John L. Claiborne

Age 22, he enlisted in Morganton, GA on 12 April 1861 and mustered as a Private in Company E, 2nd Georgia Infantry on 7 May. He was elected 2nd Lieutenant on 28 April 1862. Captain Campbell later wrote of him:

He entered the company as a private on its first organization, and was one of the few then to be found in Fannin [County] willing to volunteer for the defense of the South. I soon after promoted him to the rank of Corporal for his good conduct as a soldier, in which capacity he served until the reorganization of the company, when he was elected 1st Lieutenant. I have known him from childhood, commanded him in the school room as a student, as well as in camp as a soldier, and no man ever knew a kinder heart - always true to his friends. A braver spirit, a truer patriot, or better soldier never lived.

He was mortally wounded in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862.

... Lt. Claiborne, who died sometime during the night after the battle. Lt. Claiborne, son of Judge [Phillip D.] Claiborne, of this place [Morganton, GA], received his death wounds while gallantly leading his company, his Capt. being absent in consequence of a wound received at Manassas. His once elegant and graceful form was awfully mangled. The right leg was torn off by a bomb shell; the left leg shot through with a Minnie ball. He also received a ball in the right side, but he died calmly, as only patriots die, without a murmur.

His service from Henderson1 and his Compiled Service Records,2 online from fold3, both of which have him killed outright at Sharpsburg. The quotes above from an 18 November 1862 letter from Captain William Campbell (with eyewitness account of Pvt. Robert Murray) published in the Augusta (GA) Weekly Constitutionalist of 3 December; thanks to Laura Elliott for finding and providing that. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1850. His memorial is on Findagrave.; he may be buried with other Confederate dead in the Washington Confederate Cemetery, Hagerstown, MD, but is not listed among the named internments there.

c. 1840 in NC

09/18/1862; Sharpsburg, MD