William M

Biographies of Civil War Soldiers

Confederate

Private
William M. Godfrey III
CSA

William M. Godfrey III was a private in Company E of the Holcombe Legion during the War Between the States. He was enlisted with his brother, Jesse Godfrey, at Camp Walsh, Adams Run, South Carolina, on December 28, 1861, by Col. P. F. Stevens. He served with Capt. W. P. Robuck’s Company, Infantry Regiment, Holcombe Legion, South Carolina Volunteers. He received payments from W. M. Sage on December 31, 1861, and February 28, 1861. He was furloughed January 28, 1862, through February 15, 1862, due to sickness. The furlough was extended through March 5, 1862. He re-enlisted April 18, 1862.

He was first stationed at Edisto Island, South Carolina. Next he was with his company at Rappahannock Station. He fought in the Battle of Second Manassas and in the Battle of Boonsboro.

Jesse Godfrey, his brother, was captured at South Mountain, Maryland, on October 2, 1862, and made a prisoner of war. He appeared on a record of Prisoners of War at Fort McHenry, Maryland, and was admitted as a patient of the U. S. A. General Hospital in Frederick Maryland, where they treated his wounded leg.

From there he was sent to Fort Monroe by General Woal for a prisoner exchange on December 8, 1862. Capt. W. W. Roberts, of the C. S. A. received Jesse Godfrey with a group of other Confederate prisoners form Capt. Mulford, 3rd Inf. Commander, under a flag of truce at City Point on December 10, 1862.

Jesse Godfrey was admitted as a patient of General Hospital, Petersburg, Virginia, on December 10, 1862, where they amputated his right leg below the knee. He was furloughed on December 19, 1862, for 90 days. He was last paid $44.12 by Capt. J. F. Hodges on March 31, 1863, for clothing.

William was at Sharpsburg at Burnside Bridge. He was wounded at Kinston, North Carolina, on December 14, 1862. He was taken prisoner by the forces of the United States under command of Maj. Gen. J. G. Foster and paroled at Kinston, North Carolina, on December 15, 1862. As a result of his wounds, his left leg was eventually amputated below the knee. He was paid $111.50 for clothing by Capt. J. F. Hodges for services rendered form June 30, 1862 to March 31, 1863, and furloughed.

The two brothers could wear one pair of shoes. They were the sons of William Godfrey and his wife, Elizabeth Leaman Godfrey. William Godfrey’s nephew, James William Godfrey, son of Samuel and Catherine Godfrey, was also a member of the Holcombe Legion. He served as a private in Company C. He was wounded at the Battle of Kinston, N. C. and was on leave in Spartanburg, S. C. until February 12, 1863. He re-enlisted on March 15, 1863. He was in the Battle of the Crater and was captured. He died as a prisoner of war on April 2, 1865.

William Godfrey married Nancy Cole, daughter of Osborn and Nancy Pearson Cole. They had two children: Osborn Columbus and Kittura Texanna. Nancy Cole Godfrey died while her husband was on the battlefield perhaps from grief.

After the death of Nancy, William married Mary Ann Pearson Arnold, a widow of a Confederate soldier by the name of James Arnold. James was first a member of the Holcombe Legion. He died September 15, 1862, of typhoid fever.

William and Mary had the following children: Anthony (Alfred), Mary Malinda, Elvira, Emily, George and Wade Hampton. His first child, Osborn Columbus, was Robert A. Ivey’s grandfather.

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