America’s Civil War left death and sadness to countless families. From the beginning, every home that sent a father, son, or husband to the war lived in fear of the loss of their loved one. The stories of many, if not most, individuals who lost their lives, faded and have been lost to time. However, this is the story of a love that endured after death.
Company D of the 54th Virginia Infantry Regiment organized at Floyd Courthouse in September of 1861 and was mustered into Confederate service in Abingdon, Virginia, on October 1, 1861. Henry Slusher was the initial Captain of Company D, and Henry’s first cousin, Lorenzo Dow “L.D.” Hylton was elected First Lieutenant.
Born to Burwell and Mary Ann (Slusher) Hylton in Floyd on August 6, 1830, L.D. married Barbara Ellen Huff on July 23, 1857. When Company D marched off to war, L.D. left Barbara to raise their children as best she could. Proud parents of two daughters, they were expecting a third when L.D. left for Abingdon. L.D. knew that Barbara would be left in the safe and helpful hands of neighbors and members of extended family. Neither could have considered that they would never meet in person again.
After leaving for battle, the 54th Va. would see action at Middle Creek in Floyd County, Kentucky, in January 1862 as part of the Army of Eastern Kentucky. In December 1862, the 54th was transferred to Colston’s Brigade, Elzey’s Command in the Confederate Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia. December found them stationed at Kelly’s Ford, about eight miles from Suffolk, Virginia.
On December 28, 1862, Lorenzo Dow Hylton, while in camp near Petersburg, wrote to his wife: “Dear Barbara…I have got my likeness taken. I will send it to you the first chance I git [sic] so that I think it will be sent safe. I would send it by male [sic], but I am afraid it will git [sic] lost. If I can send it safe I want you to be carefull [sic] and not git [sic] it injured…” Apparently during a lull in soldiering, Hylton had taken time to have his image made in a photographic shop in Petersburg.
Hylton’s image was in the form of an ambrotype, a process that creates a positive photographic image on a sheet of glass. It seems from his December 28 letter that Hylton worried about the damage to his “likeness” and wanted the utmost care used to get his image back to his family in distant Floyd County. The framed image was encased in a decorative case, known as a Union box since its label indicated the company of manufacture. Hylton removed the Union company label, packaged the image and case in a small cardboard box, and wrote the following on the box’s exterior:
L.D. Hylton
Likeness to
Barbara E. Hylton
To be left in care of Bryant Hylton to be
Handed to Burwell Hylton
In a letter dated February 1, 1863, L.D. wrote to his father Burwell Hylton: “Please tell Barbara that I have sent my likeness to her by Powhatan Williams he is to leve [sic] it at Uncle Bryants for him to hand to you….” The box and image were then successfully delivered to Barbara as L.D. had instructed. Afterwards, Barbara began showing their father’s image to the children and had the children kiss the image each night before going to bed.
Later on, Hylton and the 54th would then be transferred to the Army of Tennessee in Triggs’ Brigade, Preston’s Division, Buckner’s Corps under overall command of General Braxton Bragg. On September 19 and 20, 1863, the 54th was in the middle of the Battle of Chickamauga after which they were in line during the siege of Chattanooga. That siege ended with General U.S. Grant’s victory at the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. L.D. Hylton was reported wounded in action during that battle. Hylton survived the wounding on Missionary Ridge and was transferred to a Confederate military hospital in Marietta, Georgia.
The wounded Hylton appeared to be recovering and as late as January 20th 1864, would write to Barbara about his medical condition: “Dear Wife…I will say to you that I am still improving. I can turn myself without help and can set up long enough to wash and comb my hair. I shall make an application for a furlough before long if I still keep improving….” He decided not to share what others were indicating; his wound was “in the gut,” a wound that was almost always fatal.
Although there had seemed to be several weeks of improvement, on February 15, 1864, Lt. Samuel Slusher, another of L.D.’s cousins, wrote to Barbara “…that David Willis received a letter yesterday stating that your husban [sic] Lorenzo D. Hylton died the 13th at Marietta, Ga he stated that he seam [sic] to be doing well until two or 3 days before he died when he was taken worse and got worse until he died….” Never physically returning to the family he left behind, L.D. was buried in the Confederate Military Cemetery in Marietta. This unwelcome news left Barbara with three daughters and the single cherished image of the man she loved and married.
Barbara continued to have the children kiss his image as time moved on. These words of love came from Barbara in a poem she wrote for her husband, Lorenzo Dow Hylton:
First
When I received your likeness
I was overfilled with joy
I looked upon your smiling face
And laid it in a drawer
2nd
I often look upon it
And shed a many tear
And think of you my husband
The one I love so dear
3rd
I show it to the children
And ask them who is that
They will look a while at it and laugh
And say I know its pap
4th
And then they will say o mother
Can’t you turn it wrong side out
Turn up the pretty little box
And let poor pap come out
May the story of L.D., as well as the memory of the hundreds of thousands who lost their lives in the War Between the States remind all of the very real effects of war on communities and families.
The letters and poem contained herein are from the Huff-Hylton family file contained in the Special Collections Department, University Libraries, Virginia Tech and are cited as: Huff-Hylton Family Papers Ms 1998-001, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia