Andrew Belcher Gray (1820 - 1862)

Born 6 Jul 1820 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Ancestors

Died 16 Apr 1862 at age 41 in Fort Pillow, Lauderdale County, Tennessee

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Biography

Captain Andrew Belcher Gray CSA b; July 6, 1820 in Norfolk Virginia. He married Apolina (Pauline) Leacock June 26, 1853 at New Orleans Louisiana. Andrew and Polly had the following children:^[1]

1. Mary A Gray
2. Samuel Gray
3. Crocket Gray
4. Margaret Gray
5. Calvin Gray
6. Sarah Gray ^[2]

Texas

1839, Andrew and his brother, Alfred G Gray were recruited into the Texas Navy by Edwin W. Moore. Shortly after this Andrew left the navy. ^[3]

1840, Andrew served the Republic of Texas with General Memucan Hunt in the task of surveying the United States-Texas boundary. (a large task) (that would have been the entire border between East Texas and Louisiana.^[3]

Mexican American War - Andrew surveyed North Texas.

After Mexican American War, in 1848 Andrew was appointed principal surveyor for the began the large survey of the United States- Mexican border (on the West side of Texas following the Treaty of Guadalupe.^[3]

While surveying he determined a map by Disturnell was faulty. He pointed this out, which resulted in being replaced for the rest of the project. However Andrew published his report: Survey of a Route for the Southern Pacific Railroad, on the 32nd Parallel (1856). ^[3]

1853- Andrew surveyed for the Texas Western Railroad Company.

Military

1839, Andrew and his brother, Alfred G Gray were recruited into the Texas Navy by Edwin W. Moore Shortly after this Andrew left the navy. ^[3]

1861- Andrew Belcher Gray enlisted in the Confederate Army as captain of the infantry, First Division, Western Department. ^[3]Being in charge of chief engineers, he fortified Island No. 10, Tennessee, in the Mississippi River. ^[3]

According to Texas Handbook, while Andrew was doing a survey for Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, when Andrew was killed at Fort Pillow.^[3]

Capt. Andrew Belcher Gray was KIA April 16, 1862 at Fort Pillow Lauderdale County Tennessee, United States.^[4][3]

Death: April 16, 1862, Fort Pillow, Lauderdale, Tennessee ^[3]

Interred: Nov 21, 1868, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee ^[5]

• Battle for the Mississippi River and Plum Point Bend -defense of Ft Pillow and control of the Mississippi River

Sources

1. ↑ United States Census, 1860, database with images, FamilySearch: (30 December 2015), Andrew Gray, 1860.
2. ↑ Virginia Births and Christenings, 1584-1917, database, FamilySearch: (5 December 2014), Andrew Gray in entry for Sarah Gray, 16 Oct 1875; citing Sussex, Virginia, reference p 168; FHL microfilm 2,046,950.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9} https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fgr19
4. ↑ Gray genealogy : being a genealogical record and history of the descendants of John Gray, of Beverly, Mass., and also including sketches of other Gray families Author: Marcius Denison Raymond. Publisher: Tarrytown, N.Y 1887. Page: 302.
5. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29B-RBPZ : 15 March 2016), Andrew Belcher Gray, 1862; Burial, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States of America, Elmwood Cemetery; citing record ID 153606352, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

• https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fgr19
• A History of Ft Pillow
• Battle of Plum Point Bend
• https://web.archive.org/web/20051019201322/http://www.nps.gov/vick/camptrail/sites/Tennessee-sites/Ft.PillowTN.htm
• Howard P. Nash, Jr.,"A Naval History of the Civil War (Cranbury, N.J".: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1972), 116-118; Larry .J. Daniel and Lynn N. Brock, Island No. 10: Struggle for the Mississippi Valley (Tuscaloosa: University Press of Alabama, 1996)