Malachi Whitfield Pitts

He enlisted as Private, Company M, Phillips' Legion Infantry Battalion, on 28 April 1862.

He was captured in action at Fox's Gap on South Mountain, MD on 14 September 1862.

He was paroled at Keedysville, MD on 20 September and returned to duty, date not given. He was detailed to the Brigade provost guard by 14 January 1864 and served with them to the end of the war.

He was a farmer in Cobb County. He was killed in 1895 by his neighbor Joseph Walker Eaton over a land boundary dispute. They had been feuding over the property for at least 10 years.

His service from Graham.1 Details from family genealogists. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His death from an article in the Atlanta Constitution of 16 June 1895 (pg. 16).

Malachi married Sarah June Delk (1844-1891) in 1861 and they had 10 children.

Eaton (1839-1926) had been First Sergeant, Co. I, 7th Georgia Infantry and may well have been in Maryland with Pitts in 1862. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 1896 and sentenced to 10 years in the penitentiary, but was granted a pardon or his sentence was commuted by Governor Candler on 10 January 1900 -

Deceased seems to have been the aggressor, and there is doubt as to any criminal intent on the part of the defendant. Previous good character.

12/20/1836; Laurens County, SC

06/15/1895; Cobb County, GA; burial in Sardis Baptist Church Cemetery, Cobb County, GA