Although Delaware was a Southern slave state, it decided to cast its lot with the North during the Civil War. The reasons for this were principally political, economic and geographic.
Economically, the most populous section of the state — New Castle County — had a growing manufacturing base that employed mostly free labor and was tied closely to the State of Pennsylvania. In addition, slavery in Delaware was almost extinct, given that farmers had switched from labor-intensive crops, such as tobacco, to corn and wheat, which they could plant and harvest on their own.
Politically, as reflected in the 1860 presidential election, more Delawareans wanted to preserve the Union, rather than support secession. Geographically, the state was isolated from Southern states that had seceded and was not in a position to go it alone.
When President Abraham Lincoln called for the loyal states to contribute men for the Union army to put down the rebellion, Delaware responded by fulfilling its quota. There were, however, others within the state who preferred to fight for the South.
These men had to travel surreptitiously, following what became known as the “reverse underground railroad,” because leaving Delaware to join the Confederate army was illegal. There were insufficient numbers of men to organize under the Delaware banner; therefore, the Delawareans joined other state units once they reached the Confederacy safely.
It is unknown how many actually followed the route south; however, thanks to an article titled “Some Wore the Gray” by W. Emerson Wilson in 1964, we are able to identify a number of these Delaware Confederates.
Wilson wrote that Sussex County was well-represented in the Southern army. David Stewart Hessey of Seaford worked his way out of the state in November 1861 and served in the 13th Virginia Infantry Regiment. He sustained a wound during the Seven Days battles in July 1862.
Hessey recovered and received a commission as a lieutenant in the First Confederate Engineers. Hessey soon made his mark by rapidly completing construction of a pontoon bridge, thereby earning personal praise from Gen. Robert E. Lee, who gave him a pair of binoculars as a reward.
Another Sussex Countian who left for the South was George Julian Robinson of Georgetown, who signed up with the Fifth Texas Regiment of Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood’s hard-fighting brigade. Robinson participated in the brigade’s many engagements and was seriously wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864.
Former Delaware Gov. William Ross of Seaford gave one of his sons to the Southern cause. Caleb Ross joined the Confederate army but died early in the war while serving in the 9th Virginia Cavalry.
William T. Cooper of Laurel, son of another former governor, William Barkley Cooper, also joined the Southern ranks. He was captured near Romney, Va., and imprisoned at Fort Delaware. Cooper was one of the few who managed to escape from that island prison in the middle of the Delaware River and return to the South.
The Confederate navy benefited from the service of Georgetown’s Russell B. Hobbs in his role as quartermaster on Capt. Raphael Semmes’ famous commerce raider, the C.S.S. Alabama. Hobbs was wounded when the U.S.S. Kearsarge sank the Alabama off of Cherbourg, France, in June 1864, thereby ending its two-year stint of causing devastation to U.S. shipping.
Hiram Ross Messick of Seaford was captured during the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. He later described how he and several other men had traveled by boat from Seaford, down the Nanticoke River and across the Chesapeake Bay to Virginia, in order to serve in the Confederate army. He identified his companions by the last names of Collison, Marvil, Peirce, Reed, O’Day, Smith and Lloyd.
Four citizens of Seaford were arrested by Union officials and accused of being Southern supporters who smuggled medical supplies, among other goods, by boat from Seaford. These men — Dr. Joseph Shipley, Theodore Price, C.F. Rust and John Martin — spent time in a Baltimore prison before being exiled to the South under a flag of truce.
Wilson also identified a number of Delawareans from Milford (Daniel Satterfield), Dover (John W. Dunning), Smyrna (Dr. William A. McKown) and New Castle (Samuel Boyer Davis).
The names of about 125 people, including those mentioned here, are inscribed on the Confederate Monument that the “Delaware Grays” Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp #2068 erected at the Marvel Museum in Georgetown in 2007 to honor these men. Commander Jeffrey M. Plummer stated that Delaware Grays genealogist John Zoch and United Daughters of the Confederacy’s Ann Happolt conduct ongoing research for additional names of those who served the South.
For more information about the Confederate monument go to www.descv.org. Information about the Marvel Museum can be found at www.marvelmuseum.com.
Thomas J. Ryan is a Civil War historian, speaker and author of “Essays on Delaware during the Civil War: A Political, Military and Social Perspective.” His book “Not by Guns Alone: The Critical Role of Intelligence during the Gettysburg Campaign” is scheduled for publication in the spring of 2014. He is currently co-writing a book about the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg. Contact him at pennmardel@mchsi.com.