In a recent trip to Gettysburg my daughter asked me if any of our ancestors fought on that battlefield. Yikes. And how. I took her and showed her the Virginia Monument and the markers for Imboden's Brigade at First Day's action. I am a bit of a genealogy researcher and have been researching my father's side of the family for years so I can say with relative certainty having seen the muster rolls and other military records, census records, wills and family bibles, that almost 40 men in my father's family fought in the American Civil War on both the Union and Confederate side.

Ultimately most descend from Gilbert DeVer and his wife Elizabeth Peacock. Alternate spellings of the last name are Deaver and DeVier, but DeVer seems to be the most common. My branch of the family spells it with the /i/, but anybody with that name living in Virginia or North Carolina? Is more than likely related to me. For the sake of continuity, I will use the spelling DeVer here. There are way more records than what I list here and on the following pages, however, while the names are very similar,  I have been unable to tie any of them into my family. The name is Scots/Irish and per immigration records there were tons with that last name who came from Ireland and Scotland to this country in the 1840's and 50's. My DuVall ancestors fought too (my father's mother's family), as did the men on my mother's side of the family (Everngham). They are listed as well.

The interesting thing as exemplified by the family affair that was common in the "Stonewall Brigade", is that most enlisted with at least a brother or two and were placed in the same unit and even company. Fathers and uncles enlisted with sons and nephews. Fathers deserted when sons were wounded or captured. Men that enlisted for just one year in 1861 either stayed for the duration of the war to be paroled at Appomattox or were discharged only to re-enlist. One was conscripted in 1864 when the Confederate Army was shrinking on a daily basis and they were taking young boys and old men. Men were wounded and kept fighting - some missing limbs. Some were captured and sat out the war in prison camps. The one thing that I noticed over all looking at the records was that hardly anyone got paid.

Hiram K. DeVer - Private
7^th Virginia Cavalry, CSA  
~Company B – Captain J. N. Magruder's Company
~Lt. Colonel Turner Ashby
~Letcher Brock´s Gap Rifles
~enlisted 4/28/1861 for one year at Harrisonburg, VA
~mustered in at Harper´s Ferry VA
~originated as the 4th VA Regiment of State Troops and by 6/1861 had been renamed the 10th VA Infantry - Winfield's Infantry Company was transferred in late June becoming Company B 7th VA Cav
~Transferred to Company H Under Capt. John C. Shoup on 5/7/1862
~born 8 Jan 1838 in Harrisonburg, Rockingham Co. VA
~Came with his own horse valued at $140.00
~On detached service moving prisoners from Harrisonburg to Staunton 5/16/1862
~Surrendered at Appomattox Court House 4/9/1865

**Hiram was one of the only 34 remaining members of the 7th left to surrender by war's end. The rest had either been discharged for illnesses/wounds, captured or killed.

William Knight DeVer  - Private
33rd Virginia Infantry, CSA
~Captain J. R. Jones
~Company I
~enlisted June 22, 1861 for one year at Harrisonburg, VA
~present through Dec 31, 1861
~re-enlisted 6/1862 at Gordonsville, VA for the war
~born 1824 in Rockingham Cnty. VA
~reported sick 9/23/62
~absent 10/6/1862 through 12/1862
~sent to Harrisonburg 11/1862
~at Camp Winder 2/1863-3/1863
~in General Hospital, Stanton VA 4/30/1863
~doctor's note dated 5/12/1863 - is improving (chronic diarrhea)

Giles H. DeVer  - Private
7^th Virginia Cavalry, CSA
~Company B – Captain John Q. Winfield
~Lt. Colonel Turner Ashby
~Letcher Brock´s Gap Rifles
~enlisted 4/28/1861 for one year at Harrisonburg, VA
~mustered in at Harper´s Ferry VA
~originated as the 4th VA Regiment of State Troops and by 6/1861 had been renamed the 10th VA Infantry - Winfield's Infantry Company was transferred in late June becoming Company B 7th VA Cav
~born 24 July 1820 in Harrisonburg, Rockingham Co. VA
~Came with his own horse valued at $175.00
~Discharged 2/6/1863 on Surgeons Certificate - chronic rheumatism
~put on inactive military service as a tax collector for Rockingham County
~applied for a federal pardon in 1865
~Amnesty Oath was issued 7/7/1865

Allen  DeVer Jr.  - Private ****
~member of the 58th Virginia Militia (pre-war unit)
~Company F
~unit disbanded March 1862 (never reported for service)
7^th Virginia Cavalry, CSA
~Company I - Captain E. A. Shands
~Lt. Colonel Turner Ashby
~enlisted 6/24/1861 for one year at Romney VA
~paid $45.84 by the CSA for the hire of his 4 horse team from 12/11/61 - 12/22/61
~born 1825 in Harrisonburg, Rockingham Co. VA
~Captured 6/7/1864 - Rome GA during the Atlanta Campaign
~Military prison 6/17/1864 - Louisville, KY
~Transferred 6/27/1864 - Camp Morton, IN
~Sent to Point Lookout, MD in 2/1865 for exchange
~Admitted General Hospital #9 Richmond 2/28/65 as paroled prisoner
~Sent to Camp Lee 3/1/65
~Admitted General Hospital #9 Richmond - 3/3/65
~Moved to Chimborazo Hospital #2 - 3/5/65 - dysentery
~Furloughed for 30 days - 3/24/65

Allen DeVer, Jr.****
father of

Newton DeVer  - Private
10th Virginia Infantry, CSA
~Company G - Captain Charles Sprinkle, Captain D.H. Lee Martz
~Colonel S.B. Gibbons
~Valley Guards - (Rockingham Co.)
~enlisted while still a teenager
~born 1848 in Beaver Creek, VA

****Allen DeVer, Jr. is my great-great-great grandfather. His grandson was DeWitt Clinton DeVier, my great-grandfather. I own a 1852 Whitney cap and ball 36 caliber Navy Revolver that supposedly belonged to Allen. The gun was made in Massachusetts, standard issue for a cavalry soldier, but not CSA issue  -  odds are he took it off an expired Yankee soldier.

Allen's pistol

Lucius “Luke” Asbury DeVer  - Private
1st Virginia Cavalry, CSA
~Company I - Harrisonburg Cavalry
~Wickham's Brigade under Fitz Lee
~Colonel W.E. "Grumble" Jones
~enlisted 4/15/1862 for the war at Harrisonburg, VA
~Born March 3, 1841 at the DeVer Plantation, Spring Creek, VA
~present on the rolls as of August 1864
~paroled May 6, 1865 at Winchester, VA
~Description given at parole by the Office of the Provost Marshall General, Army of The Potomac: 24 years of age, 6 feet tall, fair complexion, light hair, blue eyes

            
Lucius Asbury DeVer

John Henry DeVer -  Private
1^st Virginia Cavalry, CSA
~Company I - Harrisonburg Cavalry
~Wickham's Brigade under Fitz Lee
~Colonel W.E. "Grumble" Jones
– enlisted 5/22/1861for one year at Harrisonburg, VA
~born May 2, 1840 at the DeVer Plantation, Spring Creek, VA
~Sick January 25, 1862, furlough granted for 10 days
~present through August 1864 NFR

Francis W. DeVer - Private
5^th Virginia Infantry, CSA
~Company I
~enlisted 5/20/1861 for 1 year at Sangerville, VA near Spring Creek
~Present through 4/1862
~AWOL 5/18/1862 – Returned to Spring Creek, Rockingham Co. VA
~Discharged – final statement given 1/26/1863
~Renlisted 9/12/1863
41st  Virginia Cavalry (White's)
~Company B
which became
23^rd Virginia Cavalry, CSA
~Company B
~born 1825 at the DeVer Plantation, Spring Creek, VA
~Absent – sick 9/1864

Their father Hugh DeVer, III died in 1863 when the Union Army burned the family home, built in 1830. More than  8000 Union troops were encamped on the farm property in 1863, and they burned it along with several hundred acres of farm land when they left. The home was re-built in 1868 and still sits on the corner of State Routes 613 and 727 just south of Bridgewater in Augusta County. The exact circumstances of Hugh's death are unknown - whether he was killed defending his home or simply died of natural causes remains a mystery.

10th Virginia Infantry Flag