Civil War Memoirs Family shares letters from local Confederate lieutenant By DARLENE WYATT Staff Editor's note: The following was submitted by Thomas B. Noland of Martinsville, Va. Various members of my wife's family possess typed, single-spaced copies of about 52 letters written to, from or about William Thomas Choate. He was a Confederate soldier from Alleghany County (Sparta), N.C., and was the great-grandfather of Annie Marie Choate Noland. This relative was commissioned a second lieutenant on May 3, 1862, and by the time he was mortally wounded in the battle of Cold Harbor near Richmond, Va. he had risen to the rank of captain. He commanded Company I, 61st North Carolina Regiment, a part of Clingman's Brigade.

Annie Marie Choate Noland and Thomas B. Noland are shown here in a photo. Mrs. Noland is descendent of William Choate.

Much can be gleaned from the letters, including the fact that the captain was in a local group who apparently entered and served together. One in Company I was a nephew.

Some of the letters are quite short, whereas others fill a page or a little more. One of the longest, to his wife Martha, provides much detail about the battle at Goldsboro. The regiment served between the north of Richmond to Savannah, Ga., but it is not clear to me whether the captain served below S.C.

I note that when the husband entered the Confederate army, he left five children at home, the oldest aged 10, compared to my leaving one child home to enter World War II. A sixth child was born while he was away. Wife Martha Fender Choate was a stalwart woman.

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