My recent adventures took me to Clarkton North Carolina. Here I stumbled upon Benevolence Cemetery, and the grave of Private Bryant B Gause. He was born in Bladen County North Carolina, to Henry Taylor and Lucy Ann Gause[1], on October 12^th, 1837, [2] He was listed as being five feet ten inches tall, with blue eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion.[3] Before the outbreak of the American Civil War Pvt. Gause was a farmer. He would meet Lucy Matilda Thompson. They would marry shortly before the hostilities began. Gause would enlist on May 3^rd, 1861, at Elizabethtown North Carolina.[4] He was mustered into “B” Co. NC 18th Infantry the same day.[5] Not wanting to leave her husband and being 6 feet tall, 165 lbs., physically strong and an expert with the rifle herself[6], she…. “cut her thick hair close, took up seams in one of Bryant’s suits, oiled her squirrel musket, and boarded a train for Virginia as ‘Pvt. Bill Thompson”[7] 

She fought side by side with her husband and the 18^th at First Manassas, and was wounded when… “an iron (shell) scrap tore open her scalp from forehead to crown (later protected by a silver plate).””[8] She was discovered as a woman but begged to be sent back to her husband’s side. Her request was approved, and she was with her husband during the Seven Days where he was wounded at Frayser’s Farm.[9] They would also be engaged at the Battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg. Sadly, during the Battle of Fredericksburg Pvt. Gause was seriously wounded[10]. He was taken to a hospital in Scottsville, VA. Where he would die from his injuries on January 1^st, 1863.[11]

His wife” Pvt. Bill Thompson” was not by his side when he passed, as she was in the advanced stages of pregnancy and was home to give birth to their daughter Mary Caroline Gause.[12] Pvt. Gause’s body would be escorted home by his wife ending her service as well.

He would be interred at Benevolence Cemetery in Clarkton North Carolina where he now rests. Lucy Matilda Thompson Gause AKA Pvt. Bill Thompson would go back to a more traditional role post war weaving and working the fields. She would eventually settle in Savannah, Georgia. Here she would meet an Irishman who served in the Union Navy by the name of Joseph Patrick Kenney. [13] They would have six children. Lucy would die on June 22, 1925, at the age of 83. She is buried at the Meeks Cemetery in Nicholls, Georgia.[14]

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[1] Gloria Cash, “Gill Family Tree,” Ancestry, accessed April 21, 2021, https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/153633896/person/102030276353/facts.

[2] “Page 1 Headstone Applications, 1925-1963.” Fold3. Accessed April 21, 2021. https://www.fold3.com/image/320518210.

[3] “Page 31 Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – North Carolina,” Fold3, accessed April 21, 2021, https://www.fold3.com/image/37632252

[4] “Page 31 Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – North Carolina,” Fold3, accessed April 21, 2021, https://www.fold3.com/image/37632252

[5] “Bryant B. Gause,” American Civil War Research Database (Historical Data Systems, Inc.), accessed April 21, 2021, http://www.civilwardata.com/active/hdsquery.dll?SoldierHistory?C&181744.

[6] “Florida 7th VF Bulletin,” Ancestry, accessed April 21, 2021, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/1034196/person/6003737475/media/8a687238-5116-41c0-83db-19d1689cb275?_phsrc=ZhY340&_phstart=successSource.

[7] Mauriel Joslyn, Confederate Women (Gretna, LA: Pelican, 2005), Pg. 67.

[8] Mauriel Joslyn, Confederate Women (Gretna, LA: Pelican, 2005), Pg. 67.

[9] “Bryant B. Gause,” American Civil War Research Database (Historical Data Systems, Inc.), accessed April 21, 2021, http://www.civilwardata.com/active/hdsquery.dll?SoldierHistory?C&181744.

[10] “Page 31 Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – North Carolina,” Fold3, accessed April 21, 2021, https://www.fold3.com/image/37632252.

[11] Ibid

[12] DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook, They Fought like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), Pg. 59.

[13] “Florida 7th VF Bulletin,” Ancestry, accessed April 21, 2021, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/1034196/person/6003737475/media/8a687238-5116-41c0-83db-19d1689cb275?_phsrc=ZhY340&_phstart=successSource.

[14] Ibid