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Author: kicallis
Surnames: Callison, Bright, Gilmore
Classification: biography
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.callison/164/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
William Henry Callison, born in 1839 to Col. Elisha and Margarite Bright Callison of
Greenbrier County, Virginia. He was unmarried at the age of twenty-two when he enlisted
with the Lewisburg Rifle Company, which became Co. E of the 27th Virginia Infantry under
General Thomas Jackson.
Their baptism of fire came at the battle of First Manassas which was the first large
engagement of thr War Between the States on July 21, 1861. When they arrived at the battle
it was not going well for the Confederates and they were beginning to retreat.
Jackson's brigade stood as a stonewall on Henry's hill and the retreating soldiers
began to rally behind the Virginians. After hours of bombardment from the Federals cannons
the 27th was ordered to stand up and fix bayonets and charge the enemy and drive them back
to Washington. They bravely charged into the Maelstrom of destruction screaming the
'rebel yell' for the first time. They pressed in as one would do in a great rain
storm, except this was a storm of iron and death. Once the 27th was in range the Federal
guns opened up with canister that istantly brought down one third of the regiment. The
remaining soldiers of the "bloody 27th" surged forward and took Rickett's
guns. This was the beginning of the turning point of !
this battle which ended with the Federals panicked retreat back to Washington. It was
here on Henry's hill that William Callison died on July 21, 1861. Samuel A. B. Gilmore
also in the 27th and William's brother-in-law, arranged for his body to be transported
back to Lewisburg for burial. William is buried beside his parents at the Old Stone Church
in Lewisburg. His bloodstained New Testament was on display at the North House Museum when
I was there several years ago.
On this sesquicentennial of the Civil War and on the anniversary of his death I honor the
bravery of our ancestor and pass on his story in the hope that he would not be forgotten.
July 21, 2011. Kirk Callison
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