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(1841 - 1862)
Home State: North Carolina
Branch of Service: Infantry
Before Sharpsburg
From Greene County, he enlisted 16 May 1861 as 2nd Sergeant, Company A, 3rd North Carolina Infantry. Promoted Fist Sergeant on 28 February 1862, and 3rd Lieutenant 6 August.
On the Campaign
He was killed in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862 - his right leg "cut off" by an exploding shell.
The rest of the War
Originally buried "in Capt. David Smith's Orchard northeast corner" near the battlefield at Sharpsburg. His sword was buried with him on the Smith farm per Shade Wooten, Jr, (brother in law). He was reinterred at Hagerstown in 1907.
References & notes
Burial information from Pruett1 - who has him as Lt. Arthur W. Spraight. Service details from Moore2 and North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster.3
His temporary wooden headboard is in the Museum at the Antietam National Battlefield. There is a plate attached to the board which says: "Mortally wounded Battle of Sharpsburg, MD. 17 Sept 1862 and buried in an apple orchard on Capt. David Smith's farm. Lt. Speight's remains were moved to Hagerstown MD. by Mr. Franklin B. Otto in 1907. This headboard was obtained by Fred W. Cross on 20 Sept 1924 from Mr. Otto."
Birth
05/02/1841; Greene County, NC
Death
09/17/1862; Sharpsburg, MD; burial in Washington Confederate Cemetery, Hagerstown, MD
1 Pruett, Samuel, and Poffenberger & Good, Greg Farino and Western Maryland Regional Library (WMRL), Washington Confederate Cemetery, possible burials, Hagerstown (MD): WHILBR, 2010 [AotW citation 4975]
2 Moore, John Wheeler (compiler), and State of North Carolina, Roster of North Carolina Troops in the War Between the States, 4 volumes, Raleigh: Ashe & Gatling, State Printers and Publishers, 1882, Vol. 1, pg. 81 [AotW citation 6946]
3 Manarin, Louis H., and Weymouth Tyree Jordan, Matthew M Brown, Michael W Coffey, North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865 : A Roster, 20 Volumes +, Raleigh: North Carolina State Department of Archives and History, 1966- [AotW citation 25941]