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Henry Kyd Douglas the son of Robert Douglas and Mary Robertson(Robinson?). Henry was
born 29 Sept. 1840(1) Shepardstown, Jefferson County, Virginia Died 18 Dec 1903
Shepherdstown, Jefferson County, West Virginia buried Ellemwood Cemetery, West
Virginia
He was General Stonewall Jackson's youngest staff member and personal aide. His
memoirs were published after the Civil War - "I Rode With Stonewall" -
by his nephew John Kyd Beckenbaugh. He lived at Ferry Hill Place across the
Potomac River from Shepherdstown, WV. He enlisted in the Confederate Army as a
private, rose to Captain, and later Colonel. He was Assistant Inspector General
and Assistant Adjudant General on Jackson's staff. After Jackson's death, he was
Chief of Staff and Assistant Adjutant General to five Confederate Generals. He
was commander of the Light Brigade at Appomattox. His troops were the last to
stack arms upon surrender. He was wounded six times and imprisoned twice.
He practiced law in Winchester, VA after the war, and later moved his
practice to Hagerstown, Maryland.
'A general failing of health, including mental troubles, was the
cause of his death'. - Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec 1903
The Mount Jackson Confederate Hospital's cemetery, now called
Our Soldiers' Cemetery, was dedicated on 10 May 1866, the third
anniversary of Stonewall Jackson's death. The "Memorial and Decoration
Day" organized by the local ladies was one of the first such observances
in the South. The service began with an address in the church by Major
Henry Kyd Douglas, the youngest of Jackson's staff officers. Afterward,
a participant wrote that "ladies, gentlemen and children as well as many
ex-Confederates, all carrying wreaths prepared the day before, marched
to the cemetery 3/4 of a mile north of town to place those wreaths on
each of the 400 graves."
Notes:
1. Sources differ on his date of
birth - 1838 and 1840 are both given
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