Fredericksburg, Virginia
Lucy Ann Cox
Lucy Ann Cox was the daughter of Jesse White, the practical printer and Publisher of the Fredericksburg Weekly Advertiser of the 1850s. James A. Cox an employee for the paper, lived with the White's and married Lucy before the war (though one newspaper later said Lucy was married after the beginning of the war and the reporter was the victim of her seldom-used temper).
When James Cox volunteered for Company A of the 30th Va. Regiment and was sent to Aquia Creek, Lucy found her way to camp and refused to be parted from her soldier husband. When the army found it impossible to be rid of her, she was allowed to remain with the company and was regularly furnished rations until the end of the war.
She accompanied the regiment to Manassas to join the army of General Beauregard, enduring without a murmur the fatigue and privations of the long and wearisome march there and back to Aquia Creek. In March 1862, they were ordered to North Carolina and from that date to the close of the war she was in the field, in every campaign, on every march, ever at her husband's side to minister to him when sick, to comfort him when dispirited.
Her devotion won the praise and highest admiration from every rugged soldier and she became known by the sobriquet "Pawnee" throughout Pickett's Division, but it was the members of Co. A that she fed when they were hungry; sheltered when they were exposed; patched and washed for them when there was no one else.
When the war was over, and the Cox's returned to Fredericksburg, the soldiers of Maury Camp of Confederate Veterans elected her by acclamation as honorary member of the camp and presented her with a Camp Badge. She wore the badge prominently and proudly at all reunions and on Memorial Day.
Though Lucy became a victim of dropsy, and found it exceedingly difficult to get about, she was in attendance at the Reunion of Company A at Alum Spring in August 1885, when J. K. Graeme, a photographer was present and photographed the Co. She participated at the table where the solids and sweetmeats were spread and enjoyed observing the music, dancing, croquet, swinging, target shooting and most of all, participating the relating of stories of the "tented field".
She was also present at the reunion at Alum Spring in Sept. 1886. The day was pleasant enough until time for the parties to return to their respective homes. Captain John K. Anderson had obtained a wagon and with considerable help, managed to get the overly large Lucy on one edge of the seat. The road being an unused one and badly washed by recent freshets, and the weight being unevenly distributed, the wagon upset and spilled out the occupant who for a time caused a quite a racket. She was collected with whole bones, but the wagon was more or less demolished.
The reporter had hoped to have a pleasant interview with the lady, but her indignant looks forbid he should venture into her presence until the next reunion when comrades would surround him.
Lucy Ann Cox died on Dec. 17, 1891, aged 64 and was buried in the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery's Cross of Honor. Prof. Bowering's twenty piece Military Band, in full uniform, provided the measured tread from the Methodist Church to the cemetery, playing the funeral March. After a short religious service, the band played a sweetly solemn dirge.
A stone, erected by her friends, marks her gravesite today.
The majority of this information is credited to:
Robert A. Hodge
If you would like to make use of this information, please contact:
Susan B. Miller, Vice President & Chapter President
Order of Southern Gray
"Women Dedicated to Southern Heritage"
E-mail: [email protected]
