Edwin Francis Jemison (December 1, 1844 – July 1, 1862) was a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

soldier who served in Company C, 2nd Louisiana Infantry, from May 1861 until he was killed at the

Battle of Malvern Hill The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, was fought on July 1, 1862, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by Gen. Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. ...

. Jemison's photograph has become one of the most famous and iconic portraits of the young soldiers of both the Confederate and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

armies. It was featured particularly on the cover of the American Russian-language magazine '' Amerika'' in 1991.

American Civil War

Jemison enlisted on May 11, 1861, and was among the war's early

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

s. He participated in the Peninsula Campaign under Maj. Gen. Magruder.

Death

Jemison was killed on July 1, 1862, at the

. The circumstances of his death will likely never be fully known, though a popular story emerged of a direct hit from a

cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

which decapitated him. The cause of his death has since been called into question. The death by cannon fire story was corroborated by the 1887 obituary of his younger brother, Sam, but incorrectly identifies the battle as

First Manassas The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassas

. Biographer Alexandra Filipowski debunks the tale altogether. A veteran named Captain Moseley told the gruesome story of the decapitation to crowds all over the south, often for money. At one such event, Jemison's brother was in attendance and drew his own conclusion, stating “that was my brother.” It has since been shown, however, that Moseley did not fight at Malvern Hill and could not have witnessed Private Jemison's demise. Filipowski cites Jemison's obituary as the only actual known account of his death: “He sustain dhimself in the front rank of the soldier and gentlemen until the moment of his death. Bounding forward at the order ‘Charge!’ he was stricken down in the front rank, and without a struggle yielded up his young life.” Following the Battle of Malvern Hill, both sides buried their dead on the battlefield. After 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 ...

, organizations like the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

returned to the old battlefields and disinterred the bodies of fallen Confederate soldiers and gave them proper burials in places like the Confederate Section of Hollywood Cemetery in nearby

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. It is thought that Jemison's parents erected the monument to him at Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, where he may be buried. Most believe that he was buried on or near the Malvern Hill battlefield in

Henrico County Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico County is incl ...

, Virginia, in an unmarked grave.

References

External links

*
NPS Soldier Database entry

Private Edwin Jemison: The Boy Soldier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jemison, Edwin Francis 1844 births 1862 deaths Burials in the United States Confederate States Army soldiers Confederate States of America military personnel killed in the American Civil War People from Milledgeville, Georgia People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War Child soldiers in the American Civil War Photographs of children in war

American Civil War

Death

See also

References

External links