 2 years earlier), The Battle of Sayler's Creek, and The Appomattox Campaign.

Early on the morning of April 9, 1865, near the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, The Battle of Appomattox Court House was fought, under the command of General Robert E. Lee. That loss to Union General U.S. Grant, was the cause of surrender by General Lee later in the day.

During that last major battle that ended the American Civil War, James O. Meador was killed in action. He came that close.....

So, to the Civil War, Granddaddy Paschal lost two sons, and one brother, plus one son from illness. I'm sure his farm had been stripped to the bare bones by both armies, also.

And, sitting here some 155 year later, I wonder, if I could speak to him today....if he would say that this treasonous act by the leadership of the Confederacy was worth the cost that he personally had to pay.

I do not consider myself a Confederate, I had ancestors that fought on both sides....I am an American and a Texan...not a Confederate and not a Southerner. And although I HONOR the service of my many ancestors to a cause that they considered worthy of their sacrifices in a war that did actually have to be fought, I CANNOT say that I am proud of their actions.

However, in this situation, our family paid way too big of a price for the cause of trying to save slavery for the richest of the Southern Americans.

I do have several slave owners in my family history, but they were in the 1600;s, the 1700's, and the very early 1800's (and that has, without a doubt, been the biggest heart breaking discovery of all that I have uncovered). But by the time of the Civil War, none of my direct descendents, could afford "a pot to piss in"...much less the finances to own other human beings.

When I uncovered this information from my research, and was able to piece this story together, there was no shame in my mind for their actions. All I felt was the pain of loss for two Great Uncles and a Great-Great Uncle that my Great-Great Grandfather and Grandmother endured during such a short period of time. And THEN they had to pull themselves up, along with their entire remaining family, and suffer through Reconstruction.

Unlike some of the Confederate veterans from other parts of my family tree who were in Texas, which was broke, but mostly in one piece...the MEADORS were in Virginia...and the end of the war was far from the end of their suffering.