William Henry Chapman

The second of 12 children, he was raised on his parents' prosperous farm (9 slaves in 1860) at Luray in Page County, VA and was a student with his brother Samuel at the University of Virginia by 1860. He was a member of a militia company in Charlottesville, VA in 1861 and may have been with them at Harpers Ferry that April. He then helped organize the Dixie Artillery in Luray and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant on 2 June 1861. He was promoted to Captain on 8 December 1861 to date from Captain Booton's resignation in October.

He commanded the battery on the Campaign.

His battery was disbanded on 4 October 1862 and he was transferred on 12 October to be the enrolling officer for Page County, VA. He then enrolled in J.S. Mosby's 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry and was appointed Captain of Company C. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the unit on 13 March 1865 (to date from 7 December 1864) and was paroled at Winchester, VA on 22 April 1865.

He had a long career as an agent of the US Internal Revenue at Greensboro, NC from about 1872 to at least 1916.

Military service basics from Moore,1 with the photograph from Moore's website [gone in 2009]. Further military details from his Compiled Service Records,2 online from fold3. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860. His gravesite is on Findagrave; thanks to Frank Green for the correction to his burial location.

He married Josephine Macrae Jefferies (1846-1927) in February 1864 and they had 10 children.

His brother Samuel Forrer Chapman (1838-1919) was also in the Dixie Artillery, probably First Lieutenant and possibly with William in Maryland, and was later Adjutant of Mosby's Rangers.

Henry's family home in Luray, VA - known as the Ruffner-Chapman House is on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

04/17/1840; Madison County, VA

09/06/1920; Greensboro, NC; burial in Green Hill Cemetery, Greensboro, NC