Robert van Benton Fletcher

Robert van Benton Fletcher N R C P Y Photo: Listed as “Benton” in key to photo at reference.[1411] Listed as “Thad”.[1412] Born: 4 December 1842 Fauquier County.[1413] 4 December 1824, Fauquier County.[1414] 4 December 1832.[1415] [NB, years different, not duplicated.] Married: Mollie Nelson.[1416] Mrs. Benton Fletcher; born February 19, 1846; died July 1, 1923; buried Warrenton Cemetery.[1417] Died: 2 December 1920 in Fauquier.[NOTE:does the stone give place of death? I think it does not][1418] Buried Warrenton Cemetery.[1419] A footstone displays his initials, “B. F.”; a corner marker one space over from his wife’s resting place is carved, simply, “F.”[1420] Obituary: Children: Parents and Siblings: Other Family: Stories, Letters & Biographies: CSR: 5’6”, dark complexion, brown hair, grey eyes; farmer; enlisted 25 April 1861; discharged 21 October 1861 disability; later fought with Col. Mosby’s command; captured; Fort Warren. Additional Information: Listed as “Benton”.[1421] Served two years, discharged. Listed as “Benton V. Fletcher”.[1422] Later transferred to Mosby. Captured and imprisoned at Ft. Warren, Mass.[1423] “Was an original member of BH, joining in 1858. Later transferred to Mosby’s Rangers; commanding officer was William H. Chapman. In September 1865, captured at Snicker’s Gap and taken to Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. Transferred to Ft. Warren, Mass; released on oath, June 13, 1865.”[1424] [NOTE:fix fn; check W. R. Smith Roster.] Check # name alternative: Benton Van Buren Fletcher. [ # Check with great-nieces: Mildred Johnson Armstrong, Virginia Johnson Moffett (she gave me picture of S.S. Jones.] See page in file that Channing wrote; Confederate Veteran. Need date of magazine. Likely published between April 1911 and February 1921. Page 35. Article has photo of Robert Fletcher but does not mention Black Horse at all. [NOTE:Note: This Robert Fletcher’s dod is 20 April 1911. Dod listed above in entry is 2 December 1920.] “The Gallant Fletcher Brothers. By C. M. Smith, Delaplane, VA.”[1425] “I am writing this as a feeble tribute to the memory of three as gallant brothers as ever fought in defense of a righteous cause, Capt. John Fletcher, Clinton Fletcher, and Robert Fletcher, all natives of Loudoun County, Va. “Captain Fletcher was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, and, raising a company at the outbreak of the War between the States, he was made its captain. This company belonged to the 7th Virginia Cavalry, commanded by the immortal Col. (afterwards Gen.) Turner Ashby. Clinton Fletcher was a private in his brother’s company and was killed at Greenland at the age of nineteen. Captain Fletcher was killed at the same time at the head of his company. Their comrades speak in the highest terms of the gallantry of these men and the high esteem in which they were held by all who seved with them. “Robert Flecher was a private in Capt. Welby Carter’s company. In the first battle of Manassas, by some mistake, this company was ordered to charge the enemy’s line. In their front was the New York Zoaves, called the “Fire Regiment.” Drawing his sword and calling for his little company of forty men, he led them literally into the jaws of death, riding through and over the Zoaves, shooting and sabering them as they went and then back. It was a fatal mistake and, like the charge of the Light Brigade upon the Russian center, cost in killed and wounded half this heroic little band. Seven of his men were killed and thirteen wounded; some twelve or more horses were killed and a number wounded. Robert Fletcher received a severe wound in his right arm shattering his elbow, which completely disabled him for active service. Just as soon as he was able he joined his brother’s company and was soon promoted to commissary sergeant. He was with Captain Fletcher when the latter was killed. In after years Robert Fletcher told his daughter that the next morning when the roll was called and so few answered that Captain Carter cried like a child. “Though an acquaintance with Robert Fletcher of nearly sixty-seven years, I never knew him to be guilty of an ungentlemanly or unmanly act. The Golden Rule was the guiding principle of his life. He was a consistent member of the Baptist Church at Upperville, Va., charitable to the poor and needy, and for his good qualities was loved and esteemed by all who knew him. Nothing will describe the life and character of this man more truly than these lines: “ ‘Friend to truth, of soul sincere, In action faithful and in honor clear, Who broke no promise, served no private end, Who gained no title and lost no friend.’ ” “He died at his home, Rose Hill, near Upperville, on April 20, 1911, at the age of seventy-two years. He is survived by his daughter, Mrs. George H. Slater, and three grandsons. His death was quiet and peaceful, because he, “like those sustained and soothed by an unfailing trust,” approached the grave “as one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams.”