James Hick Millwood was only sixteen years old when he joined the army of the Confederacy. To say that he was brave is an understatement. Time served on bloody battlefields surely made the brave boy into a brave man.

This is his story.

James Hick Millwood was the son of Jackson Millwood, son of James Millwood (1798-after 1800) and Melinda “Milly” Fowler (1800-after 1770).

Milly Fowler was the daughter of Ephraim Fowler (1765-1822), son of Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808).

Who was the mother of James Hick Millwood? The 1850 census lists “Mary” born 1830 in North Carolina.

• Jackson Millwood (31)
• Mary (20)
• Nancy (7)
• JAMES (4)
• Amanda (3)

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In 1860, “Mary” was missing, and “Lucinda” was in the household. Was her name Mary Lucinda or were these two different women? I do not know.

Much later, as you will see, Lucinda will claim James Hick Millwood as her own son.

Lucinda was almost certainly Lucinda Fowler.

In 1860, four-year old “James” was missing. Instead, there was a fourteen-year old boy whose name has been incorrectly transcribed as “Nick.”

Census analysis suggests that “Nick” was not a name used in the Millwood family. Examining the handwriting of census taker T.J. Harris, it is an understandable mistake; his letters “N” and “H” look very similar.

James Hick Millwood b. 1846 was the first Millwood male I find with the name Hick. The variations of the name — Hick, Hicks, and Hix — would be used in future generations of this family.

• Jackson Millwood (38)
• Lucinda (30)
• Nancy (16)
• HICK (14)
• Amanda (13)
• Victoria (5)
• James Millwood (25)

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Jackson Millwood was thirty-nine years old when the Civil War began. There are no military records for him; he was either too old or too ill to enlist. He was was dead by November 1861.

His attorney, Mr. White, filed a petition on November 29, 1861 stating that Jackson Millwood had died intestate and had left no heirs. This is hard to understand: he had a wife and a house full of children.

Lucinda may not have been married to him, and all of the children —Nancy, James Hick, Amanda, and Victoria Rebecca — may have been born out of wedlock.

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The estate documents indicated Lucinda Fowler on a note with James Murphy and Zachariah Philips in the amount of $44.48.

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Lucinda Fowler bought several items at the estate auction. Amanda Fowler also bought items. Was Amanda Fowler the Amanda Millwood in census records?

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Jackson Millwood’s estate was settled over the next years and finalized by 1874. It was administered by his brother Franklin Millwood.

My apologies for digressing, but I think it is important to understand the family dynamics; perhaps I should say–attempt to understand.

Shortly before the death of Jackson Millwood, his sixteen-year old son, James Hick Millwood, joined Captain C.W. Boyd’s Company, 15th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers. He enlisted at the Union Court House on August 29, 1861. He was mustered into service at Lightwood Knott Springs near Columbia on September 7.

James Hick Millwood would be known in Civil War military records as J.H. Millwood.

He was “present” in Company Muster Rolls from his date of enlistment through May 1863. I have not included all of the documentation. The important ones below are as follows:

• left: original enlistment and muster dates
• center: Header Card for J.H. Millwood
• right: sentenced to forfeiture of pay for one month by Regimental court martial. December 5, 1862

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The Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30 – May 6, 1863) was a significant Confederate victory. Considered to be General Robert E. Lee’s “perfect battle,” it would be the last battle for Lt. General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson who was shot and died of pneumonia eight days later.

It was a battle that would forever change the life of Private J.H. Millwood.

Victory or not, the Confederate losses were great: 1,665 killed, 9,081 wounded, and 2,018 captured or missing.

Private J.H. Millwood was one of the wounded. He sustained a gunshot wound to the upper portion of his thigh. He was reported as wounded in action on May 2, 1863. He survived and was admitted into a Confederate hospital.

The Company Muster Rolls in the images below confirm that he was wounded in action at Chancellorsville, Virginia and remained in the hospital for the remainder of his time in the army.

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The document on the left announces the death of Private J.H. Millwood on January 31, 1864.

The document on the right gives us the cause of death: Variola, known to us as smallpox. He had been transferred to the smallpox section of the General Hospital at Howard’s Grove on January 15. He had a little over two weeks to live.

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The presence of “Lucinda Murphy, mother” on the document on the left confirms that J.H. Millwood was the boy in the 1850 (James) and 1860 (Hick) households of Jackson Millwood. The discovery of this kind of document makes the many hours of research so worthwhile.

The document on the right describes the wound received in battle, his admittance to a hospital in July 1, 1863 at Howard’s Grove at Richmond, and a record of his hospital transfers.

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Before the war, the Howard’s Grove had been a place of recreation in Richmond. The Confederacy commandeered it at the beginning of the Civil War to use for arriving troops. It was converted into a hospital by the summer of 1862 and the capacity of 659 grew to over 1800.

There was a section reserved for smallpox patients and it is here that James Hick Millwood was sent.

It was here that he would. die.

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Lucinda (Fowler) Millwood is found in the 1870 household of James Murphy in Draytonville, Union County.

• James Murphy (70)
• Lucinda Murphy (40)
• Victoria Murphy (15)
• James Millwood (10 months)

James Murphy was a blind seventy-year old widower from Ireland. His wife Elizabeth Petty (1815-1855) had died, and their seven children had left the home.

Lucinda Fowler was thirty years younger then James Murphy. Did she marry him or was it an arrangement of convenience? Was he taking care of her and her family, or was she taking care of an older blind man?

The infant James Millwood (b. 1869) in the household was the son of Victoria Millwood . He was almost certainly named in honor of his uncle James Hick Millwood who died in the war.

James Millwood would be known as Hix or Hicks Turner after Victoria married George Turner. He would eventually be known again by his birth name, James Hicks Millwood.

Again, I digress.

I wish there had been a better ending for Private J.H. Millwood. He did not deserve to be wounded so badly on a battlefield that he spent the rest of his life on hospital cots; nor did he deserve to die in a smallpox ward in a hospital hundreds of miles from home.

He was too young, a child really. He should have died an old man in his bed with an old wife and sons and daughters surrounding him with love.

I have done all I can for James Hick Millwood. I have told his story. He will remain with me in some way, as they all do.

Sleep well, sweet baby James.

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