George Daniel Nethery
1834-1899
Private - Second Company G
14th Virginia Infantry
Confederate States of America
George Daniel Nethery, my Great, Great-Grandfather, was the ninth child of Daniel and Sally Nethery. Born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia on the lands of his grandfather on February 28, 1834, he was "the seventh of seven sons." George Nethery was married to Louisa Griffin, daughter of Hezekiah and Mary Griffin, in Granville County, N.C. on August 21, 1860. The Griffins were of the Shiney Rock Community of Mecklenburg County, Virginia. George Nethery farmed all his life but never owned any land. He lived in various places in Granville County, North Carolina and Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Like his brothers, Buckner, Thomas, Robert, and Henry, George Nethery was a Confederate Soldier.
George Nethery volunteered for service in Clarksville, Virginia, along with his brother, Henry Nethery, and his brother-in-law, Ras Griffin, in June, 1861. He was first put in Co. I, 38th Virginia Infantry as a private. This company later became Company G, 14th Virginia Infantry. George fought in the Civil War for 4 years and was at Appomattox Courthouse, Va. on the day of the surrender, Sunday afternoon, April 9, 1865.
He was in General Lewis A. Armistead's brigade, General George E. Pickett's division, and General James Longstreet's army of The Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. George Nethery was in "Pickett's Charge" at Gettysburg, Pa., Friday, 3:00 p.m., July 3, 1863. He was severely wounded in the shoulder by gunshot during this great battle, and was within ten feet of his brigade commander, Gen. Armistead, when he fell mortally wounded. George Nethery was first in the hospital at Charlottesville, Va., after Gettysburg. Then he was transferred to the Chimborazo Hospital No. 9 in Richmond, Va. He was in the hospital and at home for a total of six months before returning to active duty in January, 1864.
George Nethery was wounded a second time in May 10, 1864, at the Battle at Chester Station, just north of Petersburg, Va. He was said to have been shot through the bowels, having a "contused wound of the abdomen." He had to remain out of service once again for a brief period of recuperation. But the Federal Army closed in on the Army of Northern Virginia around Petersburg in the Spring of 1865. George Nethery was among the brave twelve thousand Confederate troops under General Pickett who made a desperate and dramatic stand against fifty thousand Federal troops under General Phillip Sheridan at Five Forks, Virginia (southwest of Petersburg) on April 1, 1865. Five thousand Confederate soldiers were captured and many were wounded and killed. One of those captured was John Rasmus Griffin, George Nethery's brother-in-law. He was taken to a Federal prison in Maryland and released in June, 1865, after the war had ended. Both Nethery and Griffin were in General George H. Steuart's brigade at Five Forks. After the Five Forks fiasco, it was on to Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. George Nethery said he walked for three days and nights without any food.
In the parlor of Wilmer McLean's house during the Sunday afternoon of April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his tattered and torn Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant, Chief Commander of the Federal Forces of the United States. George Nethery was somewhere down on the banks of the Appomattox River when the surrender took place. He is said to have been within hearing distance of General Lee when he bade his weary troops "an affectionate farewell." After Appomattox, George Nethery had a long, tiresome walk back to Clarksville and to northern Granville County.
Some years after the War between the States, George was invited by a letter from the government to come back to the Gettysburg battlefield and help identify points of historical interest that would be permanently marked by monuments. He declined the invitation.
The Mecklenburg, Va. County Court, in accordance with an Act of Assembly (approved March 5,1888) giving aid to disabled veterans of the "War between the States", certified the application of George D. Nethery of Co. G, 14th Va. Infantry, C.S.A. - Armistead's Brigade, Pickett's Division - a pension of $15.00. (Mecklenburg Co, Va., court order. Bk. 16, May 25, 1896. Hon. W.E. Howes, Judge presiding).
George D. Nethery and family werre living at the "Tom Tarry Place" in Mecklenburg Co., Virginia on the Roanoke River, and about five miles from Rock Spring Baptist Church, when he died suddenly of a massive stroke on December 18, 1899 at the age of sixty-five years. According to records, his casket was purchased from "R. Thos. Gordon & Bros. Co., Funiture, Marble, and Undertaking" in Clarksville, Virginia. The coffin cost $15.00 and a burial robe cost $3.50. He is buried at Rock Spring Baptist Church near his parents, Daniel and Sally Nethery.
On January 1, 1900, George's widow and family moved to "the Thomas Royster Place" near Harris Crossroads (Vance County, North Carolina). Louisa G. Nethery died at the home of her son, Robert H. Nethery, on November 3, 1912. The house is no longer standing, but it was located adjacent to the present home of Brodie and Blanche Neathery. Louisa Nethery was seventy-three years old when she died. She is Buried at Island Creek Baptist Church.
George Nethery was a tall man about six feet, two inches and of slender frame. He had light complexion and eyes, dark hair, and sharp facial features. He has been described as a jovial, kind man who worked hard to make a good life for his family. The photograph (top of page) shows him at middle age as a clean-shaven man with slightly long hair.
George Nethery never owned any land. The ill-fate of his father, Daniel Nethery, in losing his property in Virginia had a great influence on him. After the War Between the States, he and his family lived at "the Speed Place" near Grassy Creek Church. This house is a two-story brick, colonial building which is still occupied. George Nethery and his family also lived in a two-story white frame house on what is now U.S. Highway 15, just north of Royster Hobgood's home near Bullock, North Carolina. This house is also still being occupied. From here, the family moved to "the William Henry Burwell Place" and "the Tom Tarry Place" in Virginia. George Nethery was a great farmer as well as a great soldier and was a man of high priciples and morals.