Col. John Carlton Higginbotham, a Virginian who died in 1864's Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, is the highest-ranking soldier interred in Spotsylvania Confederate Cemetery. By Mac Wyckoff

Date published: 6/24/2006

UNLIKE Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery, Spotsylvania Confederate Cemetery is arranged in sections. Each Confederate state has a section, plus a section for burials of unknowns.

In the unknown section, strangely enough, is a row of nine known soldiers. Especially interesting is the fact that the highest-ranking officer in the entire cemetery is in this row. The first stone from the left in this row bears the name "John C. Higginbotham," without rank or unit.

John Carlton Higginbotham was born Nov. 11, 1842. He lived in what is now Upshur County, W.Va., near the center of the state. He attended school at Lynchburg College in the Class of 1862, but left in 1861 to raise a company of soldiers. He enlisted as captain of Company A, 25th Virginia Infantry Regiment, on May 27. He fought in one of the first battles of the war--at Rich Mountain on July 7, 1861--and sustained a wound.

Higginbotham wrote of the event, "I got my pants and boot-legs riddled with bullets, but without serious injury in fact 'no meat hurt.'" He would not be so lucky in future battles.

Higginbotham served on a court-martial trial in January 1862, and several times served as acting commander of the regiment. In May he was promoted to major.

A week later, he sustained a flesh wound in the leg during Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's victory at McDowell. He was wounded in the shoulder during Jackson victory's at Cedar Mountain on Aug. 9, 1862. Twenty days later, he was more severely wounded at the Battle of Second Manassas. He was hit three times in the thigh and once in the groin.

That October, Higginbotham was promoted to lieutenant colonel for his gallantry.

In January 1863 he served on a court of inquiry. Higginbotham was promoted to colonel on June 13, 1863, to rank retroactively from Jan. 28 of that year. In the Battle of Gettysburg, he was again wounded, this time a slight flesh wound.

Historian Mac Wyckoff will give a tour of Spotsylvania Confederate Cemetery on Friday, June 30, at 7 p.m. and will discuss the life and death of Col. John Higginbotham and other Confederates buried there. Participants should meet at the Spotsylvania County Visitor Center at State Routes 208 and 613. Parking is available next door at the Holbert building.

Date published: 6/24/2006