War comes to The Woodlands: The death of Private William Scott, 14th Va Cavalry

OldSarge79

Sergeant
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Location
Pisgah Forest, North Carolina
In June this year, I obtained, at auction, the holster with “belt,” pommel holsters and saddlebags of Private William D. Scott, 14th Virginia Cavalry. The items had been kept since the Civil War by the family who cared for him before he died. The story, I found, was quite compelling, and is related here.

My thanks to Patrick Gloyd and his father, Gary Gloyd, who personally showed me the three sites connected with these events. Patrick grew up in the immediate neighborhood and authored an article about these items in the September/October, 1994 issue of North South Trader’s Civil War magazine.

Special thanks to Helen Caulfield Madine Gregory and her husband, Liniel Gregory for helping me to piece together all the details. I was privileged to meet this wonderful couple in their Virginia home last month. Mrs. Gregory is the direct descendant of the Clopper-Hutton family, who, due to changing circumstances, was compelled to part with these treasured family heirlooms.
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Built around the time of the War of 1812 by Francis Cassatt Clopper, The Woodlands was a spacious home on farmland outside Gaithersburg, Maryland, about 15 miles northwest of Washington D.C. Clopper also operated a grist mill on Seneca Creek, which ran through his property. In 1855 his daughter, Mary Augusta Clopper, married William Rich Hutton, a prominent engineer, who soon came into possession of The Woodlands, where he and Mary Augusta raised their family. Francis Clopper, by now an aging widower, still lived there as well. In 1860, Francis Clopper is shown as owning 25 slaves. Indications are that the family were Southern sympathizers during the Civil War.

It would seem that, living north of Washington, they could expect the war to keep away, but here, as later recalled by daughter Mamie Hutton, is a sad incident there involving a Confederate soldier:

Research has revealed little about William D. Scott prior to the Civil War. He was born in Virginia in about 1843 and raised on his father’s farm in Greenbrier County (now just across the line in West Virginia) with three older brothers and three younger sisters. The family were Baptists, although, as will be seen, it appears that William had not made a profession of faith. He did attend school.

On September 25, 1862, at the age of 18, William enlisted, for the duration of the war, as a private in Company K, 14th Virginia Cavalry, at the small community of White Sulphur Springs, in Greenbrier County. (In an odd coincidence, this is the same small community in which my own Confederate ancestor, C.P. Snell, had been born in 1821.) Company K later became Company D.

His record shows that Private Scott served faithfully during his time in the Confederate army, with no absences or disciplinary actions.

In July, 1864 the 14th Virginia Cavalry was part of General Jubal Early’s push toward Washington D.C. On July 9 or possibly the morning of the 10th, Private Scott was in the small town of Poolsville, Maryland, where he “carried off a box of colored cotton” for his girlfriend back home.” It seems almost certain that he put this box in his saddlebags.

On July 10, he was part of a small patrol of three or four men, scouting in the area northwest of Washington. They were in an active area not far from other Confederate forces, but with Union patrols probing as well.

At mid-day, the men stopped at “Edgewood,” the farm of Joseph A. Taney, a mile or two north of Gaithersburg, Maryland, and asked to be fed. By coincidence, the Confederate troopers had picked the home of the nephew of Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Roger Taney. It seems doubtful that Joseph Taney would have mentioned that fact to the visitors. The household consisted of Taney, his wife, Anne and five-year-old son, Ambrose.

Maryland was still a slave state. Joseph Taney had owned eight slaves in 1850, but by 1860 had none, instead employing three white men, who lived on the property, as hired farm hands. There is no indication as to whether he had sold his slaves or freed them. It does seem likely that he had freed them, but his sympathies and whether he and his wife were happy to feed the Confederates or did so grudgingly is open to speculation.

While all of his companions tied their horses at the house, William, apparently in consideration of his horse on a hot July day, put the animal in the barn. It would prove to be a cause of great regret.

The men were soon enjoying some home cooking, outside by a horse block, when Union troops came into view. The other men ran to their horses, mounted and were off, but William had to run to the barn, and as he mounted, was shot in the side. Still, he was able to ride away, heading east through the woods, crossing two fences and Seneca Creek. Ahead, on the top of a ridge, he could see a large house.

His wound was serious and he knew it. He soon rode up to the front of The Woodlands, about a mile from the Taney farm, where the first person he encountered was a slave named Kitty. What happened next is best described by one of the children in the house, Mary “Mamie” Hutton, recorded later in life:
All our excitement seems to have come on Sundays. Friends were dining here when the same Kitty came in to say, ‘Miss Mary ‘Gusta, a soldier says can he die on your porch?’ They found a boy in grey who had fallen off his horse, brought him in to a hastily made pallet to the front hall and tried to stop the blood flowing from a wound….
Shortly after his arrival a division of Yankee soldiers stopped to talk with father and mother, without going through the house, fortunately, and before long the Confederates, part of Earley’s raid, I think, stopped here and two surgeons saw the wounded man, extracted the ball which had gone through the liver…. One of them said his three brothers might be in Rockville, which was true, and about midnight they arrived, their spurs and swords clanking through the house. Said his name was William Scott of Greenbrier County, Virginia. The family were Baptists, but William had never been baptized…. When asked if he wanted to be baptized, he asked for it and my father poured the saving water over his head.


Mamie was given the assignment of fanning the dying soldier in what was known as the West Room, and he told her that she could have his horse. As fate would have it, however, Union soldiers came at some point and confiscated all of the horses on the property, including Scott’s.

Private Scott died at about noon the following day. William Hutton and one of the slaves, Singleton, spent the afternoon making a coffin. The Hutton family were devout Catholics, and William Hutton was prominent in St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, located less than a mile away on the outskirts of Gaithersburg along Clopper Road. That night, under cover of darkness, they secretly buried the body of William Scott in the church yard by the light of a lantern. Whether the church leadership was aware of this at the time is not recorded.

At some point afterward, Mary Augusta Hutton wrote to Private Scott’s mother, and received a reply from his girlfriend. Private Scott’s belt, pommel holsters and saddlebags were kept by the Hutton family, as well as his pistol holster, which down to the present time, had a saddle stirrup strap through it, as a belt. It is uncertain if this stirrup strap was used as a second belt by Private Scott, but it does seem possible.

His grave remained unmarked until the 1930’s, when the United Daughters of the Confederacy applied to the government for a stone marker, which was approved and put in place. The grave sits alone under a tree in the yard of St. Rose of Lima Church. The story passed down about William D. Scott reveals the image of a polite, respectful and considerate young man who gave his life for his state and country.

In her later years, the aging Mamie Hutton told her great-niece, Helen, that she could still hear the spurs and swords clanking through the house. Mamie died in 1953.

The Taney house is no longer in existence, and the exact site is not known.

The Clopper/Hutton property was taken by the State of Maryland in the 1950’s for public use as Seneca Creek State Park. The blood stain on the floor where they had laid Private Scott was still there, and Helen Caulfield Madine, last descendant of the Huttons living in the house, considered cutting out the stained flooring before she left and keeping it, but believing that her family home was to be preserved, decided not to. The house itself burned down in 1963, and Seneca Creek State Park’s visitor center now sits where it once stood.

Follow-up note: Mamie Hutton remembered that three of William Scott’s brothers in the Confederate army came to visit him the night before he died. Records show that, although all three of his brothers served in the Confederate army, only two were serving at the time of his death but were, in fact, part of Early’s force. His oldest brother, Rankin, however, did not enlist until the following November. There were also, it seems, some cousins in the 14th Virginia Cavalry, so it seems likely that the three midnight visitors may have been a combination of brothers and cousins.

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An update on this story:

Late last year I was able to track down and contact the family of Private William D. Scott, specifically his great great great niece, living, coincidentally, not far from Gaithersburg, Maryland, where Private Scott is buried.

It turns out that the family NEVER knew what had happened to their "Uncle Willie," but had in recent years discovered his grave at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. This niece was thrilled when I told her what had happened, and even more so when I told her that I had Private Scott's leather equipment. After talking with her and other family members, I have every intention to pass these items to them in my will.

Next week, on Sept 14, I have arranged a meeting of the two families. Helen Gregory and her daughter from the Clopper/Hutton family and four members of the Scott family, including the elderly granddaughter of William Scott's brother, John, will meet me at the Gregory residence in Virginia.

Everyone is very excited about the two families finally meeting, 158 years after Private Scott's death. I am probably the most excited of all.

North South Trader Civil War magazine, which published an article in 1994 about Private Scott's equipment, wants to do a follow-up article on the meeting of the two families.

Not wanting to steal their thunder, I will post a brief follow up about the meeting in a couple of weeks.
 
Well, the best laid plans of mice and men.....how does the rest of it go?

The meeting of the families has been rescheduled for December 1.
Unfortunately, the eldest member of the Scott family has come down with the flu. So, a report on the meeting will be in early December.

While I am disappointed in the delay, I just hope she gets well soon and that the two families will still be able to meet. :smile:
 
We pulled it off. I was there last Thursday when the two families finally met after 157 years.

Stories were passed back and forth, documents were copied and shared, including an original letter that Private Scott had written to his sister from camp earlier in the war, and tears were shed. I brought Private Scott's equipment, so his family was able to see and touch it. All followed by lunch at a nearby restaurant, where we stayed and talked long after the food was gone. The two families exchanged contact information and intend to keep in touch. One stated that their family finally has closure.

It was not only a wonderful day, but a beautiful day. I cannot describe the satisfaction I have received.

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