Alexander Hunter (1843- June 30, 1914) was an American soldier for the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, civil servant, and writer best known for the novels ''

Johnny Reb and Billy Yank ''Johnny Reb and Billy Yank'' was a Sunday comic strip drawn by Frank Giacoia from November 18, 1956, to May 24, 1959. It was one of the last full page Sunday strips. The last full page appeared on September 22, 1957. On May 18, 1958, the title c ...

'' and '' The Women of the Debatable Land''.

Early life

Alexander Hunter was born in 1843 and was a member of the Hunter family. He was the son of Bushrod Hunter and Mary Frances Blow. He lived during his youth at the Abingdon plantation in present-day

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

and studied at private schools until the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

in 1861.

Civil War

Alexander Hunter became a private in the Confederate Army where he served in Company A of the 17th Virginia Infantry for the first two years of the war. Hunter was captured in 1862 but was exchanged in time to fight at

Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

. He was paroled soon after being captured again on September 17, 1862 at Antietam and went on to participate in the

Battle of Chancellorsville The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. Chancellorsville is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because h ...

. Following Chancellorsville, Hunter joined Company H in the 4th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, also known as the "Black Horse Troop", on the recommendation of General Robert E. Lee. Captured once more, he attempted escape twice and finally returned to his regiment to serve until the Confederate

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

.(1)
(2) Wounded twice during the war, Hunter was pardoned by

President Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

on September 4, 1865.

Later life

Following the end of the Civil War, Hunter found that Abingdon plantation, which he had inherited, had been confiscated by the United States Tax Commissioners in 1864. He won his lands back after the ('' Bennett v. Hunter'', 76 U.S. 326) case was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on March 21, 1870. Hunter was employed for 40 years as a clerk in the federal

General Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...

. In 1877-1879, he served as a Delegate in the Virginia General Assembly and as County Clerk of Alexandria. In 1881, Hunter advertised Abingdon for sale. During the same year, he sold his remaining Abingdon property at auction to the Alfred Richards Brick Company. The property at Abingdon that Hunter once owned is now within

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

, Crystal City and the Aurora Hills section of the Aurora Highlands neighborhood. Hunter was married to Alice A. Swain by George Armstrong on June 22, 1882. Alice Swain was a student of music at the Philadelphia Academy. Hunter sued for divorce on December 10, 1894 after Swain purportedly deserted him in September 6, 1892. He married Filah Saunders after the death of his first wife in 1898. Hunter authored the story ''Confederate prisoners in Boston'', which was published in 1900. He subsequently wrote a seven hundred page memoir ''Johnny Reb and Billy Yank.'' It was published in 1905 by Neale Publishing Co. His final book, '' The Women of the Debatable Land'', was published in 1912.

Death and interment

Hunter died of

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

on June 30, 1914. In July 1914, he was buried in the Confederate section of

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. His gravesite is at Section 16, grave A, in Jackson Circle, within a few miles of his antebellum home at Abingdon. The National Museum of American History holds within its collections the

shell jacket A shell jacket is a garment used as part of a military uniform. It is a short jacket that reaches down to hip level. It was very common in the mid and late 19th century. The jacket was first created in Austria. History The shell jacket was firs ...

that he wore throughout most of the Civil War.

Bibliography

* ''The Ancient Iron Pot'' (Unknown) * New National theater, Washington, D.C (1885) * Confederate prisoners in Boston (1900) * ''Johnny Reb & Billy Yank'' (1905) * ''The Huntsman in the South'' (1908) * ''The Women of the Debatable Land'' (1912) Bibliography fro
Open Library
and other sources found below.

References

External links

* *
Johnny Reb and Billy Yank
' at the

Open Library Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive, ...

*''The Women of the Debatable Land'' public at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* Hunter, Alexander - 4th Cavalry, Company H - Enlistment Rank: Private - Discharge Rank: Private * Hunter, Alexander - 17th Infantry, Company A - Enlistment Rank: Private - Discharge Rank: Private
FIRST EDITION OF THE CIVIL WAR CLASSIC JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK; WITH THE RARE ORIGINAL DUST JACKET
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Alexander 1843 births 1914 deaths American male novelists