Christopher Perry McGee (abt. 1842 - abt. 1864)

Born about 1842 in Carroll County, Virginia, USA

Ancestors

Died about 1864 at about age 22 in Virginia, USA

Biography

Christopher Perry volunteered for the Confederate Army in Sept. 1861. His 2 older brothers, Walter-age 22 & Richard-age 20 had already enlisted as well as his Uncle Henry. In November Perry contracted the measels and was discharged from the hospital just before Christmas.

All 4 of the McGee's were in company, C; 24th Virginia Infantry. The company was more or less in continual combat til June 1862 as General Lee drove General McClellan away from Richmond into Northern Virginia where on August 30th, Lee decisively whipped General Pope on the old battlefield of Manasses. The 24th VA at Manasses charrged a battery of federal artillery, and according to tradition, the yankees fired a load of small shot in their faces before the guns were over-run.

Christopher Perry McGee, age 22, was killed. His brother Walter was seriously wonded but did not reach Charlottesville for 4 days; he would not return to the company for 7 months. Only Richard, then 21, was left with the company as it marched into Maryland in September and beat off Burnside at Fredericksburg in December.

Walter, apparently recovered from his Manasses wound, in April 1863, and returned to the company but Richard the same month came down with an infection and spent the next month in a Farmville hospital. Walter, shortly thereafter, was admitted to a Richmond hospital when his Manasses wound acted up due to the rigors of camp-life. Both missed the Gettysburg Campaign in July and although Richard was recovered by the time the company returned to Virginia. Walter was not fit for service until late fall.

On June 19, 1864, Walter was struck in the head by a fragment of busting shell. He was taken (probably unconscious) to a Richmond hospital where he died 2 days later on June 24, 1864. He was 24 years of age.

Richard was the last of the McGee's with the companyt. He served in the trenches for 10 months, only to be captured at Five Fords 8 days before the end of the war. He was shipped north to a Maryland prison camp and discharged from there on June 15, 1864. Richard was the only one of the 4 McGee's in the company to survive the war. He was twice married and lived to a ripe old age, be the last survivor of his company in Carroll County.

Neither Perry McGee who was 22 when killed at Manasses nor Walter who was 24 when killed at Petersburg were ever married.

Henry McGee who has been discharged in May, 1862 because of his age, was accidently killed in Carroll County on January 18, 1864 when a team of horses ran away with him. He was 39 years of age at the time.

Sources

The Carroll News, Hillsville, Virginia, January 30, 1964 edition, Article entitled "THE McGEE'S BECAME EXTINCT".

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