Company H · 4th Virginia Cavalry · Black Horse
* George Fitzhugh Vass
1843–1862
Confirmed by: M K Y
Confederate Service Record
Company H, "post-war roll".
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This entry contains unresolved editorial notes from the working manuscript,
marked as [NOTE: ...].
These are Lynn Hopewell's or Susan Roberts' open research questions, preserved exactly as written.
- George Fitzhugh Vass[4130] M K Y Photo: Born: 6 June 1843 at Elgin Cottage, Culpeper, Virginia.[4131] Married: Died: 1862 at Meadow Bridge.[4132] “George was killed in battle on the morning of May 24, 1862, at Meadow Bridge. He was the first soldier to be buried in the Confederate Cemetery at Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery, Brook Hill, Henrico County, Virginia.”[4133] A “little slate marker” devoid of dates announces the single grave of George and T. D. Vass “in a Confederate portion of the Emmanual Cemetery.”[4134] A “[d]edication ceremony will be held in October 2006 for granite Confederate tombstones supplied… by the Veteran’s Administration. They will be installed …[for] George F. Vass, died at 18 years old, and his brother Townshend Dade Vass, died at 17 years old. These two brothers are buried one …[above] the other in graves marked 84 and 84 1/2. They were… killed in battle almost two years apart to the day.”[4135] Obituary: Children: Parents and Siblings: His parents were Susan (Fitzhugh) and Siffrein Maury Vass (1817–1864), who wed in 1839. He was one of 12 children, given here with their years of birth: Isabella Roberts, 1840; James [BH], 1841; George Fitzhugh [BH], 1843; Elizabeth Fontaine, 1845; Townshend Dade [BH], 1846; Douglas Fife, 1848; Laura LeBanon, 1850; Rosalyn C., 1851; Siffrein Maury, 1853; Henry Fitzhugh, 1855; John Marbury, 1857; Milton L. LeBanon, 1858.[4136] “Isabella R. (Vass) Hamilton was George Fitzhugh Vass’s sister.” “One of George’s brothers was Townsend Daniel Vass.” Another “brother, James A. Vass,… also rode with them in Company H., 4th Virginia Cavalry Regiment….”[4137] Other Family: George’s maternal grandparents were Sarah Battaile (Dade) [NOTE:checking this] and George Fitzhugh. Sarah was “daughter of Townshend Dade, of “Albion,” King George County.” George’s residence was “Bunker Hill”, Fauquier. “Their issue included George Townshend Fitzhugh and Susan (Fitzhugh) who married Siffrein M. Vass.”[4138] George was first cousin to William A. Bowen, Jr. [BH]. His mother “Susan (Fitzhugh)… was sister to Ellen Dade (Fitzhugh) who married William A. Bowen, father of Black Horseman William A. (Billy) Bowen, Jr.”[4139] George’s paternal grandparents were Elizabeth Brayne Maury (Smith) [NOTE:or Eliza Brayne Maury—check’ maiden name] and James C. Vass.[4140] Elizabeth was “daughter of Mr. John A. W. Smith.”[4141] James (22 September 1770–3 February 1937) was born in Forres, Scotland. He wed first “Susanna Brooke in 1799,” who “died in May 1816.” This source states that he then wed “Eliza Brayne Maury in September 1816,”[4142] but another source, printed in 1825, states that Elizabeth E. M. Smith and James C. Vass were “Married—At Warrenton, Fauquier County, on April 21, by Rev. Jones….”[4143] The years of their children’s births support the earlier date. The cavalrymen’s grandfather was a merchant and bank director. His marker in Fredericksburg Cemetery is inscribed, “Mark the perfect man/ behold the upright/ for the end of that ———/ is peace. 17 Ps. 17 or 37 vs.” [NOTE:fc pp 29–30][4144] The cavalrymen’s paternal grandfather, James Vass (1770–1837), who wed Susannah Brooke, was son of “Jeannie (or Jane) Cumming” and a Mr. Vass, her first marriage. She was daughter of “James Cumming, Laird of Sluie Castle, Forres, Elginshire, Scotland,” whose great-grandmother, named Jeanne Cumming,[4145] “was descended, through the Earls of Huntly, from Robert Bruce.”[4146] [4147] George’s aunts and uncles were: Rosslyn (1819–1880), wed Mattie, died in San Francisco; Alexander Fridge (1822– ), wed Alice Fitzhugh, resided in New Orleans, Louisiana; Isabelle Roberts “Belle”, died of scarlet fever at age eight; Mary Mildred Jane, died of scarlet fever at age three; Lachlan Cumming (1831–1896), wed Mary Eliza Jones of New Bern, North Carolina, Chaplain of the Stonewall Brigade and later pastor of New Bern Presbyterian Church.[4148] “The Vass Family Bible, the front section, at the Library of Virginia in Richmond has [Siffrein and Susan Vass’s] family info available online.”[4149] “By looking at the federal census records, I could see that after the 1850 Federal Census this family changed drastically. Before the 1860 census the father and mother divided the family and the father took the three oldest boys and two oldest girls and left the homestead. The mother left the family farm in the care of an overseer. She moved about—she’s on the 1860 federal census twice—and then took the seven youngest children to her parents, the Fitzhughs. Both parents knew there would be war. The father left the two oldest girls together in a safe home and then he and his three sons went to Warrenton…. Despite their young ages, Siffrein’s three sons joined their Confederate brethren to protect their homeland. “The burial place of Siffrein M. Vass is unknown. He died in 1864 also. Two of his daughters died before the war was over too. This family… was forever divided….” The Vass cavalrymen’s sister Isabella wed Hugh Hamilton [BH].[4150] Stories, Letters & Biographies: An account of the Vass brothers’ service was told at the grave marking of George and Townshend. See Biographies Chapter under James Vass. CSR: Company H, “post-war roll”. Additional Information:
This entry contains 21 footnote references. The full bibliography is in the References section.
No portrait
on file
on file
Source Rosters
- M Martin Roll (most authoritative)
- K K.I. Keith Roster (1924)
- Y Nanzig Register
Descendant or researcher? Corrections and additions welcome.
Suggest a correction →From A Biographical Register of the Members of Fauquier County Virginia's Black Horse Cavalry, 1859–1865. Compiled by Lynn C. Hopewell (1940–2006), with editorial assistance by Susan W. Roberts and research by Heidi Burke. Manuscript completed February 28, 2008. Published posthumously.