Page News & Courier
Heritage and Heraldry
One Page County Confederate's tale of war, the "Burning" and comrades
Article of July 13, 2000
While the number of Page County men that flocked to join in the ranks of the
Confederacy was above average for the size of the county, not all became a part of veteran's organizations and participated in post-war reunions. Enoch Van Buren "Mac" Kauffman was one of the few veterans that enjoyed the events with old comrades. In remembering the war he once stated that he "still . . . [held] it as the proudest memory of my life that I served under General Lee."
A member of Co. K, 10th Virginia Infantry (Page Volunteers), Kauffman was born November 6, 1840 in Page County, the son of Barney and Rebecca Mauck Kauffman. Enlisted on June 2, 1861, the 5'10", auburn haired, blue eyed young man was on his way to an experience that few would return from unscathed. A brother who served with him in the Page Volunteers, Joseph Franklin Kauffman, was killed at the 2nd Battle of Manassas on August 28, 1862.
By October 1862, Kauffman was elected as 2nd sergeant and became orderly sergeant for Captain David C. Grayson. Though captured during the following spring on May 4, 1863 at the battle of Chancellorsville, good fortune shined upon him rather quickly and he was exchanged within 6 days at City Point, Virginia.
Resuming service with his company, Kauffman evaded capture or wound at Spotsylvania Court House where most of the company was taken. However, on October 2, 1864, while assigned to a detail in Page, he was again captured. That same day, the Sheridan's raiders burned his mother's barn and his grandfather's mill, and had "all the horses, cattle, and hogs driven away." Kauffman wrote, "My brother [Philip M. Kauffman of Co. E, 35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry] and I were captured, and would have been put to death with other prisoners in retaliation for the death of two Federal soldiers near Luray except for the fortunate capture (for us) of the two men who had done the killing." After being held for almost a week, the brothers were sent to Point Lookout, Maryland. Philip was exchanged on March 28, 1865, but Enoch was not released until after taking the oath of allegiance on June 14, 1865.
Following his return to Page County, Kauffman soon headed west where he married Miss Sarah L. Slusher, of Hancock Creek, Illinois in 1868. A few years later he moved to Kansas and became the proprietor of the Sycamore Mineral Springs.
Kauffman attended the large reunion in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania after the turn of the century. He later wrote, "I will remember it as one of the best experiences of my life." During the encampment, Kauffman returned a bible to the friends of a man named Frost, who had been killed at Spotsylvania Court House, where he had found it. The bible also contained a photo that turned out to be that of Frost's mother.
"Mac" died at the home of one of his children on January 13, 1923 in Seneca, Kansas. Within days of Kauffman's death in 1923, Grayson paid tribute to him saying "He was as true as the needle to the magnet in his loyalty to principle and devotion to his friends and comrades, and when a clash of arms was imminent, he went forward with unfaltering step to meet whatever fate might befall him. He never wavered in his fidelity to the cause, and was always proud of the distinction of having been a Confederate soldier."
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