Dodson And Nellie Ramseur
A wartime story off love and courage,
tenderness and tragedy in the life of North
Carolina's brilliant young general.
This ariicle is adapted from Gary
Gallagher's biography of Genera!
Stephen Dodson Ramseur, to be
published by the University of North
Carolina Press early next year. It is
based principally upon a large set of
letters, now in the Southern Historic
Collection at Chapel Hill. They include
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written by Ramseur to Ellen Rich¬
mond, of Milton, N.C. . whom he mar¬
ried in 1863.
The counship and brief marriage of
Stephen Dodson and Ellen Richmond
Ramseur poignantly illustrated the
tragic impact of the Civil War on
thousands of North Carolinians. Dod¬
son and Nellie were cousins who had
known each other from childhood. He
was born on May 31. 1837. and grew
up in Lincolnton. Lincoln County,
where his father and grandfather were
leading merchants. Two years his jun¬
ior. she was born and reared in Milton,
the daughter of a leading citi/.en of
Caswell County. As a boy Dodson of¬
ten visited his mother's family in
Milton, and passed many happy hours
w ith Nellie, her brother Caleb, and his
other cousins.
A passionate admirer of famous
military figures of the past. Ramseur
entered the U.S. Military Academy in
1855 as a member of the last full class
before the outbreak of war in 1861. He
corresponded with Nellie while at West
Point, discussing his ambitions and
sharing news about family and friends.
She was in Lincolnton when he
returned home on his first furlough in
the summer of 1857. Memories of that
time, he assured her in a letter of
February 1860. were a source of contin¬
uing delight for him. Only the fact that
"a Soldier must recognise Duty as
superior to inclination" prevented Dod¬
son's writing more often to his "Dar¬
ling Cousin."
War clouds began gathering soon
after Ramseur graduated in June 1860.
A firm believer in southern rights, he
watched with grow ing concern as events
led states of the Deep South to secede.
On April 6. 1861. just nine months after
20
By GARY W. GALLAGHER
being commissioned and before North
Carolina left the Union, he resigned
from the U.S. Army and offered his
sword in defense of the South.
Dodson's rise within the Confederate
army was swift. He began as a lieute¬
nant of artillery, soon attained the rank
of major in that branch of the service,
and took part in the fighting on the
Peninsula of Virginia in April 1862.
Elected colonel of the Forty-Ninth
North Carolina infantry later that
month, he returned to Raleigh to train
his new command. Soon Ramseur's
green troops were called to Virginia to
help defend Richmond. They arrived in
early June and participated in the Seven
Days Battles. Their sternest test came
at Malvern Hill on July 1. where
Ramseur received a grievous wound in
his right arm.
Courtship At "Woodside"
Six months of convalescence
followed, during which Dodson visited
Nellie at "Woodside." her father’s home
in Milton. There they fell in love, and
she accepted his proposal of marriage.
Dodson considered Nellie his "long
cherished ideal of womanly perfection"
and marveled that she should return his
/
Stephen Dodton Ramseur during the War Between
The States, (copy ot photo reproduced In William A.
Smith's "Tho Anson Guards. ")
affection. A detached observer, how¬
ever. would have found their mutual at¬
traction natural. Both were small in
stature and possessed quick minds and
gracious manners. They shared a strong
• Presbyterian faith and confided in each
other deeply held feelings about a va¬
riety of subjects. On New Year's Day
in 1863. Dodson sent his love to the
"source of all my ’joys.” "Ever)' day I
love you more fondly and more
devotedly." he confessed, the "senti¬
ment fills every comer of my heart until
it has become as essential to my hap¬
piness as the heart is to existence."
Ramseur returned to duty in late
January 1863 as a brigadier general.
Promoted in November 1862 on the
recommendation of Robert E. Lee. he
had been assigned a brigade of four
North Carolina regiments. His brilliant
performance at the battle of
Chancellorsvillc in early May brought
praise from both Lee and Stonewall
Jackson. Wounded again, he traveled to
Milton for rest. After a week at "Wood-
side" with Nellie, he was back with the
army. Soon the Confederates were tak¬
ing the war north to Pennsylvania, and
Dodson became melancholy as the
distance between him and Nellie grew-.
Images of the beautiful hills and rose
gardens at "Woodside" and of Nellie's
face in the moonlight made him wish
that they had been married while he
was in Milton. From Carlisle. Penn¬
sylvania. he wrote that he was “sad and
heartsick" at being separated from her.
But the invasion was going well: "We
expect to make a bold and successful
campaign."
Three days later the armies collided
at Gettysburg, where Ramseur's brigade
"behaved splendidly" and he had
"many hair breadth escapes." The Con¬
federate defeat in that battle was most
discouraging, he said afterward, but the
men retained their good spirits and
hoped for a chance to pay back the
northern army. "I look the thing square
in the face," he affirmed "and am
prepared to undergo dangers and hard¬
ships and trials to the end." Nellie must
not doubt that with determined effort
and sacrifice "a glorious and honorable
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1984