William Samuel Shepherd

Raised in Suffolk, VA, in 1860 he was a 22 year old bookkeeper in Norfolk, VA, but he moved to Murfreesboro, Hertford County, NC in the months before the War. He enrolled on 16 May 1861 and was appointed First Lieutenant, Company F, First North Carolina Infantry on 22 July.

He was killed in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862. Many years later Thomas D. Boone (2nd Lieutenant, Co.F) wrote:

Lt. Shepherd, L.C. Lawrence and I had squatted down just to the rear of Co. F., a bullet from the enemy's line struck Lt. S. somewhere about the heart and that noble spirit in an instant "crossed over the river."

His widow Diana filed for his final pay of $141 in December 1862.

His service from the Roster 1 and his Compiled Service Records,2 online from fold3. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860. His gravesite is on Findagrave, source also of his picture, from a photograph in the Suffolk Nansemond Historical Society.

He married Diana Virginia McGuire (1838-1888) in May 1859 and they had a daughter Ada (1860-1936) and son William, Jr. (1861-).

His much younger brother James was also on the Campaign, but was discharged at Frederick, MD on 8 September 1862 for being underage.

See additional photographs of Billie and of his bride over on the blog.

There is a most excellent rendition of Lt Shepherd's story in the June 2012 edition of the newsletter of the Suffolk Nansemond Historical Society, online via the Internet Archive. It has his birth year as 1830.

03/30/1838; Mintonsville, VA

09/17/1862; Sharpsburg, MD; burial in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suffolk, VA