William Wellford Randolph

Son of wealthy planter and physician Robert Carter Randolph (1807-1887), in 1860 he was a 23 year old living with his parents, 5 siblings, and at least 30 slaves on their estate "New Market" at White Post in Clarke County, VA. In the years immediately before the war he had been a school teacher and studied the law.

He enlisted on 1 June 1861 at Camp Johnson and mustered as a Private in Company C, 2nd Virginia Infantry on 30 June at Camp Allen. He was detailed on recruiting duty from 2 August to 19 November. He was elected Captain in the reorganization of April 1862.

He was with his company in Maryland, and overnight on 18 - 19 September 1862, as a diversion while the rest of the army returned to Virginia across the Potomac River near Shepherdstown,

Hampton's [cavalry] brigade crossed the Potomac a short distance above Williamsport, while a part of the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry dashed across the river immediately at Williamsport, chasing a few of the enemy's pickets from the place. I was also aided in this demonstration by a battalion of infantry under Captain [W. W.] Randolph, of the Second Virginia ...

He was away from his unit on court martial and other detached duty for much of the remainder of 1862. He was on personal leave from 4 December 1863 to 12 March 1864, serving as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates​. He was appointed Lieutenant Colonel on 30 April (to date from the 26th), but was mortally wounded in action by a gunshot to his head in the Wilderness, VA on 5 May 1864 and died later the same day.

His service from his Compiled Service Records,1 online from fold3. The quote above from Major General J.E.B. Stuart's after-action report. Personal details from family genealogists, the US Census of 1860, and the University Memorial.2 His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from a portrait in Isham Randolph's Gleanings from a Harvest of Memories (1937).

He married Ada Marian Stuart (later Robb, 1841-1914) in September 1863, and their son William, Jr was born just over two months after his father's death.

He was descendant of a line of Virginia Randolphs dating to Colonel William Randolph (1651-1711) and was 2nd cousin to President Thomas Jefferson.

02/20/1837; Clarke County, VA

05/05/1864; the Wilderness, VA; burial in Old Chapel Cemetery, Millwood, VA